cometadata/datacite-rtg-text-other-reclassification-records huggingface dataset:
For the creation of character: Pedagogical approach in Ontario's character development education resources
Creators: name: Pyykonen, Amanda
Publisher: name: Université d'Ottawa / University of Ottawa
Year: 2008
Subjects: subject: Education, Curriculum and Instruction.

description: This thesis addresses Ontario's current state of transition into mandated character development education that began with the onset of the Character Development Initiative at the beginning of the 2007/2008 school-year. The history of moral and character development educational efforts in Ontario, and in the broader North American context, is presented with specific attention paid to the development of pedagogies for character development and moral growth. By examining the pedagogical approaches suggested in three readily available resources published in the recent past and in use by teachers in Ontario data on what kinds of pedagogical approaches pre-date the Initiative was gathered. Data was collected from the introductions of each resource initially in order to establish the suggested or intended pedagogical approach by assessing statements of philosophical positioning. This was followed by a careful reading of the activities presented in the resource for teacher directives. The concept of pedagogical continuity was central to the analysis of these documents, and this extended to consistency of the resource's treatment of critical engagement. Commonalities were observed in the techniques and strategies suggested in the resources, especially where cooperative education is concerned. The common use of cooperative education in the documents was observed with a high level of internal continuity in the documents, and external continuity with the expectations of the Character Development Initiative was also seen. Levels of critical engagement in the resources varied, yet no document singled out that characteristic as being of high importance. This research adds to the knowledge base on pedagogy in the Ontario context as it relates to character development and opens the door for further studies of this nature.
ArcheOpterix: an extendable tool for architecture optimization of AADL models
Creators: name: Aleti, Aldeida
name: Bjornander, Stefan
name: Grunske, Lars
name: Meedeniya, Indika
Publisher: name: Swinburne
Year: 2024

description: For embedded systems quality requirements are equally if not even more important than functional requirements. The foundation for the fulfillment of these quality requirements has to be set in the architecture design phase. However, finding a suitable architecture design is a difficult task for software and system architects. Some of the reasons for this are an ever-increasing complexity of today's systems, strict design constraints and conflicting quality requirements. To simplify the task, this paper presents an extendable Eclipse-based tool, called ArcheOpterix, which provides a framework to implement evaluation techniques and optimization heuristics for AADL specifications. Currently, evolutionary strategies have been implemented to identify optimized deployment architectures with respect to multiple quality objectives and design constraints. Experiments with a set of initial deployment architectures provide evidence that the tool can successfully find architecture specifications with better quality
The Turbot War: The arrest of the Spanish vessel Estai and its implications for Canada-EU relations
Creators: name: Gough, Adam
Publisher: name: Université d'Ottawa / University of Ottawa
Year: 2009
Subjects: subject: History, Canadian.
subject: History, European.
subject: Political Science, International Relations.

description: On March 9, 1995, Canadian officials on fisheries patrol vessels fired warning shots, then boarded and seized the Spanish trawler Estai. Fishing on the Nose of the Grand Banks, but beyond Canada's 200-mile fishing zone, the Estai had been using an illegal net and had resisted previous boarding attempts. The European Union (EU) strongly objected to what it cast as a violation of international law. The objective of this thesis is to provide a comprehensive analysis of the Estai incident and its implications for Canadian fisheries policy and Canada's relations with the EU. The Estai seizure and subsequent "Turbot War" formed an important chapter in Canada's diplomatic history, arousing national feeling while souring relations with the EU, at least in the short term. However, this action against foreign overfishing helped bring about much needed changes regarding international fish conservation. Agreements came into place with the EU and other NAFO members allowing for full observer coverage on vessels and other improvements. As well, the Turbot War fostered the emergence of the new United Nations Fisheries Agreement dealing with conservation, pollution reduction, and the right of member states to inspect another country's vessels to ensure compliance with internationally-agreed rules of regional fishing. Even so, problems resurfaced in the workings of NAFO, and fish stocks have seen only limited recovery.
Adopting Ammonia Abatement: Thematic Insights into Farmers’ Perceptions and Policy 1 Challenges in Irish Agriculture
Creators: name: Daulagala, Chathurangá
name: Breen, James
name: Buckley, Cathal
name: Krol, Dominika J.
Publisher: name: Unknown
Year: 2025
Subjects: subject: Dairy Farming
subject: Dairy Production/Industries
subject: Livestock Production/Industries
subject: Research and Development/Tech Change/Emerging Technologies
subject: focus group discussions
subject: pro-innovation bias
subject: Technology Acceptance Mode
subject: 31 thematic analysis
subject: beef
subject: dairy
subject: farmers
subject: ammonia emissions

