bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Adoption of Automated Valuation Models in Malawi; Valuers' Perception
Authors: Namangale Desmond , Chimalizeni Esther
Published: September 2022

Valuation profession is historically known for being more traditional and extensively uses traditional methods of valuation. Despite this, in the recent past, there have been strides to incorporate automated valuation methods (AVMs) in the valuation profession especially for rating, mortgages and revaluation purposes. This new approach, however, attracted controversy when it was piloted in one of the cities in Malawi. This study sought to explore property valuers’ perceptions on the adoption of AVM in rating valuation against the use of traditional methods of valuation. The researchers used a descriptive study design with qualitative data collection and analysis methods. Semi-structured interview guides were used to collect data on valuers' perceptions on AVM. A total of 20 in-depth interviews were conducted with professional valuers. The valuers were asked how they perceive AVM approach to rating valuation compared to the use of traditional methods of valuation in terms of its accuracy, reliability and easiness. Data was manually analysed using content analysis. The general perception of the valuers towards AVM was mixed. One school of thought gave AVM the benefit of doubt for future incorporation into the profession if modified to suit the local environment. On the other hand, AVM was considered as posing threat to the valuation profession since anyone may be deemed qualified to carry out property valuation. However, the valuers are of the perception that the models will never replace traditional methods of valuation, hence suggestions to incorporate AVM as a supplement to traditional methods of valuation so that the former is used as a verification and auditing tool for the latter.
Factors of Tenure Security for Legal Landholders in Urban Areas: The Case of Bahir Dar City, Ethiopia
Authors: Turimubumwe Prosper , Mehari Adane , Melesse Behailu
Published: September 2022

This study examines the relationship between the dependent variable that is ‘feeling of tenure security’ of landholders in Bahir Dar city and the possible determinant factors (independent variables) such as ‘land use type of a parcel’, ‘building type constructed on a parcel’, ‘adequacy of legal provisions’, ‘institutional capacity’, ‘awareness of the landholder about the existing legal provisions of land tenure’, and ‘location of the parcel’ derived from different empirical evidences and practices. And the study also explores the perceptions of the landholders of Bahir Dar city about their land tenure security. Both quantitative and qualitative data were collected through desk review, observation, structured and semi-structured interview. Content analysis for reviewed books and articles was applied. Also, inferential statistics and descriptive analysis of data for all independent and dependent variables were used to analyse the quantitative data. Additionally, critical examination of respondents’ personal perceptions about tenure security on the area was used to analyse the qualitative data. The results showed that the aggregate contribution of those considered independent variables were 74.3% to the effect on feeling of tenure security. It is also revealed that there are five significant predictor variables for felling of tenure security in Bahir Dar city.  But ‘building type’ is the most significant determinant of all variables. Contrary to the empirical evidence the results indicate that awareness of legal provision correlated negatively with security feeling. This study found that the feeling of tenure security for landholders in Bahir Dar city are not much affected by ‘land use type of a parcel’, ‘institutional capacity’, and ‘location of the parcel’. Rather other factors like noise, misbehaviour of neighbours, projected road upgrading, heavy traffic and accidents may push someone to feel insecure and leave the place.
Enhanced Indoor Environmental Quality and the Link to Individual Productivity and Organisational Performance: A Scoping Review
Authors: Nurick Saul , Thatcher Andrew
Published: September 2022

This paper provides a scoping literature review of research methods that seek to measure individual productivity and organisational performance in office buildings containing enhanced green building features and initiatives that focus on Indoor Environmental Quality (IEQ).
The paper follows the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis (PRISMA) framework and includes thirty-nine academic papers for the period 2000 to 2020. Different research instruments are discussed, including post-occupancy evaluations (POE), longitudinal surveys, and interviews. Furthermore, a narrative focuses on specific measures, including location, amenities, comfort, engagement, individual productivity, and organisational performance. This provides insight into common research approaches and highlights where lesser used research approaches could be applied in the field of green building features and initiatives (GBFIs), including the assessment of individual productivity and organisational performance. Key findings highlight that individual productivity was measured via self-assessment in previous research. At the same time, there has been no research that has successfully measured organisational performance within the context of GBFIs. Gaps have been identified in the literature concerning the relationship between knowledge-based building occupants and measuring/monetising the implementation of GBFIs. Implications of this research indicate that there are common approaches that highlight both strengths and, more importantly, weaknesses concerning linking GBFIs to individual productivity and organisational performance. Addressing weaknesses that predominantly encompass measuring organisational performance creates the opportunity for future research in this field.
Potentials of Integrated Rural Development Schemes for Improving Rural Infrastructure
Authors: Odebode Adedayo Ayodeji , Oladokun Timothy Tunde , Ogunbayo Oyeronke Toyin
Published: September 2022

