Synergy Factor Research Articles

Competition of punishment and reward among inequity-averse individuals in spatial public goods games

Punishment has traditionally been considered a more effective mechanism to promote cooperation than reward, but this is not necessarily the case if they are driven by inequity aversion (IA). A complete sense of fairness includes first-order and second-order IAs which refer to protests against advantageous and disadvantageous inequity, respectively. In this paper, such protests refer to the punishment and reward in payoff. To study the effect of IAs on human cooperation, we model a four-strategy system in spatial public goods game (PGG) with cooperators (Cs), first-order and second-order inequity-averse individuals (FIAs and SIAs), as well as defectors (Ds). The phase diagrams of the system illustrate that the presence of IAs can improve the cooperation level of population, and the effectiveness of different types of IAs are affected by several factors. Through the exploration of some phases and phase transitions, we conclude that a higher r (synergy factor) improves the competitiveness of SIAs more than that of FIAs, while a higher α (the factor of punishment and reward costs) undermines the cooperation promoting effect of FIAs more than that of SIAs. Such results are mainly related to the different spread patterns of their clusters. Unexpectedly, the increase of β (the factor of punishment and reward intensity) sometimes has a positive effect on the spread of defectors, which is attributed to the emergence of the self-organizing cyclic state among Cs, SIAs and Ds. Furthermore, indirect territorial competition can be observed for a high r, where Cs, FIAs and SIAs compete separately with Ds, and SIAs are more competitive than FIAs as a result.

Cooperation enhanced by the interaction diversity for the spatial public goods game on regular lattices

We investigate the evolution of cooperative behaviors of the spatial public goods game on lattices where the number of interactive neighbors are not identical for all players in the population but they can randomly select the interactive objects from the immediate neighbors in the von Neumann or Moore neighborhood. Extensive numerical simulations indicate that the cooperation level is greatly enhanced by the interaction diversity compared with the traditional model in which the social scope is homogeneous. The mechanism that explains this improvement is based on the inhomogeneous interactive domain in which cooperators can maintain their strategies easily and stabilize the cooperative neighborhood, resulting in the emergence of close cooperation clusters. Moreover, increasing uncertainty in strategy adoption process can resolve the trapped condition with a strong synergy factor and help the system to achieve the full cooperation state when the diversity mechanism is considered.

Vanadium (V)-doped ZnFe layered double hydroxide for enhanced sonocatalytic degradation of pymetrozine

In ultrasonic (US) processes, the development of environmentally friendly, effective, low-cost, and durable catalysts is needed to degrade pollutants. Here, ZnFe layered double hydroxide (LDH) was doped with vanadium (V) for the sonocatalytic degradation of a pesticide pymetrozine. The resulting catalyst had an average thickness of 25 nm, a specific surface area of 125.38 m2/g, and a bandgap value of 2.20 eV. In 90 min ultrasonic treatment, V-doped ZnFe LDH had 73% pymetrozine removal efficiency, which was 32% more than that of undoped ZnFe LDH. The US/V-doped ZnFe LDH process had a strong synergistic effect (synergy factor 7.17), which resulted in 57% and 68% greater efficiencies than the US alone and V-doped ZnFe LDH alone, respectively. The role of radical oxygen species was confirmed by carrying out radical trapping experiments using different scavengers and electron paramagnetic resonance analyses. Due to its high stability, the catalyst had good reuse potential with only an 8% performance reduction after 5 reuse cycles. Besides, the leaching of heavy metals was insignificant owing to the high integrity of the catalyst as confirmed by SEM and X-ray diffraction analysis. According to the GC–MS analysis, pymetrozine was first transformed into cyclic compounds then into aliphatic compounds such as animated products and carboxylic acids.