description: Recently, several EU countries, including the Republic of Ireland, have struggled to meet legally binding commitments to reduce agricultural ammonia emissions. Some farmers readily embrace abatement measures, whereas others reject them. Research exploring technology rejection decisions is rare; however, understanding why some farmers reject recommended farming practices holds critical information for tailoring government support schemes and reducing pro-19 innovation biases. This study builds on Technology Acceptance Model, data collected from focus group discussions with dairy and beef cattle farmers across eight key farming regions and inductive thematic analysis. Three main themes, six subthemes and 26 codes were defined. Perceived costs of bovine farming methods include affordability, compatibility, usability, availability, and sufficient information which may lead farmers to reject adoption. Participants were frustrated with societal pressure for reducing emissions on farms and lack recognition for environmental services of grasslands, food production for humans and progress achieved towards environmental sustainability. Policy issues relating to slurry closing date and support schemes were identified. It is recommended to support small farms for adopting abatement technologies and to develop methods suitable to land and soil properties as well as local weather.
Omega-3 fatty acids and coronary artery disease: more questions than answers
Creators: name: Tadic, Marijana
name: Sala, Carla
name: Grassi, Guido
name: Mancia, Giuseppe
name: Taddei, Stefano
name: Rottbauer, Wolfgang
name: Cuspidi, Cesare
Publisher: name: Universität Ulm
Year: 2021
Subjects: subject: cardiovascular outcome
subject: DDC 610 / Medicine & health
subject: Fatty acids, Omega-3
subject: Hypertriglyceridemia
subject: Omega-3-Fettsäuren
subject: Hypertriglyzeridämie

description: Studies show that patients with elevated triglycerides and well-controlled LDL levels under statin therapy still have a significant residual risk of cardiovascular (CV) events. Despite many attempts to reduce triglycerides with different hypolipidemic drugs, no therapeutic option has given satisfactory results so far. The initial enthusiasm that omega-3 fatty acids can effectively reduce triglycerides and CV risk was replaced with skepticism when the first large clinical trials failed to show any benefit in primary or secondary prevention. However, the latest studies succeeded in showing a positive effect of omega-3 fatty acids on CV outcome in patients with hypertriglyceridemia. The largest benefit was reported in secondary but not primary prevention. Interestingly, the reduction in triglycerides in some of these studies was disproportionately low to the relatively high CV risk reduction, which could indicate some other effects of omega-3 fatty acids that go well beyond hypotriglyceridemic action. This includes blood pressure reduction, antithrombotic effect, improvement of inflammatory status, endothelial function, and insulin resistance. Investigations also reported a significant and positive influence of omega-3 fatty acids on the composition and stabilization of coronary atherosclerotic plaques in patients with and without previous CV events. In addition to insufficiently known mechanisms of action and conflicting results about the effectiveness of omega-3 fatty acids, the safety problems, which include increased prevalence of atrial fibrillation and hemorrhage, were also reported. The aim of this clinical review was to summarize the current knowledge regarding the use of omega-3 fatty acids in CV patients, particularly those with coronary artery disease, and to present an overview of key clinical trial data.
Associations between the Level of Trace Elements and Minerals and Folate in Maternal Serum and Amniotic Fluid and Congenital Abnormalities
Creators: name: Kocylowski, Rafal
name: Grzesiak, Mariusz
name: Gaj, Zuzanna
name: Lorenc, Wiktor
name: Bakinowska, Ewa
name: Barałkiewicz, Danuta
name: Von Kaisenberg, Constantin S.
name: Lamers, Yvonne
name: Suliburska, Joanna
Publisher: name: Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute
Year: 2019

description: Congenital birth defects may result in a critical condition affecting the baby, including severe fetal/neonatal handicap and mortality. Several studies have shown that genetic, nutritional, and environmental factors may have an impact on fetal development and neonatal health. The relevance of essential and toxic elements on fetal development has not yet been fully investigated, and the results of recent research indicate that these elements may be crucial in the assessment of the risk of malformations in neonates. We determined the association between essential and toxic elements and the level of folate in maternal serum (MS) and amniotic fluid (AF), along with neonatal abnormalities. A total of 258 pregnant Polish women in the age group of 17–42 years participated in this study. AF and MS were collected during vaginal delivery or during cesarean section. An inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry technique was used to determine the levels of various elements in AF and MS. The results of this exploratory study indicate that the levels of essential and toxic elements are associated with fetal and newborn anatomical abnormalities and growth disorders.
Supplementary document for Electro-optic frequency combs for rapid interrogation in cavity optomechanics - 4903798.pdf
Creators: name: Long, David
name: Reschovsky, Benjamin
name: Zhou, Feng
name: Bao, Yiliang
name: LeBrun, Thomas
name: Gorman, Jason
Publisher: name: Optica Publishing Group
Year: 2025
Subjects: Photodetectors, Optical Sensors and Solar Cells

description: Supplemental Materials
Adaptive Regulation of the Laser Metal Deposition Process by the Optical Signal
Creators: name: Zavalov, Yurii
name: A. V. Dubrov
name: P. S. Rodin
name: V. D. Dubrov
Publisher: name: figshare
Year: 2020
Subjects: subject: 20502 Lasers and Quantum Electronics
subject: FOS: Physical sciences
subject: 91407 Pyrometallurgy
subject: FOS: Environmental engineering
subject: 91503 Engineering Practice
subject: FOS: Other engineering and technologies

