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Copyright of Tsinghua Journal of Education is the property of Tsinghua University 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.)

In the last 20 years, since the beginning of the 21st century, the world has experienced greater globalization, an increase in trade and investment, and a decrease in tariffs between nations. However, during this period, three commercial economic blocs have emerged that can reorient globalization in a different way, with greater regional integration and the creation of tariff and non-tariff barriers between these blocs and, above all, against other nations that are not part of any of these three blocs. The above can affect the development of international trade, globalization and world integration, especially in those nations that, as already mentioned, will have a lower capacity to attract foreign direct investment, improve their productivity and enter into global supply chains. Hence, the objective of this research is to analyze the impact generated by these three blocs, mainly the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (rcep), as well as a comparison of this bloc with the European Union (EU), as well as with the Treaty between Mexico, the United States and Canada (tmec). This research was carried out using a quantitative methodology, particularly through the descriptive method, which is based on collecting data and analysing it, in some cases, using statistics. Likewise, this research is based on the approach of international economic relations, especially on the theory of "International Order and International Society", where the recognition of nation states is proposed, emerging the concept of the International System, where there is a reciprocity of interests between nations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

From the late British Mandate period until 1967, a cohesive system of social and political arrangements took shape among the people of the Hebron district in the West Bank. This system, referred to here as the Hebronite alliance, was born of a continuous crisis and played a central role in cultivating harmony and co-liability among the people of the district and its expatriates. It promoted them as a collective and individuals and shaped the distinct pro-Hashemite character of the Hebron region. The strength of the alliance stemmed from the adoption of a unique social contract and a new regional 'Hebronite' identity that was a stable anchor for many Palestinians caught between the competing Palestinian, Jordanian, and pan-Arab national identities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Redistricting is the process by which electoral district boundaries are drawn so as to capture coherent communities of interest (COIs). While states rely on various proxies for community illustration, such as compactness and municipal split counts, to guide redistricting, recent legal challenges and scholarly works have shown the difficulty of balancing multiple criteria in district plan creation. To address these issues, we propose the use of spatial interaction to directly quantify the degree to which districts capture the underlying COIs. Using large-scale human mobility flow data, we condense spatial interaction community capture for a set of districts into a single number, the interaction ratio (IR), for redistricting plan evaluation. To compare the IR to traditional redistricting criteria (compactness and fairness), we employ a Markov chain-based regionalization algorithm (ReCom) to produce ensembles of valid plans and calculate the degree to which they capture spatial interaction communities. Furthermore, we propose two methods for biasing the ReCom algorithm towards different IR values. We perform a multi-criteria assessment of the space of valid maps, and present the results in an interactive web map. The experiments on Wisconsin congressional districting plans demonstrate the effectiveness of our methods for biasing sampling towards higher or lower IR values. Furthermore, the analysis of the districts produced with these methods suggests that districts with higher IR and compactness values tend to produce district plans that are more proportional with regard to seats allocated to each of the two major parties. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Revista Pauta Geral is the property of Revista Pauta Geral 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.)

Contemporary regionalisation of urban and rural areas intensifies uneven geographic development. To counteract this development the aim of this paper is to formulate a situated and projective multi-scalar methodological approach beyond the urban and rural conceptual divide that can be used in contemporary regional development processes. The paper has been developed based on a compilation of three theoretical frameworks, and on a study of a regional development process in Sweden. The study shows how this multi-scalar approach can be used to connect and articulate spatial relations from a local to a regional scale, make visible possible futures and stage critical negotiations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Glasnik Zastite Bilja is the property of Zadruzna Stampa D.D. 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.)

This study characterizes wet and dry conditions in southern South America, defined through the standardized precipitation evapotranspiration index (SPEI), considering short and long timescales. Prior to analysis, a regionalization was conducted considering the area's diverse climatological regimes, employing a combination of the k-means clustering algorithm and principal component analysis. Dry and wet events were analyzed over six homogeneous regions, defined as wet or dry conditions with time and spatial coherence. Generally, smaller events (< 100,000 Km²) were prevalent monthly, while larger events (> 50% of a region) occurred less frequently and varied in size over time. Event intensity varied, with no prolonged preference for a specific intensity. Certain regions, notably southern Bolivia and northwestern Argentina showed a discernible tendency towards drier conditions over time, with wet events becoming more intense despite reduced coverage. The events defined with shorter SPEI timescales showed similar behavior to those defined with longer SPEI timescales but with higher month-to-month variability and less spatial coherence. A wavelet analysis revealed punctual, significant periods on the interannual timescale and more persistent ones on the interdecadal and decadal timescales. Mechanisms associated with event behavior were analyzed. Characterizing events in terms of their intensity, duration, and spatial extent revealed that moderate events were predominantly short (< 3 months) while longer and more extended events were often severe. Events calculated with shorter SPEI timescales showed smaller durations than those calculated with longer SPEI timescales. In addition, wet events showed a similar proportion of moderate and severe cases, while dry events were predominantly moderate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

