bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Switzerland
Authors: Ladner Andreas 
Published: February 2024

AbstractLocal governments play an important role in Switzerland. Despite their small size and their high number, municipalities are quite autonomous and fulfil key functions in the provision of tasks and services. What is especially noticeable is their fiscal and financial autonomy. Municipalities are regulated through cantonal constitutions and laws, which, from a federalist perspective, leads to remarkable diversity among the cantons. At the same time, the growing complexity of the policy landscape necessitates cooperation between municipalities and between different levels of government. Municipalities strive to avoid being reduced to simple agencies that execute tasks for the cantons and the national government without being involved on an equal basis in decision-making in questions that concern them. Formally, they all have the same status and competences, but time will tell whether this can continue or if more asymmetrical solutions will become necessary.
United States of America
Authors: Chertoff Meryl Justin 
Published: February 2024

AbstractMunicipalities in the United States (US), particularly those in its largest metropolitan areas, drive economic growth and innovation and are home to the majority of the nation’s population, but their political status under the federal constitutional system of divided government is relatively weak. That does not mean US cities lack political power; it means that the federalist structure weakens, rather than enhances, city power. The US Constitution does not even mention cities, and the US federal structure has not evolved to reflect ‘city power’. There is a mismatch between the rise of cities on the global stage and their role in the constitutional and federal structure of the US. The tension between localism, regionalism, and nationalism has growing salience in US political discourse. This chapter focuses on how local governments exercise power most effectively, whether internally or through a complex matrix of intergovernmental relationships, private-sector dealings, and civil society organisations.
Australia
Authors: Sansom Graham , Tan Su Fei 
Published: February 2024

AbstractAustralian local government is characterised by contradictions. There are some 537 elected municipalities, plus a small number of special-purpose entities, divided amongst seven separate systems created by the governments of six states and the Northern Territory. The Australia Capital Territory is a city-state with no separate local government. Municipalities are extremely diverse in terms of their physical size, geography, climate, populations, economies and financial capacity, but within each of the seven systems all operate as a single tier under essentially the same legislation. There are no ‘neighbourhood councils’ or regional municipalities. While they are subject to detailed regulation, close scrutiny and frequent interventions by the state or territory government, all municipalities have some sort of power of general competence. Local government is not recognised in Australia’s federal constitution, yet it enjoys extensive financial, policy and program links with the federal government and has a seat in several high-level inter-government forums. And so on. Overall, local government has limited functions and plays only a minor role in major state and national agendas, but an increasing number of large, well-resourced municipalities offer the potential to do much more. This chapter explores the factors underlying forces at work and considers future prospects.
Brazil
Authors: Garson Sol , Castro Kleber 
Published: February 2024

AbstractWith the aim of understanding the place and role of municipalities in the Brazilian federation, this chapter begins with an overview of the country’s key political and economic features, after which it explores the historical development of local government under a federal system that alternates between periods of power centralisation and decentralisation. Municipalities’ legislative and operational responsibilities are defined in the Constitution, which as such circumscribes their governance role in the federation. However, increased responsibilities for service delivery have required increased revenue, not only from federal and state transfers but from improved exploitation of municipal tax bases. Despite their progress in expanding funding sources, municipalities still rely heavily on federal and state support, a situation that highlights tensions between financial dependence and political autonomy. A discussion of relations with other orders of government reveals the possibilities for, and difficulties of, cooperation, as well as shows the importance of local political dynamics and instruments of popular participation. The final section draws attention to the importance of the metropolitan regions and identifies emerging issues relating to municipalities in Brazil.
Self-Awareness and Respect in East Africa: A Contextualised Approach to Defining the Constructs
Authors: Ngina Purity , Mwema Victoria , Akongo Stella Rose , Giacomazzi Mauro 
Published: February 2024

AbstractThe Assessment of Life Skills and Values in East Africa Study (ALiVE) focussed on four competencies with respect as the only selected value. This chapter explores the concepts of self-awareness and respect, delving into the process undertaken by ALiVE in the development of assessment tools to measure these constructs in East Africa. Self-awareness and respect are presented together due to some associations between them. Cultural influence on values such as respect is evident in worldwide perspectives, as well as in its local conceptualisation in East Africa. The chapter describes global and local perspectives on these constructs, and identifies the unique aspects of local conceptualisations in the East African region. The chapter discusses how self-awareness and respect are understood by adolescents, parents, and the communities in Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda, and the implications of this on the development of the assessment tools. In addition, the assessment frameworks for both constructs are presented. These are expanded through description of the hypothesized proficiency levels and illustrated by sample tasks.
Collaboration in East Africa: A Contextualised Approach to Defining the Construct
Authors: Scoular Claire , Otieno David Alelah 
Published: February 2024

