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Significant disparities in access to medicines persist. To guide effective pharmaceutical policy development for improved access, evidence from monitoring and evaluation activities is key. To bridge the gap between evidence-generation and policy-making, this thesis aimed to explore advancements to three key evidence-generation mechanisms for formulating and evaluating pharmaceutical policies: performance monitoring, health systems analysis and pharmaceutical policy analysis. Firstly, we explored the large gap in performance data on child-appropriate medicines. This revealed that child-appropriate medicines were infrequently surveyed or not at all, and that existing instruments for collecting data on the availability or prices of medicines were limited in their ability to generate the required data for children. Accordingly, the remainder of Chapter 2 focused on monitoring performance in access to medicines for children by modifying Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) indicator 3.b.3, enabling the monitoring of access to child-appropriate medicines. Adaptations to the indicator included the selection of two core sets of child-appropriate medicines for children of different ages, and the creation of the parameter number of units needed for treatment (NUNT) to enable calculation of affordability of medicines for children. We subsequently provided proof-of concept of the adapted methodology and of its robustness. Chapter 3 focused on novel approaches in health systems analyses of access to medicines. These approaches were applied to a case study of access to childhood oncology medicines in South Africa, with the objective to identify sources of access constraint to pediatric cancer medicines. Novel approaches included the study of alignment of several linked pharmaceutical processes – rather than in isolation from related processes – and the development of a novel analytical framework, structured as a pharmaceutical value chain, to facilitate the identification of barrie

Quality of the hotel service is a relevant indicator within the competitive market, which is valued by the client, since he is the person who directly perceives the tourist accommodation service. The objective of this project is to evaluate the quality of service in 3-star category hotels in the Nueva Loja parish, which will allow us to identify the level of quality that the establishments offer to their guests. The mixed methodology and the SERVQUAL method were used, a survey that consists of an established questionnaire of 22 questions that reflect the perception and expectation divided into 5 dimensions, which was applied to a total of 72 guests. The analysis corresponding to the existing gaps between the perception and expectation of the guests was carried out, obtaining as a result weighted gaps of -68, this reflects that the quality of the service in 3-star hotels exists several shortcomings with respect to the service in their dimensions, that is, the guest is not satisfied with the service received. These results it can be concluded that these hotel companies should consider new quality strategies that encourage improvement., La calidad en el servicio hotelero es un indicador relevante dentro del mercado competitivo, el cual es valorado por parte del cliente, ya que es la persona que percibe de manera directa el servicio de alojamiento turístico. El objetivo de este proyecto es evaluar la calidad del servicio en los hoteles con categoría 3 estrellas de la parroquia Nueva Loja, que permitirá conocer identificar el nivel de calidad que ofrece los establecimientos a sus huéspedes. Se utilizó la metodología mixta y el método SERVQUAL, encuesta que consta de un cuestionario establecido de 22 preguntas que reflejan la percepción y la expectativa divida en 5 dimensiones, la cual se aplicó a un total de 72 huéspedes. Se realizó el análisis correspondiente a las brechas existentes entre la percepción y la expectativa de los huéspedes, obteniendo como resultado de brechas ponderadas de -68, esto refleja que la calidad del servicio en los hoteles 3 estrellas existe varias falencias con respecto al servicio en sus dimensiones, es decir, el huésped no está satisfecho con el servicio recibido. Con estos resultados se puede concluir que estas empresas hoteleras deberían plantearse nuevas estrategias de calidad, que fomenten la mejora.

Background: Leishmaniases are neglected diseases transmitted by sand flies. They disproportionately affect vulnerable groups globally. Understanding the relationship between climate and disease transmission allows the development of relevant decision-support tools for public health policy and surveillance. The aim of this modelling study was to develop an indicator that tracks climatic suitability for Leishmania infantum transmission in Europe at the subnational level. Methods: Historical records of sand fly vectors, human leishmaniasis, bioclimatic indicators, and environmental variables were integrated in a machine learning framework (XGBoost) to predict suitability in two past periods (2001–2010 and 2011–2020). We further assessed if predictions were associated with human and animal disease data from selected countries (France, Greece, Italy, Portugal, and Spain). Findings: An increase in the number of climatically suitable regions for leishmaniasis was detected, especially in southern and eastern countries, coupled with a northward expansion towards central Europe. The final model had excellent predictive ability (AUC = 0.970 [0.947–0.993]), and the suitability predictions were positively associated with human leishmaniasis incidence and canine seroprevalence for Leishmania. Interpretation: This study demonstrates how key epidemiological data can be combined with open-source climatic and environmental information to develop an indicator that effectively tracks spatiotemporal changes in climatic suitability and disease risk. The positive association between the model predictions and human disease incidence demonstrates that this indicator could help target leishmaniasis surveillance to transmission hotspots. Funding: European Union Horizon Europe Research and Innovation Programme (European Climate-Health Cluster), United Kingdom Research and Innovation.

The Industrialised Building System (IBS) is a construction method where components are manufactured in controlled environments, either on-site or offsite, before being assembled into construction works. Over the past several decades, it has garnered growing interest as a method to promote sustainable building. This study identified sustainable indicators through literature reviews, extracting sixteen indicators for a sustainability evaluation. A survey was conducted among developers, designers, civil and structure (C&S) consultants, mechanical and electrical (M&E) consultants, manufacturers, and contractors in North Malaysia, focusing on Kedah state, to identify their perceptions on the sustainable indicator performance of IBS construction. The participants had experience in both IBS and conventional construction. The data collected from the questionnaires were analyzed for the mean and Relative Importance Index (RII). The results revealed significant changes in IBS construction compared with conventional construction across all indicators. The top three indicators were reducing the amount of formwork, labour availability, and reducing site disruption. Next, the analysis of the within-group comparison using Intra-class Correlation (ICC) of the indicators revealed that contractors, developers and manufacturers possessed moderate similarity within the same group of organisations. This research gives an overview of the present perspectives of performance of sustainable indicators across key stakeholders in the Kedah construction sector. This is especially beneficial because IBS has grown in popularity and popularity owing to its ability to enhance the building environment, quality, and productivity.

El periodismo de proximidad ha jugado históricamente un papel clave en la articulación de comunidades locales y regionales. En una situación de fuerte transformación del sector periodístico, los estudios previos muestran que algunas iniciativas informativas locales consiguen mantenerse como actores centrales de los sistemas democráticos, gracias a que fomentan la cohesión social. Por todo ello, resulta útil abordar la construcción de un Indicador de Compromiso Social (ICS) que sirva para medir el compromiso de la prensa de proximidad. El presente trabajo de investigación tiene como objetivo elaborar un medidor del compromiso social de los medios locales de cara a garantizar el acceso de la ciudadanía a una información de calidad, que cumpla los estándares para responder a sus intereses. Asimismo, los resultados contribuirán a brindar un modelo explicativo que evalúe este compromiso. Para estos fines se emplea una estrategia de investigación mixta, en la que se combinan las entrevistas semiestructuradas con los estudios de casos y el análisis de contenido. En primer lugar, las entrevistas permiten perfilar las variables que deberían ser tratadas para medir el compromiso de un medio. Tras identificar dichas categorías, los estudios de casos sirven para cotejar sobre el terreno la validez de la información obtenida. Por último, se diseña una herramienta de medida que posibilita depurar el indicador, una vez aplicado sobre el universo de medios de proximidad digitales de la comunidad autónoma de Andalucía (n= 212). El resultado de este proceso es un indicador sintético del compromiso de los medios de proximidad con los integrantes de su entorno (ICS). Esta herramienta de transferencia puede aportar elementos de reflexión a los medios digitales acerca de cómo afrontan sus relaciones con las audiencias y otros agentes del entorno local., Proximity journalism has historically played a key role in the shaping of local and regional communities. In a context of strong transformation of the journalistic sector, previous studies have shown that some local news initiatives achieve to remain as central actors in democratic systems, thanks to the fact that they promote social cohesion. For all these reasons, it is useful to address the construction of an Engagement Indicator (SEI) that serves to measure the commitment of the local press. The objective of this work is to develop a measurer of the social commitment of local media in order to guarantee citizens’ access to quality information that meets the standards to respond to their interests. Likewise, the results will contribute to delivering an explanatory model that evaluates this commitment. In this sense, a mixed research strategy is used, in which semi-structured interviews are combined with case studies and content analysis. First, the interviews allow us to outline the variables that should be tackled to measure the commitment of a news media. After identifying these categories, the case studies serve to compare the validity of the information obtained. Finally, a measurement tool is designed that makes it possible to refine the indicator, once applied to the universe of digital proximity media of the autonomous community of Andalusia (n= 212). The result of this process is a synthetic indicator of the commitment of the local media with the members of their environment (SEI). This transfer tool can provide elements of reflection to digital media on how they face their relationships with audiences and other agents in the local environment.

