cometadata/datacite-rtg-text-other-reclassification-records huggingface dataset:
New Frontiers in HR Practices and HR Processes: evidence from Asia
Creators: name: Sanders, Karin
name: Song, Lynda Jiwen
name: Wang, Zhen
name: Bednall, Timothy
Publisher: name: Swinburne
Year: 2024

description: Research on the relationship between human resource management (HRM) and organizational outcomes has mainly been studied at the organizational level so far. However, HRM scholars acknowledge that employees are the foundation of organizations, and they play an important role in the effect of HRM on employee and organizational outcomes. While research on HR content focuses on the effects of HR practices, HR process research considers how employee perceptions and attributions of HR influence organizational outcomes. In the special issue of New Frontiers in HR Practices and HR Processes: Evidence from Asia, we focus on emerging research in the Asian region, especially China and Pakistan regarding the role of employees, also known as the micro-foundations of HR research, in terms of both HR content and HR process. In this Introduction of the special issue, we review the current state-of-the-art studies in both research streams and highlight further research questions. We outline how the papers in this special issue advance our knowledge for the Asian region and we also call for more Asian region HR practice and HR process studies in the future.
Generation of internal waves on the continental shelf by Hurricane Andrew.
Creators: name: Keen, Timothy R.
name: Allen, Susan E.
Publisher: name: American Geophysical Union
Year: 2011

description: Observed currents, temperature, and salinity from moored instruments on the Louisiana continental slope and shelf reveal multiple baroclinic oscillations during Hurricane Andrew in August 1992. These measurements are supplemented by numerical models in order to identify possible internal wave generation mechanisms. The Princeton Ocean Model is run with realistic topography, stratification, and wind forcing to extend the observations to Mississippi Canyon and other areas on the shelf. A two-layer isopycnal model is used with idealized topography and spatially uniform winds to isolate internal waves generated in and around the canyon. The combination of the observations and the results from the numerical models indicates several possible mechanisms for generating long internal waves: (1) near-inertial internal waves were generated across the slope and shelf by dislocation of the thermocline by the wind stress; (2) interaction of inertial flow with topography generated internal waves along the shelf break, which bifurcated into landward and seaward propagating phases; (3) downwelling along the coast depressed the thermocline; after downwelling relaxes, an internal wave front propagates as a Kelvin wave; and (4) Poincaré waves generated within Mississippi Canyon propagate seaward while being advected westward over the continental slope. These processes interact to produce a three-dimensional internal wave field, which was only partly captured by the observations. An edited version of this paper was published by AGU. Copyright 2000 American Geophysical Union.
title: Accuracy of heart rate variability estimated with reflective wrist-PPG in elderly vascular patients
Creators: name: Hoog Antink, Christoph
name: Mai, Yen
name: Peltokangas, Mikko
name: Leonhardt, Steffen
name: Oksala, Niku
name: Vehkaoja, Antti
Publisher: name: Springer Nature
Year: 2022

description: Optical heart rate monitoring (OHR) with reflective wrist photoplethysmography is a technique mainly used in the wellness application domain for monitoring heart rate levels during exercise. In the absence of motion, OHR technique is also able to estimate individual beat‑to‑beat intervals relatively well and can therefore also be used, for example, in monitoring of cardiac arrhythmias, stress, or sleep quality through heart rate variability (HRV) analysis. HRV analysis has also potential in monitoring the recovery of patients, e.g. after a medical intervention. However, in order to detect subtle changes, the calculated HRV parameters should be sufficiently accurate and very few studies exist that asses the accuracy of OHR derived HRV in non‑healthy subjects. In this paper, we present a method to estimate beat‑to‑beat‑intervals (BBIs) from reflective wrist PPG signal and evaluated the accuracy of the proposed method in estimating BBIs in a cross‑sectional study with 29 hospitalized patients (mean age 70.6 years) in 24‑h recordings performed after peripheral vascular surgery or endovascular interventions. Finally, we evaluate the accuracy of more than 30 commonly used HRV parameters and find that the accuracy of certain metrics, for example SDNN and triangular index, shown in the literature to be associated with the deterioration of the status of the patients during recovery from surgical intervention, could be adequate for patient monitoring. On the other hand, the parameters more affected by the high‑frequency content of the HRV and especially the LF/HF‑ratio should be used with caution.
Review of the Abstract: The study on maternal mortality rate and some factors to maternal deaths in An Giang province, 2016-2020
Creators: name: Makedonskaia, Sofiia
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2024
Subjects: Maternal Mortality
Pregnancy
Childbirth
Reproductive Health
Delayed Care
Obstetric Complications
Hypertensive Disorders
Hemorrhage
Eclampsia
Antenatal Care

