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Background: Surgical further training faces the challenging task of reconciling technological advancements and patient safety, particularly in the context of the planned hospital reform. Additionally, the generation shift and evolving expectations of Generations Y and Z in the workplace present further challenges. In response to these demands, the Berlin-Brandenburg Surgical Society (Berlin-Brandenburgische Chirurgische Gesellschaft, BCG) initiated a structured discussion and developed a position paper during the Neuhardenberg talks (Neuhardenberger Gespräche). Methodology: Within the framework of the Neuhardenberg talks, four sessions with keynote presentations and discussions took place. Based on the main discussion points, theses and positions were subsequently formulated and digitally voted on. Results: The results reveal a clear consensus favoring flexible working hours models, earlier specialization options and the integration of external rotations in surgical further training. Regarding talent acquisition and early recruitment of residents, there was a clear consensus supporting the promotion of employee engagement and structured early recruitment of students. There was unanimous agreement on the introduction of training associations as an effective means to ensure high-quality surgical further training. Discussion: One of the central points in the discussions was that high-quality surgical further training will only be achievable within training associations, especially given the impending hospital reform. The BCG plans to develop a modular further training association to make surgical further training in Berlin/Brandenburg fit for the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In exploring the intersection of scholarly research with technological advancement and societal impact, our analysis delves into nearly 40 million research papers spanning from 1950 to 2020 across all fields of study in science. Our scrutiny reveals an intriguing phenomenon: papers characterized by a higher CD index, often considered transformative, paradoxically exhibit a diminished propensity to influence technological and societal domains. This observation suggests a latent bias against the CD index, prompting a deeper inquiry into its implications. To unravel this trend, we introduce the concept of “disruptive citation,” a nuanced metric gauging the absolute disruptive impact of papers. Notably, papers drawing higher disruptive citations exhibit a significantly higher probability to influence both technological and societal spheres. Upon examining the heterogeneity across years and fields, we identify a bias against the CD index predominantly in the last two decades and within STEM fields. However, the positive effects of disruptive impact remain consistent across all years and fields. Our findings remain robust even when employing alternative measures of disruptive impact and controlling for total citations. By shedding light on these dynamics, our study seeks to enrich discussions regarding the recognition and role of disruptive scientific endeavors in shaping our world. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

When replacing equipment at its end of life, industries often have the option to select higher efficiency technologies. The choice to invest in an improved piece of equipment rather than a simple in-kind replacement is driven by many factors, including costs, performance, and familiarity with new technology options. Engineering models that account for equipment stock turnover, such as ENERGY 2020, typically assume that this decision is primarily driven by the difference in marginal costs: higher up front capital costs must be, at minimum, balanced by lower lifetime energy costs for an upgrade to be pursued. Stock turnover analysis requires detailed data inputs regarding the costs and performance of new equipment. For simplicity, a common approach is to develop assumed correlations that reflect the trade-off between marginal capital cost and efficiency and compare these to energy prices to select an efficiency level for new equipment. In this study, we present a novel method to develop such trade-off curves based on a technology-explicit approach rather than a qualitative correlation assumption. We generate trade-off curves for two common types of industrial devices: electric machine drive and natural gas steam generation for the case study of the Canadian pulp and paper sector. The curves demonstrate that the efficiency of new devices can be expected to vary significantly based on energy prices. At current energy prices, we find that newly purchased machine drive and steam generation devices would have an optimal efficiency level of 91% and 75%, respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on the imminent transformation of the packaging industry towards paper-based alternatives due to increasing environmental concerns regarding plastic packaging. Topics include major brands leading the shift towards sustainability by adopting paper packaging solutions and innovative technology companies developing eco-friendly packaging alternatives.