The concept of Health-Related Quality of Life encompasses various factors that contribute to an individual’s overall quality of life in the context of health care. It is the perception of an individual or group regarding their physical and mental health over a period of time. At the individual level, Health-Related Quality of Life considers self-reported perceptions of health, such as energy levels and mood, as well as other factors such as risks and conditions, functional capacities, social support and socio-economic status. Health-related Quality of Life is determined through the administration of questionnaires that may be generic or disease-specific. These questionnaires have become an essential tool for public health surveillance, as they provide valuable indicators of unmet needs and intervention outcomes. The present work focuses on the development of a questionnaire for Epidermolysis Bullosa, which is a rare disease, and proposes an index that defines a patient-designed Quality of Life that correlates with an index of uneasiness based on the patient’s perspective on the disease.

This project aims to identify and evaluate relevant indicators when performing a SLCA during the use phase, specifically for wind power in Sweden. The project was carried out in three stages: first, the collection of relevant data to identify potential indicators; second, the analysis and categorisation of the identified indicators to compare them with the scope of this article; and third, a study visit to the community and the wind power park in Jädraås, Gävleborg County. The study visit was used to gain a better understanding of the actual impact of a wind power park and to relate the identified indicators to real-world examples. The result is made up of 147 identified indicators, which were sorted into 10 main categories. Some categories were further divided into subcategories. The sorting of indicators is presented in 10 tables, along with a table providing an overview of all categories, the number of subcategories, and the number of indicators. The intention of the result is to encourage continued work with use phase within SLCA and inspire what can and should be taken into consideration., Social Livscykelanalys, SLCA, är ett verktyg som används för hållbarhetsanalyser gällande de sociala aspekterna. Detta är ett relativt nytt koncept i jämförelse med det mer väletablerade konceptet livscykelanalys. Det resulterar i ett gap i material gällande metod och tillvägagångssätt, framförallt när det kommer till användningsfasen. Detta projekt syftar därför till att undersöka och utvärdera indikatorer som är relevanta för att utföra en SLCA för användningsfasen, projektet är även avgränsat till vindkraft i Sverige specifikt. Projektet har utförts i tre huvudsteg: först en insamling av relevant data för att identifiera potentiella indikatorer, en analys och kategorisering av de funna indikatorerna för att jämföra med denna artikels avgränsningar och sista steget vilket var ett studiebesök till bygden och vindkraftsparken Jädraås i Gävleborgs län. Studiebesöket användes för att få en bättre förståelse av den faktiska påverkan från en vindkraftspark och för att relatera de identifierade indikatorerna till verklighetsbaserade exempel. Resultatet var 147 identifierade indikatorer som sorterades in i 10 stycken huvudkategorier, några av kategorierna delades ytterligare in i underkategorier på grund av den stora mängden indikatorer. Detta gjordes även för att underlätta för läsaren och göra resultatet mer hanterbart. Sorteringen presenterades i 10 tabeller tillsammans med en tabell som ger en helhetsbild över alla kategorier, antalet underkategorier och antal indikatorer. Resultatets mål är att uppmuntra till fortsatt arbete med användningsfasen inom ramen för SLCA och inspirera gällande vad som kan och bör tas i beaktning.

Background Il Sistema di Emergenza Sanitaria Territoriale (SEST) italiano non è uniforme a livello nazionale, bensì è costituito da una molteplicità di modelli organizzativi a livello sub-regionale. Questa disomogeneità non deve compromettere la qualità e l’equità dei servizi per i cittadini, tuttavia, il Nuovo Sistema di Garanzia (NSG) include solo due indicatori riguardanti il SEST, fornendo quindi una scarsa valutazione del settore pre-ospedaliero. Obiettivo L’obiettivo di questo lavoro `e quello di individuare un set di indicatori di performance che consenta di valutare il SEST sulla base dei dati dei flussi informativi sanitari. Metodi È stata condotta un’indagine mediante Metodo Delphi articolata su due focus group per l’individuazione degli indicatori e un questionario online rivolto a medici e infermieri del settore per la valutazione degli stessi. Risultati Tredici indicatori di performance sono stati identificati e sperimentati sui dati della Regione Toscana mostrando differenze intraregionali. Conclusioni Gli indicatori identificati mettono in luce le disuguaglianze nelle performance dei SEST. L’adozione di tali metriche può supportare i decision makers nella gestione e programmazione delle risorse e degli interventi nel settore dell’emergenza sanitaria territoriale., Background The Italian Emergency Medical System (EMS) is heterogeneous across the nation. It is organized differently at subregional level. While this variability should not impair the fairness of healthcare service, the Ministry of Health monitoring program includes only two indicators that asses the EMS, offering a limited perspective on the quality of pre-hospital care. Objective This study aims to identify a set of performance indicators that can be used to evaluate EMS from routinely collected electronic health records. Methods A Delphi study structured around two focus groups was conducted in order to identify the set of indicators. Furthermore, an online survey for emergency physicians and nurses was carried out to assess the agreement on the set of indicators. Results The Delphi panel identified thirteen performance indicators. Subsequently the set of indicators was tested using data from the Tuscany region highlighting differences within the same region. Conclusions The set of indicators highlights discrepancies in EMS performance. Implementing such metrics can support decision makers in the management and planning of resources and interventions within the EMS.

Coastal areas offer a diversity of habitats providing refugia and nursery for fish, promoting their biodiversity and associated contributions to people. Yet, natural coastlines are replaced by artificial infrastructures such as seaports and the influence of this artificialization on fish biodiversity remains poorly known. Here, we assessed fish biodiversity indicators using environmental DNA metabarcoding inside seaports and adjacent natural habitats including no‐take marine reserves. We found that species assemblages within seaports were primarily influenced by their area and habitat. We detected a similar species richness in seaports and reserves during lockdown, but seaports host more threatened species than natural habitats. Yet, species turnover between seaports was lower than between natural areas, reflecting biotic homogenization. Seaport managers should consider that complexifying artificial infrastructures could increase habitat diversity and coastal fish biodiversity. Our study illustrates that eDNA‐based indicators can be integrated in management and policy applications toward greener marine artificial infrastructures.

The ZHAW Zurich University of Applied Sciences (ZHAW) has become a member of the Coalition for Advancing Research Assessment (CoARA) at the end 2022. In accordance with the commitments of this membership, the ZHAW has drafted an action plan outlining the conceptualisation, testing and implementation of changes in research assessment practices until the end of 2027. The ZHAW is a university of applied sciences and has chosen focus areas in accordance with the nature of our research activities. In particular, we have identified 3 levels and 4 dimensions that are of particular relevance to us: hence our action plan is running under the headline “addressing three levels and four dimensions”. We have found partners across Switzerland and Europe who are willing to discuss and develop these levels and dimensions with us. We thus have been able to be included in the first wave of CoARA working groups and will potentially participate in further such groups. The levels of research assessment we will consider are: the researcher, organizational units within the university, and the university as a whole. The four dimensions we want to focus our discussion on are: assessment of practice-based / transdisciplinary research and development and its impact, integration of Open Science (OS) contributions into research assessments, the responsible use of quantitative research assessment indicators, and career assessment of researchers. We have identified 11 Milestones we will work on until the end of 2027.

