cometadata/datacite-rtg-text-other-reclassification-records huggingface dataset:
title: Brand Alliance
title: Success Factors, Opportunities and Risks
titleType: Subtitle
Creators: name: PAYDAS TURAN, CEYDA
Publisher: name: University of Surrey
Year: 2020

description: In today’s business world where the competition between brands is fierce and the
description: resources to meet consumer demands are finite, firms are realising the importance of
description: collaborating with other brands to maximise brand potential. Although a properly executed
description: alliance of two brands can be a strategic business development tool, the process is
description: challenging and failures are common in practice. The growing literature on brand alliance
description: would benefit from a consensus on the factors that drive success, and a further exploration of
description: the strategy’s opportunities and risks.
description: The overarching aim of this PhD thesis is to advance understanding of the brand
description: alliance strategy by delving into three aspects of it: its success drivers, how firms can capture
description: its opportunities, and how they might avoid its risks. This aim is addressed through three
description: papers, which are integrated and build on each other. In the first paper, a meta-analysis is
description: performed to aggregate and synthesise the success drivers of a brand alliance. In the second
description: paper, both field and scenario-based online experiments are conducted to uncover the benefits
description: of an alliance strategy in a service business. In the third paper, a scenario-based experiment is
description: conducted to examine the effectiveness of different crisis response strategies on the retention
description: of brand equity in an alliance context.
description: The thesis contributes to the literature on brand alliance in three ways: (1) aggregating
description: knowledge and achieving consensus as to the relative importance of various success factors;
description: (2) investigating the applicability of an alliance strategy to a service business, thereby
description: overcoming the challenges of intangibility; and (3) unfolding the possible risks that are
description: associated with an alliance and addressing how brands can effectively respond to and
description: mitigate them. This thesis therefore advances understanding of the brand alliance strategy. It
description: offers managers insights into how they might benefit from adopting the strategy as a strategic
description: business development tool and informs them on how to mitigate the possible risks. Finally, it
description: outlines an agenda for future research.
Amplitude noise of subharmonically hybrid mode-locked pulses generated from a monolithic semiconductor laser
Creators: name: Bao, H. C.
name: Liu, H. F.
Publisher: name: Swinburne
Year: 2024

description: Broad-band amplitude noise (100 MHz to 20 GHz) of 40-GHz pulses generated by a subharmonically hybrid mode-locked (SHML) monolithic semiconductor laser is investigated. Experiments show that the amplitude noise can only be suppressed at some certain subharmonic members, while the phase noise can be suppressed by subharmonic hybrid mode-locking under many subharmonic members.
Exploring the experiences of forensic inpatients¿ relationships with staff within low, medium and high security mental health settings
Creators: name: BENNETT, ALICE ELIZABETH
Publisher: name: University of Surrey
Year: 2021

description: "Background: Therapeutic relationships within psychiatric settings are highlighted as important throughout the literature. Forensic mental health inpatient settings are tasked with balancing the provision of a therapeutic environment, whilst managing risk and ensuring safety. The restrictive and involuntary nature of these settings can cause the development of positive therapeutic relationships to be challenging. Despite being recognised as important, research from the forensic inpatient perspective is limited and studies of the forensic patient- staff relationships are often from the staff perspective. This research aims to address this gap in the literature by exploring the patient-staff relationships within forensic mental health inpatient services, from the patient’s perspective.
description: Method: Thirty adult male forensic inpatients were recruited from 12 wards across high, medium and low secure forensic mental health NHS hospitals within the UK. Participants were interviewed face to face within the hospital, about their experiences on the ward and their interactions with staff. Interviews were transcribed and interpreted using reflexive thematic analysis.
description: Findings: Analysis of the data generated four themes: ‘Respectful and reciprocal relationships between patients and staff’, ‘Working with and empowering patients within a restrictive environment’, ‘Keeping themselves to themselves, a disinterest in their patients’ and ‘Authoritarian relationships and the perceived over exertion of power’.
description: Conclusion: This study suggests that prioritising the development of therapeutic relationships within these services may effectively aid meeting patient needs. Additionally, it highlights the importance of forensic mental health services employing staff who are wanting to engage meaningfully, provide person-centred care and work collaboratively with patients, as these are valued by forensic inpatients."
Development of a Nano-capillary Extraction Technique for Spatially Resolved Untargeted Metabolomics and Proteomics
Creators: name: Malloy, Mason Courtney
Publisher: name: University of Surrey
Year: 2023

description: The development of direct analyte probed nano-extraction (DAPNe), for the untargeted extraction and analysis of biomolecules from animal tissue sections is presented. DAPNe has previously been utilised for the metabolomic analysis of single cells or sub-cellular contents, a variety of forensic applications (in which the smallest extraction diameter of 6.2 µm was achieved), and the extraction of lipids and anti-tuberculosis drugs has been demonstrated from dosed animal tissue sections, with extraction diameters as low as 105 µm, from tuberculosis granulomas. The work presented in this thesis aimed to build on this state-of-the-art, by developing DAPNe as a sensitive, repeatable, and robust technique for the untargeted, spatially-resolved extraction of metabolites, peptides, or proteins from biological samples.