New World monkeys (NWM) comprise a group of extant and extinct taxa exclusive to the Neotropics. Lineage dispersal modeling was employed to test the validity of previously reported biogeographic patterns in NWM. Specifically, this research sought to confirm whether the dispersal timings of these patterns were supported by the modeling results. Species geographic distributions of extant platyrrhines were used to obtain a bioregionalization scheme. A lineage dispersal model was constructed based on multiple-area range, likelihood inference of rate, and stochastic mapping under likelihood. Based on published phylogenies, ten trees were randomly sampled and, for each tree, ten stochastic mappings were simulated. Results were presented as event counts and averages across the 100 stochastic mappings, and the timings of the inferred dispersal routes were compared to the timings of 12 biogeographic pattern hypotheses gathered from the literature. The modeling analysis provided directional and temporal support for eleven of the twelve patterns. Lineages most frequently dispersed from Western Amazonia towards other bioregions. For four dispersal routes, events initiated earlier than previously reported. The Western Amazonia bioregion served as both the ancestral area and primary source of platyrrhine lineages. Analyses revealed a novel biogeographic pattern, namely the “Amazonian eastward” dispersal route, which started in the Miocene epoch, during the establishment of the transcontinental Amazon River system, and lasted until recently in an increasing trend of dispersal rate. This route showed the greatest number of dispersal events during the macroevolution of NWM. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Susurluk Basin is among the basins that may be most affected by drought risk due to its agricultural, economic, and natural resources. In this study, regional hydrological drought risk models were developed for water supply systems in the Susurluk Basin, Turkey. Twenty-four flow observation sites with 25 years or more of data showing natural flow characteristics as much as possible were converted into daily flow data with Q7, Q15, Q30, and Q60 low-flow indexes. Regionalization was carried out by two-stage multivariate cluster and principal component analysis using the basins' physical and hydrological characteristics and low-flow statistics, and two homogeneous regions were obtained due to the discordancy, heterogeneity, and goodness of fit tests, which are L-moment approaches. Regional models were performed with ordinary and principal component regression techniques using the physical and hydrological characteristics of the watersheds and regional low-flow frequency analysis. The cross-validation procedure results for ungauged basins show that ordinary regression models are more effective in the lowland first region. In contrast, principal component regression models are more suitable for the mountainous second region. This study's findings, which are a first for the Susurluk Basin, will have important results in terms of agricultural water management in the region and will help the water authority in water allocation. To investigate whether human impact and climate change impact the prediction of hydrological drought, we recommend seasonal non-stationary frequency analysis with the addition of useful empirical hydrological drought indexes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Globalization may cause companies to broaden their customer bases, operate internationally, and serve more customers. However, it also entails dangers, including shifting circumstances, disruptions, and elevated prices. To address these issues, outsourcing has evolved, lowering outputs and service costs. To mitigate these risks, businesses employ strategies such as interventionism, protectionism, and regionalization. By investigating and simulating the interplay of outsourcing approaches to equip businesses with supply chain resilience (SCRES), this study aims to close the knowledge gap between the existing knowledge and global supply chain (GSC) risk management practices. To choose the best alternative for our case study company, we analyzed four distinct outsourcing techniques, namely offshoring, reshoring, nearshoring, and farshoring; furthermore, we investigated the outsourcing elements typically taken into account to achieve resilience. The results indicated that the reshoring method would be the most promising one for this company, under specific circumstances, in terms of attaining resilience in the manufacturing industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study addresses the challenge of incorporating spatial heterogeneity in predictive modeling by introducing regionalization methods in the preprocessing step of the modeling workflow. Spatial heterogeneity, where the mean of attribute values varies across spatial units, poses difficulties for traditional models. To tackle this, we propose a novel approach called Regionalization Random Forest (RegRF), which combines Random Forest with regionalization techniques to enhance predictive performance. Regionalization combines multiple spatial objects into homogeneous regions, which are incorporated into predictive models, allowing models to capture local variations. This research investigates three key questions: (1) How does the predictive performance of RegRF vary when constructed using different regionalization techniques? (2) How does RegRF compare to benchmark methods, including both spatial statistical approaches and spatially conscious machine learning models like Geographically Weighted Random Forest (GW-RF)? Five regionalization methods—WARD, AZP, Kmeans, SKATER, and Max-p—are tested on datasets of varying sizes. Results show that RegRF significantly improves performance over "non-spatial" Random Forest models with minimal additional computation time. While RegRF performs competitively with Geographically Weighted Regression, it requires much less computational effort. GW-RF was not outperformed on smaller datasets but failed to complete for larger datasets. These findings suggest that RegRF can enhance machine learning models by accounting for spatial phenomena, with potential for further optimization. Highlights: • RegRF significantly increases the performance of the predictive models in comparison to "non-spatial" Random Forest models, while only taking a few seconds longer to compute. • It competes the well-established Geographically Weighted Regression, while only requiring a fraction of the computational effort. • It can be used for larger datasets while the Geographically Weighted Random Forest may not be able to finish computation.