Criteria and indicators of synergistic efficiency of food industry enterprise management

A synergistic approach to production management is becoming fundamental in ensuring the sustainable and efficient functioning and development of organizations. The aim of the study is to substantiate the methodological toolkit for assessing the synergistic management efficiency of the food industry enterprise. The paper briefly examines the positions of individual scientists, revealing the view of modern science on understanding synergy, the sources of its origin and approaches to the extraction of synergistic effect in the economy, business, and production. As a result of generalization of the research previously presented in science, the authors clarified and systematized the factors and conditions of synergy, which are divided into two groups - internal and external. On the basis of the system of synergy factors, the article substantiates a formalized system of criteria and indicators for assessing the synergetic efficiency of managing a food industry enterprise. The paper provides an example of calculating and evaluating the proposed criteria and indicators based on materials from one of the food industry enterprises, as well as reasoning and conclusions about the future actions of the management of this enterprise. The presented system of criteria and indicators makes it possible to judge the level of synergistic efficiency of management and the degree of influence of individual factors of synergy on the financial results of the enterprise. The technique can be used by the management of enterprises in the development and substantiation of promising (medium-term) management decisions and programs for the development of enterprises.

Analysis of the mechanisms of synergistic effect in the combined use of physiotherapy factors

The study is devoted to the analysis of the internal mechanisms of the realization of biological effects of the combined use of a low-frequency alternating electrostatic field and transcranial magnetic stimulation with a running magnetic field in patients with metabolic syndrome. The results obtained allow concluding that the simultaneous course effect of these physiotherapeutic factors is accompanied by the development of a synergistic effect, objectively assessed by a set of parameters characterizing the state of the microcirculatory-tissue system, metabolic processes and peroxide metabolism. The quantitative assessment carried out using the synergy factor allowed classifying the type of interaction of physical factors as potentiation. The analysis of the internal mechanisms of supraadditive interaction made it possible to establish that this phenomenon can be most accurately explained from the standpoint of epigenetic regulation, which is a change in gene expression with the preservation of the DNA sequence and which determines the phenomenon of functional cumulation during the course of physiotherapeutic factors. The epigenetic model of the realization of synergy acts as a molecular evidence base for the sanogenetic effects observed in patients with metabolic syndrome under the systemotropic effect of physiotherapeutic factors.

Investigation of adsorption-photocatalytic synergistic mechanism of globular TiO2–ZrO2–SiO2 composites by a synergy factor

Synergy is essential to maximize the photocatalytic performance of the catalyst, which makes the preparation of photocatalytic materials with the synergistic effect of adsorption and catalysis become an attractive research direction. Therefore, we have prepared TiO 2 –ZrO 2 –SiO 2 nano-powders by simple Pechini sol-gel method, which can effectively improve the synergistic effect of adsorption and degradation of photocatalytic materials. The results demonstrate that TiO 2 –ZrO 2 –SiO 2 possesses excellent photocatalytic performance and adsorption ability. And it can be deduced that in the TiO 2 –ZrO 2 –SiO 2 system, SiO 2 is as for adsorbent, and TiO 2 and ZrO 2 act synergistically as a photocatalyst. The enhanced photocatalytic ability of TiO 2 –ZrO 2 –SiO 2 is attributed to the acceleration of mass transfer by adsorption process, narrowed bandgap (Eg = 2.9 eV) and effective charge separation rate resulting from the formation of Ti–O–Zr. This work also studied the synergy effect between adsorption and photocatalytic properties in TiO 2 –ZrO 2 –SiO 2 , and synergy factor β is used to evaluate the synergistic effect. Moreover β > 1 in first 30 min of visible light irradiation demonstrates that the remarkable synergistic effect exists in TiO 2 –ZrO 2 –SiO 2 compound system. • TiO 2 –ZrO 2 –SiO 2 photocatalyst with both adsorption and photocatalytic properties was successfully prepared. • β (synergy factor) which explains the adsorption-photocatalytic synergistic effect of TiO 2 –ZrO 2 –SiO 2 system is remarkable. • The adsorption-photocatalytic performance can be regenerated.

Research on different oxidants synergy with dielectric barrier discharge plasma in degradation of Orange G: Efficiency and mechanism

A coupling technique of introducing an oxidant into dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) plasma was studied to enhance the degradation of Orange G (OG) in aqueous solution. We evaluated the main effect of oxidants on the degradation of OG. Experiments showed that an appropriate amount of oxidant in DBD showed a significant synergistic effect, which improved the degradation efficiency and kinetics of OG. Increasing the voltage was beneficial to promote the degradation of OG. After 10 min of treatment, when the PS, SPC and Fe(VI) were 0.15, 0.10, 0.10 mM and the voltage was 70 V for 100 mg/L OG, the degradation efficiency reached 64.6%, 81.7% and 96.5%, respectively. After adding the oxidant, the synergy factor was greater than 1, and the energy yield got improvement. In addition, the quantitative determination of H2O2 and O3 and free radical scavenger test explained its mechanism of reaction. The results confirmed that the addition of oxidants could increase the production of active species, and the production of active substances had a significant impact on the removal of OG. The results showed that the addition of Fe(VI) showed higher degradation efficiency and energy yield in promoting OG degradation, while the effect of adding PS was relatively weak.