The rise of generative Artificial Intelligence (AI) has raised concerns about its potential impact on academic integrity, especially concerning research papers and academic writing. Some institutions have decided to ban the use of AI, while others are looking for ways to integrate it into their curriculum responsibly. Pennsylvania State University offers a course called "Emerging Technologies in Popular Culture," which explores the ethical implications of AI-generated art. This approach emphasizes critical evaluation and problematization of AI-generated outputs and serves as a model for embracing AI while maintaining academic rigor. As AI reshapes education, educators must prepare students with the necessary skills to navigate this evolving landscape. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The advent of Personalized Medicine (PM) holds significant promise in revolutionizing healthcare by tailoring treatments to individual patients based on their data. However, its successful implementation requires the seamless integration of innovative technologies and presents formidable challenges in terms of sustainability. To tackle these challenges head-on, the International Consortium for Personalized Medicine (ICPerMed) was established, and the IC2PerMed project, as part of this consortium, seeks to foster collaboration between the European Union (EU) and China in the field of Personalized Medicine. Based on the results collected by the project, the objective of this study is to discern the key priorities for the implementation of Personalised Medicine concerning Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) and Big Data and digital solutions, with a particular emphasis on data management and protection. Methods: A Delphi survey was conducted to gather expert's consensus on the main priorities for actions on Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) and Big Data and digital solutions in the field of Personalized Medicine. Results: The survey identified seven priorities in the area of Big Data and digital solutions, including data interoperability, standards, security measures, and international partnerships. Additionally, twelve priorities were identified for the innovation-to-market process, emphasizing cost-effectiveness, need assessment, and value definition in resource allocation. Conclusions: The effective implementation of new technologies in Personalized Medicine research and practice is essential for the advancement of healthcare systems in both the European and Chinese contexts. The identified priorities play a pivotal role in promoting the sustainability of health systems and driving innovation in the implementation of Personalized Medicine. Addressing challenges related to data interoperability, standards, security, international collaboration, cost-effectiveness, and value assessment is of utmost importance in order to propel the progress of Personalized Medicine in healthcare systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A systematic-study is conducted using an innovative technology for paper drying by applying ultrasound mechanism. The advantages include greater energy efficiency, lower drying time and temperature, improvement of the product quality, and it is considered a green technology. The effects of initial moisture content, thickness, and refining condition are studied for different types of pulps (hardwood and softwood) using 23 factorial design of experiments. Analysis of Variance show that in the range of the studied parameters, thickness has the maximum effect on ultrasonic drying time followed by the initial moisture content. In addition, using a linear regression model, a relationships for the total time of drying is provided. The results confirmed that ultrasonic drying is more efficient at higher moisture content and higher thickness of the sample. These results are related to the structural characteristic of the samples such as porosity, pore distribution, and surface roughness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Libri: International Journal of Libraries & Information Services is inviting students currently enrolled in or who have recently completed a master's or PhD degree to submit articles for the "Best Student Research Paper of 2024" competition. The articles should fall within the scope of LIBRI's research focus areas, which include libraries, information management, emerging technologies, indigenous knowledge, data science, information ethics, and more. The winning article will be published in the 2024:4 issue of Libri and the author will receive a €500 award and a complimentary subscription to Libri for 2025. Submissions should be made through the Manuscript Central website and must include a cover sheet with specific information about the student and the paper. Plagiarism and patch-writing are not acceptable, and all submissions will be screened for these issues. [Extracted from the article]