Understanding regional climatic trends is crucial for taking appropriate actions to mitigate the impacts of climate change and managing water resources effectively. This study aims to investigate the dissimilarities and similarities among various climate stations in Bangladesh from 1981 to 2021. Fuzzy C-means (FCM) and K-means clustering techniques were employed to identify regions with comparable rainfall patterns. Moreover, the innovative trend analysis (ITA) and the Mann-Kendall (MK) test family were utilized to analyze rainfall trends. The results indicate that both K-means and FCM methods successfully detected two rainfall regions in Bangladesh with distinct patterns. The ITA curve analysis revealed that out of the 29 stations, 13 had a non-monotonic increasing trend having no monotonic increasing trend, 8 had a non-monotonic decreasing trend, and 8 exhibited a monotonic decreasing trend. Additionally, the MK tests employed in the study showed predominantly negative trends across Bangladesh. The majority of stations (65.51%) fell into Cluster 1, while the remaining 34.48% were in Cluster 2. In terms of ITA analysis, 17.24% of stations exhibited a monotonic decrease, while there were no stations with a monotonic increase. However, 37.93% of stations showed a non-monotonic increase, and 44.83% displayed a non-monotonic decrease. These identified regions can provide valuable insights for water resource management, disaster risk reduction, and agricultural planning. Moreover, detailed rainfall analysis can help policymakers and scientists develop sustainable and effective regional-scale policies for managing the country's flood and drought situations, ultimately supporting agricultural development and environmental planning.

Abstract Background Lack of a validated assessment of maternal risk-appropriate care for use in population data has prevented the existing literature from quantifying the benefit of maternal risk-appropriate care. The objective of this study was to develop a measure of hospital maternal levels of care based on the resources available at the hospital, using existing data available to researchers. Methods This was a secondary data analysis. The sample was abstracted from the American Hospital Association Annual Survey Database for 2018. Eligibility was limited to short-term acute general hospitals that reported providing maternity services as measured by hospital reporting of an obstetric service level, obstetric services, or birthing rooms. We aligned variables in the database with the ACOG criteria for each maternal level of care, then built models that used the variables to measure the maternal level of care. In each iteration, the distribution of hospitals was compared to the distribution in the CDC Levels of Care Assessment Tool Validation Pilot, assessing agreement with the Wilson Score for proportions for each level of care. Results were compared to hospital self-report in the database and measurement reported with another published method. Results The sample included 2,351 hospitals. AHA variables were available to measure resources that align with ACOG Levels 1, 2, and 3. Overall, 1219 (51.9%) of hospitals reported resources aligned with Maternal Level One, 816 (34.7%) aligned with maternal level two, and 202 (8.6%) aligned with maternal level Three. This method overestimates the prevalence of hospitals with maternal level one compared to the CDC measurement of 36.1% (Mean 52.9%; 95% CI47.2%—58.7%), and likely includes hospitals that would not qualify as level one if all resources required by the ACOG guidelines could be assessed. This method underestimates the prevalence of hospitals with maternal critical care services (Level 3 or 4) compared to CDC measure of 12.1% (Mean 8.1%; 95%CI 6.2% – 10.0%) but is an improvement over hospital self-report (24.7%) and a prior published method (32.3%). Conclusions This method of measuring maternal level of care allows researchers to investigate the value of perinatal regionalization, risk-appropriate care, and hospital differences among the three levels of care. This study identified potential changes to the American Hospital Association Annual Survey that would improve identification of maternal levels of care for research.