INOVASI TATA KELOLA PEMERINTAHAN DAERAH DI KABUPATEN BANTAENG

This study discusses innovative governance which is an assessment of the acceleration and improvement of governance. The method used in this study is a qualitative method with a unit of analysis for the regional government of Bantaeng Regency. The technique of determining the informants is done by purposive, data collection with in-depth interview techniques, observations, documentation, webinars, and online data. Data analysis includes several stages, namely data reduction, data presentation, after the selected data is analyzed using Nvivo 12 plus, and then conclusions are drawn. The results showed that the factors that determine the success of local governance are (1) leaders & leadership, (2) institutions, (3) modernization of the public sector, (4) organized civil society, (5) democratic traditions or culture, (6 ) the level of public trust, and (7) factors of communication, coordination, and synergy. Building innovative local governance requires several strategies, namely community involvement, utilization of cooperation, integrated services, utilization of information technology, and decentralization. To accelerate governance innovation, it is recommended to apply a collaborative model between institutions/agencies and determine the theme in each program and activity.

INOVASI TATA KELOLA PEMERINTAHAN DAERAH DI KABUPATEN BANTAENG

This study discusses innovative governance which is an assessment of the acceleration and improvement of governance. The method used in this study is a qualitative method with a unit of analysis for the regional government of Bantaeng Regency. The technique of determining the informants is done by purposive, data collection with in-depth interview techniques, observations, documentation, webinars, and online data. Data analysis includes several stages, namely data reduction, data presentation, after the selected data is analyzed using Nvivo 12 plus, and then conclusions are drawn. The results showed that the factors that determine the success of local governance are (1) leaders & leadership, (2) institutions, (3) modernization of the public sector, (4) organized civil society, (5) democratic traditions or culture, (6 ) the level of public trust, and (7) factors of communication, coordination, and synergy. Building innovative local governance requires several strategies, namely community involvement, utilization of cooperation, integrated services, utilization of information technology, and decentralization. To accelerate governance innovation, it is recommended to apply a collaborative model between institutions/agencies and determine the theme in each program and activity.

Asymmetric micro-dynamics in spatial anonymous public goods game

A number of empirical studies have proved that human decision-making behaviors are bounded rational with external regulations and intrinsic motivations. In some situations, without information exchanges, an individual could make decisions only based on its own payoff, experience, memory and aspiration level. Such process can be theoretically expressed as the aspiration-driven dynamics applied in anonymous evolutionary games. On the other hand, from the perspective of behavioral economics and cognitive psychology, Prospect Theory qualitatively describes the bounded rationality of human decision-making behaviors under uncertain conditions. Here we explore a new approach to quantitatively construction of such bounded rationality by combining the aspiration updating rules in evolutionary games with the asymmetric utility value function in Prospect Theory. Monte Carlo simulations are carried out on a square lattice using the model of public goods game. The simulation results have shown that the level of cooperation at equilibrium states depends on the combined effects of synergy factor, individual greediness and sensitivity to gains and losses. Besides, the results give a reasonable explanation for the spontaneous emergence of cooperation among irrelevant individuals as well as the necessary conditions for the full-cooperation state. Furthermore, we argue that the study on human decision-making behaviors in groups requires more extensive and profound interdisciplinary researches.

Influencer propagation model promotes cooperation in spatial public goods game

This study investigates an influencer propagation model in public goods game based on the leadership of example. We consider that participants have social identities as either role models or followers, in addition to being classified as defectors or cooperators by strategic choice. Participants are positioned at each point of the grid in the spatial lattice network. According to their identities, players have rules to calculate income and change strategy differently. We propose the parameters of the extra gain (α) and the influencer ratio (θ) as necessary to the model. Monte Carlo simulation results show that our model can effectively resist the invasion of defectors by forming stable cooperation groups and expanding cooperation advantages in evolution when the synergy factor r is low. Our work may provide a feasible solution to social dilemmas in public goods game, and inspire further exploration.

