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Purpose: To probe into the effects of gamma globulin on the pulmonary functions, and C3 and C4 serum levels of septic children in pediatric intensive care unit (PICU). Methods: Sixty-seven children with sepsis were retrospectively analyzed and assigned into study group (SG, n = 36) and control group (CG, n = 31) based on treatment modalities. The children in CG received conventional sepsis treatment, while children in SG were treated with gamma globulin. Differences in pulmonary function as well as C3 and C4 serum levels were compared in both groups before and after treatment. Children in SG were assigned into mild group (n = 21) and severe group (n = 15) in based on the severity of their conditions. Results: After treatment, SG showed higher forced vital capacity (FVC) and peak expiratory flow (PEF) than CG (p < 0.05). SG also showed higher C3 and C4 serum levels than CG after treatment (p < 0.05). Conclusion: Administration of gamma globulin to children in PICU significantly improves lung function and increases their serum C3 and C4 levels. C3 and C4 serum levels of septic children in PICU correlate with prognosis. Hence, C3 and C4 can be regarded as indicators for the diagnosis, evaluation and prognosis of septic children in PICU.

We present the full cycle of setting up research infrastructures: from strategy to implementation, and how to systematically assess (new) infrastructures using impact analysis. The European Commission strives for a single market for research data. Within its Open Science policy there are two strategic pillars dealing with this objective: the European Open Science Cloud and the FAIR data principles. There have been multiple initiatives to realize a 'web of research data' and remove barriers, and we will focus on some salient projects from the Horizon program. Next, we will incorporate these actions into an Impact Analysis to assess the medium- and long-term impacts. This will cover the full policy cycle of setting up data services and provide a tool for policy makers, research infrastructures and research communities.

International audience; An important literature shows that inflation targeting (IT) adoption improves fiscal discipline. Our impact assessment analysis performed in a large sample of 89 developing countries over three decades shows that this favorable impact covers a composition effect: IT adoption is found to reduce more current expenditure compared with public investment in IT countries relative to non-IT countries. This finding is robust to various alternative specification, related to the structure of the sample, the measurement of the IT regime, or the estimation method. Consequently, aside from its acknowledged benefits for monetary policy goals, IT appears as an efficient tool to strengthen fiscal policy in developing countries towards lower and more productive public expenditure.

This study aims to investigate how the coronavirus has resulted in harmful effects on the tourism industry and how it has most likely shaken the common traditional practices that the industry had followed for years. With a chronological order, this is a case study focusing on personal observations and also personal communication with hoteliers and retailers commencing from the early weeks to the end of 2020 in Turkey. The study has resulted in the categorization of risks, challenges and responses under 10 parts. The study also provides implications for the literature and the industry at the business and destination level altogether.

An increasing consensus exists in the impact evaluation literature on using detailed theory-based evaluations to evaluate complex programmes such as private sector development (PSD) programmes. At the same time, PSD managers expect periodic and timely (so-called ‘real-time’) input from evaluators to improve programmes throughout their implementation. This article presents insights from real-time theory-based monitoring and evaluation shaped by the needs of policymakers in two Dutch PSD programmes. To learn about their experiences, we held in-depth interviews with researchers and policymakers involved in the evaluation. The interviews indicated that theory-based evaluation improved reporting on the programmes’ contribution to higher-level impact areas and credibly quantified the importance of that contribution. The insights showed too that real-time monitoring and evaluation of PSD programmes requires more flexibility in data collection and increased interaction with mid-management.

The success of engineering complex technical systems is determined by meeting customer requirements and institutional regulations. One example relevant to the automobile industry is the United Nations Economic Commission of Europe (UN ECE), which specifies the homologation of automobile series and requires proof of traceability. The required traceability can be achieved by modeling system artifacts and their relations in a consistent, seamless model—an effect-chain model. Currently, no in-depth methodology exists to support engineers in developing certification-compliant effect-chain models. For this purpose, a new methodology for certification-compliant effect-chain modeling was developed, which includes extensions of an existing method, suitable models, and tools to support engineers in the modeling process. For evaluation purposes, applicability is proven based on the experience of more than 300 workshops at an automotive OEM and an automotive supplier. The following case example is chosen to demonstrate applicability: the development of a window lifter that has to meet the demands of UN ECE Regulations R156 and R21. Results indicate multiple benefits in supporting engineers with the certification-compliant modeling of effect chains. Three benefits are goal-oriented modeling to reduce the necessary modeling capacity, increasing model quality by applying information quality criteria, and the potential to reduce costs through automatable effect-chain analyses for technical changes. Further, companies in the automotive and other industries will benefit from increased modeling capabilities that can be used for architecture modeling and to comply with other regulations such as ASPICE or ISO 26262.

This executive summary of a study on national funding systems of higher education provides a set of conclusions on effectively implementing national and EU policy priorities through Performance-Based Funding (PBF). A series of recommendations related to various aspects of national higher education funding mechanisms are put forward for Member States to consider, including on the suitability of PBF systems to support transnational university alliances under the European Universities Initiative.

This study analyses the implementation of performance-based funding (PBF) systems in the 27 EU Member States and evaluates their impact. Furthermore, it seeks to understand how and to what extent national (PBF) funding schemes can be used to support transnational university alliances, as initiated under the European Commission’s European Universities Initiative (EUI) in 2019. Recommendations are provided on how to best use performance-based funding to achieve policy objectives support European Universities alliances at national level.

This executive summary of a study on national funding systems of higher education provides a set of conclusions on effectively implementing national and EU policy priorities through Performance-Based Funding (PBF). A series of recommendations related to various aspects of national higher education funding mechanisms are put forward for Member States to consider, including on the suitability of PBF systems to support transnational university alliances under the European Universities Initiative.

This study analyses the implementation of performance-based funding (PBF) systems in the 27 EU Member States and evaluates their impact. Furthermore, it seeks to understand how and to what extent national (PBF) funding schemes can be used to support transnational university alliances, as initiated under the European Commission’s European Universities Initiative (EUI) in 2019. Recommendations are provided on how to best use performance-based funding to achieve policy objectives support European Universities alliances at national level.

Social progress and economic development has resulted in the need to focus on the impacts of building microenvironment on the energy consumption in office buildings. The concept of a building’s microenvironment was introduced to understand the local microclimate around a building that is formed by the surrounding urban green spaces, the distribution of roads, and building proximity. For this research, we adopted a regression analysis to quantify the impacts of building microenvironment on energy consumption in office buildings. Taking the government office buildings of Guangdong Province as an example, we measured the building microenvironment through the urban green space density, road density, and number of points of interest (POI) around the buildings. The results showed that when the green space density increased by one unit, the energy consumption in government office buildings was reduced by 0.277%. Moreover, an increase of 1% in road density and in the number of POI increased the energy consumption in government office buildings by 0.288% and 0.048%, respectively. Furthermore, we discussed the heterogeneous impacts of building microenvironment on the energy consumption in government office buildings at varying scale levels. Green space and road density had less impact on the energy consumption in larger buildings, whereas the number of POI had no significant impact on small-scale buildings but did have a significant impact on large-scale buildings. There were also some limitations in the study. The data were limited to government office buildings, and did not include panel data, as well as it lacked building characteristics such as orientation, floor height, and building materials. In addition, it was impossible to evaluate the impacts of meteorological factors such as wind speed and thermal radiation on energy consumption in buildings. Nonetheless, our study demonstrates that energy-aware urban planning and design have the potential to unlock energy efficiency for cities worldwide.

Both transport development and poverty alleviation are vital for sustainable development. However, due to the lack of long-term, comparable, county-level transport accessibility and poverty incidence data, the spatiotemporal patterns of these factors have rarely been accurately revealed in the poverty-stricken regions of China, causing the impacts of transport accessibility on poverty alleviation to be difficult to quantify. Taking Guizhou Province in China as the study area, this study revealed the spatiotemporal patterns of transport accessibility and poverty alleviation in 88 counties from 2000 to 2018 based on multisource data, including nighttime light data, LandScan population data, and transport network data. It was found that the transport accessibility decreased from 4.9 h to 3.3 h, and the poverty index decreased from 0.75 to 0.29 on average. All these factors exhibited a “core–periphery” spatial pattern. Furthermore, the panel data regression analysis suggested that transport accessibility has played a dominant role in poverty alleviation, with an elasticity coefficient of 0.839. In the future, policies concerned to integrate transport development with rural industries such as agriculture, e-commence, and tourism are recommended for poverty alleviation and rural revitalization, which are especially significant for promoting sustainable development, securing a win–win of economic growth and social equity.