Paper‐based electronics are emerging as a new class of technology with broad areas of application. Despite several efforts to fabricate new types of flexible electronic devices by screen printing of conductive paste, many of them are often nonbiodegradable, toxic, and expensive, limiting their practical use in bioresorbable paper‐based electronics. To address this need, a highly conductive and biodegradable bimodal conductive paste is developed using cost‐effective zinc‐based micro and nanoparticles with a facile low‐temperature sintering process compatible with paper substrates. The two‐step sintering process involves the removal of the insulating zinc oxide layer by spray coating acetic acid followed by a heat press sintering process to ensure the formation of highly packed and continuous metallic traces. The required conditions for the heat press sintering process are systematically studied using electrical, optical, and mechanical characterization techniques. The results of these investigations revealed an ultra‐packed microstructure with high electrical conductivity (0.5 × 105 S m−1) and low oxide content that is obtained with a heat press sintering setting of 220 °C for 60 s. Finally, as a proof of concept, the conductive paste with an optimized sintering process is used to fabricate a wearable wireless heater for remote‐controlled release of therapeutics. The controlled delivery of the system is validated in the practical and on‐demand delivery of antibiotics for eradicating commonly found bacteria such as Staphylococcus aureus in dermal wound infections. The biocompatibility of all the materials and manufacturing process is validated by NIH/3T3 fibroblast cells via MTT assay and live/dead staining. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Altogether, I Discovery, Innovation, and the Victorian Admiralty i reminds us that the encouragement and reception of technology - and of science - is rarely just about enthusiasm or reluctance. REFERENCES 1 Citation: Hardy, Penelope K. "Review of Discovery, Innovation, and the Victorian Admiralty: Paper Navigators by Erika Behrisch." In I Discovery, Innovation, and the Victorian Admiralty i , Erika Behrisch argues that both can be true: mid-nineteenth-century Admiralty administrators were interested in - even enthusiastic about - science and technology but also bound by a responsibility to protect the public purse and a cultural reluctance to communicate openly about their decision-making. [Extracted from the article]

The repository of the Faculty of Chemistry, University of Belgrade, and the Innovation Center – Cherry presents a well-organized digital library of the institution’s scientific outputs. For the purpose of this paper a research was done on the change in the number of citations contained in the repository, based on data from the external application Authors, projects, publications. The application has integrated parameters for examining the number of citations from Scopus and Web of Science databases. In this paper the change in number of citations from publications which appear in Altmetric – a platform for alternative metric were also used. Two methods of research were applied: the first method examines the change in number of citations for all deposited records of publications in the repository, and the second method enables to examine the change in number of citations on the level of all records of a specific author. The author whose publications were examined for the research via the second method was pronounced the most cited author in the yearly report for 2021 of the Faculty of Chemistry. Both methods examine three types of records with varying levels of accessibility: permanetly restricted, available after an embargo period (green open access) and permanent open access (gold open access). The metadata of all three kinds of publications recorded in the Cherry repository are accessible to the public with strict control of the librarian – repository manager. The research subject of this paper notes the difference that arises in the number of citations of individual records in September 2021 and a year later, in September 2022. The aim of the paper is to present a possible method to establish a correlation between the accessibility of publications and their citation count. There is a special regard to publications in the green open access, which form the basis for monitoring the relevance of the repository to the Faculty of Chemistry, University of Belgrade, and the Innovation Center as well as to other institutions which are parts of the established infrastructure of repositories in Serbia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Catalonia is experiencing a significant wave of innovation in its schools. After decades of little change, since 2015 there has been a systemic surge of innovation in education that includes hundreds of primary and secondary schools. Almost at the same time, in 2015, the Catalan government enacted a new inclusive school framework based on the Salamanca Statement and subsequent developments (Ainscow, Booth, Slee, Stainback or Pujolàs, among others). This position paper analyses exploratory what is occurring in schools regarding the intersectionality between innovation and inclusion. The preliminary results show that, inclusion often competes and clashes with innovation in concrete school perspectives and practices. Our appraisal is that some schools tend to prioritise innovative practices over inclusive ones and present them as a 'school brand' in order to compete for white middle-class families. At the same time, some (head) teachers avoid implementing inclusive practices because they feel they are related to having more Special Educational Needs (SEN) students and a more complex and less 'competitive' school. The paper concludes by critiquing the setback to inclusive practices due to intersectionality with innovation, and by outlining some recommendations to generate positive synergies between the movements of innovation and inclusion [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The safety and efficacy of pharmacotherapy in children, particularly preterms, neonates and infants, is limited by a paucity of good‐quality data from prospective clinical drug trials. A specific challenge is the establishment of valid biomarkers. OMICs technologies may support these efforts by complementary information about targeted and nontargeted molecules through systematic characterization and quantitation of biological samples. OMICs technologies comprise at least genomics, epigenomics, transcriptomics, proteomics, metabolomics and microbiomics in addition to the