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"Go to temples of science and ideas of Europe. Imitate the Tugendbund, 'the Union of Virtue', of which thousands of German youth are the members. Always keep the rule of 'Fit soul is in fit body' in mind" (Petrov, 2013, p. 72). This study aimed to show the similarities, in terms of expression, emphasis, and implication, in the about/mission/vision/goals/objectives of various science centers from around the world and in the basic themes derived from Snellman's statement above, namely, Science for all, Science Centers for all, and Human welfare that he made as a challenge to not only his people but to everyone. Document and content analyses were applied in the study. Within the scope of these analyses, this study investigated the about/mission/vision/goals/objectives sections of websites of science centers from around the world (Asia, Europe, Global, Latin America/The Caribbean, North America, Africa). From this investigation, similar basic themes, derived from Snellman's statement challenging his people/everyone to adopt this devotion to science, were found in the areas of i) expression in ASTC, CIMUSET/CSTM, CASC and SAASTEC; ii) emphasis in ECSITE, ASDC, ASCN and NSCF; and iii) implication in ASPAC, ASTEN, NCSM, ABCMC and Red-POP. These basic themes, as found in the about/mission/vision/goals/objectives of science centers, can, in effect, be narrowed down to the one theme of "cultural institutions will be a big part of human life" (Madsen 2017, p. 68) science centers in the global village (Touraine, 2016, p. 121) of the future.

As humanity reaches the 5.0 industrial revolution, education plays a critical role in boosting the quality of human resources. This paper reports bibliometric research on emerging TiP during 1993-2022 in the educational field to analyse its development on any level of education during the last three decades. This study employed a Scopus database. The findings are that the trend of TiP publication in educational fields has tended to increase every year during the past three decades and conference paper became the most published document type, the USA is the country which produces the most publications; "Students" being the most occurrences keyword and total link strength. The publication of the TiP is ranked to the Quartile 1, which implies that a publication with the cited performance is a publication with credibility because the publisher has a good reputation. Researchers can find the topics most relevant to other metadata sources such as Web of Science, Publish, and Perish.

This paper examines whether small Islamic firms' returns stochastically dominate (outperform) the returns of large Islamic firms using Ascending and Descending Stochastic Dominance (ASD and DSD) approaches. In other words, we investigate the size anomaly in Islamic equity indices. We use global, European, Asian/Pacific, and US Islamic equity indices from 1996 to 2019. For risk-averse investors, we find that small-size portfolios of Islamic indices ASD outperform large-sized portfolios in Asia/Pacific and Europe, while the opposite is true in the Dow Jones and the US. For risk-seeking investors, we find that small-sized portfolios of Islamic indices DSD outperform large-sized portfolios in the Dow Jones and the US, while the opposite is true in Asia/Pacific and Europe. We conclude that a size anomaly is present, and Islamic stock indices are inefficient in the semi-strong form. The results of this study should assist those who are interested in investing in Islamic equity markets in building their investment portfolios. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper starts from the assumption that in our current world, dominated by fast-paced changes, culture has acquired increasing prominence, which is likely to affect interpersonal and business relationships alike. Therefore, relying on a number of cultural patterns (high and low context cultures, collaborative and individual cultures and polychronic and monochronic cultures (Hall, 1990, 1997; Moll, 2012), we aim to provide an overview of the dynamics of cultural differences and similarities between Europe and Asia, with a focus on the business environment. Thus, arguing language proficiency does not necessarily ensure successful (business) interaction, we will be analysing a number of elements involved in business communication (e.g. the way in which individuals in a particular culture relate to time or how they position themselves within a group). More precisely, we will be looking into the ways in which people think, negotiate, and manage conflict, in an attempt to identify the various elements that drive specific behaviours and account for cultural expectations and assumptions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background WHO estimates that seasonal influenza epidemics result in three to five million cases of severe illness (hospitalisations) every year. We aimed to improve the understanding of influenza-associated hospitalisation estimates at a national and global level. Methods We performed a systematic literature review of English- and Chinese-language studies published between 1995 and 2020 estimating influenza-associated hospitalisation. We included a total of 127 studies (seven in Chinese) in the meta-analysis and analyzed their data using a logit-logistic regression model to understand the influence of five study factors and produce national and global estimates by age groups. The five study factors assessed were: 1) the method used to calculate the influenza-associated hospitalisation estimates (rateor time series