The idea of the Integrated Development Scheme (IDS) has received considerable attention in India, Indonesia and in some African countries such as Kenya and Ethiopia. The scheme has led to urban slum upgrading in these countries and has led to notable successes in the provision of common facilities in the rural areas of India. Therefore, given the neglect of rural areas by both private and public sectors, and the need to improve the housing conditions of rural dwellers, this paper examines the benefits of improved livelihoods from the scheme to improving rural housing conditions in Nigeria. A case study of the Rural Development Programme (RUDEP) of Justice Development and Peace Makers' Centre (JDPMC), a non-governmental organisation in Osun State, Nigeria, was conducted. Stratified and purposive sampling was used to select 344 participants/beneficiaries of the programme from 28 active communities out of the 36 communities' coverage by RUDEP. Qualitative and quantitative data obtained from the respondents were analysed using descriptive statistics of percentages and frequency distributions. The results revealed that the RUDEP integrated scheme, which was first initiated with the objective of improving the livelihood of poorer farmers and women that engaged in agricultural-related activities, has also impacted rural housing conditions positively by empowering them to provide facilities that were not initially in place. The paper concluded that IDS could be a viable policy option for improving the condition of rural housing in Nigeria.
Gender, Socio-Economic and Socio-Cultural Correlates of Entrepreneurial Intentions of Real Estate Students: An Empirical Analysis
Authors: Ayodele Timothy Oluwafemi , Agboola Alirat , Ekemode Benjamin , Ayorinde Olutayo Isaac
Published: September 2022

Extant studies have documented cases of male domination and gender discrimination against women in real estate and construction businesses. It is not clear whether or not the sociocultural barriers to women’s rights to land and even real estate business opportunities have any influence on the entrepreneurial motivations and aspirations of real estate students in emerging Africa markets, and if there are gendered differences to this. Primary data were collected using closed-ended questionnaires administered on final year real estate students from three major universities in Nigeria. The study employed descriptive and inferential techniques, mainly independent sample t-test, factor analysis, correlation analysis and multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA). The study revealed that the influential motivators of entrepreneurial intentions amongst real estate students were financial freedom/flexibility, personal preference/fulfilment, economic interest and prestige/status. However, an examination of the barriers revealed some gendered differences. While “sociocultural barriers to starting a real estate business” was rated 12th by male respondents rated with a mean value of 3.13, it was rated as the third most influential barrier with a mean of 3.59 by the female respondents. This study provides evidence on the entrepreneurial intentions of real estate students in the context of a real estate business environment in an emerging African market; that is particularly characterized by male domination and socio-cultural and bureaucratic discrimination against women, and how such foundations may shape their aspirations and inclinations towards particular aspect of real estate business practice in Nigeria.
Emotional Intelligence and its Application to Real Estate Service Quality: A Knowledge Gap Analysis
Authors: AKINWAMIDE David Oluwatofunmi , Hahn Jonas
Published: September 2022

The demand for quality of service among practicing firms of real estate to achieving customers’ satisfaction has become the major concern of real estate professional bodies. However, customers’ satisfaction is influenced by their emotional needs in decision making. Therefore, this study develops a conceptualized model for measuring service quality among practicing firms of real estate with the application of emotional intelligence. To assess customers’ satisfaction level, the knowledge gap between perception of real estate firms on expectation of customers and the actual customers’ expected service in the Lagos property market in Nigeria were analyzed. A random selection of 100 members of Nigerian Estate Surveyors and Valuers with a total of 400 real estate customers was purposively selected and administered with a structured questionnaire, However, only 85 retrieved questionnaires from real estate firms and a total of 362 real estate customers responded and utilized for analyzing the data. Knowledge gap analysis model with weighted mean score was employed for data analysis. Findings depicted that real estate firms have a basic knowledge barrier on the adoption of emotional intelligence (with more emphasis on self-awareness and social skills determinants) as an instrument of real estate service quality to satisfy customers’ emotional needs in delivery of service among the practitioners. Therefore, practitioners in the real estate firms need to improve on their knowledge of emotional intelligence as an instrument of real estate service quality to enhance customers’ satisfaction on emotional needs.
Acquired Body of Knowledge: a Core Valuation Influencing Factor in Inter-valuer Variance
Authors: Ashaolu Thomas , Bello Mustapha
Published: September 2022

Concerns over valuation accuracy and variance cannot be over-flogged, given the somewhat fluid nature of these concepts. It is however, more apt to dig into their fundamental causative factors. This paper realizes that specialist valuer or appraiser has a chain of sequential tasks anchored on his distinguishing competencies. At the heart of this is sufficient knowledge of the attributes of his subject of valuation. Twenty-two (22) Nigerian valuers based within Lagos Metropolis were made to carry out valuation assessment of selected landed and non-landed property assets and were also examined on their perception of the adequacy of their acquired Body of Knowledge (BOK) relevant to each asset category. The variation/dispersion in their valuations is revealed by the Standard Deviation of the distribution, for Landed Property, being 7.77 while that of Non-Landed Property is 32.24; By employing the 10% maximum variation rule of Glover (1985), 9% of the valuers fall outside the limit in respect of Landed Property whereas, the figure rose to 64% for Non-Landed Property assets. This is indicative of remarkably higher internal inconsistencies among respondent valuers on Non-Landed Property Assets. Multiple regression analysis of the results indicated that all the adaptive knowledge variables exert positive influence on valuer’s competence in valuation of both Landed Property and Non-Landed Property Assets. In view of these findings, there is urgent need to review and expand underlying curriculum for training prospective valuers towards aligning theory with practice and enhance their competence across property types.
Forestalling Conflict in Compensation of Compulsorily Acquired Customary Land: The Intergenerational Payment Option
Authors: Olapade Daramola , Ojikutu Olawale , Aluko Bioye
Published: September 2022