description: Childbirth and pregnancy are significant contributors to mortality, illness, and disability among women of reproductive age. Aims: (1) To explore the key indicators of maternal mortality and the contributing causes in An Giang province between 2016 and 2020, and (2) To examine factors associated with both direct and indirect maternal deaths during this period. Study Design and Methods: A retrospective analysis was conducted on 42 recorded cases of maternal mortality in An Giang province from 2016 to 2020. Findings: The maternal mortality ratio was 25 per 100,000 live births, with 42.8% of the deaths occurring postpartum. Delays in seeking medical care were identified in 46.8% of cases, delays in receiving appropriate care in 43.5%, and delays in accessing healthcare services in 9.7%. Direct obstetric causes related to pregnancy, labor, and childbirth were significantly associated (p=0.013). Conclusions and Recommendations: It is crucial to improve communication with pregnant women to help them identify early signs of complications and ensure proper antenatal care. Efforts to enhance the quality of reproductive healthcare services, along with increased oversight of medical practices and health education at the community level, are vital.
System Reliability Assessment Of Component-Integrated Wireless Sensor Networks With Consideration Of Data Accuracy
Creators: name: Meyer Zu Westerhausen, Sören
name: Raveendran, Gurubaran
name: Rosemann, Daniel
name: Wurst, Johanna
name: Lachmayer, Roland
Publisher: name: Gdynia : Polish Safety and Reliability Association
Year: 2024
Subjects: subject: System Reliability
subject: Wireless Sensor Networks
subject: Hardware Lifetime
subject: Data Accuracy
subject: Systemzuverlässigkeit
subject: Drahtlose Sensornetzwerke
subject: Hardwarelebensdauer
subject: Datengenauigkeit
subject: Konferenzschrift
subject: Dewey Decimal Classification::600 | Technik

description: The system reliability of wireless sensor networks (WSN) is an important issue to ensure robust data acquisition. Especially when sensor networks are directly integrated into components, for example inside the composite layup of composite parts, the non-repairability has to be considered for sensor placement. Since the quality of the acquired data is as important as the reliability of the network itself to fulfill the main function of data acquisition, a combined perspective on data and hardware is needed. Therefore, an algorithmic approach for data path-based reliability assessment is enhanced to the estimation of data accuracy regarding signal quality losses during transmission. This approach uses signal attenuation along data paths to estimate changes in the Signal-to-Noise ratio (SNR) and therefore in the accuracy of acquired data. To demonstrate the algorithmic effectiveness, a case study is presented that analyzes an exemplary WSN from both a data and a hardware perspective. Resulting from the demonstrated effectiveness and applicability, the approach presented in this paper aids engineers in designing WSNs for reliable data acquisition.
Air quality as a game-changer: Pathways towards large-scale vehicle electrification in Australia
Creators: name: Moglia, Magnus
name: Nygaard, Christian A.
name: Dembek, Krzysztof
name: Dia, Hussein
Publisher: name: Swinburne
Year: 2024

description: This paper presents an integrated analysis of the costs and benefits of carefully constructed scenarios for the electrification of transport in Australia. Scenarios were constructed to responsively meet increased electricity demand, whilst maximising emission reduction, household finances and public health benefits. The scenarios bundle several technologies, including charging infrastructure, electric vehicles, home battery systems, and renewable energy. The fastest, mission-style, adoption scenario can reduce emissions by 9% of the 2030 carbon budget and reduce the loss of life by 24,000 by 2042. In all scenarios, government expenditure is dwarfed by the estimated public benefits, and households are nearly always better off in the medium to long term. Demonstrating the feasibility and advantages of surface transportation electrification in Australia, which presents cross-sections of rural and urban infrastructure, traffic and a large, socially and politically diverse population, provides broadly applicable evidence of the feasibility of electrification in other jurisdictions.
Waiting Room Poster - Information Flyer - Physiotherapy practices.pdf
Creators: name: Vredeveld, Tom
name: Ramaekers, Stephan P. J.
name: Coppieters, Michel
name: Pool-Goudzwaard, Annelies L.
Publisher: name: University of Amsterdam / Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences
Year: 2022
Subjects: Health Sciences

description: Information leaflet for patients of physiotherapy practices, visiting their health care professional for low back pain, lower urinary tract symptoms, both, or complaints from thoracic spine to upper extremities.
 These information leaflets are provided to potential participants to inform them on the ongoing research located in their physiotherapy practice. It is not an official patient information form
Interannual variability of accumulated snow in the Columbia basin, British Columbia
Creators: name: Hsieh, William W.
name: Tang, Benyang
Publisher: name: American Geophysical Union
Year: 2016

