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Coastal dunes are considered some of the most threatened and vulnerable habitats in the European Union. Mapping the spatial distribution of these habitats is an essential task for their conservation. Advances in Unoccupied Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) facilitate the flexible acquisition of high-resolution imagery for identifying detailed spatial distributions of habitats within dune systems. This study aimed to assess the effectiveness of UAV remote sensing for mapping these habitat types. Specifically, we determined the impact of temporally acquired UAV-derived spectral and topographic information on classification accuracy. The work combined the multi-temporal UAV imagery with field observation data and used the Random Forest machine learning algorithm to classify dune habitats. Results showed that using multi-temporal UAV imagery increased classification accuracy compared to using uni-temporal UAV imagery (92.37% vs. 84.09%, respectively). Also, including topographic information consistently improved accuracy, regardless of the number of image sets used (the highest accuracy increased from 84.81% to 92.57% for a uni-temporal model). Temporal analyses showed that the data acquired in the middle period of the growing season were better than those acquired in the early or late periods. The methodology presented here demonstrates the potential of using UAV data for detailed mapping and monitoring of habitat types. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent debates on evidence-based policymaking have demonstrated limited engagement with the history of the Government Social Research (GSR) profession and its role in facilitating the translation of evidence into policy. Though there was a concerted scholarly focus on social research functions within government during the 1980s and 1990s, the recent limited focus on these professions has led to a 'blind spot' in contemporary governance research. As a case in point, the United Kingdom's GSR profession offers a critical vantage point upon which to develop new insights into the relationship between evidence and policy. We argue that just as the GSR profession is currently undergoing significant reform programmes, there is a critical need for a critical research agenda on the composition of research professions within governments. Such a research agenda would reflect on crucial questions about the interface between research evidence and other government functions. In conclusion, we offer four starting points for a comparative, interdisciplinary, transnational research agenda, focusing on the effects of reform programmes for (1) researchers' professional identities and values, (2) organisational change processes, (3) accountability challenges, and (4) intra-professional relationships with evidence producers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The research gathered lived experience accounts of emotional wellbeing as a counter to the over-focus on illness and deficit language and approaches in mental health practice. The exploratory research study involved semi-interviews with mental health peer mentor trainees, carers and practitioners to explore their ideas about emotional wellbeing, what enabled it and what challenged their wellbeing. Emotional wellbeing was understood as a fluctuating continuum of capacities to engage in everyday activities, to self-care and to foster relationships with others. The absence of emotional wellbeing was linked to a reduced quality of relationships and ability to love. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Spartina anglica C. E. Hubb. is an invasive species of saltmarsh and mudflats in Ireland. It spreads quickly and can form extensive meadows, which can lead to the extinction of native plant and animal species. Traditional ground-based field surveys would be expensive for the scale of monitoring needed to formulate site-specific management strategies. Advanced mapping techniques, such as Unoccupied Aerial Vehicle (UAV) remote sensing and deep learning (DL), offer an opportunity to automatically map invasive species' occurrence. However, training a DL model requires lots of labelled data which can be prohibitively difficult and expensive to obtain. We implemented a DL semantic segmentation technique on UAV imagery of Spartina-invaded habitats and tested a range of hyperparameters—model architectures, encoder backbones and input image patch sizes—to determine an effective segmentation network structure. We also investigated applying data augmentation and pseudo-labelling techniques to increase the size of the labelled dataset. U-Net architecture with Inception-v3 as its backbone trained on 128 × 128-pixel image patches offered the best model performance: mean Intersection-Over-Union (mIOU) score = 0.832. The model trained on the combined augmented and pseudo-labelled data achieved an mIOU score of 0.712 on a test dataset, while there was a decrease of 0.158 in model performance when only the original labelled data were used. This result suggests the potential for using these techniques in creating more robust models. The proposed methodology demonstrates that the combination of UAV imagery and deep learning could be a promising tool for mapping the distribution of invasive plant species. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Between 2017 and 2020 a comprehensive review of the framework of investigatory scrutiny committees in the House of Lords was undertaken. This process led to a far-reaching set of recommendations and reforms. Although carefully couched in the language of evolutionary change, this article argues that these reforms possess a transformational dynamic that is difficult to deny. The challenge, however, is likely to emerge from the existence of a largely hidden disjuncture between the accountability ambitions embedded within this reform agenda and the institutional, constitutional and political matrixes within which the 'new' committee system in the Lords is expected to operate. A three-dimensional lens emphasising inter-, intra-, and extra-institutional dimensions is utilised to expose and dissect the existence of potential disjuncture and, through this, offers a 'review of the review' informed by broader literatures on legislative organisation and policy analysis that will be of interest to both practitioners and scholars. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The levelling up initiative of the UK Conservative Government has, since 2019, aimed to address the problem of serious economic disparities between and across the regions of the country. In opposition, the Labour Party has reacted to this initiative in phases: firstly via a broad critique, and then through an alternative policy which has come to be framed around a wider set of constitutional and governance reforms. Labour's response has been problematic due to its vagueness and opacity, the lack of a roadmap or timeline for delivery, a failure to address the need for policy evaluation, the linkage of levelling up to an unwieldy project for constitutional reform, and the lack of a binding strategic narrative. An opportunity remains for Labour to refine and develop its policy in this sphere before the 2024 General Election. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The availability of the genomic sequence of the malaria mosquito Anopheles gambiae has in recent years sparked the development of transgenic technologies with the potential to be used as novel vector control tools. These technologies rely on genome editing that confer traits able to affect vectorial capacity. This can be achieved by either reducing the mosquito population or by making mosquitoes refractory to the parasite infection. For any genetically modified organism that is regarded for release, molecular characterization of the transgene and flanking sites are essential for their safety assessment and post-release monitoring. Despite great advancements, Whole-Genome Sequencing data are still subject to limitations due to the presence of repetitive and unannotated DNA sequences. Faced with this challenge, we describe a number of techniques that were used to identify the genomic location of a transgene in the male bias mosquito strain Ag(PMB)1 considered for potential field application. While the initial inverse PCR identified the most likely insertion site on Chromosome 3 R 36D, reassessment of the data showed a high repetitiveness in those sequences and multiple genomic locations as potential insertion sites of the transgene. Here we used a combination of DNA sequencing analysis and in-situ hybridization to clearly identify the integration of the transgene in a poorly annotated centromeric region of Chromosome 2 R 19D. This study emphasizes the need for accuracy in sequencing data for the genome of organisms of medical importance such as Anopheles mosquitoes and other tools available that can support genomic locations of transgenes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: A prospective clinical study to assess the utility of CD4 + T cell lymphocyte profiling from peripheral blood in patients with ocular tuberculosis (TB).Methods: Thirty-six Asian patients with presumed diagnosis of ocular TB were recruited for T-lymphocyte profiling. MTB antigen specific CD4 assay was set up, and flow cytometric data were analyzed using FlowJo software.Results: There was no significant difference between treatment responders and non-responders for the proportion of CD4 + T cells specific for PPD or ESAT-6+ CFP-10, but treatment responders did have significantly higher frequency of CD38+ (p = .0357) and CD38+ HLA-DR+ (p = .0357) on the PPD-specific CD4 + T cells.Conclusion: This study is one of the first of its kind to look into MTB specific T cell activation marker profiling of peripheral blood in patients with ocular TB. Further studies need to be undertaken to assess the utility of CD4 + T cell phenotypes as a biomarker for ocular TB. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Impaired mucociliary clearance may increase COPD exacerbation risk. We aimed to compare bronchial ciliary function and epithelial ultrastructure of COPD patients to healthy controls and explore its relationship to exacerbator phenotypes (frequent [FE] and infrequent [IFE] exacerbator). In this cross-sectional study, 16 COPD patients and 12 controls underwent bronchial brushings. Ciliary beat frequency (CBF) and dyskinesia index (DI; % of dyskinetic cilia) were assessed using digital high-speed video microscopy, and epithelial ultrastructure using transmission electron microscopy (TEM). Bronchial epithelium in COPD showed lower CBF and higher DI, compared to controls (median [IQR] CBF: 6.8 (6.1–7.2) Hz vs 8.5 (7.7–8.9) Hz, p<0.001 and DI: 73.8 (60.7–89.8) % vs 14.5 (11.2–16.9) %, p<0.001, respectively). This was true for FE and IFE phenotypes of COPD, which were similar in terms of bronchial CBF or DI. Subgroup analyses demonstrated lower CBF and higher DI in FE and IFE COPD phenotypes compared to controls, irrespective of smoking status. TEM showed more loss of cilia, extrusion of cells, cytoplasmic blebs and dead cells in COPD patients versus controls. Profound dysfunction of bronchial cilia is a feature of COPD irrespective of exacerbation phenotype and smoking status, which is likely to contribute to poor mucus clearance in COPD. Supplemental data for this article is available online at https://doi.org/10.1080/15412555.2021.1963695. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Following the Conservative Party's victory in the 2019 UK General Election, and its success in achieving significant electoral gains across traditional Labour Party 'red' areas in the north of England, Prime Minister Boris Johnson vowed not to let down the new Conservative voters and pledged that his government would address longstanding regional inequalities in the UK. Consequently, 'levelling up' became part of the public policy lexicon, and, in March 2021, the government published its Levelling Up Fund prospectus. The concept of levelling up enjoys widespread political support, has featured in important policy initiatives beyond the UK, and has been the subject of considerable theorising. This article considers how social scientists might evaluate the success or otherwise of the UK government's levelling-up agenda. The article suggests that any evaluation of this agenda requires the need to take into account aspects of network complexity, the resource allocation arrangements attached to the policy, and what the policy signifies in terms of governance leadership in the context of delivering public value. The article concludes that the UK government's plans risk falling short of delivering a sustained reform programme to reduce area-based inequalities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article provides an overview of key lessons about the governance and leadership of interagency working in multi-level contexts. The article is based on interviews with local and national leaders across Europe. This topic is timely given the complexity of European public sector governance which demands leadership, co-production, and styles of collaboration which promote partnership-working within local contexts. We highlight that localism is central but this still requires national political leadership for localism to be managed and delivered effectively. In other words, empowerment-heavy models of governance, without top-down support, risks interagency ineffectiveness or even failure. We argue that leadership at macro, meso and micro levels of the governance system is required in order for successful interagency working to be delivered. We find that removing the barriers to interagency working requires the identification of an interagency leader (and to even enshrine this within statute), clear roles and lines of accountability for professionals, a breakdown of disciplinary silos, non-tokenistic bottom-up approaches, national public service leadership which promotes capacity building, and the dovetailing of planning and evaluation. The article concludes by proposing strategies for developing effective multi-level interagency working. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Public Money & Management is the property of Routledge and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Brexit presents significant challenges and uncertainties for the future governance of policy areas currently managed by the EU. This is especially the case with fisheries policy. The UK government has stated an ambition for post-Brexit fisheries policy to be based on sustainability and the use of scientific evidence. Yet how these aims will be achieved and formalised into post-Brexit governance structures remains to be seen. This article investigates fisheries governance arrangements in three non-EU countries: Iceland, Norway and the Faroe Islands. These cases offer lessons for the UK on governance and institutional arrangements for fisheries post-Brexit. However, none of these cases account for devolution and division of fisheries policy competences across multiple territories. This places significant limits on the potential for direct policy transfer from these countries to the UK. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Based on a case study of the Gaelic Athletic Association in Ireland, this paper examines how bureaucratisation advanced and the specific structure it took. Drawing on Elias's concept of habitus, and the wider theoretical framework that informs it, the paper explains how an ambivalent attitude amongst the organisation's administrators towards volunteerism emerged and became deeply sedimented within the habitus of administrators. Over time, the habitus of administrators also became more self-steering. This more self-restrained habitus facilitated a capacity for greater calculation, foresight and coordination, a necessary precondition for more expansive bureaucratisation. As such, the main contribution of this paper is to expand existing theoretical explanations of bureaucratisation by connecting shifting inter- and intra-organisational interdependencies at different planes of integration with habitus change. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

In early January of 2020, the Advanced Photon Source (APS) workforce was busy with routine maintenance and upgrades of the accelerator facility and beamlines. Several coronaviruses can cause illness in humans, and in the past 20 years, three outbreaks have occurred due to coronaviruses: Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) in 2003, Middle Eastern Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) in 2012, and coronavirus disease in 2019 (COVID-19). Between January 2020 and September 30, 2021, 1574 structures related to coronavirus research, COVID-19, and SARS CoV-2 viral proteins with and without inhibitors and antibodies were deposited and released by the Protein Data Bank. [Extracted from the article]