regression-based), 2) the outcome measure (divided into three envelopes: narrow, medium, or wide), 3) whether every case was laboratory-confirmed or not, 4) whether the estimates were national or sub-national, 5) whether the rates were based on a single year or multiple years. Results The overall pooled influenza-associated hospitalisation rate was 40.5 (95% confidence interval (CI) = 24.3-67.4) per 100 000 persons, with rates varying substantially by age: 224.0 (95% CI = 118.8-420.0) in children aged 0-4 years and 96.8 (95% CI = 57.0-164.3) in the elderly aged >65 years. The overall pooled hospitalisation rates varied by calculation method; for all ages, the rates were significantly higher when they were based on rate-based methods or calculated on a single season and significantly lower when cases were laboratory-confirmed. The national hospitalisation rates (all ages) varied considerably, ranging from 11.7 (95% CI = 3.8-36.3) per 100 000 in New Zealand to 122.1 (95% CI = 41.5-358.4) per 100 000 in India (all age estimates). Conclusions Using the pooled global influenza-associated hospitalisation rate, we estimate that seasonal influenza epidemics result in 3.2 million cases of severe illness (hospitalisations) per annum. More extensive analyses are required to assess the influence of other factors on the estimates (e.g. vaccination and dominant virus (sub)types) and efforts to harmonize the methods should be encouraged. Our study highlights the high rates of influenza-associated hospitalisations in children aged 0-4 years and the elderly aged 65+ years. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Inference of admixture proportions is a classical statistical problem in population genetics. Standard methods implicitly assume that both parents of an individual have the same admixture fraction. However, this is rarely the case in real data. In this paper we show that the distribution of admixture tract lengths in a genome contains information about the admixture proportions of the ancestors of an individual. We develop a Hidden Markov Model (HMM) framework for estimating the admixture proportions of the immediate ancestors of an individual, i.e. a type of decomposition of an individual's admixture proportions into further subsets of ancestral proportions in the ancestors. Based on a genealogical model for admixture tracts, we develop an efficient algorithm for computing the sampling probability of the genome from a single individual, as a function of the admixture proportions of the ancestors of this individual. This allows us to perform probabilistic inference of admixture proportions of ancestors only using the genome of an extant individual. We perform extensive simulations to quantify the error in the estimation of ancestral admixture proportions under various conditions. To illustrate the utility of the method, we apply it to real genetic data. Author summary: Ancestry inference is an important problem in genetics and is used commercially by a number of companies affecting millions of consumers of genetic ancestry tests. In this paper, we show that it is possible, not only to estimate the ancestry fractions of an individual, but also, with some uncertainty, to estimate the ancestry fractions of an individual's recent ancestors. For example, if an individual traces his/her ancestry 50% to Asia and 50% to Europe, it is possible to distinguish between the individual having two parents that each are 50:50 composites of Asian and European ancestry, or one parent from Asia and one from Europe. It is likewise also possible to make inferences about grandparents. We present a computationally efficient method for making such inferences called PedMix. PedMix is based on a probabilistic model for the descendant and the recent ancestors. PedMix infers admixture proportions of recent ancestors (parents, grandparents or even great grandparents) using whole-genome genetic variation data from a focal individual. Results on both simulated and real data show that PedMix performs reasonably well in most scenarios. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Drawing on communities of practice and social cognitive learning theories, this paper explores language teachers' beliefs, knowledge and practices concerning the provision of high-quality education to learners with specific learning difficulties in various educational settings around the world. The data sample for this paper comprises qualitative data (videorecorded interviews and teaching resources) collected from six teachers working across various educational settings (primary, secondary, college and university) across several geographical areas (Europe, Middle East, and Southeast Asia). Thematic analysis was adopted to analyse the data. The findings suggest that teachers continue to experience challenges in educating learners with specific learning difficulties regardless of the educational setting. Limited opportunities for receiving specialised training in this area have been identified by several teachers as one of the key factors affecting the quality of their practice. The change in the mode of instruction from face-to-face to online was not always reported as negatively affecting the quality of educational provision to learners with specific learning difficulties. Technology-assisted online lesson delivery was seen as being advantageous to learners with some types of learning difficulties. Findings from this paper can be useful to teacher-practitioners and teacher-educators who are interested in improving the quality of language education for learners with specific learning difficulties.