The overall goal of this study was to examine the effects of climate change on the yield of four distinct crops (Aus, Aman, Boro and Wheat) in Sylhet by using secondary climate data from 1970 to 2020. The study's other goal is to assess the impact of river water levels on crop productivity in Sylhet over time. Data on crop productivity, weather variability and river water levels were gathered from the various fields. Yield vs. climatic correlation was discovered in the study, and this correlation varied according to season. To estimate the impact of climate change on rice yield, a multiple regression model is used. Climate variables in the model were found to account for 11% of the overall variation in Aus rice yield. The relationship between relative humidity and maximum temperature is positive and statistically significant. Other variables had no effect on yield because they were not significant. Furthermore, Regression results indicated that climate variables account for 60.6 percent of the overall variation in Aman rice output. Relative humidity, on the other hand, can undermine the yield. Climate variables account for 53.5 percent of the overall variation in Boro rice output, according to the findings. As a result, an increase in rainfall may have a negative impact on Boro rice yield. Maximum and minimum temperatures might have a favorable impact on Boro rice yield. Increases in maximum temperature, on the other hand, can considerably boost Wheat yield while decreases in minimum temperature can diminish Wheat yield. On the other side, the results of the regression analysis suggest that river water level has a minor impact on Aus, Aman, and Boro yield. However, as the model demonstrates, the river water level can have an impact on wheat yield. The impact of temperature and rainfall on water level was also investigated in this study because the regression model failed to produce positive results. Surprisingly, the model performs well, despite the fact that maximum temperatures have a negative impact on water levels in the Aus and Aman seasons. This shows that if warmer temperatures aid raises Aus and Aman yields, then the water level cannot sabotage the yield rise. Rainfall has a favorable impact on the water levels in the Aus, Aman, and Boro seasons, but has a negative impact on the water levels in the Wheat season., Int. J. Agril. Res. Innov. Tech. 12(2): 18-26, December 2022

This study was conducted by the research centre SMIT (Studies on Media, Innovation and Technology) at Vrije Universiteit Brussels (http://smit.vub.ac.be/). The research was produced with the financial support of hub.brussels (see Annex 2 for more information). This research is an update study to the report “The economic impact of the cultural and creative sectors in the Brussels-Capital Region” published by hub.brussels in 2021. The previous study was conducted in 2020 and collected data before the COVID-19 pandemic up to 2018. This update study allows us now to see the development of the Cultural and Creative Industries (CCIs) in the Brussels-Capital Region during the years of the pandemic and to add more data around the diversity of the CCIs workforce. For more data insights and to consult the study from 2020, please see: https://hub.brussels/en/study-the-cultural-and-creative-sector-in-brussels/ https://analytics.brussels/#!/library/product-details/575

accepted and published. These articles deal with techniques and technologies to board on the feasible Renewable and Sustainable Energy Systems. Many of them are multidisciplinary articles addressing almost all the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and providing feasible solutions to the strongly needed decarbonization pathways.

This thesis introduces a modular variant of dependency-aware fault trees (DaFTs) and shows how dependent events can be handled by tracing their impact throughout all intermediate gates, up to the top-level event. Depending on the set of traced events at a gate, different additional probabilities are calculated to measure the influence of included active events. Logical modeling errors, like the presence of mutually exclusive event pairs, are recognized and the occurrences of dependent and negated events are taken into account during probability calculation. The safety engineer can additionally select any basic event of interest for tracing, making it possible to analyze and visualize the impact of any given event throughout the DaFT. Used in early design stages, the comparison of different modeling variants can be used as design decision base in the presence of specific requirements, like the maximal system impact of single events or a combination of events. For demonstrating the application of DaFTs, several examples of different size and complexity are presented in the evaluation chapter and appendix.

Career guidance in secondary education has the potential to play a role in several related areas of government policy, including: youth unemployment prevention or re-engagement; education course choices, transitions, and motivation; skill shortages, regional economic development, and labour mobility; lifelong learning, mental health, and wellbeing. Experts have long identified a need for a more robust, quantitative understanding of medium-term and long-term benefits, to engage policymakers and gain adequate funding for career guidance. Some government officials, particularly those responding to pressure from finance ministries, further request that the economic impact be monetised and contrasted against costs, to support analysis such as return on investment (ROI). This can be challenging because school-based career guidance often, and especially in England, refers to a diverse range of interventions that are small scale compared to the curriculum as a whole, theorised to have correspondingly modest average effects that can be hard to isolate statistically. Nonetheless, small effects from low-cost interventions can still translate into attractive policies from an ROI perspective. This critical appraisal reviews the contributions and limitations of a selection of the author’s work from 2008 to 2022 in improving our understanding of the economic impact of career guidance in secondary education, drawing primarily on new empirical work in Great Britain and the international literature. The corpus is grouped into three themes: (i) Measuring impact: strengthening the quantitative evidence base for the medium-term impact of career guidance on education progression or labour market outcomes, drawing on historical longitudinal surveys, school-level data, administrative data, and contemporary surveys of young adults. (ii) Monetising impact: applying a pragmatic ROI estimation framework to personal guidance conversations for students in English secondary education. The methodology, well-suited to interventions with few large-scale evaluations, was then re-applied and extended in a study for Careers Wales which addressed school-age and adult career guidance, the latter selected for a Cedefop collection which sets out a formalisation of this “linked ROI” methodology. (iii) Interpreting impact: exploring particular limitations and nuances of this evidence and the ROI method as applied to date, such that results might be appropriately used by policymakers, sector leaders, and the research community. A broad range of career guidance activities are in scope, reflecting The Gatsby Benchmarks framework, which became government policy in England at end 2017. Example quantitative insights from the corpus include 0.8% higher average earnings for those in full-time employment associated with each extra career talk received aged 14-15 and an estimated 4.4x fiscal ROI for the provision of two personal guidance interviews. A future research agenda is outlined to enhance the breadth and usefulness of available evidence and ROI analyses. A synthesis view of these contributions identifies a future opportunity to adopt a stronger systems perspective. Such an approach would address key limitations in the corpus: the limited statistical accounting for causality and displacement and the limited consideration of systemic factors, specific mechanisms, and innovative, future-focused approaches to guidance.

We analyze the impact of the glyphosate controversy in the European Union in the period 2015–2017 on share prices of pesticides producing companies. Following an event study approach, we use daily stock market data for nine pesticide producers to identify the impact of eight regulatory events on companies' stock returns from 2015 until 2017. More specifically, we examine whether and how i) public announcements of assessments of glyphosate's risk to human health, and ii) decisions by regulatory bodies with respect to glyphosate's approval extension have affected the share prices of publicly traded pesticide producers. We use share prices reflecting the firms' market value and consequently expected future profitability and firm performance. We find that, on average, pesticide producers' share prices have been affected weakly by the glyphosate controversy in the EU. However, the first assessment of glyphosate's risk to human health on 20th of March 2015 has a clear negative effect. Our results show considerable heterogeneity regarding the impact on the firm-level. For example, firms that are more focused on glyphosate sales tend to be affected more strongly. Our analysis provides first insights in pesticide industry implications of discussions on pesticide bans. We draw policy conclusions and derive firm-strategic recommendations., Ecological Economics, 212, ISSN:0921-8009

To determine the performance and impact of an airway management team (AMT) assembled during the COVID-19 pandemic.We conducted a retrospective cohort review of all adult patients who had received airway management services from the AMT (n = 269) and administered a survey questionnaire targeting physicians who had the option to activate the AMT (n = 77). The retrospective review determined the performance of the AMT, and the physicians' survey evaluated the impact of the AMT. The study was conducted at a large Canadian health centre (1,133 beds) from 28 March to 30 June 2020. We included patients in the cohort review who were ≥18 yr of age, whose chart showed that the AMT was activated, and whose airway was managed outside the operating room. We reviewed both electronic medical records and paper chart documentation. Outcomes included intubation success, number of intubation attempts, intubation time, team response time, patient contact time, intubation complications, and breaches of personal protective equipment (PPE) protocol. The physicians' survey evaluated the relevance, performance, reasonableness, and clinical utility of the AMT.The AMT intubated 231 patients. Charts showed that 91% of intubations were accomplished on first attempt. The mean (standard deviation) intubation time was 2.1 (0.2) min. The complication rate was minimal. The incidence of breaching PPE protocol items was less than 6%. No AMT members reported COVID-19 symptoms. The response rate for the physician's survey was 36%. The consensus among the participants was that the AMT had considerable clinical utility during the COVID-19 pandemic.An AMT assembled during the COVID-19 pandemic showed high competency and effectiveness, and had favourable impact on the main responsible physicians who activated the team.RéSUMé: OBJECTIF: Déterminer la performance et l’impact d’une équipe de prise en charge des voies aériennes (AMT - Airway Management Team) assemblée pendant la pandémie de COVID-19. MéTHODE: Nous avons réalisé une revue de cohorte rétrospective de tous les patients adultes qui avaient bénéficié des services de prise en charge des voies aériennes par l’AMT (n = 269) et avons soumis un questionnaire aux médecins qui avaient eu la possibilité de faire appel à l’AMT (n = 77). La revue rétrospective a permis de déterminer la performance de l’AMT, et le sondage auprès des médecins a évalué l’impact de cette équipe dédiée. L’étude a été réalisée dans un grand centre de santé canadien (1133 lits) du 28 mars au 30 juin 2020. Dans la revue de cohorte, nous avons inclus des patients âgés de ≥18 ans, dans le dossier médical desquels il était fait mention de l’activation de l’AMT et dont les voies aériennes avaient été prises en charge à l’extérieur de la salle d’opération. Nous avons passé en revue à la fois la documentation des dossiers médicaux informatisés et des dossiers papier. Les résultats mesurés comprenaient le succès de l’intubation, le nombre de tentatives d’intubation, le temps pour intubation, le temps de réponse de l’équipe, le temps de contact avec le patient, les complications de l’intubation et les violations du protocole relatif aux équipements de protection individuelle (EPI). Le sondage auprès des médecins a évalué la pertinence, la performance, le caractère raisonnable et l’utilité clinique de l’AMT. RéSULTATS: L’AMT a intubé 231 patients. Les dossiers ont montré que 91 % des intubations ont réussi à la première tentative. Le temps moyen (écart type) d’intubation était de 2,1 (0,2) min. Le taux de complications était minime. L’incidence d’infractions aux articles du protocole pour les EPI était inférieure à 6 %. Aucun membre de l’AMT n’a rapporté de symptômes de COVID-19. Le taux de réponse au sondage auprès des médecins était de 36 %. Le consensus parmi les participants était que l’AMT était d’une utilité clinique considérable pendant la pandémie de COVID-19. CONCLUSION: Une équipe de prise en charge des voies aériennes assemblée pendant la pandémie de COVID-19 a démontré une compétence et une efficacité élevées et a eu un impact favorable sur les principaux médecins en charge qui ont fait appel à l’équipe.