Land in the traditional African society is owned in collectivism and does not belong to individuals but the entire family which comprises the living, the reverend souls of the ancestors and the generations yet unborn. Meanwhile, when a family land is acquired compulsorily by the government or through the market by private firms, only a few family members of the family enjoy the compensation proceeds. The under-aged family members and the yet unborn generations are usually left out from the compensation proceeds from the family heritage (land). This has resulted in encroachment of land and land conflict to reclaim lost heritage by the then under-aged family members and the “yet unborn” generation when they come of age. It has also resulted in violent land conflicts and delay in projects planned for the acquired land. This paper examines the prospect of using intergenerational compensation (IGC) which will extend payment beyond a generation as a strategy for compensation in the customary land acquisition process. Utilising a qualitative approach, the paper examines the views of representatives of 23 selected indigenous landholding families (ILFs) and key informants in government offices providing land administrative services (GOPLAS) in Lagos State on the concept of intergenerational compensation. The findings reveal the willingness of the ILFs to accept the IGC payment strategy but the GOPLAS were unwilling to support the strategy. It also provides information on reasons for the support and opposition to the strategy and how it can be implemented.
Between Official Orthodoxy and Received Wisdom: Explaining Urban House Vacancies in Nigeria
Authors: Onwuanyi Ndubisi
Published: September 2022

Housing policies demonstrate the importance of shelter in the hierarchy of human needs. Therefore, Nigeria has a history of initiatives, handled by a ministry of housing, to stimulate   housing production. However, recently expressed views by the housing minister suggest a new official thinking which, if officially embraced, could have undesirable implications for the sector. The views dispute the much mentioned 20 million-unit housing shortfall; deny the existence of any shortfall because of observed urban vacancies; suggest that all vacant houses are available for use and can be utilised for existent urban needs; and attribute rising urban housing demand exclusively to rural-urban migration. In this paper, these views are examined, particularly because Nigeria has ordinarily not been associated with housing sufficiency; Nigeria’s characteristic situation of rapidly rising rents suggest a supply insufficiency; every vacant house may not be available for occupation; and urban migration can also come from non-rural sources. Data for the study comes from the archives, received wisdom on the operations of the housing industry and empirical findings in housing economics. The findings reveal that a lack of data evidence is enough justification for the minster’s dismissal of the much mentioned 20 million-unit shortfall, but not the complete absence of a shortfall. The assertion that vacancies imply an oversupply is equally unsubstantiated by data and unsupported by received wisdom. Also the view that all vacancies imply availability is misplaced; and the claim that urban migration is entirely of rural origin disregards urban-urban migration. The conclusion is that the claims of an oversupply and absence of a housing shortfall are unfounded, particularly in the absence of data evidence, the same grounds for official dismissal of the 20 million-unit shortfall. The study recommends that the ministry should have a “rethink and understand the problem”, particularly how the housing market works.
Evaluation of the Education and Training of Valuation Surveyors in Uganda
Authors: Wesonga Racheal , Kaweesi Ronald , Opio Acheng Pamela , Kibwami Nathan , Manga Musa
Published: September 2022

In the developing world, matching the education and training of Valuation Surveyors with the needs of the industry is increasingly becoming challenging. This is largely due to globalisation, commercialisation, and advancements in information and communications technology, among others. In Uganda, while curricula are reviewed at least every after five years, the technologies and the market requirements continue to evolve, affecting the skills and knowledge passed on to graduates at universities and other tertiary institutions. This paper evaluates the education and training of Valuation Surveyors in Uganda, through a stakeholder survey, to determine the gaps in training and suggest ways on how to fill the gaps and consequently improve the valuation surveying curriculum. A questionnaire designed to capture both quantitative and qualitative data was administered to valuation practitioners and students. Over 49% of the respondents suggested the need for constant review of curriculum and adoption of a more practical approach to learning, as one of the major ways of bridging the gap between the education system and the changing industry. The findings of the study can be used by stakeholders in the education sector, to identify and prioritise the training needs of valuation students in different institutions for quality improvement purposes.
Developing a Contextual Framework for Land Value Capture in Lagos, Nigeria
Authors: Famuyiwa Funlola
Published: September 2022