description: The features of controlling the parameters of the laser metal deposition process (LMD) by the optical signal are considered. It is shown that to control and manage the process, it is necessary to use the principles of adaptive regulation. A review of research in the field of process control systems for laser metal additive manufacturing has been carried out. The developed system for the on-line control of LMD with feedback on the optical signal from the processing zone is described. The system provides the recognition of deviations during the process in real time and performs corrective actions to maintain the processes in the required regime. The use of the developed control system led to a decrease in the deviation of the track height from the set value on the trajectories with sharp turns.
Zugspitze ozone 1970-2020: the role of stratosphere-troposphere transport
Creators: name: Couret, Cédric
name: Trickl, Thomas
name: Ries, Ludwig
name: Vogelmann, Hannes
Publisher: name: My University
Year: 2023
Subjects: Alpen
Bayern

description: The pronounced increase in ozone observed at the Alpine station Zugspitze (2962 ma.s.l.) since the 1970s has been ascribed to an increase in stratospheric air descending to the Alps. In this paper, we present a reanalysis of the data from for both ozone (1978 to 2011) and carbon monoxide (1990-2011), which has been extended until 2020 by the data from the Global Atmosphere Watch site at the Umweltforschungsstation Schneefernerhaus (UFS; 2671 ma.s.l. - above sea level), which is located just below the Zugspitze summit. For ozone between 1970 and 1977, a constant annual average of 36.25 ppb (parts per billion) was assumed to have been obtained by extrapolation. The analysis is based on data filtering, utilizing the isotope 7Be (measured between 1970 and 2006) and relative humidity (1970 to 2011; UFS from 2002 to 2020). We estimate both the influence of stratospheric intrusions directly descending to the northern rim of the Alps from the full data filtering and the aged ("indirect") intrusions from applying a relationship between ozone and the 7Be data. The evaluated total stratospheric contribution to the annual average ozone rises roughly from 12 ppb in 1970 to 24 ppb in 2003. It turns out that the increase in the stratospheric influence is particularly strong in winter. A lowering in positive trend is seen afterwards, with a delay of roughly 1 decade after the beginning of the decrease in the solar irradiation. The air masses hitting the Zugspitze summit became drier until 2003, and we see the growing stratospheric contribution as being an important factor for this drying. Both an increase in the lower-stratospheric ozone and the growing thickness of the intruding layers departing downward from just above the tropopause must be taken into consideration. Carbon monoxide in the intrusions did not change much during the full measurement period from 1990 to 2020, with a slight increase until 2005. This is remarkable since, for air outside intrusions, a decrease by approximately 44 % was found, indicating a substantial improvement in the tropospheric air quality. © Author(s) 2023
Phloeophagus Schoenherr 1838
Creators: name: Inoue, Shûgo
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2025
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Coleoptera
Curculionidae
Phloeophagus

description: Phloeophagus Schoenherr, 1838
[New Japanese name: Futo-kikui-zômushi-zoku]
Phloeophagus Schoenherr, 1838: 1047
[type species: Phloeophagus lignarius sensu Schoenherr, 1838 nec. Marsham, 1802 (misidentification of Phloeophagus turbatus Schoenherr, 1845)];
Bedel, 1885: 196 [as junior synonym of Rhyncolus Germar, 1817]; Marshall, 1937: 54 [resurrected] & 55 [in key]; Voss, 1955: 229 [redescription]; Folwaczny, 1973: 71 [in key] & 150 [redescription]; Alonso-Zarazaga & Lyal, 1999: 123 [cataloged); Alonso-Zarazaga, 2002: 10 [diagnosis of Melicius Alonso- Zarazaga, 2002).
Diagnosis. Phloeophagus is characterized by the combination of following character states: rostrum much longer than wide, longer than head; antennal scrobes directed obliquely toward ventral side; postocular constriction weak; antennae with scape reaching middle or behind middle of eye, not reaching posterior margin of eye; funicle seven segmented; prothorax with posterior margin straight; scutellum present; front coxae almost contiguous; mesoventrite almost at same level as or weakly depressed below level of metaventrite (based on and modified from the following literature: Marshall 1937; Voss 1955; Folwaczny 1973; Alonso-Zarazaga 2002).
description: Published as part of Inoue, Shûgo, 2025, Taxonomy of the genus Phloeophagus Schoenherr (Curculionidae: Cossoninae) from Japan, with description of a new species, pp. 179-188 in Zootaxa 5631 (1) on page 180, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5631.1.9, http://zenodo.org/record/15327047
An integrated quality assurance framework for enterprise performance management systems
Creators: name: Zhan, Bo
Publisher: name: Université d'Ottawa / University of Ottawa
Year: 2007
Subjects: subject: Computer Science.

