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This systematic review aimed to provide a comprehensive view of critical pedagogy-informed collaborative professional development practices in English language teaching. Using four databases and relevant keywords, we found 67 studies conducted in Asia, South/Central/North America, Europe, Australia, and the Gulf countries and systematically analyzed them. Results show that critical collaborative practices enabled teachers to develop a critical stance, implement pedagogically critical actions, and initiate social change regarding social awareness and power distribution. However, these changes, visible in teachers' pedagogical practices, have not expanded onto a macro-social level. Implications for language teacher development program planners and policymakers are discussed.

Several international large-scale assessments were conducted at the turn of the new century, and during the past two decades the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) completed seven cycles of assessment to facilitate practitioners' policy debates and governance. This study reviews PISA-related articles published in English and Chinese. Three literature databases were searched, with a focus on SSCI, CSSCI, and TSSCI journal publications. The frequency of publication was analyzed according to the author's country affiliation, type of journal, and research categories/themes. Findings indicate that research on student-, school- and system-level indicators with a focus on students' learning processes and outcomes as well as critiques of technical matters on PISA were frequent topics in the literature during the past two decades. Issues of equality and equity examined in the publications have implications for enhancing practitioners' capabilities in terms of policy making and governance.

This research study explores technology-related course offerings in ALA-accredited library and information science (LIS) graduate programs in North America. These data are juxtaposed against a text analysis of several thousand LIS-specific technology job listings from the Code4lib jobs website. Starting in 2003, as a popular library technology mailing list, Code4lib has since expanded to an annual conference in the United States and a job-posting website. The study found that database and web design/development topics continued to dominate course offerings with diverse sub-topics covered. Strong growth was noted in the area of user experience but a lack of related jobs for librarians was identified. Analysis of the job listings revealed common technology-centric librarian and non-librarian job titles, as well as frequently correlated requirements for technology skillsets relating to the popular foci of web design/development and metadata. Finally, this study presents a series of suggestions for LIS educators in order that they continue to keep curriculum aligned with current technology employment requirements.

In this article, the authors analyze the effect of poverty, social exclusion, and child labor on out-of-school rates for female children. This empirical study is based on a dynamic panel model for a sample of 216 countries over the period 1970 to 2010. Results based on the generalized method of moments (GMM) of Arellano and Bond (1991) and the tests of causality and zero autocorrelation to the panel data show a negative and significant relation between contributing family workers (female) and number of primary school-age children out of school (female) in Europe and Central Asia region. However, the authors cannot find empirical evidence between primary school-age children out of school rates (female) and the variables used to analyze the effect of poverty and social exclusion (poverty headcount ratio at national poverty line and total vulnerable employment). Moreover, the article identifies effects of other variables like proportion of seats held by women in national parliaments. In addition, this article examines geographic regions separately, with the anticipation that differentials in livelihood strategies and opportunities could be reflected in female child schooling decisions.

Continental margins are an important part of the ocean floor. They separate the land above sea level from the deep ocean basins below and occupy about 11% of Earth's surface. They are also economically important, as they harbor both mineral resources and some of the most valuable fisheries in the world. In this article students investigate North America's continental margins using GeoMapApp, a free global topography database. Each student investigates continental margins along the East, West, and Gulf Coasts, determines the nature of these margins, and identifies common morphologic features. Their direct involvement in the collection and interpretation of data encourages conceptual understanding, rather than the simple memorization of facts. The activity focuses on the Blake Plateau and Gulf of Mexico--two areas not typically discussed in textbooks--allowing students to make new, individual observations and collect and organize information. These skills will help them in both science and nonscience classes and in their future careers. This activity is best suited for high school Earth science, geology, oceanography, and environmental science courses. (Contains 2 figures and 11 online resources.)

Background: Efficient library searches for research evidence are critical to practitioners who wish to engage in evidence-based practice (EBP) as well as researchers who seek to develop systematic reviews. Aims: This review will propose the benefits of the search technique "Pearl Growing" ("Traditional Pearl Growing") as well as an adaptation of this technique ("Comprehensive Pearl Growing"), until now ignored by the literature on EBP and systematic reviews, to aid in the retrieval of research evidence. These search techniques are illustrated with examples from the field of augmentative and alternative communication. Main Contributions: Traditional Pearl Growing is proposed as an important addition to the arsenal of EBP search strategies for practitioners. The literature on Traditional Pearl Growing is extended in that EBP presents a newly identified purpose for this technique and the benefits in identifying appropriate quality filter goes beyond its previously exclusive focus on keywords. Comprehensive Pearl Growing is projected as a new strategy for researchers searching for studies to be included in systematic reviews. Not only does it provide data-based guidance in selecting effective keywords and quality filters, but also it provides appropriate databases. Conclusions: Although the techniques Traditional Pearl Growing and Comprehensive Pearl Growing are believed to be useful for locating research evidence in any field, it may be particularly important for interdisciplinary topics where the use of effective controlled vocabulary plays a greater role in bringing together evidence that may be scattered across databases. (Contains 1 note and 4 tables.)