description: Snow water equivalent anomalies (SWEA) measured around April 1 by stations in the Columbia basin area in British Columbia, Canada, were studied for their interannual variability during the period 1950–1999, particularly in relation to El Niño/La Niña events and to high and low Pacific–North American (PNA) atmospheric circulation patterns. Composites of the SWEA showed that SWEA were negative during El Niño years, positive during La Niña years, negative during high PNA years, and positive during low PNA years. High PNA appeared to have the most impact on the SWEA, followed by La Niña, El Niño, and low PNA. In the Columbia basin area, La Niña effects (relative to El Niño effects) on SWEA decrease northward and eastward but strengthen with elevation. Composites of the Pacific sea surface temperature anomalies (SSTA) during the 10 lowest SWEA years revealed weak signals, with El Niño warm SSTA present only during spring and early summer in the preceding year and the SSTA pattern consistent with a high PNA present by fall and winter. In contrast, composites of the SSTA during the 10 highest SWEA years showed strong La Niña cool SSTA starting around May in the preceding year and lasting onto winter. An edited version of this paper was published by AGU. Copyright 2001 American Geophysical Union.
Paper-work: what module guides have to say about assessment practices
Creators: name: Enriquez, Judith
Publisher: name: PRISM: Casting New Light on Learning, Theory and Practice
Year: 2020

description: Documents are usually circulated as carriers of transparent information. They can serve as evidence of accountability. In fact, they embody the most desired value of managerialism, where the culture of audit and compliance is fully served and delivered in written and textual form. This article explores assessment by attending to its principal instrument – the document – through which it is organised, monitored and implemented in higher education. It is an invitation to ‘see’ what documents, such as, module guides, ‘do’ for universities and the assessment practices of academics. Under close scrutiny, documents ‘do’ more than record and transfer information. Their associated paper-work expresses and reproduces norms, patterns of thoughts and work habits that are accepted and assumed to be shared in the prevailing outcome-based assessment systems of higher education. This article provides a critical account based on practice-oriented and material-semiotic approaches to assessment. It bears witness to the past and persistent norms and standards that are shaped by documents, paper-work, control, compliance and surveillance and less by pedagogical and student engagement.
description: PRISM: Casting New Light on Learning, Theory and Practice, Early View
title: Carbohydrate binding module-fused antibodies improve the performance of cellulose-based lateral flow immunoassays
Creators: name: Elter, Adrian Elias Curd
name: Bock, Tina
name: Spiehl, Dieter
name: Russo, Giulio
name: Hinz, Steffen C.
name: Bitsch, Sebastian
name: Baum, Eva
name: Langhans, Markus
name: Meckel, Tobias
name: Dörsam, Edgar
name: Kolmar, Harald
name: Schwall, Gerhard
Publisher: name: Springer Nature
Year: 2022

description: Since the pandemic outbreak of Covid-19 in December 2019, several lateral flow assay (LFA) devices were developed to enable the constant monitoring of regional and global infection processes. Additionally, innumerable lateral flow test devices are frequently used for determination of different clinical parameters, food safety, and environmental factors. Since common LFAs rely on non-biodegradable nitrocellulose membranes, we focused on their replacement by cellulose-composed, biodegradable papers. We report the development of cellulose paper-based lateral flow immunoassays using a carbohydrate-binding module-fused to detection antibodies. Studies regarding the protein binding capacity and potential protein wash-off effects on cellulose paper demonstrated a 2.7-fold protein binding capacity of CBM-fused antibody fragments compared to the sole antibody fragment. Furthermore, this strategy improved the spatial retention of CBM-fused detection antibodies to the test area, which resulted in an enhanced sensitivity and improved overall LFA-performance compared to the naked detection antibody. CBM-assisted antibodies were validated by implementation into two model lateral flow test devices (pregnancy detection and the detection of SARS-CoV-2 specific antibodies). The CBM-assisted pregnancy LFA demonstrated sensitive detection of human gonadotropin (hCG) in synthetic urine and the CBM-assisted Covid-19 antibody LFA was able to detect SARS-CoV-2 specific antibodies present in serum. Our findings pave the way to the more frequent use of cellulose-based papers instead of nitrocellulose in LFA devices and thus potentially improve the sustainability in the field of POC diagnostics.
The Chicago Segregation Problem: Exploring the Limitations of the 1980 Desegregation Consent Decree
Creators: name: Tu, Karen
Publisher: name: University of Chicago
Year: 2025
Subjects: subject: Chicago Public School
subject: Consent Decree
subject: School Desegregation
subject: Segregation
subject: White Flight
subject: School Integration

description: Ordered by the federal government, the 1980 Chicago Public School Desegregation Consent Decree was the most extensive attempt to desegregate the public school system in the history of Chicago. Yet, despite federal and local efforts, the Chicago Public School system remains one of the most segregated school systems in the country. This paper examines how the Consent Decree failed to create real changes in the segregated school system and how its unintended consequences left irreversible impacts in the school system. Drawing from court cases in the 1980s relating to the Consent Decree, archival material such as newspaper, monitoring commission reports assessing the Decree’s implementation, and academic papers investigating segregation in Chicago, I find that the conflicting priorities and approaches of the federal government and the school board regarding funding and the demographic realities in Chicago greatly undermined the decree’s effectiveness. By highlighting the decree’s failures and long-term consequences, this paper contributes to the broader discussion on the limitations of legal mandates in addressing systemic racial segregation in education.
Sammlung Hans-Martin Linde
Creators: name: Wohlthat, Martina
name: Blashtschuk, Ulrike
Publisher: name: Musik-Akademie Basel, Vera Oeri-Bibliothek
Year: 2022