The article describes the state of the modern port industry on the sea coast of the People's Republic of China, highlighting its features and characteristics. The author analyzes the form ation and development of large-scale, intensive and modern groups of seaports in China, whose economic structure, volume, cargo flows and turnover are significantly differentiated. The article discusses the strategic role of the government in developing the modern transport and logistics systems of the PRC, creating an effective institutional system and improving the regulatory framework. The author comes to the conclusion that Chinese seaports are developing in the direction of increasing scale, intensif ication and modernization, enhancing the efficiency of transportation and creating a modern logistics system that meets the requirements of sustainable and rapid development.

The upper Müllerian duct (MD) is patterned and specified into two morphologically and functionally distinct organs, the oviduct and uterus. It is known that this regionalization process is instructed by inductive signals from the adjacent mesenchyme. However, the interaction landscape between epithelium and mesenchyme during upper MD development remains largely unknown. Here, we performed single‐cell transcriptomic profiling of mouse neonatal oviducts and uteri at the initiation of MD epithelial differentiation (postnatal day 3). We identified major cell types including epithelium, mesenchyme, pericytes, mesothelium, endothelium, and immune cells in both organs with established markers. Moreover, we uncovered region‐specific epithelial and mesenchymal subpopulations and then deduced region‐specific ligand‐receptor pairs mediating mesenchymal‐epithelial interactions along the craniocaudal axis. Unexpectedly, we discovered a mesenchymal subpopulation marked by neurofilaments with specific localizations at the mesometrial pole of both the neonatal oviduct and uterus. Lastly, we analyzed and revealed organ‐specific signature genes of pericytes and mesothelial cells. Taken together, our study enriches our knowledge of upper MD development, and provides a manageable list of potential genes, pathways, and region‐specific cell subtypes for future functional studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Calibration and regionalization are two key tasks in hydrological modelling, and the availability of increased data and computing resources has enhanced our ability to complete these tasks. This paper addresses both tasks, i.e. (i) it proposes novel model structure-based calibration strategies with the goal to improve estimation of high streamflows, and (ii) it explores the association of soil hydraulic properties with optimal parameters to estimate streamflows in ungauged catchments. Both tasks are demonstrated by employing a conceptual hydrological model, Sacramento Soil Moisture Accounting (SAC-SMA), on multiple catchments in the Narmada River Basin. The initial calibrated model exhibited good model performance, with high flows being underestimated. Seven calibration strategies via revising parameter space are explored, and improvement in high flow performance is observed at nine out of 12 catchments. Estimated streamflows based on soil hydraulic parameters demonstrate regionalization potential. The results indicate successful application of the proposed methods which are transferable to other basins. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Planning public policies translates into choosing some actions instead of others, which, consequently, will impact on the economy and society. The present research aims to analyze the planning and development of the Tourism Regionalization Policy on the National Tourism Plans of Brazil. The analysis covers the period of the four National Tourism Plans released between 2003/2022 and it was carried out through documentary and bibliographical research in books or scientific articles related to public policies and touristic planning. It was found the use of different methodologies for the elaboration and to structuring of the National Tourism Plans, resulting in documents with diverging structures, which may interfere with the evaluation and comparability of results. Even though there is not an alignment between one instrument and another, it is observed that the regionalization policy is widespread in all of them. However, there is a lack of evaluation of the results achieved in relation to the strategic goals and actions expected in each Plan focusing on the consolidation of the Tourism Regionalization Policy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Dokuz Eylul University Muhendislik Faculty of Engineering Journal of Science & Engineering / Dokuz Eylül Üniversitesi Mühendislik Fakültesi Fen ve Mühendislik Dergisi is the property of Dokuz Eylul Universitesi Muhendislik Fakultesi Fen ve Muhendislik Dergisi 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.)