Describes videotex development; discusses optimal internal organization, visual display, and presentation of information on videotex screen; addresses policy issues of equity, privacy, and costs that affect instructional use of videotex; outlines videotex field trials and experiments within education; and draws conclusions on significance of videotex as an instructional medium. (MBR)

A comparative study of answers from an international inquiry concerning databases, producers, and royalties in Europe and North America shows great differences between database characteristics (subject, type and volume of information), policies concerning conditions of use, and amounts of royalties. A copy of the questionnaire is included. (EJS)

The Boreal Institute for Northern Studies was established in 1960 at the University of Alberta with the major objective of "acquisition and dissemination of knowledge of the North," accomplished by a threefold programme: development of an information centre, provision of training and instruction, and implementation and encouragement of research. (Author)

Provides a map representing automated library networks in North America with a list of their acronyms and abbreviations. (CWM)

The northern giant hornet Vespa mandarinia (NGH) is a voracious predator of other insect species, including honey bees. NGH's native range spans subtropical and temperate regions across much of east and southeast Asia and, in 2019, exotic populations of the species were discovered in North America. Despite this broad range and invasive potential, investigation of the population genomic structure of NGH across its native and introduced ranges has thus far been limited to a small number of mitochondrial samples. Here, we present analyses of genomic data from NGH individuals collected across the species' native range and from exotic individuals collected in North America. We provide the first survey of whole-genome population variation for any hornet species, covering this species' native and invasive ranges, and in doing so confirm likely origins in Japan and South Korea for the two introductions. We additionally show that, while this introduced population exhibited strongly elevated levels of inbreeding, these signatures of inbreeding are also present in some long-standing native populations, which may indicate that inbreeding depression alone is insufficient to prevent the persistence of NGH populations. As well as highlighting the importance of ongoing monitoring and eradication efforts to limit the spread of this species outside of its natural range, our data will serve as a foundational database for future genomic studies into introduced hornet populations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary The Integrated Database of Small Molecules (IDSM) integrates data from small-molecule datasets, making them accessible through the SPARQL query language. Its unique feature is the ability to search for compounds through SPARQL based on their molecular structure. We extended IDSM to enable mass spectra databases to be integrated and searched for based on mass spectrum similarity. As sources of mass spectra, we employed the MassBank of North America database and the In Silico Spectral Database of natural products. Availability and implementation The extension is an integral part of IDSM, which is available at https://idsm.elixir-czech.cz. The manual and usage examples are available at https://idsm.elixir-czech.cz/docs/ms. The source codes of all IDSM parts are available under open-source licences at https://github.com/idsm-src. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pediatric surgical trainees come from diverse races and ethnicities. However, Asian-Americans (AAs) including West, South, and East Asians may represent a unique group of individuals. We sought to identify any unique challenges and experiences. Pediatric surgical trainees were identified from, " The Genealogy of North American Pediatric Surgery: From Ladd to Now " and " Celebrating 50 Years: Canadian Association of Paediatric Surgeons/Association Canadienne de Chirurgie Pediatrique". A database was compiled, and AAs identified who completed their pediatric surgical training on or before 1980. Personal interviews and online sources provided further information. Of 635 pediatric surgical trainees in North America (NA) there were 49 AA trainees (7.7%). There was insufficient information for seven, thus leaving 42 (41 male, one female) for review. The region of Asia of origin included 16 East, 16 West, and 10 South. Thirty-seven (88.0%) had moved to NA for training. The most frequent training programs included seven from Toronto and four each at Buffalo, Detroit, Pittsburgh, and Chicago (Children's Memorial). Thirty-five (83%) trainees spent most of their careers in NA while 7 (17%) practiced in their home country. The first AA pediatric surgical trainees voiced few examples of discrimination but indicated needs to adjust to the NA culture and often confusion over non-Western names. Mentorship was valued and gratitude expressed over the opportunity offered to train in NA. While some had intended to return to their home countries, plans changed due to meeting spouses or political turmoil. Many of those reviewed sought each other out at national meetings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The addition of radiation therapy (RT) to surgery in retroperitoneal sarcoma (RPS) remains controversial. We examined practice patterns in the use of RT for patients with RPS over time in a large, national cohort. Methods: Patients in the National Cancer Database (2004–2017) who underwent resection of RPS were included. Trends over time for proportions were calculated using contingency tables with Cochran-Armitage Trend test. Results: Of 7,485 patients who underwent resection, 1,821 (24.3%) received RT (adjuvant: 59.9%, neoadjuvant: 40.1%). The use of RT decreased annually by < 1% (p = 0.0178). There was an average annual increase of neoadjuvant RT by 13% compared to an average annual decrease of adjuvant RT by 6% (p < 0.0001). Treatment at high-volume centers (OR 14.795, p < 0.0001) and tumor > 10 cm (OR 2.009, p = 0.001) were associated with neoadjuvant RT. In contrast liposarcomas (OR 0.574, p = 0.001) were associated with adjuvant RT. There was no statistically significant difference in overall survival between patients treated with surgery alone versus surgery and RT (p = 0.07). Conclusion: In the United States, the use of RT for RPS has decreased over time, with a shift towards neoadjuvant RT. However, a large percentage of patients are still receiving adjuvant RT and this mostly occurs at low-volume hospitals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While the ERA5 reanalysis is commonly utilized in climate studies on extratropical cyclones (ETCs), only a few studies have quantified its ability in the representation of ETCs over land. To address this gap, this study evaluates ERA5's skill in representing the ETC‐associated 10‐m wind speed and the precipitation in central and eastern North America during 2005–2019. Hourly data collected from ~3000 stations, amounting to around 420 million reports stored in the Integrated Surface Database, is used as reference. For the spatial‐averaged ETC properties, ERA5 shows a good skill for wind speed with normalized mean bias (NMB) of −0.7% and normalized root‐mean‐square error (NRMSE) of 14.3%, despite a tendency to overestimate low winds and underestimate high winds. The ERA5 skill is worse