description: Innerhalb der Bibliothek der Musik-Akademie Basel wurde 2015 eine Sammlung Hans-Martin Linde errichtet. Der Flötist und Komponist gehörte 1957 bis 1995 zu den Dozierenden der Schola Cantorum Basiliensis und der Hochschule für Musik. Dazu ist ein Verzeichnis entstanden, das als Werkkatalog wie als Nachweis der Musikmanuskripte und anderer Dokumente dient.
The importance of irrigation supply chains within the water footprint: an example from the Pakistani part of the Indus basin
Creators: name: Siyal, Abdul Wahab
name: Gerbens-Leenes, Winnie
name: Aldaya, Maite M.
name: Naz, Rozina
Publisher: name: Taylor & Francis
Year: 2023
Subjects: subject: Space Science
subject: Environmental Sciences not elsewhere classified
subject: Chemical Sciences not elsewhere classified
subject: Ecology
subject: FOS: Biological sciences
subject: Biological Sciences not elsewhere classified

description: Many environmental studies have shown that a systems approach, including complete supply chains, is relevant for the assessment of the consequences of production and consumption on natural resources. This can also be applied to water. Although water consumption also includes water supply chains, often irrigation supply chains are excluded in water footprint (WF) studies. Using information from water management studies on water losses, we propose an improved WF method that includes blue crop WFs and WFs of irrigation supply chains indicating total agricultural blue WFs. A systems approach considering not only irrigation technology but whole water supply chains, also distinguishing between surface and groundwater, is needed to improve efficient blue water use in agriculture. This method is applied to the Pakistani part of the Indus basin that includes the largest man-made irrigation network in the world. The total agricultural blue WF is 1.6 times the blue crop WF. Surface water losses vary between 45 and 49%, groundwater losses between 18 and 21% and are smaller than results from water management studies. Differences between provinces and canal commands are large. The identification of hotspots provides a tool to improve water management. Earlier WF studies might have underestimated agricultural water consumption if supply chains are neglected. More water efficient agriculture should take supply chain losses into account probably requiring water management adaptations, which is more a policy than an agriculture task. WFs of supply chains are also relevant for other sectors, like industry or municipal water supply.
A framework to assess the role of social cash transfers in building adaptive capacity for climate resilience
Creators: name: Sengupta, Sayanti
name: Costella, Cecilia
Publisher: name: Taylor & Francis
Year: 2023
Subjects: subject: Medicine
subject: Environmental Sciences not elsewhere classified
subject: Sociology
subject: FOS: Sociology
subject: Biological Sciences not elsewhere classified
subject: Cancer
subject: Science Policy

description: Climate change is increasingly affecting vulnerable groups and resulting in dire social and economic consequences, especially for those in the Global South. Managing current and emerging climate-related risks will require increasing individual’s and communities’ resilience, including enhancing absorptive, adaptive, and transformative capacities. Policymakers are now considering the role that social protection policies and programmes can play in building climate resilience by contributing to these capacities. However, there is a limited understanding of the extent to which social protection instruments can influence these three resilience-related capacities. Lack of assessment tools or frameworks might contribute to limited evidence of social protection’s ability to increase climate resilience. In particular, there appear to be no frameworks or tools that help assess the role of social cash transfers (SCT) in building adaptive capacity. Based on a multi-staged literature review, we develop an adaptive capacity outcomes framework (ACOF) that can help assess SCT’s contribution to building adaptive capacity, and, consequently, resilience. The framework is then tested using impact evaluation and assessment reports from SCT programmes in Indonesia, Zambia, Ethiopia, Bangladesh, and Tanzania. The exercise finds that SCTs alone have a limited contribution to adaptive capacity outcomes, but interventions that combine cash transfers with other components such as nutrition or livelihood training show positive impacts. We find that the ACOF can support assessments of SCT’s contribution towards adaptive capacity. It can help build evidence, evaluate impacts, and through further research, can facilitate learning on SCTs' role in increasing climate resilience.
title: Robust Forecasting and Backtesting of Value at Risk (VaR) and Expected Shortfall (ES) risk measures
Creators: name: Argyropoulos, Christos
Publisher: name: University of Kent
Year: 2017