patient's phenotype. OMICs technologies are in part hypothesis‐generating, allowing an in depth understanding of disease pathophysiology and pharmacological mechanisms. Application of OMICs technologies in paediatrics faces major challenges before routine adoption. First, developmental processes need to be considered, including a subdivision into specific age groups as developmental changes clearly impact OMICs data. Second, compared to the adult population, the number of patients is limited as are the type and amount of necessary biomaterial, especially in neonates and preterms. Thus, advanced trial designs and biostatistical methods, noninvasive biomarkers, innovative biobanking concepts including data and samples from healthy children, as well as analytical approaches (eg liquid biopsies) should be addressed to overcome these obstacles. The ultimate goal is to link OMICs technologies with innovative analysis tools, such as artificial intelligence at an early stage. The use of OMICs data based on a feasible approach will contribute to the identification complex phenotypes and subpopulations of patients to improve the development of medicines for children with potential economic advantages. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This essay argues that the anti-slavery periodical The Liberator cast itself as heir to a revolutionary tradition of Puritan print to sanction its critiques of the American church and state. This reimagination of Puritanism spoke to readers by tapping into desires for spiritual revival within a secularizing public sphere and a print culture shifting from Protestant scarcity to Victorian abundance. By tracking how The Liberator both utilized these new print technologies and imagined their reclamation of Puritanism, this essay ultimately reveals a more ambiguous negotiation between the sacred and the secular in the emergent public sphere than is often supposed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The sustainable goal of technological advancement is to go from lab to site through the development of a sensitive, specific and portable sensor for pollution monitoring. Herein, we report a completely portable colorimetric prototype device for the selective monitoring of lead (Pb) pollution, mainly in air, which relies on a new aspect of analysing the colorimetric assays on paper strips by the direct measurement of the retroreflective information, other than the available tedious image analysis methods. Our indigenously developed citrate-functionalized silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) embedded in cellulose paper strips showed significant localized surface plasmonic resonance (LSPR) peaks in the blue region and with the increase in the Pb concentration, the LSPR band in the blue region decreased and a new peak appeared in the green region of the electromagnetic spectrum due to the formation of larger aggregates. The prototype device monitored these spectral changes and accordingly gave the Pb content present in the sample. In this work, we made the sample under study by the acid digestion of one of the widely present air-suspended particulates, i.e., PbO2. The prototype device is a suitable fielddeployable technique for environmental Pb sensing and will open up new perspectives for future advancement in low-cost paper-based sensing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Once considered the "Detroit of paper" for the massive amount of forest products produced in the Pine Tree State, relatively few Maine wage earners now make their living in the industry. Shredding Paper: The Rise and Fall of Maine's Mighty Paper Industry By Michael G. Hillard. [Extracted from the article]

Abstract This study aims at to make a heuristic analysis of energy efficiency performance of Indian paper industry in a non-parametric production theoretic approach. Using the data for 2004–05 to 2013–14, radial and non-radial variants of DEA were employed to estimate energy saving potential and identify the relative position of paper industry across the states. Preliminary analysis in terms of energy intensity scores showed declining trends of energy intensity over the period of analysis for most of the states except states like Assam, Chhattisgarh, Kerala and Punjab where it does not decline much. Assuming a variable returns to scale (VRS) technology under the conditions of inherent heterogeneity and market imperfection, the slack-based measure (SBM) reported a much higher energy saving potential than reported by other measures in the study. Further by taking scale efficiency into account, the study documented the higher contribution of pure energy inefficiency in explaining the total energy inefficiency within the paper industry relative to scale inefficiency. Finally, the study recommends the propagation of energy efficiency program through a market-based and regulatory mechanism along with consolidation and technological advancement of individual units, in order to tap vast energy saving potential and thereby ensure the growth and environmental sustainability. Highlights • The paper examined the energy efficiency performance of Indian paper industry. • Both radial (BCC) and the non-radial (SBM) measures of energy efficiency, were applied. • BCC measure reported an energy saving potential of 16%. • SBM measure reported an energy saving potential of 24%, higher than BCC measure. • Scale efficiency implied the relatively higher contribution of pure energy inefficiency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this study is to identify trends of integrative approach in South Korean technology education. A literature review was completed from 131 selected research journal papers published in South Korean academic databases from 2010 to 2018. The review identified four