Background Neuro-oncology care in Ontario, Canada has been historically centralized, at times requiring significant travel on the part of patients. Toward observing the goal of patient-centered care and reducing patient burden, 2 additional regional cancer centres (RCC) capable of neuro-oncology care delivery were introduced in 2016. This study evaluates the impact of increased regionalization of neuro-oncology services, from 11 to 13 oncology centers, on healthcare utilization and travel burden for glioblastoma (GBM) patients in Ontario. Methods We present a cohort of GBM patients diagnosed between 2010 and 2019. Incidence of GBM and treatment modalities were identified using provincial health administrative databases. A geographic information system and spatial analysis were used to estimate travel time from patient residences to neuro-oncology RCCs. Results Among the 5242 GBM patients, 79% received radiation as part of treatment. Median travel time to the closest RCC was higher for patients who did not receive radiation as part of treatment than for patients who did (P  = .03). After 2016, the volume of patients receiving radiation at their local RCC increased from 62% to 69% and the median travel time to treatment RCCs decreased (P  = .0072). The 2 new RCCs treated 35% and 41% of patients within their respective catchment areas. Receipt of standard of care, surgery, and chemoradiation (CRT), increased by 11%. Conclusions Regionalization resulted in changes in the healthcare utilization patterns in Ontario consistent with decreased patient travel burden for patients with GBM. Focused regionalization did not come at the cost of decreased quality of care, as determined by the delivery of a standard of care. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Biogeographical transition zones are areas of overlap, replacement or partial segregation between different biotas, which are sets of taxa sharing similar geographical distributions as a result of a common evolutionary history and ecological affinities. Transition zones occur in a few particular areas of the world where historically contingent processes have allowed different biotic elements to coexist and interact. Evolutionary or historical biogeographers have traditionally characterized transition zones by the overlap of different biotic elements. More recently, authors applying track analyses have detected transition zones by the presence of nodes or by conflicting results in cladistic biogeographic analyses. Ecological biogeographers have taken a different approach, usually applying quantitative methods, for example, species turnover indices to analyse the strength and breadth of biogeographic transition zones. Some authors consider transition zones to represent outstanding areas for analysing the principles shaping biotic assembly, whereas others have dismissed them, sometimes as artificial. Biogeographical transition zones are particularly interesting for a truly integrative biogeography, being natural laboratories where the interaction of historical and ecological processes can be analysed fruitfully, and are especially appropriate for an integrative approach, epistemologically grounded in integrative pluralism. A coherent conceptual framework to analyse transition zones, however, is still lacking. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Informacion Comercial Espanola Revista de Economia is the property of S.G.E.E.I.P.C., Secretaria de Estado de Comercio, Ministerio de Industria, Comercio y Turismo 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.)

