This study documents and analyzes arthropod trackways from the Upper Cretaceous Wapiti Formation, located in west-central Alberta, Canada. In general, the ichnotaxonomy of arthropod trackways is problematic due to inconsistent use of diagnostic criteria in previous studies. Thus, the trackways from the Wapiti Formation are described following recently defined criteria to facilitate future ichnotaxonomic reevaluations. Judging primarily from the number and morphology of the imprints and the symmetry of the track series, the trackways are identified as Octopodichnus cf. O. raymondi Sadler, 1993. Other relevant track attributes include heteropody and great imprint depth. The mudstone slabs bearing the trackways also contain other well-preserved invertebrate trace fossils along with abundant silicified plant material. The silicified plant fragments, taken together with bentonite overlying the trace-bearing surface, suggest volcanic ash played a role in preserving the trackways. The associated traces include burrows, fecal mounds, and surficial marks and contribute to a diverse invertebrate trace-fossil assemblage. The Wapiti Formation trackways are attributed to crayfish or similar decapods and were emplaced in a succession interpreted to have been deposited in a swampy floodplain environment. By contrast, previously described examples of Octopodichnus have typically been attributed to arachnids in aeolian/desert environments. This paper expands the ichnological record of crayfish-like arthropods from the Late Cretaceous and contributes to the underexplored invertebrate fossil record of the Wapiti Formation and, more broadly, Cretaceous strata in the Western Canada Sedimentary Basin.

The role of healthcare provider ownership in shaping health system performance remains contested. An umbrella review was conducted to synthesise evidence on the relationship between healthcare provider ownership and performance in high-income countries. Systematic reviews were included that examined performance of healthcare providers based on ownership status. Searches yielded 1,862 results, with 31 systematic reviews meeting the inclusion criteria, and one further systematic review identified through grey literature searches. Following the exclusion of 10 reviews classified as low-quality and two previous umbrella reviews both published in 2014, 20 reviews were eligible for data extraction and synthesis. Inconsistent evidence was found across reviews between healthcare provider ownership and several performance indicators including health outcomes, technical efficiency, and patient satisfaction. Private hospitals tend to serve wealthier patients, select less complex or costly patients, and charge higher payments for care than public comparators. Private for-profit (FP) providers of hospital and long-term care generally had poorer workforce outcomes than private not-for-profit or public providers, including reduced staffing levels, higher workloads, and lower job satisfaction. Private PF hospitals and nursing homes had improved financial performance based on revenues or profit margins. Our findings underscore the need for nuanced regulatory responses to the expansion of private FP provision within publicly funded systems.

Governments across the world are leveraging artificial intelligence (AI) to render services to citizens. Emerging economies are not left behind in this transformation but remain a gaping distance behind in their integration into public-sector service delivery compared to the private sector. To ensure the effective integration of AI services by government agencies to serve citizens, it is necessary to understand the constellation of factors driving user adoption of AI. Therefore, this study answers the question: how can government-initiated AI services be successfully accepted by citizens? Leveraging non-probability sampling, a snowball sample of 245 tertiary student-workers from across Ghana was surveyed to solicit their knowledge, attitudes, readiness, and use intentions towards AI-enabled government services. The data were analysed using FsQCA and complemented by PLS-SEM to confirm the findings. The findings reveal four unique configurations, summarised into two broad groups; AI enthusiasts and AI sceptics that drive AI adoption in government services. Positive readiness factors, such as knowledge of AI and optimism towards AI, characterise AI enthusiasts. In contrast, those described as AI sceptics still adopt government AI services despite their reservations and general distrust. AI sceptics are a delicate group that sit at the boundary between adoption and rejection, requiring special attention and strategies to orient them towards adoption. The study recommends effective education and trust-building strategies to foster AI adoption in government services. The findings are essential for driving the efficient implementation of AI-enabled services among working-class citizens in emerging economies.

Patients with chronic liver disease (CLD) often experience hypozincemia. The clinical factors associated with hypozincemia have not been established. We investigated clinical factors that may be useful to predict hypozincemia in patients with CLD. The serum zinc levels CLD patients were measured; Study 1 investigated the predictive factors of hypozincemia, and Study 2 was performed to validate the factors identified in Study 1. Study 1 included 197 participants, of whom 28 and 106 had serum zinc levels <60 µg/dL and <80 µg/dL, respectively. A multivariate analysis revealed that serum zinc levels <60 µg/dL or <80 µg/dL were associated with the albumin–bilirubin (ALBI) score and serum albumin level. A receiver operating characteristic curve analysis revealed that the ALBI score ≥ −1.83 and the serum albumin level ≤3.3 g/dL were the cut-off values for a serum zinc level <60 µg/dL, whereas the ALBI score ≥ −2.44 and the serum albumin level ≤3.6 g/dL were the cut-off values for a serum zinc level <80 µg/dL. In Study 2 (n = 177), the diagnostic accuracy rates for serum zinc <60 µg/dL were 81.9% for the ALBI score and 75.1% for the serum albumin level, and those for serum zinc <80 µg/dL were 70.1% for both parameters. Together these findings indicate that the ALBI score may serve as a predictive factor of hypozincemia in CLD patients.