description: Recent financial turmoil has set in motion changes that include the switch from the Value at Risk (VaR) risk measure to the Expected Shortfall (ES). Although ES seems superior to VaR, both measures are statistical quantities estimated using historical data. This basis in historical data raises numerous concerns regarding their implementation. This thesis focuses on the estimation, evaluation and applications of the Value at Risk and Expected Shortfall risk measures. It consists of four main chapters corresponding to four research papers. The first chapter evaluates the utility of the forecast combination approach in risk forecasting. We implement a forecast combination approach aiming to improve the accuracy of the freight rate VaR forecasts. In addition, we utilize an augmented statistical evaluation approach accompanied by the relevant evaluation of the forecasts. This is done in order to acquire a thorough understanding of the performance of the forecasts. Our findings suggest that the combination approach significantly improves the accuracy of the VaR forecasts. In the second chapter we evaluate the performance of the backtesting methods and their reliability. Specifically, through a simulation exercise and a financial data application, we evaluate the size and power properties of the major VaR and ES backtesting methods. In addition, we examine the impacts of the regulatory specifications and estimation risk on the tests performance. The simulation results suggest that the size of the tests is distorted and the power of the tests is low, especially for the regulatory specifications. Finally, the empirical application results suggest that misspecified methods are not rejected. In the third chapter we focus on the relevant evaluation of the density forecasts. Specifically, we propose a new rule that aims to capture the performance of the methods at specific regions of the tail. In order to evaluate the performance of the proposed scoring rule, we conduct a simulation exercise and a financial data application. Our findings suggest that the tests of equal performance based on the newly proposed scoring rule have a robust size and power profile. In addition, the financial data application results suggest that the proposed rule provides a more clear insight into the tail performance of the forecasting methods. Finally, in the fourth chapter we utilize the VaR and ES risk measures in order to evaluate the risk-return relationship of the hedge funds and the fund of funds. In addition, we propose an optimal portfolio strategy that aims to outperform the hedge funds and their portfolio benchmarks. Our findings suggest that there are small gains from investing in fund of funds when compared to low risk hedge funds. More importantly, the optimal portfolios outperform all the fund of funds benchmarks.
Unlocking the interaction of social restriction and social protection in Indonesia’s COVID-19 policy: future risk and adaptation
Creators: name: Prasetyo, Yanu Endar
name: Surtiari, Gusti Ayu Ketut
name: Nawawi
Publisher: name: Taylor & Francis
Year: 2023
Subjects: subject: Molecular Biology
subject: Environmental Sciences not elsewhere classified
subject: Sociology
subject: FOS: Sociology
subject: Biological Sciences not elsewhere classified
subject: Cancer
subject: Science Policy

description: The Indonesian government has issued hundreds of regulations and policies to deal with the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. These various policies and regulations assess how a government responds, mitigates, and prevents systemic crises in its country. These decisions- and policy-making processes are largely determined by the country’s unique socioeconomic and political landscape. This paper reviewed 875 regulations issued by the Indonesian government at the national level in 2020–2022 to determine which policies have the most direct social, economic, and health impact on the Indonesian population. We highlight social protection to explore the challenges and opportunities to respond future risk by taking benefit from progressive effort of the Indonesian government to protect all Indonesian populations with the priority of the most vulnerable groups. This paper aims to map out government policies and regulations in handling the pandemic and exploring the potential opportunities for adaptation to respond future risk. The study is based on expert group discussion and policy mapping. As one of the findings of the investigation, this paper discusses the interaction between large-scale and micro-scale social restriction and social protection policies, which are considered the foremost solutions for handling Indonesia’s more severe economic crisis and facing current and future risks, including climate change impact. While social protection is one of the massive strategies to relieve economic impact to the most affected group, effectiveness and success are still challenges concerning data. This paper also provides important notes regarding climate change adaptation and how the government must respond to future risks.
Corrigendum to J. Appl. Meteor., 38, 1262–1292.
Creators: name: Grimmond, C. S. B.
name: Oke, Timothy R.
Publisher: name: American Meteorological Society
Year: 2011

description: Copyright 2000 American Meteorological Society (AMS). Permission to use figures, tables, and brief excerpts from this work in scientific and educational works is hereby granted provided that the source is acknowledged. Any use of material in this work that is determined to be “fair use” under Section 107 of the U.S. Copyright Act or that satisfies the conditions specified in Section 108 of the U.S. Copyright Act (17 USC §108, as revised by P.L. 94-553) does not require the AMS’s permission. Republication, systematic reproduction, posting in electronic form, such as on a web site or in a searchable database, or other uses of this material, except as exempted by the above statement, requires written permission or a license from the AMS. Additional details are provided in the AMS Copyright Policy, available on the AMS Web site located at (http://www.ametsoc.org/) or from the AMS at 617-227-2425 or copyright@ametsoc.org.
Tales from the other drug wars : papers from the 12th Annual Health Policy Conference, held in Vancouver, B.C., Nov. 26, 1999
Creators: name: Barer, M. L.
name: McGrail, Kimberlyn M.
name: Cardiff, K. (Karen), 1953-
name: Wood, Laura Christine, 1955-
name: Green, C. J. (Carolyn Joanne), 1956-
Publisher: name: Centre for Health Services and Policy Research (CHSPR)
Year: 2014