This paper first identifies the level of cyclical systemic risks in Spain, also calibrating their impact on the solvency of the banking system, and, second, assesses the costs and benefits of the countercyclical use of capital requirements. The first part of the paper is based on an integrated analysis of indicators and other quantitative and qualitative information, while impacts are calibrated using a combination of macroeconomic projection models and stress tests. The second part of the analysis is undertaken using quantile regression models, applied to European data, Bayesian time series models, applied to data for Spain, and a general equilibrium model. The integrated analysis to identify cyclical systemic risks shows the importance of a holistic approach monitoring the different dimensions of these risks, while the impact calibration shows that slight or intermediate materialisation of such risks also involves material capital consumption for the banking sector. The different methodologies applied for cost-benefit analysis find favourable results, in terms of GDP and credit growth, for the activation of releasable capital requirements in situations where cyclical systemic risks are intermediate and high and, notably, for their release in adverse cyclical phases, Este documento presenta un conjunto amplio de análisis para, en primer lugar, identificar el nivel de los riesgos sistémicos cíclicos en España y calibrar su impacto sobre la solvencia del sistema bancario y, adicionalmente, valorar los costes y beneficios del uso contracíclico de los requerimientos de capital bancario. La primera parte del análisis se sustenta en una utilización integrada de indicadores, junto con otra información cuantitativa y cualitativa, y en la combinación de modelos de proyección macroeconómica y pruebas de resistencia para calibrar impactos. La segunda parte del análisis se aborda con modelos de regresiones cuantílicas aplicados a datos europeos, modelos de serie temporal bajo enfoque bayesiano aplicados a datos de España, y con un modelo teórico de equilibrio general. El análisis integrado para el seguimiento de riesgos sistémicos cíclicos muestra la importancia de un enfoque holístico que monitorice las distintas dimensiones de estos riesgos, mientras que la calibración de impactos muestra que la materialización leve o intermedia de los mismos también implica un consumo de capital relevante para el sector bancario. Las distintas metodologías aplicadas para el análisis de coste-beneficio encuentran resultados favorables, en términos de crecimiento del PIB y del crédito, de la activación de requerimientos de capital liberables en situaciones en las que los riesgos sistémicos cíclicos son intermedios y elevados y, de forma destacada, de su liberación en fases cíclicas adversas.

Purpose: This research aims to produce indicators for the cross-sector collaboration process in the KLA Program to measure and evaluate cross-sector performance based on health and welfare indicators in Indonesia. Theoretical reference: This research uses theories from Thomson and Perry in 2006 and also research by Balqis, 2023. Thomson and Perry perfected Gray's theory, which was an early pioneer in the formation of collaboration theory (describing a multidimensional model of collaboration). Method: This research uses a qualitative method with a Rapid Assessment Procedure design, discussing child-friendly district/city programs which are then validated by policymakers. Results and Conclusion: This research produces indicators of cross-collaboration in the KLA program. 17 indicators were identified in five dimensions of collaboration, namely governance dimension which consists of 3 indicators (membership, institutional rules, structural changes) and 7 sub-indicators; The administrative dimension consists of 6 indicators (communication channels, clarity of roles and responsibilities, coordination of policy makers and implementers, completeness of information media data, program evaluation/monitoring) and 14 sub-indicators; The autonomy dimension consists of 2 indicators (programs and budgets) and 9 sub-indicators; The mutuality dimension consists of 3 indicators (exchange of resources, appreciation, HR training in understanding children's rights conventions) and 6 sub-indicators; The norms dimension consist of 3 indicators (trust, commitment, and reward) and 5 sub-indicators. The conclusion of this research is the indicators resulting from the five dimensions of collaboration can be used as a reference to prove quantitatively and used as a tool in measuring cross-sectoral performance in child-friendly district/city programs. Implications of research: These findings contribute to cross-sector collaboration in child-friendly city programs. Apart from that, thi

Purpose: An increasing number of Danish municipalities wish to minimize tax avoidance due to profit shifting in their public procurement. To facilitate this effort, this study aims to develop a firm-level indicator to assess the potential risk of profit shifting (PS-risk) from Danish subsidiaries of multinational corporations to subsidiaries in low-tax jurisdictions. Design/methodology/approach: Drawing from previous research, PS-risk is assumed to depend on the maximum difference in the effective corporate tax rate between the Danish subsidiary and other subsidiaries under the global ultimate owner, in conjunction with the tax regulations relevant to profit shifting. The top 400 contractors in Danish municipalities from 2017 to 2019 are identified and their relative PS-risk is estimated by combining information about corporate ownership structure with country-specific information on corporate tax rates, tax regulations and profit shifting from three independent data sets. Findings: The PS-risk estimates are highly significantly positively correlated across the data sets and show that 17%–23% of the total procurement sum of the Danish municipalities has been spent on contracts with corporations having a medium to high PS-risk. On average, PS-risk is highest for large non-Scandinavian multinational contractors in sectors such as construction, health and information processing. Social implications: Danish public procurers may use the indicator to screen potential suppliers and, if procurement regulations permit, to ensure high-PS-risk bidders document their tax practices. Originality/value: The PS-risk indicator is novel, and to the best of the authors’ knowledge, the analysis provides the first estimate of PS-risk in Danish public procurement.

Herbicides play a pivotal role in paddy rice cultivation by effectively controlling weeds, thus ensuring optimal resource utilisation and higher crop yields, making them indispensable for efficient rice production systems. However, herbicide applications could be related to potential environmental impacts such as water contamination and harm to non-target species, requiring special attention in their management to ensure the long-term sustainability of rice farming practices. The development and utilisation of robust risk assessment indicators for pesticides are essential tools in evaluating and mitigating potential environmental and human health hazards associated with pesticide use in agricultural practices. The Environmental Potential Risk Indicator for Pesticides (EPRIP) is not suitable for rice paddy cultivation due to its limitations in accurately assessing pesticide risk in this specific agricultural context. This is primarily attributed to the unique hydrological characteristics and ecosystem dynamics of paddy fields, which significantly differ from other agricultural systems. To address this issue and to enhance the accuracy of pesticide risk assessment in rice paddy fields, EPRIP has been improved and validated in two agricultural seasons. A synergistic approach involving field experiments and enhanced EPRIP model simulations was employed to assess the risk associated with the application of two herbicides in Italian paddy rice systems. The observed and model-predicted surface water (SW) concentrations exhibited a close alignment, though an overestimation was observed for groundwater (GW). In general, the estimated Risk Points (1 for SW and 4 for GW) were largely in accord with those derived from the field experiments (1 for SW and 3 for GW), suggesting that the refined EPRIP model holds promise for conducting reliable risk assessments following herbicide applications in such contexts.

BACKGROUND: Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) indicator 3.b.3 monitors progress in medicines' accessibility for adults and has significant limitations when applying to medicines for children. An adapted indicator methodology was developed to fill this gap, but no proof of its robustness exists. We provide this evidence through sensitivity analyses.METHODS: Data on availability and prices of child medicines from ten historical datasets were combined to create datasets for analysis: Dataset 1 (medicines selected at random) and Dataset 2 (preference given to available medicines, to better capture affordability of medicines). A base case scenario and univariate sensitivity analyses were performed to test critical components of the methodology, including the new variable of number of units needed for treatment (NUNT), disease burden (DB) weighting, and the National Poverty Line (NPL) limits. Additional analyses were run on a continuously smaller basket of medicines to explore the minimum number of medicines required. Mean facility scores for access were calculated and compared.RESULTS: The mean facility score for Dataset 1 and Dataset 2 within the base case scenario was 35.5% (range 8.0-58.8%) and 76.3% (range 57.2-90.6%). Different NUNT scenarios led to limited variations in mean facility scores of + 0.1% and -0.2%, or differences of + 4.4% and -2.1% at the more critical NPL of $5.50 (Dataset 1). For Dataset 2, variations to the NUNT generated differences of + 0.0% and -0.6%, at an NPL of $5.50 the differences were + 5.0 and -2.0%. Different approaches for weighting for DB induced considerable fluctuations of 9.0% and 11.2% respectively. Stable outcomes with less than 5% change in mean facility score were observed for a medicine basket down to 12 medicines. For smaller baskets, scores increased more rapidly with a widening range.CONCLUSION: This study has confirmed that the proposed adaptations to make SDG indicator 3.b.3 appropriate for childre