AbstractCollaboration has been highlighted internationally as a key skill for learning, working, and living in the twenty-first century. However, to teach it well, enhance its performance, and measure its growth, it is essential to have a clear and consistent definition of the skill. There are a number of frameworks that describe collaboration in a way that is meaningful to learning and growth. Despite some differences across frameworks, it is clear there is a common core set of contributing subskills. This suggests that collaboration is of global interest, and that there are components that transcend national or cultural specificities. Notwithstanding, definitions and frameworks need to be suitable for the context in which they will be applied, ensuring the approach is integrated and sustainable in education systems. One focus of the ALiVE project was to develop a collaboration framework suitable and relevant for the sub-Saharan African context. The approach included auditing frameworks internationally, curricula regionally, and conducting an ethnographic study. The resulting framework was used in the development of assessment tasks to sample the skill among adolescents in Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda. The issues highlighted in this chapter reveal the need for further study of collaboration in specific contexts in order to understand local variations and ensure optimal approaches to measurement.
Approaches to Assessment of Twenty-First Century Skills in East Africa
Authors: Nansubuga Florence , Ariapa Martin , Baluku Martin , Kim Helyn 
Published: February 2024

AbstractTo address the challenges originating from changes in the global market and with technological progress, sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) is adopting more holistic education systems that offer lifelong competence for workers in the twenty-first century. This transition requires integration of complex cognitive and social/interpersonal competencies, such as critical thinking, teamwork, cultural and diversity awareness, multilingualism, and the use of digital technologies into the traditional educational curricula. However, the transition from traditional to holistic curricula is complicated. Issues include how twenty-first century skills are defined in SSA, how they can be taught, how they can be integrated into curricula, and how they can be assessed. A review of the literature on assessments was first conducted in order to review approaches and tools used to measure twenty-first century skills in SSA. Five assessment approaches were identified: scenario-based, questionnaire, video recording and direct observation, portfolio, and technology-based. Seven tools that met study criteria were examined along five dimensions: purpose, type or form, target population, context, and specific skills, in order to determine their utility for assessment of twenty-first century skills. Findings indicate that five of the seven assessment tools support summative purposes while two support formative assessment. Further to this, two tools were designed for large-scale assessment and three targeted adolescents. In terms of method, scenario-based and self-report were the most common approaches used to collect information on twenty-first century skills in SSA. Notably, the outcomes of scenario-based assessments provided compelling evidence of proficiencies, demonstrating the method’s efficiency in task creation, analysis, and scoring rubrics that provide clear distinctions across performance levels.
Funktionale Kategorisierung der Knochenartefakte
Authors: Probst-Böhm Anja 
Published: February 2024

ZusammenfassungDie Möglichkeiten der Funktionsbestimmung von Gebrauchsspuren werden vor allem stark von Lagerungseinflüssen und verwendungsbedingten Faktoren begrenzt. Aber auch Umfang und Grad des persönlichen Erfahrungswissens hinsichtlich des Erkennens und Unterscheidens der verschiedenen Spuren können die Gebrauchsspurenanalyse subjektiv färben und schränken damit ihre Gültigkeit ein.
Characterization of Stronghold Fortifications by 2D/3D/4D Electrical Resistivity Tomography: Major Push Towards Quantitative Interpretation
Authors: Klanica Radek , Štefan Ivo , Hasil Jan , Beránek Roman 
Published: February 2024

AbstractGeophysical methods are widely used as noninvasive tools for archaeological prospection. In a first step is usually applied basic prospection of vast areas, when data are evaluated only in qualitative way. Sometimes is performed second step, during which take place more detailed multidimensional or combined surveys in order to image archeological monuments complexly, allowing quantitative interpretation. Hence, we used a unique and novel combination of multidimensional electrical resistivity tomography (ERT) on the Early Middle Ages stronghold fortifications at Vinoř (Czechia) to achieve such interpretation. The joint results of 2D/3D/4D (time-lapse) surveys allowed us to precisely characterize individual construction components of the fortifications, including a ditch and rampart enhanced by a front wall with a berm. The ERT results recovered the fortification dimensions and the volume of building material used. The surveyed fortification section was verified by excavations directly after the ERT measurements. A comparison of the excavated section with geophysics proved that ERT was able to infer all the important fortification characteristics. In addition, illustrative picture of the resistivity manifestations of the basic components of this very typical fortification construction were obtained. The results show that multidimensional ERT provide access to quantitative interpretation allowing to explain archaeological structures behind investigated anomalies. In result, sites containing cultural heritage can be leaved intact, excavations can be substituted in surprisingly large extent, while unprecedented amount of archaeological information is still retrieved.
Optimization of forward pulsed currents for combining the precision shaping and polishing of nickel micro mould tools to reduce demoulding defects
Authors: Zaki Sana , Zhang Nan , Gilchrist Michael D. 
Published: February 2024