This study aims at developing a framework to guide the use of Land Value Capture (LVC) as a financing mechanism for infrastructure development in Lagos State, Nigeria. This is geared towards facilitating sustainable economic development in the region. Being a desk research, the methodology adopted was a literature survey. This was in order to identify baseline conditions necessary for the efficient application of LVC. The conditions identified, were then analyzed in terms of their workability within the context of the study area. Data was drawn from research articles, case studies, policy papers, and publications from relevant intergovernmental organizations. In addition to developing a framework, which guides the use of LVC in the study area, the study found that there is potential for the application of LVC in Lagos. Areas requiring minimal intervention include the existence of a vibrant property market and lead implementing institution. The state’s current inability to fully capitalize on LVC, are in the areas of having a strategic national vision, a clear policy framework, sound structure for institutional development finance, and an effective land title documentation system. This is the first study that develops a framework for the use of LVC specifically for Lagos. Further, the paper contextualizes the baseline conditions for LVC in Lagos, Nigeria, presenting an alternate finance mechanism for infrastructure development revenue in the region.
Exposure of patients with chronic kidney disease on dialysis to pesticides
Authors: Martins Greice Kelli de Medeiros , Pereira Nathália Cervo , Cunha Natália Veronez da , Agostinetto Lenita
Published: September 2022

ABSTRACT Introduction: Pesticides can trigger kidney disease. Objective: To describe the exposure to pesticides of patients with chronic kidney disease on dialysis. Methods: Quantitative and descriptive field research, with 90 patients with chronic kidney disease on dialysis in two hemodialysis units in the state of Santa Catarina, through the application of a structured questionnaire. Participants were divided into two groups: with and without exposure to pesticides. The questionnaire was applied in hemodialysis clinics during treatment. Laboratory test values were collected from clinical records. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and association using the chi-square test. For laboratory test data, a comparison of means was performed using the unpaired Student’s t-test between the groups. Results: The mean age of exposed participants was 58 years (±13.7; minimum = 23; maximum = 75) and that of non-exposed participants was 64 years old (±13.9; minimum = 35; maximum = 96). Of the 90 patients, 30% were exposed to pesticides. The mean exposure time was 6.7 ± 3.8 hours/day. There was a statistically significant association between the preparation of the mixture with pesticides and diabetes (p ≤ 0.048). There was no statistically significant difference between the results of laboratory tests in the exposed and non-exposed groups. Conclusion: This study shows that pesticides can be triggering factors for chronic kidney disease (CKD); however, we must expand research in this field to prove the relationship between exposure to pesticides and CKD.
Multi-Domain Multi-Task Rehearsal for Lifelong Learning
Authors: Lyu Fan , Wang Shuai , Feng Wei , Ye Zihan , Hu Fuyuan , Wang Song
Published: September 2022

Rehearsal, seeking to remind the model by storing old knowledge in lifelong learning, is one of the most effective ways to mitigate catastrophic forgetting, i.e., biased forgetting of previous knowledge when moving to new tasks. However, the old tasks of the most previous rehearsal-based methods suffer from the unpredictable domain shift when training the new task. This is because these methods always ignore two significant factors. First, the Data Imbalance between the new task and old tasks that makes the domain of old tasks prone to shift. Second, the Task Isolation among all tasks will make the domain shift toward unpredictable directions; To address the unpredictable domain shift, in this paper, we propose Multi-Domain Multi-Task (MDMT) rehearsal to train the old tasks and new task parallelly and equally to break the isolation among tasks. Specifically, a two-level angular margin loss is proposed to encourage the intra-class/task compactness and inter-class/task discrepancy, which keeps the model from domain chaos. In addition, to further address domain shift of the old tasks, we propose an optional episodic distillation loss on the memory to anchor the knowledge for each old task. Experiments on benchmark datasets validate the proposed approach can effectively mitigate the unpredictable domain shift.
Learning Cycle-Consistent Cooperative Networks via Alternating MCMC Teaching for Unsupervised Cross-Domain Translation
Authors: Xie Jianwen , Zheng Zilong , Fang Xiaolin , Zhu Song-Chun , Wu Ying Nian
Published: September 2022

This paper studies the unsupervised cross-domain translation problem by proposing a generative framework, in which the probability distribution of each domain is represented by a generative cooperative network that consists of an energy-based model and a latent variable model. The use of generative cooperative network enables maximum likelihood learning of the domain model by MCMC teaching, where the energy-based model seeks to fit the data distribution of domain and distills its knowledge to the latent variable model via MCMC. Specifically, in the MCMC teaching process, the latent variable model parameterized by an encoder-decoder maps examples from the source domain to the target domain, while the energy-based model further refines the mapped results by Langevin revision such that the revised results match to the examples in the target domain in terms of the statistical properties, which are defined by the learned energy function. For the purpose of building up a correspondence between two unpaired domains, the proposed framework simultaneously learns a pair of cooperative networks with cycle consistency, accounting for a two-way translation between two domains, by alternating MCMC teaching. Experiments show that the proposed framework is useful for unsupervised image-to-image translation and unpaired image sequence translation.
RainBench: Towards Data-Driven Global Precipitation Forecasting from Satellite Imagery
Authors: Schroeder de Witt Christian , Tong Catherine , Zantedeschi Valentina , De Martini Daniele , Kalaitzis Alfredo , Chantry Matthew , Watson-Parris Duncan , Bilinski Piotr
Published: September 2022