Within the European Human Biomonitoring (HBM) Initiative HBM4EU we derived HBM indicators that were designed to help answering key policy questions and support chemical policies. The result indicators convey information on chemicals exposure of different age groups, sexes, geographical regions and time points by comparing median exposure values. If differences are observed for one group or the other, policy measures or risk management options can be implemented. Impact indicators support health risk assessment by comparing exposure values with health-based guidance values, such as human biomonitoring guidance values (HBM-GVs). In general, the indicators should be designed to translate complex scientific information into short and clear messages and make it accessible to policy makers but also to a broader audience such as stakeholders (e.g. NGO's), other scientists and the general public. Based on harmonized data from the HBM4EU Aligned Studies (2014-2021), the usefulness of our indicators was demonstrated for the age group children (6-11 years), using two case examples: one phthalate (Diisobutyl phthalate: DiBP) and one non-phthalate substitute (Di-isononyl cyclohexane-1,2- dicarboxylate: DINCH). For the comparison of age groups, these were compared to data for teenagers (12-18 years), and time periods were compared using data from the DEMOCOPHES project (2011-2012). Our result indicators proved to be suitable for demonstrating the effectiveness of policy measures for DiBP and the need of continuous monitoring for DINCH. They showed similar exposure for boys and girls, indicating that there is no need for gender focused interventions and/or no indication of sex-specific exposure patterns. They created a basis for a targeted approach by highlighting relevant geographical differences in internal exposure. An adequate data basis is essential for revealing differences for all indicators. This was particularly evident in our studies on the indicators on age differenc

In the Family Medicine Unit No. 73, the CACU_01 indicator is estimated below what was expected. Which helps measure the proportion of women between 25 and 64 years old, with screening for Cervical Uterine Cancer, through the Papanicolaou test, to identify women with precancerous lesions and early-stage cancer, to promote diagnosis and timely treatment. GENERAL OBJECTIVE: Determine the most frequent causes of poor performance of the CaCu_01 indicator in the Family Medicine Unit No. 73. MATERIAL AND METHODS: An analytical, cross-sectional and observational study was carried out in women aged 25 to 64 years, using application of a self-applicable data collection instrument RESULTS: 382 women between 25 and 64 years old participated. 97.6% of those surveyed responded that they do know what the Pap smear is, 32.4% responded that it is used to prevent cancer. 67.3% responded that the test should be performed every year. 54.5% answered that they did not feel embarrassed or ashamed to take the test. 84.6% responded that they have received information about the study within the institution, with the medical staff being the ones who have given said information, with 65.7%. 88.2% have been sent for testing, of which 88% have attended., En la Unidad de Medicina familiar No. 73 el indicador CACU_01 se estiman por debajo de lo esperado. El cual ayuda a medir la proporción de mujeres entre 25 y 64 años, con tamizaje de Cáncer Cérvico Uterino, a través de la prueba de Papanicolaou, para identificar a las mujeres con lesiones precancerosas y cáncer en etapa temprana, a fin de promover el diagnóstico y tratamiento oportunos. OBJETIVO GENERAL: Determinar las causas más frecuentes de un bajo desempeño del indicador CaCu_01 en la Unidad de Medicina Familiar No. 73. MATERIAL Y MÉTODOS: Se realizó un estudio analítico, transversal y observacional, en las mujeres de 25 a 64 años, mediante la aplicación de un instrumento de recolección de datos auto aplicable RESULTADOS: Participaron 382 mujeres de 25 a 64 años. 97.6% de las encuestadas respondieron que sí saben qué es el Papanicolau, un 32.4% respondieron que se usa para prevenir cáncer. 67.3% respondieron que la prueba se debe realizar cada año. 54.5% contesto que no sentía pena o vergüenza realizarse la prueba. 84.6% respondió que, si ha recibido información acerca del estudio dentro de la institución, siendo el personal médico quien ha dado dicha información, con un 65.7%. Un 88.2% ha sido enviada a realizarse la prueba de las cuales un 88% ha acudido.

International large-scale assessments such as PISA or PIAAC have started to provide public or scientific use files for log data; that is, events, event-related attributes and timestamps of test-takers’ interactions with the assessment system. Log data and the process indicators derived from it can be used for many purposes. However, the intended uses and interpretations of process indicators require validation, which here means a theoretical and/or empirical justification that inferences about (latent) attributes of the test-taker’s work process are valid. This article reviews and synthesizes measurement concepts from various areas, including the standard assessment paradigm, the continuous assessment approach, the evidence-centered design (ECD) framework, and test validation. Based on this synthesis, we address the questions of how to ensure the valid interpretation of process indicators by means of an evidence-centered design of the task situation, and how to empirically challenge the intended interpretation of process indicators by developing and implementing correlational and/or experimental validation strategies. For this purpose, we explicate the process of reasoning from log data to low-level features and process indicators as the outcome of evidence identification. In this process, contextualizing information from log data is essential in order to reduce interpretative ambiguities regarding the derived process indicators. Finally, we show that empirical validation strategies can be adapted from classical approaches investigating the nomothetic span and construct representation. Two worked examples illustrate possible validation strategies for the design phase of measurements and their empirical evaluation.

Methodological studies usually gauge response quality in narrative open-ended questions with the proportion of nonresponse, response length, response time, and number of themes mentioned by respondents. However, not all of these indicators may be comparable and appropriate for evaluating open-ended questions in a cross-national context. This study assesses the cross-national appropriateness of these indicators and their potential bias. For the analysis, we use data from two web surveys conducted in May 2014 with 2,685 respondents and in June 2014 with 2,689 respondents and compare responses from Germany, Great Britain, the United States, Mexico, and Spain. We assess open-ended responses for a variety of topics (e.g., national identity, gender attitudes, and citizenship) with these indicators and evaluate whether they arrive at similar or contradictory conclusions about response quality. We find that all indicators are potentially biased in a cross-national context due to linguistic and cultural reasons and that the bias differs in prevalence across topics. Therefore, we recommend using multiple indicators as well as items covering a range of topics when evaluating response quality in open-ended questions across countries.

In the EU, territorial inequalities in terms of income and poverty have been broadly analysed at the national and regional levels. However, mainly due to the lack of reliable data, very little attention has been paid to territorial inequalities within European regions, namely, at a more local level, such as in metropolitan areas, cities or neighbourhoods. This paper proposes a methodology to disaggregate official regional poverty figures into poverty indicators for smaller spatial units, mainly local administrative units. For each country, poverty figures at the regional level from household surveys are combined with microcensus data that contain details on the local entities of residence to disaggregate the regional poverty indicator. In contrast to previous methodologies, our proposed technique guarantees consistency between the local poverty estimates and the regional poverty figures through a second step that adjusts the initial estimates based on generalized cross entropy. The procedure is applied for four European countries: France, Spain, the United Kingdom and Portugal. The resulting local estimates provide an intraregional map of poverty and some insights into the particular behaviour of the capital regions and the disparities between city centres and their surrounding areas., En la UE, las desigualdades territoriales en cuanto a ingresos y pobreza se han analizado ampliamente a nivel nacional y regional. Sin embargo, debido principalmente a la falta de datos fiables, se ha prestado muy poca atención a las desigualdades territoriales dentro de las regiones europeas a un nivel más local, como pueden ser las zonas metropolitanas, las ciudades o los barrios. En el presente artículo se propone una metodología para desglosar las cifras regionales oficiales de pobreza en indicadores de pobreza para unidades espaciales más pequeñas, principalmente unidades administrativas locales. Para cada país, se combinan las cifras de pobreza a nivel regional procedentes de las encuestas de hogares con datos de microcensos que contienen detalles sobre las entidades locales de residencia para desglosar el indicador de pobreza regional. A diferencia de las metodologías anteriores, la técnica que se propone aquí garantiza la coherencia entre las estimaciones de pobreza locales y las cifras de pobreza regionales mediante un segundo paso que ajusta las estimaciones iniciales basadas en la entropía cruzada generalizada. El procedimiento se aplica en cuatro países europeos: Francia, España, el Reino Unido y Portugal. Las estimaciones locales resultantes proporcionan un mapa intrarregional de la pobreza y algunas percepciones del comportamiento particular de las regiones que albergan la capital y las disparidades entre los centros de las ciudades y sus zonas circundantes.

Small area estimation is receiving considerable attention due to the high demand for small area statistics. Small area estimators of means and totals have been widely studied in the literature. Moreover, in the last years also small area estimators of quantiles and poverty indicators have been studied. In contrast, small area estimators of inequality indicators, which are often used in socio-economic studies, have received less attention. In this article, we propose a robust method based on the M-quantile regression model for small area estimation of the Theil index and the Gini coefficient, two popular inequality measures. To estimate the mean squared error a non-parametric bootstrap is adopted. A robust approach is used because often inequality is measured using income or consumption data, which are often non-normal and affected by outliers. The proposed methodology is applied to income data to estimate the Theil index and the Gini coefficient for small domains in Tuscany (provinces by age groups), using survey and Census micro-data as auxiliary variables. In addition, a design-based simulation is carried out to study the behaviour of the proposed robust estimators. The performance of the bootstrap mean squared error estimator is also investigated in the simulation study.