AbstractPrecise tooling is vital for defect-free production of micro injection moulded (μ-IM) or hot-embossed products. The demoulding stage of such moulding and forming processes poses a serious challenge to the integrity of thin miniature features because of friction, adhesion, and thermal stresses. Typically, micro moulds involve geometrically textured patterns or features such as linear ridges, pillars, channels, and holes, the characteristic dimensions of which range from 10 to 300 μm. Realistically complex mould designs, containing precision micro features (enhanced fillet radius and positive draft angle) and high surface quality, are presented in this work. Electropolishing based on forward pulse currents (PC) has been used to shape and polish Ni micro moulds that contain sets of micron-scaled linear ridges and star patterns in order to ease the separation of moulded polymeric parts from the metallic mould during ejection and demoulding. The use of forward pulsed currents improved the mould design by increasing the fillet radii and draft angle while keeping the surface roughness low and maintaining a good surface shine. An optimization study of forward PC using a green solution of nickel sulfamate varied EP times (0–70 min) and duty cycles (40, 50, 60, and 70%) at a process conditions of 2.8 V, 50 °C, and 250 rpm. The best topographical and morphological changes were observed for a typical microfluidic channel (w × h, 100 × 110 μm) with an EP time of 70 min and 50% duty cycle: fillet radius increased by 3.8 μm, draft angle by 3.3°, and the channel width reduced by 11.4% while surface roughness changed by 8.6% and surface shine improved by 48.9%. Experimental validation was performed using hot embossing wherein the electropolished Ni mould replicated the micro channels and star patterns in PMMA chips with notably fewer burrs, material pile up, and no feature distortion. Moreover, there was a reduction in the side wall roughness of micro channels in PDMS casting with electropolished Ni mould by 16%. Hence, this work presents a significant scientific contribution to improving the efficiency of micro mould tools and reduces the defects caused by friction and adhesion in replicated polymeric parts.
Zhang neural networks: an introduction to predictive computations for discretized time-varying matrix problems
Authors: Uhlig Frank 
Published: February 2024

AbstractThis paper wants to increase our understanding and computational know-how for time-varying matrix problems and Zhang Neural Networks. These neural networks were invented for time or single parameter-varying matrix problems around 2001 in China and almost all of their advances have been made in and most still come from its birthplace. Zhang Neural Network methods have become a backbone for solving discretized sensor driven time-varying matrix problems in real-time, in theory and in on-chip applications for robots, in control theory and other engineering applications in China. They have become the method of choice for many time-varying matrix problems that benefit from or require efficient, accurate and predictive real-time computations. A typical discretized Zhang Neural Network algorithm needs seven distinct steps in its initial set-up. The construction of discretized Zhang Neural Network algorithms starts from a model equation with its associated error equation and the stipulation that the error function decrease exponentially fast. The error function differential equation is then mated with a convergent look-ahead finite difference formula to create a distinctly new multi-step style solver that predicts the future state of the system reliably from current and earlier state and solution data. Matlab codes of discretized Zhang Neural Network algorithms for time varying matrix problems typically consist of one linear equations solve and one recursion of already available data per time step. This makes discretized Zhang Neural network based algorithms highly competitive with ordinary differential equation initial value analytic continuation methods for function given data that are designed to work adaptively. Discretized Zhang Neural Network methods have different characteristics and applicabilities than multi-step ordinary differential equations (ODEs) initial value solvers. These new time-varying matrix methods can solve matrix-given problems from sensor data with constant sampling gaps or from functional equations. To illustrate the adaptability of discretized Zhang Neural Networks and further the understanding of this method, this paper details the seven step set-up process for Zhang Neural Networks and twelve separate time-varying matrix models. It supplies new codes for seven of these. Open problems are mentioned as well as detailed references to recent work on discretized Zhang Neural Networks and time-varying matrix computations. Comparisons are given to standard non-predictive multi-step methods that use initial value problems ODE solvers and analytic continuation methods.
Longitudinal Cardiac Evaluation of Children with Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome (MIS-C) Following COVID-19 by Conventional and Speckle-Tracking Echocardiography
Authors: Anagnostopoulou Andriana , Dourdouna Maria-Myrto , Loukopoulou Sofia , Mpourazani Evdoxia , Poulakis Marios , Karanasios Evangelos , Michos Athanasios 
Published: February 2024