The use of metaphors, whether linguistic or visual, has been shown to enhance advertisement effectiveness, and sensory marketing research highlights the positive effects of appealing to consumers’ sensory perception. Synaesthetic metaphors, which involve metaphor and sensory experiences, are ideal for studying the effects of both metaphor and (multi)sensory cues in advertisements. We experimentally tested the hypothesis that the presence of (linguistic and/or visual) metaphor and the evocation of multiple senses will enhance advertisement appreciation and the intention to purchase the advertised product. We manipulated eight print advertisements, each of which was presented in the following conditions: (1) visual and linguistic synaesthetic metaphor; (2) linguistic but no visual synaesthetic metaphor; (3) visual but no linguistic synaesthetic metaphor; and (4) neither visual nor linguistic synaesthetic metaphor. Each advertisement was also rated for its multisensoriality, that is, its association with the five basic senses. Results partly supported the hypothesis, showing that advertisements with both visual and linguistic synaesthetic metaphors and those perceived as more multisensory were most appreciated. However, purchase intentions were not influenced by either metaphor or multisensoriality. This indicates that higher aesthetic appreciation does not necessarily translate into higher purchase intentions, suggesting the need for further research into additional influencing factors.

What are the benefits of access to the bond market for unlisted firms, and how does it affect their bank lending conditions? Using a regulatory reform that allowed unlisted firms to issue minibonds, we address these questions comparing new bank loans to issuers with concurrent loans to matched non-issuers. After the first minibond issuance, issuers obtain lower interest rates on bank loans of similar maturity, largely reflecting a shift in the seniority structure of corporate debt, and reduce the use of bank loans while increasing their total financial debt. They also increase turnover, total and fixed assets, particularly intangible assets.

This study aimed to investigate (1) the longitudinal associations between food patterns and body weight in young adulthood and (2) how food patterns of young adults relate to food consumption in early, middle and late childhood. The study sample includes 700 participants of the Québec Longitudinal Study of Child Development. During childhood, frequency of consumption of various foods was reported on ten occasions between 1·5 and 13 years. At age 22 years, food frequency questions (with quantities) were used to derive four food patterns (labelled healthy, beverage rich, protein rich and high energy density) through exploratory factor analysis. Self-reported height and weight were collected at 22 and 23 years. Regression analyses were performed to assess the associations between (1) food patterns and weight outcomes a year later (BMI, BMI change and overweight status) and (2) frequency of consumption of eight food groups in childhood and food patterns in adulthood. Dietary habits characterised by the consumption of vegetables, fruit, plant-based sources of protein and whole-grain cereal products were related to a lower risk of obesity a year later. Conversely, dietary habits characterised by a high consumption of energy-dense foods, of animal sources of proteins and, among women, of high quantities of liquids were associated with higher risk of excess weight a year later. Healthier food choices in childhood were associated with healthier food patterns in young adulthood. These findings reinforce the value of preventive dietary interventions in the early years to foster eating environments that favour healthy eating and healthy weights in adulthood.

Understanding ice flexural behavior is essential for assessing interactions with structures in cold environments. The mechanical response of ice depends on microstructural properties, such as grain size and porosity, which vary widely in natural ice. Existing bending test data often lack detailed microstructural characterization, making it difficult to interpret or generalize the results. In brittle materials such as concrete or rock, pores commonly act as failure-initiating defects. Therefore, porosity (pore size, shape and density) should be considered a key parameter when studying ice fracture. Here, we provide a robust set of bending experiments on well-controlled isotropic polycrystalline ice microstructures and investigate the role of porosity in ice failure. Two porosity levels were studied, characterized at high resolution by micro-computed X-ray tomography. Analyzing the bending failure by means of the Weibull model reveals that the sample failure is initiated by different defect populations, in relation to the porosity. Providing that the Griffith/Irwin failure criterion can be applied, the measured pore distribution allows the prediction of a critical stress for defect activation. Compared with measured failure stress, this prediction enables discriminating the defect population responsible for failure and offers a mechanistic interpretation of the volume effect observed in porous ice flexural strength.

Professor Stephan Harbarth obtained his medical degree from the University of Munich in 1993. He completed postgraduate training in internal medicine and infectious diseases in both Munich and Geneva. After serving as a clinical research fellow in infectious diseases at Geneva University Hospitals (HUG), he pursued postgraduate studies in epidemiology at Harvard School of Public Health, earning a Master of Science in Epidemiology in 1999. He continued his research activities at Children’s Hospital of Harvard Medical School until 2001.

In April 2007, he was appointed Attending Physician in the Infection Prevention and Control Service (SPCI) at HUG and also served as a consultant in the Infectious Diseases Service. He became head of the SPCI in October 2022.

A Privat-docent at the Faculty of Medicine since 2006, Professor Harbarth was appointed Associate Professor in 2010 and Full Professor in 2018. His research focuses on the epidemiology and prevention of antibiotic-resistant infections, as well as on antibiotic stewardship. A renowned expert in this field, he serves on numerous national and international expert committees. His work has received multiple awards, including the prestigious Robert Koch Award in 2022 for hospital hygiene and infection prevention.

His research group focuses on clinical and epidemiological studies aimed at addressing key issues related to the control of acquisition, transmission, and infection by multidrug-resistant organisms, as well as the associated clinical and public health burden. His work on the impact and control of nosocomial transmission of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) and extended-spectrum beta-lactamases (ESBL)-producing organisms has significantly improved strategies to combat these pathogens. His additional research interests include the molecular epidemiology of emerging bacteria, pharmaco-epidemiology and antibiotic optimization, and the rapid diagnosis of severe infections. He has been involved in several large-scale, EU-funded studies (REVERSE, ECRAID, COMBACTE) and led the major European project “Drive-AB,” which coordinated over 20 public and private partner institutions across 12 European countries to address this public health threat.

Professor Stephan Harbarth was included in the Highly Cited Researchers™ 2022 list.