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to (1) identify and classify the main motives that underpin the theoretical and empirical studies of ISO 14000, and (2) to analyze the evolution of these motives regarding time, geographic domain and industry. Design/Methodology/Approach - The analysis was conducted through a literature review, analyzing 66 articles between 1998 and 2017 from Scopus and/or Web of Science databases. Findings - A categorization of motives to implement the ISO 14001 standard is proposed. The main important motivations are external: customer pressure and compliance with legal frameworks. These motivations remain unchanged over time. Asia is the region that pays the most attention to the standard, followed by Europe. Finally, the service sector should be analyzed with more detail, as the manufacturing sector has been the focus of most studies. Originality/Value - Policymakers, management bodies and standardization agencies can benefit from these findings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Early puberty is a common worldwide problem. Different parameters as genetics, metabolic diseases, obesity, as well as environmental factors may affect the age of puberty. This systematic review aims to survey the related literature on the effects of environmental pollutants and especially organohalogens and phthalates on early puberty. Materials and Methods: A systematic review of papers published in the English language was completed in January 2014. Studies on the associations of organohalogens and phthalates with the puberty time were included. A literature search was conducted in EMBASE, PubMed, Scopus, ISI Web of Science, and Cochrane Library from 1995 to January 2014; moreover manual search through references of relevant manuscripts was considered. The literature search identified 212 papers, of which 13 papers fulfilled the inclusion criteria of the current study. Two reviewers independently identified relevant papers for potential inclusion and assessed the methodological quality. Results: This review included 6572 participants in nine countries from three continents (Europe, North America, and Asia). Different studies determined the effects of pollutants on maturation signs and pubertal stages and confirmed the association of organohalogens and phthalates with early puberty. Conclusion: Based on the studied literature, environmental pollutants surround and accumulate in human societies and their adverse health effects are well documented. It can be concluded that organohalogens and phthalates are disturbing the normal process of puberty timing; especially their influence on early maturation in girls should be underscored. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents an explorative holistic analysis of digitally-constructed gamification processes in mathematics education. The main aim of this study is to identify the key issues, intentions and trends by examining peer-reviewed publications using a combination of social network analysis (SNA), computerized lexical analysis and content analysis. Research findings indicate that there is a growing trend in gamification in mathematics education (GIME) research. GIME is mostly employed in primary school level. It was also found that, numbers is the most gamified math topic. Another research finding reveals that the researchers mostly use gamification to improve mathematical problem-solving, math achievement and math performance apart from the motivation and engagement. According to SNA findings, the most strategic terms in GIME research are as follows; geometry, fractions, mobile-learning, gender-studies, human-computer interaction, intelligent tutoring systems and tangible user-interfaces. GIME research is mostly influenced by USA and Brazil hence, the developing countries have an increasing interest in GIME research. Finally, findings on general research discourse implies that the general discourse among the sampled papers is positive. The findings obtained in this study may be useful to improve mathematics education by mapping a research agenda for researchers and educators with the exploration of potentials of GIME research.

Purpose: The outbreak of COVID-19 in 2020 has had a profound impact on education institutions at all levels. Open universities, with their privileged delivery method, have been in an advantageous position. In the earlier stages of the pandemic, they made remarkable contributions to assuring learning continuity. However, with more and more conventional universities migrating online, great changes have taken place in the field of higher education, and it is imperative for open universities to adjust their strategies in order to maintain their leading role in a technology-enabled education context. This paper aims to examine what challenges have been faced by open universities during the pandemic and how they will transform in the future. Design/methodology/approach: Six open universities in Asia, Africa and Europe were selected as cases in this research to make a comparative study based on the papers in the volume beyond distance education. Similarities and differences among the cases were analyzed in order to identify the developing trend for open universities in the international context. Findings: The results showed that (1) open universities in these regions demonstrated their resilience in the pandemic; examples were that new technologies have been leveraged to implement totally online delivery with short notice and huge amount of learning resources were offered to the society. (2) However, they encountered challenges of delivering fully online examination due to the lockdown and quarantine policies, and open universities in African and the sole private institution suffered financial pressure due to improving information and communication technology infrastructure and staff training. Another challenge was the fierce competition from conventional universities that open universities in Asia and Europe came across. (3) Four main areas were identified for future development in order to respond to the challenges: No.1 is that programs such as health care, psychology, epidemiology, virology, immunology, data analytics, biology and bio-informatics have stimulated interest for African open universities to develop in the future; No. 2 is that open universities were seeking to innovate their teaching formats; short courses, such as micro credentials, might be developed as agile and flexible offerings which are expected to be suitable to learners in the pandemic context; No 3 is that programs and courses for upskilling in the context of digitalization will be implemented; and No. 4 is that lifelong learning is given a higher priority in order for open universities to stand securely in the higher education sector. Originality/value: The study may give open university leaders a quick insight into their future development.