AbstractMultisystem inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS-C), is a rare but severe, hyperinflammatory complication of COVID-19, in which cardiovascular abnormalities are frequently detected. In this prospective study, we describe the echocardiographic findings in patients with MIS-C, with the use of conventional Echocardiography and Speckle-Tracking Echocardiography (STE) with Left Ventricular (LV) Global Longitudinal Strain (GLS) analysis, in the acute and follow-up phase. In total, 25 MIS-C patients [64% females, mean (± SD) age: 8.3 (± 3.72) years] were included. In the acute phase, median (IQR) Troponin and NT-proBNP and mean heart rate, were 8.07 (14.52) pg/mL, 2875.00 (7713.00) pg/mL, and 102.87 (± 22.96) bpm, respectively. Median (IQR) LV Ejection Fraction (LVEF) was 66 (8)% and LVEF impairment was detected in 2/25 (8%) patients. On follow-up (mean time interval:9.50 ± 4.59 months), heart rate was significantly lower, with a mean value of 90.00 (± 14.56) bpm (p-value = 0.017). Median (IQR) LVEF was 66.00 (6.70)% (p-value = 0.345) and all 25 participants had normal LVEF. In 14/25 patients, additional LV-GLS analysis was performed. During the acute phase, mean LV-GLS was − 18.02 (± 4.40)%. LV-GLS was abnormal in 6/14 patients (42.9%) and among them, only one patient had reduced LVEF. On follow-up (median (IQR) time interval:6.93 (3.66) months), mean LV-GLS was -20.31 (± 1.91)% (p-value = 0.07) and in 1/14 patient (7.1%), the LV-GLS impairment persisted. In conclusion, in the acute and follow-up phase, we detected abnormal LV-GLS values in some patients, in the presence of normal LVEF, indicating that STE-GLS is a valuable tool for identifying subclinical myocardial injury in MIS-C.
Advanced detection of cervical cancer biomarkers using engineered filamentous phage nanofibers
Authors: Zhou Xu , Wang Yicun , Bao Meijing , Chu Yuqing , Liu Ruixue , Chen Qi , Lin Yang 
Published: February 2024

Abstract
Cervical cancer is a major global health concern, characterized by its high incidence and mortality rates. The detection of tumor markers is crucial for managing cancer, making treatment decisions, and monitoring disease progression. Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and programmed death-ligand 1 (PDL-1) are key targets in cervical cancer therapy and valuable biomarkers in predicting treatment response and prognosis. In this study, we found that combining the measurement of VEGF and soluble PDL-1 can be used for diagnosing and evaluating the progression of cervical cancer. To explore a more convenient approach for detecting and assessing cervical cancer, we designed and prepared an engineered fd bacteriophage, a human-safe viral nanofiber, equipped with two peptides targeting VEGF and PD-L1. The dual-display phage nanofiber specifically recognizes and binds to both proteins. Utilizing this nanofiber as a novel capture agent, we developed a new enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) method. This method shows significantly enhanced detection sensitivity compared to conventional ELISA methods, which use either anti-VEGF or anti-PD-L1 antibodies as capture agents. Therefore, the phage dual-display nanofiber presents significant potential in detecting cancer markers, evaluating medication efficacy, and advancing immunotherapy drug development.

Key points
• The combined measurement of VEGF and soluble Programmed Death-Ligand 1(sPD-L1) demonstrates an additive effect in the diagnosis of cervical cancer. Fd phage nanofibers have been ingeniously engineered to display peptides that bind to VEGF and PD-L1, enabling the simultaneous detection of both proteins within a single assay
• Genetically engineered phage nanofibers, adorned with two distinct peptides, can be utilized for the diagnosis and prognosis of cancer and can be mass-produced cost-effectively through bacterial infections
• Employing dual-display fd phage nanofibers as capture probes, the phage ELISA method exhibited significantly enhanced detection sensitivity compared to traditional sandwich ELISA. Furthermore, phage ELISA facilitates the detection of a single protein or the simultaneous detection of multiple proteins, rendering them powerful tools for protein analysis and diagnosis across various fields, including cancer research

Graphical Abstract