Dissertação de mestrado integrado em Engenharia Mecânica, A segurança rodoviária é fortemente dependente não só dos veículos circulantes, mas também dos dispositivos mecânicos existentes nas estradas. Assim, a avaliação do comportamento mecânico dos equipamentos de segurança rodoviária constitui uma tarefa de grande importância, que merece a atenção da Academia. Um exemplo destes equipamentos corresponde às barreiras de segurança rodoviária, dispostas junto às bermas das faixas de rodagem, sendo sua principal função a contenção das mais variadas tipologias de veículos, em caso de despiste. Este conjunto mecânico é categorizado segundo diferentes níveis de contenção que oferece, estando relacionados com diferentes graus de deformabilidade. Estes devem ser capazes não só de reter e redirecionar o veículo para a faixa de rodagem, mas também de assegurar que o evento não seja nem demasiado brusco, nem associado a desacelerações abruptas, de modo a não proporcionar danos corporais aos condutores e acompanhantes. Neste contexto, surge o método dos elementos finitos, que constitui uma ferramenta bastante útil tanto no projeto, como no desenvolvimento e avaliação de novas soluções construtivas, pelo que a sua utilização será fundamental no processo associado ao cumprimento dos níveis de desempenho exigidos pela legislação existente. Esta dissertação visa desenvolver modelos numéricos capazes de avaliar mecanicamente dois modelos de barreira de segurança rodoviária desenvolvidos para os níveis de contenção N2W2 e N2W3, aquando de um evento relacionado com o impacto de um veículo, definido de acordo com a normalização em vigor no nosso país. Estes eventos encontram-se dependentes de parâmetros relacionados com o tipo de veículo, com a sua velocidade de circulação, o ângulo de incidência da trajetória, entre outros, pelo que os ensaios utilizados na sua homologação deverão respeitar diretrizes estabelecidas pela norma EN 1317. Neste documento, para além da avaliação do comportamento mecânico dos conjuntos referidos, bem como do acordo numérico-experimental para os modelos de prumo analisados, foi ainda desenvolvido um estudo referente à interação destes componentes com vários tipos de solos. Posto isto, a partir dos modelos desenvolvidos, foram extraídos resultados relativos ao deslocamento máximo obtido na barreira, em resultado do impacto do veículo, sugerindo que nenhum dos modelos projetados (propostos pela empresa Metalogalva S.A.) permite alcançar o nível de contenção proposto, de acordo com as condições de certificação impostas pela norma EN 1317., Road safety is strongly dependent not only on the vehicles in circulation but also on the mechanical devices present on the roads. Therefore, assessing road safety mechanisms is a relevant task, that deserves Academy attention. An example of these mechanisms corresponds to road safety barriers, included on the sides of the carriageway, where their main function is to contain the most varied types of vehicles. This mechanical assembly is categorised according to different levels of containment related to different degrees of deformability. These must be able not only to retain and redirect the vehicle to the carriageway but also to ensure that this phenomenon is neither too abrupt, nor associated with sudden decelerations, so as not to provide bodily harm to drivers. The finite element method concerns a handy tool in the design, development and evaluation of new constructive solutions, so its use will be fundamental in the process associated with achieving the objectives. This dissertation aims to develop numerical models capable of mechanically evaluating two sets of road safety barriers, developed for containment levels N2W2 and N2W3, at the time of an impact event defined according to the indicated standardisation used in our country. These events depend on parameters related to the type of vehicle, its speed of movement, its angle of impact, among other things, so the tests used in their approval must comply with these guidelines. In this document, in addition to the mechanical assessment of the road safety barriers and the numerical-experimental agreement for the analysed prop models, a study concerning the interaction of these components with various types of soils was also conducted. After the development of the numerical models, the results of the maximum displacement obtained in the barrier at the end of the simulated event were extracted and they suggest that none of the models designed (proposed by Metalogalva S.A. company) for the proposed level of containment fully complied with the certification conditions imposed by the standard., Este trabalho teve o apoio da ANI – Agência Nacional de Inovação, através do projeto com a referência COMPETE-2020/03/SI/2017 Nº033497, intitulado “Barreiras de segurança rodoviária”, com acrónimo “BarRod”, através do Programa Operacional Competitividade e Internacionalização e o Programa Operacional Regional de Lisboa, apoiada pelo FEDER.

Thermoelectric technology has been developed as a substitute for existing refrigerants in heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning system applications for building decarbonization. A hydraulic thermoelectric radiant cooling panel (hTERCP) operated based on the Peltier effect can alternate a conventional cooling system using a chiller with refrigerators. This study aimed to develop a cooling performance prediction model for a hTERCP-integrated free cooling system according to the desirable range of five design factors. A mockup model of the hTERCP was constructed and tested in an environmental chamber to verify the proposed simulation model. The simulation and the experimental analysis confirmed that the heat rejection performance of the thermoelectric module (TEM) significantly affects the cooling performance of the hTERCP. The cooling water temperature was the primary design factor for releasing heat from the hot side of the TEM and significantly influenced the cooling performance of the hTERCP. A parametric analysis of the five design factors was conducted to investigate a method for improving the coefficient of performance (COP) of the hTERCP. The cooling water temperature affected the COP by 38.6–45.7%, and the heat exchange area of the cooling surface greatly influenced the cooling performance by 41.4%. The cooling water flow rate, heat exchange effectiveness of the water block, and heat resistance of the hot side were confirmed to have relatively little influence as 9.7–10.2%, 11.9–24.8%, and 0.7–11.1%, respectively.