In this article, the stretching properties of fabrics during the production of textile fabrics are analyzed based on the standard requirements.

Research on natural minerals and their chemical bonding to economically critical raw materials is a viable industrially relevant research area due to its increasing demand. Meeting demands requires fast, robust, and efficient techniques to explore new ore deposits and continuous operation of active mines as well as recycling. One of the most critical metals is gold which occurs in three main types of ore deposits: i) hydrothermal quartz veins and related deposits in metamorphic and igneous rocks; ii) volcanic-exhalative sulfide deposits, and iii) consolidated to unconsolidated placer deposits. Gold is commonly found as disseminated grains in quartz veins in pyrite and other sulfides or as rounded grains, flakes or nuggets in deposits in riverbanks, in contact with metamorphic or hypothermal deposits (e.g., skarns) or epithermal deposits such as volcanic fumaroles. Pathfinder elements and indicator minerals provide means to explore large areas for their potential mineral commodities such as gold, diamond, base metals, platinum group of elements, and rare earth elements by narrowing the search area to reduce exploration costs. The recent technological advancement in obtaining rapid geochemical results using field portable analytical devices as alternatives to the old approach where collected field samples are carried to the laboratory calls for further investigation to explore other techniques in mineral and metal exploration. In this Thesis, I investigate the properties of artisanal small-scale gold mining concentrate, outcrop, bulk Au, and drill hole samples from the Kubi Gold Project of the Asante Gold Corporation near Dunkwa-on-Offin in the Central Region of Ghana with a materials science perspective. X-ray diffraction (XRD) is used to identify SiO2 (quartz), Fe3O4 (magnetite), garnet, pyrite (FeS2), periclase (MgO), arsenopyrites, pyrrhotite, biotite, titanium oxide, and Fe2O3 (hematite) as the main indicator minerals in the mining site with less significant cont, Funding agencies: The Swedish Energy Agency (Grant No. 43606-1), Carl Tryggers Foundation (CTS20:272), and the Swedish Government Strategic Research Area in Materials Science on Functional Materials at Linköping University (Faculty Grant SFO-Mat-LiU No. 2009 00971). Research conducted at MAX IV supported by the Swedish Research Council under contract 2018-07152, the Swedish Governmental Agency for Innovation Systems under contract 2018-04969, and Formas under contract 2019-02496. The computations were enabled by resources provided by the Swedish National Infrastructure for Computing (SNIC) at the National Supercomputer Centre (NSC) partially funded by the Swedish Research Council through Grant Agreement No. 2016-07213. Asante Gold Corporation is acknowledged for supporting my industrial Ph.D. studies at Linköping University, Sweden and for providing samples for the research of pathfinder minerals.

A change in resource consumption patterns is crucial to avoid climate change, reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and to increase climate resilience and consequently, the idea of a circular economy (CE) has gained widespread attention. The resource intense building and construction sector has become subject to both internal and external pressure to become more circular. Throughout the sector, the environmental product declaration (EPD) is often used to communicate environmental and sustainability information about products but currently, the EPD lacks the inclusion of specific circularity information. This thesis aims to identify a suitable indicator for measuring the product circularity of construction products that can be implemented into the existing EPD-scheme. The study is based on an extensive literature review, qualitative interviews with green building councils (GBCs) and expert discussions with the ECO Platform task group for CE. The identified product circularity indicators have been assessed against a certain set of subjects and criteria to evaluate their inclusion of circularity subjects as well as their suitability to the EPD. The assessment identified two indicators scoring the highest, the Material Circularity Indicator (MCI) and the New Circularity Index (NCI). These indicators were included in a short pilot study to further evaluate their usability and applicability. The study concludes that both indicators are suitable for inclusion in the EPD-scheme to some extent, but they both lack a full inclusion of the end of life (EoL) stage. These subjects must be covered to ensure inclusion of comprehensive circularity information but nevertheless, the MCI and the NCI remains the best options., För att undvika klimatförändringar, minska utsläppen av växthusgaser och öka samhällets resiliens måste användandet av naturresurser förändras. I samband med en ny syn på resursanvändning har idén om en cirkulär ekonomi fått stor uppmärksamhet. Både interna och externa krav har ökat på den resursintensiva byggsektorn att bli mer cirkulär. I byggsektorn används ofta miljövarudeklarationer (EPD) för att kommunicera miljö- och hållbarhetsinformation om produkter. Idag saknar dock EPD-systemet specifik information om produkters cirkuläritetsprestanda. Detta examensarbete syftar därför till att identifiera en indikator som är lämplig för att mäta produktcirkuläritet hos byggprodukter och som kan implementeras i det befintliga EPD-systemet. Studien är baserad på en omfattande litteraturstudie och kvalitativa intervjuer med Green Building Councils (GBC) samt expertdiskussioner med ECO Platforms arbetsgrupp för cirkulär ekonomi. Ett antal identifierade indikatorer för produktcirkuläritet har utvärderats mot ett antal kriterier framtagna av arbetsgruppen. Målet var att utvärdera deras respektive inkludering av cirkuläritet samt deras lämplighet i förhållande till en EPD. De två indikatorer som fick högst poäng, Material Circularity Indicator (MCI) och New Circularity Index (NCI), inkluderades i en pilotstudie för att utvärdera deras användbarhet och tillämpbarhet i praktiken. Studien drar slutsatsen att båda indikatorerna är lämpliga för att inkluderas i EPD-systemet till en viss utsträckning. Dock saknar de båda en fullständig inkludering av cirkuläritetsperspektiv som täcker produktens slutskede i livscykeln. Dessa perspektiv är av stor vikt för att säkerställa framförandet av fullständig cirkuläritetsinformation. Trots detta visar studien att MCI och NCI är de indikatorer som utgör de bästa alternativen för att integreras i en EPD.

Cyclic adenosine monophosphate (cAMP) is a canonical intracellular messenger playing diverse roles in cell functions. In neurons, cAMP promotes axonal growth during early development, and mediates sensory transduction and synaptic plasticity after maturation. The molecular cascades of cAMP are well documented, but its spatiotemporal profiles associated with neuronal functions remain hidden. Hence, we developed a genetically encoded cAMP indicator based on a bacterial cAMP-binding protein. This indicator “gCarvi” monitors [cAMP]i at 0.2 to 20 µM with a subsecond time resolution and a high specificity over cyclic guanosine monophosphate (cGMP). gCarvi can be converted to a ratiometric probe for [cAMP]i quantification and its expression can be specifically targeted to various subcellular compartments. Monomeric gCarvi also enables simultaneous multisignal monitoring in combination with other indicators. As a proof of concept, simultaneous cAMP/Ca2+ imaging in hippocampal neurons revealed a tight linkage of cAMP to Ca2+ signals. In cerebellar presynaptic boutons, forskolin induced nonuniform cAMP elevations among boutons, which positively correlated with subsequent increases in the size of the recycling pool of synaptic vesicles assayed using FM dye. Thus, the cAMP domain in presynaptic boutons is an important determinant of the synaptic strength., source:https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2122618119

Research has been carried out to examine the extraction and application of purple sweet potato tuber extract as an indicator of acid-base titration. Purple sweet potato tuber extract was obtained by extracting fresh tubers using ethanol 95% medical grade (PSPTE-95%) and ethanol 96% analytical grade (PSPTE-96%). Three variations of the maceration stage extracted samples. The extract was used for a phytochemical test and applied as an indicator for acid-base titration. Based on the research conducted, the rendement extract was extracted by ethanol 95% medical grade (PSPTE-95%) for the three stages of maceration are 4.34%, 4.76%, and 5.64%, the rendement extract was extracted by ethanol 96% analysis grade (PSPTE-96%) for the three stages of maceration are 7.09%, 12.16%, and 20.43%. PSPTE-95% and PSPTE-96% contain flavonoids, tannins, alkaloids, and saponins. PSPTE-95% and PSPTE-96% can be applied as indicators for titration of HCl solution with NaOH solution and HCl solution with NH4OH solution.