Extreme precipitation events, such as violent rainfall and hail storms, routinely ravage economies and livelihoods around the developing world. Climate change further aggravates this issue. Data-driven deep learning approaches could widen the access to accurate multi-day forecasts, to mitigate against such events. However, there is currently no benchmark dataset dedicated to the study of global precipitation forecasts. In this paper, we introduce RainBench, a new multi-modal benchmark dataset for data-driven precipitation forecasting. It includes simulated satellite data, a selection of relevant meteorological data from the ERA5 reanalysis product, and IMERG precipitation data. We also release PyRain, a library to process large precipitation datasets efficiently. We present an extensive analysis of our novel dataset and establish baseline results for two benchmark medium-range precipitation forecasting tasks. Finally, we discuss existing data-driven weather forecasting methodologies and suggest future research avenues.
Exploring the Efficacy of Generic Drugs in Treating Cancer
Authors: Baldini Ioana , Bernagozzi Mariana , Aggarwal Sulbha , Bornea Mihaela , Chawla Saksham , Geluykens Joppe , Katz-Rogozhnikov Dmitriy A. , Mukherjee Pratik , Ramesh Smruthi , Rosenthal Sara , Sharma Jagrati , Varshney Kush R. , Kleiman Laura B. , Mangalath Pradeep , Del Vecchio Fitz Catherine
Published: September 2022

Thousands of scientific publications discuss evidence on the
efficacy of non-cancer generic drugs being tested for cancer.
However, trying to manually identify and extract such evidence is intractable at scale. We introduce a natural language
processing pipeline to automate the identification of relevant
studies and facilitate the extraction of therapeutic associations
between generic drugs and cancers from PubMed abstracts.
We annotate datasets of drug-cancer evidence and use them
to train models to identify and characterize such evidence at
scale. To make this evidence readily consumable, we incorporate the results of the models in a web application that allows users to browse documents and their extracted evidence.
Users can provide feedback on the quality of the evidence extracted by our models. This feedback is used to improve our
datasets and the corresponding models in a continuous integration system. We describe the natural language processing
pipeline in our application and the steps required to deploy
services based on the machine learning models.
Learning Rewards From Linguistic Feedback
Authors: Sumers Theodore R. , Ho Mark K. , Hawkins Robert D. , Narasimhan Karthik , Griffiths Thomas L.
Published: September 2022

We explore unconstrained natural language feedback as a learning signal for artificial agents. Humans use rich and varied language to teach, yet most prior work on interactive learning from language assumes a particular form of input (e.g., commands). We propose a general framework which does not make this assumption, instead using aspect-based sentiment analysis to decompose feedback into sentiment over the features of a Markov decision process. We then infer the teacher's reward function by regressing the sentiment on the features, an analogue of inverse reinforcement learning. To evaluate our approach, we first collect a corpus of teaching behavior in a cooperative task where both teacher and learner are human. We implement three artificial learners: sentiment-based "literal" and "pragmatic" models, and an inference network trained end-to-end to predict rewards. We then re-run our initial experiment, pairing human teachers with these artificial learners. All three models successfully learn from interactive human feedback. The inference network approaches the performance of the "literal" sentiment model, while the "pragmatic" model nears human performance. Our work provides insight into the information structure of naturalistic linguistic feedback as well as methods to leverage it for reinforcement learning.
Combinatorial Pure Exploration with Full-Bandit or Partial Linear Feedback
Authors: Du Yihan , Kuroki Yuko , Chen Wei
Published: September 2022

In this paper, we first study the problem of combinatorial pure exploration with full-bandit feedback (CPE-BL), where a learner is given a combinatorial action space X \subseteq {0,1}^d, and in each round the learner pulls an action x \in X and receives a random reward with expectation x^T \theta, with \theta \in \R^d a latent and unknown environment vector.
The objective is to identify the optimal action with the highest expected reward, using as few samples as possible. For CPE-BL, we design the first polynomial-time adaptive algorithm, whose sample complexity matches the lower bound (within a logarithmic factor) for a family of instances and has a light dependence of \Delta_min (the smallest gap between the optimal action and sub-optimal actions). Furthermore, we propose a novel generalization of CPE-BL with flexible feedback structures, called combinatorial pure exploration with partial linear feedback (CPE-PL), which encompasses several families of sub-problems including full-bandit feedback, semi-bandit feedback, partial feedback and nonlinear reward functions. In CPE-PL, each pull of action x reports a random feedback vector with expectation of M_x \theta , where M_x \in R^{m_x \times d} is a transformation matrix for x, and gains a random (possibly nonlinear) reward related to x. For CPE-PL, we develop the first polynomial-time algorithm, which simultaneously addresses limited feedback, general reward function and combinatorial action space (e.g., matroids, matchings and s-t paths), and provide its sample complexity analysis. Our empirical evaluation demonstrates that our algorithms run orders of magnitude faster than the existing ones, and our CPE-BL algorithm is robust across different \Delta_min settings while our CPE-PL algorithm is the first one returning correct answers for nonlinear reward functions.
Material aging effects on the in-plane lateral capacity of tuff stone masonry walls: a numerical investigation
Authors: Saviano Felice , Parisi Fulvio , Lignola Gian Piero
Published: September 2022