description: Increasingly, large organizations, such as governments and hospitals, are deploying complex on-line enterprise performance management systems, which support business performance management by analyzing the data collected from their operational systems into data warehouses. Those systems are often run on a network of centralized servers and are accessed by thousands of geographically dispersed users via browser-based inter-faces. To be successful, an enterprise performance management system must be scalable and it must be reliable to provide critical business services 24 hours per day x 7 days per week. The system also must be accepted by users, which means it will be really used so that the value of the system to the business can be realized. Data in the performance management system can be sensitive; hence, the system must protect privacy when delivering data and reports to users. This thesis defines an integrated quality assurance framework which addresses scalability, reliability, usage and privacy issues for enterprise performance management systems. Compared to black box testing, the integrated quality assurance framework has several advantages. It uses basic technologies (metadata modeling, reporting, portal, etc.) of an enterprise performance management system to provide deep analysis on system logs to measure quality both during development of the system and when it is in production. This thesis performs a case study using our approach by simulating the enterprise performance management system for a major teaching hospital in our lab environment and integrating our quality assurance framework. Often the data in the production environment is highly sensitive and its access strictly regulated by privacy law. To accurately assess the quality of the performance management system in a test environment, this thesis presents a strategy for generating test data with similar characteristics to the real sensitive data, and we have a Java-based tool implemented and applied in our research.
Intrahepatic manifestation and distant extrahepatic disease in alveolar echinococcosis: a multicenter cohort study
Creators: name: Graeter, Tilmann
name: Shi, Rong
name: Bao, Haihua
name: Liu, Wenya
name: Li, Weixia
name: Jiang, Yi
name: Schmidberger, Julian
name: Brumpt, Eleonore
name: Delabrousse, Eric
name: Kratzer, Wolfgang
name: Consortium, The XUUB
Publisher: name: Universität Ulm
Year: 2021
Subjects: subject: Alveolar echinococcosis
subject: Echinococcus multilocularis
subject: Kodama classification
subject: vascular
subject: biliary involvement
subject: extrahepatic manifestation
subject: BILIARY COMPLICATIONS
subject: METASTASES FORMATION
subject: MRI FINDINGS
subject: MULTILOCULARIS
subject: PROLIFERATION
subject: PROPOSAL
subject: DDC 610 / Medicine & health
subject: Magnetic resonance imaging
subject: Liver
subject: Classification
subject: Fuchsbandwurm
subject: Kernspintomografie
subject: Eingruppierung
subject: Proliferation
subject: Vorschlag

description: Background The main endemic areas of alveolar echinococcosis (AE) are in central Europe and western China. The infiltration of intrahepatic vascular and bile ducts as well as extrahepatic disease can lead to complications and may increase morbidity in AE. Purpose To evaluate the vascular/biliary involvement of hepatic alveolar echinococcosis (HAE) and distant extrahepatic disease at each of four locations in Germany, France, and China. Material and Methods Contrast-enhanced abdominal magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans of patients with HAE, 200 in total, were evaluated by five examiners. AE liver lesions were classified according to Kodama’s classification. Furthermore, distant extrahepatic manifestations were documented with additionally performed imaging modalities. Vascular/biliary involvement of hepatic manifestations as well as the presence of extrahepatic manifestations were correlated with the respective Kodama type of the liver lesion. Results Distant extrahepatic AE manifestations were significantly more frequent in China than in Europe (12/100 vs. 3/100; Fisher’s exact test: P=0.0286). A significant relationship exists between presence of distant extrahepatic disease manifestation and size of the AE liver lesion (132.53 ± 48.65 vs. 92.49 ± 50.06; P = 0.0030). Vascular/biliary involvement is significantly more frequent in China than in Europe (86/100 vs. 65/100; χ2 = 11.92; P = 0.0006). Vascular/biliary involvement depends on lesion size (111.10 ± 47.44 vs. 47.36 ± 24.36; P<0.0001). Different types of AE liver lesions are associated with differences in vascular/biliary involvement and extrahepatic manifestations. Conclusion Vascular/biliary involvement and presence of distant extrahepatic manifestations depend on size of the HAE lesions and are more frequently detected in China. Different MRI morphological patterns influence vascular/biliary involvement and the occurrence of distant extrahepatic manifestations.
Systematic review searches must be systematic, comprehensive, and transparent: a critique of Perman et al
Creators: name: Greyson, Devon
name: Rafferty, Ellen
name: Slater, Linda
name: MacDonald, Noni
name: Bettinger, Julie A.
name: Dubé, Ève
name: MacDonald, Shannon E.
Publisher: name: BioMed Central
Year: 2019

description: A high quality systematic review search has three core attributes; it is systematic, comprehensive, and transparent. The current over-emphasis on the primacy of systematic reviews over other forms of literature review in health research, however, runs the risk of encouraging publication of reviews whose searches do not meet these three criteria under the guise of being systematic reviews. This correspondence comes in response to Perman S, Turner S, Ramsay AIG, Baim-Lance A, Utley M, Fulop NJ. School-based vaccination programmes: a systematic review of the evidence on organization and delivery in high income countries. 2017; BMC Public Health 17:252, which we assert did not meet these three important quality criteria for systematic reviews, thereby leading to potentially unreliable conclusions. Our aims herein are to emphasize the importance of maintaining a high degree of rigour in the conduct and publication of systematic reviews that may be used by clinicians and policy-makers to guide or alter practice or policy, and to highlight and discuss key evidence omitted in the published review in order to contextualize the findings for readers. By consulting a research librarian, we identified limitations in the search terms, the number and type of databases, and the screening methods used by Perman et al. Using a revised Ovid MEDLINE search strategy, we identified an additional 1016 records in that source alone, and highlighted relevant literature on the organization and delivery of school-based immunization program that was omitted as a result. We argue that a number of the literature gaps noted by Perman et al. may well be addressed by existing literature found through a more systematic and comprehensive search and screening strategy. We commend both the journal and the authors, however, for their transparency in supplying information about the search strategy and providing open access to peer reviewer and editor’s comments, which enabled us to understand the reasons for the limitations of that review.
The e-factor: Advancing women entrepreneurs in the digital economy
Creators: name: Braun, Patrice
Publisher: name: Swinburne
Year: 2024