Launched in June 2015, the Seirich software is a tool that helps companies to assess their chemical risks, informs them of their regulatory obligations and contributes in setting up a prevention action plan. In order to follow the regulatory updates, to provide ergonomic evolutions and to add new functionalities, several modifications have been made in different versions of Seirich. The aim of this project is to improve the chemical risk assessment algorithms of Seirich. The research approach is based on 3 main phases: (1) constitution of a matrix of work situations associated to a chemical risk value assessed by experts. Work situations with their descriptive determinants were collected from reports written by professionals from public French health insurance. (2) Improvement proposals based on the comparison of Seirich risk score with the experts’ assessment; the examination of other risk/exposure assessment models and the feedback from Seirich users. (3) evaluation of the impact of each improvement modification on the risk assessment was evaluated using nearly 10,000 real work situations provided by companies In the first phase, Eighty-eight French work situations were collected and assessed. Various types of companies are represented by these work situations. The most represented activity sectors were: building and construction (16 %), automotive (11 %), metallurgy (11 %), and printing (7 %). The experts have given risk scores comprised between 40 and 60 to 50% of the work situations. The uncertainty levels rang from 11% to 33% with an average of 20%. During the second phase, a list of 14 limits was elaborated. Criteria of relevance, feasibility and strategy were applied to identify those to be treated. Seven limits were selected and a solution was proposed. Finally, The results of the impact analysis show that the risk score has changed for 35% of the work situations with a modification in the risk level for 6% of them. The proposals and their impact study were presented to the software steering committee who decided on their application. 5/7 improvements were finally accepted and the two remaining are still under discussion.; Lancé en juin 2015, le logiciel Seirich est un outil qui aide les entreprises à évaluer leurs risques chimiques, les informe de leurs obligations réglementaires et contribue à la mise en place d'un plan d'action de prévention. Afin de suivre les mises à jour réglementaires, d'apporter des évolutions ergonomiques et d'ajouter de nouvelles fonctionnalités, plusieurs modifications ont été apportées dans différentes versions de Seirich. L'objectif de ce projet est d'améliorer les algorithmes d'évaluation des risques chimiques de Seirich. La démarche de recherche repose sur 3 phases principales : (1) la constitution d'une matrice des situations de travail associées à une valeur de risque chimique établi par expertise selon la méthode de Delphes. Les situations de travail ont été recueillies à partir de rapports rédigés par des professionnels de l'assurance maladie publique française. Chaque situation de travail est définie par des paramètres descriptifs de la tâche, de l'exposition et du danger. Chaque situation de travail a été ensuite évaluée et un score de risque chimique a été défini par 21 experts 2) établissement de propositions d'amélioration basées sur la comparaison du score de risque Seirich avec ceux des experts ; l'examen d'autres modèles d'évaluation des risques/expositions et le retour d'expérience des utilisateurs de Seirich.(3) Evaluation de l'impact de chaque amélioration sur l'évaluation des risques a été évalué à partir de près de 10 000 situations réelles de travail fournies par les entreprises. En terme de résultats, quatre-vingt-huit situations de travail ont été recueillies et évaluées. Différents types d'entreprises sont représentés par ces situations de travail. Les secteurs d'activité les plus représentés étaient: le BTP (16 %), l'automobile (11 %), la métallurgie (11 %) et l'imprimerie (7 %). Les experts ont donné des scores de risque compris entre 40 et 60 pour 50 % des situations de travail. Les niveaux d'incertitude variaient de 11 % à 33 % avec une moyenne de 20 %. Au cours de la deuxième phase, une liste de 14 limites de Seirich a été élaborée. Des critères de pertinence, de faisabilité et de stratégie ont été appliqués pour identifier les limites à traiter. Sept ont été sélectionnés et une solution basée pour chacune d’elles. Enfin, l'analyse d'impact de l'ensemble des propositions montre que le score de risque a évolué pour 35% des situations de travail avec une modification du niveau de risque pour 6% d'entre elles. Ces améliorations proposées et leur étude d'impact ont été présentées au comité de pilotage du logiciel qui a statué sur leur application. 5/7 améliorations ont finalement été acceptée et les deux restantes sont toujours en cours de discussion.

With the increasing demand on train trips, shortages of train services are experienced, especially in the parts of the world where urban development is fierce. Operational measures to improve railway capacity are considered the most economically viable way to tackle the issue. Though of central importance in railway operations, the problem of capacity analysis was never perfectly solved. The famous UIC compression method suggested by the International Union of Railway was studied by its various related aspects, and several shortcomings have been laid bare by publications known to the community. The analytic method adopted in the SLS software family (which is officially used by Deutsche Bahn AG) produces results with and without a ready timetable. However, it is noteworthy that the result is imperfect, which can be told from the fact that two timetables the clearly differ result in the same value of capacity usage. This is due to over-simplification in its defined computational procedure. Stemming from these facts, this thesis intends to pool efforts into improving the method for railway capacity analysis. Firstly, the UIC compression and SLS methods are briefly analyzed from a methodological perspective, which gives the insight on their approximating nature. Secondly, the methods to compute the separation of train paths are studied, and the concrete computational details are given and analyzed, since this is unavoidable for any method to give a complete description of infrastructure utilization by train operations. Then, it becomes clear that the calculation process of UIC compression and SLS methods amounts to formulate a graph in the shorter sections resulting from their respective dividing procedures. In this regard, we see that such a graph for shorter section is a subgraph of the whole section of interest. Finally, heavily capitalizing “Zacken-Lücken-Problem”, an algorithm is given to compute all the required details to formulate such a graph of the whole infrastructure, which is called infrastructure capacity utilization description (ICUD). Based on the produced compressed timetable graph, the consumed capacity is formulated as the length of the critical path of this graph. This gives a graph-theoretic improvement to the existing methods for railway capacity analysis as it includes more details omitted by the existing methods. As previous study of ICUD gives rather full account on the timetable elements when describing the compressed timetable graph, a natural tendency is to study the impact of timetable elements on the ICUD graph or the consumed capacity. Since the optimization problem of train timetable relies as a matter of fact on studying the impact of combinatorial effect of the timetable elements—a similarity of decision and optimization version of computational problems in the theory of computation. Therefore, this thesis carries further to study the impact of timetable element on railway capacity. The general method is based on detecting difference in the critical path when changing the timetable element in it. Since stop pattern has an immerse impact of the outcome consumed capacity and has in fact taken the major portion of consumed capacity in intercity railway networks. This thesis takes stop plan as an example and studies its impact. The main reasoning is that altering a stop plan potentially changes the ICUD graph, which further changes the critical path and results in a different length. This reasoning is obeyed in the main texts. As the same reason per studying the impact of stop plan as example, this thesis further considers the problem of stop planning of intercity railway train scheduling, which is gaining more practical importance due to the increasing operational importance of intercity trains. For intercity lines, all trains operate in the same speed curve within one line section but heterogenous stop pattern. The study on infrastructure capacity utilization description (ICUD) offers the methodology for computing the impact of timetable element. With this knowledge, the case study in chapter 4 made use of so-called “transfer”—a natural idea—to alleviate the capacity consumption for railway infrastructure, and this chapter further evolves this idea for addressing practical scheduling problems, namely the problems of train stop planning for minimal consumed capacity (SPfMCC). We first formulate SPfMCC as a mixed integer linear programming (MILP) model and reformulate it by ICUD as a non-regular 0,1 integer program that is subject to train stop specifications and minimizes the consumed capacity. The consumed capacity, as the objective function, is represented by a signed sum of elements in the critical path of ICUD. Then, this model is decomposed into a 0,1-integer linear programming model of totally unimodular coefficient matrix and a problem of computing the impacts of stop plans. In this way, the method developed in chapter 4 can be directly applied to formalize a combinatorial algorithm based on the one-to-one stop transfer between different trains. Theoretical analysis and practical computations show that this algorithm returns an improved feasible solution in polynomial time. In addition, we consider two related problems of the similar kind—extensions one and two. Extension one predefines the number of stops at unspecified stations for specified trains, and extension two only defines the numbers of trains to stop at unspecified stations. Eventually, the main work of this thesis is summarized, and the leading research questions are answered, and some future research directions revealed by this study are discussed., Mit der steigenden Nachfrage nach Eisenbahnreisen kommt es vor allem in den Teilen der Welt, in denen die Stadtentwicklung stark voranschreitet, zu Engpässen im Eisenbahnverkehr. Betriebliche Maßnahmen zur Verbesserung der Eisenbahnkapazität gelten als die wirtschaftlich tragfähigste Art, das Problem anzugehen. Obwohl das Problem der Kapazitätsanalyse im Eisenbahnbetrieb von zentraler Bedeutung ist, wurde es nie vollständig gelöst. Das berühmte UIC-Komprimierungsverfahren, das vom Internationalen Eisenbahnverband vorgeschlagen wurde, wurde unter seinen verschiedenen verwandten Aspekten untersucht, und mehrere Mängel wurden durch Veröffentlichungen, die der Eisenbahnfachwelt bekannt sind, offengelegt. Die in der SLS-Software (die offiziell von der Deutschen Bahn AG verwendet wird) übernommene Analysemethode liefert Ergebnisse mit und ohne fertigen Fahrplan. Das Ergebnis ist jedoch unvollkommen ist, was daran zu erkennen ist, dass zwei deutlich unterschiedliche Fahrpläne den gleichen Wert der Kapazitätsauslastung ergeben. Dies ist auf eine zu starke Vereinfachung im definierten Berechnungsverfahren zurückzuführen. Ausgehend von diesen Fakten beabsichtigt diese Arbeit, die Bemühungen zur Verbesserung der Methode zur Eisenbahnkapazitätsanalyse zu bündeln. Zuerst werden die UIC-Komprimierungs- und SLS-Methoden kurz aus methodologischer Sicht analysiert, was einen Einblick in ihre Annäherungscharakteristik gibt. Zweitens werden die Methoden zur Berechnung der Trassentrennung untersucht und die konkreten Berechnungsdetails angegeben und analysiert, da dies für jede Methode zur vollständigen Beschreibung der Infrastrukturnutzung durch den Zugbetrieb unumgänglich ist. Dann wird deutlich, dass der Berechnungsprozess der UIC-Kompressions- und SLS-Methode darauf hinausläuft, in den kürzeren Abschnitten, die sich aus ihren jeweiligen Teilungsverfahren ergeben, eine Grafik zu formulieren. Hier wird klar, dass ein solcher Graph für einen kürzeren Abschnitt ein Teilgraph des gesamten analysierten Abschnitts ist. Schließlich, wird in Anlehnung an das „Zacken-Lücken-Problem“, ein Algorithmus angegeben, um alle erforderlichen Details zu berechnen, um einen solchen Graphen der gesamten Infrastruktur zu formulieren, der als Infrastructure Capacity Usage Description (ICUD) bezeichnet wird. Basierend auf dem erstellten komprimierten Fahrplangraphen wird die verbrauchte Kapazität als Länge des kritischen Pfads dieses Graphen formuliert. Dies stellt eine graphentheoretische Verbesserung der bestehenden Verfahren zur Eisenbahnkapazitätsanalyse, da dieses mehr Details enthält, die von den bestehenden Verfahren nicht erkannt werden. Da die bisherige ICUD-Studie die Fahrplanelemente die Fahrplanelemente bei der Beschreibung des komprimierten Fahrplangraphen ziemlich umfassend berücksichtigt, besteht eine natürliche Tendenz darin, die Auswirkungen von Fahrplanelementen auf das ICUD-Diagramm oder die verbrauchte Kapazität zu untersuchen. Da das Optimierungsproblem des Zugfahrplans tatsächlich auf der Untersuchung der Auswirkungen des kombinatorischen Effekts der Fahrplanelemente beruht eine Ähnlichkeit der Entscheidungs- und Optimierungsversion von Berechnungsproblemen in der Berechnungstheorie. Daher geht diese Arbeit weiter auf die Untersuchung der Auswirkungen von Fahrplanelementen auf die Eisenbahnkapazität ein. Das allgemeine Verfahren basiert auf dem Erfassen von Unterschieden im kritischen Pfad, wenn das Fahrplanelement darin geändert wird. Da das Haltemuster einen immersiven Einfluss auf das Ergebnis der verbrauchten Kapazität hat und tatsächlich den größten Teil der verbrauchten Kapazität in Intercity-Eisenbahnnetzen eingenommen hat. Diese Dissertation nimmt das Beispiel des Zughaltens und untersucht seine Auswirkungen. Die Hauptargumentation ist, dass die Änderung eines Stoppplans möglicherweise den ICUD-Graphen ändert, was den kritischen Pfad weiter ändert und zu einer anderen Länge führt. Dieser Argumentation wird in den Haupttexten gefolgt. Aus dem gleichen Grund, um beispielhaft die Auswirkungen von Haltestellenplänen zu untersuchen, befasst sich diese Arbeit weiter mit der Problematik an der Planung von Halten in Intercity-Bahnfahrplänen, die aufgrund der zunehmenden betrieblichen Bedeutung von Intercity-Zügen an praktischer Bedeutung gewinnen. Bei Intercity-Linien verkehren alle Züge innerhalb eines Streckenabschnitts in der gleichen Geschwindigkeitskurve, aber mit heterogenen Haltemustern. Die Studie zur Beschreibung der Kapazitätsauslastung der Infrastruktur (ICUD) bietet die Methodik zur Berechnung der Auswirkungen von Fahrplanelementen. Mit diesem Wissen nutzte die Fallstudie in Kapitel 4 den sogenannten „Transfer“ – eine natürliche Idee – um den Kapazitätsverbrauch für die Eisenbahninfrastruktur zu verringern, und dieses Kapitel entwickelt diese Idee weiter, um praktische Fahrplanprobleme anzugehen, nämlich die Probleme von Zughalteplanung für minimal verbrauchte Kapazität (SPfMCC). Zunächst wird SPfMCC als gemischtes ganzzahliges lineares Programmiermodell (MILP) formuliert und von ICUD zu einem nicht reguläres 0,1-ganzzahliges Programm umformuliert, das Zughaltespezifikationen unterliegt und die verbrauchte Kapazität minimiert. Die verbrauchte Kapazität als Zielfunktion wird durch eine vorzeichenbehaftete Summe von Elementen im kritischen Pfad von ICUD dargestellt. Dann wird dieses Modell in ein 0,1-ganzzahliges lineares Programmiermodell einer vollständig unimodularen Koeffizientenmatrix und ein Problem zur Berechnung der Auswirkungen von Halten zerlegt. Auf diese Weise kann die in Kapitel 4 entwickelte Methode direkt angewendet werden, um einen kombinatorischen Algorithmus zu formalisieren, der auf dem Eins-zu-eins-Haltestellentransfer zwischen verschiedenen Zügen basiert. Theoretische Analysen und praktische Berechnungen zeigen, dass dieser Algorithmus eine verbesserte zulässige Lösung in polynomieller Zeit liefert. Außerdem betrachten wir zwei verwandte Probleme ähnlicher Art – die Erweiterungen eins und zwei. Erweiterung eins definiert die Anzahl der Haltestellen an nicht spezifizierten Bahnhöfen für spezifizierte Züge, und Erweiterung zwei definiert nur die Anzahl der Züge, die an nicht spezifizierten Stationen halten sollen. Abschließend wird die Hauptarbeit dieser Dissertation zusammengefasst, und die führenden Forschungsfragen werden beantwortet, und einige zukünftige Forschungsrichtungen, die sich aus dieser Studie ergeben, werden diskutiert.