description:

description: The DAPNe extraction process was optimised to reduce variability between extractions, without compromising the mass spectrometry (MS) analysis. This optimised extraction method reduced the variability in the extraction diameters of DAPNe extractions from a previously reported 19 % to 9 %.

description:

description: A novel method for transferring the contents of a nano-capillary, following DAPNe extraction, to a chromatography vial was created. This new method negated the previous requirement for breaking the terminus of the nano-capillary tip. This reduced the potential risks that fragments posed to chromatographic instrumentation, while increasing the calculated transfer efficiency from the previously reported 60 % to 83.9 %.

description:

description: DAPNe-MS was presented for the untargeted extraction and analysis of metabolites from tissue homogenates and tuberculosis granulomas, with a high of 38 unique compounds detected in a single 5 µL extraction. Additionally, the first demonstration of DAPNe-MS for the untargeted extraction and analysis of proteins and peptides is presented, with protein detection presented from extractions as low as 17.3 µm, corresponding to an 83.5 % reduction in the smallest reported extraction diameter from biological samples.
Lead Halide Perovskite Nanocomposite Scintillators
Creators: name: Braddock, Isabel Helen Balbir
Publisher: name: University of Surrey
Year: 2023

description: There are various drawbacks to many scintillators which are currently in widespread use. Conventional inorganic scintillators have fixed emission wavelengths and require expensive, high-temperature synthesis; plastic scintillators, while fast, cheap and robust, have low atomic numbers, limiting their X-ray attenuation. Lead halide perovskite nanocrystals show promise as scintillators due to their high atomic number, bright luminescence and tunable emission wavelength. The aim of this study was to produce a nanocomposite scintillator which incorporates formamidinium lead halide perovskite nanocrystals into a polymer matrix, and to evaluate the viability of this nanocomposite scintillator for gamma-spectroscopy and X-ray imaging applications.

description:

description: Mixed-halide FAPbBr3xCl3(1−x) nanocrystals were synthesised using a room-temperature solution growth method. Those nanocrystals which contained greater quantities of chlorine had violet emission and short photoluminescence lifetimes, but also had poor stability and weak luminescence intensities. Consequently, FAPbBr3 nanocrystals were selected for use in the nanocomposite scintillators. The thickness and nanocrystal loading of the composites were investigated so as to balance the transparency of the scintillator to visible light with the attenuation of high-energy photons. To reduce optical scattering, the size of the nanocrystals was minimised and a partial
description: ligand exchange procedure was used to prevent nanocrystal aggregation. However, this surface modification significantly decreased the luminescence intensity of the nanocrystals. Reabsorption also had a significant negative effect on the light output of the nanocomposite scintillators, due to the small Stokes shift of the perovskite nanocrystals. EJ-290 plastic scintillator and PMMA were compared as matrix materials; scintillators which used PMMA had greater radioluminescence intensity, while those which used an EJ-290 matrix had faster decay times.

description:

description: Overall, despite poor transmission, the optimised formamidinium lead bromide nanocomposite scintillators had a greater detectable light output than the plastic scintillator alone. They also had a faster response time than many common scintillators, and demonstrated great potential for cost-effective X-ray imaging.
Wearable sensors for pH detection.
Creators: name: Smith, Rachel
Publisher: name: University of Surrey
Year: 2020

description: Skin diseases are common in the UK, especially in children where 34% suffer from such diseases at some point. Wound care and management is also a significant burden to the UK healthcare system, estimated at an annual cost of £5.3 billion. Epidermal pH gives an indication of the physiological condition of the skin and the healing progress of wounds. An effective pH-sensing dermal patch would provide non-invasive skin and wound monitoring, aiding treatment. The aim of this work was to develop a fibre-based flexible electrode to measure skin/wound pH. This will facilitate point-of-care analysis and allow appropriate care to be administrated by medical professionals. Highly conductive wet-spun poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene)-poly(styrenesulfonate) (PEDOT:PSS) fibres, a prior concept developed by Reid et al., were adopted for pH analysis. With an optimised polyaniline (PANi) coating, these fibres displayed Nernstian responses (in a solid-state sensor containing a fabricated quasi-reference electrode) across a pH range of 3.0 to 9.0 when in contact with both pH-adjusted artificial sweat matrix and human plasma; the fibres had additional desirable antibacterial and biocompatible properties. To date, wet-spun PEDOT:PSS fibres have not been adopted in a chemical sensing capacity. This invention provides opportunities for future wearable, fibre-based sensors capable of real-time, on-body pH sensing (to monitor wound healing and skin disease). However, a primary limitation was poor tensile strength (32 ± 11 MPa), which could lead to fibre breakages in real-life wearable applications. To overcome this limitation, another substrate, modified electrically conductive cotton, was explored. A simple and effective “dipping and drying” approach involving cotton yarns in a dispersion of PEDOT:PSS and multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNT) resulted in the development of a flexible, highly conductive cotton fibre. Subsequent PANi deposition yielded electrodes with significant biocompatible and antibacterial properties that could be fabricated (alongside quasi-reference electrodes) into a solid-state wearable pH sensor, which achieved rapid, selective, and Nernstian responses (-61 ± 2 mV pH-1) over a wide pH range (2.0 – 12.0), even in pH-adjusted artificial sweat matrix and human plasma. To date, there is no prior published research that reports on this combination of conductive materials and cotton in such a sensing capacity. Furthermore, few previous reports have described conducting cotton threads with low enough electrical resistances to allow the electrodeposition of functional polymers, like PANi, whilst retaining the necessary flexibility for wearable applications. Thus, this development represents an important progression towards the realisation of real-time, on-body, wearable sensors.
Centro Treino Integral e Desenvolvimento
Creators: name: Czinczoll, Sara
Publisher: name: südostasien – Zeitschrift für Politik • Kultur • Dialog
Year: 2018