Background: Syndromic surveillance provides public health intelligence to aid in early warning and monitoring of public health impacts (e.g. seasonal influenza), or reassurance when an impact has not occurred. Using information collected during routine patient care, syndromic surveillance can be based on signs/symptoms/preliminary diagnoses. This approach makes syndromic surveillance much timelier than surveillance requiring laboratory confirmed diagnoses. The provision of healthcare services and patient access to them varies globally. However, emergency departments (EDs) exist worldwide, providing unscheduled urgent care to people in acute need. This provision of care makes ED syndromic surveillance (EDSyS) a potentially valuable tool for public health surveillance internationally. The objective of this study was to identify and describe the key characteristics of EDSyS systems that have been established and used globally.Methods: We systematically reviewed studies published in peer review journals and presented at International Society of Infectious Disease Surveillance conferences (up to and including 2017) to identify EDSyS systems which have been created and used for public health purposes. Search criteria developed to identify "emergency department" and "syndromic surveillance" were applied to NICE healthcare, Global Health and Scopus databases.Results: In total, 559 studies were identified as eligible for inclusion in the review, comprising 136 journal articles and 423 conference abstracts/papers. From these studies we identified 115 EDSyS systems in 15 different countries/territories across North America, Europe, Asia and Australasia. Systems ranged from local surveillance based on a single ED, to comprehensive national systems. National EDSyS systems were identified in 8 countries/territories: 2 reported inclusion of ≥85% of ED visits nationally (France and Taiwan).Conclusions: EDSyS provides a valuable tool for the identification and monitoring of trends in severe illness. Technological advances, particularly in the emergency care patient record, have enabled the evolution of EDSyS over time. EDSyS reporting has become closer to 'real-time', with automated, secure electronic extraction and analysis possible on a daily, or more frequent basis. The dissemination of methods employed and evidence of successful application to public health practice should be encouraged to support learning from best practice, enabling future improvement, harmonisation and collaboration between systems in future.Prospero Number: CRD42017069150 . [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this study is to investigate the effects of countries' development level in sports medicine, exercise and sports performance on their success in Olympic Games. Within this purpose, 1027 papers that were published between 2010 and 2018 in the journal of Sports Medicine, of which impact factor was 7.074 in 2017, were examined in analytical and correlational terms considering the first author and total author numbers. Pearson Correlation was utilized to find out the relationships between the papers from various countries and their success at Olympic Games. Regarding the number of medals won by the countries in the 2016, 2012 and 2008, Olympic Games were found significantly correlated with the number of first author (r = 0.73) and total author (r = 0.74).

The COVID-19 crisis has led to widespread temporary school closures and a deep economic recession. School closures have threatened children's ability to learn and later return to school well prepared. The impact of the economic recession is going to be even more devastating: first for students, but also for the ability of some Catholic schools to maintain their enrollment and remain sustainable financially in countries where they do not benefit from government support. This paper, the first in a set of two, looks at some of the likely impacts of the COVID-19 crisis on Catholic Schools in developed countries with a particular focus on the United States, a country not only hard hit by the crisis but also where Catholic schools are especially vulnerable to downturns. While Catholic schools may be able to respond to the immediate challenge of school closures among others through distance learning options, their ability to maintain enrollment during the economic downturn is less clear. How schools will respond to the twin challenges of ensuring learning during school closures and beyond, and remaining affordable for families at a time of economic stress, may affect whether they are able to maintain their comparative advantage. A key aim of the paper is to make Catholic school teachers and leaders aware of some of the discussions on how to respond to the crisis, and provide links to online resources that may be useful. [For Part II of the series, see EJ1278501.]

Emergence and development of the blockchain technology, which is able to transform into "a most powerful disruptive innovation", shall definitely concern universities. Moreover, nowadays the blockchain technology meets the challenges that both the system of higher education and the entire society are currently facing. Advantages of the blockchain technology are decentralized open data, absence of forgeries, safe storage of information, and reduction of transaction expenses related to data checkup, control, and verification. This paper provides a critical analysis of application of the blockchain technology considering with its applicability opportunities and restrictions in education; it also aims to identify the consequences of its influence upon the development of education. The article analyzes real cases when this technology was applied, with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) as an example. The MIT applied it to protect and validate the certificates that it issued. Another example is the Sony Global Education that forms individual data on its trainees' competencies and productivity; a third one relates to the University of Nicosia, which was the first to use smart contracts and accept cryptocurrency as a form of payment. The paper also considers the elements of the blockchain technology at universities (both in Russia and outside it), which participate in massive open online courses. It determines the scope of application of this technology in the Russian educational system. In addition, this article provides a literature review related to application of the blockchain technology; the review includes works by such renowned researchers as D. Tapscott, B. Bleir, A. Watters, A. Grech, A. Camilleri, M. Swan, A. Zaslavsky, etc. The paper analyzes the obtained findings of the survey that its authors have conducted among experts, professors, and specialists involved in accreditation. Thus, the paper provides an analysis of opportunities and restrictions related to application of the blockchain technology in higher education.