Background: Lack of a validated assessment of maternal risk-appropriate care for use in population data has prevented the existing literature from quantifying the benefit of maternal risk-appropriate care. The objective of this study was to develop a measure of hospital maternal levels of care based on the resources available at the hospital, using existing data available to researchers. Methods: This was a secondary data analysis. The sample was abstracted from the American Hospital Association Annual Survey Database for 2018. Eligibility was limited to short-term acute general hospitals that reported providing maternity services as measured by hospital reporting of an obstetric service level, obstetric services, or birthing rooms. We aligned variables in the database with the ACOG criteria for each maternal level of care, then built models that used the variables to measure the maternal level of care. In each iteration, the distribution of hospitals was compared to the distribution in the CDC Levels of Care Assessment Tool Validation Pilot, assessing agreement with the Wilson Score for proportions for each level of care. Results were compared to hospital self-report in the database and measurement reported with another published method. Results: The sample included 2,351 hospitals. AHA variables were available to measure resources that align with ACOG Levels 1, 2, and 3. Overall, 1219 (51.9%) of hospitals reported resources aligned with Maternal Level One, 816 (34.7%) aligned with maternal level two, and 202 (8.6%) aligned with maternal level Three. This method overestimates the prevalence of hospitals with maternal level one compared to the CDC measurement of 36.1% (Mean 52.9%; 95% CI47.2%—58.7%), and likely includes hospitals that would not qualify as level one if all resources required by the ACOG guidelines could be assessed. This method underestimates the prevalence of hospitals with maternal critical care services (Level 3 or 4) compared to CDC measure of 12.1% (Mean 8.1%; 95%CI 6.2% – 10.0%) but is an improvement over hospital self-report (24.7%) and a prior published method (32.3%). Conclusions: This method of measuring maternal level of care allows researchers to investigate the value of perinatal regionalization, risk-appropriate care, and hospital differences among the three levels of care. This study identified potential changes to the American Hospital Association Annual Survey that would improve identification of maternal levels of care for research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study explores the spatiotemporal variability of the onset, end, and duration of the rainy season in Senegal. These phenological parameters, crucial for agricultural planning in West Africa, exhibit high interannual and spatial variability linked to precipitation. The objective is to detect and spatially classify these indices across Senegal using different approaches. Daily precipitation data and ERA5 reanalyses from 1981 to 2018 were utilized. The employed method enables the detection of key dates. Subsequently, the Kohonen algorithm spatially classifies these indices on topological maps. The results indicate a meridional gradient of the onset, progressively later from the southeast to the northwest, whereas the end follows a north–south gradient. The duration varies from 45 days in the north to 150 days in the south. The use of self-organizing maps allows for classifying the onset, end, and duration of the season into four zones for the onset and end, and three zones for the duration of the season. They highlight the interannual irregularity of transitions, with both early and late years. The dynamic analysis underscores the complex influence of atmospheric circulation fields, notably emphasizing the importance of low-level monsoon flux. These findings have tangible implications for improving seasonal forecasts and agricultural activity planning in Senegal. They provide information on the onset, end, and duration classes for each specific zone, which can be valuable for planning crops adapted to each region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article explores the role of energy in regionalization processes, assessing the case of natural gas finds in the Eastern Mediterranean (East Med). It makes three observations. First, we show that energy resources are a defining factor in shaping a region by rearranging the interactions and networks of actors involved in regionalization processes. Second, we demonstrate that such "energization" processes are not only—and not even primarily—attributable to security practices pursued by state actors. Regionalization underpinned by energy as the key governance object is characterized by a variety of actors, including governments, but also international energy companies, investors, consumers, and regulators. Third, we posit that regionalization processes cannot be fully understood without appreciating the importance of existing global and regional governance frameworks and the values ascribed to the physical resource by international market forces. The findings call on International Relations to go beyond analyzing the East Med energy region through the prism of security studies, which arguably is a function of both theoretical path dependence and a lack of attention to the insights from energy studies. Instead, a multidisciplinary research agenda promises to strengthen academic inquiry into regionalization dynamics in the East Med and the role of regions in world politics more broadly. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The volume-outcome relationship is well-known in health care. The Experience Curve, initially developed by the Boston Consulting Group for manufacturing, offers insight on this relationship and has never before been applied to health care. Objectives: The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of experience on cost and resource utilization for the Cone procedure. Methods: We performed a retrospective review of patients who underwent Cone reconstruction for Ebstein’s anomaly at Boston Children’s Hospital between October 2010 and October 2021. Cardiopulmonary bypass time and aortic cross clamp time over time were evaluated using exponential regression to assess the surgeon-level learning curve. At the hospital level, length of stay and cost over time were assessed using exponential regression. Results: There were 115 patients included in the study. Median hospital length of stay was 7.9 days (IQR: 6.4-10.2 days) with a decline of 3.3% per year. Median intensive care unit [ICU] length of stay was 3.2 days (IQR: 2-5.7 days) with a decline of 10.5% per year. Adjusted direct costs indexed to 2020 prices fell by 4% per year. There was no statistically significant change in cardiopulmonary bypass or aortic cross clamp time. In mediation analysis, the reduction in cost was completely accounted for in the decline in ICU length of stay. ICU length of stay was correlated with duration of intubation. Conclusions: Increasing familiarity with Ebstein’s anomaly and Cone reconstruction led to a reduction in resource utilization.

Abstract In this paper, we looked at the collaboration publishing patterns for groups of Global South countries (Latin America, Africa, ASEAN, Asian, BRICS), as well as publishing parameters. We looked at financing and the relationships between these groups and the Global North. Data from 2002 to 2021 was collected from InCites ® (Web of Science, Clarivate Analytics) and SciVal® (Scopus Elsevier). The impact was lower for BRICS, while Latin America and Asean countries tended to have a higher Field Weighted Citation Impact. Good Health and well-being (SDG 3) dominates South-South Collaborations. Asian countries showed a higher percentage of Affordable and Clean Energy (SDG7), while Africa and Latin America had a higher rate of Zero Hunger (SDG1). Each region shows different production profiles, but collaboration with the Global North is necessary for all regions. Intra-regional shows a lower impact than inter-regional financing, calling attention to the increasing influence of China in all regions, except for Latin America. The data analysed can be used for orienting South-South scientific Collaboration programs, focusing on pre-existent synergies and on where policy changes and results can be maximised.