Mestrado Bolonha em Métodos Quantitativos para a Decisão Económica e Empresarial O objetivo deste trabalho é avaliar o impacto, nos reajustes dos planos (seguros) de saúde coletivos no Brasil, da política implementada por um normativo (RN 309) da Agência Nacional de Saúde Suplementar (ANS), que é o órgão que regulamenta os planos de saúde no Brasil. Esta política baseia-se em agrupar os contratos de planos de saúde coletivos com menos de 30 beneficiários para que estes tenham um percentual único de reajuste e que isto minimize a vulnerabilidade destes contratos. O percentual de reajuste visa a atualização da mensalidade paga pelo beneficiário frente à variação de custos, de forma a preservar a continuidade do serviço em proporcionalidade às condições iniciais de contratação. Para avaliar o impacto da aplicação deste normativo considera-se a Regressão Descontínua (RDD), que é uma técnica estatística comummente usada para medir o efeito da aplicação de um tratamento binário com ponto de corte definido. O estudo consiste em comparar os reajustes aplicados um pouco acima e um pouco abaixo do ponto de corte de 30 beneficiários usado para o agrupamento. A base de dados utilizada é a base dos comunicados de Reajustes dos Planos Coletivos (RPC) que está disponível no Portal Brasileiro de Dados Abertos (PDA), sendo o período de análise de 2016 a 2020 e o período de comparação dos resultados de 2008 a 2012. Como principal resultado observou-se que os contratos abaixo do ponto de corte possuem reajustes maiores que aqueles acima deste ponto. Isto significa dizer que, estando em contratos com características exatamente iguais um beneficiário receberá um reajuste anual maior em sua mensalidade simplesmente por ter seu contrato agrupado, enquanto outro beneficiário terá um reajuste menor quando seu contrato não está agrupado. Observou-se também um aumento desta diferença após a implementação da Resolução Normativa 309/2012. Uma vez que analisamos apenas um dos aspectos que compunham objeto do regulamento, não podemos afirmar sobre a efetividade integral do normativo. This research aims to evaluate the impact of the Brazilian National Health Agency’s (ANS) policy on group insurance plans, implemented by the regulatory framework RN 309. The ANS is the government body that regulates insurance plans in Brazil. The policy is meant to group insurance contracts with less than 30 beneficiaries so that they have a single plan readjustment percentage and that this is to minimize the vulnerability of these contracts. This adjustment percentage aims to update the monthly insurance fee paid by the beneficiary, to cover cost variations, and thus allows the insurance company to maintain the conditions agreed upon on the initial insurance contract. To evaluate of the application of this regulatory, the Regression Discontinuity Design (RDD) is considered, which is a statistical method commonly used to measure the effect of applying a binary treatment with a selected cut-off point. This study consists in comparing the readjustments applied slightly above and slightly below the cut-off point of 30 beneficiaries used in the insurance plan grouping. The database used for this thesis is the database for announcements of Readjustments of Group Plans (RPC), available on the Brazilian Open Data Portal (PDA), the analysis period from 2016 to 2020 and the period of comparison of the results from 2008 to 2012. As the main result, it was observed that contracts below the cut-off point have higher readjustments than those above this point. This means that, being in contracts with exactly the same characteristics, a beneficiary will receive a higher annual adjustment in his monthly fee simply for having his contract grouped, while another beneficiary will have a smaller adjustment when his contract is not grouped. And it was also observed an increase in this difference after the implementation of the Normative Resolution 309/2012. Despite the results presented, we cannot say about the effectiveness of the regulation, since we analyzed just one of the aspects that made up the object of the regulatory. info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion

Facing the increased frequency of disasters and resulting massive damages, many countries have developed their frameworks for disaster risk management (DRM). However, these frameworks are highly regional and few of them suggest corresponding methods for specific analysis content, which makes them less practical and operational. In this paper, we investigate an exploratory framework for spatio-temporal distribution of disasters and analysis of influencing factors, including suggested methods for all the content. Time series analysis, geographical difference analysis, direction distribution analysis, and spatial autocorrelation analysis are selected as the content of spatio-temporal distribution of disasters part. Mann–Kendall test method, Lorentz curve, standard deviation ellipse method, and exploratory spatial data analysis method are introduced to analyze them. The impact analysis part was carried out on individual disaster and multiple disasters, which are suggested as the two aspects of influencing factors analysis, by means of a geographic detector and a novel comprehensive impact evaluation model that was developed. Then, the framework is applied to analyze disasters including flood, storm surge, and earthquake in Tianjin of China. The research results help to understand the spatial and temporal distribution of disasters and the disaster mechanism in Tianjin. Further, the superiority and limitations of the framework are discussed. Finally, the framework developed is expected to be widely applied in other districts for better DRM in the future.