The role of alliance cooperation in spatial public goods game

Assistance and aiding partners exploited by defectors could be essential to avoid being exploited and expanding the payoff. The research on of human behaviors has suggested that organizations and alliances play an important role in promoting cooperation between humans. Therefore, this article studies the evolution of cooperation in spatial public goods games with alliance strategy on square lattice network where, in addition to the classical strategies of cooperation (C) and defection (D), alliance cooperators (A) are considered as an additional strategy. Alliance players will provide a portion of their payoff to aid their allies in the same group, who have been exploited by defectors. Apparently, alliance players demonstrate a remarkable ability sweep out defectors through network reciprocity. However, by analyzing the parameters, as influenced by cooperators, the cooperation level is a non-monotonic function of aid intensity and synergy factor. The results presented in this article can help to understand the role of alliance strategies, organizations, and taxes in promoting and maintaining cooperation in human society.

Bacillus of Calmette and Guérin (BCG) and the risk of leprosy in Ciudad del Este, Paraguay, 2016-2017.

OBJECTIVESParaguay has experienced a 35% reduction in the detected incidence of leprosy during the last ten years, as the vaccination coverage against tuberculosis (Bacillus of Calmette and Guérin [BCG] vaccine) reached ≥95% among infants. The objective of this case-control study was to evaluate the protective effect of BCG on the risk of leprosy.METHODSWe used a population-based case-control study of 20 leprosy confirmed cases reported among residents of Ciudad del Este, Paraguay, diagnosed in 2016–2017. Three controls were selected from a random sample of households from the city. We assessed vaccine effectiveness using 1- odds ratio [OR], and confounding for age, gender, education, occupation, and marital status using stratified and exact logistic regression, and explored if there was effect modification calculating the synergy factor (SF) and relative excess risk due to interaction (RERI).RESULTSAfter controlling for age, gender, education, occupation and marital status, the OR of BCG scar on the risk of leprosy was 0.10 (95% confidence interval [CI], 0.02 to 0.45), for an estimate of vaccine effectiveness of 89.5% reduced risk of leprosy (95% CI, 55.2 to 98.1). There was evidence of heterogeneity by which the effectiveness of BCG seemed stronger among younger persons (Breslow-Day and Z-test of the SF had a p<0.05), and both the RERI and SF indicated a less then multiplicative and additive interaction of BCG and younger age.CONCLUSIONSBCG vaccination was associated with a decreased risk of leprosy in the study population, particularly in persons born after 1980.

A new approach to measuring the synergy in a syndemic: Revisiting the SAVA syndemic among urban MSM in the United States

ABSTRACT Syndemic theory hypothesises that observed clusters of diseases are the result of harmful social conditions. Critiques of syndemics present the theory as ambiguous and lacking empirical evidence. Syndemics are evidenced through qualitative assessments drawing on observations, epidemiology, and biomedical evidence to explain bio-bio and bio-social interactions. Quantitative syndemic studies commonly apply a summative approach, whereby the outcome is a result of the cumulative effect of the individual elements. More recently, quantitative studies apply analyses to assess mechanical interactions among conditions. This paper applies a synergy factor analysis to measure synergy – the enhancement of the effect of one element on the effect of the others. Data from the canonical quantitative syndemic analysis study was reanalysed to assess synergy among the elements of the SAVA syndemic (substance ab/use, violence, HIV/AIDS). Contrary to original study findings, which applied a summative approach, no synergy was measured. Synergistic interactions were confirmed among a subset of the study population; the effects of substance ab/use and violence on HIV were more than two times greater in White MSM than the predicted joint effect (SF = 2·32, 95%CI 1·02–5·11, p = 0·044), indicating synergy. Synergy factor analysis presents an accessible tool to measure syndemic interactions and facilitate timely global health responses.

