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The counties have experienced urban expansion and landscape pattern fragmentation. As carriers of new urbanization, the balanced development between urban expansion and landscape connectivity in the counties needs to be emphasized. The uncontrolled expansion of land should be discouraged and planners need to clarify land use expansion patterns. Using Changsha County as the study area, the characteristics of the landscape pattern between 2000 and 2020 were analyzed. The morphological spatial pattern analysis and landscape connectivity method (CMSPACI), as well as the minimum cumulative resistance (MCR) model, was used to construct the ecological network. We also explored the most appropriate corridor width using the buffer zone to guide future land use planning and ecological network planning. The results show that based on CMSPACI the total area of ecological sources identified was 304.91 km2, encompassing a large area of forest parks. The total length of the 25 ecological corridors identified by the MCR model was 431.97 km. Ecological sources and corridors are missing in the central region; so, their pattern was optimized using landscape connectivity and the absence of location as selection criteria. The optimized network indices showed significant improvement. The width of the ecological corridors should be controlled in order to be in the range of 30 m to 50 m to maximize the effect of the corridors on species dispersal and migration. Our proposed research framework for the construction and optimization of EN in Changsha County can provide ideas to balance the contradictions between urban expansion and landscape connectivity in Changsha County.

Due to the development of the science of history and the research on the „female theme”, the way of looking at the past and the future is also undergoing a significant change. In our study, through the study of general and specific examples, we would like to present the social conditions in which aristocratic women lived, worked, gave birth, raised children, and managed estates in the second half of the 17th century. Many of them can be said to have withstood the difficult conditions of those times in an exemplary manner. In the society of those times, all people had their own duties and responsibilities with regard to their gender and age. In this study, we examine what opportunities were available to early modern aristocratic women in terms of social and community relations, family life and building a marriage inserted into the historical events of those times. We complete it by examining the life paths and career models of the women who entered the Homonnai Drugeth family through marriage, highlighting various aspects of their lives. From the reader’s point of view, it may seem excessive to outline the social conditions of those times, however, without knowledge of them, the formulation of women’s roles of those times may be incomplete. In the second half of the 17th century, the religious structure of the region also changed significantly, so the aristocratic women of those times (unlike their predecessors) already supported the spread of re-Catholicization. What roles did the aristocratic women of that period play in contemporary Hungarian society and in their narrower environment? The framework for this was mainly set by her family and the inherited relationship system into which she was born. In accordance with social expectations, the aristocratic woman of those times increased the prestige of her family through marriage as well as ensured financial security of her future descendants with a prosperous marriage. Since women did not (could not) participate widely and officially in the formation of politics and everyday public life, there are much fewer and more diverse sources about them than about men. In these, we can find references to them mainly as wives, daughters, brides and mothers. Despite this (precisely due to their social status), women also had a significant informal influence on political life. That is why it is important to study the life path of women of those times, because without this knowledge our image of the society of those times would be incomplete. The present study may become one of the important building blocks, which, in addition to supplementing incomplete biographical data, will try to present the social roles played by these women. The article is a continuation of a scientific study devoted to the current problem - the analysis of the role of women of noble origin in the early modern period in the socio-political and socio-economic relations of the northeastern part of the Hungarian Kingdom. The article summarizes the study new aspects of the family history through the unknown moments of the life path of the Drugeth women (Katalin Nádasdy, Anna Jakusich, Mária Esterházi Mária, Terézia Keglevich) and new give aspects of the family's history., Завдяки розвитку історичної науки, зокрема дослідженням «жіночої теми», через значні зміни проходить і той науковий підхід, згідно з яким ми дивимося у минуле. У нашій статті, за допомогою досліджень (загальних та конкретних прикладів), ми простежуємо суспільні відносини ранньомодерного часу (другої половини XVII століття) – у якому жили, працювали, народжували, виховували дітей та керували маєтками жінки-аристократки – представники роду Другетів. Про багатьох із них можна стверджувати, що вони зразково вистояли у важких умовах того часу. У тогочасному угорському суспільстві кожен мав свої права та обовʼязки залежно від статі та віку. У наший статті ми досліджуємо – відповідно до історичної доби – які можливості були доступні жінкам-дворянкам у сфері суспільно-соціальних відносин та укладанні шлюбів. Все це ми простежуємо досліджуючи життєвий шлях та моделі карʼєрного зросту жінок, котрі через укладання шлюбів потрапили до сімʼї Друґетів, вказуючи на окремі аспекти цих процесів. З точки зору читача може здатися зайвим окреслювати суспільні умови того часу, однак без їх знання формулювання ролі жінки того часу може бути неповним.У другій половині XVII ст. значно змінилася й релігійна структура регіону, таким чином тогочасні аристократки (на відміну від їх попередниць) вже підтримували поширення контрреформації (католицького відновлення). Яку роль відігравали тогочасні аристократки в угорському суспільстві та їхньому оточенні? Рамки для цих ролей в основному були встановлені сім’ями та системою спадкованих стосунків, у якій вони народилися. Жінка-аристократка того часу, відповідно до суспільних очікувань, своїм шлюбом не лише підвищувала престиж своєї сім’ї, а й забезпечувала фінансову безпеку своїх майбутніх нащадків. Оскільки жінки офіційно не брали (й не могли брати) участь у повсякденному формуванні політики та суспільного життя, про них збереглося значно менше джерел різного типу, ніж про чоловіків. У них ми можемо знайти згадки про жінок переважно як про дружин, донок, наречених і матерів. Але саме завдяки їхньому суспільному статусу це не означає, що жінки не мали значний неформальний вплив на політичне життя. Ось чому важливо вивчати «кар’єру» жінок того часу, оскільки без знання про них наше уявлення про суспільство цього часу буде неповним. Однією із важливих «пазлів історичної правди» може бути дане наукове дослідження, яке, окрім доповнення неповних біографічних даних, намагається представити соціальну роль, яку виконували ці жінки. Стаття є продовженням наукового дослідження, присвяченого життю та діядьності жінок-аристократок та підсумовує вивчення невідомих моментів життєвого шляху жінок – Другетів (Каталін Надошді, Анни Якушич, Марії Естергазі, Терезії Кеглевич), вводить в науковий обіход багато документів (частина яких публіковується українською мовою вперше).

Against the backdrop of rapid urbanization, there is a passive adaptation state shown in urban and rural ecological spaces. Due to the shrinking of ecological patches and the fracture of corridors, problems such as the obstruction of ecological processes, the decline of ecosystem services, and the loss of biodiversity occur. Considering that county ecological space is the key level to undertake provincial ecological security patterns and implement ecological demonstration projects, the construction of a county ecological infrastructure (EI) network is beneficial to the protection of regional ecological security, the improvement of the structures and functions of farmland ecosystems, and the enhancement of the quality of human settlements. In this study, taking Langzhong County in Sichuan Province as an example, a method path for an EI network construction was explored, and an optimization strategy for ecological patterns was proposed. Firstly, morphological spatial pattern analysis (MSPA) and a patch importance index were employed to identify ecological sources. Secondly, by constructing a landscape resistance surface and adopting a minimum cumulative resistance (MCR) model, potential EI corridor paths were extracted. Thirdly, the interaction force values between ecological sources were calculated with a gravity model and important ecological corridors were identified for priority protection and restoration. Finally, an EI corridor network was optimized by combining network structure indexes (α, β, and γ) with the field situation, and stepping stone patches and ecological breakpoints were identified. Based on the analysis results, an ecological protection pattern, which involved three vertical and two horizontal ecological belts, four ecological control zones, and six clusters of EI networks in Langzhong County, was put forward, aiming at protecting 50 ecological sources, repairing 105 ecological corridors of different grades, adding 9 stepping stone patches near long-distance corridors and 15 at the intersection of ecological corridors, and repairing 18 ecological breakpoints. This study has guiding significance for the optimization of county ecological patterns, the construction of farmland forest belts, and site selection of ecological restoration projects.

В статье рассматривается административное устройство Оренбургского края от начала образования губернии по настоящее время. За более чем двухсот пятидесятилетнюю историю территория региона менялась не раз. Причинами этому было не только присоединение в состав региона новых территорий, но и недовольство народа политикой правления внутри страны. Более подробно рассмотрено административное устройство Чкаловской области в конце 30-х годов XX века., The article discusses the administrative structure of the Orenburg region from the beginning of the formation of the province to the present time. The territory of the region has changed several times for more than two hundred and fifty years of its history. The reasons were not only the accession of new territories to the region, but also the dissatisfaction of the people with the policy of government within the country. The administrative structure of the Chkalov region in the late 1930s of the XX century is considered in more detail.

This thesis examines the relationship between average income and demand for indoor living space in Swedish municipalities. We use average indoor living space to approximate demand for indoor living space and restrict ourselves to homeowners in this study. Furthermore, we restrict ourselves to residents who live in buildings containing up to two residential units. We call the types of housing we examine resident-owned small-house units. The study utilizes multiple regression analysis with municipality-fixed effects. The control variables used in this study are population, population density, the average price per square meter, and the average price for a resident-owned small-house unit. Our regressions find a positive correlation between average income and indoor living space.

The war has reduced the intensity of the discourse on decentralization reform in Ukraine, but recent events and statements suggest that this reform will continue, particularly in the political context. The purpose of the article is to analyze the local self-government reform in Poland in order to highlight those aspects that were not resolved in Ukraine at the time and will accordingly appear on the agenda in the post-war period. The analysis of decentralization in Poland shows that the reform is not limited to a change in the administrative and territorial structure, but is a complex process. In addition, it is a long-term process and involves the implementation of certain measures in other spheres of public administration, in particular with the aim of overcoming shortcomings that were inherent or were not taken into account during the administrative-territorial reform. First of all, this concerns the financial and budgetary sphere, the democratization of local government, the sphere of education, etc. Extracting the lessons of the Polish reform for Ukraine, it is possible to hypothesize that in the post-war period, during the resuscitation of the decentralization policy, the following areas of reform will be relevant: the financial and budgetary sphere, the introduction of a system of local taxes based on the principle of "one tax – one level of management"; the administrative-territorial system, namely the presence of state administration bodies at the district level and consolidation of the regional division of the country; political governance at the local, district, and regional levels, namely, the activation of civil society, the introduction of new democratic institutions, and the strengthening of transparency and accountability of local authorities; education etc. At the same time, the implementation of these and other directions is impossible without the creation of a political prerequisite – a "unified political headquarter" of the reform, namely the achievement of a consensus of the most influential political forcesregarding the principles and directions of the reform. This also follows from the experience of decentralization in Poland.&nbsp, Війна знизила інтенсивність дискурсу щодо децентралізаційної реформи в Україні, однак події та заяви останнього часу свідчать, що ця реформа буде продовжена, зокрема в політичному контексті. Метою дослідження є аналіз реформи місцевого самоврядування в Польщі задля виокремлення тих її аспектів, які не були свого часу вирішені в Україні та відповідно постануть на порядку денному у післявоєнний період. Аналіз децентралізації у Польщі свідчить, що реформа не обмежується зміною адміністративно-територіального устрою, а має комплексний характер. Крім того, вона є тривалим процесом і передбачає здійснення певних заходів в інших сферах суспільного управління, зокрема з метою подолання недоліків, які були властиві або не були враховані під час адміністративно- територіальної реформи. В першу чергу це стосується фінансово-бюджетної сфери, демократизації місцевого управління, сфери освіти тощо. Екстрактуючи уроки польської реформи для України, можна висунути гіпотезу, що у післявоєнний час в ході реанімування децентралізаційної політики актуальними будуть такі сфери реформування: фінансово-бюджетна сфера, запровадження системи місцевих податків за принципом «один податок – один рівень управління»; адміністративно-територіальний устрій, а саме наявність органів державної адміністрації на районному рівні та укрупнення обласного поділу країни; політичне управління на локальному, районному та обласному рівні, а саме активізація громадянського суспільства, запровадження нових демократичних інститутів, посилення прозорості та підзвітності місцевої влади; освіта тощо. Водночас реалізація цих та інших напрямів неможливе без створення політичної передумови – створення «єдиного політичного штабу» реформи, а саме досягнення консенсусу найбільш впливових політичних сил щодо принципів та напрямів реформування. Це також випливає із досвіду проведення децентралізації у Польщі.&nbsp