description: Eine Berufsschule für Landfrauen in Baucau, Timor-Leste, trägt nicht nur zum ökonomischen Empowerment und der persönlichen Entwicklung von Frauen, sondern auch zur Verständigung zwischen verschiedenen Bevölkerungsgruppen bei.
description: südostasien – Zeitschrift für Politik • Kultur • Dialog, Bd. 28 Nr. 2 (2012): Frauen: Das zweite Geschlecht?
Gibt es das Patriarchat in Osttimor? Und wenn ja, wieviele?
Creators: name: Myrttinen, Henri
Publisher: name: südostasien – Zeitschrift für Politik • Kultur • Dialog
Year: 2018

description: Die osttimoresische Gesellschaft wird oft von NGOs und in akademischen Texten als Patriarchat umschrieben. Aber sind die Geschlechterverhältnisse wirklich so eindeutig?
description: südostasien – Zeitschrift für Politik • Kultur • Dialog, Bd. 28 Nr. 2 (2012): Frauen: Das zweite Geschlecht?
Kurz notiert
Creators: name: Grubauer, Ariane
Publisher: name: südostasien – Zeitschrift für Politik • Kultur • Dialog
Year: 2018

description: Nachrichten.
description: südostasien – Zeitschrift für Politik • Kultur • Dialog, Bd. 28 Nr. 2 (2012): Frauen: Das zweite Geschlecht?
Prevalence and Predictors of Low Vitamin B6 Status in Healthy Young Adult Women in Metro Vancouver
Creators: name: Ho, Chia-Ling
name: Quay, Teo A. W.
name: Devlin, Angela M.
name: Lamers, Yvonne
Publisher: name: Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute
Year: 2019

description: Low periconceptional vitamin B6 (B6) status has been associated with an increased risk of preterm birth and early pregnancy loss. Given many pregnancies are unplanned; it is important for women to maintain an adequate B6 status throughout reproductive years. There is limited data on B6 status in Canadian women. This study aimed to assess the prevalence of B6 deficiency and predictors of B6 status in young adult women in Metro Vancouver. We included a convenience sample of young adult non-pregnant women (19–35 years; n = 202). Vitamin B6 status was determined using fasting plasma concentrations of pyridoxal 5’-phosphate (PLP). Mean (95% confidence interval) plasma PLP concentration was 61.0 (55.2, 67.3) nmol/L. The prevalence of B6 deficiency (plasma PLP < 20 nmol/L) was 1.5% and that of suboptimal B6 status (plasma PLP = 20–30 nmol/L) was 10.9%. Body mass index, South Asian ethnicity, relative dietary B6 intake, and the use of supplemental B6 were significant predictors of plasma PLP. The combined 12.4% prevalence of B6 deficiency and suboptimal status was lower than data reported in US populations and might be due to the high socioeconomic status of our sample. More research is warranted to determine B6 status in the general Canadian population.
Viele unerledigte Hausaufgaben: Das Bemühen um die Implementierung von Frauenrecht(en) in Indonesien
Creators: name: Yentriani, Andy
Publisher: name: südostasien – Zeitschrift für Politik • Kultur • Dialog
Year: 2018

description: Die Verpflichtung zum Schutz der Menschenrechte ist untrennbar verbunden mit den Reformversprechen nach dem Sturz des autoritären Suharto-Regimes im Jahr 1998. In diese Verpflichtung eingeschlossen ist die Beseitigung aller Formen von Gewalt und Diskriminierung, die sich gegen Frauen richten.
description: südostasien – Zeitschrift für Politik • Kultur • Dialog, Bd. 28 Nr. 2 (2012): Frauen: Das zweite Geschlecht?
A Preliminary Exploration of Teachers’ Attitudes towards Intercultural Communication through ELF
Creators: name: De Bartolo, Anna Maria
Publisher: name: Fondazione Università Ca’ Foscari Venezia, Italia
Year: 2020

description:

The present paper draws attention to the intercultural nature of English used as a lingua franca in flexible, dynamic and evolving communicative settings and consequently, to the need for language teachers to become aware of the multifaceted English world, where goals and purposes for using English are constantly challenged and re-created. Drawing on the connection between Intercultural communication research and ELF findings, the paper aims to provide empirically-grounded suggestions for language teachers in the hope to stimulate reflections on the role of intercultural aspects in classroom approaches and therefore, encourage to incorporate ELF-oriented pedagogies in well-established teaching practices. In light of a theoretical background, an exploration of language teachers’ attitudes towards ELF and intercultural issues will be conducted and the initial results of a preliminary study presented. Finally, implications for language teaching will be offered.

description: EL.LE
La competenza scritta in italiano L2 di apprendenti vulnerabili
Creators: name: De Meo, Anna
name: Maffia, Marta
name: Vitale, Giuseppina
Publisher: name: Fondazione Università Ca’ Foscari Venezia, Italia
Year: 2020

description:

The high number of low-literate vulnerable refugees and asylum seekers among L2 Italian learners requires a rethinking not only of approaches and teaching methods, but also of assessment strategies. The present study aims to investigate the effectiveness of two different rating scales in the assessment of writing skills for this peculiar target of learners, a Standard Evaluation Scale and a Functional Adequacy Scale. Application of the two assessment methods on a corpus of about 450 written texts produced by 50 refugees and asylum seekers from 16 different countries, with an Italian A2 level competence, demonstrated that a Functional Adequacy Scale can be a more reliable and efficient tool than a Standard Evaluation Scale for valorising also poor writing skills, instead of underlying the limits of low-literate productions.

description: EL.LE
Marginal Instability of Matrix Systems
Creators: name: VARNEY, JONAH PATRICK
Publisher: name: University of Surrey
Year: 2022

description: "We study the size of products of matrices taken from a finite set of matrices. In particular we describe
description: the maximal growth rate of the norms of products of matrices from our set. For a set of matrices
description: we define an associated “FMIRF” to be the function mapping a natural number n to the maximum
description: of the norm of all possible n length products from our set. Switching systems are models defined
description: by a finite set of matrices, by understanding the associated FMIRF, we gain insight into the stability
description: of the switching system. Switching systems have attracted a lot of interest from control theorists,
description: as they pose a complex challenge and as they have a wide range of applications. Switching systems
description: are needed to describe systems in nature and engineering, because such systems do not fit a single
description: model and exhibit switching between different models depending on various environments. Zhendong
description: and Shuzi have uncovered many tools for analysing nonlinear behaviour in switching systems. We
description: focus on switching systems with FMIRFs that grow slower than exponentially, such FMIRFs are called
description: marginally unstable. We are interested in the different possible rates of growth a marginally unstable
description: system can achieve, significant research by Jungers, Protasov and Blondel in 2008 showed that in
description: particular cases marginally unstable systems grow like a polynomial. This is not the case though for
description: all systems and in 2015 Jungers and Protasov released an example of a FMIRF with sublinear growth.
description: We prove that their example is bounded almost everywhere and adapt it to achieve other sublinear
description: grow rates. We show that if we have a set of two dimensional matrices then the corresponding FMIRF
description: has bounded growth or linear growth. We prove that if we have a set containing a single matrix the
description: the corresponding FMIRF grows like a polynomial. This begs the question, does the cardinality of our
description: set always affect the possible growth of the corresponding FMIRF? We prove that, given a FMIRF
description: associated to finite sets of matrices it is possible to construct a set of two matrices with a FMIRF
description: that has the same growth. We also explore the effect of taking direct and Kronecker products on sets
description: of matrices has on their associated FMIRFs. Finally instead of starting with a set of matrices we start
description: with a function that maps from a dynamical system onto a matrix of θ-H¨older continuous functions.
description: In this more general setting we show how the generalised FMIRF’s growth depends on the θ-H¨older
description: continuous functions. An example of a generalised FMIRF with unbounded but sublinear growth is
description: given."
Minimisation of the cluster function: numerical experiments using MPI techniques
Creators: name: Soukhoroukova, Nadejda
Publisher: name: Swinburne
Year: 2024

description: Several clustering methods based on optimisation have been developed recently. One of them is based on minimisation of the cluster function. This function is nonsmooth, nonconvex and extremely multi extremal. Minimisation of such functions is a challenging task. This process can be also very time consuming, especially if the dimension of the corresponding optimisation problem and the size of the dataset are large. In this paper we propose an approach which allows one to run programs in parallel using several CPUs simultaneously. We discuss several possible ways for design parallel implementations for the program and present results of numerical experiments.
Communication Concepts
Creators: name: Hawley, Erin
Publisher: name: Deakin University
Year: 2024
Subjects: classificationCode: 470101
subject: Communication studies

description: Online version of the resource: https://oercollective.caul.edu.au/communication-concepts/Communication challenges abound in the 21st century. Communicators everywhere are struggling to connect with diverse, distracted audiences, in both urgent and everyday contexts. In other words, communication has never been more vital, but it’s becoming harder and harder to be heard. In this book, we make sense of communication. From multiple perspectives, we unpack the practices, politics, pleasures, and problems that are activated when meaning is shared across real and virtual spaces. This book will help you use the thinking tools of communication theory to understand why communication matters and how it impacts (and is impacted by) our rapidly changing world.Attribution: Communication Concepts by Erin Hawley is licensed under a CC BY NC 4.0 Licence by Deakin University.
Towards an understanding of advocacy coalitions for rapid transition to net zero carbon in the United Kingdom
Creators: name: Smith, Steven Robert
Publisher: name: University of Surrey
Year: 2022