Scientific activity has become increasingly complex in recent years. The need for international research collaboration has thus become a common pattern in science. In this current landscape, countries face the problem of maintaining their competitiveness while cooperating with other countries to achieve relevant research outputs. In this international context, publications from international collaborations tend to achieve greater scientific impact than those from domestic ones. To design policies that improve the competitiveness of countries and organizations, it thus becomes necessary to understand the factors and mechanisms that influence the benefits and impact of international research. In this regard, the aim of this study is to confirm whether the differences in impact between international and domestic collaborations are affected by their topics and structure. To perform this study, we examined the Library and Information Science category of the Web of Science database between 2015 and 2019. A science mapping analysis approach was used to extract the themes and their structure according to collaboration type and in the whole category (2015–2019). We also looked for differences in these thematic aspects in top countries and in communities of collaborating countries. The results showed that the thematic factor influences the impact of international research, as the themes in this type of collaboration lie at the forefront of the Library and Information Science category (e.g., technologies such as artificial intelligence and social media are found in the category), while domestic collaborations have focused on more well-consolidated themes (e.g., academic libraries and bibliometrics). Organizations, countries, and communities of countries must therefore consider this thematic factor when designing strategies to improve their competitiveness and collaborate., Spanish Government PID2019-105381GA-I00/AEI/10.13039/501100011033

Leseprobe ----- Zusammenfassung Die Persistenz geschlechtlicher Arbeitsteilung im Anschluss an die Familiengrundung fordert sowohl familienpolitische Steuerungsstrategien als auch deren Untersuchung heraus. Haufig wird in Wirkungsanalysen deterministisch vorausgesetzt, dass sich die staatliche Steuerungsfunktion unmittelbar auf die Handlungen von Subjekten auswirkt; das greift jedoch zu kurz. Ob ein Steuerungsziel erreicht wird, hat wesentlich mit den Interpretationen des Steuerungsinstrumentes und der entsprechenden Bedeutungszuschreibung auf unterschiedlichen Ebenen der Vermittlung und nicht zuletzt durch die adressierten Eltern zu tun. Letztere erzeugen insofern die Wirkung staatlicher Steuerung, statt sie nur zu beziehen. Der Beitrag fragt, wie Wirkung – begriffen als Ubersetzung der Steuerungsabsicht durch interpersonelle Deutungen verschiedener Akteur*innen auf unterschiedlichen Ebenen der Politikvermittlung – konzeptualisiert werden kann. Dazu werden der Stand der Auseinandersetzung um die Analyse und Feststellung von Wirkung, Einfluss und Folgen staatlicher Steuerungsinstrumente dargestellt und der Nutzen der jeweiligen Ansatze anhand der Konzeptualisierung eines feministischen Mehrebenendesigns umrissen. Schlagworte: Familienpolitik, Multilevel Design, Familienbild ----- Impact, Influence and Consequences in a Multilevel Research Design – Policies for a Parental Division of Labour and their Translation Abstract The persistence of a gendered division of labour after the birth of a family’s first child challenges both family policies and their investigation. Impact analyses often deterministically assume that governance directly affects the actions of subjects; however, this falls short. Whether a control goal is achieved has a lot to do with the interpretations of the control instrument and the corresponding attribution of meaning at different levels of mediation and not least by the parents addressed. In this respect, the latter create the effect of state control rather than merely obtain it. The article asks how impact can be conceptualized as the translation of steering intention through interpersonal interpretations of different actors at different levels of policy mediation. To this end, the state of the debate on the analysis and determination of the impact, influence and consequences of family policies is presented and the usefulness of the respective approaches is outlined within the conceptualization of a feminist multi-level research design. Keywords: family policies, multi-level design, family image ----- Bibliographie: Haller, Lisa Yashodhara: Wirkung, Einfluss und Folgen im Mehrebenendesign – Steuerungsstrategien zur elterlichen Arbeitsteilung und ihre Ubersetzung, Femina Politica – Zeitschrift fur feministische Politikwissenschaft, 1-2021, S. 29-42. https://doi.org/10.3224/feminapolitica.v30i1.04

Research purpose. The research aimed at identifying the main factors influencing export values in the region of Great Britain (GB) for the period of the last 30 years. Design / Methodology / Approach. In order to implement the investigation, the following tasks were intended: (1) To analyse scientific literature and mark out at least five non - dependent variables that impact export values of Great Britain. (2) Basing on findings, outlined in a scientific review, suggest or choose the methodology that is the most appropriate for this kind of tasks’ determination. (3) Collect the data for dependent and non-dependent variables (at least 30 samples). (4) Based on the presented methodology, determine the selected factors’ impact and make the statistical and economic analysis. The research was mainly done using quantitative analysis methods (descriptive, correlation, regressive analysis). Quantitative modelling and descriptive statistics methods are selected for investigation because they can suggest a different approach to analysing the factors influencing export values. Findings. Five non-dependent variables were marked out as factors influencing the export values in the selected region: gross domestic product (GDP); the number of employees in the region; amounts of cargo transportation; average salary in the region and labour costs. Calculation of the correlation coefficients showed that all independent variables were statistically significant. There is a very strong relationship between export values and GDP, employment, and labour costs. Originality / Value / Practical implications. The findings of this research can be applied in order to evaluate and determine the economic impact of the GB processes on the entire world, as Britain’s export values are among the top ten in the world. It is important to emphasise that the deeper analysis of the influencing factors of the volume of export in Great Britain showed an interrelation of these factors. So further investigation of this factor’s impact is essential.

There is still insufficient information available for a streamlined impact assessment of tropical cyclones on coastal habitats, particularly in the Mozambique Channel. Using Sentinel-1 and Sentinel-2 data, along with socio-ecological parameters including mangrove forest health and population density, we modeled the extent of flooding and its impact following the ‘severe tropical storm’ Ana which occurred between the 20 January until 25 January over the Mozambique Channel. Focusing on regions hit by Ana, namely the Sofala and Zambezia regions and the Boeny and Melaky provinces in Mozambique and Madagascar, respectively, we adapted a model by the United Nations Platform for Space-Based Information for Disaster Management and Emergency Response (UN-SPIDER) to effectively assess storm impacts at a resolution of up to 10 m. Our results showed that in Mozambique, more than 195,977 people have been potentially affected by Ana, while in Madagascar this number was down to 79,003. The central region of Zambezia accounted for the majority of flooding occurrences, although the Boeny province accounted for most of the flooding as a proportion of its total area. The Sofala region of Mozambique displayed the highest-affected population and highest-affected urban area, with 108,400 exposed people. However, it was found that only a small proportion of affected areas in all regions of interest (ROIs) were urban areas, accounting for 1.4% of the flooded areas on average. Low mangrove normalized-difference vegetation index (NDVI) changes between before the 2021–2022 cyclone season were found throughout all ROIs, despite the appearance of degraded mangrove patches in the proximity of barren areas at a fine scale (

Promoting investments in permanent crops is often considered by the government as a powerful measure to support long-term growth in agriculture. The same attitude is prevalent among agricultural policy makers in Georgia and hence, country’s government and the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Agriculture of Georgia initiate and coordinate projects facilitating new investments in permanent crops. The article deals with an evaluation of an impact of “Plant the Future” project in Georgia that provides funds for the potential beneficiaries for planting permanent crops. The structure and scope of the project are discussed in the article, and the relevant data regarding the area planted, financial impact, and beneficiaries for the period from 2015 to 2019 are analysed and the impact projection is made for the period of 2020–2043. Research showed that the target indicators of the project were fully achieved. In addition, there were a high demand from farmers to participate in this project and as a result, the budget spent in 2017–2019 exceeded the planned budget. The project appears to be beneficial in terms of net present values that are positive for all discussed discount rates, meaning that the benefits of the project are greater than costs. The return on investment of the project is around 10%, which is greater than the basic discount rate (8%). Social impact also seems to be high with 1,350 beneficiaries. According to the projection, from 2015 to 2024, around 3,000 beneficiaries will benefit from this project. In the methodology, five evaluation criteria are used, namely, relevance, effectiveness, efficiency, impact, and sustainability. Based on the evaluation, specific recommendations are given.