Encapsulation of spinel CuCo2O4 hollow sphere in V2O5-decorated graphitic carbon nitride as high-efficiency double Z-type nanocomposite for levofloxacin photodegradation

In this study, spinel CuCo2O4 (CCO) with a hierarchical hollow sphere morphology was encapsulated in V2O5-decorated ultra-wrinkled graphitic carbon-nitride (VO-UCN) for the first time via a facile glycerol-assisted solvothermal method in the interest of developing a novel high-efficiency double Z-type nano-photocatalyst (denoted as VO-UCN@CCO). The remarkable physicochemical features of the as-prepared nano-photocatalysts were verified using diverse characterization techniques including TGA, XRD, FT-IR, FE-SEM, TEM, BET, UV–vis DRS, PL, EIS, and transient photocurrent techniques. Herein, VO-UCN@CCO nanocomposite was employed for the photodisintegration of levofloxacin (LVOF) antibiotic under visible-light irradiation and the impact of certain operative reaction system variables was explored in an effort to optimize the photocatalytic capability. The 40% loading of CCO in VO-UCN@CCO nanocomposite was found to display maximum photocatalytic performance (about 95%) for LVOF photodecomposition, which was 9.3, 6.6, and 13.8 times greater when compared with pristine VO, UCN, and CCO, respectively. A high capability was observed for as-prepared photocatalyst during reusability tests and near 90% degradation efficiency was obtained in the sixth run. The complete mineralization of LVOF was achieved by the VO-UCN@CCO photocatalyst process after 300 min of reaction. An excellent synergy factor towards the degradation of LVOF was obtained for VO-UCN@CCO compared to each of its components alone. This peculiar design is envisaged to provide new inspirations for ameliorating the photocatalytic decontamination of tenacious and non-biodegradable species present in real wastewater.

Exploring Critical Success Factors of Competence-Based Synergy in Strategic Alliances: The Renault–Nissan–Mitsubishi Strategic Alliance

This paper aims to unbundle the antecedents of competence-based synergy in the strategic alliance formation process by employing the ARCTIC framework. The current research provides a new empirical application of the ARCTIC framework to reveal the success factors of reciprocal synergies of the Renault–Nissan–Mitsubishi strategic alliance in the automotive industry. By taking a resource-based view on the sources of competitive advantage, the current paper contributes to theoretical and practical issues of global strategic alliances as part of the existing literature on strategic management, international business, and corporate finance. By bridging qualitative and quantitative research methods, the paper provides validity to the ARCTIC framework with an application of the real option valuation. A conceptual model of research helps practitioners and scholars to explore critical success factors of alliance formation and to predict a competence-based synergy of strategic alliances. Future research may explore the institutional context of strategic alliances, specifically, exploring the impact of the French and Japanese governments on the Renault–Nissan–Mitsubishi alliance’s synergies.

Activity of Anthracenediones and Flavoring Phenols in Hydromethanolic Extracts of Rubia tinctorum against Grapevine Phytopathogenic Fungi.

In this work, the chemical composition of Rubia tinctorum root hydromethanolic extract was analyzed by GC–MS, and over 50 constituents were identified. The main phytochemicals were alizarin-related anthraquinones and flavoring phenol compounds. The antifungal activity of this extract, alone and in combination with chitosan oligomers (COS) or with stevioside, was evaluated against the pathogenic taxa Diplodia seriata, Dothiorella viticola and Neofusicoccum parvum, responsible for the so-called Botryosphaeria dieback of grapevine. In vitro mycelial growth inhibition tests showed remarkable activity for the pure extract, with EC50 and EC90 values as low as 66 and 88 μg·mL−1, respectively. Nonetheless, enhanced activity was attained upon the formation of conjugate complexes with COS or with stevioside, with synergy factors of up to 5.4 and 3.3, respectively, resulting in EC50 and EC90 values as low as 22 and 56 μg·mL−1, respectively. The conjugate with the best performance (COS-R. tinctorum extract) was then assayed ex situ on autoclaved grapevine wood against D. seriata, confirming its antifungal behavior on this plant material. Finally, the same conjugate was evaluated in greenhouse assays on grafted grapevine plants artificially inoculated with the three aforementioned fungal species, resulting in a significant reduction in the infection rate in all cases. This natural antifungal compound represents a promising alternative for developing sustainable control methods against grapevine trunk diseases.