description: This paper reports the results of a study conducted in 2005 across APEC economies on women-owned uptake of e-business. As reported in the APEC report, there are few statistics available on the adoption of ICT by women small business owners. Australia, for one, does not have gender disaggregated data on ICT adoption. Of the APEC economies where data is available, data is based on small samples and its generalisability to all women-owned businesses in the economy is suspect. Canada and Mexico have high percentages of women using the Internet (57% and 46% respectively). In Mexico, this is considerably higher than the percentage of total business using the Internet, which is only 7.9%, indicating the danger of a small, specialised sample (Wright, 2006). From this study it has also become evident that there has not been any attention paid in e-business policies to addressing adoption of ICT by women entrepreneurs nor to women entrepreneurs related business needs. It is proposed in this paper that women entrepreneurship, and in particular e-entrepreneurship requires an enabling environment to goes beyond e-business capacity building. We have known for some time that women are concentrated in micro and small enterprises. Many are sole proprietors and many more than men are in home-based businesses. Extensive research on women entrepreneurship has shown that women face numerous obstacles (e.g., access to finance; juggling family care and business) when venturing into business. Yet no data is available on whether this is true for e-business or not, but past experience tells us it is likely to be so. The paper introduces a coordinated and holistic empowerment model to build e-business capacity for women entrepreneurs and concludes with e-business policy implications.
Altered early immune response after fracture and traumatic brain injury
Creators: name: Haffner-Luntzer, Melanie
name: Weber, Birte
name: Morioka, Kazuhito
name: Lackner, Ina
name: Fischer, Verena
name: Bahney, Chelsea
name: Ignatius, Anita
name: Kalbitz, Miriam
name: Marcucio, Ralph
name: Miclau, Theodore
Publisher: name: Universität Ulm
Year: 2023
Subjects: subject: Traumatic brain injury
subject: Polytrauma
subject: DDC 610 / Medicine & health
subject: Fracture healing
subject: Brain injuries, Traumatic
subject: Inflammation
subject: Mast cells
subject: Multiple trauma
subject: Schädel-Hirn-Trauma
subject: Frakturheilung
subject: Mastzelle

description: Introduction Clinical and preclinical data suggest accelerated bone fracture healing in subjects with an additional traumatic brain injury (TBI). Mechanistically, altered metabolism and neuro-endocrine regulations have been shown to influence bone formation after combined fracture and TBI, thereby increasing the bone content in the fracture callus. However, the early inflammatory response towards fracture and TBI has not been investigated in detail so far. This is of great importance, since the early inflammatory phase of fracture healing is known to be essential for the initiation of downstream regenerative processes for adequate fracture repair. Methods Therefore, we analyzed systemic and local inflammatory mediators and immune cells in mice which were exposed to fracture only or fracture + TBI 6h and 24h after injury. Results We found a dysregulated systemic immune response and significantly fewer neutrophils and mast cells locally in the fracture hematoma. Further, local CXCL10 expression was significantly decreased in the animals with combined trauma, which correlated significantly with the reduced mast cell numbers. Discussion Since mast cells and mast cell-derived CXCL10 have been shown to increase osteoclastogenesis, the reduced mast cell numbers might contribute to higher bone content in the fracture callus of fracture + TBI mice due to decreased callus remodeling.
Economy-wide effects of climate change in Benin
Creators: name: Hounnou, Fèmi E.
name: Dedehouanou, Houinsou
name: Zannou, Afio
name: Agbahey, Johanes
name: Biaou, Gauthier
Publisher: name: Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin
Year: 2019
Subjects: subject: climate change
subject: dynamic computable general equilibrium
subject: economic effects
subject: food crop yield losses
subject: household welfare
subject: Benin
subject: 333.7 Natürliche Resourcen, Energie und Umwelt
subject: 690 Hausbau, Bauhandwerk

description: This research analyzes the economic effects of climate change-induced crop yield losses in Benin. As agriculture is a large sector in Benin, the climate change-induced crop yield losses are expected to affect the entire economy as well as household welfare in both rural and urban areas. The paper applies a dynamic general equilibrium model and simulates productivity shocks in the agricultural sector derived from climate change scenarios for Benin. The findings show that climate change-induced crop yield losses reduce domestic agricultural outputs by 4.4% and the nonagricultural output by 0.9% on average by 2025. While export supply decrease by 25.5%, import demand increases by 4.9% on average by 2025. As price of labour and capital decline, household income drop for all household groups by 2.5% on average. Ultimately, household welfare decline for all household groups by 2.7% on average. Rural and particularly poor households are projected to experience the worst adverse effects of climate change-induced crop yield losses. The results show that without adaptive strategies to cope with climate change, economic growth and household welfare will decline even further by 2035 and 2045. Subsequently, the paper suggests that adaptation strategies are needed not only at the national level to overcome the projected negative effects on macroeconomic indicators, but also at household level to enhance the adaptative capacity of households, especially the poor households living in rural areas.
Drones, war and diplomacy : concepts and (in-)coherence?
Creators: name: Page, James Michael
Publisher: name: The University of St Andrews
Year: 2025
Subjects: Drones
GWOT
Drone debate
Conceptualisation
Afghanistan
Pakistan
Yemen
Loitering munitions
Military technology
Strategy