for precipitation than for wind speed with NMB of −10.4% and NRMSE of 56.5% and a strong tendency to underestimate high values. For both variables, the best and worst performance is found in DJF and JJA, respectively. Negative biases are often identified over regions with stronger precipitation/wind speeds, and a systematic underestimation of wind speed is found over the Rockies with complex topography. Compared to the averaged ETCs, ERA5's performance deteriorates for the top 5% extreme ETCs with a stronger tendency to underestimate both wind speed and precipitation (NMB of −10.2% and −22.6%, respectively). Furthermore, ERA5's skill is worse for local extreme values within ETCs than for spatial averages. Our results highlight some important limitations of the ERA5 reanalysis products for studies looking at the possible impacts of ETCs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Dendroarchaeological data from historic structures and artefacts have the potential to extend tree-ring chronologies spatially and temporally, especially where old-growth forests have been extensively modified or harvested. While these data may contribute to an improved understanding of past climate and ecology, critical differences in the properties of live-tree and historic-timber data might affect results and interpretations of large-scale studies, such as those relying on large datasets from public databases like the International Tree-Ring Data Bank (ITRDB). The objective of this work was to compare summary measures of live-tree versus historic-timber datasets likely to affect outcomes and inferences of typical paleoenvironmental applications. We used 99 live-tree (LT) and 41 historic-timber (HT) datasets collected in the Appalachian region of the eastern United States and compared common analytical measures for understanding past climate and ecology, including temporal coverage, species composition, recruitment patterns, segment length, series coherence/mean interseries correlation (as Rbar), expressed population signal (EPS), subsample signal strength (SSS) and response to drought and extreme climate events. We found that tree-ring data from historic timbers record some ecological events similarly to live trees and are sensitive to some climate conditions, with important caveats related to the influence of site and tree selection on analytical measures. In some cases, these caveats can be overcome through improved collection of metadata and additional analyses. In all cases, potential differences in LT and HT data should be considered by those who perform large-scale analyses using public tree ring databases, especially as more scientists contribute historic-timber datasets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Multiple guidelines on the management of intraductal papillary mucinous neoplasm (IPMN) have been published over the past decade. However, practice data are lacking. This study aims to determine whether pancreatectomy procedures, IPMN pathology, or outcomes have changed. ACS-NSQIP Procedure Targeted Pancreatectomy database was queried for patients with IPMN from 2014 to 2019. Cases were stratified by pathology, tumor stage/cyst size and procedure. Pancreatectomies for IPMN by year, 30-day morbidity, and clinically relevant postoperative pancreatic fistula (CR-POPF) were quantified. Mann-Kendall trend tests were performed to assess surgical trends and associated outcomes over time. 3912 patients underwent pancreatectomy for IPMN. 21% demonstrated malignancy and 79% were benign. Morbidity and mortality occurred in 29.7% and 1.5% of cases, respectively. Over time, no change was observed in use of pancreatectomy for IPMN (10%) or in benign/malignant pathology, or cyst size. Robotic approach increased from 9.1% to 16.5% with decreases in laparoscopic (19.5%–15.0%) and open interventions (71.5%–68.1%, p = 0.016). No change was observed over time in morbidity or mortality; however, rates of CR-POPF decreased (18.8%–13.8%, p < 0.001). Practice patterns in treatment of IPMN have not changed significantly in North America. More patients are undergoing robotic pancreatectomy, and postoperative pancreatic fistula rates are improving. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Drought is characterized by a moisture deficit that can adversely impact the environment, economy, and society. In North America, like many regions worldwide, predicting the timing of drought events is challenging. However, our novel study in climate research explores whether the Drought Monitor database exhibits fractal characteristics, represented by a single scaling exponent. This database categorizes drought areas by intensity, ranging from D0 (abnormally dry) to D4 (exceptional drought). Through vibration analysis using power spectral densities (PSD), we investigate the presence of power-law scaling in various statistical moments across different scales within the database. Our multi-fractal analysis estimates the multi-fractal spectrum for each category, and the Higuchi algorithm assesses the fractal complexity, revealing that D4 follows a multi-fractal pattern with a wide range of exponents, while D0 to D3 exhibit a mono-fractal nature with a narrower range of exponents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS), as a non-invasive neuromodulation technique, has been widely used in the treatment of Parkinson's disease (PD). The increasing application of TMS has promoted an increasing number of clinical studies. In this paper, a bibliometric analysis of existing studies was conducted to reveal current research hotspots and guide future research directions. Method: Relevant articles and reviews were obtained from the Science Citation Index Expanded of Web of Science Core Collection database. Data related to publications, countries, institutions, authors, journals, citations, and keywords in the studies included in the review were systematically analyzed using VOSviewer 1.6.18 and Citespace 6.2.4 software. Result: A total of 1,894 papers on the topic of TMS in PD between 1991 and 2022 were analyzed and visualized to identify research hotspots and trends in the field. The number of annual publications in this field of study has increased gradually over the past 30 years, with the number of annual publications peaking in 2022 (n = 150). In terms of publications and total citations, countries, institutions, and authors from North America and Western Europe were found to make significant contributions to the field. The current hotspot focuses on the effectiveness of TMS for PD in different stimulation modes or different stimulated brain regions. The keyword analysis indicates that the latest research is oriented to the mechanism study of TMS for motor symptoms in PD, and the non-motor symptoms are also receiving more attention. Conclusion: Our study offers insights into the current hotspots and emerging trends of TMS in the rehabilitation of PD. These findings may serve as a guide for future research and the application of TMS for PD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The probabilistic prediction skill of the weekly forecasts of extreme cold events (ECE) is illustrated and measured in the form of the Brier Skill Score (BSS) and the area under Relative Operating Characteristics (ROC) curves based on the subseasonal-to-seasonal (S2S) prediction project database. The ROC scores show that six S2S models have the good potential predictability skill required for use in ECE probabilistic forecasts, and they were more useful