The research analyzed how the internal control of the Municipality of Fortaleza monitors the notifications sent by the external control bodies to the various bodies of the Municipal Public Administration. For this purpose, a qualitative, descriptive research was used. The case study method is used, and secondary and primary data are used. It was concluded that the analyzed mechanism consists of an important internal control tool, which seeks to avoid the congestion of notifications coming from the external control institutions, serving as an aid in the adequacy of the answers to be forwarded. La investigación analizó cómo el control interno del Municipio de Fortaleza monitorea las notificaciones enviadas por los órganos de control externo a los diversos órganos de la Administración Pública Municipal. Para ello, se utilizó una investigación cualitativa, descriptiva. Se utiliza el método de estudio de caso, y se utilizan datos secundarios y primarios. Se concluyó que el mecanismo analizado, implementado por la CGM, y realizado a través de un flujo procesal interno, interconecta los distintos órganos de la PMF, y constituye una importante herramienta de control interno, que busca evitar la congestión de notificaciones provenientes del control externo, sirviendo de ayuda en la adecuación de las respuestas a remitir. A pesquisa analisou como o controle interno da Prefeitura Municipal de Fortaleza realiza o monitoramento das notificações enviadas pelos órgãos de controle externo aos diversos Órgãos da Administração Pública Municipal. Para tanto se utilizou uma pesquisa qualitativa, descritiva. Utiliza-se do método de estudo de caso, e faz-se uso de dados secundários e primários. Concluiu-se que o mecanismo analisado consiste em importante ferramenta de controle interno, que busca evitar o congestionamento das notificações provenientes dos órgãos do controle externo, servindo de auxílio na adequação das respostas a serem encaminhadas.

As part of the modern transport infrastructure, high-speed railways (HSRs) have been considered an important factor affecting eco-efficiency (EE). This study used multisource remote sensing and statistical data from 185 counties representing urban agglomerations in the middle reaches of the Yangtze River (UAMRYR) in China from 2009 to 2018. The study integrated ArcGIS analysis, the Super-SBM (super slack-based measure) model, and the DSPDM (dynamic spatial panel Durbin model) to explore the spatial effects of HSRs on EE. The results showed that the coordinates of the interannual centers of gravity for EE and HSRs both fell in the same county, possessing similar parameter values for the standard deviation elliptical, a negative spatial mismatch index, and obvious spatial mismatch characteristics. In different spatially dislocated areas, the spatial effects of HSRs on EE are variable. Overall, the short-term effects are more intense than the long-term effects, and both the long-term and short-term effects are dominated by the effects of spatial spillover. A new perspective is proposed to explore the green development effects of HSRs, with a view to providing policy implications for the enhancement of EE and the planning of HSRs.

The objective of the study is to determine the leading trends in changing administrative boundaries in Poland. Based on 194 Regulations of the Council of Ministers concerning the changes of boundaries and granting city status, which covered a total of 1,383.8 sq. km, multidimensional analyses for the years 2010–2020 were conducted, and their results were referred to territorial reforms in Europe and Poland. The analyses provided the basis for selecting the leading trends, including: (1) the ‘new wave’ of the restitution of city status (from 2018 in the new fast-track mode), resulting in quantitative changes within 3rd-tier units, (2) a significant increase in the area of cities and city counties primarily caused by annexations in suburban zones and establishing new cities, and (3) the politicisation of the process of changing boundaries, especially in the years preceding local government elections. The trend of unit fragmentation observed in the 1990s has disappeared. The initiators of the changes of administrative boundaries are still predominantly local elites and rarely the inhabitants of communes.

Looking to supplement common economic indicators, politicians and policymakers are increasingly interested in how to measure and improve the subjective well-being of communities. Theories about nonprofit organizations suggest that they represent a potential policy-amenable lever to increase community subjective well-being. Using longitudinal cross-lagged panel models with IRS and Twitter data, this study explores whether communities with higher numbers of nonprofits per capita exhibit greater subjective well-being in the form of more expressions of positive emotion, engagement, and relationships. We find associations, robust to sample bias concerns, between most types of nonprofit organizations and decreases in negative emotions, negative sentiments about relationships, and disengagement. We also find an association between nonprofit presence and the proportion of words tweeted in a county that indicate engagement. These findings contribute to our theoretical understanding of why nonprofit organizations matter for community-level outcomes and how they should be considered an important public policy lever.

Supplemental Digital Content is available in the text, Objective: To estimate the association between weather and COVID-19 fatality rates during US stay-at-home orders. Methods: With a county-level longitudinal design, this study analyzed COVID-19 deaths from public health departments’ daily reports and considered exposure as the 18 to 22 day-period before death. Models included state-level social distancing measures, Census Bureau demographics, daily weather information, and daily air pollution. The primary measures included minimum and maximum daily temperature, precipitation, ozone concentration, PM2.5 concentrations, and U.V. light index. Results: A 1 °F increase in the minimum temperature was associated with 1.9% (95% CI, 0.2% to 3.6%) increase in deaths 20 days later. An ozone concentration increase of 1 ppb (part per billion) decreased daily deaths by 2.0% (95% CI, 0.1% to 3.6%); ozone levels below 38 ppb negatively correlated with deaths. Conclusions: Increased mobility may drive the observed association of minimum daily temperature on COVID-19 deaths.

Nowadays, the concept of security has a much broader range of meaning than in the past, mainly associated with dynamic social, technical, military, and political development. This article aims to present the forecasting process in the region in the “Multifactorial model of socio-economic security” (research project No. 108/WZA/61DzS conducted as part of statutory research at MULF). The paper presents the process and results of forecasting socio-economic security in the region on the example of Lower Silesia counties. In the first part of the paper, the choice of the topic was justified, and the methodological assumptions were presented. Then, the forecasts of socio-economic security for the studied region in the form of a table and maps were presented.

Вперше публікується географічний покажчик книги № 270 Литовської метрики 1567–1571 рр. за оригіналом, що зберігається у Російському державному архів давніх актів у фонді 389 («Литовська метрика», од. зб. 270). For the first time, a geographical index of the book № 270 of the Lithuanian Metrics of 1567–1571 is published according to the original, which is kept in the Russian State Archive of Ancient Acts in the fund 389 (Lithuanian Metrics, collection 270).

Non-state and sub-national actors (e.g. companies, civil society, cities and regions, collectively referred to as ‘NSAs’) could bridge the ambition gap left by insufficiently ambitious nationally determined contributions (NDCs) under the Paris Agreement. Increasing effective non-state and sub-national contributions could both support NDCs’ implementation and spur ambitious updates to these national climate action plans. The impact of NSAs depends partly on whether and how national climate strategies recognize them. Yet, systematic knowledge about the extent to which national governments envisage a role for non-state and sub-national climate action is scarce. How do governments refer to NSAs in their NDCs; and what capacities, functions, and in which sectors do they envisage non-state contributions? We apply structural topic modelling (STM), an efficient quantitative text analysis technique seldom used in global climate governance research, to 147 NDCs to explore whether and how national governments incorporate non-state and subnational contributions into their international climate commitments. Using this method, we identify key topics for non-state and subnational engagement in NDCs, including vulnerability and adaptation, monitoring, general and sector-specific collaboration, and policy support. We find that developing countries overwhelmingly reference NSAs more frequently than developed countries. We also find predominantly negative trade-offs in how countries link to NSAs, suggesting countries tend to mention NSAs’ contributions in specific roles rather than across multiple sectors. Our findings suggest there is scope for countries to broaden their linkage to NSAs in their updated NDCs to further catalyze engagement. Key policy insightsLinkages to NSA initiatives (including cities, regions, businesses or civil society) in NDCs under the Paris Agreement are mostly made by developing countries.Developing countries describe NSAs primarily in the context of vulnerability and adaptation policy implementation, while developed countries mainly describe these actors’ role as collaborators across a range of functions.Closer coordination between NSAs and national governments, to fully leverage NSA contributions to NDCs, can be achieved by explicitly outlining NSAs’ contributions in future updates of NDCs. Linkages to NSA initiatives (including cities, regions, businesses or civil society) in NDCs under the Paris Agreement are mostly made by developing countries. Developing countries describe NSAs primarily in the context of vulnerability and adaptation policy implementation, while developed countries mainly describe these actors’ role as collaborators across a range of functions. Closer coordination between NSAs and national governments, to fully leverage NSA contributions to NDCs, can be achieved by explicitly outlining NSAs’ contributions in future updates of NDCs.