This paper reports the findings of a bibliometric analysis using VOSviewer on 392 Scopus database documents published from 2003 to 2022, aiming to understand the global landscape of the e-learning field and to identify the most prominent authors, institutions, countries and reference publications, as well as the research topics that have recently received the most attention in students' readiness for e-learning in Higher Education Institutions (HEIs). The findings indicate that there has been an upward trend in e-learning readiness among students in HEIs over time. Among the countries studied, the United States, Taiwan, Australia, and Malaysia were found to have the most effective approaches to addressing students' readiness for e-learning. The most highly cited author in this field is M-L. Hung. Based on the citations, the most recognised journal in this field was "Computers and Education" and the universities that were most persuasive were two Taiwan universities in the first position. The data also revealed relatively low levels of collaboration among authors, institutions and nations regarding students' readiness for e-learning.

Vitamin D deficiency (25-hydroxyvitamin D; 25(OH)D) is at epidemic proportions in western dwelling South Asian populations, including severe deficiency (<12⋅5 nmol/l) in 27-60% of individuals, depending on season. The paper aimed to review the literature concerning vitamin D concentrations in this population group. Research from the UK and Europe suggests a high prevalence of South Asians with 25(OH)D concentration <25 nmol/l, with most having a 25(OH)D concentration of <50 nmol/l. In Canada, South Asians appear to have a slightly higher 25(OH)D concentration. There are few studies from the United States, South Africa and Australasia. Reasons for vitamin D deficiency include low vitamin D intake, relatively high adiposity, sun exposure avoidance and wearing of a covered dress style for cultural reasons. Possible health effects of deficiency include bone diseases such as rickets and hypocalcaemia in children and osteomalacia in adults. Vitamin D deficiency may also increase the risk of other chronic diseases. Increased fortification of food items relevant to South Asian groups (e.g. chapatti flour), as well as increased use of vitamin D supplements may help reduce this epidemic. Introducing culturally acceptable ways of increasing skin exposure to the sun in South Asian women may also be beneficial but further research is needed to assess the effectiveness of different approaches. There may be a need for a South Asian specific vitamin D dietary intake guideline in western countries. To conclude, vitamin D deficiency is epidemic in South Asians living in western countries and there is a clear need for urgent public health action. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper provides an examination of the effects of contact between Europe and Asia in the early modern period, especially with regard to the exchange of linguistic data and ideas. The contact induced by transcontinental travel - with various motives, including missionary work and increasing colonial expansion - added fuel to the intellectual study of language. Both Europe and Asia gained access to new languages and approaches to language, which enabled an exchange of linguistic data and methodologies, which can now be seen as one of the origins of the development of modern linguistics. In order to illustrate the main developments within modern linguistics, earlier systems are briefly addressed along with some of the roots of their transformation or displacement. Latin treatises, including De antiquitate et affinitate linguae Zendicae, Samscrdamicae et Germanicae dissertatio and De Latini sermonis origine et cum orientalibus linguis connexione dissertatio, serve as examples of the earliest development toward comparative linguistic studies in the West. These texts, written by the Carmelite Ivan Filip Vesdin (alias Paulinus a Sancto Bartholomeo; 1748-1806) are some of the earliest Western texts offering a comparative description of the Sanskrit language. Although basically referring to the history of linguistics, this article provides an insight into the transfer of ideas and concepts between cultures and peoples of these macro-regions of human civilization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since almost a century, sunflower cultivation is endangered by Plasmopara halstedii (Farlow) Berlese & de Toni, a biotrophic oomycete causing downy mildew symptoms. The pathogen has conquered four of the five continents, and through high genetic plasticity recurrently avoided being reliably controlled by the introduction of resistant host cultivars in sunflower production. This paper attempts to retrace the historic routes of sunflower downy mildew spreading from its North American origin into Europe, South America, Asia and Africa. An update of the global diversity of pathotypes will be provided and critically discussed. Finally, the limits of the currently applied bioassay-based techniques for diversity assessment are pointed out and an alternative for continuous and area-wide monitoring is discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Research capacity enhancement is needed in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) for improved health, wellbeing, and health systems' development. In this article, we discuss two capacity-building projects, the African/Asian Regional Capacity Development (ARCADE) in Health Systems and Services Research (HSSR) and Research on Social Determinants of Health (RSDH), implemented from 2011 to 2015. The two projects focussed on providing courses in HSSR and social determinants of health research, and on developing collaborations between universities, along with capacity in LMIC universities to manage research grant submissions, financing, and reporting. Both face-to-face and sustainable online teaching and learning resources were used in training at higher postgraduate levels (Masters and Doctoral level). Design: We collated project meeting and discussion minutes along with project periodic reports and deliverables. We extracted key outcomes from these, reflected on these in discussions, and summarised them for this paper. Results: Nearly 55 courses and modules were developed that were delivered to over 920 postgraduate students in Africa, Asia, and Europe. Junior researchers were mentored in presenting, developing, and delivering courses, and in preparing research proposals. In total, 60 collaborative funding proposals were prepared. The consortia also developed institutional capacity in research dissemination and grants management through webinars and workshops. Discussion: ARCADE HSSR and ARCADE RSDH were comprehensive programmes, focussing on developing the research skills, knowledge, and capabilities of junior researchers. One of the main strengths of these programmes was the focus on network building amongst the partner institutions, where each partner brought skills, expertise, and diverse work cultures into the consortium. Through these efforts, the projects improved both the capacity of junior researchers and the research environment in Africa, Asia, and Europe. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Climate change mitigation necessitates increased investment in green sectors. This study proposes a methodology to predict green finance growth across various countries, aiming to encourage such investments. Our approach leverages time-series Conditional Generative Adversarial Networks (CT-GANs) for data augmentation and Nonlinear Autoregressive Neural Networks (NARNNs) for prediction. The green finance growth predicting model was applied to datasets collected from forty countries across five continents. The Augmented Dickey-Fuller (ADF) test confirmed the non-stationary nature of the data, supporting the use of Nonlinear Autoregressive Neural Networks (NARNNs). CT-GANs were then employed to augment the data for improved prediction accuracy. Results demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed model. NARNNs trained with CT-GAN augmented data achieved superior performance across all regions, with R-squared (R2) values of 98.8%, 96.6%, and 99% for Europe, Asia, and other countries respectively. While the RMSE for Europe, Asia, and other countries are 1.26e+2, 2.16e+2, and 1.16e+2 respectively. Compared to a baseline NARNN model without augmentation, CT-GAN augmentation significantly improved both R2 and RMSE. The R2 values for the Europe, Asia, and other countries models are 96%, 73%, and 97.2%, respectively. The RMSE values for the Europe, Asia, and various countries models are 2.24e+2, 7e+2, and 2.07e+2, respectively. The Nonlinear Autoregressive Exogenous Neural Network (NARX-NN) exhibited significantly lower performance across Europe, Asia, and other countries with R2 values of 74%, 52%, and 86%, and RMSE values of 1.11e+2, 3.63e+2, and 1.8e+2, respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present review was aimed to describe the prevalence and the regional distribution of malocclusion among preschool children worldwide. Two independent reviewers performed a systematic literature search to identify English publications from January 2010 to May 2024 using PubMed, ISI Web of Science and Embase. Search MeSH key words were "malocclusion", "primary dentition" and "child, preschool". The reporting quality was assessed by the modified Newcastle–Ottawa Quality Assessment Scale. We identified 2599 publications and recruited 47 articles. Fourteen of the included studies were conducted in Asia, four in Europe, twenty-eight in South America and one in Africa. The prevalence of malocclusion ranged from 28.4% to 83.9%, and half of the reported prevalences were higher than 50%. The highest percentage was in Asia (61.81%), followed by Europe (61.50%), South America (52.69%) and Africa (32.50%). Statistically significant differences existed in deep overbite, anterior open bite, posterior crossbite, edge-to-edge incisor relationship and distal step between continents (p < 0.05). Europe showed the highest prevalence (33.08%) of deep overbite. Africa showed the highest prevalence (18.60%) of anterior open bite. Europe showed the highest prevalence (15.38%) of posterior crossbite. The most common malocclusion traits were increased overjet and deep overbite. To conclude, malocclusion remained prevalent in the primary dentition and varied between countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The objective of this paper is to develop a refined gravity model for the quantitative assessment of competitive hub status of cities between 2000 and 2012 from the perspective of international air traffic movements. Its focus of attention is Europe and Asia, where cross border competition has been witnessed among major cities for the role as a key international air traffic hub. To this end, the research incorporates global network connectivity (GNC) as a measure of business connections into an established gravity model that previously relied on GDP per head, population and distance to account for international air links. The results confirm the dynamic change of the air transport city hierarchy, demonstrating a stronger presence of a number of previously secondly ranked cities as international air traffic hubs over this period. The paper concludes with suggestions that possible extension of geographical scope and incorporation of domestic air traffic could enrich the insight of this approach. • Hub status of cities is assessed from an international air traffic perspective. • Networks of inter-city air traffic flows in Europe and Asia are explored. • Business connectivity is the most powerful in explaining international air links. • Secondly ranked cities are now more prominent in the region's urban hierarchies. • New airports and integrators' hubs have significant effect on cities' mobility. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper examines the influence of the structural breaks on the optimal weights, hedge ratios and hedge effectiveness index (HEI) of risk‐minimizing portfolios composed of S&P500 and selected emerging markets' indices from East Europe, Asia and South America. We employ a bivariate DCC‐EGARCH models without and with structural breaks and we find better estimation features when structural breaks are included in the model. However, we do not find evidence that insertion of structural breaks increases portfolio hedging performances. The differences that exist between optimal weights, hedge ratios and HEI values are so small that tangible economic benefit for international investors do not exist. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Accomplishments in stem cell science and tissue engineering have resulted in a remarkable revolution in the context of future medicine. However, a general insight over the progress of stem cell research in Iran is still lacking. A better understanding of current needs in this field is required to design a better national roadmap. Methods: In this study, we defined the geographical regions based on the significance of their contribution to stem cell research; then, using the Scopus database, we retrieved reports from Iran and other countries concerning stem cell science and regenerative medicine published from 1994 until the end of 2016. Results: A significant number of citations belong to North America (6 554 029 citations equal to 49% of the total citations) and Europe (4 425 465 citations equal to 33% of the total citations) and the rest of citations were related to Asia (2 423 352 citations equal to 18% of the total citations). East Asian (2 168 472 citations equal to 76% of the total citations related to Asia) documents were cited more than those from the Middle East (ME) (494 141 citations equal to 17% of the total citations related to Asia) and North and Central Asia (196 382 citations equal to 7% of the total citations related to Asia). Iran as a country in the ME attracted 17% of the total citations related to the Asian countries winning the second position in this regard. The overview of total number of citations showed a sharp increase and upward trend in citation numbers for all the Iranian institutes from 2007 that resulted in the expansion of stem cell science in all major cities of Iran such as Shiraz (8%), Mashhad (5%), Isfahan (5%) and Ahvaz (5%). H-index of Tehran University of Medical Science, which has the highest total citations and document numbers, is the highest among all Iranian research institutes. Citation per paper of Royan Institute (RI) is the highest among the top 10 Iranian institutes, by 13 citations per paper. Conclusion: Stem cell research in Iran is rapidly developing. Since 2007, the number of published documents in major research institutes increased; thus, there is necessity for analysis of the status of publications in this field and choosing a better direction based on needs. Furthermore, it is necessary to expand and organize international collaborations to enrich our research and benefit from different team experiences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper provides global evidence supporting the hypothesis that expected return models are enhanced by the inclusion of variables that describe the evolution of book-to-market--changes in book value, changes in price, and net share issues. This conclusion is supported using data representing North America, Europe, Japan, and Asia. Results are highly consistent across all global regions and hold for small and big market capitalization subsets as well as in different subperiods. Variables measured over the past twelve months are more relevant than variables measured over the past thirty-six months, demonstrating that recent news is more important than old news. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Autonomous Vehicles (AV) technology is emerging. Field tests on public roads have been on going in several states in the US as well as in Europe and Asia. During the US public road tests, crashes with AV involved happened, which becomes a concern to the public. Most previous studies on AV safety relied heavily on assessing drivers’ performance and behaviors in a simulation environment and developing automated driving system performance in a closed field environment. However, contributing factors and the mechanism of AV-related crashes have not been comprehensively and quantitatively investigated due to the lack of field AV crash data. By harnessing California’s Report of Traffic Collision Involving an Autonomous Vehicle Database, which includes the AV crash data from 2014 to 2018, this paper investigates by far the most current and complete AV crash database in the US using statistical modeling approaches that involve both ordinal logistic regression and CART classification tree. The quantitative analysis based on ordinal logistic regression and CART models has successfully explored the mechanism of AV-related crash, via both perspectives of crash severity and collision types. Particularly, the CART model reveals and visualize the hierarchical structure of the AV crash mechanism with knowledge of how these traffic, roadway, and environmental contributing factors can lead to crashes of various serveries and collision types. Statistical analysis results indicate that crash severity significantly increases if the AV is responsible for the crash. The highway is identified as the location where severe injuries are likely to happen. AV collision types are affected by whether the vehicle is on automated driving mode, whether the crashes involve pedestrians/cyclists, as well as the roadway environment. The method used in this research provides a proven approach to statistically analyze and understand AV safety issues. And this benefit is potential be even enhanced with an increasing sample size of AV-related crashes records in the future. The comprehensive knowledge obtained ultimately facilitates assessing and improving safety performance of automated vehicles. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Knotweeds were introduced into Europe in the 19th century and soon after became aggressive invaders. While R. japonica and R. sachalinensis arrived from Asia, their hybrid Reynoutria × bohemica is believed to originate from the introduced range. Revised material shows that R. × bohemica has occurred in Europe since at least 1872, but was frequently misidentified as one of the parents. For that reason, the hybrid was detected relatively late in many European countries, meaning that it was silently spreading throughout the region for a long time. The present study was conducted in Croatia, where the parental species have been recorded since the 19th century, the hybrid, however, not being recognized until very recently, although it has probably been present for decades. As a result, the current knowledge of the distribution of knotweeds in Croatia is mostly erroneous. We revised specimens from Croatian herbaria and performed an extensive field survey across the whole of the territory of Croatia to collect new data. In this paper, we present accurate distribution maps of the three taxa, produced after a thorough revision, showing a result remarkably different to that previously known. In contrast to previously recorded distributions, we found that R. × bohemica is by far the most widespread, R. japonica is occasional, and R. sachalinensis is extremely rare. R. × bohemica, unlike its parents, occurs in Mediterranean Croatia as well. Compared to R. × bohemica, R. japonica occurs more frequently along watercourses. Taking into account that the studied taxa have different behaviour, ecological preferences, spreading ability and consequently different invasiveness, they should be analysed separately in any attempt to explain, manage and/or limit their spread. Therefore, the accuracy of their past and future identification is of major importance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents the European distribution of the understudied, host-specific rust fungus, Uromyces erythronii (Pucciniomycetes, Pucciniales, Pucciniaceae). Distribution data were derived from the survey of herbarium materials of its European host plant, Erythronium dens-canis. We demonstrate the presence of this rust fungus in 14 countries within the distribution area of its host. The temporal trend of emergence of the two rust fungus generations (aecia and telia) is presented. Based on the study of 1700 E. dens-canis individuals, we conclude that the overall infection rate has not changed significantly over the last 200 years. During field surveys, U. erythronii infection was detectable in most of the studied Erythronium populations (88.5%). A high similarity in the nrITS region was detected among samples from Europe (Croatia, Romania) and Asia (Japan). Citation: Nagy T., Pfliegler W. P., Takács A., Tökölyi J. & Molnár V. A. 2019: Distribution, infection rates and DNA barcoding of Uromyces erythronii (Pucciniaceae), a parasite of Erythronium (Liliaceae) in Europe. – Willdenowia 49: 13–20. doi: https://doi.org/10.3372/wi.49.49103 Version of record first published online on 14 March 2019 ahead of inclusion in April 2019 issue. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With increasing concerns about urban air quality and carbon emissions, electric vehicles (EVs) have gained popularity in megacities, especially in Europe and Asia. The energy consumption of EVs has subsequently caught researchers’ attention. However, the exploration of energy consumption of EVs has largely focused on people’s revealed driving behavior and rarely touched on their self-perception of driving styles. In this paper, we developed a more human-centric approach, aiming to investigate how the energy efficiency of EVs is shaped by the driving behavior and driving style in the urban scenario from field test data and driving style questionnaires (DSQs). Field tests were carried out on a designated route for a total of 13 drivers in the city of Beijing, where vehicle operation parameters were recorded under both congested and smooth traffic conditions. DSQs were collected from a larger pool of drivers including the field test drivers to be applied to driving style factor analysis. The results of a correlation analysis demonstrate the dynamic interaction between drivers’ revealed behavior and stated driving style under different traffic conditions. We also proposed an energy consumption prediction model with the fusion of collected driving parameters and DSQ data and the result is promising. We hope that this study would draw inspiration for future research on people’s transitioning driving behavior in an electric-mobility era. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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The importance of inclusive education receives global acceptance. The current paper presents a bibliometric analysis of 8398 papers dealing with inclusive education between 1980 and 2019. The research aim is to gain information on scientific productivity, international collaboration activities, and the conceptual structure of this research field. Descriptive analyses, co-authorship collaboration analysis and co-word analysis were conducted to obtain a comprehensive knowledge map of inclusive education research. The results show a fast growing body of research in inclusive education over the years with intensive international collaboration patterns. Six research clusters could be identified. Major and intensively studied research themes are disability issues, teacher professionalisation, teacher practices, attitudes towards inclusive education, social processes, support, curricular issues, student perspective, parent perspective, intercultural education, policy, etc. Research addressing inclusive education from a queer perspective, bullying, stigmatisation, digital education and emerging technologies in inclusive settings are under-represented and should be intensified in future studies.