trends. First, research on technology education within STEAM education has steadily increased since 2010, with student-targeted studies comprising the largest share. Second, program development and implementation type was the most frequent regarding the research types. Third, the analysis of school subjects integrated with technology for integrative approach in South Korean technology education showed the most links to science. Fourth, invention was the most common focus in analysis of the content area of technology education, while creation constituted the most common core concept of the new Korean national curriculum. The results of this study shed light on the place of technology education within STEAM education in South Korea and has implications for research and practice for integrative STEAM education in future Korean technology education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Guidelines on Building a Market-Oriented Green Technology Innovation System, which was released by China in 2019, has become a powerful signal to guide the development of green technology innovation (GTI). In the current digital strategy of China, the public media has become a key factor for promoting the transparency of enterprise environmental information. This paper measures the GTI efficiency of the listed paper enterprises in China as well as incorporating media attention into the research framework to explore the influencing factors of GTI of the listed paper enterprises in China during the digital economy era. The results showed that a positive media report had a positive impact on GTI and has become a new driving factor in promoting sustainable production in the digital era. Government support and openness also have a positive impact on GTI. However, negative media reports, environmental regulations, and technological innovation abilities have an inhibitory effect on the GTI efficiency of paper making enterprises. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the era of rapid product iteration, companies need simple and effective methods to guide the entire process of product innovation design and enhance their product innovation capabilities. Most research focused on improving one or several steps in the product design process. Although some scholars have proposed methods that guided the entire process, they combined more than three different theories, which increased the difficulty of theoretical learning and the complexity of practical implementation. This paper proposed a product innovation design process composed of three theoretical methods: Kano, Axiomatic Design (AD), and Theory of the Solution of Inventive Problems (TRIZ). This new process guided the entire product design process with fewer theoretical methods, reducing the difficulty of learning and implementation. The paper demonstrated the effectiveness of this method through the design practice of a portable two-wheeled self-balancing vehicle. Additionally, the discussion section explored the method's potential from the design management perspective. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, a high precision detection method of copper ion (C u 2 + ) concentration based on weak measurement is proposed. The ternary complex formed by C u 2 + with L-tryptophan and phenanthroline reagents has circular dichroism (CD) signal at 605 nm in visible light. The CD signal can be obtained using the intensity contrast as a pointer in the imaginary weak-value amplification scheme. The measured sensitivity and resolution are 0.3417 mrad l/mg and 0.058 mg/l, respectively, which is improved by an order of magnitude compared to the traditional CD measurement method. It is also more accurate and less costly than commonly used C u 2 + detection methods. The C u 2 + concentration detection based on the weak measurement of CD signal detection proposed in this paper not only brings technological breakthroughs in the field of heavy metal ion detection, but also is of great significance in promoting the cross-development of chemistry, biomedicine, and life sciences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Paper is one of the most significant inventions in human civilization, which considerably advanced global cultural development. Pulping is a key step in the conversion of fiber raw materials into paper. Since its inception, pulping has rapidly evolved, continually adapting to technological advancements. Researchers are constantly investigating various types of raw materials for pulping. In this review, some of the materials employed in pulping are outlined, and the fiber content, pulping method, as well as the strength of wood and non-wood crop straw as pulping raw materials are analyzed and discussed. In addition, this review explores the effects of different materials under various pulping conditions and assesses the future trends in raw material selection for pulping while considering the current global environmental pressures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

From Longing to Belonging: A Practical Guide to Including People with Disabilities and Mental Health Conditions in Your Faith Community: Shelly Christensen, ed. (Inclusion Innovations, 2018). xix + 312 pp. Christensen uses her own experiences, research, and disability literature to explore facets of inclusion and exclusion in faith communities. Christensen writes, " I We all have good intentions to be the kind of inclusive community where people with disabilities and mental health conditions feel that they belong. [Extracted from the article]