Summary: Background: On Dec 14, 2020, the United States initiated a nationwide COVID-19 vaccination campaign. Demonstrating clear population-level impact following vaccine introduction helps to further elucidate and quantify the public-health benefits of vaccination. Methods: Using a negative binomial regression model we evaluated the ecological association between county-level COVID-19 vaccine uptake and rates of COVID-19 cases and deaths in the United States from April 1, 2021 through October 31, 2021 controlling for a broad set of county-level environmental, sociodemographic, economic, and health-status-related characteristics. County-level data were obtained from several publicly available databases that were merged for analysis. Findings: After adjustment for county-level characteristics, US counties with ≥ 80% of their residents ≥ 12 years of age fully vaccinated against COVID-19 had 30% (95% CI: 25−35; P < .001) and 46% (38−52; P < .001) lower rates of COVID-19 cases and deaths, respectively, versus those with

The Brazilian rural zone is marked by transformations in different sectors, mainly after the 1960s, with the insertion of developmental policies. The changes in rural areas brought both positive and negative impacts, occurring in different stages. Initially, they were driven by the capitalist system, aiming at rapid and expansionist economic growth, with negative consequences, due to the lack of planning for this phenomenon. In opposition to this, the small communities of the municipalities looked for new ways to maintain themselves and to develop in the field, using the knowledge about the management of the land and the domain of its environment, as guardians of the culture and tradition of the ancestors, even facing several problems, such as the process of deterritorialization. In this perspective, this article aims to study the transformations in the rural space of the municipality of Montes Claros - MG and in the rural community of Pedra Preta, which has been closely following these transformations, and representing a reality experienced by most communities in the municipality. As a methodology, fieldwork was carried out with the objective of establishing informal conversations and observation of the residents' daily lives. The interviews were semi-structured in a qualitative research format, with the aim of collecting information in different spheres, from social, historical, cultural, economic and environmental issues. Although the results reveal a dynamic and pluriactive rural environment in the community, there are challenges and reconfigurations that demand a special look to better develop the rural space in the community., O espaço rural brasileiro é marcado por transformações em diferentes setores, principalmente após a década de 1960, com a inserção de políticas desenvolvimentistas. As modificações no espaço rural trouxeram impactos tanto positivos como negativos, sucedidos em fazes distintas. De início, foram impulsionadas pelo sistema capitalista, visando crescimento econômico rápido e expansionista, com consequências negativas, devido a falta de planejamento desse fenômeno. Contrapondo a isto, as pequenas comunidades dos municípios buscaram novos meios de se manterem e desenvolverem no campo, usando os conhecimentos sobre o manejo da terra e o domínio do seu ambiente, como guardiões da cultura e tradição dos antepassados, mesmo enfrentando diversos problemas, como o processo de desterritorialização. Nessa perspectiva, este artigo tem como objetivo, estudar as transformações no espaço rural do município de Montes Claros – MG e na comunidade rural de Pedra Preta, que vem acompanhando de perto estas transformações, e representando uma realidade vivida pela maioria das comunidades do município. Como metodologia, foram realizados trabalhos de campo com o objetivo de estabelecer conversas informais e observação do cotidiano dos moradores. As entrevistas foram semiestruturadas no formato de pesquisa qualitativa, com o intuito de coletar informações em diferentes esferas, desde sociais, históricas, culturais, econômicas e nas questões ambientais. Embora os resultados revelem um meio rural dinâmico e pluriativo na comunidade, há desafios e reconfigurações que demandam um olhar especial para melhor desenvolver o espaço rural na comunidade.

This paper surveys and presents the applications of the mathematical programming methodology, the Data Envelopment Analysis (hereafter DEA) in the evaluation and measurement of the efficiency and performance of Croatian counties. The aim of this article is to present and analyse the findings regarding the efficiency and performance of counties in the Croatian river Drava basin region (which are Koprivnica – Križevci, Virovitica – Podravina and Međimurje County) and to provide conclusions regarding this region and its regional efficiency. Other goals of this article are to introduce and provide a theoretical background to the DEA methodology as one of the most popular non-parametric methods in efficiency evaluation since its introduction in the revolutionary paper by Charnes, Cooper and Rhodes in 1978. This article conducts an in-depth extensive literature review of studies employing the DEA methodology in efficiency evaluation of Croatian counties. The authors have surveyed the Scopus, Web of Science (SSCI and SCI papers) and CROSBI (Croatian Scientific Bibliography) databases using “CROATIA”, “COUNTY” and “DATA ENVELOPMENT ANALYSIS” as keywords for the survey. This has resulted in 7 hits in Scopus, 15 on Web of Science and 11 on CROSBI, which ultimately led to a total of 12 papers. This study furthermore reveals the previous work regarding the efficiency of counties in the river Drava basin region as well as an in-depth analysis of their used models, the variable set and their findings. The findings reveal different aspects of efficiency evaluation of Croatian counties with a special focus on counties in the river Drava basin region. Koprivnica – Križevci and Virovitica – Podravina counties have shown high environmental and total-factor energy efficiency, but were least efficient in entrepreneurship and social services for the elderly, respectively. According to the obtained results, Međimurje County is the least efficient county in the analysed region. Moreover, the three analysed Drava basin region counties in most studies show technical inefficiency and efficiency scores below the average. In this sense, counties need to take into consideration these findings and benchmark and copy the best practices from the highly efficient Croatian counties., U radu je primijenjena metodologija matematičkog programiranja AOMP (analiza omeđivanje podataka) modela analize u evaluaciji i mjerenju efikasnosti i uspješnosti hrvatskih županija. Temeljni je cilj ovog članka prikazati i analizirati efikasnost i uspješnost županija uz rijeku Dravu (Koprivničko-križevačke, Virovitičko-podravske i Međimurske županije) te dati zaključke o ovoj regiji i njezinoj regionalnoj efikasnosti. Ostali se ciljevi referiraju na korištenje i tumačenje teoretske pozadine AOMP metodologije. Riječ je o jednoj od najpopularnijih ne parametarskih metoda u evaluaciji efikasnosti od njenog uvođenja u revolucionarni rad Charnesa, Coopera i Rhodesa 1978. godine. U radu se koristi opsežni pregled literature o studijama primjene AOMP metodologije te dubinska evaluacija učinkovitosti hrvatskih županija. Autori su pregledali baze podataka Scopus, Web of Science (SSCI i SCI radovi) i CROSBI (Hrvatska znanstvena bibliografija) koristeći ključne riječi »CROATIA«, »COUNTY« i »DATA ENVELOPMENT ANALYSIS« kao ključne riječi za istraživanje. Pronađeno je sedam radova u Scopusu, petnaest na Web of Science i jedanaest na CROSBI-u, što je u konačnici rezultiralo pronalaskom dvanaest relevantnih radova za ovu analizu. Nadalje, ova studija analizira dosadašnji rad na području učinkovitosti županija u podravskoj regiji, kao i dubinsku analizu korištenih modela, skupa varijabli i njihovih nalaza. Rezultati analize otkrivaju različite aspekte evaluacije efikasnosti hrvatskih županija s posebnim naglaskom na županije uz rijeku Dravu. Koprivničko-križevačka i Virovitičko-podravska županija pokazale su visoku ekološku i ukupnu energetsku učinkovitost, ali su bile najmanje učinkovite u poduzetništvu i socijalnim uslugama za starije osobe, sukladno. Prema dobivenim rezultatima, Međimurska županija je najneučinkovitija županija u analiziranoj regiji. Štoviše, tri analizirane podravske županije u većini studija pokazuju tehničku neučinkovitost te ispodprosječnu učinkovitost. U tom kontekstu, županije trebaju uzeti u obzir dobivene rezultate te usporediti i primijeniti najbolje prakse iz visoko učinkovitih hrvatskih županija. Ovaj bi rad mogao poslužiti kao poticaj za veću upotrebu AOMP metodologije kao vrlo relevantne tehnike za ocjenu učinkovitosti i izvedbe, kao i alata za usporedbu u različitim regijama.

This paper studies the propensities of the U.S. population to seek a full dose of vaccinations against the COVID-19 pandemic. Beyond the consideration of vaccine dissemination at the disaggregated or the local level, the main focus of this study is on determining whether a lack of health insurance significantly impacted vaccination propensities. If it is indeed the case that a lack of health insurance mattered, this would be informative for policymakers since they tried to address this aspect in the vaccine rollout by subsidizing and offering vaccines at a zero price. Our results show that the uninsured were less likely to be fully vaccinated against the pandemic and this finding holds across different modeling formulations. However, there were differences in the responses of the different population subgroups. The findings with respect to the vaccination propensities of the unvaccinated are noteworthy, especially significant given the fact the COVID-19 vaccines were made available free of cost to the public in the United States, irrespective of their insurance status. A policy lesson from these results is that perhaps a better outreach to communities of the uninsured to inform them about the costs and availability of the coronavirus vaccines would have been better. Interestingly, new covid cases did not significantly impact decisions to fully vaccinate, while greater prosperity made full vaccination more likely. We did not find robust evidence of the elderly having a greater propensity to be fully vaccinated. Finally, accounting for the political dimension, counties housing the seats of the state government had greater full vaccination rates, ceteris paribus.

Cities in China do not constitute a few global metropolises, but are characterized by heterogeneity. Studying counties can give us a comprehensive picture of urban sprawl in China. This study measured the sprawl index of 1880 counties in China from 2005 to 2020 for the first time and then revealed the evolution of their spatiotemporal characteristics and driving mechanisms. The results revealed the following. (1) China’s counties had a noticeable sprawling trend from 2005 to 2020, and their evolutionary process was characterized by spatiotemporal heterogeneity. (2) From 2005 to 2020, the counties’ sprawl gradually evolved into a spatial distribution pattern of high in the east and low in the west. The spatial distribution of sprawl in county and municipal districts had the characteristics of an interlocking distribution. (3) High–high cluster areas of CSI are mainly distributed in plains, and hilly, basin, and plateau areas tend to be low–low cluster areas. High–low outliers were distributed in a “point–line” pattern along the railroad lines and a cluster pattern near railroad intersections and central cities. Low–high outliers had the trend of encircling the high–high cluster areas. (4) The coefficient of the natural drivers was higher but tended to decrease, while the coefficient of economic and spatial drivers was lower but gradually increased. This study is the first to refine the study of urban sprawl to the county scale, which provides a reference for decision making to optimize the spatial structure of counties and thus promote high-quality development.

Low-carbon management plays an important role in mitigating climate change and adapting to it. Localities should adopt differentiated low-carbon management policies according to the state of their environment. To help formulate specific and realistic low-carbon management policies, this paper took into account specific low-carbon management sectors. Likewise, it carefully considered the differences in various resource endowments and proposed a method for evaluating low-carbon management efficiency and potential. The method was applied to an empirical study from 2015 conducted on 1771 Chinese counties. Significant spatial heterogeneity was found during the research. The counties bordering central and Western China and the ones in the southeast coastal areas showed higher efficiency in the industrial sector. Southern and Northern China had higher efficiency in the housing and transportation sector, respectively. Moreover, counties in remote areas showed more potential in the industrial sector. Central China had higher potential in the housing sector, while counties bordering provinces had more potential in the transportation sector. Therefore, Chinese counties were divided into eight management zones where differentiated management strategies were identified to shape low-carbon management policies.