Copyright of International Journal of the History of Sport is the property of Routledge and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Radiometric normalization is a vital stage in any change detection study due to the complex interactions of radiance and irradiance between the Earth's surface and atmosphere. Compensation for variables such as sun's angle, surface profile, atmospheric conditions, and sensor calibration coefficients are essential in achieving a radiometrically stable data base of multi-temporal, multi-spectral imagery for a change detection study. In this study, five Landsat Enhanced Thematic Mapper Plus (ETM+) images taken over the east coast of Ireland in 2001 were geometrically corrected and topographically normalized for further processing and analysis. Assessment of various vegetation indices showed that the enhanced vegetation index 2 (EVI2) gave the highest accuracy in identifying the various vegetation types and habitats in the Wicklow Mountains National Park. The initial analysis of radiometric normalization with temporal invariant clusters (TICs) gave poor results due to the spectral heterogeneity of urban pixels within each image. A revised TIC subset normalized method was developed using regional growth parameters in urban environments to limit the spatial and spectral extent of pixels used in the TIC scene normalization process. Correlation analysis between the TIC-subset-normalized ETM+ data and Landsat Ecosystem Disturbance Adaptive Processing System (LEDAPS) absolute corrected data produced coefficient of determination (R²) values between 0.88 and 0.98. Such results demonstrated the robustness of the TIC subset normalization procedure when correcting for atmospheric variability between images while maintaining spectral integrity. Statistical analysis on master slave and TIC-subset-normalized slave data using cumulative distribution curves derived from image histograms showed an 86.93% reduction in the maximum difference between master and slave data due to the TIC subset normalization process. This procedure of radiometric normalization is suitable in landscapes with a low density of spectrally stable targets. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Irish peat soils are extensive, covering approximately 14-20% of the national land area. They contain between 53% and 62% of the national soil organic carbon stock. Montane blanket bog covers approximately 25% or 242 650 ha of the total peatland area in Ireland and is the dominant peatland type covering the upland area of Wicklow. Blanket bogs are very sensitive systems and have experienced much disturbance in Ireland due to overgrazing, burning, drainage, forestry and turf cutting. It has been estimated that disturbance of blanket bog, on a national area basis, ranges from 74% to 82% and in Wicklow is 57%. Disturbance can be detrimental to stocks of soil organic carbon in peatlands. Monitoring disturbance in peatlands, which tend to cover large, remote areas, is difficult and expensive using conventional surveying methods. Satellite remote sensing offers a way to gather data for these areas. In this paper a method of determining the probability of disturbance is presented. This method uses the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI) in combination with univariate image differencing along with thresholding and binary logistic regression. A probability map was produced depicting the geospatial patterns and pressures on the peatland soil organic carbon stock in Wicklow. Peat soils in higher and steeper areas were more disturbed and the primary disturbance in between 2000 and 2005 was fire. Lower, flatter areas did not experience as much disturbance probably because they are wetter. The consumer's and producer's accuracy for the map was 76% and 42%, respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper we develop aspects of Elias’s figurational approach within organisational studies by using some of the core theoretical constructs as a model to explain organisational change through an empirical investigation of the dynamics of centralisation— decentralisation processes in an Irish sports organisation. Based on historical analysis, the paper documents the expanding interdependencies, figurational dynamics and shifting power balances which led to a gradual, non-linear movement towards greater integration and centralisation within the organisation. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The contributions of John C. Slater and his students to the development of quantum theory of molecules and solids have often been overlooked, especially in the area of the early computer calculations using approximations which were the predecessor to Density Functional Theory. This paper looks back to the early days of the Quantum Theory Project, when Professor Slater was heavily involved, and acknowledges research in this area which laid the foundations to the theory which has become one of the premier approximations in quantum theory today. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This essay examines the sport of hurling in Ireland through the theoretical framework of sport and leisure developed by Elias and Dunning. Through an analysis of newspaper reports of games, of rulebooks and codes of play, as well as historical data on increasing social differentiation and integration, we argue that hurling has undergone sportization and civilizing processes. However, due to the unevenness of wider figurational shifts these processes have been non-linear and fragile. Gradually, we see increasing numbers of rules, as well as increasing severity of punishment for the breaking of specific rules relating to violent play. The level and extent of violent conduct also appears to change with both players and spectators becoming more self-controlled. The increasing emotional restraint of spectators and players can be explained by the changes in the overall structure of Irish society during this period, particularly from the 1960s onwards with increasing interdependencies between people. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A case of acute-on-chronic renal failure is presented that is the sequela of secondary (AA) amyloidosis in a hepatitis positive intravenous drug user (IVDU) with chronic venous ulceration. The importance of groin examination is stressed when upper limb veins in a suspected IVDU are normal. Recent epidemiological data is discussed that suggests geographical location and the subcutaneous (SC) route of drug administration are both contributing factors to the development of AA amyloidosis and not chronic infection with HIV, HBV or HCV. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although increased consumer concern for ethical issues has been recognised in research, this has tended to explore such concerns in isolation, neglecting to consider the often complex interaction between ethical issues in consumer decision-making. Such interrelationships are important to the study of fair trade in terms of providing a richer understanding of market potential and development in strategic decision-making. The present paper, therefore, seeks to explore fair trade within the context of other discursive narratives such as green consuming, ethical consuming, and voluntary simplicity and the strategic marketing implications for fair trade organisations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the concept of sustainable consumption by focusing on the consumption habits of Irish consumers. The key research findings fit into three broad and interrelated categories. Firstly, whilst recent sustainable consumption literature suggests that new research should focus on the issue of consumption, in and of itself, our study shows that consumers themselves view environmental problems from a supply and not a demand perspective. They focus on issues such as recycling and waste and not consumption itself. Secondly, our study shows that consumers have green opinions about very diverse issues and these are directly related to the individuals' lifestyles. Finally, our research shows that "material green" consumers are buying into a particular image in their consumption practices. This is very much connected to the meanings of their consumption that are derived from the communication value they attach to commodities. As such our study provides support for earlier conceptual research which suggests that in order to encourage less consumption we must use existing commodity discourse to achieve such ends. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ethical and legal issues are complex — more complex than one person can be consciously aware of. To discuss such issues from only one perspective would be myopic. Therefore, this review article was written by authors from 12 countries/cultures: Australia, China, Cuba, Ireland, India, Japan, Lithuania, Russia, South Africa, The Netherlands, Turtle Island and United States. The following issues were addressed: Standards of reasonable and prudent care, responsibility for care, failure to diagnose properly, failure in care, liability and malpractice, and postvention. There is no one standard of care worldwide on these issues. It is concluded that standards are defined according, first to the standards of community practices, and second, to the resources available, and hence, what reasonably can be expected. Communities are encouraged to examine and discuss these matters as we embark on this millennium. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Reprinted from Receptor-Based Drug Design; Leff, P., Ed.; Drugs and the Pharmaceutical Sciences, Vol. 89; Marcel Dekker, Inc., New York, 1998; 107–133. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Assessment of intellectual functions is essential for rehabilitative interventions with traumatic brain injury and stroke patients. However, many of these patients are difficult or impossible to assess because of aphasia and physical disabilities that prevent their performance on traditionally administered tests of mental functioning. We present normative evidence obtained from healthy individuals for the efficacy of a new method of assessing such patients using standardized and validated tests formatted for computer presentation and using direct measures of brain activity (event-related brain potentials, ERP) as the measurable response instead of verbal or motor behavior. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent work in the theory of action by analytical philosophers has focused on explaining actions by citing the agent's motivating reason(s). But this ignores a pattern of explanation typical in the social sciences, i.e. situating the agent in a reference group whose members typically manifest that behavior. In some cases the behavior of such groups can itself be shown to be the product of social forces. Two extended examples of this explanatory pattern are studied. In each case the motivating reasons of the agents concerned can scarcely be understood apart from reference to the groups of which the agents are members and the social forces which work on those groups. However, attention to the agent's own reasons for action remains important, in part because of action theory's critical potential to help liberate people from arbitrary, hypostasized social forces. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Guided by the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) (Fishbein & Ajzen, 2010), our study aims to understand how community college transfer students' STEM degree attainment behavior is shaped by their beliefs, intentions, contextual factors and social-demographic characteristics. This study drew upon data from the Education Longitudinal Study of 2002 (ELS: 2002). The sample includes 1,761 students who began postsecondary education at a 2-year institution and attended a 4-year university later in their academic career. We employed structural equation modeling (SEM) to develop a fully specified model of STEM baccalaureate degree attainment for the transfer students. The findings of the study highlight the significant impact of gender, race/ethnicity, and socioeconomic status on STEM degree attainment. Additionally, we distinguished transfer students' intention to pursue a STEM field of study from intention to obtain a bachelor's degree and found both intentions had significant effects on STEM baccalaureate degree attainment. Finally, the study findings show that college variables, such as taking remedial math courses, college GPA, and student loans, have significant effects on STEM degree attainment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]