Recent studies have shown how the variability of material properties affects the nonlinear behaviour of unreinforced masonry (URM) walls. To preserve the historical built heritage, variations in structural capacity of URM buildings associated to aging and deterioration of masonry should be quickly predicted, by integrating with structural health monitoring and risk management. In this study, relationships between structural capacity features and material properties are numerically investigated for single walls, based on a structural modelling strategy that was experimentally validated on full-scale URM walls. The paper proposes an evaluation of the effects of degradation of material properties on the macroscopic descriptors of single masonry walls, such as peak strength and stiffness, also considering the uncertainties in the estimate of those properties. The authors do not attempt to model the physical processes of material aging with time, but assume certain levels of material degradation and investigate their effects on the structural response and capacity. Force–displacement curves and failure modes are associated with the overall nonlinear response of masonry walls due to progressive deterioration of material properties. Regression models are then proposed to predict variations in the peak load-bearing capacity and in -plane lateral stiffness when the mechanical properties of the constituents changed.
Influence of Faculty Organised Revision Sessions on Anatomy Assessment Results
Authors:   Professor and Discipline Lead, Anatomy, Histology, and Pathology, College of Medicine and Public Health, Flinders University, Adelaide, Australia., Štrkalj Goran , El-Haddad Joyce ,   Lecturer, Department of Anatomy, University of New South Wales, Australia., Hulme Anneliese ,   Lecturer, Department of Anatomy, University of New South Wales, Australia., Morfea Mitchell ,   Tutor, Department of Chiropractic, Macquarie University, Australia., Marhoff-Beard Stephanie ,   Associate Lecturer, Department of Chiropractic, Macquarie University, Australia., Štrkalj Mirjana ,   Senior Lecturer, Department of Biomedical Sciences, Macquarie University, Australia.
Published: September 2022

Background: Introductory anatomy courses present challenges for educators at many institutions as they frequently comprise large numbers of students with dissimilar levels of preparedness, belonging to different academic programs. Setting: At Macquarie University, Introduction to Anatomy course enrolls students belonging to four different faculties and programs ranging from health professions to law and archaeology. The failure rate has traditionally been quite high, with two practical tests (mid and end of the semester) being particularly challenging. Several strategies have been employed to improve students’ performance. Intervention: In 2018, a week before each practical test, revision sessions were introduced, where attendance was optional. These four-hour sessions were amalgams of traditional teaching and peer-assisted learning. This study aimed to assess the value of revision sessions by comparing the test results of students who attended and those who did not. Outcome measure: Marks attained in the practical test. Results: A total of 598 students were enrolled in the course in 2018, of which 162 (27.1%) attended revision session 1 and 177 (29.6%) session 2. The average mark for practical test 1 for students who attended revision sessions was 78.8% and 74.6% in test 2, while those who did not attend achieved 61.8% and 54.5% respectively. Differences in marks for both tests were statistically significant (p <0.05). Conclusion: As there were no other changes in course delivery it can be hypothesized that revision sessions contributed to better practical test performance in 2018. These findings appear to corroborate previous research suggesting that systematic and focused revision sessions improve results in anatomy assessments. KEY WORDS: Anatomy Education, Revision, Assessment, Knowledge Retention.
GRID MAPPING IN STUDYING THE DISTRIBUTION OF LICHENS OF THE GENUS USNEA (AS APPLIED TO THE TERRITORY OF THE MOSCOW REGION)
Authors:   Lomonosov Moscow State University, Aristarkhova Ekaterina A. , Shadchinov Sergey M. ,   Lomonosov Moscow State University, Suslova Elena G. ,   Lomonosov Moscow State University
Published: September 2022