A presente tese avalia a similaridade de convênios oriundos de municípios, a partir da elaboração de projetos, com impacto socioeconômico na localidade, e subsidiados com recursos da União. Diante dos diferentes níveis de maturidade dos convênios, objetivase fomentar e maximizar boas práticas de gestão a partir da análise multivariada de variáveis de interesse, para que se formem clusters de projetos similares e municípios similares. São utilizadas técnicas de econometria espacial e de aprendizagem de máquina não supervisionada para análise de influência das regiões sinteticamente criadas frente aos agrupamentos gerados, apoiando tanto a gestão de quem propõem os projetos e de quem os avalia. This thesis analyzes the similarity between projects from Brazilian counties financially aided by central Government in order to maximize best patterns of management since project definition, execution and evidence of its performance, alongside social benefits in the local economy. The provided analysis considers multivariate latent variables to generate clusters of similar projects given territorial characteristics within different levels of performance between them. Spatial econometrics alongside unsupervised learning are used to statistical inference regarding spatial dependency in the nearby regions created cross generated clusters supporting the ongoing process of project development and analysis.

Relatório de Estágio do Mestrado em Administração Público-Privada apresentado à Faculdade de Direito O relatório apresentado resulta do estágio curricular realizado no Município de Leiria, integrado no Mestrado em Administração Pública-Privada da Faculdade de Direito da Universidade de Coimbra. Este trabalho visa conhecer algumas das respostas à pandemia que foram sendo aplicadas no Concelho de Leiria, através do programa Leiria Regressa, que engloba todas as medidas para apoiarem as populações a regressar à normalidade, durante os anos de 2020 e 2021.Para tal, procedeu-se à contextualização do Concelho de Leiria, do Município de Leiria, a Pandemia por COVID-19 e a situação vivida até ao seu início, e o Estado de Emergência. Posteriormente, explicitou-se algumas das medidas levadas a cabo por esta autarquia e pelas 18 Juntas de Freguesia do Concelho, nos apoios à população e à economia local no que respeita à minimização dos impactos desencadeados pela pandemia. O estudo apresenta igualmente uma reflexão critica sobre os pontos positivos e negativos do combate à pandemia, quer os internos quer os externos ao Município, dando especial enfoque ao trabalho conjunto entre as várias entidades públicas envolvidas a nível local, distrital e regional. Conclui-se, através deste relatório, que o trabalho do Município de Leiria no combate à pandemia por COVID-19 foi bem-sucedido. Salientando-se, o prémio do Município português que melhor conseguiu combater a pandemia, atribuído ao Município de Leiria pela Associação de Defesa do Consumidor – DECO, no ano de 2020. Palavras-chave: Autarquia local; Município; Pandemia por COVID-19; Administração Pública. This report presents results from the curricular internship carried out in the Muni-cipality of Leiria, as part of the Master's Degree in Public-Private Administration from the Law Faculty of the University of Coimbra. This work aims to know some of the responses to the pandemic that have been applied in the Municipality of Leiria, through the Leiria Regressa program, which encom-passes all the measures to support populations to return to normality, during the years 2020 and 2021. To this end, we proceeded to contextualize the Municipality of Leiria, the CO-VID-19 pandemic and the situation experienced until it began, as well as the State of Emergency. Subsequently, some of the measures carried out by this municipality and by the 18 Parish Councils of the Municipality, in supporting the population and the local eco-nomy, towards minimizing the impacts triggered by the pandemic. The study also presents a critical reflection on the positive and negative aspects of combating the pandemic, both internal and external to the Municipality, with a special fo-cus on the joint work between the various public entities involved at local, district, and regional levels. The report concluded that the work of the Municipality of Leiria in combating the COVID-19 pandemic was successful, as proven by the fact that the Municipality of Leiria was awarded, by the Consumer Defense Association – DECO, in 2020, as the Portuguese municipality that best managed to fight the pandemic.Keywords: Local authority; County; COVID-19 pandemic; Public administration.

The severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has impacted the world for the past year and a half, and it has been spreading to all corners of the Earth. Analyzing the dissemination of SARS-CoV-2 can allow leaders of certain areas to preemptively enact measures that could prevent the virus from spreading further. By analyzing commuting data between counties in the United States, one can create a predictive model that will allow interdiction of routes with high traffic between areas to stop the spread of the virus. At the county level, leaders can use this information to provide extra precautions, medical equipment, and testing in their area of jurisdiction. We solve this problem by obtaining data about coronavirus-19 (COVID-19) cases and deaths from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention and county commuting data from the United States Census Bureau. Then we propose to apply the generalized network autoregressive (GNAR) time series model for analyzing this network over time series data. This by-county predictive approach is broken down by state, in order to reflect more localized trends. This thesis combines time series analysis and network science to model COVID-19 cases and deaths by state. Ensign, United States Navy Approved for public release. Distribution is unlimited.

Aims: During the covid-19 pandemic period restrictions on alcohol consumption have been imposed by various governments guided by World Health Organization Coronavirus disease (Covid-19) guidelines on public protection. The focus is to limit the spread of Coronavirus disease. The study aims at using an Alcohol Use Disorder Identification Test as a screening tool to explore experiences of alcohol consumption during the past one year of the Covid-19 pandemic among adults under rehabilitations in Kenyans. Methods: Descriptive cross-sectional quantitative research design was used. Participants were sort from two Counties in Kenya with the highest rate of alcohol use while the purposive sampling method was used to select two rehabilitation facilities with the highest number of admitted clients. Ninety-three respondents participated; this was 83% of the calculated sample size. Results: Study results tested hazardous alcohol use found that on the sequence of alcohol consumption, 71% of the participants consumed alcohol 4 or more times in a week. The test on dependence alcohol use found that on daily or almost daily most of the participants were unable to stop drinking once started, were unable to meet expectations due to drinking and needed a first drink in the morning after a heavy session, they were represented by 51.6%, 51.6%, and 66.7% respectively. On harmful alcohol use, 82% of the participants were concerned to cut down on their drinking. Conclusion: Alcohol Use Disorder Identification Test is an important tool to evaluate alcohol consumption during the covid-19 restrictions.&nbsp

In February 1938, a monarchical regime was established in Romania. In order to strengthen the power of the monarch and his discretionary control over the administration, a new administrative law was drafted. Administrative law no. 2919, published in the Official Monitor no. 187 from August 14, 1938, grouped the 71 counties of Romania into 10 regions. The region was a territorial circumscription, endowed with legal personality. According to the Administrative law from August 14, 1938, the county became a simple district of control and deconcentration of the central administration, losing its legal personality. The prefect was authorized to exercise the control of the local administration in the urban and rural communes of the county. One form the control over the work of local authorities was their regular inspection. In April 1940, the prefect of the Cahul County, colonel Dumitru Dobrescu, inspected the county communes, clarifying various aspects of the activities of local administrations. The results of these inspections make it possible to create a true picture of the realities of the Bessarabian villages to months before the territorial abduction in June 1940.

County-level ASD prevalence was estimated using an age-resolved snapshot from the California Department of Developmental Services (DDS) for birth years 1993–2013. ASD prevalence increased among all children across birth years 1993–2000 but plateaued or declined thereafter among whites from wealthy counties. In contrast, ASD rates increased continuously across 1993–2013 among whites from lower income counties and Hispanics from all counties. Both white ASD prevalence and rate of change in prevalence were inversely correlated to county income from birth year 2000–2013 but not 1993–2000. These disparate trends within the dataset suggest that wealthy white parents, starting around 2000, may have begun opting out of DDS in favor of private care and/or making changes that effectively lowered their children’s risk of ASD. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (10.1007/s10803-020-04460-0) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Background Mental disorders are a leading cause of global disability, driven primarily by depression and anxiety. Most of the disease burden is in Low and Middle Income Countries (LMICs), where 75% of adults with mental disorders have no service access. Our research team has worked in western Kenya for nearly ten years. Primary care populations in Kenya have high prevalence of Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) and Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). To address these treatment needs with a sustainable, scalable mental health care strategy, we are partnering with local and national mental health stakeholders in Kenya and Uganda to identify 1) evidence-based strategies for first-line and second-line treatment delivered by non-specialists integrated with primary care, 2) investigate presumed mediators of treatment outcome and 3) determine patient-level moderators of treatment effect to inform personalized, resource-efficient, non-specialist treatments and sequencing, with costing analyses. Our implementation approach is guided by the Exploration, Preparation, Implementation, Sustainment (EPIS) framework. Methods/design We will use a Sequential, Multiple Assignment Randomized Trial (SMART) to randomize 2710 patients from the outpatient clinics at Kisumu County Hospital (KCH) who have MDD, PTSD or both to either 12 weekly sessions of non-specialist-delivered Interpersonal Psychotherapy (IPT) or to 6 months of fluoxetine prescribed by a nurse or clinical officer. Participants who are not in remission at the conclusion of treatment will be re-randomized to receive the other treatment (IPT receives fluoxetine and vice versa) or to combination treatment (IPT and fluoxetine). The SMART-DAPPER Implementation Resource Team, (IRT) will drive the application of the EPIS model and adaptations during the course of the study to optimize the relevance of the data for generalizability and scale –up. Discussion The results of this research will be significant in three ways: 1) they will determine the effectiveness of non-specialist delivered first- and second-line treatment for MDD and/or PTSD, 2) they will investigate key mechanisms of action for each treatment and 3) they will produce tailored adaptive treatment strategies essential for optimal sequencing of treatment for MDD and/or PTSD in low resource settings with associated cost information – a critical gap for addressing a leading global cause of disability. Trial registration ClinicalTrials.govNCT03466346, registered March 15, 2018.

On sait toute l’influence qu’a pu avoir le modèle mutationniste développé par Georges Duby sur les études régionales françaises des années 1960-1980. À l’heure où ce paradigme, qui a montré ses limites, cède progressivement sa place à une autre lecture des siècles centraux du Moyen Âge, un processus tel que l’émergence de ce que d’aucuns nomment les « comtés nouveaux », ces entités politiques sans antécédent apparent dont le xie siècle offre souvent les premières attestations, appelle évidemment une relecture. Cet article s’intéressera en particulier au comté de Rethel (dép. Ardennes) dont l’émergence dans la mouvance de l’archevêque de Reims a fait l’objet d’une interprétation relativement consensuelle depuis la thèse consacrée par Michel Bur à la formation du comté de Champagne. Une approche plus critique de la documentation conduit cependant à proposer une lecture différente de la lente élaboration de ce comté, à partir d’une scansion chronologique, elle aussi, bien différente., The influence of the mutationist model developed by Georges Duby on French regional studies of the 1960-1980s is well known. However, for a quarter century this paradigm has shown its limits and is giving way to another reading of the X th-xii th centuries. In this context, a process such as the emergence of the often-called « new counties », these political entities without apparent antecedent attested for the first time in the XI th century, requires a new reading. This article will focus on the county of Rethel (Ardennes) whose emergence in the mouvance of the Archbishop of Reims has been the subject of a relatively consensual interpretation since Michel Bur's thesis on the county of Champagne. A more critical approach of the sources leads one, however, to propose a different reading and a different chronological scansion of the slow development of this county.