description: A transition to a decarbonised economy is a climatic, ecological, and humanitarian necessity. Much of the research on this defining task for humanity has been of a sociotechnical nature. There is less research concerning the enabling conditions and processes for accelerating the political and policy changes required. All nations, including Western capitalist democracies, face formidable challenges in creating a consistent set of policies and actions to decarbonise their economies as quickly as possible. The UK government has opted for a least-cost, techno-managerial ‘net zero by 2050’ decarbonisation target, which maintains the existing socio-political regime and attempts to de-politicise the climate issue. This research argues for a more radical, science- and equity-based ‘rapid transition’ to net zero by 2035 at the latest. How can advocates for rapid transition succeed in re- politicising and building sufficient common cause to trigger positive political change? What theory of change, political strategy and narrative vision would be needed? The more radical the policy ambition, the more necessary it becomes to describe a political process that can result in the desired interventions, beginning with the ‘ecosystem’ of actors and coalitions, political economy, institutions, and other contexts that currently exist. Based on a novel method for categorising and mapping actors in the UK climate policy ‘ecosystem’, and on a thematic analysis of forty-seven face-to-face expert interviews and one hundred expert views in total, this multidisciplinary research examines the political, sociological, and psychosocial dimensions of sustainability transitions and proposes an adapted multilevel perspective for rapid political and policy transition. It finds the potential exists for an advocacy coalition for rapid transition, but its prospects for achieving decisive political influence are slim in the current UK context. It recommends a combined ‘top- down’ and ‘bottom-up’ approach, one that can create and sustain a nationally coordinated movement, but also one that is place-based and participatory and puts citizens at the forefront of radical societal transformation.
Tariffs on American Soybeans and Their Impact on Land Use Change and Greenhouse Gas Emissions in South America
Creators: name: Richards, Peter
name: Taheripour, Farzad
name: Arima, Eugenio
name: Tyner, Wallace E.
name: Richards, Peter
name: Taheripour, Farzad
name: Arima, Eugenio
name: Tyner, Wallace E.
Publisher: name: Unknown
Year: 2020
Subjects: subject: Agricultural and Food Policy
subject: Environmental Economics and Policy
subject: International Relations/Trade
subject: Land Economics/Use
subject: Computable general equilibrium
subject: Tariffs
subject: Land use
subject: Land governance

description: The 2018 Chinese tariffs on U.S. soybean contributed to a significant restructuring of the global soybean trade. We show that the new tariffs are also likely lead to land use change abroad. The extent of natural land cover losses in Brazil will depend on the durability of Brazil’s policies for environmental protection and land clearing.
Tabuisierte Gewalt bei Abtreibungen: Umfassende Beratung hilft betroffenen Frauen, ihre Selbstbestimmungsrechte wahrzunehmen
Creators: name: Hudaya, Inna
name: Zakaria, Zulkamal Hidayat
Publisher: name: südostasien – Zeitschrift für Politik • Kultur • Dialog
Year: 2018

description: Abtreibungen sind in Indonesien illegal, außer bei medizinischer Indikation oder Vergewaltigung. Frauen, die abtreiben, werden zu Kriminellen gemacht und sind vermehrt Gewalt ausgesetzt. Dem wirkt die Organisation SAMSARA mit einer »Sicheren Abtreibungs-Hotline« entgegen.
description: südostasien – Zeitschrift für Politik • Kultur • Dialog, Bd. 28 Nr. 2 (2012): Frauen: Das zweite Geschlecht?
Gendergerechtigkeit: Was ist das eigentlich?
Creators: name: Schwarz, Silke
Publisher: name: südostasien – Zeitschrift für Politik • Kultur • Dialog
Year: 2018

description: Gendermainstreaming-Programme im Rahmen der Wiederaufbauhilfe nach Katastrophen entfachen Aushandlungen unterschiedlicher Gerechtigkeitsempfindungen. Wer soll wie unterstützt werden? Was wird als gerecht empfunden und wie kann das unterstützt werden?
description: südostasien – Zeitschrift für Politik • Kultur • Dialog, Bd. 28 Nr. 2 (2012): Frauen: Das zweite Geschlecht?
Electromagnetic Fields and Neuronal Function: Determining the interplay between Ion Transport, Calcium Homeostasis, and Water Dynamics
Creators: name: Bertagna, Federico
Publisher: name: University of Surrey
Year: 2024

description: Voltage-gated ion channels, crucial for maintaining cellular ionic balance, respond to stimuli like changes in membrane voltage potential, influencing the electrical properties of excitable cells such as neurons. Ion selectivity and conduction are central to their functionality, but the precise mechanisms underlying the great efficiency of voltage-gated channels remain only partially understood. In line with this, alternative mechanisms based on quantum coherence have been hypothesised. The hypothesis of quantum coherence playing a role in channel efficiency is tempered by concerns about its compatibility with brain processing time. However, certain neuronal features, such as electromagnetic activity, may extend the duration of these quantum effects. Recent findings highlight the impact of weak electromagnetic fields, akin to the brain's endogenous field, on neuron firing patterns, proposing a central role for calcium homeostasis. In this study, we examined the role in this context of internal calcium release through the endoplasmic reticulum, revealing its key involvement in the cellular effects of electromagnetic fields. As a result, our findings shed light on the modulation of neuronal excitability, particularly in relation to calcium. Additionally, we investigated the effects of weak electromagnetic fields and isotopic exchange, represented by the enrichment of deuterium content, on neuronal membrane currents. Our focus was to explore whether kinetic and magnetic isotopic effects are present. These experimented highlighted a reduction of neuronal excitability upon deuterium enrichment, that was partially rescued by the simultaneous exposure to 1 mT electromagnetic fields at 50 Hz, highlighting the presence of kinetic effects not imputable to mass-dependent effects as viscosity and pH. All together, these experiments describe for the first time an interplay between electromagnetic fields, isotopic variations, and calcium dynamics, providing a more comprehensive understanding of neuronal responses to external stimuli.
Frau L's Kampf für Gerechtigkeit: Die 80-jährige Lestari wünscht sich, dass niemand mehr Angst vor ihr hat
Creators: name: Keller, Anett
Publisher: name: südostasien – Zeitschrift für Politik • Kultur • Dialog
Year: 2018