The literature review and analysis of a herbarium of fruticose epiphytic lichens Usnea (genus: Usnea Dill. Ex Adans.) from 450 points located in the Moscow region (Moscow Oblast – MO) showed the presence of five species in the territory. These species can be found on branches of spruce and pine, less often – birch, some finds are noted on black and gray alder, rowan, and willow. The emergence and development of Usnea in MO is possible strictly in the presence of certain conditions. Firstly, certain microclimatic parameters are required such as sufficiently high humidity of the surface air layer and minimal indicators of tropospheric pollution (absence of harmful compounds and of a high content of dust particles). Secondly, certain groups of plant communities, old-growth forests, and suitable phorophyte must be present. Schemes provided in the article demonstrate the locations of maximum diversity and individual finds of Usnea species per 100 km2 on the study area. The richest diversity of Usnea species is found in the Lotoshino and Taldom districts and at the intersection of the Volokolamsk, Ruza, and Istra districts, where there are no large polluting industrial objects and, according to ecomonitoring data, the air quality is the highest (with the lowest levels of harmful substances and dust particles). Usnea hirta and U. dasopoga are most widespread species of the genus Usnea in MO. Usnea lapponica and U. glabrescens are the rarest species, U. subfloridana is relatively rare. The reliability of the habitat of U. florida, U. glabrata in MO has not been confirmed yet. Usnea species are mainly present in the western and north-western portions of MO. These lichens are rarely found in the south-eastern portion of MO and on sites near big cities. Ecologically Usnea lichens gravitate toward wet and waterlogged old-growth coniferous forests, glades, and small foliar trees along river valleys, as well as edge parts of forested marshes and raised bogs. In these landscapes, the thallus of Usnea reaches the maximum size. Usnea species occur frequently and cover abundantly tree branches and trunks with multi-species sets of 2–4 epiphyte lichens (including species from other taxa). Thus, the ecological situation in the western and north-western portions of Moscow Oblast can be concluded to be favorable.
ASSESSMENT OF THE ACCESSIBILITY OF SCIENTIFIC MONITORING OBJECTS: A CASE STUDY OF LAKES AND GLACIERS OF THE CENTRAL ALTAI
Authors:   Institute of Monitoring of Climatic and Ecological Systems of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Korf Ekaterina D. , Melnik Maria A. ,   Institute of Monitoring of Climatic and Ecological Systems of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Volkova Elena S. ,   Institute of Monitoring of Climatic and Ecological Systems of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences
Published: September 2022

Most objects of scientific monitoring in mountainous and remote areas have a low degree of accessibility. This explains the complexity of organizing and conducting large-scale field studies that require thorough preparation. One aspect of ensuring successful work in scientific expeditions is spatially valid logistics of the routes. Field study of scientific objects located in mountainous regions is difficult to organize due to their inaccessibility. The purpose of this paper is to develop methodological approaches to assessing the accessibility of scientific monitoring objects in mountain areas on the basis of a comprehensive system of selected criteria. The criteria are indicators that characterize both the remoteness of objects, the complexity of geomorphological conditions, the development and quality of the road network and infrastructure, and the features of the natural and climatic conditions in the highlands. The methodology was applied to scientifically significant lakes and glaciers of the Central Altai. The ongoing processes of transformation of high-altitude landscape structures there arouse scientific and practical interest and require a systematic monitoring. As a result of the analysis, several groups of lakes and glaciers with different degrees of accessibility have been identified, and the contribution of the most significant factors affecting the complex component for each object of monitoring is shown. In general, a multi-factor assessment of the accessibility of natural objects in mountain areas makes it possible to optimize the organization of field research, take into account infrastructural and climatic factors when determining the route complexity and duration, and plan the sequence of research activities in order of priority.
Cell line construction and maintenance for Lyso-IP with or without genes linked with lysosomal storage disease v1
Authors: Sharan Swarup Sharan
Published: September 2022

Lyso-IP is a method that allows for the isolation of lysosomes for proteomics and metabolomics using HA-tagged TMEM192 (dx.doi.org/10.17504/protocols.io.bybjpskn; dx.doi.org/10.17504/protocols.io.bx9hpr36). Here, we describe methods for cell line construction and maintenance of HeLa cells with TMEM192-3xHA with or without deletion of genes linked with lysosomal storage diseases.
Workflow for proteomic analysis of purified lysosomes in cells lacking GRN v3
Authors: Swarup Sharan
Published: September 2022

Lysosomes are a major degradative organelle within eukaryotic cells. Previous work has developed a method wherein the TMEM192 protein is tagged on its C-terminus with an epitope tag in order to immunopurify (IP) lysosomes from cell extracts.1 This process is referred to as Lyso-IP. Such lysosomes can be used for proteomic analysis or for metabolomic analysis. The Lyso-IP is adapted from a previous reported method (Wyant et al., 2018). Here we also describe processing steps using proteomics after lysosome purification in the context of HeLa cells lacking the GRN gene. Such cells can be produced using the following protocol: DOI: dx.doi.org/10.17504/protocols.io.4r3l2oxqqv1y/v1.
Integration of malaria and schistosomiasis prevention and control programs: protocol for scoping review v1
Authors: Duguay Claudia
Published: September 2022

Context: It is imperative to build resilient, and sustainable programs to maintain efforts for the control and elimination of malaria and schistosomiasis during health emergencies. The objective of this scoping review is to map and summarize the evidence for integrating malaria and schistosomiasis prevention and control programs. Methods: We will follow the PRISMA-ScR (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis extension for Scoping Reviews) to conduct and report this scoping review.
Aspiring While Waiting: Temporality and Pacing of Ghanaian Stayer Youth’s Migration Aspirations
Authors: Osei Onallia Esther , Mazzucato Valentina , Haagsman Karlijn
Published: September 2022