RESUMO O princípio da subsidiariedade é recepcionado no direito em suas modalidades sociopolítica e de organização estatal tendo destaque na Alemanha e sendo compatível no Brasil devido à sua relevância diante da autonomia em âmbito local e lógica cooperativa. Por meio do método de abordagem dedutivo e procedimental bibliográfico, a estrutura do texto parte da análise da subsidiariedade como princípio de organização estatal na Alemanha para, posteriormente, verificar a relação do princípio com o Estado Federal Brasileiro e, por fim, analisar a aplicabilidade no âmbito local brasileiro diante da autonomia municipal, além de destacar os benefícios da inserção desse princípio nas esferas da Federação Brasileira. Ao final, sugere a aplicação de tal princípio na cooperação entre os entes locais, pois a subsidiariedade vem a defender o escalonamento vertical, no qual as competências permaneçam, sempre que possível, no nível menor. E também que os Estados e a União só deverão ceder determinadas competências que eles individualmente não forem capazes de assumir. O princípio é reconhecido como crucial para os governos locais para que possam participar nacionalmente da busca por cidadania e por soluções de interesse local. ABSTRACT The principle of subsidiarity is accepted in law in its sociopolitical and state organization forms, being considered a highlight in Germany and compatible in Brazil due to its relevance to local autonomy and cooperative logic. Through the method of deductive and bibliographic procedural, the structure of the text starts from the analysis of subsidiarity as a principle of state organization in Germany, to later verify the relation of this principle with the Brazilian federal state and, finally, to analyze the applicability in the Brazilian local context towards the autonomy of municipalities, and also emphasizing the benefits of the insertion of this principle in different spheres of the Brazilian federation. At the end, it suggests that such a principle be applied in the face of cooperation between local authorities, since subsidiarity is based on vertical scaling, where competences are kept to a minimum. Also, in which States and Union should only yield certain competences that they themselves are not able to assume. This principle is seen as crucial for local governments in order to participate nationally in the quest for citizenship and for solutions of local interest. RESUMEN El principio de la subsidiariedad es recibido en el derecho en sus modalidades sociopolítica y de organización estatal con destaque en Alemania y siendo compatible en Brasil debido a su relevancia frente a la autonomía en el ámbito local y lógica corporativa. Mediante el método de enfoque deductivo y procedimental bibliográfico, la estructura del texto parte del análisis de la subsidiariedad como principio de organización estatal en Alemania para, posteriormente, verificar la relación del principio con el Estado Federal Brasileño y, por fin, analizar la aplicabilidad en el ámbito local brasileño frente a la autonomía municipal, además de destacar los beneficios de la inserción de ese principio en los contextos de la Federación Brasileña. Al final, sugiere la aplicación de dicho principio en la cooperación entre los actores locales, puesto que la subsidiariedad defiende el escalonamiento vertical, en el cual las competencias permanezcan, siempre que posible, en el nivel más bajo. Y también que los Estados y la Unión apenas deberán ceder determinadas competencias que individualmente no sean capaces de asumir. El principio es reconocido como crucial para los gobiernos locales para que puedan participar nacionalmente de la búsqueda por ciudadanía y por soluciones de interese local.

The study used the county institutional capacity assessment tool (CICAT) to assess the capacities of selected county health departments (CHDs) along the World Health Organization (WHO) health systems framework that is organized around the six building blocks. The aim was to determine the current status of the six health system building blocks in Kenya’s county health departments. The article emanates from data collected for a technical report on county institutional capacity assessment. Data were analysed using Microsoft Excel spreadsheet and thematic analysis.The overall performance of the counties was 54% indicating average capacity. The performance scores were: leadership and governance (39%), human resources for health (44%), health information systems (66%), medical products and technologies (50%), health system financing (50%), and service delivery (71%). There was no statistically significant difference in the overall performance of the counties (p= 0.892). The key issues in some of the worst performing building blocks included poor work-planning and lack of transparency in budgeting and expenditure, low funding and irregular disbursements of health budgets, lack of key policies, e.g. workforce strategy and commodity supply chain. In conclusion, the study proved that the CICAT is useful for assessing the process of strengthening health systems in Kenyan counties.

Coronavirus disease 2019 has continued to spread despite measures put in place to help slow the spread. It remains unclear which measures are effective. Data guiding policymakers on efficacy will help focus efforts. We found that mask orders were ineffective in slowing the spread of coronavirus disease 2019 at the county level. Supplemental digital content is available in the text., Objectives Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) threatens vulnerable patient populations, resulting in immense pressures at the local, regional, national, and international levels to contain the virus. Laboratory-based studies demonstrate that masks may offer benefit in reducing the spread of droplet-based illnesses, but few data are available to assess mask effects via executive order on a population basis. We assess the effects of a county-wide mask order on per-population mortality, intensive care unit (ICU) utilization, and ventilator utilization in Bexar County, Texas. Methods We used publicly reported county-level data to perform a mixed-methods before-and-after analysis along with other sources of public data for analyses of covariance. We used a least-squares regression analysis to adjust for confounders. A Texas state-level mask order was issued on July 3, 2020, followed by a Bexar County–level order on July 15, 2020. We defined the control period as June 2 to July 2 and the postmask order period as July 8, 2020–August 12, 2020, with a 5-day gap to account for the median incubation period for cases; longer periods of 7 and 10 days were used for hospitalization and ICU admission/death, respectively. Data are reported on a per-100,000 population basis using respective US Census Bureau–reported populations. Results From June 2, 2020 through August 12, 2020, there were 40,771 reported cases of COVID-19 within Bexar County, with 470 total deaths. The average number of new cases per day within the county was 565.4 (95% confidence interval [CI] 394.6–736.2). The average number of positive hospitalized patients was 754.1 (95% CI 657.2–851.0), in the ICU was 273.1 (95% CI 238.2–308.0), and on a ventilator was 170.5 (95% CI 146.4–194.6). The average deaths per day was 6.5 (95% CI 4.4–8.6). All of the measured outcomes were higher on average in the postmask period as were covariables included in the adjusted model. When adjusting for traffic activity, total statewide caseload, public health complaints, and mean temperature, the daily caseload, hospital bed occupancy, ICU bed occupancy, ventilator occupancy, and daily mortality remained higher in the postmask period. Conclusions There was no reduction in per-population daily mortality, hospital bed, ICU bed, or ventilator occupancy of COVID-19-positive patients attributable to the implementation of a mask-wearing mandate.

Submitted by António Freitas (amsf@uma.pt) on 2021-11-30T15:56:04Z No. of bitstreams: 1 DISSERTAÇÃO DE MESTRADO_O Papel do Projeto Educativo Local no Desenvolvimento da Cidade.pdf: 1111311 bytes, checksum: c22b21bf1b55427ca7dd49e50adc8903 (MD5) Made available in DSpace on 2021-11-30T15:56:04Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 DISSERTAÇÃO DE MESTRADO_O Papel do Projeto Educativo Local no Desenvolvimento da Cidade.pdf: 1111311 bytes, checksum: c22b21bf1b55427ca7dd49e50adc8903 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2021-05-28

Dissertação de mestrado integrado em Engenharia Biológica, A sustentabilidade pode ser definida como a capacidade da sociedade se organizar por forma a garantir o seu sustento. Nesse sentido, é importante atentar às barreiras limitantes deste sustento e à delineação de estratégias de resiliência às mesmas. O município de Esposende, atento às problemáticas que afetam a sustentabilidade em todos os seus eixos – ambiental, económico, social e cultural –, procura organizar-se e promover uma estratégia municipal para a sustentabilidade. Esta estratégia divide-se em 5 vetores de atuação, nomeadamente: 1) Alterações Climáticas; 2) Economia Circular; 3) Proteção Civil; 4) Mobilidade; e 5) Gestão, Monitorização e Comunicação. Para o presente trabalho propôs-se a concretização de 4 vetores, à exceção do vetor 3. Todavia, por questões externas, culminou na concretização parcial dos vetores 1 e 5. No vetor 5, o principal alvo era a obtenção de uma proposta, e se possível redação, de um relatório de sustentabilidade. Por forma a alcançá-lo estudou-se a utilização do referencial GRI, comumente usado no reporte de relatório não financeiros, e analisaram-se as possíveis formas de responder à Agenda 2030. Como resultado deste vetor, obtém-se a proposta de relatório de sustentabilidade pretendida. Dele também resulta um conjunto de documentos auxiliadores da monitorização dos indicadores de resposta às normas GRI e Objetivos de Desenvolvimento Sustentável. No vetor 1, concretiza-se apenas o trabalho de análise aos vários diplomas nacionais e municipais, referentes às temáticas de eficiência energética e alterações climáticas, que permitem alavancar a execução do documento chave deste vetor – a estratégia municipal de adaptação às alterações climáticas. Com a execução deste trabalho a entidade municipal adquire assim o desenvolvimento de um plano de sustentabilidade para o município de Esposende, com ferramentas organizadas e intuitivas, possibilitadoras da simplificação do processo para o alcance de um território sustentável, que em comunidade lhes trará mais benefícios., Sustainability, as one of the authors consulted states, is the capacity of society to organize itself in order to guarantee its sustenance. In this sense, it is important to be aware of the barriers that limit this support and outline a strategy of resilience to them. The municipality of Esposende is aware of the problems that affect sustainability in all its areas - environmental, economic, social and cultural -, seeking to organize itself and promoting a municipal strategy for sustainability. This strategy is divided into 5 performance vectors, namely: 1) Climate Change; 2) Circular Economy; 3) Civil Protection; 4) Mobility; and 5) Management, Monitoring and Communication. For the present work, the implementation of 4 vectors was proposed, with the exception of vector 3. However, for external reasons, it ended up in the partial implementation of vectors 1 and 5. In vector 5, the main target was to obtain a sustainability proposal, and, if possible, a report. In order to achieve this, the use of the GRI framework, commonly used in the non-financial report, was studied and analyzed as possible ways of responding to the 2030 Agenda. As a result of this vector, the proposed sustainability report is obtained. In addition, a set of documents that assist in monitoring the indicators of response to GRI standards and Sustainable Development Goals also results from it. In vector 1, only the work of analysis of the various national and municipal diplomas regarding the themes of energy efficiency and climate change is carried out, which allows to leverage the execution of the key document of this vector - a municipal strategy for adapting to climate change. With the execution of this work, the municipal entity thus acquires the development of a sustainability plan, with organized and intuitive tools, enabling the simplification of the process to reach a sustainable territory, which in community will bring them more benefits.