The objective of the paper is to better understand and quantify the flow structure in fractured rocks from flow logs, and to propose relevant indicators for validating, calibrating or even rejecting hydrogeological models. We first studied what the inflow distribution tells us about the permeability structure from a series of analyses: distribution of transmissivities as a function of depth, proportion of flowing sections as a function of section scale, and scaling of the arithmetically-averaged and geometrically-averaged permeability. We then define three indicators that describe few fundamental characteristics of the flow/permeability, whatever the scale: a percolation scale ls, the way permeability increases with scale above ls, and the variability of permeability. A 4th indicator on the representative elemental volume could in principle be defined but the data show that this volume/scale is beyond the 300 m investigated. We tested a series of numerical models built in three steps: the geo-DFN based on the observed fracture network, the open-DFN which is the part of the geo-DFN where fractures are open, and a transmissivity model applying on each fracture of the open-DFN (Discrete Fracture Network). The analysis of the models showed that the percolation scale is controlled by the open-DFN structure and that the percolation scale can be predicted from a scale analysis of the percolation parameter (basically, the third moment of the fracture size distribution that provides a measure of the network connectivity). The way permeability increases with scale above the percolation threshold is controlled by the transmissivity model and in particular by the dependence of the fracture transmissivity on either the orientation of the fractures via a stress-controlled transmissivity or their size or both. The comparison with data on the first two indicators shows that a model that matches the characteristics of the geo-DFN with an open fraction of 15% as measured adequately f, QC 20230711

Swedish Environmental Emissions Data (SMED) is a collaboration between IVL Swedish Environmental Research Institute, SCB Statistics Sweden, the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU), and the Swedish Meteorological and Hydrological Institute (SMHI). Recent attention has been focused on the potential environmental and health impacts of microplastics, but there is still significant knowledge missing regarding these impacts. The Swedish Environmental Protection Agency has is responsible for the national plastics coordination, in which one aim is to develop new knowledge in relation to important sources of microplastic emissions. Within the scope of this work, SMED has been assigned to review the role of paints as a source of microplastics and suggest feasible indicators to monitor annual release from paints. This report aims to compile existing knowledge of various paint and coating systems and their contribution to microplastic emissions. Sectors responsible for the highest emissions have been identified to facilitate prioritization of actions to lower microplastic emissions from paints. Additionally, this report proposes a key indicator for tracking annual national levels of microplastic emissions from paints. The report concludes that the sectors with the greatest risk for microplastic emissions from paint include architecture, antifouling and hull coatings, coatings used in general industry, and the automotive industry. In Sweden, data on the volume of architectural paints and antifouling/marine coatings placed on the market can be readily obtained from the Swedish product registry. However, information regarding paint usage in general industry and the automotive sector is limited because coatings are often applied overseas prior to import into Sweden and many of the products coated in Sweden are exported abroad. This project has developed a simplified method to calculate annual microplastic emissions from paint in Sweden including emissions from archite, De potentiella miljö- och hälsoeffekterna av mikroplaster har den senaste tiden uppmärksammats, men det finns fortfarande betydande kunskapsluckor. Naturvårdsverket ansvarar för den nationella plastsamordningen inom vilket det ingår att öka kunskap. Detta kan t.ex. inkludera att identifiera viktiga källor till utsläpp av mikroplast och att arbeta för att minska utsläppen av mikroplast från dessa källor. SMED har inom ramen för detta arbete fått i uppdrag av Naturvårdsverket att utreda färg som källa till mikroplast och föreslå indikatorer för att följa upp årliga utsläppsmängder. Denna rapport syftar till att sammanställa befintlig kunskap om olika färg- och ytbehandlingssystem och deras bidrag till mikroplastutsläpp. Sektorer som ansvarar för de största utsläppen har identifierats för att möjliggöra prioritering av åtgärder för att minska mikroplastutsläppen från färger. Dessutom föreslår rapporten en indikator för att följa upp de årliga nationella utsläppen av mikroplastutsläpp från färger. SMED drar slutsatsen att de användningsområden där det råder störst risk för utsläpp av mikroplast från färg inkluderar: husfärg, båtfärg inklusive antifouling (påväxthindrande system) för båtar, ytbehandlingar inom industrin och speciellt fordonstillverkning. I Sverige kan uppgifter om volym husfärg och båtfärg inklusive antifouling som sätts på marknaden erhållas från det svenska produktregistret. Information om färganvändning inom industrin och fordonssektorn är dock begränsad på grund av att en betydande mängd av dessa ytbehandlingar sker utomlands och många av de produkter som behandlas i Sverige exporteras utomlands. Projektet utvecklade en förenklad metod för att beräkna årliga utsläpp av mikroplast från färg i Sverige inom byggnads- och den marina sektorn. Emissionsfaktorer för olika delar av färgens livscykel inkluderades och ett spann för det fasta innehållet i färgen togs fram baserade på en sammanställning av kommersiellt tillgängliga färger, vilka användes för att

The spatial and temporal variability of macrophyte sampling in polyhaline lagoons (with an annual average salinity of >18 PSU) in the context of the EU's Water Framework Directive is well estimated. However, there is a need to better define the variability of in-situ observations (evaluating coverage) between and among team members. This Inter-Laboratory Comparison (ILC) is based on in situ observations and was conducted with service providers with whom we usually perform our diagnostics, while implementing the specific DCE macrophyte protocol for poly-euhaline lagoons., La variabilité spatiale et temporelle des prélèvements de macrophytes réalisés sur les lagunes poly-euhalines (salinité moyenne annuelle >18 PSU) dans le cadre de la DCE est bien estimée. En revanche, la variabilité, entre agent d'une même équipe et inter-équipe, liée aux observations réalisées in situ (évaluation du recouvrement) reste à préciser. Cette Comparaison Inter Laboratoire (CIL) s’appuie sur des observations in situ et a été réalisée avec les prestataires avec qui nous réalisons habituellement nos diagnostics en mettant en oeuvre le protocole DCE macrophyte spécifique aux lagunes poly-euhalines

De variabele waterjuffer is geen zeldzame soort. Toch verdient de soort aandacht, omdat het een indicator is van goed ontwikkelde sloten.

Italy is Europe's leading rice producer, with over half of total production almost totally concentrated in the north-western part of the Padana plain. In this area, rice irrigation has traditionally been carried out by wet seeding and continuous flooding. The replacement of this technique with the dry seeding and delayed flooding in the last 15 years brought economic benefits to farmers but also strong impacts to the water resource system of the area, characterized by a strong interaction between irrigation and shallow aquifer levels. Wet seeding and Alternate Wetting and Drying (AWD) could be seen as an alternative irrigation strategy; however, its environmental, economic and social sustainability must be investigated before supporting the dissemination of this "water-saving" irrigation technique over the territory in cooperation with decision-makers and water resource managers. In this paper, the results of an experimental activity carried out in a platform established in the main Italian rice district to compare three irrigation strategies (wet seeding and traditional flooding-WFL, dry seeding and delayed flooding from around the 3-leaf stage-DFL, wet seeding and alternated wetting and drying from the tillering stage-AWD) and data further provided by the farm holder (agronomic inputs and economic costs for the three options) were used to assess their economic and environmental sustainability through an assessment procedure based on quantitative indicators. Interviews with rice growers in the area were used to identify barriers to the adoption of AWD and subsequently propose ways to overcome them. AWD proved to be economically viable and to reduce the irrigation need in the peak month (June) without significantly affecting rice yield or quality (cadmium and arsenic content in rice grain). Additionally, it guarantees the recharging of the phreatic aquifer in the first period of the irrigation season, while reducing the methane (CH4) emissions, facing another signif