Many youth in Global South countries, whose parents have migrated abroad while they have stayed, i.e., “stayer youth,” also aspire to migrate. While the current literature depicts stayer youth as “waiting” to emigrate, connoting passivity, recent critical youth studies suggest the importance of centring young people’s agency when focusing on their aspirations and experiences. This article investigates how stayer youth in Ghana “pace” their migration aspirations while “waiting.” By observing how youth change their aspirations over time, we first distinguish between different aspirations according to when youth first aim to migrate. Second, we “follow” stayer youth after their secondary school graduation to understand how they seek to fulfil their migration aspirations and the strategies they adopt therein. We use ethnographic data from 38 Ghanaian “stayer” young people. Our analyses show that stayer youth adapt their decision‐making when they realise some misalignment between their migration aspirations and capabilities. By analysing their adaptation strategies, we emphasise stayer youth’s agency despite structural forces confining them to what has been called “waithood.”
Öğretmen Algılarına Göre Okul Yöneticilerinin Kullandıkları Motivasyonel Dil ile Lider Üye Etkileşimi Kalitesi Arasındaki İlişki
Authors: ERTÜRK Ramazan
Published: September 2022

Araştırmanın amacı, okul yöneticilerinin kullandıkları motivasyonel dil ile lider üye etkileşimi arasındaki ilişkiyi belirlemektedir. Araştırmada nicel araştırma desenlerinden tarama modeli kullanılmıştır. Araştırmanın çalışma evrenini Bolu il merkezinde bulunan ortaokullarda görev yapan toplam 400 öğretmen oluşturmuş, 368 öğretmenden geri dönüt sağlanmıştır. Veri toplama aracı olarak; "Motivasyonel Dil Ölçeği" ve "Lider-Üye Etkileşimi Kalitesi Ölçeği" kullanılmıştır. Araştırma verileri normal dağılıma uygun olduğundan parametrik testlerden yararlanılmıştır. Araştırma sonuçlarına göre öğretmenlerin okul yöneticilerinin kullandıkları motivasyonel dile yönelik algıları motivasyonel ölçeği toplam puanı ile cesaretlendirici dil ve aitlik yaratıcı dil boyutlarında orta düzeyde; yönlendirici dil boyutunda düşük düzeydedir. Okul yöneticilerinin rehberlik ve denetim görevleri de göz önüne alındığında öğretmenlerin okul yöneticilerinin yönlendirici dil kullanmalarına yönelik algılarının düşük düzeyde olması düşündürücü ve dikkat çekici bir sonuçtur. Öğretmenlerin motive edilmesinde ve performanslarının artırılmasında birinci derecede sorumlu olan okul yöneticilerinin yönlendirici dil kullanımına yönelik öğretmen algılarının düşük düzeyde olması, okul yöneticilerinin yeterliklerinin de sorgulanmasını gerekli kılmaktadır. Bu kapsamda okul yöneticileri motivasyon, iletişim gibi örgütsel davranış konularında yeterlilik sahibi olmalıdırlar. Öğretmenlerin lider üye etkileşimi kalitesine yönelik algıları orta düzeydedir. Okul yöneticilerinin kullandığı motivasyonel dil ile lider üye etkileşimi kalitesi arasında pozitif yönlü yüksek düzeyde anlamlı bir ilişki vardır. Okul yöneticilerinin kullandığı motivasyonel dil lider üye etkileşimi kalitesini anlamlı bir şekilde yordamaktadır. Okul yöneticilerinin kullandığı motive edici dil yükseldikçe yönetici ve öğretmenler arasındaki etkileşimin kalitesi de artmaktadır. Dolayısıyla okul yöneticilerinin öğretmenlerle kurdukları etkileşimin kalitesini artırmak için motivasyonel dil kullanımına özen göstermeleri faydalı olacaktır.
Veli Toplantılarının Süreç ve Sonuçlarına İlişkin Bir Olgubilim Çalışması
Authors: NAZLI Kemal , ÖZER Niyazi , ŞAD Süleyman Nihat
Published: September 2022

Bu araştırmanın temel amacı veli, öğretmen ve okul yöneticilerinin veli toplantılarına ilişkin yaşantılarını incelemektir. Çalışma, nitel araştırma desenlerinden olgubilim desenine göre tasarlanmıştır. Araştırmanın katılımcılarını, Bingöl il merkezindeki devlet ve özel ilkokullarda görev yapan yöneticiler, sınıf öğretmenleri ve çocukları bu okullarda öğrenim gören öğrenci velileri oluşturmaktadır. Katılımcılar, ölçüt örnekleme ve maksimum çeşitlilik yöntemlerine göre belirlenmiştir. Araştırma verilerinin toplanmasında, araştırmacılar tarafından geliştirilen yarı yapılandırılmış görüşme formları kullanılmıştır. Elde edilen verilerin analizinde, betimsel analiz ve içerik analizi yöntemleri kullanılmıştır. Araştırma bulguları, veli toplantılarının planlanma süreci, toplantıda görüşülen konular, toplantı esnasında paydaş iletişimi, veli toplantılarında yaşanan güçlükler, veli toplantılarının eğitim öğretim sürecine etkisi başlıkları altında sunulmuş ve tartışılmıştır.