description: In 2001, with the initiation of the Global War on Terror (GWOT) in response to the 9/11 attacks, drones began to emerge more clearly from under the cloak of secrecy that had long shrouded them. The ‘drone debate’ ensued as scholars, analysts and journalists identified dissention within the US government (drones’ main employer) about their use for targeted killing, against whom, and to what end(s) and amid developing controversies. The ‘drone debate’ – a largely US-centric debate but with international implications – focused largely on targeted killing swiftly took shape. However, what precisely drones were did not, and conceptualisations were typically overly broad or narrow and limited; an issue that has continued to affect them. The Predator drone became emblematic of drones and the GWOT, and its use encapsulated paradox: precision capability and the infliction of politically sensitive civilian casualties. Consequently, and as extant definitions and conceptualisations of drones neither aligned nor provided precision about what drones are, and often conflated different technologies, substantial confusion has abounded. In turn, so have complications and contention with policy, more theoretical and practical ramifications and while drones proliferate rapidly in myriad forms and are increasingly influential. Indeed, as drones have appeared to undergo great change in themselves and in what they affect they have exhibited protean qualities. Consideration of this characteristic serves to enable response to two key questions principally regarding the ‘drone debate’ including through three case studies (Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Yemen), and expert respondents’ views of drones and their use in these locations: (1) why has a clear and coherent conceptualisation of drones been lacking? (2) Is one possible, including to attain appropriate clarity about drones and their past, current and future policy, theoretical and practical implications, and the cumulation of knowledge about them? Several areas for further research are also articulated.
Supplementary document for Frequency-tunable terahertz graphene laser enabled by pseudomagnetic fields in strain-engineered graphene - 4903949.pdf
Creators: name: Sun, Hao
name: Qi, Zhipeng
name: Kim, Youngmin
name: Luo, Manlin
name: Yang, Bo
name: Nam, Donguk
Publisher: name: Optica Publishing Group
Year: 2025
Subjects: Uncategorized

description: Supplement 1
A prevalence estimation of exstrophy and epispadias in Germany from public health insurance data
Creators: name: Ebert, Anne-Karoline
name: Zwink, Nadine
name: Reutter, Heiko Martin
name: Jenetzky, Ekkehart
Publisher: name: Universität Ulm
Year: 2021
Subjects: subject: Bladder exstrophy epispadias complex (EEC)
subject: DDC 610 / Medicine & health
subject: Public health
subject: Rare diseases
subject: Epispadias
subject: Bladder exstrophy
subject: Insurance, Health
subject: Prevalence
subject: Public Health
subject: Krankenversicherung
subject: Epispadie
subject: Blasenekstrophie

description: Introduction: The prevalence of rare diseases is very important for health care research. According to the European Surveillance of Congenital Anomalies (EUROCAT) registers, the live prevalence for exstrophy and/or epispadias (grades 1–3) is reported with 1:23,255 (95% CI: 1:26,316; 1:20,000). A Europe-wide prevalence evaluation based on reports from excellence centers estimates a prevalence for exstrophies of 1:32,200 and for isolated epispadias of 1:96,800 in 2010. However, the frequency of exstrophy [International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems revision 10 (ICD-10): Q64.1] and epispadias (ICD-10: Q64.0) treated in different age groups in Germany remains unclear. Material and Method: Public health insurance data from 71 million people (approximately 87% of the population) were provided by the German Institute for Medical Documentation and Information (DIMDI) in accordance to the German Social Insurance Code for this research purpose. DIMDI analyzed the data source for the ICD diagnoses exstrophy and epispadias between 2009 and 2011. As provided data were robust over the years, averaged data are mentioned. Detailed subgroup analysis of small numbers was forbidden due to privacy protection. Results: Annually, 126 persons of all ages with epispadias and 244 with exstrophy are treated as inpatients. In the observed population, 34 infants (<1 year of age) with epispadias and 19 with exstrophy (58% male) are treated as outpatients each year. This corresponds to an estimated live prevalence of 1:11,000 (95% CI: 1:14,700; 1:8,400) for EEC (exstrophy–epispadias complex), more specifically a prevalence of 1:17,142 for epispadias and of 1:30,675 for exstrophy. The male-to-female ratio for exstrophy is 1.4:1 for infants and 1.6:1 for all minors. In children and adolescents, 349 epispadias and 393 exstrophies (up to the age of 17) are treated annually, whereas adults with exstrophy and even more with epispadias make comparatively less use of medical care. Conclusion: With the help of DIMDI data, the live prevalence of bladder exstrophy and epispadias in Germany could be estimated. The prevalence of epispadias was higher than in previous reports, in which milder epispadias phenotypes (grade 1 or 2) may not have been included. These analyses might enlighten knowledge about nationwide incidence and treatment numbers of rare diseases such as the EEC.
Image-based rendering techniques for application in virtual environments.
Creators: name: Sun, Xiaoyong.
Publisher: name: Université d'Ottawa / University of Ottawa
Year: 2002
Subjects: subject: Engineering, Electronics and Electrical.