description: "Tales from the Other Drug Wars examined the role of research evidence in the newly emerging world of industry-health policy. The conference critically examined the notion that industry policy, which facilitates the free market use of research evidence, is becoming a much stronger determinant of health and health care than any health policy designed to balance that influence, taking other factors into account. The health sector faces unprecedented challenges deciding on what is appropriate in health care as more and more research is funded and designed to meet private industry needs." -CHSPR website
Investigating biodiversity trends in different mitigation scenarios with a national integrated assessment model
Creators: name: Fiorini, Ana Carolina Oliveira
name: Rochedo, Pedro Rua Rodriguez
name: Angelkorte, Gerd
name: Diuana, Fabio A.
name: Império, Mariana
name: Carvalho, Lucas Silva
name: Morais, Taísa Nogueira
name: Vasquez-Arroyo, Eveline
name: Schaeffer, Roberto
Publisher: name: Taylor & Francis
Year: 2023
Subjects: subject: Environmental Sciences not elsewhere classified
subject: Ecology
subject: FOS: Biological sciences
subject: Science Policy

description: The inclusion of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in climate mitigation pathways is critical and can be reached by assessing their consequences through the deployment of appropriate indicators to that end. Integrated Assessment Models (IAMs) are important tools for understanding possible impacts caused by adopting new policies. We investigate terrestrial biodiversity trends (life on land: SDG 15) for three different climate mitigation scenarios for Brazil: (1) A scenario compatible with a world that maintains its current policies with current deforestation rates in the Amazon and the Cerrado biomes; (2) A scenario in which Brazil fulfils its Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC); and (3) A scenario compatible with a world that limits warming to 1.5°C. We use the Brazilian Land-Use and Energy System model (BLUES), a national IAM, to show the implications of the transitions involved in the above-mentioned scenarios for the country up to 2050. We conduct a post-processing analysis using consolidated biodiversity indicators to emphasize how different IAM greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions mitigation solutions present distinct positive and negative potential impacts on biodiversity in Brazil. However, our analysis does not consider the impacts associated with climate change, but only the risks imposed by mitigation policies. Our results indicate that biodiversity loss decreases in the scenarios from (1) to (3), implying that stronger climate change mitigation actions could result in smaller biodiversity losses. We conclude that Brazil has the opportunity to align its biodiversity and climate goals through nature-based solutions (NBS), such as forest conservation, restoration, pasture recovery, and the use of crop-pasture and agroforestry systems.
title: Looking for Image Statistics: Active Vision With Avatars in a Naturalistic Virtual Environment
Creators: name: Straub, Dominik
name: Rothkopf, Constantin A.
Publisher: name: Frontiers
Year: 2022

description: The efficient coding hypothesis posits that sensory systems are tuned to the regularities of their natural input. The statistics of natural image databases have been the topic of many studies, which have revealed biases in the distribution of orientations that are related to neural representations as well as behavior in psychophysical tasks. However, commonly used natural image databases contain images taken with a camera with a planar image sensor and limited field of view. Thus, these images do not incorporate the physical properties of the visual system and its active use reflecting body and eye movements. Here, we investigate quantitatively, whether the active use of the visual system influences image statistics across the visual field by simulating visual behaviors in an avatar in a naturalistic virtual environment. Images with a field of view of 120◦ were generated during exploration of a virtual forest environment both for a human and cat avatar. The physical properties of the visual system were taken into account by projecting the images onto idealized retinas according to models of the eyes’ geometrical optics. Crucially, different active gaze behaviors were simulated to obtain image ensembles that allow investigating the consequences of active visual behaviors on the statistics of the input to the visual system. In the central visual field, the statistics of the virtual images matched photographic images regarding their power spectra and a bias in edge orientations toward cardinal directions. At larger eccentricities, the cardinal bias was superimposed with a gradually increasing radial bias. The strength of this effect depends on the active visual behavior and the physical properties of the eye. There were also significant differences between the upper and lower visual field, which became stronger depending on how the environment was actively sampled. Taken together, the results show that quantitatively relating natural image statistics to neural representations and psychophysical behavior requires not only to take the structure of the environment into account, but also the physical properties of the visual system, and its active use in behavior.
More river pollution from untreated urban waste due to the Russian-Ukrainian war: a perspective view
Creators: name: Strokal, Vita
name: Kurovska, Anna
name: Strokal, Maryna
Publisher: name: Taylor & Francis
Year: 2023
Subjects: Space Science
Biotechnology
Environmental Sciences not elsewhere classified
Chemical Sciences not elsewhere classified
Marine Biology
Science Policy