Study region: Beijing Region Study focus: Limited studies have yet been done on regionalization of multi-performances of rainwater harvesting systems (RHS). In this study, the daily rainfall records from 77 stations are used, and a hydro-economic model is adopted to examine regional water saving, stormwater control and economic performances of RHS by proposing a regionalization approach. New hydrological insights for the region: Higher water saving efficiency (WSE) and reliability (R) of RHS are linked with lower water demand, larger tank size and greater rainfall conditions. Differently, higher stormwater capture efficiency (SCE) is related to higher water demand, larger tank size and lower rainfall. The WSE and R of RHS demonstrate substantial regional differences; their maximized obtainable values closely depend on water demand scenarios and range from 9% to 99%, with smaller values in western mountain area but larger values in northeast suburban and central urban areas. The maximum obtainable values of SCE range from 61% to 100%, with higher values in western mountain area, but lower values in northeast suburban and central urban areas. A 10 m3 tank size can provide the highest benefit-cost ratio of RHS across the Beijing region. The regionalization approach proposed is a useful guidance for the implementation of RHS and sustainable urban water management, and thus it has the potential for wide uses in other regions with high rainfall gradients.

Study region: The study was carried out in Northern Canada (90,000 km2) and Southern Canada (18,000 km2). These basins represent case studies with a larger application target of high latitude regions. Study focus: As model domains become large, ungauged basins are inevitably encountered, and basin heterogeneity increases. This study aims to develop the computationally frugal Model Agnostic Uncertainty Transfer (MAUT) method to regionalize an uncertainty analysis from a set of donor basins to a receiver. The goal is an evaluation of the MAUT method for regionalizing over sufficiently heterogeneous domains to be applicable to high latitude data sparse regions. New hydrological insights for the region: We propose the Model Agnostic Uncertainty Transfer (MAUT) method, a surrogate method to perform uncertainty analysis in large-domain modelling with a focus on high-latitude regions where data scarcity is especially severe. With the MAUT method, antecedent precipitation and simulated flow are related. Deviation from this relationship is assumed to represent modelling uncertainty and is quantified by quantile regression lines. These lines act as transfer functions requiring only antecedent precipitation to generate uncertainty bounds. The MAUT method requires uncertainty donors and a target receiver model. Key results suggest the method is relatively insensitive to precipitation dataset differences. Simulation length was the most sensitive input, with 15–20 years being ideal for reasonable results. Overall, the MAUT method is viable for high latitude domains.

Contemporary regionalisation of urban and rural areas intensifies uneven geographic development. To counteract this development the aim of this paper is to formulate a situated multi-scalar methodological approach beyond the urban and rural conceptual divide that can be used in contemporary regional development processes. The paper has been developed based on a compilation of three theoretical frameworks, and on a study of a regional development process in Sweden. The study shows how this multi-scalar approach can be used to connect and articulate spatial relations from a local to a regional scale, make visible possible futures and stage critical negotiations.

This study aims to model and assess surface water potential in an ungauged watershed using the Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT), principal component analysis (PCA), and regression-based regionalization techniques in the Gelana River, Ethiopia. The SWAT model was calibrated (and validated) for the 1989–2007 (2008–2015) period, and it showed a very good performance to model the river flow. The 18 physical catchment characteristics that affect the production of streamflow were selected for correlation, and to make an equation using 19 optimized SWAT model parameters. These characteristics were categorized as two climate descriptors, three soil descriptors, seven land use land cover descriptors, and six topographical descriptors. The regression equations for each SWAT parameter with a function of the physical characteristics and principal components were developed. Then, SWAT model-sensitive parameters were transferred and validated. Results reveal that the watershed has a greatest surface runoff volume of 162.14 MCM in May and a least runoff of 9.15 MCM in January. The contribution of the water balance during the spring season is highest with a total surface runoff of 103.72 mm. From the whole Gelana watershed area of 336,460 ha, 778.4 MCM of yearly surface runoff was produced. The maximum mean monthly river flow is 15.7 m3/s in May. HIGHLIGHTS The 18 physical catchments characteristics were selected for correlation, and to make an equation with optimized SWAT parameters.; From the entire Gelana watershed area of 336,460 ha, 778.4 MCM of annual surface runoff was produced.; Streamflow data play a significant role in existing and upcoming engineering design and water resources management in and around the watershed.;