Photoelectrocatalytic PNP removal using C3N4 nanosheets/α-Fe2O3 nanoarrays photoanode: Performance, mechanism and degradation pathways

The massive discharge of p-nitrophenol (PNP) has adversely affected ecosystem and human health. In this work, the g-C3N4 nanosheets was integrated with α-Fe2O3 nanorod arrays (C3N4 NSs/Fe2O3 NRAs) through simple in-situ hydrothermal and electrochemical deposition, and applied for the photoelectrocatalytic degradation of PNP. At the optimum experiment conditions at PNP initial concentration of 10 mg/L, pH value of 6.1, electrolyte concentration of 0.2 mol/L, and bias voltage of 1.5 V, the optimized photoanode displayed the highest PNP removal rate. This improvement was attributed to the synergistic effect between photocatalysis and electrocatalysis, a synergy factor of 1.6 was achieved during this C3N4 NSs/Fe2O3 NRAs photoelectrocatalytic system. The C3N4/Fe2O3 heterojunction and bias voltage facilitated the generation, separation and transfer of electron/hole pairs. The electrolysis also provided rich active species, hydroxyl radicals, etc., which cooperated with the reactive oxygen species derived from enhanced photocatalysis to achieve rapid pollutants decomposition. Based on the intermediates detection and analysis, two PNP degradation pathways, namely direct oxidation and reduction–oxidation path, were proposed, that matched well the existence form and transformation rule of inorganic nitrogen. The radical capture experiments demonstrated that electrons, hydroxyl radicals and holes were the main species responsible for PNP photoelectrocatalytic removal.

Small fraction of selective cooperators can elevate general wellbeing significantly

A cooperative player invests effort into a common venture without knowing the partner’s intention in advance. But this strategy can be implemented in various ways when a player is involved in different games simultaneously. Interestingly, if cooperative players distinguish their neighbors and allocate all their external investments into the most successful partner’s game exclusively then a significant cooperation level can be reached even at harsh circumstances where game parameters would dictate full defection otherwise. This positive impact, however, can also be reached when just a smaller fraction of players apply this sophisticated investment protocol during the game. To confirm this hypothesis we have checked several distributions that determine the fraction of supporting players who apply the mentioned selective investment protocol. Notably, when these players are not isolated, but their influences percolate then the whole population may enjoy the benefit of full cooperation already at a relatively low value of the synergy factor which represents the dilemma strength in the applied public goods game.

Study on Sonocatalytic Degradation of Tetracycline Hydrochloride by Mesoporous BiOI Microspherical Under Ultrasonic Irradiation

Degradation of tetracycline hydrochloride (TCH) was carried out using natural light driven BiOI photocatalyst through sonophotocatalytic technique. Sonocatalytic degradation was considered as a new and advanced strategy for the elimination of hazardous organic pollutants from wastewater. Until now, the synergy of employing ultrasonic irradiation with BiOI based on catalysts for the removal of antibiotic residues is rarely reported. BiOI was an excellent semiconductor catalyst of Bi class. In this paper, mesoporous BiOI microspheres self-assembled from nanosheets were prepared by solvothermal method and its ultrasonic catalytic performance was studied. The sonocatalytic performance of BiOI was evaluated in terms of the degradation of tetracycline hydrochloride (TCH) as a simulate pollutant under ultrasonic irradiation. Three comparative experiments were designed to explore the degradation of TCH in natural light as follows: ultrasound alone, BiOI alone and ultrasound/BiOI synergy. The degradation rate of TCH by ultrasound/BiOI synergy was 227 times higher than that catalyzed by ultrasound alone and 83 times higher than that catalyzed by BiOI, and the maximum degradation ratio of TCH could reach to 93.0%. Therefore, the synergistic effect was significant, and the value of synergy factor was estimated as 61. Many factors, such as the ultrasonic power, catalyst concentration (Ccatalytic), ultrasonic duty cycle, concentration of initial TCH dye (CTCH), could affect the ultrasonic degradation efficiency. The BBD methodology with RSM was applied for modeling, optimization and investigation of influence of operational parameters, i.e. ultrasonic power, catalyst concentration, ultrasonic duty cycle. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) confirmed a good quadratic response surface model for predicting the sonocatalytic efficiency at various operational parameters (R2= 0.9936 and Adjusted R2=0.9854. The possible mechanism of the high degradation rate of TCH might be associated with the generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) which could improve the chemistry yields.