Rollins reveals neuroscientists' promises to be more branding than substance, a defensive crouch aimed at heading off controversy rather than tackling the immensely complicated interactions between the biological and the social. This conviction has solidified into what Rollins deems the "violent brain model" - an assumption that the brain is locus of violence and criminality. Part I unpacks the research program, specifically the research assumptions and conventions by which neuroscientists squeeze the complexity of crime and violence into the violent brain model. [Extracted from the article]

The systematization of street tree planting in twentieth-century cities went hand in hand with the development of the modern city's managerial system. In the systematization process, tree planting and care was serialized and standardized. To facilitate these procedures, tree locations and conditions began to be surveyed, planned, and recorded on paper. Focusing on street tree planting in East and West Berlin, this article examines the role of different paper formats, technologies, and representations such as lists, plans, maps, and index and edge-notched cards in the evolution of an increasingly regimented urban arboriculture. Paper was intricately related to both the life and death of the trees that it helped to document. As much as the malleable and variable nature and materiality of street trees contributed to an evolution of paper formats to capture the trees' changeable conditions, so the use of paper to control, regulate, and systematize also contributed to standardizing trees, their planting, and their care. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Millions of new research papers are published each year, making it extremely difficult for researchers to find out what they really want. Existing paper recommendation algorithms cannot effectively address the recommendation of newly published papers due to lack of historical information(e.g., citation information; view log), the so-called cold start problem. Furthermore, in most of these studies, papers are considered in homogeneous or bipartite networks. However, in a real bibliographic network, there are multiple types of objects (e.g., researchers, papers, venues, topics) and multiple types of links among these objects. In this paper, we study the problem of new paper recommendation in the heterogeneous bibliographic network, and a new method called HIPRec, i.e., meta-graph based recommendation model, is proposed to solve this problem. First, the top-K most interesting meta-paths are selected based on the training data. Secondly, a greedy method is proposed to select the most significant meta-graphs generated by merging the meta-paths, which can describe more sophisticated semantics between researchers and papers than simple meta-paths. In the meantime, meta-path and meta-graph based topological features are systematically extracted from the network. Lastly, a supervised model is used to learn the best weights associated with different topological features in deciding the researcher-new paper recommendations. We present experiments on a real bibliographic network, the DBLP network, which show the effectiveness of our approach compared to state-of-the-art new paper recommendation methods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Paper-cutting is a traditional Chinese art, and Fuyang paper-cutting is a miracle of Chinese paper-cutting art. As Fuyang paper-cutting art is gradually promoted by artists during the historical inheritance, its traditional form has changed, a batch of new-style paper-cutting artworks have been created, Wang Xiaying is a leading figure in its inheritance. From the perspective of manifestation means and modeling language, this paper found that Wang Xiaying on the basis of inheriting traditional paper-cutting learned from other arts, applied innovative techniques to break through limitations in modeling, and realized the innovation of paper-cutting art It was concluded that traditional paper-cutting arts could only achieve sustainable development by integrating with new elements. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights • An active learning-based tool supporting researchers finding relevant paper faster. • Use of domain knowledge to faster find the first relevant paper deterministically. • An accurate estimator for the total number of relevant papers. • With the estimator, the system can stop at target recall with little overhead. • An error correction strategy efficiently resolves human errors. Abstract Literature reviews are essential for any researcher trying to keep up to date with the burgeoning software engineering literature. Finding relevant papers can be hard due to the huge amount of candidates provided by search. FAST2 is a novel tool for assisting the researchers to find the next promising paper to read. This paper describes FAST2 and tests it on four large systematic literature review datasets. We show that FAST2 robustly optimizes the human effort to find most (95%) of the relevant software engineering papers while also compensating for the errors made by humans during the review process. The effectiveness of FAST2 can be attributed to three key innovations: (1) a novel way of applying external domain knowledge (a simple two or three keyword search) to guide the initial selection of papers—which helps to find relevant research papers faster with less variances; (2) an estimator of the number of remaining relevant papers yet to be found—which helps the reviewer decide when to stop the review; (3) a novel human error correction algorithm—which corrects a majority of human misclassifications (labeling relevant papers as non-relevant or vice versa) without imposing too much extra human effort. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent technological advancements are transforming the architecture, engineering and construction (AEC) industry, focusing on digitalization and automation opportunities as drivers for improvement. In a realm as complex as building permitting, the drive for automation should be anchored in a comprehensive understanding of the process it seeks to transform. Furthermore, analyzing the process from a global perspective is essential for identifying opportunities for improvement. This article addresses the need for a systematic and robust approach to evaluate and compare building permit processes globally. Traditional approaches for process comparisons fail to capture the intricacies of a building permit process. Hence, in this paper, the authors propose and introduce the Process Analysis and Comparative Evaluation methodology, PACE-BP, which was tailored for building permit processes. The proposed method relies on a previously developed framework for process mapping which provides a comparable data set of building permit process maps in different countries. The comparative evaluation is then performed by assessing the maps based on predefined indicators, which are used to compile a representative vector for each process. The computational method for compiling the vectors and calculating the similarity measures between pairs of processes is described in detail. The application of PACE-BP for analyzing and comparing building permit processes in Germany, the US, Israel, and Italy is demonstrated in this paper. Our findings challenge the pursuit of a universal "best practice," emphasizing the need to balance priorities and stakeholder's objectives. The PACE-BP method is a powerful tool for policymakers and stakeholders, providing meaningful insight into existing processes and pinpointing drawbacks and limitations in current practices, while revealing opportunities for improvement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The adoption of large language models (LLMs) in education holds much promise. However, like many technological innovations before them, adoption and access can often be inequitable from the outset, creating more divides than they bridge. In this paper, we explore the magnitude of the country and language divide in the leading open‐source and proprietary LLMs with respect to knowledge of K‐12 taxonomies in a variety of countries and their performance on tagging problem content with the appropriate skill from a taxonomy, an important task for aligning open educational resources and tutoring content with state curricula. We also experiment with approaches to narrowing the performance divide by enhancing LLM skill tagging performance across four countries (the USA, Ireland, South Korea and India–Maharashtra) for more equitable outcomes. We observe considerable performance disparities not only with non‐English languages but with English and non‐US taxonomies. Our findings demonstrate that fine‐tuning GPT‐3.5 with a few labelled examples can improve its proficiency in tagging problems with relevant skills or standards, even for countries and languages that are underrepresented during training. Furthermore, the fine‐tuning results show the potential viability of GPT as a multilingual skill classifier. Using both an open‐source model, Llama2‐13B, and a closed‐source model, GPT‐3.5, we also observe large disparities in tagging performance between the two and find that fine‐tuning and skill information in the prompt improve both, but the closed‐source model improves to a much greater extent. Our study contributes to the first empirical results on mitigating disparities across countries and languages with LLMs in an educational context. Practitioner notesWhat is already known about this topic Recent advances in generative AI have led to increased applications of LLMs in education, offering diverse opportunities.LLMs excel predominantly in English and exhibit a bias towards the US context.Automated content tagging has been studied using English‐language content and taxonomies.What this paper adds Investigates the country and language disparities in LLMs concerning knowledge of educational taxonomies and their performance in tagging content.Presents the first empirical findings on addressing disparities in LLM performance across countries and languages within an educational context.Improves GPT‐3.5's tagging accuracy through fine‐tuning, even for non‐US countries, starting from zero accuracy.Extends automated content tagging to non‐English languages using both open‐source and closed‐source LLMs.Implications for practice and/or policy Underscores the importance of considering the performance generalizability of LLMs to languages other than English.Highlights the potential viability of ChatGPT as a skill tagging classifier across countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The topic of electric vehicles is currently generating significant interest worldwide. They are beneficial for the environment as they save up fuel, reduce pollution and carbon footprint too, but their market consumption is at the nascent level. The demand for these electric vehicles in developing countries is currently very slow and not that steady. The importance of Electric Vehicles (EVs) in the upcoming future is high and so it is crucial to figure out why these EVs are not being sold as much as we expect them in the market today. This paper tries to find out the multiple reasons why these vehicles are not in high demand, and why their counterparts, gasoline-fuelled vehicles are more in demand in the market. This paper discusses, after reviewing multiple other papers, why the consumption of EVs is low. Why their market demand is not where it should be and also multiple other facets. Finally, the paper finds that reasons like higher costs and low government incentives among multiple others are some factors leading to a low market demand for EVs. Also, the paper discusses the future scope of these EVs and how we can increase their consumption in the market. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• First, on the basis of theory and industrial development history, this paper puts forward the LASIS model, which can analyze the process of technological innovation promoting industrial upgrading. • Second, this paper may initially open the "dark box" of technological innovation. • Third, this paper holds that incremental technological innovation is universal, while radical innovation is sporadic; radical technological innovation is also based on incremental technological innovation. • Fourth, using the LASSIS model, this paper can analyze the mechanism of gradual technological innovation to promote industrial upgrading. • Fifthly, this paper may also have some contributions to the transformation of paradigms. Industrial upgrading driven by technological innovation follows the LASIS process, that is, technological innovation promotes industrial gradual upgrading through the leading-in of new technologies, architectural innovation, standardization, integration innovation, and paradigm shift. At different stages of technological innovation, there are different internal mechanisms for industrial upgrading. New technology and new products are introduced in the stage of leading-in. Architectural innovation mainly establishes dominant technology and products through design competition to form technical barriers. In the stage of two-way recursive standardization, industrial upgrading is promoted through four intermediate variables: cost saving, value chain upgrading, economies of scale, economies of scope and modularization, and technology diffusion. In the stage of integration innovation, industrial upgrading is driven by diffusive fusion innovation, absorptive fusion innovation, technology crossing integration innovation, and intra-industry technology integration innovation. The stage of paradigm shift is mainly the substitution of the new paradigm for the old one. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Several emerging technologies afford a specific type of interference with privacy which has not yet been conceptualised: inferring information about mental properties of persons on the basis of physiological or biometric signals, in short: mind probing. This paper conceptualises it, analyses several forms and proposes concrete norms that ban and criminalise it. Facial emotion recognition, neuroimaging, or wearable consumer devices such as smartwatches process biometric data to draw inferences about minds; the prevalence and sophistication of such mind probes will soon increase through AI data analysis. This paper explores how human rights law, the EU General Data Protection Regulation and the EU AI Act address mind probes and shows why the current level of protection appears insufficient. This motivates novel norms banning and criminalising non-consensual biometric-based forms of mind reading, ensuring that at least some parts of the mind remain in principle free from non-consensual mind probing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Molecularly imprinted membranes (MIMs) have been a focal research interest since 1990, representing a breakthrough in the integration of target molecules into membrane structures for cutting-edge sensing applications. This paper traces the developmental history of MIMs, elucidating the diverse methodologies employed in their preparation and characterization on two-dimensional solid-supported substrates. We then explore the principles and diverse applications of MIMs, particularly in the context of emerging technologies encompassing electrochemistry, surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS), surface plasmon resonance (SPR), and the quartz crystal microbalance (QCM). Furthermore, we shed light on the unique features of ion-sensitive field-effect transistor (ISFET) biosensors that rely on MIMs, with the notable advancements and challenges of point-of-care biochemical sensors highlighted. By providing a comprehensive overview of the latest innovations and future trajectories, this paper aims to inspire further exploration and progress in the field of MIM-driven sensing technologies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research paper introduces a novel approach by combining a Backpropagation (BP) neural network with a non-angular and non-radial directional distance function to construct a BPNN-DDF model. This innovative model evaluates, decomposes, and analyzes China's agricultural sector's carbon emission rate across nine key subregions between 2010 and 2021. The key findings of this study are that China's agricultural carbon emission rate is decreasing, primarily due to technological advancements rather than technological efficiency. Subregions with robust economies and stable climates exhibit higher carbon emission efficiency, whereas those with underdeveloped economies, low agricultural technology, and volatile climates show relatively lower efficiency. The Dagum Gini coefficient analysis reveals a widening disparity in carbon emission rates among agricultural subregions, escalating from 0.174 in 2010 to 0.425 in 2021, indicating a growing gap between subregions that demands immediate attention. The kernel density distribution demonstrates an overall upward trend in China's carbon emission efficiency but also highlights an increasing divergence among subregions, particularly between the South China Area, the Huang-Huai-Hai Plain, and other regions. Therefore, this paper posits that strategies focusing on technological progress, sustainable agricultural development, regional development initiatives, and addressing inter-subregional imbalances will be crucial pathways for China's future low-carbon agricultural development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]