Studies on ballistic penetration to laminates is complicated, but important for design effective protection of structures. Experimental means of study is expensive and can often be dangerous. Numerical simulation has been an excellent supplement, but the computation is time-consuming. Main aim of this thesis was to develop and test an effective tool for real-time prediction of projectile penetrations to laminates by training a neural network and a decision tree regression model. A large number of finite element models were developed; the residual velocities of projectiles from finite element simulations were used as the target data and processed to produce sufficient number of training samples. Study focused on steel 4340+polyurea laminates with various configurations. Four different 3D shapes of the projectiles were modeled and used in the training. The trained neural network and decision tree model was tested using independently generated test samples using finite element models. The predicted projectile velocity values using the trained machine learning models are then compared with the finite element simulation to verify the effectiveness of the models. Additionally, both models were trained using a published experimental data of projectile impacts to predict residual velocity of projectiles for the unseen samples. Performance of both the models was evaluated and compared. Models trained with Finite element simulation data samples were found capable to give more accurate predication, compared to the models trained with experimental data, because finite element modeling can generate much larger training set, and thus finite element solvers can serve as an excellent teacher. This study also showed that neural network model performs better with small experimental dataset compared to decision tree regression model.

A helmet is essential protective equipment for the safety of motorcyclists and their passengers. However, motorcycle accidents can cause severe injuries and fatalities, even when wearing helmets, because the strength of motorcycle helmets lacks head protectability in actual impact accidents. Thus, this research investigates the structural performance of commercial motorcycle helmets in Thailand for head injury prevention using finite element analysis via LS-DYNA. The helmet structural model was firstly validated under impact analysis by comparing with the test according to the TIS 369-2557 standard. The finite element results showed that the difference in maximum acceleration was only 4.8%. The protective efficacy of the helmet structure was then studied and analyzed by simulation under various velocities and impact angles according to three cases of accidents. The structural strength was investigated by assessing energy absorption, HIC, and AIS. The worst case was caused when high impact speeds and angles were applied, which showed the highest impact force and HIC. It also enabled a 100% probability of head damage according to AIS 2+, which causes fatality to passengers during impact accidents. The safest conditions in terms of head injury severity occurred when the impact angle was 45 degrees. Finally, at least 75% energy absorption of foam was further recommended for safety design to reduce head injury from motorcycle accidents.

Vibration energy harvesting systems are using real ambient sources of vibration excitation. In our paper, we study the dynamical voltage response of the piezoelectric vibrational energy harvesting system (PVEHs) with a mechanical resonator possessing an amplitude limiter. The PVEHs consist of the cantilever beam with a piezoelectric patch. The proposed system was subjected to the inertial excitation from the engine suspension. Impacts of the beam resonator are useful to increase of system’s frequency transition band. The suitable simulations of the resonator and piezoelectric transducer are performed by using measured signal from the engine suspension. Voltage outputs of linear (without amplitude limiter) and nonlinear harvesters were compared indicating better efficiency of the nonlinear design.

Les nouvelles modalités d’encadrement de la psychothérapie (NMEP), entrées en vigueur en 2012, définissent la psychothérapie et réglementent son exercice. Elles font en sorte que la majorité des travailleurs sociaux ne peuvent plus la pratiquer. Puisqu’il existe certains chevauchements entre le travail social et la psychothérapie, l’impact des NMEP sur les travailleurs sociaux a été examiné à l’aide d’un questionnaire, auquel ont répondu 74 travailleurs sociaux québécois. Les résultats indiquent que les NMEP ont eu un impact différencié sur les participants ayant un permis de psychothérapeute, ceux n’en ayant pas et ceux ayant tenté de l’obtenir., The regulatory framework for psychotherapy in Quebec—the Nouvelles modalités d’encadrement de la psychothérapie, NMEP—which came came into being in 2012, defines psychotherapy and regulates its practice. Pursuant to these regulations, the majority of social workers were no longer allowed to practice psychotherapy. Given a certain overlap between social work and psychotherapy, we examined the impacts of the NMEP on social workers by administering a questionnaire, to which 74 Quebec social workers responded. The results indicate that the impacts differ depending on whether the respondents have a psychotherapist permit, do not have a permit or have attempted to obtain one.

Background National and provincial funding was invested to increase the quantity and quality of patient-oriented research (POR) across Canada. Capacity development became a priority to ensure all stakeholders were prepared to engage in POR. In part, this need was met through an annual Studentship competition in the province of Alberta, providing funding to students whose research incorporated principles of POR. However, despite efforts to build capacity in the health research trainee population, little is known about the outcomes of these programmes. This evaluation study examined the outcomes of a POR capacity development programme for health research trainees. Methods Final impact narrative reports were submitted by the 21 Studentship programme awardees for 2015 and 2016 who represent a variety of health disciplines across three major research universities. The reports describe the programme outcomes as well as the overall impact on individual, project and professional development as POR trainees. A synthesis of structured and categorised report data was conducted, along with additional qualitative analyses as new themes emerged that were not apparent in the competency framework utilised in the programme design. Results Awardee reports detailed the impact of the Studentship programme on the key themes of increased knowledge and skill, relationship building, confidence and leadership, as well as project and career impact. The impacts felt most profoundly by the awardees were not reflective of the competencies that guided programme design. The outcomes were then re-examined using a health research capacity development framework to gain a more comprehensive view of programme impact. Conclusion The Studentship programme narratives provided insight into the rarely tracked capacity development outcomes of POR research trainees. Awardee narratives indicated significant development beyond the intended competencies and suggested a need to revisit the competency framework for POR in Alberta. While competencies were useful in guiding the design of the initial programme, a more comprehensive capacity development framework was required to capture the broader impacts on trainee development. Future capacity development programmes may benefit from these early programme insights, specifically the need for more robust competencies for POR. Further exploration of evaluation methods for short-term awards and sustainability of capacity development programmes is warranted.

The continuous evolution of the institutional and regulatory framework requires the development of analysis instruments able to support the policy maker in designing and evaluating the impact of specific policy measures for the achievement of selected targets. With this intent, the MACGEM-IT model is developed to measure the aggregate and disaggregated, direct and indirect impacts of economic policy proposals within the economic system. Specifically built to reflect the characteristics of Italian economy, MACGEM-IT is a multi-input, multi-output and multi-sector static CGE model calibrated on the Social Accounting Matrix for Italy. It incorporates rigidities on prices, market imperfections and specific constraints on the behaviour of selected institutional sectors. The capability of the model to track the transmission mechanisms of policy measures and identify their direct, indirect and induced effects in the economy, is tested through a set of fiscal policy simulations.

A robust numerical analysis was proposed for simulating the rebound velocity pendulum method for melon. For considered varieties (Zard-Eyvanekey and Sousky-Sabz varieties), the change in impact parameters (extracted from excitation by pendulum) was studied for five stages of ripening. With the melon ripeness, the rebound velocity, rebound height, relative rebound height, rebound angle, rebound energy and coefficient of restitution (velocity ratio) increased, while the absorbed energy decreased (from 37.6 to 27.9 MJ for Zard-Eyvanekey and from 38.5 to 27.9 MJ for Sousky-Sabz). The regression analysis showed a highly significant linear relationship (coefficient of determination, R² more than 0.8059) between impact parameters and five stages of ripening. So the results of the analysis are feasible in ripening detection and hence in the classification of the melon maturity.

In bifurcating rivers, an intervention aimed at flood risk reduction may trigger a change in discharge distribution and thus influence water levels throughout the entire river system. This article aims at assessing the impact of interventions on system‐wide water levels, explicitly accounting for a range of discharges and model parameter uncertainty. An idealized 1D model with dimensions of the bifurcating Dutch Rhine River is used. The results show that an unwanted increase in water levels downstream of the intervention occurs due to an increased discharge if a single intervention is implemented in a distributary. This effect can be counteracted by implementing a second intervention that balances the hydraulic effect of the first intervention at the bifurcation. However, unwanted water level increases still occur at other discharges. Furthermore, while interventions may reduce local water‐level‐uncertainty, it appears that uncertainty in discharge distribution is not reduced. This implies that flooding probabilities cannot be reduced throughout the entire river system by the implementation of interventions in upstream reaches. Concluding, for intervention design in a bifurcating river, it is important to consider the entire river system and explicitly account for a range of discharge conditions to avoid unwanted water level increases throughout the river system.

This research outlines the fluctuation in confirmed active cases of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), as related to the changes in the Victoria state government’s rules and restrictions. Further, this study examines the impact of government restrictions on the performance of construction in Victoria, Australia. The data analyses in this paper identify the specific effects on industrial production, during the different lockdown stages, in three local construction companies. Companies were selected from different points along the supply chain. Company A is a supplier involved in the manufacturing of structural steel. Company B conducts logistics and procurement. Company C is a construction engineering business specializing in foundations. After reviewing relevant case studies and theories, data analyses were developed in collaboration with these companies. The results revealed that the impact of restrictions on the workers on individual construction projects was not significant. Stage 4 restrictions (Victoria’s highest lockdown level) significantly impacted overall income by limiting construction to only servicing essential infrastructure or essential businesses. The novel contribution of this study is the data analysis outcome for Victoria, where a high level of restrictions were experienced, such as curfew and enforced isolation at home, relative to other countries. In 2021 and 2022 (omicron variant dominated), Victoria was again at the brink of an infection wave, which showed a similar pattern to July 2020, and endured the world’s longest COVID-19 lockdown. The research findings contribute to the body of knowledge by providing empirical data analysis of each company, representing the economic impact of ordinary small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in construction.

