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This article conceptualizes public value and develops a conceptual framework for understanding the nature of public value in public service ecosystems. So far, the conceptualization and research of public value, and its nature in the context of public service ecosystems is incoherent and scant. The theoretical development of this article occurs within the theoretical foundations of service ecosystems, public value, service-dominant logic, and public service dominant logic. It bridges the theoretical domains of value and service ecosystem research between the public and private sector research. It proposes a framework for characterizing the nature of public value at different levels of a public service ecosystem. The main theoretical contribution of this paper is the further conceptualization of public value and its characterization in the context of public service ecosystems. The article makes articulated propositions and provides novel theories for understanding and analyzing public value and public service ecosystems relevant for researchers, public managers, and policymakers of this field. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Calcipotriol, a vitamin D analogue, is an antiproliferative and anti‐inflammatory drug currently used in psoriasis. Here, our aim was to analyse the safety of calcipotriol for cartilage and bone in alleviated‐dose (0.1 mg instead of usual ≥1mg dose) zymosan‐induced arthritis in rats. Theoretically, high doses of vitamin D or analogues could have detrimental effects on bone or cartilage. The rats were divided into four groups: vehicle (n = 9), dexamethasone 0.1 mg/kg (n = 9), calcipotriol 0.1 mg/kg (n = 8) and negative control (n = 10) with no injections. Arthritic rats were given phosphate‐buffered saline (PBS) injections to left knees as a control. After euthanasia on day 8, all knees were imaged with micro‐computed tomography for surface lesions and decalcified for histological analyses. Contrary to our expectations, no significant changes could be observed in the tomography data and histological scores among the three treatment groups or between the vehicle‐treated and non‐arthritic group. Calcipotriol did not cause adverse effects on cartilage or subchondral bone within a week, suggesting that it could be safely used in local treatment of arthritis. The alleviated model caused synovitis with local and systemic inflammatory response without cartilage erosions, which might be useful in studying self‐limiting synovitis where cartilage or bone effects are not of primary interest. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT Despite increasing evidence that subchondral bone contributes to osteoarthritis (OA) pathogenesis, little is known about local changes in bone structure compared to cartilage degeneration. This study linked structural adaptation of subchondral bone with histological OA grade. Twenty-five osteochondral samples of macroscopically different degeneration were prepared from tibiae of 14 patients. Samples were scanned with micro-computed tomography (μCT) and both conventional structural parameters and novel 3D parameters based on local patterns were analyzed from the subchondral plate and trabecular bone. Subsequently, samples were processed for histology and evaluated for OARSI grade. Each bone parameter and OARSI grade was compared to assess structural adaptation of bone with OA severity. In addition, thicknesses of cartilage, calcified cartilage, and subchondral plate were analyzed from histological sections and compared with subchondral bone plate thickness from μCT. With increasing OARSI grade, the subchondral plate became thicker along with decreased specific bone surface, while there was no change in tissue mineral density. Histological analysis showed that subchondral plate thickness from μCT also includes calcified cartilage. Entropy of local patterns increased with OA severity, reflecting higher tissue heterogeneity. In the trabecular compartment, bone volume fraction and both trabecular thickness and number increased with OARSI grade while trabecular separation and structure model index decreased. Also, elevation of local patterns became longitudinal in the subchondral plate and axial transverse in trabecular bone with increasing OARSI grade. This study demonstrates the possibility of radiological assessment of OA severity by structural analysis of bone. © 2016 The Authors. Journal of Orthopaedic Research Published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Orthop Res 35:785-792, 2017. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Porous alkali-activated materials are synthetic aluminosilicates that should be often produced as granules for practical applications. In the present study, municipal solid waste incineration fly ash with ~1.2 wt% of metallic aluminium was used as a novel blowing agent for metakaolin (their ratio ranged from 0% to 100%) with an aqueous sodium silicate solution as the alkali-activator and granulation fluid in high-shear granulation. The compressive strength of all granules was sufficient (≥2 MPa). Water absorption indicated an increase in porosity as the fly ash content increased. However, X-ray microtomography imaging showed no clear correlation between the fly ash content and porosity. The granules exceeded the leaching limits for earth construction materials for antimony, vanadium, chloride and sulphate. Of those, antimony, chloride and sulphate could be controlled by decreasing the ash content, but the source of vanadium was identified as metakaolin. The increase in the fly ash content decreased the cation exchange capacity of the granules. In conclusion, the recommended fly ash content is equivalent to 0.3 wt% of Al 0 and the developed granules could be best suited as light-weight artificial aggregates in concrete where the additional binder would provide stabilization to decrease the leaching., Competing Interests: We declare we have no competing interests., (© 2024 The Author(s).)