than climatologic probabilistic models in creating forecasts of about 3–4 weeks in length. However, the BSS results show that the actual prediction skill of six models used in ECE probabilistic forecasts are different. The ECMWF model has a good performance, and its actual probabilistic prediction skill of ECE for forecasts of about 3–4 weeks in length was higher than those of climatology, which operates close to its potential predictability. The actual probabilistic prediction skill of the NCEP model for ECE was only about 2 weeks over the extra-tropics, and no skill was recorded over the tropics given its bad reliability, especially over the tropics. BoM, JMA, and CNRM models only have a 1-week actual prediction skill over the Northern Hemisphere extra-tropics, and they have no skill over the rest of the world's land area. The CNR-ISAC model has a 1-week actual prediction skill over the extra-tropics and about 4 weeks over the tropics. There is still much room for improvement in the prediction ability of models used for ECE. MJO in tropical regions has an important influence on the probabilistic prediction skill of ECE required at middle and high latitudes. When there is an MJO in the initial conditions, the potential predictability and actual prediction skill of ECE probabilistic forecasts over North America in the 3rd week and over Europe in the 3rd–4th weeks are higher than those without MJO. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Amaranth (Amaranthus L.) is native to Mexico and North America, where it was cultivated thousands of years ago, but now amaranth is grown worldwide. Amaranth is one of the most promising food crops with high nutritional value and belongs to the family Amaranthaceae. The high-quality genome assembly of cultivated amaranth species (A. hypochondriacus, A. cruentus) and wild/weedy species (A. tuberculatus, A. hybridus, and A. palmeri) has already been reported; therefore, we developed an Amaranth Genomic Resource Database (AGRDB) to provide access to all the genomic information such as genes, SSRs, SNPs, TFs, miRNAs, and transporters in one place. The AGRDB database contains functionally annotated gene information with their sequence details, genic as well as genomic SSRs with their three sets of primers, transcription factors classified into different families with their sequence information and annotation details, putative miRNAs with their family, sequences, and targeted gene details, transporter genes with their superfamily, trans-membrane domain details, and details of genic as well as nongenic SNPs with 3' and 5' flanking sequence information of five amaranth species. A database search can be performed using the gene ID, sequence ID, sequence motif, motif repeat, family name, annotation keyword, scaffold or chromosome numbers, etc. This resource also includes some useful tools, including JBrowse for the visualization of genes, SSRs, SNPs, and TFs on the respective amaranth genomes and BLAST search to perform a BLAST search of the user's query sequence against the amaranth genome as well as protein sequences. The AGRDB database will serve as a potential platform for genetic improvement and characterization of this futuristic crop. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fire is the dominant disturbance agent in Alaskan and Canadian boreal ecosystems and releases large amounts of carbon into the atmosphere. Burned area and carbon emissions have been increasing with climate change, which have the potential to alter the carbon balance and shift the region from a historic sink to a source. It is therefore critically important to track the spatiotemporal changes in burned area and fire carbon emissions over time. Here we developed a new burned-area detection algorithm between 2001–2019 across Alaska and Canada at 500 m (meters) resolution that utilizes finer-scale 30 m Landsat imagery to account for land cover unsuitable for burning. This method strictly balances omission and commission errors at 500 m to derive accurate landscape- and regional-scale burned-area estimates. Using this new burned-area product, we developed statistical models to predict burn depth and carbon combustion for the same period within the NASA Arctic–Boreal Vulnerability Experiment (ABoVE) core and extended domain. Statistical models were constrained using a database of field observations across the domain and were related to a variety of response variables including remotely sensed indicators of fire severity, fire weather indices, local climate, soils, and topographic indicators. The burn depth and aboveground combustion models performed best, with poorer performance for belowground combustion. We estimate 2.37×106 ha (2.37 Mha) burned annually between 2001–2019 over the ABoVE domain (2.87 Mha across all of Alaska and Canada), emitting 79.3 ± 27.96 Tg (±1 standard deviation) of carbon (C) per year, with a mean combustion rate of 3.13 ± 1.17 kg C m -2. Mean combustion and burn depth displayed a general gradient of higher severity in the northwestern portion of the domain to lower severity in the south and east. We also found larger-fire years and later-season burning were generally associated with greater mean combustion. Our estimates are generally consistent with previous efforts to quantify burned area, fire carbon emissions, and their drivers in regions within boreal North America; however, we generally estimate higher burned area and carbon emissions due to our use of Landsat imagery, greater availability of field observations, and improvements in modeling. The burned area and combustion datasets described here (the ABoVE Fire Emissions Database, or ABoVE-FED) can be used for local- to continental-scale applications of boreal fire science. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

By exploiting new macroeconomic data known as foreign affiliates statistics, we show that affiliates of foreign multinational firms are an order of magnitude more profitable than local firms in a number of low-tax countries. Leveraging this differential profitability, we estimate that 36 |$\%$| of multinational profits are shifted to tax havens globally. US multinationals shift twice as much profit as other multinationals relative to the size of their foreign earnings. We analyse how the location of corporate profits would change if shifted profits were reallocated to their source countries. Domestic profits would increase by about 20 |$\%$| in high-tax European Union countries, 10 |$\%$| in the US, and 5 |$\%$| in developing countries, while they would fall by 55 |$\%$| in tax havens. We provide a new international database of GDP, trade balances, and factor shares corrected for profit shifting. In contrast to the picture painted by official statistics, our results suggest that the corporate capital share has increased not only in North America but also in high-tax European countries. Capital is making a comeback globally, but its rise is obscured by the tax avoidance strategies of multinational companies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Minimally invasive approach represents the gold standard for the resection of the left lateral section of the liver. Recently, the American Minimally Invasive Liver Resection (AMILES) registry has become available to track outcomes of laparoscopic and robotic liver resection in the Americas. The aim of the present study is to determine the benchmark performance of MILLS throughout the AMILES database. Methods: The AMILES registry was interrogated for cases of minimally invasive left lateral sectionectomies (MILLS). Centers with best practices according to the achievement of textbook outcomes (TOs) were identified and were used to define benchmark performances. Results: Seven institutions from US and Canada entered 1665 minimally invasive liver resections, encompassing 203 MILLS. Overall, 49% of cases of MILLS satisfied contemporarily all textbook outcomes. While all centers obtained TOs with different rates of success, the outcomes of the top-ranking centers were used for benchmarking. Benchmark performance metrics of MILLS across North America are: conversion rate ≤ 3.7%, blood loss ≤ 200 ml, OR time ≤ 199 min, transfusion rate ≤ 4.5%, complication rate ≤ 7.9%, LOS ≤ 4 days. Conclusion: Benchmark performances of MILLS have been defined on a large multi-institutional database in North America. As more institutions join the collaboration and more prospective cases accrue, benchmark for additional procedures and approaches will be defined. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Bird monitoring in North America over several decades has generated many open databases, housing millions of structured and semi‐structured bird observations. These provide the opportunity to estimate bird densities and population sizes, once variation in factors such as underlying field methods, timing, land cover, proximity to roads, and uneven spatial coverage are accounted for. To facilitate integration across databases, we introduce NA‐POPS: Point Count Offsets for Population Sizes of North American Landbirds. NA‐POPS is a large‐scale, multi‐agency project providing an open‐source database of detectability functions for all North American landbirds. These detectability functions allow the integration of data from across disparate survey methods using the QPAD approach, which considers the probability of detection (q) and availability (p) of birds in relation to area (a) and density (d). To date, NA‐POPS has compiled over 7.1 million data points spanning 292 projects from across North America, and produced detectability functions for 338 landbird species. Here, we describe the methods used to curate these data and generate these detectability functions, as well as the open‐access nature of the resulting database. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• We analyzed the global reduction of influenza during the COVID-19 pandemic. • With regression trees, we classified trimesters-countries with similar influenza drop. • The decline in influenza was global but heterogeneous across space and time. • Countries with low flu drop had low pandemic preparedness and mild COVID-19 response. • A group of four "zero-COVID" countries experienced the greatest influenza decline. The influenza circulation reportedly declined during the COVID-19 pandemic in many countries. The occurrence of this change has not been studied worldwide nor its potential drivers. The change in the proportion of positive influenza samples reported by country and trimester was computed relative to the 2014-2019 period using the FluNet database. Random forests were used to determine predictors of change from demographical, weather, pandemic preparedness, COVID-19 incidence, and pandemic response characteristics. Regression trees were used to classify observations according to these predictors. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the influenza decline relative to prepandemic levels was global but heterogeneous across space and time. It was more than 50% for 311 of 376 trimesters-countries and even more than 99% for 135. COVID-19 incidence and pandemic preparedness were the two most important predictors of the decline. Europe and North America initially showed limited decline despite high COVID-19 restrictions; however, there was a strong decline afterward in most temperate countries, where pandemic preparedness, COVID-19 incidence, and social restrictions were high; the decline was limited in countries where these factors were low. The "zero-COVID" countries experienced the greatest decline. Our findings set the stage for interpreting the resurgence of influenza worldwide. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Egyptian Journal of Botany is the property of Egyptian National Agricultural Library (ENAL) 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.)

Ongoing atmospheric warming has accelerated glacier mass loss in many mountain regions worldwide. Glacier lakes trap parts of the glacial meltwater and increased by about 50% in number and area since the 1990s. Some of these glacier lakes may empty catastrophically and pose hazards to mountain communities, infrastructure, and habitats. Such glacier lake outburst floods (GLOFs) have caused millions of dollars of damages and fatalities, and are one of many concerns about future changes in the magnitude, frequency, and impacts of a shrinking mountain cryosphere. Consistently compiled inventories are thus vital to assess regional and local trends in GLOF occurrence, hazard, and risk. To this end, we studied 769 literature and internet sources, and developed a standardised database with 57 parameters that describe and quantify the location, dam type, size, timing, and impacts of GLOFs in nine glaciated mountain regions. Our GLOF inventory also includes details about the lake area before and after the outburst for 391 cases that we manually mapped from optical satellite images since 1984. In total, we compiled 3,151 reported GLOFs that occurred in 27 countries between 850 and 2022 C.E. Most GLOFs have been reported in NW North America (26%) and Iceland (19%). However, the reporting density in our inventory varies. During the 20th century alone, the number of yearly documented GLOFs increased 6-fold. Less than one-quarter of all reported cases feature hydrodynamic characteristics such as flood peak discharge or volume, or estimates of loss and damage. Our inventory more than doubles the number of reported GLOFs in a previous global inventory, though gaps in attributes remain. Our data collection process emphasizes the support of local experts in contributing previously undocumented cases, and we recommend applying systematic protocols when reporting new cases. The global database on historic GLOFs is archived at https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.7330345 and regularly updated at http://glofs.geoecology.uni-potsdam.de/. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The National Research Council recommends that genetic differentiation among subgroups of ethnic samples be lower than 3% of the total genetic differentiation within the ethnic sample to be used for estimating reliable random match probabilities for forensic use. Native American samples in the United States' Combined DNA Index System (CODIS) database represent four language families: Algonquian, Na-Dene, Eskimo-Aleut, and Salishan. However, a minimum of 27 Native American language families exists in the US, not including language isolates. Our goal was to ascertain whether genetic differences are correlated with language groupings and, if so, whether additional language families would provide a more accurate representation of current genetic diversity among tribal populations. The 21 short tandem repeat (STR) loci included in the Globalfiler® PCR Amplification Kit were used to characterize six indigenous language families, including three of the four represented in the CODIS database (i.e. Algonquian, Na-Dene, and Eskimo-Aleut), and two language isolates (Miwok and Seri) using major population genetic diversity metrics such as F statistics and Bayesian clustering analysis of genotype frequencies. Most of the genetic variation (97%) was found to be within language families instead of among them (3%). In contrast, when only the three of the four language families represented in both the CODIS database and the present study were considered, 4% of the genetic variation occurred among the language groups. Bayesian clustering resulted in a maximum posterior probability indicating three genetically distinct groups among the eight language families and isolates: (1) Eskimo, (2) Seri, and (3) all other language groups and isolates, thus confirming genetic subdivision among subgroups of the CODIS Native American database. This genetic structure indicates the need for an increased number of Native American populations based on language affiliation in the CODIS database as well as more robust sample sets for those language families. Supplemental data for this article is available online at https://doi.org/10.1080/20961790.2021.1963088. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Great advances in meteorological science were made in the late eighteenth century. In particular, meteorological instruments were carried on ships and the first systematic meteorological readings over the oceans were made. One of these collections of instrumental meteorological readings was carried out by the Malaspina expedition (1789-94), organized by the Spanish Crown to study its vast possessions around the world. We have recovered meteorological variables such as air temperature (maximum and minimum), atmospheric pressure (maximum and minimum), wind (intensity and direction), and appearance (state of the sky) from the documentation generated by the explorers during the journey. In total, nearly 13,000 instrumental data have been digitized and rescued from this maritime expedition. The comparison of daily temperature and pressure observations with reanalysis and weather stations data shows a good overall agreement. Moreover, apparent discrepancies during several anchored periods have allowed for testing the consistency and quality of these early instrumental marine weather readings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

From 2014 to 2020, we compiled radiocarbon ages from the lower 48 states, creating a database of more than 100,000 archaeological, geological, and paleontological ages that will be freely available to researchers through the Canadian Archaeological Radiocarbon Database. Here, we discuss the process used to compile ages, general characteristics of the database, and lessons learned from this exercise in "big data" compilation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The building sector is a voracious consumer of primary materials. However, the study of building material use and associated impacts is challenged by the paucity of publicly available data in the field and the heterogeneity of data organization and classification between published studies. This paper makes two main contributions. First, we propose and demonstrate a building material data structure adapted from UniFormat and MasterFormat, two widely used construction classification systems in North America. Second, the dataset included provides fine grained material data for 70 buildings in North America. The dataset was developed by collecting design or construction drawings for the studied buildings and performing material takeoffs based on these drawings. The ontology is based on UniFormat and MasterFormat to facilitate interoperability with existing construction management practices, and to suggest a standardized structure for future material intensity studies. The data structure supports investigation into how form and building design are driving material use, opportunities to reduce construction material consumption and better understanding of how materials are used in buildings. Measurement(s) material quantities Technology Type(s) digital curation • material takeoffs Factor Type(s) building • building type • location Sample Characteristic - Environment anthropogenic environment Sample Characteristic - Location Canada • United States of America Machine-accessible metadata file describing the reported data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.17209331 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Current design codes in North America have guidelines for assessing the anchorage zone of pretensioned fiber reinforced polymer (FRP) reinforcement. However, there is no comparison of the Eurocode approach with experimental data or suggestions for its application for prestressed FRP reinforcement. Therefore, the main objective of this article is to provide a comparison of available data in the literature on the transfer, flexural bond, and anchorage length of different types of FRP reinforcement with Eurocode and to provide insight on the adaptation of this code. The database of more than 300 and 100 specimens with the results of the transfer and flexural bond lengths is used, respectively. This database is used to derive and propose the parameters that describe the type and surface of pretensioned FRP reinforcement based on the Eurocode approach. Furthermore, the influence of shear reinforcement and the type of pretensioned reinforcement release (gradual and sudden) is taken into account. The Eurocode approach with the coefficients proposed for different FRP reinforcements on average gave the best prediction of the experimental transfer, flexural bond, and anchorage length results compared to the North American design codes for FRP reinforcement and the Eurocode for steel strands. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: The aim of the article is to review some basic issues surrounding public entrepreneurship (PE), as it is perceived as a measure to improve the performance of public organizations. Research Design & Methods: This article uses Systematic Assessment Quantitative Technique (SQAT) advanced by Australian researchers (Catherine Pickering and Jason Antony Byrne). It allows the reproduction of verifiable reviews, through geographical, theoretical, and methodological gaps identification in literature. 61 peer-reviewed PE articles from six quality academic databases were systematically reviewed based on the following headings: time and geographical distributions, article type (conceptual or empirical), theories, themes, and methods of data collection. Findings: The analysis shows that large numbers of PE articles were published in 2016, with more publications in North America and Europe, while Africa has meagre publications. Most of PE articles are conceptually inclined and this suggests more empirical studies be conducted so as to have scientific knowledge of PE adoption. Besides, the study revealed that PE is mostly adopted by federal and state governments across the globe with little or no adoption at the local government level. Significant numbers of PE articles utilized one research method (the survey was dominantly used), future researchers can explore PE studies by merging more research methods to broaden the scope of PE. Implications & Recommendations: This study provides a clear picture of what is been investigated and has provided guides for future researchers to widen the knowledge adoption of PE around the globe for better service provision by public stakeholders. Contribution & Value Added: The study systematically reviewed 61 peer-reviewed PE articles from six quality academic databases (Emerald, Elsevier, Sage, Springer, Taylor & Francis, and Wiley), thereby facilitating the understanding of PE and providing guides for future researchers of PE around the globe. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Recent data suggest that the risk of young-onset colorectal cancer (yCRC), in adults less than 50 years of age, is increasing. To confirm findings and identify contemporary trends worldwide, we conducted a systematic review of studies examining population-level trends in yCRC epidemiology.Methods: We searched MEDLINE (1946-2018), EMBASE (1974-2018), CINAHL (1982-2018), and Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews (2005-2018) for studies that used an epidemiologic design, assessed trends in yCRC incidence or prevalence, and published in English. Extracted information included country, age cut-off for yCRC, and reported trends in incidence or prevalence (e.g. annual percent change [APC]). We pooled similarly reported trend estimates using random effects models.Results: Our search yielded 8695 articles and after applying our inclusion criteria, we identified 40 studies from 12 countries across five continents. One study assessed yCRC prevalence trends reporting an APCp of + 2.6 and + 1.8 among 20-39 and 40-49 year olds, respectively. 39 studies assessed trends in yCRC incidence but with substantial variability in reporting. Meta-analysis of the most commonly reported trend estimate yielded a pooled overall APCi of + 1.33 (95% CI, 0.97 to 1.68; p < 0.0001) that is largely driven by findings from North America and Australia. Also contributing to these trends is the increasing risk of rectal cancer as among 14 studies assessing cancer site, nine showed an increased risk of rectal cancer in adults less than 50 years with APCi up to + 4.03 (p < 0.001).Conclusions: Our systematic review highlights increasing yCRC risk in North America and Australia driven by rising rectal cancers in younger adults over the past two decades. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An analysis of the viability of the Witness King Tides Project (hereafter called WKT) using data from the GESLA-2 database of quasi-global tide-gauge records is described. The results indicate regions of the world where WKT should perform well (e.g. the west coast of the USA) and others where it would not (e.g. the east coast of North America). Recommendations are made both for assessments that should be made prior to a WKT project, and also for an alternative to WKT projects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Literature regarding dietary protein intake and risk of falls is limited to a few studies with relatively small sample sizes and short follow-ups, which have reported contrasting findings. Thus, we investigated whether dietary protein intake is associated with risk of falls in a large cohort of North American adults. Data were drawn from the Osteoarthritis Initiative, a cohort study, with 8 years of follow-up. Community-dwelling adults with knee osteoarthritis or at high risk for this condition. Dietary protein intake was recorded using the Block Brief 2000 food frequency questionnaire and categorized using gender-specific quartiles (Q). Falls were self-reported in response to the question "Did you fall during the past year?" categorized as yes vs no and made during the 6 visits over 8 years of follow-up. Results are reported as relative risks (RRs), with their 95% confidence intervals (CIs), using a multivariable Poisson regression. The final sample consisted of 4450 adults (mean age 61.2 years, females = 59.6%). Higher dietary protein intake was significantly associated with higher frequency of falls during the year before baseline. After adjusting for 17 potential confounders, people with the greatest amount of protein intake (Q4) had a significantly higher risk of falling over the 8-year follow-up period (RR 1.112, 95% CI 1.027-1.211, P =.009) than those with the lowest protein intake (Q1). In this cohort of people affected by knee osteoarthritis or at high risk for this condition, high dietary protein intake may increase the risk of falls in older people, but further research is needed to confirm or refute these findings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The most recent deglaciation of the North American Ice Sheet Complex (NAISC: comprising the Innuitian, Cordilleran, and Laurentide ice sheets) offers a broad perspective from which to analyze the timing and rate of ice retreat, deglacial sea-level rise, and abrupt climate change events. Previous efforts to portray the retreat of the NAISC have been focused largely on minimum-limiting radiocarbon ages and ice margin location(s) tied to deglacial landforms that were not, for the most part, chronologically constrained. Here, we present the first version of North American Deglaciation Isochrones (NADI-1) spanning 25 to 1 ka in calendar years before present. Key new features of this work are (i) the incorporation of cosmogenic nuclide data, which offer a direct constraint on the timing of ice recession; (ii) presentation of all data and time-steps in calendar years; (iii) optimal, minimum, and maximum ice extents for each time-step that are designed to capture uncertainties in the ice margin position, and; (iv) extensive documentation and justification for the placement of each ice margin. Our data compilation includes 2229 measurements of 10Be, 459 measurements of 26Al and 35 measurements of 36Cl from a variety of settings, including boulders, bedrock surfaces, cobbles, pebbles, and sediments. We also updated a previous radiocarbon dataset (n = 4947), assembled luminescence ages (n = 397) and gathered uranium-series data (n = 2). After scrutiny of the geochronological dataset, we consider >90% of data to be reliable or likely reliable. Key findings include (i) a highly asynchronous maximum glacial extent in North America, occurring as early as 27 ka to as late as 17 ka, within and between ice sheets. In most marine realms, extension of the ice margin to the continental shelf break at 25 ka is somewhat speculative because it is based on undated and spatially scattered ice stream and geomorphic evidence; (ii) detachment of the Laurentide and Cordilleran ice sheets took place gradually via southerly and northerly 'unzipping' of the ice masses, starting at 17.5 ka and ending around 14 ka; (iii) the final deglaciation of Hudson Bay began at 8.5 ka, with the collapse completed by 8 ka. The maximum extent of ice during the last glaciation occurred at 22 ka and covered 15,470,000 km2. All North American ice sheets merged at 22 ka for the first time in the Quaternary. The highly asynchronous Last Glacial Maximum in North America means that our isochrones (starting at 25 ka) capture ice advance across some areas, which is based on limited evidence and is therefore somewhat speculative. In the Supplementary Data, the complete NADI-1 chronology is available in PDF, GIF and shapefile format, together with additional visualizations and spreadsheets of geochronological data. The NADI-1 shapefiles are also available at https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.8161764. • Uncertainties captured in optimal, minimum, and maximum ice extents. • Detailed documentation for the placement of each ice margin. • NADI-1 ice margins available in.shp,.pdf and.gif format for 49 timesteps. • Supplementary Data: additional visualizations, geochronological data. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Different mechanisms have been proposed as explanations for seismic anisotropy at the base of the mantle, including crystallographic preferred orientation of various minerals (bridgmanite, post-perovskite and ferropericlase) and shape preferred orientation of elastically distinct materials such as partial melt. Investigations of the mechanism for D" anisotropy usually yield ambiguous results, as seismic observations rarely (if ever) uniquely constrain a mechanism or orientation and usually rely on significant assumptions to infer flow patterns in the deep mantle. Observations of shear wave splitting and polarities of SdS and PdP reflections off the D" discontinuity are among our best tools for probing D" anisotropy; however, currently available data sets cannot constrain one unique scenario among those suggested by the mineral physics literature. In this work, we determine via a forward modelling approach what combinations of body wave phases (e.g. SKS, SKKS and ScS) are required to uniquely constrain a mechanism for D" anisotropy. We test nine models based on single-crystal and polycrystalline elastic tensors provided by mineral physics studies. Our modelling predicts fast shear wave splitting directions for SKS, SKKS and ScS phases, as well as polarities of P- and S- wave reflections off the D" interface, for a range of propagation directions, via solution of the Christoffel equation. We run tests using randomly selected synthetic data sets based on a given starting model, controlling the total number of measurements, the azimuthal distribution, and the type of seismic phases. For each synthetic data set, we search over all possible elastic tensors and orientations to determine which are consistent with the synthetic data. Overall, we find it difficult to uniquely constrain the mechanism for anisotropy with a typical number of seismic anisotropy measurements (based on currently available studies) with only one measurement technique (SKS, SKKS, ScS or reflection polarities). However, data sets that include SKS, SKKS and ScS measurements or a combination of shear wave splitting and reflection polarity measurements increase the probability of uniquely constraining the starting model and its orientation. Based on these findings, we identify specific regions (i.e. North America, northwestern Pacific and Australia) of the lowermost mantle with sufficient ray path coverage for a combination of measurement techniques. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim:  The American College of Surgeons has developed a registry, the National Quality Improvement Program Pediatric (NSQIP-P), that provides participating centers with high-quality surgical outcome data for children. Herein, we aimed to analyze for the first time the short-term outcomes of live-born infants with congenital diaphragmatic hernia (CDH) registered on this large North American database.Methods:  During 2015 to 2016, up to 101 participating centers uploaded 95 perioperative data points on the NSQIP-P database for patients that underwent surgical repair of CDH. The demographics, peri-, and post-operative data (up to 30 days following surgical repair) of infants with CDH were reviewed. Binary logistic regression was performed to test associations between risk factors and mortality.Main Results:  There were 432 (61% male) infants, who underwent CDH surgical repair during the study period. The prematurity rate (gestational age < 37 weeks) was 17%. The majority of infants (82%) had cardiac risk factors identified (72% were reported as major/severe). Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) was employed in 13% of patients prior to surgery. The majority of infants (83%) were ventilated preoperatively, and 34% received inotropes. Median age at surgery was 5 (0-74) days. CDH repair was attempted via thoracoscopy in 18% (n = 79) infants, but with a high rate of conversion to open surgery (n = 32, 41%). The postoperative 30-day mortality rate was 9%. At binary logistic regression, major cardiac risk factors (odds ratio [OR], 1.7 [0.9-3.2], p = 0.095), Appearance, Pulse, Grimace, Activity, and Respiration at 1 minute (OR, 0.7 per unit [0.5-0.8], p < 0.005), and birth weight (OR, 0.5 per kg [0.2-1.0], p < 0.05) were retained in the final model as significantly associated with mortality.Conclusion:  This is the first report on CDH outcomes from the NSQIP-P database. Utilization of ECMO was low compared with single-center studies from North America. The early postoperative mortality rate of babies with CDH considered suitable for surgery remains high. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Theory of mind (ToM) is the ability to understand mental states of others and it is crucial for building sensitivity to other persons or events. Measuring ToM is important for understanding and rehabilitating social cognitive impairments in persons with schizophrenia. The Social Attribution Task-Multiple Choice (SAT-MC) has been successfully employed to measure ToM between individuals with schizophrenia (SZ) and healthy controls (HC) in North America. Given that the SAT-MC uses geometric shapes, is nonverbal and less culturally loaded than other social cognition measures, it may serve for measuring ToM in schizophrenia across cultures. A total of 120 participants (30 per group; Korean SZ; Korean HC; North American SZ; North American HC) were selected from existing databases to examine the reliability and validity of the SAT-MC. Internal consistency, factor structure, measurement invariance, discriminant validity, and convergent/divergent validity were examined. The SAT-MC had good internal consistency regardless of the clinical and cultural group as evidence by Cronbach's α ≥ 0.78 in all groups. Confirmatory factor analysis confirmed the one-factor model with a good model fit (χ2 = 188.122, TLI = 0.958, CFI = 0.963, RMSEA = 0.045). The SAT-MC was sensitive to detect individual differences in ToM of SZ and HC, regardless of culture (p < 0.001), and significantly correlated with other social cognition tasks (Hinting and Reading the Mind in the Eyes Test) among Korean and North American patients. The SAT-MC is a reliable measure for evaluating ToM in both Koreans and North Americans with or without schizophrenia, supporting its potential utility in diverse language and cultures for schizophrenia research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Parents wish to reduce their child's pain during medical procedures but may not know how to do so. We systematically reviewed the literature on parents' experiences and information needs related to managing their child's pain for common medical procedures. Of 2678 records retrieved through database searching, 5 were included. Three additional records were identified by scanning reference lists. Five studies were qualitative, and 3 were quantitative. Most took place in North America or Europe (n = 7) and described neonatal intensive care unit experiences (n = 5). Procedures included needle-related medical procedures (eg, venipuncture, phlebotomy, intravenous insertion), sutures, and wound repair and treatment, among others. Generally, parents desired being present during procedures, wanted to remain stoic for their child, and thought that information would be empowering and relieve stress but felt unsupported in taking an active role. Supporting and educating parents may empower them to lessen pain for their children while undergoing medical procedures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]