description: 1965 fand in Indonesien einer der größten Massen morde des 20. Jahrhunderts statt. Hunderttausende Kommunisten wurden getötet, weitere Hunderttausende inhaftiert. Keiner der Täter wurde je zur Rechenschaft gezogen.
description: südostasien – Zeitschrift für Politik • Kultur • Dialog, Bd. 28 Nr. 2 (2012): Frauen: Das zweite Geschlecht?
JNK inhibition reduces lung remodeling and pulmonary fibrotic systemic markers
Creators: name: Van Der Velden, Jos L J
name: Ye, Ying
name: Nolin, James D
name: Hoffman, Sidra M
name: Chapman, David G
name: Lahue, Karolyn G
name: Abdalla, Sarah
name: Chen, Peng
name: Liu, Yong
name: Bennett, Brydon
name: Khalil, Nasreen
name: Sutherland, Donna
name: Smith, William
name: Horan, Gerald
name: Assaf, Mahmoud
name: Horowitz, Zebulun
name: Chopra, Rajesh
name: Stevens, Randall M
name: Palmisano, Maria
name: Janssen-Heininger, Yvonne M W
name: Schafer, Peter H
Publisher: name: Springer Berlin Heidelberg
Year: 2016

description: Background: Lung remodeling and pulmonary fibrosis are serious, life-threatening conditions resulting from diseases such as chronic severe asthma and idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF). Preclinical evidence suggests that JNK enzyme function is required for key steps in the pulmonary fibrotic process. However, a selective JNK inhibitor has not been investigated in translational models of lung fibrosis with clinically relevant biomarkers, or in IPF patients. Methods The JNK inhibitor CC-930 was evaluated in the house dust mite-induced fibrotic airway mouse model, in a phase I healthy volunteer pharmacodynamic study, and subsequently in a phase II multicenter study of mild/moderate IPF (n = 28), with a 4-week, placebo-controlled, double-blind, sequential ascending-dose period (50 mg QD, 100 mg QD, 100 mg BID) and a 52-week open-label treatment-extension period. Results In the preclinical model, CC-930 attenuated collagen 1A1 gene expression, peribronchiolar collagen deposition, airway mucin MUC5B expression in club cells, and MMP-7 expression in lung, bronchoalveolar lavage fluid, and serum. In the phase I study, CC-930 reduced c-Jun phosphorylation induced by UV radiation in skin. In the phase II IPF study, there was a CC-930 dose-dependent trend in reduction of MMP-7 and SP-D plasma protein levels. The most commonly reported adverse events were increased ALT, increased AST, and upper respiratory tract infection (six subjects each, 21.4 %). A total of 13 subjects (46.4 %) experienced adverse events that led to discontinuation of study drug. Nine out of 28 subjects experienced progressive disease in this study. The mean FVC (% predicted) declined after 26–32 weeks at doses of 100 mg QD and 100 mg BID. Changes in MMP-7, SP-D, and tenascin-C significantly correlated with change in FVC (% predicted). Conclusions These results illustrate JNK enzymatic activity involvement during pulmonary fibrosis, and support systemic biomarker use for tracking disease progression and the potential clinical benefit of this novel intervention in IPF. Trial registration ClinicalTrials.gov NCT01203943
Fundamental and applied aspects of powder dispersion in liquids.
Creators: name: Ong, Xin Yi
Publisher: name: University of Surrey
Year: 2020

description: The dispersion of powders in water is a key step in many process industries. During dispersion, the powder grains often form heterogeneous lumps that are wet outside and dry inside, the presence of which reduces the efficiency of the overall dispersion process. Often, it is difficult to predict and control the conditions under which lump formation occurs. This study considers the consequences of adding insoluble grains to a static air–liquid interface from a funnel. By continuing to add grains, the stacks grow until either the lower grains disperse in the liquid, or the complete stack breaks free from the surface and sinks as a lump. Herein, the effects of grain contact angle, density, size and mass flow rate on these processes are studied experimentally and a theoretical analysis given. The maximum number of grains scales with the Bond Number (Bo) as Bo-1.82 when stack detachment is observed and with an exponent -2.0 when grains disperse into the liquid. As a result of these different scaling exponents, a critical Bond number above which grains wet and disperse can be identified. Moreover, the formation of a jet, entraining air into the liquid occurs when the kinetic energy of the grains are sufficiently high. In the case of a moving liquid, stack formation is also assessed in a purpose-built 2-D flow cell. The understanding gained from the foregoing analysis of dispersion or lump formation of insoluble grains is used to study the rehydration performance of soluble food powders. The subsequent discussion also considered the factors influencing the rehydration process of food powders, focussing on powder properties, including moisture content, molecular weight, grain size and density, as well as the agitation speed, liquid temperature and the mass flow rate of powders added to the liquid. The present findings have identified conditions under which lump formation occurs, and hence how these undesired phenomena can be avoided in applications requiring the efficient dispersion of grains across a liquid interface such as in the reconstitution of dehydrated food powders.
International Network of Chronic Kidney Disease cohort studies (iNET-CKD): a global network of chronic kidney disease cohorts
Creators: name: Dienemann, Thomas
name: Fujii, Naohiko
name: Orlandi, Paula
name: Nessel, Lisa
name: Furth, Susan L.
name: Hoy, Wendy E.
name: Matsuo, Seiichi
name: Mayer, Gert
name: Methven, Shona
name: Schaefer, Franz
name: Schaeffner, Elke S.
name: Solá, Laura
name: Stengel, Bénédicte
name: Wanner, Christoph
name: Zhang, Luxia
name: Levin, A. (Adeera)
name: Eckardt, Kai-Uwe
name: Feldman, Harold I.
Publisher: name: BioMed Central
Year: 2018