description: Since 24 February 2022, the Russian-Ukrainian war has impacted Ukrainian water resources including river pollution. In this perspective paper, our proposition is that the Russian-Ukrainian war causes likely more river pollution with untreated urban waste compared to the pre-war period. In order to check this assumption, we synthesize the current knowledge with a focus on the Dnipro Basin, containing 80% of the national water resources. Our synthesis reveals three main arguments. First, water-related infrastructures that were damaged as a result of the Russian-Ukrainian war are the important causes of pollutant release to water systems. These infrastructure damages are estimated, on average, for rural (30% of irrigation systems) and urban (35–40% of treatment plants and sewage connections) areas or both (40–90% of bridges and dams). Second, water pollution sources tend to change towards direct inputs of untreated urban waste with multiple pollutants compared to the pre-war period. Third, our illustrative example for nutrients, a painkiller, an antibacterial agent, and microplastics from urban waste showed an increase of 2–34% in their loadings into the Dnipro River due to damaged sewage pipes and wastewater treatment plants in 2022. In addition, 20–62% of those pollutants are from untreated urban waste (point sources). We propose a framework for future steps including visualizing (V) and integrating (I) the impacts into tools for quantification as well as translating (T) those quantified insights into actionable strategies and assessing (A) their feasibilities for pollution reduction. The Russian-Ukrainian war damaged 30–90% of water infrastructures in the Dnipro BasinRiver pollution sources tend to change towards untreated urban waste compared to the pre-war periodRiver pollution is estimated to increase by 2–34% in the Dnipro Basin due to damaged sewage and treatmentUntreated urban waste is responsible for 20–62% of pollutants in rivers of the Dnipro BasinThe VITA framework is proposed for actionable pollution reduction strategies The Russian-Ukrainian war damaged 30–90% of water infrastructures in the Dnipro Basin River pollution sources tend to change towards untreated urban waste compared to the pre-war period River pollution is estimated to increase by 2–34% in the Dnipro Basin due to damaged sewage and treatment Untreated urban waste is responsible for 20–62% of pollutants in rivers of the Dnipro Basin The VITA framework is proposed for actionable pollution reduction strategies
Linking climate change adaptation and disaster risk reduction: reconceptualizing flood risk governance in Mumbai
Creators: name: Zimmermann, Theresa
name: Shinde, Swati
name: Parthasarathy, D
name: Narayanan, NC
Publisher: name: Taylor & Francis
Year: 2023
Subjects: subject: Medicine
subject: Molecular Biology
subject: Biotechnology
subject: Sociology
subject: FOS: Sociology
subject: Developmental Biology
subject: Cancer
subject: Science Policy

description: Climate-related hazards, urban development and changing vulnerability patterns compel cities across the world to deal with new and emerging forms of risk. Academic literature and recent international policy documents suggest potentials of conceptually and practically linking the fields of climate change adaptation (CCA) and disaster risk reduction (DRR) and emphasize the need to mitigate climate-related risks at local level. However, there is limited knowledge on how this link is established at local levels and the role of ground-level actors and practices therein. Using the case of recurrent and disastrous floods, this paper discusses the significance of linking DRR and CCA in Mumbai. It analyses policies, plans, institutions and interventions related to DRR and CCA and uses interviews and a field study to assess flood risk governance at the level of municipal wards and neighbourhoods. The findings suggest that although flood risk governance has been significantly strengthened, three gaps exist: First, a lack of a comprehensive plan for Mumbai that anticipates future risks and vulnerabilities and integrates CCA and DRR down to local level. Second, a lack of an overarching and decentralized institutional framework across sectors and scales that recognizes the multiplicity of formal and informal actors. Third, the potential of civil society and informal actors for disaster risk management and adaptation planning has not been tapped into sufficiently. The paper argues that potential exists to reconceptualize flood risk governance in Mumbai by focusing on future risks and vulnerabilities and by recognizing the work of informal actors like emergent groups at local level.
The Social Work of Stories
Creators: name: Fee, Margery
Publisher: name: ZKS: Zeitschrift fur Kanada-Studien
Year: 2014

description: Marx classified "tricksters" like Coyote, the North American indigenous culture hero,as members of the Lumpenproletariat, and Adam Smith argued that the work of writers and actors was ephemeral. The Aboriginal storytellers here regard their stories as a form of wealth and their telling as useful work. The Supreme Court of Canada ruled in the Delgaamukw decision that oral stories could be entered into testimony in land claims hearings. This supports their position that stories can produce material wealth.
Physics-Guided Deep Scatter Estimation by Weakly Supervision for Quantitative SPECT
Creators: Zongyu Li
Jiye Son
Yuni K. Dewaraja
Publisher: name: IEEE Signal Processing Society
Year: 2024

description: Accurate scatter estimation is important in quantitative SPECT for improving image contrast and accuracy. With a large number of photon histories, Monte-Carlo (MC) simulation can yield accurate scatter estimation, but is computationally expensive. Recent deep learning-based approaches can yield accurate scatter estimates quickly, yet full MC simulation is still required to generate scatter estimates as ground truth labels for all training data. Here we propose a physics-guided weakly supervised training framework for fast and accurate scatter estimation in quantitative SPECT by using a 100$\times$ shorter MC simulation as weak labels and enhancing them with deep neural networks. Our weakly supervised approach also allows quick fine-tuning of the trained network to any new test data for further improved performance with an additional short MC simulation (weak label) for patient-specific scatter modeling. Our method was trained with 18 XCAT phantoms with diverse anatomies/activities and then was evaluated on 6 XCAT phantoms, 4 realistic virtual patient phantoms, 1 torso phantom and 3 clinical scans from 2 patients for $^{177}$Lu SPECT with single/dual photopeaks (113, 208 keV). Our proposed weakly supervised method yielded comparable performance to the supervised counterpart in phantom experiments, but with significantly reduced computation in labeling. Our proposed method with patient-specific fine-tuning achieved more accurate scatter estimates than the supervised method in clinical scans. Our method with physics-guided weak supervision enables accurate deep scatter estimation in quantitative SPECT, while requiring much lower computation in labeling, enabling patient-specific fine-tuning capability in testing.
Western larch site index in relation to ecological measures of site quality
Creators: name: Klinka, Karel
name: New, David Morley
name: Chourmouzis, Christine
Publisher: name: Forest Sciences Department, University of British Columbia
Year: 2008