The goal of our project is to provide a prediction tool to allow researchers to model the spread of Chronic Wasting Disease in deer populations in Virginia. We will provide predictions of prevalence of Chronic Wasting Disease on a county by county basis, and simulations of the changing prevalence in counties over time. This tool will be provided in the form of a website, which will allow user input for different parameters affecting the prevalence of Chronic Wasting Disease and displaying results from the predictions our application will make. We will allow the user to provide parameters for the importance of both deer population density and the vegetation level that affects the prevalence of Chronic Wasting Disease. The website will have many options to display the prevalence values we calculate including a statewide heatmap of prevalence by county and a county specific view. DiseaseSpreadSimulatorPresentation.pptx - PowerPoint containing the slides used for our final presentation. DiseaseSpreadSimulatorPresentation.pdf - PDF version of the final presentation slides. DiseaseSpreadSimulatorReport.docx - Word document containing the report on the project implementation. DiseaseSpreadSimulatorReport.pdf - PDF version of the report.

Legal intervention in early childhood education policies has facilitated the consolidation of the right to education in Brazil for children aged 0 to 5 years. Such a process, seen from the perspective of the judicialization of public policies, fosters both beneficial and adverse impacts on government actions. This paper aims to scrutinize the direct and indirect effects of the judicialization of early childhood education carried out through judicial and extra-judicial proceedings in the local context of nine municipalities scattered across four Brazilian states. The methodology adopted here is the qualitative research, approached with case studies, probing into how Public-interest Civil Actions and Conduct Adjustment Agreements changed local management and planning in the selected cases. La intervención judicial en las políticas de educación infantil ha favorecido la consolidación del derecho a la educación de los niños de 0 a 5 años. Tal proceso, estudiado en el marco de la judicialización de las políticas públicas, genera impactos positivos y negativos sobre las acciones gubernamentales. Esse artículo tiene el propósito de analizar los efectos directos e indirectos de la judicialización de la educación infantil realizada con medidas judiciales y extrajudiciales en nueve municipios, distribuidos en cuatro estados. Se adoptó el abordaje cualitativo, con enfoque en estudios de caso, analizando la forma en que las Acciones Civiles Públicas y los Términos de Ajuste de Conducta alteraron la gestión y la planificación municipal en los casos seleccionados. L’intervention du pouvoir judiciaire dans les politiques d’éducation de la petite enfance a favorisé la consolidation du droit à l’éducation des enfants de 0 à 5 ans. Ce processus, étudié dans le contexte de la judiciarisation des politiques publiques, génère des impacts positifs et négatifs sur les actions du gouvernement. Cet article vise à analyser les effets directs et indirects de la judiciarisation de l’éducation de la petite enfance, mise en oeuvre avec des mesures judiciaires et extrajudiciaires dans neuf communes, réparties sur quatre états. Une approche qualitative centrée sur les études de cas a été adoptée. L’analyse met en évidence la manière dont les Actions Civiles Publiques et le Terme d’Ajustement de la Conduite ont modifié la gestion et la planification municipales dans les cas abordés. A intervenção do judiciário nas políticas de educação infantil tem favorecido a consolidação do direito à educação das crianças de 0 a 5 anos. Tal processo, estudado no contexto da judicialização das políticas públicas, gera impactos positivos e negativos sobre as ações governamentais. Esse artigo tem por objetivo analisar os efeitos diretos e indiretos da judicialização da educação infantil realizada com medidas judiciais e extrajudiciais em nove municípios, distribuídos em quatro estados. Adotou-se a abordagem qualitativa, com enfoque em estudos de caso, analisando como as Ações Civis Públicas e os Termos de Ajuste de Conduta alteraram a gestão e o planejamento municipal nos casos selecionados.

BackgroundGastric signet ring cell carcinoma (GSRC) is a rare but increasingly prevalent tumor histotype whose clinical features and natural history are poorly understood, particularly in the USA and minorities.AimsTo examine the occurrence, clinico-demographic characteristics, oncologic features, treatment, and outcomes of GSRC in a predominantly minority county hospital setting and benchmark them against data from the National Cancer Institute's Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) program.MethodsWe queried biopsy-proven GSRC cases at a Los Angeles County hospital, from 2004 to 2017. Clinical characteristics, treatment, and survival data were collected and compared to SEER data.ResultsWe identified 63 patients with GSRC. Compared to SEER, our cohort was significantly younger (52.6 vs. 63.5years, p

As the largest ecological background system and basic economic unit in China, counties are of great significance to China’s carbon emission reduction targets. This article conducts theoretical model construction and empirical test research from a contraction perspective, using population and built-up area change as variables and combining indicators of county scale structure in an attempt to find key scale structure elements and representative indicators that affect the carbon emission intensity of counties. By using data from 140 counties in Northeast China during the period of 2015–2020, an empirical study was conducted on population shrinkage clustering, county size structure, and carbon emission intensity. The results show that: (1) population shrinkage significantly increases the carbon intensity of counties, but the contribution of population shrinkage to carbon intensity is scale-heterogeneous, the contribution effect decreases with population size, and the effect on large counties is minimal; (2) population size and industrial structure are the main factors influencing carbon intensity in counties, both have a negative linear elasticity relationship, and GDP per capita is not included in the overall model and is only significant in large counties; (3) the relationship between total construction land and carbon intensity is an inverted U-shaped Kuznets curve, with a critical value of 30 km2, and the total construction land in most counties is below or close to the critical value.

Among human activities, coal mining and the combustion of fossil fuels are important sources of mercury in the environment. Research on mercury pollution in coal mining areas and surrounding cities, especially in densely populated areas, has always been at the forefront of this research field. In order to study the characteristics of environmental mercury pollution in small and medium-sized coal mining areas and surrounding towns in China, this study selected the main urban area of Jiutai District, a typical mining town in the Changchun City circle industrial base in northeast China, as the research object. In this study, the geo-accumulation index (Igeo) was used to study the soil mercury pollution degree in Jiutai District, the potential ecological risk index (Er) was used to evaluate the potential ecological risk of soil mercury in the study area, and the human exposure risk assessment model was used to evaluate the non-carcinogenic risk of soil mercury to the human body. The results showed that 32% of the soil samples in the study area had a higher mercury content than the regional soil background value of Jilin Province (0.04 mg·kg−1). According to the Igeo, 19% of the sample sites in the study area were polluted (index > 0). In general, the soil mercury pollution level in Jiutai District is low, and the polluted areas are mainly concentrated in the northeast of the study area. The Er of the soil mercury in the study area ranged from 7.2 to 522.0, with 32% of the sampling sites having a moderate or above potential ecological risk (Er > 40), and the potential ecological risk level of the soil mercury was higher in the northeast of the study area. The non-carcinogenic risk index (HQ) and total non-carcinogenic risk value (HI) of the soil mercury were all far less than 1, indicating that soil mercury pollution in the study area did not harm the health of local adults. The oral ingestion of soil mercury is the main form of human exposure to mercury.

O Estado brasileiro enfrentou ao longo do século XIX o desafio de ordenar o território no interior das províncias. A forma como se estabelecia os limites municipais era um problema e o crescimento do número de municípios principalmente a partir da década de 1830 dificultou ainda mais a delimitação da área dos municípios. Junto a essa questão a constituição político-administrativa se apresentava de uma forma muito mais complexa como conhecemos atualmente. Se os municípios atualmente são subdivididos apenas em distritos, anteriormente os poderes políticos, judiciários e eclesiásticos participavam do ordenamento territorial e diferentes categorias se sobrepunham gerando um complexo ordenamento territorial. A cidade de Visconde do Rio Branco, localizada no sudeste de Minas Gerais tem seu processo de formação inserido dentro desse contexto. Quando ainda povoado denominava-se Aldeia do Xopotó dos Coroados, e o município foi criado somente em 1839 após ser desmembrado de Pomba com a denominação de Vila de São João Batista do Presídio. O município do Presídio tem um papel importante na consolidação da territorialidade da porção central da zona da mata mineira, do seu território originaram-se 49 municípios. Nesse sentido o objetivo dessa pesquisa é discutir a evolução políticoadministrativa e territorial a partir da Vila de São João Batista do Presídio, no período de 1839 até os dias atuais. A metodologia adotada fundamentou-se em pesquisas bibliográficas, geoprocessamento aplicado a cartografia histórica e involução cartográfica. Os principais resultados obtidos consistem na representação cartográfica do limite territorial de Visconde do Rio Branco para diferentes períodos e um conhecimento mais detalhado a respeito do ordenamento territorial da área de estudo. Dessa forma, espera-se que a pesquisa possa contribuir com informações e materiais cartográficos que enriqueçam a geografia-histórica do municípios de Visconde do Rio Branco e também dos municípios que se desmembraram de seu território original. The Brazilian State faced throughout the 19th century the challenge of ordering the territory in the interior of the provinces. The way in which the municipal limits were established was a problem and the growth in the number of municipalities, especially from the 1830s onwards, made it even more difficult to define the area of the municipalities. Along with this issue, the political-administrative constitution presented itself in a much more complex way as we know it today. If the municipalities are currently subdivided only into districts, previously political, judicial and ecclesiastical powers participated in the territorial ordering and different categories overlapped, generating a complex territorial ordering. The city of Visconde do Rio Branco, located in the southeast of Minas Gerais has its formation process within this context. When still inhabited, it was called Aldeia do Xopotó dos Coroados, the municipality was created only in 1839 after being separated from Pomba under the name of Vila de São João Batista do Presídio. The municipality of Presídio has an important role in consolidating the territoriality of the central portion of the area of the Minas Gerais forest, from its territory 49 municipalities originated. In this sense, the objective of this research is to discuss the political-administrative and territorial evolution from the Vila de São João Batista do Presídio, from 1839 to the present day. The methodology adopted was based on bibliographic research, geoprocessing applied to historical cartography and cartographic involution. The main results obtained consist of the cartographic representation of the territorial limit of Visconde do Rio Branco for different periods and a more detailed knowledge about the territorial ordering of the study area. In this way, it is hoped that the research can contribute with information and cartographic materials that enrich the historical geography of the municipalities of Visconde do Rio Branco and also of the municipalities that dismembered from ther original territory.