This paper aims to provide a broad perspective on the development of benchmarking open data efforts through indices and rankings over the years, both at the level of countries and allowing for a cross-country comparison. The methodology follows a systematic search for the relevant resources, their classification and identification of six open data benchmarks to be further analyzed, the identification of their key components through decomposition, their description, and identifying the similarities and differences. Three major groups of indices and four periods that characterize the efforts to benchmark and measure the development of open data are identified, where the first measure the openness of the selected categories of data, the second focuses on different aspects of the open data ecosystem, using a large number of variables, and the third is a combination of both approaches. Recommendations as well as trends that can form the benchmarking frameworks in the future are also discussed. The findings are of a high importance for individual countries, which allow for correct and accurate interpretation of the results changes in the scope of a given index or rank, i.e., whether the difference in results is the result of national efforts or the subject of changes in the specific index, as well as how to combine and interpret the results of a number of indices for correct decision-making and for the definition of the future actions where the results vary significantly. In addition, the findings are also important for international organizations publishing benchmarking reports., Tento příspěvek si klade za cíl poskytnout široký přehled o vývoji hodnocení otevřených dat pomocí indexů a pořadí v průběhu let, a to jak na úrovni jednotlivých zemí, tak s možností srovnání mezi více zeměmi. Metodika využívá systematické vyhledávání relevantních zdrojů, jejich klasifikaci a identifikaci šesti hodnotících rámců pro otevřená data k další analýze, identifikaci jejich klíčových komponent pomocí dekompozice, jejich popis a vymezení jejich podobností a rozdílů. Jsou identifikovány tři hlavní skupiny indexů a čtyři období, která charakterizují snahy o hodnocení a měření vývoje otevřených dat, kde první měří otevřenost vybraných kategorií dat, druhý se zaměřuje na různé aspekty ekosystému otevřených dat s využitím velkého množství proměnných a třetí je kombinací obou přístupů. Diskutována jsou také doporučení a trendy, které mohou v budoucnu utvářet hodnotící rámce. Tato zjištění mají velký význam pro jednotlivé země, když umožňují správnou a přesnou interpretaci výsledků změn v rozsahu daného indexu nebo pořadí, tedy zda je rozdíl ve výstupech výsledkem snah daného státu nebo předmětem změn v konkrétním indexu, a také jak kombinovat a interpretovat výsledky těchto indexů pro správné rozhodování a pro definování budoucích akcí v případech, kde se výsledky výrazně odlišují. Kromě toho jsou tato zjištění důležitá také pro mezinárodní organizace, které publikují hodnotící zprávy.

The evaluation and performance metrics of the computer infrastructure contribute to the correct management and user experience of the hardware resources of an organization. Performance metrics are oriented towards customer satisfaction; therefore, they are evaluated by quantifying the importance of each one, in order to integrate them into functional areas and supported by information technologies. The objective of this study was to identify, through a comparative and quantitative analysis, the different performance and productivity indicators, to which the hardware resources are subject for their operation. With this analysis, the understanding of the performance indicators that allow the operability of the hardware resources was streamlined, in the same way, recommendations are offered to prolong the proper functioning of the hardware through good practices of use and subsequent maintenance. El resumen en inglés, Las métricas de evaluación y desempeño de la infraestructura informática contribuyen al correcto manejo y experiencia de usuario de los recursos hardware de una organización. Las métricas de rendimiento se orientan a la satisfacción del cliente, por lo cual, se evalúan cuantificando la importancia de cada una, con el fin de integrarlas en áreas funcionales y sustentadas por las tecnologías de la información. El objetivo de este estudio fue identificar a través de un análisis comparativo y cuantitativo los diferentes indicadores de desempeño y productividad, a los que se encuentran sujetos los recursos hardware para su funcionamiento. Con este análisis se agilizó la comprensión de los indicadores de desempeño que permiten la operabilidad de los recursos hardware, del mismo modo, se ofrece recomendaciones para prolongar el buen funcionamiento del hardware a través de buenas prácticas de uso y posterior mantenimiento.

In the interdisciplinary field of green space health research, there is a demand to reduce the effort to assess green space, especially for non-spatial disciplines. To address this issue, we developed AID-PRIGSHARE, an open-source script that automates over 400 QGIS processes to substantially reduces the time-intensive task of generating green space indicators. AID-PRIGSHARE calculates greenness, public green space, access to green infrastructure, and green space uses within distances of 100–1500 m around geolocations. This substantially reduces the effort for sensitivity analysis and may provide support for research that aims to understand the impact of different green space features and distances on health outcomes., Heritage & Architecture, Environmental Technology and Design

With the recent growing interest in improving fruit and vegetable intake for better health and limited research resources in many settings, simple-To-Administer and low-priced indicators are essential tools for monitoring fruit and vegetable intake at the population level. A potential candidate indicator is the fruit and vegetable component of the Global Dietary Recommendations score (FV-GDR) based on data collected using the Diet Quality Questionnaire (DQQ). We investigated the relative validity of FV-GDR collected with the DQQ to measure fruit and vegetable intake by comparison with a 24-hour recall (24hR) as a reference collected from 620 Vietnamese and 630 Nigerian adults in 2021. We found proportional differences in the prevalence of intake of vitamin A-rich vegetables, other vegetables, and other fruits in Vietnam, and all vegetable food groups in Nigeria. In both countries, we found a small difference in the total FV-GDR from DQQ compared to the 24hR, and the percentage of agreement between the two methods was quite high for the majority of the food groups. The FV-GDR calculated from the DQQ correlated with the actual intake, although less strongly than the FV-GDR from 24hR. The DQQ is a promising low-burden, low cost and simple tool to calculate FV-GDR and to monitor fruit and vegetable consumption at the population level. This provides the possibility of evaluating an important aspect of diet quality in low-resource settings.

To compete in higher education, ITB Swadharma needs to enhance its competence by designing and implementing effective strategies in managing higher education that align with its vision and mission. The success of management strategy can be achieved through a comprehensive evaluation of ITB Swadharma's management effectiveness. The Balanced Scorecard method and the interaction between ITB Swadharma's management and the PMB entity's management can be used to create a Balanced Scorecard strategy map. This map involves three strategic objectives from the perspective of development and advancement of learning, three strategic objectives from the perspective of internal business process efficiency, four strategic objectives from a customer satisfaction perspective, and two strategic objectives from the perspective of financial stability. To achieve these two strategic objectives in terms of financial aspects, a lagging indicator is required. Each strategic objective from the customer perspective requires actions. Strategic Objective 1 from the internal business process perspective requires 5 measurements, Strategic Objective 2 requires 3 measurements, and Strategic Objective 3 requires 3 measurements. Meanwhile, from the perspective of learning and growth, Strategic Objective 1 requires 1 measurement, Strategic Objective 2 requires 3 measurements, and Strategic Objective 3 requires 1 lagging indicator measurement and 1 leading indicator measurement.

Achieving a change towards the sustainable use and management of pesticides requires a multiple perspective approach that combines traditional knowledge, experience of different local stakeholders, scientific expertise, and context-specific data to provide useful and understandable information for the target farmers. In this paper, the incorporation of the information on environmental and social dimensions into a “science-based” pesticide management practice is presented as an example of a replicable multidisciplinary approach. This approach depicts the importance of the context-specific scenario analysis and of the involvement of farmers starting from their practices and their knowledge. A diverse range of engagement initiatives have been adopted to consult, inform, and involve the community. Tools as target guidelines of good practices, self-evaluation checklists, and a user-friendly indicator that considers social, environmental, and territorial parameters of the specific area, gained a lot of interest and trust and have proven to be useful in disseminating the methodology of environmental risk assessment to farmers, supporting and assisting them in the comparison of different phytosanitary strategies at farm scale to identify weaknesses in their current pesticide management at farm level and to find corresponding corrective actions. The experience also highlighted the importance of the role of properly trained and informed advisors.