description: Background: Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is a global health burden, yet it is still underrepresented within public health agendas in many countries. Studies focusing on the natural history of CKD are challenging to design and conduct, because of the long time-course of disease progression, a wide variation in etiologies, and a large amount of clinical variability among individuals with CKD. With the difference in health-related behaviors, healthcare delivery, genetics, and environmental exposures, this variability is greater across countries than within one locale and may not be captured effectively in a single study. Methods: Studies were invited to join the network. Prerequisites for membership included: 1) observational designs with a priori hypotheses and defined study objectives, patient-level information, prospective data acquisition and collection of bio-samples, all focused on predialysis CKD patients; 2) target sample sizes of 1,000 patients for adult cohorts and 300 for pediatric cohorts; and 3) minimum follow-up of three years. Participating studies were surveyed regarding design, data, and biosample resources. Results: Twelve prospective cohort studies and two registries covering 21 countries were included. Participants age ranges from >2 to >70 years at inclusion, CKD severity ranges from stage 2 to stage 5. Patient data and biosamples (not available in the registry studies) are measured yearly or biennially. Many studies included multiple ethnicities; cohort size ranges from 400 to more than 13,000 participants. Studies’ areas of emphasis all include but are not limited to renal outcomes, such as progression to ESRD and death. Conclusions: iNET-CKD (International Network of CKD cohort studies) was established, to promote collaborative research, foster exchange of expertise, and create opportunities for research training. Participating studies have many commonalities that will facilitate comparative research; however, we also observed substantial differences. The diversity we observed across studies within this network will be able to be leveraged to identify genetic, behavioral, and health services factors associated with the course of CKD. With an emerging infrastructure to facilitate interactions among the investigators of iNET-CKD and a broadly defined research agenda, we are confident that there will be great opportunity for productive collaborative investigations involving cohorts of individuals with CKD.
Development and implementation of a sustainability assessment tool for wastewater asset decision-making
Creators: name: LING, JIEAN
Publisher: name: University of Surrey
Year: 2022

description: "The UK wastewater sector is facing increasing challenges such as regulatory pressure, population growth and climate change when making investment decisions. This has resulted in a growing demand for assessment tools that informs the selection of suitable wastewater treatment processes and technologies from the sustainability perspective. The objective of this research was to develop a sustainability assessment tool for a water company in the UK to compare wastewater treatment processes and inform its investment decisions given its unique combination of challenges and needs.
description: The development of the assessment tool encompassed several phases with an underlying pragmatic research paradigm. The first stage utilised an exploratory case study to understand the current decision drivers and the organisational context. The case study specifically involved a round of semi-structured interviews with stakeholders and thematic analyses. The findings then informed the methodological design of the assessment tool. A suite of assessment criteria and indicators were selected based on literature review and findings from the case study. Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis (MCDA) was selected as the assessment methodology as it was considered suitable and useful to incorporate the Three- Pillars model of sustainability. The assessment methodology was applied to two pilot studies to test its feasibility and robustness. Once the methodology had been confirmed, the assessment methodology was built into a ‘tool’ with a user interface, culminating in a round of usability testing with end-users in the organisation to examine its overall utility and ease of use. The results of testing suggest the assessment tool is easy to use and understand and offered useful insights into the sustainability credentials of wastewater treatment alternatives. This research also proposed a provisional framework for developing a multi- criteria sustainability tool in a corporate environment, which can be extrapolated for wider applications. The research also demonstrated the significance of pragmatic research in developing a practical solution for industrial-based research whilst highlighting the potential synergy between sustainability assessment, MCDA and decision support systems. The findings and insights of this research will accelerate the practical integration of MCDA into the corporate decision-making process for performing sustainability assessments."
Mit vereinten Kräften und etwas Glück: Gender Responsive Budgeting in Penang
Creators: name: Franze, Sabine
Publisher: name: südostasien – Zeitschrift für Politik • Kultur • Dialog
Year: 2018

description: Wenn der politische Wille und das Know-How vorhanden sind, kann einiges für ein geschlechtergerechtes Haushalten erreicht werden. Der Regierungswechsel in der Provinz Penang ermöglichte erstmals die Anwendung des gender mainstreaming auch in Haushaltsfragen.
description: südostasien – Zeitschrift für Politik • Kultur • Dialog, Bd. 28 Nr. 2 (2012): Frauen: Das zweite Geschlecht?
Die Abwehr gegen die internationale Norm: Gleichstellung in Malaysia
Creators: name: Fennert, Dana
Publisher: name: südostasien – Zeitschrift für Politik • Kultur • Dialog
Year: 2018