The implementation of connected and automated vehicles promises increased safety and efficiency by leveraging advances in technology. With this new technology, some vulnerabilities could lead to cyberattacks. Without a focus on cybersecurity, vehicles may be attacked, reducing the efficiency and safety advantages promised through technological advancement. This research performed an impact analysis on traffic operations of cyberattacks on Vehicular Ad-Hoc Networks (VANET). A roadway traffic and communications simulation was created using the Veins modeling platform that incorporated V2X communication and could model Denial of Service (DoS) and Man in the Middle (MITM) attacks on an urban street network. The number of compromised intersections and attack success rate were varied to understand the impact of each attack scenario. Each attack’s worst-case scenario resulted in an over 20% increase in travel time delay per vehicle as the attack severity increased. Also, the attacks had a wide variation in delay upon the transportation network, decreasing the travel time reliability and the ability for road users to predict delay on their journey.

Background The COVID-19 pandemic has led to an avalanche of scientific studies, drawing on many different types of data. However, studies addressing the effectiveness of government actions against COVID-19, especially non-pharmaceutical interventions, often exhibit data problems that threaten the validity of their results. This review is thus intended to help epidemiologists and other researchers identify a set of data issues that, in our view, must be addressed in order for their work to be credible. We further intend to help journal editors and peer reviewers when evaluating studies, to apprise policy-makers, journalists, and other research consumers about the strengths and weaknesses of published studies, and to inform the wider debate about the scientific quality of COVID-19 research. Results To this end, we describe common challenges in the collection, reporting, and use of epidemiologic, policy, and other data, including completeness and representativeness of outcomes data; their comparability over time and among jurisdictions; the adequacy of policy variables and data on intermediate outcomes such as mobility and mask use; and a mismatch between level of intervention and outcome variables. We urge researchers to think critically about potential problems with the COVID-19 data sources over the specific time periods and particular locations they have chosen to analyze, and to choose not only appropriate study designs but also to conduct appropriate checks and sensitivity analyses to investigate the impact(s) of potential threats on study findings. Conclusions In an effort to encourage high quality research, we provide recommendations on how to address the issues we identify. Our first recommendation is for researchers to choose an appropriate design (and the data it requires). This review describes considerations and issues in order to identify the strongest analytical designs and demonstrates how interrupted time-series and comparative longitudinal studies can be particularly useful. Furthermore, we recommend that researchers conduct checks or sensitivity analyses of the results to data source and design choices, which we illustrate. Regardless of the approaches taken, researchers should be explicit about the kind of data problems or other biases that the design choice and sensitivity analyses are addressing.

Standard approaches to the analysis of crisis situations either take some psychological stance, where the individual is the unit of analysis, or they investigate groups of actors taking turns, where individuals act following their own interpretation of what others have done. Philosophers have characterized these two approaches as self-actional and interactional. Actions and interpretations clearly can be assigned to one or the other actor, which allows allocating the responsibility for a violent event to someone "culprit." A radically different, rarely chosen approach is a transactional one, where each action is understood as joint action both in space and in time that cannot be decomposed into independent individual contributions. In this paper, following a sketch of the differences in the epistemological under- pinnings between standard and transactional approaches, exemplifying analyses are presented and discussed from a violent encounter that left a streetcar passenger dead and a police officer before the courts of justice for homicide. Discussion topics include the attribution of cause and effect, understanding the historical trajectories of participant actors, and the consequences of analyzing events in terms of events (not substantive entities, and inter-actions).

The purpose of the presente dissertation was to verify the existence of a causal relationship between the COVID-19 pandemic (and its consequences) and violence against women in Brazil, in addition to quantifying this impact. For that, the methodology of analysis of structural breaks was used, in particular the techniques of binary segmentation and monitoring. In addition, the level of underreporting of crimes of rape and bodily harm against women for brazilian states was also estimated through the technique of stochastic boundary analysis. The results found indicate a high level of underreporting of crimes of rape against women, with an average underreporting of 33.54% for the entire sample; in addition, it was possible to verify a great heterogeneity in the distribution of underreporting values for the different brazilian states. For crimes of bodily harm against women, as expected, a lower average value was obtained, 1.30%. Regarding structural breaks, there is a clear effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on the crimes analyzed. While the average impact on rapes and femicides was positive, that is, the pandemic increased the occurrence of these crimes, for bodily harm the effect was the opposite. In all cases, not considering the effect of underreporting on results generated biased estimates of the impact of interest. Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior - CAPES O propósito da presente dissertação foi verificar a existência de uma relação causal entre a pandemia de COVID-19 (e suas consequências) e a violência contra mulheres no Brasil, além de quantificar esse impacto. Para tanto, empregou-se a metodologia de análise de quebras estruturais, em particular as técnicas de segmentação binária e monitoramento. Além disso, estimou-se também o nível de subnotificações dos crimes de estupros e lesões corporais contra mulheres para os estados brasileiros através da técnica de análise de fronteira estocástica. Os resultados encontrados indicam um alto nível de subnotificação dos crimes de estupros contra mulheres, com uma subnotificação média de 33,54% para a amostra toda; além disso, foi possível verificar uma grande heterogeneidade na distribuição dos valores de subnotificação para os diversos estados brasileiros. Para os crimes de lesões corporais contra mulheres, como esperado, obteve-se um valor médio mais baixo, 1,30%. No que tange as quebras estruturais, há um efeito claro da pandemia de COVID-19 sobre os crimes analisados. Enquanto o impacto médio sobre os estupros e feminicídios foi positivo, isto é, a pandemia atuou aumentando a ocorrência desses crimes, para as lesões corporais o efeito foi oposto. Em todos os casos, não considerar o efeito da subnotificação sobre os resultados gerou estimativas enviesadas para cima do impacto de interesse.

As one of the areas with frequent earthquake disasters, China’s social stability and sustained and healthy economic development have been profoundly affected for a long time. Based on the two-way fixed effect model and a series of deterministic indicators of economic development, including education level, economic development, financial development, fixed asset investment and permanent population, this paper designs a standard regression equation for estimating growth and uses time series panel data to analyze the impact of earthquake disasters on China’s economic development. The research results show that the earthquake disaster has an insignificant positive impact on China’s GDP. From the point of view of control variables, education level and financial development level have a positive effect on economic development as a whole, but there are certain differences in the degree of influence. The degree of trade openness has a significant impact on GDP, industry and service industries. Moreover, it has a negative impact on agricultural development.

Bonn : SWK 2022, 14 S., Förderprogramme sind ein wichtiges Instrument, um politische Strategien umzusetzen. Im Bildungsbereich verfolgen sie häufig das Ziel, den Bildungserfolg von Kindern und Jugendlichen zu steigern und soziale Ungleichheiten zu reduzieren. In Deutschland existieren zahlreiche Programme. Jedoch wird deren Wirkung häufig kaum geprüft. Die Ständige Wissenschaftliche Kommission der Kultusministerkonferenz (SWK) empfiehlt daher, Leitlinien für das Monitoring und die Evaluation von Förderprogrammen im Bildungsbereich zu entwickeln. Das Impulspapiere skizziert die aus wissenschaftlicher Sicht wesentlichen Bestandteile und Anforderungen. (DIPF/Orig.)

The Circular Economy (CE), as a possible transformation of economies, became very popular and widely discussed from 2015 when the worldwide importance of ecological preservation became highly in demand. To be able to implement the circular economy concept in various economies, its importance and prepared alterations to government regulations have to be widely discussed, and at the same time businesses and consumers have to prepare to live and work in the new paradigm. Consumers have to note the additional value of circular products and services, and their positive impact on health and the environment. Businesses will only start changing when they realise that new business models are available and they can keep profitability at the same level, even though consumption in general might change. The main aim of this article is to perform a theoretical analysis of the impact of the circular economy on a state’s economy. The main tools used for the research in the article were analysis, comparison and the summary of scientific literature. The article overviews possible changes and their impact on state economics in the future.

pnd - rethinking planning 2022(1), 43-69 (2022). special issue: "Transformatives Forschen trifft Stadtentwicklung : Einführung und Reflexion / herausgegeben von Laura Brings, Lea Fischer, Agnes Förster und Fee Thissen", Published by Rektor der RWTH Aachen University, Aachen

Wie lässt sich eine gute und gelungene Beratung definieren? Woran machen Klient*innen und Berater*innen die Wirkung einer Beratung fest? Dies waren die beiden zentralen Forschungsfragen dieser ÖIF-Studie. An geförderten Familienberatungsstellen in Österreich wurden Klient*innen und Berater*innen mittels Fragebogen und persönlicher Interviews befragt. Die Ergebnisse der Studie geben Einblicke in die Konstruktion der Berater*innen-Klient*innen-Beziehung – der sogenannten therapeutischen Allianz – und zeigen kurz- und mittelfristige Wirkung der Beratung auf.