Globalizacija i ubrzani razvoj potaknuli su rast pojedinih gradova, dok je većina srednjih i malih gradova ostala u sjeni. Takav urbani sustav s dominantnim gradom (najčešće glavni grad) stvara polarizaciju u razvoju. Trendovi regionalnih nejednakosti predstavljaju stalni gorući problem. Znanje o načinima prevladavanja takvih razlika ima veliku važnost pri donošenju regionalnih politika. Kako bi se regionalne nejednakosti smanjile, sve se više zagovara policentrični razvoj gradova. Cilj rada je prikazati definiranje i važnost policentrizma u poticanju cjelokupnog razvoja, na europskoj razini, a s detaljnom analizom u Hrvatskoj i u odabranoj županiji. Nakon uvoda, u radu se definira grad i opisuje rast gradova, prikazuju se urbane forme, urbane funkcije, decentralizacija funkcija, obilježja policentrizma (policentrizam kao ekonomski i geografski fenomen, troškovi i koristi policentrizma). Posebno poglavlje obrađuje značenje policentrizma u razvoju europskih regija te se nakon toga detaljnije analiziraju odabrana obilježja policentrizma u Hrvatskoj, na primjeru Istarske županije i u Općini Lanišće. U cilju dobivanja potpunijih zaključaka provedeno je samostalno istraživanje te se na kraju rada prikazuju rezultati intervjua s predstavnicima odabrane županije i općine, osvrt na istraživanje i zaključak rada. U radu je dokazano da policentričan razvoj može pomoći snažnijem iskorištavanju potencijala i biti prilika za razvoj, potaknuti lokalni i regionalni razvoj, omogućuje poboljšanje interakcije između gradova i općina. Instrumenti kohezijske politike Europske unije nude dodatnu mogućnost bržeg povezivanja okolnih područja, kao i ostvarivanja integriranog razvoja. Globalization and urban development have prompted the growth of some cities, while many medium - sized and small cities have remained neglected. Such urban system with the dominant city (usually the capital city) creates the polarisation in development. Such trends of regional inequalities have become a constant pressing issue. In the creation of the regional policies, it is very important to know how to overcome such differences. In order to diminish regional inequalities, today’s society places great emphasis on the polycentric urban development. The aim of this thesis is to define and present the importance of polycentricity in encouraging the more balanced development, on European level and with more detailed analysis in Croatia and in chosen county. After the introduction, the paper defines the city and describes urban growth, different urban forms, urban functions, decentralisation of the functions, explains the characteristics of the polycentricity (polycentricity as economic and geographic phenomena, costs and benefits of polycentricity). Special chapter is directed at the role of polycentricity in the development of the European regions and in the following chapter more detailed analysis of the chosen characteristics of the polycentricity in Croatia, with the example of Istria county and in Municipality of Lanišće is given. In order to provide more complete conclusions separate analysis is performed. In the last parts of the thesis the results of the interview with the representatives of the chosen country and municipality are presented, overview on the investigation is given as well as conclusion. In this thesis it is confirmed that polycentric development can help to use the potentials and can represent an incentive for the development, that is to foster local and regional development. It enables better interaction between cities and municipalities. Instruments of the European Union's cohesion policy provide additional opportunity for the faster connections of the surrounding areas, as well as to achieve integrated development.

Izgradnja marke (engl. branding) postao je jedan od snažnih alata u strateškom marketingu mjesta. Postoje brojni radovi koji sugeriraju da se tržišna marka može uspostaviti za mjesta, gradove, regije i države na isti način kao za proizvode i usluge. Postoje brojne sličnosti između koncepta izgradnje marke proizvoda i mjesta te je koncept ukupnog proizvoda povezan s konceptom izgradnje marke mjesta koji se nudi kupcu. Kako je to slučaj kod proizvoda, izgradnjom marke mjesta, gradova, regija i država omogućava se jasno definiranje i diferenciranje od drugih te pozicioniranje na tržištu. Proces izgradnje marke regije široki je skup različitih varijabli koje se koriste u definiranju identiteta marke, a koji je sukladan identitetu regije, te služe kao osnova za stvaranje vrijednosti marke. Izgradnja marke regije sveobuhvatan je način za valorizaciju identiteta, za isticanje posebnih značajki regije, za promociju regije, ali i za podršku razvoju društvenih, kulturoloških, okolišnih, turističkih i gospodarskih aspekata neke regije. U ovom se radu iznose konceptualne i teorijske osnove izgradnje marke mjesta, odnosno regija te su se nastojali istražiti trendovi u procesu izgradnje marke županija odnosno regija u Hrvatskoj., Branding has become one of the powerful tools in strategic site marketing. There are a number of papers suggesting that a brand can be established for places, cities, regions and countries in the same way as for products and services. There are numerous similarities between the concept of building a product brand and a place, and the concept of the total product is related to the concept of building a place brand that is offered to the customer. As is the case with products, building a brand of places, cities, regions and countries allows for a clear definition and differentiation from others and market positioning. The process of building a brand of a region is a broad set of different variables used in defining the identity of a brand, which is consistent with the identity of the region, and serves as a basis for creating brand value. Building a brand of the region is a comprehensive way to valorize the identity, to highlight the special features of the region, to promote the region, but also to support the development of social, cultural, environmental, tourist and economic aspects of a region. This paper presents the conceptual and theoretical foundations of building a brand of a place or region, and sought to explore trends in the process of building a brand of counties and regions in Croatia.

Madenler tarih boyunca her devlet için olduğu gibi Osmanlı Devleti için de önemli bir yer işgal etmiştir. Osmanlı Devleti için bu madenler içerisinde kömür madenlerinin sanayi devrimi ile birlikte önemi ve değeri daha da artmıştır. Nitekim kömür madenleri buharlı gemiler, trenler gibi devrin en önemli icatlarına yakıt olarak kullanılmıştır. Ancak kömür madenlerinin işletilebilmesi emek ve sermaye gücüne bağlıdır. Bu bakımdan Osmanlı Devleti madenlerin daha aktif bir şekilde işletilebilmesi amacıyla bazen maden çevresindeki yerleri madenin çıkarıldığı bölgeye mali birimler oluşturacak şekilde bağlamış bazen de madenin bulunduğu bölgeyi idari olarak müstakil bir birime dönüştürmüştür. Bu sayede hem emek gücü halledilmeye hem de maden çıkarımında bürokratik kolaylıklar sağlanmaya çalışılmıştır. Bu çalışmada Ereğli Kömür Madeni’nin gerek devlete sağladığı gelir gerekse sanayi vesair kollara yaptığı katkılar dolayısıyla Ereğli kazasının neden kaymakamlığa dönüştürüldüğü özellikle arşiv kaynakları çerçevesinde ele alınacaktır. Böylece Osmanlı mülki yapısının belirlenmesinde mali birimlerin de önemli bir yerinin olduğu ortaya konulmuş olacaktır.

AimEcological niche models (ENMs) typically require point locations of species’ occurrence as input data. Where exact locations are not available, geographical centroids of the respective administrational spatial units (ASUs) are often used as a substitute. We investigated how the use of ASU centroids in ENMs affects model performance, what role the size of ASUs plays, and what effects different grain sizes of explanatory variables have.LocationEurope.Major taxa studiedVirtual species.MethodsWe set up a two-factorial study design with artificial ASUs of three different sizes and environmental data of four commonly used grain sizes, repeated over three study regions. To control other factors that may affect ENM performance, we created a virtual species with a known response to environmental variables, precise and even sampling and a known spatial distribution. We ran a series of Maxent models for the virtual species based on centroids and precise occurrence locations under varying ASU and grain sizes.ResultsThe use of ASU centroids introduces a value frequency mismatch of the explanatory variables between centroids and true occurrence locations, and it has a negative effect on ENM performance. Value frequency mismatch, negative effect on ENM performance and over-prediction of the species’ range all increase with ASU size. The effect of grain size of environmental data, on the contrary, was small in comparison.Main conclusionsENMs built upon ASU centroids can suffer considerably from the introduced error. For ASUs that are sufficiently small or show low spatial heterogeneity of explanatory variables, ASU centroids can still be a viable and convenient surrogate for precise occurrence locations. When possible, however, central tendency values (median, mean) that represent the whole ASU rather than just a single point location need to be considered.

This paper investigates the relationship between vacant job positions and unemployed workers, illustrated by the Beveridge curve, a tool for observing the matching process and the condition of a labour market. The Swedish case is studied together with its three largest labour market regions, i.e., Stockholm-, Västra Götaland- and Skåne county. A comparison opens up a discussion of whether local labour markets with similar characteristics located in different parts of the country behave similarly or in what way they distinguish. Furthermore, these three regions are expected to influence the Swedish Beveridge curve to a larger extent, which is also examined in the paper. In addition, the effect of an exogenous shock, such as the building of the Öresund Bridge, expanding the labour market of Skåne county by connection to another metropolitan area, Copenhagen, is studied. This is done by comparing the matching efficiency before and after the bridge is opened. Moreover, the effect in Skåne is then analysed in accordance with the same period for the other regions included, to get an indication of whether the bridge alone provides a change in matching efficiency or if changes are connected to national events that influence all regions similarly. The analysis is based on monthly data from year 1996-2020, collected from the Swedish Public Employment service and Statistics Sweden, primarily. Graphical illustrations of the Beveridge curve in combination with OLS regressions provide concluding results that the Beveridge curves for the three regional labour markets observed are shaped rather similarly and experience shifts and movements during the same time points, generally. Skåne county is the exception and experience more horizontal and vertical movements compared to Stockholm- and Västra Götaland county and the Swedish average. Furthermore, there are statistically significant estimates ensuring the negative relationship between unemployment- and vacancy rate, i.e., a downward sloping Beveridge curve for all regions. Not enough evidence on the effect of the Öresund Bridge on the matching efficiency of Skåne county is provided to present a valid conclusion regarding this topic.

Straipsnyje siekiama nustatyti slavų kalbų (rusų, baltarusių, lenkų) įtaką Vilniaus apskrities toponimijai vardų darybos lygmenyje. Tyrimo metu buvo identifikuoti šie toponimų darybos ypatumai: slavų priesagų vediniai iš lietuvių kilmės tikrinių žodžių ir apeliatyvų; lietuvių kalbos priesagų ir galūnių vediniai iš slavų kilmės tikrinių žodžių ir apeliatyvų; slavų kilmės toponimai, t. y. slaviškų afiksų vediniai iš slavų tikrinių žodžių ir apeliatyvų. Kalbų kontaktus atspindi ir į lietuvių kalbą transliteruoti slaviški toponimai, t. y. toponimai kilę iš slavų apeliatyvų arba tikrinių žodžių onimizacijos ar transonimizacijos būdu. Kai kuriais atvejais sunku atskirti, ar toponimas yra slavų ar lietuvių kilmės. Taip pat pateikiamas kontaminuotų vietovardžių pasiskirstymas pagal Vilniaus apskrities rajonus ir vietovardžių klases. The current research presents an attempt to identify the influence of Slavic languages (Russian, Belarusian, Polish) on Vilnius County toponymy at the name formation level. The following toponym formation features were identified: Slavic suffixes derivatives from Lithuanian origin proper names and appellatives; Lithuanian suffixes and inflections derivatives from Slavic proper names and appellatives; Toponyms of Slavic origin, i.e., Slavic affixes derived toponyms from Slavic proper names and appellatives. Language contacts are also reflected in Slavic toponyms transliterated into the Lithuanian language, i.e., toponyms that originated from Slavic appellatives or onyms through onimization or transonymisation. In a number of cases, it is difficult to identify whether a toponym is of Slavic or Lithuanian origin. Also, the distribution of these derivatives by toponym classes and Vilnius County districts is presented.