description: Das Recht auf Gleichstellung ist ein Menschenrecht, das international völkerrechtlich vereinbart ist. Warum diese universelle Norm bislang vor allem in muslimischen Mehrheitsgesellschaften mit Reserviertheit betrachtet und in eigener Weise ausgelegt wird, zeigt dieser Artikel am Beispiel Malaysias.
description: südostasien – Zeitschrift für Politik • Kultur • Dialog, Bd. 28 Nr. 2 (2012): Frauen: Das zweite Geschlecht?
Probabilistic timed behavior trees
Creators: name: Colvin, Robert
name: Grunske, Lars
name: Winter, Kirsten
Publisher: name: Swinburne
Year: 2024

description: The Behavior Tree notation has been developed as a method for systematically and traceably capturing user requirements. In this paper we extend the notation with probabilistic behaviour, so that reliability, performance, and other dependability properties can be expressed. The semantics of probabilistic timed Behavior Trees is given by mapping them to probabilistic timed automata. We gain advantages for requirements capture using Behavior Trees by incorporating into the notation an existing elegant specification formalism (probabilistic timed automata) which has tool support for formal analysis of probabilistic user requirements.
Das erste weibliche Staatsoberhaupt: Klischees dominieren die Diskussion über Thailands Premierministerin Yingluck Shinawatra
Creators: name: Huber, Elisabetha
Publisher: name: südostasien – Zeitschrift für Politik • Kultur • Dialog
Year: 2018

description: Die erste Premierministerin Thailands steht wie alle weiblichen Staatsoberhäupter unter strenger Beobachtung von männlichen Kollegen, Medien und Feministinnen. In vielen Dingen entspricht sie dem stereotypisierten Bild einer Frau in der thailändischen Gesellschaft, was ihre Akzeptanz als Politikerin erschwert.
description: südostasien – Zeitschrift für Politik • Kultur • Dialog, Bd. 28 Nr. 2 (2012): Frauen: Das zweite Geschlecht?
Situierte Feminismen: Frauenbewegungen im Umbruch
Creators: name: Duscha, Tippawan
Publisher: name: südostasien – Zeitschrift für Politik • Kultur • Dialog
Year: 2018

description: Seit dem Blutbad 2010 ist eine neue Welle in der Frauenbewegung zu beobachten. Die Fronten zwischen »Feministinnen« und »anderen« Feministinnen werden immer deutlicher und härter.
description: südostasien – Zeitschrift für Politik • Kultur • Dialog, Bd. 28 Nr. 2 (2012): Frauen: Das zweite Geschlecht?
Taxing the Urban Informal Economy: The Case of Indonesia
Creators: name: Djadjad, Diah Kurniati
Publisher: name: RMIT University
Year: 2024
Subjects: classificationCode: 480106
subject: Taxation law
classificationCode: 380105
subject: Environment and resource economics
classificationCode: 380203
subject: Economic models and forecasting

description: This study endeavours to assess the magnitude of the urban informal economy (UIE) and to
identify the major issues, opportunities and challenges associated with taxing the UIE, and so
bring to the government’s attention tailored recommendations to bolster tax revenue.
Employing a quantitative methodology, the study investigates and validates its models through
a meticulous review of relevant literature. Therefore, the important contribution of this study
is that it is not only the first comprehensive investigation of the size of the UIE across Indonesia
based on regions but also provides a comprehensive exploration of the informal economy and
taxation.

The research utilises three models based on primary and secondary data from various sources,
including individuals, businesses, and tax officers. The first model employs structural equation
modelling (SEM), precisely the multiple indicators and multiple causes (MIMIC) method, to
estimate the annual size of the UIE and potential tax in Indonesia during the research period
from 2012 to 2018. The period aligns with the introduction of new taxation policies for micro,
small, and medium enterprises in 2013 and ending in 2018. The research model revealed that
UIE constituted an average of 18.57% of the gross domestic product (GDP), and the tax loss
generated from the informal economy was equivalent to 6.6% of GDP. The method also
analysed causal and indicator factors for UIE size. It identified that unemployment is the
primary driver of the size of the UIE in Indonesia while noting the negligible impact of inflation
and monetary circulation.

The second and third models provide an econometric analysis to explore the most challenging
factors and optimal strategies for taxing the UIE based on insights from UIE participants and
tax officers. The findings highlight that cash-based transactions pose a significant challenge
from the UIE perspective, whereas low taxpayer compliance emerges as a key concern among
tax officers. Importantly, the second model underscores that formalising taxation within the
informal economy potentially benefits in stimulating business, fostering economic
development, and enhancing governance.

The third model suggests that the Indonesian tax administration needs increased authority,
autonomy, and flexibility in financing and managing human resources. This would enhance
accountability and enable better tax collection from the informal economy. Additionally, the
study recommends further research to develop institutional support for tax officials, aiming to
capture and tax the hard-to-reach sectors of the economy effectively. Overall, these models
furnish the Indonesian tax authority with invaluable insights for enhancing tax collection from
the UIE.