description: In this thesis, the methods of Image-Based Rendering for creating virtual environment applications are studied in order to construct a real image-based virtual environment with the principle of representing an environment through a set of pre-captured images. These pre-captured images are used to synthesize arbitrary views in a virtual environment. Currently developed techniques include view synthesis through interpolation, Light Field Rendering and Concentric Mosaics. These methods are presented and compared in the thesis and we conclude that the Concentric Mosaics technique is more suitable for practical applications. The stereoscopic view synthesis through the Concentric Mosaics rendering technique is also addressed. The application of the anaglyph technique can make stereo views of a virtual environment available to any personal computer user with an inexpensive pair of colored glasses.
Soldering in magnesium high pressure die casting and its preservation by surface engineering
Creators: name: Tang, Caixian
Publisher: name: Swinburne
Year: 2024

description: Magnesium alloys are the lightest structural metallic materials and their importance in a range of industries has been rising in the last ten years. To the automotive and electronics industries, the most attractive properties of magnesium alloys are their light weight, strength to weight ratio, higher strength of thin/very thin section, high quality surface finish and precise dimension of cast components. With the increased use of magnesium alloys especially in high pressure die casting, the phenomenon of soldering of magnesium alloys is attracting more attention. Soldering is the sticking of casting alloy to the die surface and leaving of drag marks on both the die and casting surface after part ejection. Soldering increases the rejection rate and the machine downtime, and serious soldering may damage the die which can cost hundreds of thousands, or even a million dollars to make. Because thin walled casting is one of the major advantages of magnesium high pressure die casting compared to other alloys, slight soldering can result in serious production problem. This project is aimed at understanding the soldering problem in the magnesium high pressure die casting process and applying surface engineering approaches to reduce or even eliminate it.
Neurotoxicity and neuroinflammation in the enteric nervous system.
Creators: name: Peaire, Amy.
Publisher: name: Université d'Ottawa / University of Ottawa
Year: 2002
Subjects: subject: Biology, Neuroscience.

description: The enteric nervous system (ENS) is the intrinsic nervous system of the gastrointestinal (GI) tract. Damage and degeneration of the ENS is a feature of some GI diseases, such as inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), and is associated with several other diseases including diabetes mellitis and Parkinson's disease. The overall goal of this thesis research was to identify specific classes of compounds capable of inducing ENS degeneration. These studies are intended to form a knowledge base upon which further studies can build towards the goal of preventing or attenuating clinical ENS damage. Reactive oxygen species (ROS), proinflammatory cytokines, and the process of anoxia-reoxygenation have been identified as inducers of CNS neurodegeneration and mediators in the neuropathogenesis of inflammatory diseases. As the ENS bears a considerable functional resemblance to the CNS, these compounds and processes are likely to have similar actions in this nervous system. Many of these mediators have been implicated in the pathogenesis of inflammatory diseases of the bowel, whereas initial studies of some of these mediators suggest their involvement in ENS neuropathogenesis. Thus, the general hypothesis of this thesis is that anoxia-reoxygenation, ROS, and the proinflammatory cytokine tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF) act on the ENS to induce neurodegeneration. In summary, the findings of this thesis are consistent with the hypothesis that inflammatory mediators can induce enteric neurodegeneration. This study identified specific inflammatory mediators as inducers of enteric neurodegeneration, characterized their neurodegenerative properties, and identified GDNF as a neuroprotective agent. Subsequent investigations further defined the respective roles of inflammatory immunocytes and the pro-inflammatory cytokine TNF in enteric neuronal cell death relevant to IBD pathogenesis. These findings are intended to form a basis for further studies into the mechanisms underlying clinical enteric neurodegeneration in disease pathogenesis. (Abstract shortened by UMI.)
The SAMI galaxy survey: Spatially resolved metallicity and ionization mapping
Creators: name: Poetrodjojo, Henry
name: Groves, Brent
name: Kewley, Lisa J.
name: Medling, Anne M.
name: Sweet, Sarah
name: van de Sande, Jesse
name: Sanchez, Sebastian F.
name: Bland-Hawthorn, Joss
name: Brough, Sarah
name: Bryant, Julia J.
name: Cortese, Luca
name: Croom, Scott M.
name: López-Sánchez, Ángel R.
name: Richards, Samuel N.
name: Zafar, Tayyaba
name: Lawrence, Jon S.
name: Lorente, Nuria P.F.
name: Owers, Matt S.
name: Scott, Nicholas
Publisher: name: Swinburne
Year: 2024