description: A silviculturist needs to know how productivity of all tree species under management varies with the ecological determinants of site quality, i.e., the environmental factors that directly affect the growth of plants - light, heat, soil moisture, soil nutrients, and soil aeration. A good understanding of this variation is necessary for making biologically viable, speciesand site specific silvicultural decisions. Productivity of a given species is usually measured by site index (top tree height at 50 years at breast height age). Quantified relationships between site index of a given species and ecological measures of site quality provide predictive models for estimating site index for all sites on which the species may grow. Western larch (Larix occidentalis Nutt.) is an important tree species in southern central and eastern British Columbia. It grows mainly in the IDF, ICH, and MS zones on moderately dry through very moist sites and on poor through very rich sites. In view of this relatively wide ecological amplitude, a large variation in productivity could be expected. In the study summarized here, relationships between larch site index and selected ecological measures of site quality were examined, and a site index model using these measures as predictors was developed.
Potential risks of Artificial Intelligence in education
Creators: name: Zanetti, Margot
name: Rendina, Stefano
name: Piceci, Luigi
name: Peluso Cassese, Francesco
Publisher: name: Form@re - Open Journal per la formazione in rete
Year: 2020

description: This work analyses the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in education from an interdisciplinary point of view and takes into consideration different potential risks. New studies demonstrated that an AI can deviate and become potentially malicious due to various reasons, such as programmers’ biases, corrupted feeds, or purposeful actions therefore it seemed necessary to investigate when and how an AI could deviate in educational environment. The first question to pose is if the risks that an AI presents can be applied also to educative forms of AI. The use (or abuse) of the huge amount of sensitive data that these technologies incorporate is one of the most concerning issues. After a review of the increasing literature that deals with the use of technology in classroom, it can be asserted that there exist certain lacks in this research field, and, eventually, authors formulate concrete questions and suggestions to bridge conceptual gaps. Potenziali rischi dell’Intelligenza Artificiale nell’educazione Questo lavoro analizza l’uso dell’Intelligenza Artificiale (AI) nell’istruzione da un punto di vista interdisciplinare e prende in considerazione diversi potenziali rischi. Nuovi studi hanno dimostrato che un’intelligenza artificiale può deviare e diventare potenzialmente dannosa per vari motivi, come i pregiudizi dei programmatori, i feed corrotti o le azioni intenzionali, pertanto è sembrato necessario indagare quando e come un’AI potrebbe deviare anche in ambito educativo. La prima domanda da porsi è se i rischi che presenta un’AI possono essere applicati anche a forme educative di AI. L’uso (o l’abuso) dell’enorme quantità di dati sensibili che queste tecnologie incorporano è una delle questioni più preoccupanti. Dopo una revisione della crescente letteratura che si occupa dell’uso della tecnologia in classe, si può affermare che esistono alcune carenze in questo campo di ricerca e, infine, gli autori formulano domande e suggerimenti concreti per colmare le lacune concettuali.
description: Form@re - Open Journal per la formazione in rete, Vol. 20 No. 1 (2020): Learning assessment in higher education
ASALARILAR PATOLOGIYASINI O'RGANISHNING ZAMONAVIY USULLARI
Creators: name: Muxitdinov, Xudayar
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2024

description: Ushbu maqola mintaqa asalarichiligida klasterlash metodini qo'llash orqali iqtisodiy, geografik va biologik samaradorlikni oshirishning mohiyati va ilmiy asoslarini o'rganishga bag'ishlangan. Klasterlash texnologiyasi asalarichilikda qo'llanilganda, asalarichilik faoliyatining samaradorligini oshirish, mahsulot sifatini yaxshilash, ishlab chiqarish xarajatlarini kamaytirish va asalarichilikni barqaror rivojlantirish imkoniyatlarini yaratadi. Ushbu maqolada klasterlashning asosiy afzalliklari, ilmiy jihatlari, iqtisodiy samaradorlikka ta'siri va geografik hamda biologik omillar bilan aloqadorligi tahlil qilinadi. Shu bilan birga, ushbu metodni amalga oshirishning mintaqaviy xususiyatlari va qiyinchiliklari haqida ham muhim ma'lumotlar keltiriladi.