We study the static and dynamic wetting of adaptive substrates using a mesoscopic hydrodynamic model for a liquid droplet on a solid substrate covered by a polymer brush. First, we...
In this paper, we broaden the conceptualization of institutions beyond the nation-state and develop the concept of an institutional triality that represents two national institutional environments and the supranational level. While much of international business (IB) research has focused on national institutions and the differences between them, little attention and theorizing has been dedicated to the supranational institutions that form an integral part of the global institutional ecosystem. First, we conduct an interdisciplinary bibliometric survey on supranational institutions and a qualitative review of the central publications. Second, we initiate theory building and conceptualize supranational institutions from an IB point of view, distinguish them from related IB concepts, and discuss the conceptual properties of supranational institutions that are most relevant for MNCs. Building on these distinctions and properties, we provide a conceptual framework for understanding supranational institutions in the institutional triality. Third, we provide avenues for IB research building on the delineations, the conceptual properties, and the conceptual framework.
This study identifies the impact of Bilateral Investment Treaties (BITs) on foreign direct investments (FDI) by taking advantage of the random timing of 44 unilateral BIT terminations in India between 2013 and 2019. Using quarterly bilateral data of 138 foreign investors’ home countries (FIHCs), our difference-in-differences (DD) estimates uncover a significant reduction in FDI inflows to India in response to BIT terminations by more than 30 percent compared to countries without terminations. We identify the sudden break with investor protection for new investments as the major transmission channel. Further investigations suggest that investors do not necessarily abandon India in response to BIT terminations but apparently reroute FDI via FIHCs with BITs. Evidence from firm-level data reveals that investors revoke or reroute mainly deals (e.g. mergers and acquisitions) rather than own new projects. Moreover, similarity of some legal institutions with India offsets the negative effect of BIT terminations.
Lithium is regarded as the first-line treatment for bipolar disorder (BD), a severe and disabling mental disorder that affects about 1% of the population worldwide. Nevertheless, lithium is not consistently effective, with only 30% of patients showing a favorable response to treatment. To provide personalized treatment options for bipolar patients, it is essential to identify prediction biomarkers such as polygenic scores.
In this study, we developed a polygenic score for lithium treatment response (Li+PGS) in patients with BD. To gain further insights into lithium's possible molecular mechanism of action, we performed a genome-wide gene-based analysis. Using polygenic score modeling, via methods incorporating Bayesian regression and continuous shrinkage priors, Li+PGS was developed in the International Consortium of Lithium Genetics cohort (ConLi+Gen: N=2,367) and replicated in the combined PsyCourse (N=89) and BipoLife (N=102) studies. The associations of Li+PGS and lithium treatment response — defined in a continuous ALDA scale and a categorical outcome (good response vs. poor response) were tested using regression models, each adjusted for the covariates: age, sex, and the first four genetic principal components. Statistical significance was determined at P<����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������
We experimentally study the occurrence of pattern formation during the slot-die coating of lowviscosity nearly Newtonian liquids onto Polyethylenterephthalat (PET)-substrates. In particular, it is demonstrated that with increase of the coating speed a homogeneous coating becomes unstable with respect to periodic stripe patterns. Thereby, depending on the liquid viscosity, the stripes can be oriented parallel or perpendicular with respect to the coating direction. Mixed states do also occur. The spatial period of perpendicular [parallel] stripes increases [decrease] with the coating speed. The dependence of the effect on various control parameters of slot-die coating is investigated.Finally, a simple theoretical model based on the hydrodynamics of thin films of partially wetting liquids is analysed. Comparing the results to the experiments, conclusions are drawn regarding the acting instability and pattern formation mechanisms.
Intracardiac atrial electrograms (EGM) are prone to ventricular far-field potentials due to ventricular depolarization. In this study, a filtering technique integrating independent component analysis (ICA) and wavelet decomposition has been proposed to significantly reduce the ventricular far-field contents while preserving the EGM morphology related to atrial activations. First, the wavelet decomposition is applied to each unipolar EGM. Then, ICA is applied to the decomposed unipolar EGM components and surface ECG template. Each independent component is cross-correlated with the simultaneously recorded ECG template and the three components with higher correlation coefficients were eliminated before applying inverse ICA. Total of 126 unipolar EGM collected from an atrial fibrillation patient have been included. Results indicate that the proposed filtering can reduce the ventricular signal power by around 17 dB (decibel). Furthermore, the signal-tonoise ratio is increased by approximately 17 dB after applying the proposed filtering. In conclusion, the proposed filtering method could be used for atrial fibrillation-related intracardiac mapping for catheter ablation. Further studies on a larger dataset are essential to quantify the exact impact of ventricular artefacts on both unipolar and bipolar EGM and the effectiveness of the proposed filtering technique.
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