description: We present gas-phasemetallicity and ionization parameter maps of 25 star-forming face-on spiral galaxies from the SAMI Galaxy Survey Data Release 1. Self-consistent metallicity and ionization parameter maps are calculated simultaneously through an iterative process to account for the interdependence of the strong emission line diagnostics involving ([O II]+[O III])/Hβ (R23) and [O III]/[O II](O32). The maps are created on a spaxel-by-spaxel basis because HII regions are not resolved at the SAMI spatial resolution. We combine the SAMI data with stellar mass, star formation rate (SFR), effective radius (Re), ellipticity, and position angles (PA) from the GAMA survey to analyse their relation to the metallicity and ionization parameter. We find a weak trend of steepening metallicity gradient with galaxy stellar mass, with values ranging from -0.03 to -0.20 dex/Re. Only two galaxies show radial gradients in the ionization parameter. We find that the ionization parameter has no significant correlation with either SFR, sSFR (specific SFR), or metallicity. For several individual galaxies, we find the structure in the ionization parameter maps suggestive of spiral arm features. We find a typical ionization parameter range of 7.0 < log (q) < 7.8 for our galaxy sample with no significant overall structure. An ionization parameter range of this magnitude is large enough to caution the use of metallicity diagnostics that have not considered the effects of a varying ionization parameter distribution.
Empowering Vertical Industries through 5G Networks - Current Status and Future Trends
Creators: name: Kaloxylos, Alexandros
name: Gavras, Anastasius
name: De Peppe, Raffaele
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2020

description: This white paper summarizes the progress and key findings produced by 5G PPP projects to provide 5G network services for vertical industries. It provides information about requirements and business cases addressed by the projects. It discusses in detail several exemplary use cases from 11 different vertical sectors and identifies key 5G features that have been used to meet the specified requirements.
Supplementary document for Structurally Tunable Gear-Shaped Plasmonic Sensor - 4905043.pdf
Creators: name: Sarker, Ayon
name: Mitu, Shmaima
name: Das, Purbayan
name: Choudhury, Sajid
Publisher: name: Optica Publishing Group
Year: 2025
Subjects: Uncategorized

description: Supplimentary Materials
Prediction of Diameter Distributions with Multimodal Models Using LiDAR Data in Subtropical Planted Forests
Creators: name: Zhang, Zhengnan
name: Cao, Lin
name: Mulverhill, Christopher
name: Liu, Hao
name: Pang, Yong
name: Li, Zengyuan
Publisher: name: Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute
Year: 2019

description: Tree diameter distributions are essential for the calculation of stem volume and biomass, as well as simulation of growth and yield and to understand timber assortments. Accurate and reliable prediction of tree diameter distributions is critical for optimizing forest structure compositions, scheduling silvicultural operations and promoting sustainable management. In this study, we investigated the potential of airborne Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) data for predicting tree diameter distributions using a bimodal finite mixture model (FMM) and a multimodal k-nearest neighbor (KNN) model (compared to the unimodal Weibull model (UWM)) over a subtropical planted forest in southern China. To do so, we first evaluated the capability of various LiDAR predictions (i.e., the bimodality coefficient (BC) and Lorenz-based indicators) to stratify forest structural types into unimodal and multimodal stands. Once the best LiDAR prediction for the differentiation was determined, the parameters of UWM (in non-specific and species-specific models) and FMM (in structure-specific models) were estimated by LiDAR-derived metrics and the tree diameter distributions of stands were generated by the estimated LiDAR parameters. When KNN was applied for constructing diameter distributions, optimal KNN strategies, including number of neighbors k, response configurations and imputation methods (i.e., Most Similar Neighbor (MSN) and Random Forest (RF)) for different species were heuristically determined. Finally, the predictive performance of estimated LiDAR the parameters of UWM, FMM and KNN for predicting diameter distributions were assessed. The results showed that LiDAR-predicted Lorenz-based indicators performed best for differentiation. Parameters of UWM and FMM were predicted well and the species-specific models had higher accuracies than the non-specific models. Overall, RF imputation from KNN with an optimal response set (i.e., DBH) were was stable than MSN imputation when k = 5 neighbors. In addition, the inclusion of bimodal FMM for differentiated all plots generally produced a more accurate result (Mean eR = 40.85, Mean eP = 0.20) than multimodal KNN (Mean eR = 52.19, Mean eP = 0.26), whereas the UWM produced the lowest performance (Mean eR = 52.31, Mean eP = 0.26). This study demonstrated the benefits of multimodal models with LiDAR for estimating diameter distributions for supporting forest inventory and sustainable forest management in subtropical planted forests.
МИТОХОНДРИАЛЬНАЯ ДИСФУНКЦИЯ КАК КЛЮЧ К ПОНИМАНИЮ У ЖЕНЩИН ФЕРТИЛЬНОГО ВОЗРАСТА С ЭНДОКРИННЫМИ ПАТОЛОГИЯМИ
Creators: name: Иргашева, Ойдин
name: Халимова, Замира
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2024

description: У женщин детородного возраста могут возникнуть проблемы, связанные с репродуктивным здоровьем и эндокринной системой. Среди этих проблем особое значение имеет дисфункция митохондрий. Митохондриальная дисфункция, т.е. снижение активности митохондрий вызывает проблемы в процессах производства энергии и может оказать негативное влияние на репродуктивное здоровье. В данной статье анализируется связь митохондриальной дисфункции с эндокринной патологией и ее роль у женщин детородного возраста.