Among the many important aristocratic families, the Druget family from Homonna (Humenné), who are among the most influential aristocratic families in Hungary, is an important historical activity. For more than three and a half centuries of operation, the famous Druget family in Hungary created rich historical events. A well-known historian, Matej Bel, wrote at the beginning of the 18th century, looking at the Humenský manor house: «It is the ancient seat of this family, and the castle was so adorned that it was barely the same far and wide ...». Matej Bel's wish had not been fulfilled yet. Neither the Drugetians themselves nor their descendants were interested in revealing their ancient and rich family history for future generations. Through the life of George (György) III Druget (Drugeth), we want to point out that a member of this vital family is at least to a small extent. This year, we commemorate 400 years since the death of Count George III, who at the turn of the 16th and 17th centuries made a significant contribution to the history of the Zemplén and Ung counties. His life was mostly connected with the towns of Homonna (Humenné) and Ungvár (Uzhhorod). George III belonged to one of Hungary's most important family members in the political, economic, cultural, and religious fields. The study of archival sources brings new knowledge. With this work, we want to fill a gap in historical research at least partially. We want to specify the historical events of the most important events associated with George III Drugeth and topics: missionary activity of the Jesuits, the establishment of the college in Homonna (Humenné), and its transfer to Uzhhorod and Uzhhorod Union. At the same time, operating in those fields represents their mutual influence, cooperation, achievement, and difficulties. We want to point out their essential position in decisive historical moments. The work also seeks to refute today's people's often-one-sided attitude towards noble families, who, due to the recent communist past's influence, are still perceived as exploiters and mighty noblemen., Серед багатьох аристократів важливу історичну роль має родина Другетів із Гуменного, які є одними з найвідоміших аристократичних сімей в Угорщині. Більше ніж три з половиною століття діяльності знаменитої родини Другетів в Угорщині відзначається багатьма історичними подіями. Відомий історик Матей Бел на початку XVIIІ століття досліджував історію маєтків і господарство, що лежали в околицях Гуменного. Цей старовинний осідок досліджуваної родини і замок були не лише прекрасно оздоблені і впорядковані, але і мали обширні території. Бажання Матея Бела вивчити історію аристократів так і не було здійснено вповні. Та й сама родина Другетів, ні їх нащадки не були зацікавлені розкривати свою давню і багату сімейну історію для майбутніх поколінь. Через життя Дьордя IIІ Другета ми хочемо вказати, принаймні в невеликій мірі, на характер цієї важливої сім'ї. Цього року ми вшановуємо 400 років з дня смерті графа Дьордя III, який на рубежі XVI – XVII століть зробив значний внесок в історію комітатів Земплін та Унг. Його життя було здебільшого пов’язане з містечками Гуменне та Ужгород. Дьордь III належав до одного з найважливіших представників цієї знаменитої родини в Угорщині в політичній, економічній, культурній та релігійній сферах. Вивчення архівних джерел приносить нові знання. Цією роботою ми хочемо хоча б частково заповнити прогалину в історичних дослідженнях. Ми хочемо конкретизувати історичні приклади найважливіших подій пов’язаних з Дьордьом III Другетом і дотичних тем: місіонерської діяльності єзуїтів, створення гімназії в Гуменному та його перенесення в Ужгород та власне Ужгородську унію. У той же час, діяльність у цих сферах представляє їх взаємний вплив, співпрацю, досягнення, а також труднощі. Ми хочемо вказати на їх важливе становище у вирішальні історичні моменти. Дане дослідження також прагне спростувати часто однобічне ставлення сучасних людей до знатних сімей, які через вплив недавнього комуністичного минулого досі сприймаються як експлуататори та могутні дворяни.

BACKGROUND:Healthcare priority setting research has focused at the macro (national) and micro (patient level), while there is a dearth of literature on meso-level (subnational/regional) priority setting practices. In this study, we aimed to describe and evaluate healthcare priority setting practices at the county level in Kenya. METHODS:We used a qualitative case study approach to examine the planning and budgeting processes in 2 counties in Kenya. We collected the data through in-depth interviews of senior managers, middle-level managers, frontline managers, and health partners (n = 23) and document reviews. We analyzed the data using a framework approach. FINDINGS:The planning and budgeting processes in both counties were characterized by misalignment and the dominance of informal considerations in decision making. When evaluated against consequential conditions, efficiency and equity considerations were not incorporated in the planning and budgeting processes. Stakeholders were more satisfied and understood the planning process compared with the budgeting process. There was a lack of shifting of priorities and unsatisfactory implementation of decisions. Against procedural conditions, the planning process was more inclusive and transparent and stakeholders were more empowered compared with the budgeting process. There was ineffective use of data, lack of provisions for appeal and revisions, and limited mechanisms for incorporating community values in the planning and budgeting. CONCLUSION:County governments can improve the planning and budgeting processes by aligning them, implementing a systematic priority setting process with explicit resource allocation criteria, and adhering to both consequential and procedural aspects of an ideal priority setting process.

Relatório de Estágio do Mestrado em Política Cultural Autárquica apresentado à Faculdade de Letras O presente relatório, elaborado no âmbito do Mestrado em Política Cultural Autárquica, corresponde à experiência de estágio realizado na Câmara Municipal de Montemor o Velho, durante os meses de novembro de 2019 a março de 2020. Durante o período de estágio, para além da integração em atividades dinamizadas pelo Serviço Educativo (“Poesia com 4 Sentidos”, “Peddy-Paper da Lenda das Arcas” e visitas guiadas), sob a orientação das técnicas, e da estadia no Posto de Turismo, foi possível participar em dois eventos a nível municipal – o Castelo Mágico e o Festival Gastronómico do Arroz e da Lampreia. Adicionalmente, a autarquia autorizou a realização de uma iniciativa comemorativa do Dia de São Valentim no castelo e a criação de um roteiro de Geocaching pelas freguesias do concelho, o projeto de estágio levado a cabo. De uma forma atual, criativa e interativa, foi lançado o “Roteiro de Caches por Montemor”, cujo objetivo passa pela transmissão de conhecimentos, divulgação da história, promoção e valorização do património local, convidando à visita de cada uma das freguesias montemorenses de modo autónomo. Esta iniciativa vai ao encontro da dinâmica da Câmara Municipal de Montemor-o-Velho, que tem vindo a apostar em novas formas de divulgação e reconhecimento do património local, mantendo a tradição de um município com mais de oito séculos de história. O roteiro criado permitiu divulgar vários espaços do município e revelou-se uma ferramenta particularmente útil tendo em conta a situação causada pelo Covid-19. The present report, elaborated in the scope of the Autarchic Cultural Politic Master’s, corresponds to the internship experience held at the Montemor-o-Velho City Council, from November 2019 to March 2020. During the internship, in addition to the integration in activities promoted by the Educational Service (“Poetry with four senses”, “peddy-paper of the legend of the chests” and guided tours), under the guidance of the techniques, and the stay at the Tourist Office, it was possible to participate in two municipal level events – the Magic Castle and the Gastronomic Festival of Rice and Lamprey. Additionally, the municipality authorized the realization of an initiative celebrating Valentine’s Day in the castle and the creation of a Geocaching tour through the parishes of the municipality, the internship project carried out. In a current, creative and interactive way, the “Tour of Caches through Montemor” was launched, whose goal is knowledge transmission, dissemination of the history and the local heritage promotion and valorisation, inviting the autonomously visit to every parish in Montemor. This initiative meets the dynamics of the City Council of Montemor-o-Velho, which has been betting in news forms of dissemination and recognition of the local heritage, keeping the tradition of a county with more than eight centuries of history. The tour of caches allowed the publicity of several spaces of the municipality and proved to be a particularly useful tool taking into account the situation caused by Covid-19.

Introduction major external structural birth defects are typical and have been associated with childhood morbidity, mortality and lifelong resource-intensive disabilities. These defects continue to occur; however, they are yet to be recognized as public health problems in Kenya. The objective of this study was to estimate the prevalence of major external structural birth defects in Kiambu County in Kenya, 2014-2018. Methods a cross-sectional study design was adopted; a retrospective review of medical records was conducted between 2014 and 2018 abstracting 873 birth defects. Following a predetermined inclusion criterion, a five-year prevalence numerator of 362 cases was determined, whereas, a five-year prevalence denominator of 299,854 cases of registered live-births was obtained from the birth registrar. Annual prevalence estimates of 29 sub-groups and 6 groups of these defects were calculated as the number of cases (numerator) divided by the number of live-births (denominator). Associated 95% binomial exact confidence intervals were also computed and expressed per 100,000 live-births. Results defects of the musculoskeletal system, the central nervous system, orofacial, genital organs, eye and anus were observed. Defects of the musculoskeletal system were the most prevalent, ranging from 22.98 (95% CI: 11.87-40.13) to 116.9 (95% CI: 92.98-145.08) per 100,000 live-births. Defects of the central nervous system followed ranging between 13.40 (95% CI: 5.39-27.61) and 32.79 (95% CI: 20.79-49.19) per 100,000 live-births. Conclusion despite musculoskeletal system defects being the most common group, hypospadias; a defect of the male genital organ was the most prevalent among the sub-group of these defects.

Systemic inequity concerning the social determinants of health has been known to affect morbidity and mortality for decades. Significant attention has focused on the individual-level demographic and co-morbid factors associated with rates and mortality of COVID-19. However, less attention has been given to the county-level social determinants of health that are the main drivers of health inequities. To identify the degree to which social determinants of health predict COVID-19 cumulative case rates at the county-level in Georgia, we performed a sequential, cross-sectional ecologic analysis using a diverse set of socioeconomic and demographic variables. Lasso regression was used to identify variables from collinear groups. Twelve variables correlated to cumulative case rates (for cases reported by 1 August 2020) with an adjusted r squared of 0.4525. As time progressed in the pandemic, correlation of demographic and socioeconomic factors to cumulative case rates increased, as did number of variables selected. Findings indicate the social determinants of health and demographic factors continue to predict case rates of COVID-19 at the county-level as the pandemic evolves. This research contributes to the growing body of evidence that health disparities continue to widen, disproportionality affecting vulnerable populations.