Mining sector always comes under severe scrutiny due to their negative impacts towards society and environment. Several studies contributed to reduce these impacts exists in the mining operations, in the development, studies also started to explore various assessment mechanism to understand the mining firm's sustainability impact. Among such assessment strategies, sustainability indicators gained huge momentum in recent years specifically with mining operations. This study considers one such area to focus, sustainability indicator analysis in mining. There are several sustainability indicators were introduced in the literature, which makes the consideration of sustainability indicators as a chaotic process for practitioners. Considering the fact, this study sought to explore the influential sustainability indicator and their corresponding sustainability dimension with the case context of China. As a major global manufacturer, China explores different ways to do a sustainable mining business for their long-term growth and this study could impact on their sustainable development goals roadmap. Different sustainability indicators considering mining were collected from the existing studies and further validated and categorized with expert opinions under their respective dimensions of sustainability (economy, environment, and society). The validated sustainability indicators were evaluated through a multi criteria decision making tool, DEMATEL. The inputs for the analysis were collected from a Chinese mining case company. The results revealed the influential sustainability indicator for Chinese mining sector. By understanding the most and least influential indicators, the Chinese mining practitioners can eliminate the strategies to motivate the least influential indicator and improve the strategies to motivate most influential indicator., China University of Petroleum, Beijing, ODS 12: Producción y Consumo Responsables, ODS 13: Acción por el Clima, ODS 15: Vida de Ecosistemas Terrestres

An understanding of traditional ecological knowledge systems is increasingly acknowledged as a means of helping to develop global, regional and national, but locally relevant policies. Pastoralists often use lands that are unsuitable for crops due to biophysical and climatic extremities and variabilities. Forage plants of pastures are utilized by herding communities by applying locally relevant multigenerational knowledge. We analyzed the forage-related knowledge of pastoralists and herders by reviewing scientific papers and video documentaries on forage plants and indicators, their use in land management, and plant-livestock interactions. Semi-structured interviews were also conducted with key knowledge holders in Iran, Mongolia, Kenya, Poland and Hungary. We found 35 indicators used by herders to describe forage species. The indicators described botanical features, livestock behavior during grazing, and the impact of plants on livestock condition and health. The indicators were used in context-specific management decisions, with a variety of objectives to optimize grazing. We identified ten global principles, including, among others, a livestock-centered perspective, close monitoring and targeted pasturing of various (preferred or avoided) forages, and the use of different livestock types and well-planned spatial movements at multiple scales to optimize the utilization of available plant resources. Although pastoralists vary greatly across the globe, the character and use of their traditional forage-related knowledge do seem to follow strikingly similar principles. Understanding these may help the local-to-global-level understanding of these locally specific systems, support bottom-up pastoral initiatives and discussions on sustainable land management, and help to develop locally relevant global and national policies. © 2022 Elsevier Ltd

This essay evaluated the water resources of the Ludueña’s stream-basin (Santa Fe, Argentina) through several indicators that were selected and integrated in a sustainable indicators’s system. It used a multiscalar, systematic, and a complex approach on basin-scale through the GEO method applied to Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) combined with the DPSIR model (Driving forces – Pressure – State – Impact – Responses). The Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) considers anthropic intervention as an essential part of the hydrological cycle in a basin-scale, this results in a water-social cycle. It detected twenty-six (26) critical points which could allow a development for criteria destined for a sustainable management’s territory political. This approach can be adapted and replied in similar basins. This work constitutes a contribution to the integrated environmental diagnosis and is useful as an input for Public Organizations that must ensure the conservation of water resources in the Ludueña stream basin., El presente trabajo seleccionó e integró un conjunto de indicadores que evaluaron los recursos hídricos de la cuenca del arroyo Ludueña, Santa Fe, República Argentina. Se utilizó un abordaje multiescalar, sistémico y complejo a escala de cuenca mediante la combinación del método GEO orientado a la Gestión Integrada del Recurso Hídrico (GIRH) y del modelo FPEIR (Fuerzas motrices – Presión – Estado – Impacto - Respuesta). La Gestión Integrada del Recurso Hídrico (GIRH) considera la intervención humana como parte esencial del ciclo hidrológico a nivel de cuenca y lo considera un ciclo hidrosocial. Se detectaron veintiséis (26) puntos críticos que podrían permitir la implementación de políticas públicas orientadas a la sustentabilidad. Esta metodología puede adaptarse y replicarse en cuencas hídricas similares. Este trabajo constituye un aporte al diagnóstico ambiental integrado y resulta útil como insumo para los Organismos Públicos que deben velar por la conservación de los recursos hídricos de la cuenca del arroyo Ludueña.

Within the European Human Biomonitoring (HBM) Initiative HBM4EU we derived HBM indicators that were designed to help answering key policy questions and support chemical policies. The result indicators convey information on chemicals exposure of different age groups, sexes, geographical regions and time points by comparing median exposure values. If differences are observed for one group or the other, policy measures or risk management options can be implemented. Impact indicators support health risk assessment by comparing exposure values with health-based guidance values, such as human biomonitoring guidance values (HBM-GVs). In general, the indicators should be designed to translate complex scientific information into short and clear messages and make it accessible to policy makers but also to a broader audience such as stakeholders (e.g. NGO's), other scientists and the general public. Based on harmonized data from the HBM4EU Aligned Studies (2014–2021), the usefulness of our indicators was demonstrated for the age group children (6–11 years), using two case examples: one phthalate (Diisobutyl phthalate: DiBP) and one non-phthalate substitute (Di-isononyl cyclohexane-1,2- dicarboxylate: DINCH). For the comparison of age groups, these were compared to data for teenagers (12–18 years), and time periods were compared using data from the DEMOCOPHES project (2011–2012). Our result indicators proved to be suitable for demonstrating the effectiveness of policy measures for DiBP and the need of continuous monitoring for DINCH. They showed similar exposure for boys and girls, indicating that there is no need for gender focused interventions and/or no indication of sex-specific exposure patterns. They created a basis for a targeted approach by highlighting relevant geographical differences in internal exposure. An adequate data basis is essential for revealing differences for all indicators. This was particularly evident in our studies on the indicators on age differences., Within the European Human Biomonitoring (HBM) Initiative HBM4EU we derived HBM indicators that were designed to help answering key policy questions and support chemical policies. The result indicators convey information on chemicals exposure of different age groups, sexes, geographical regions and time points by comparing median exposure values. If differences are observed for one group or the other, policy measures or risk management options can be implemented. Impact indicators support health risk assessment by comparing exposure values with health-based guidance values, such as human biomonitoring guidance values (HBM-GVs). In general, the indicators should be designed to translate complex scientific information into short and clear messages and make it accessible to policy makers but also to a broader audience such as stakeholders (e.g. NGO's), other scientists and the general public. Based on harmonized data from the HBM4EU Aligned Studies (2014–2021), the usefulness of our indicators was demonstrated for the age group children (6–11 years), using two case examples: one phthalate (Diisobutyl phthalate: DiBP) and one non-phthalate substitute (Di-isononyl cyclohexane-1,2- dicarboxylate: DINCH). For the comparison of age groups, these were compared to data for teenagers (12–18 years), and time periods were compared using data from the DEMOCOPHES project (2011–2012). Our result indicators proved to be suitable for demonstrating the effectiveness of policy measures for DiBP and the need of continuous monitoring for DINCH. They showed similar exposure for boys and girls, indicating that there is no need for gender focused interventions and/or no indication of sex-specific exposure patterns. They created a basis for a targeted approach by highlighting relevant geographical differences in internal exposure. An adequate data basis is essential for revealing differences for all indicators. This was particularly evident in our studies on the indicators on age differenc

La estrategia de biodiversidad de la UE destaca la relevancia del sector privado y su papel destacado como potencial degradador y como protector de la biodiversidad. Sin embargo, la mayoría de las empresas parecen restar importancia al tema de la biodiversidad y no tienen claro cuáles son los posibles factores que las llevan a informar al respecto. Este documento exploratorio pretende evaluar el compromiso real de las empresas con la estrategia de biodiversidad de la UE y los factores que influyen en la pertinencia y calidad de sus indicadores de divulgación. Para ello, se han estudiado 170 empresas cotizadas de las 5 mayores economías de la UE después de sus indicadores de divulgación sobre biodiversidad en 2018 y 2021, centrándose en el país, el sector y la intensidad del impacto como posibles impulsores, así como en los cambios en la presentación de informes y los indicadores entre esos años. Nuestros hallazgos destacan un compromiso creciente pero heterogéneo con la biodiversidad entre las empresas cotizadas de la UE, con una relevancia limitada dada por las empresas a los indicadores de rendimiento estándar y cuantitativos, y una fuerte influencia en la presentación de informes de factores como el país de origen de las empresas, y el sector / actividad de las empresas. Todo ello sugiere la existencia de diferentes enfoques de la biodiversidad en el sector privado y una acción empresarial insuficiente para alcanzar los objetivos de la estrategia de biodiversidad de la UE.

Achieving a change towards the sustainable use and management of pesticides requires a multiple perspective approach that combines traditional knowledge, experience of different local stakeholders, scientific expertise, and context-specific data to provide useful and understandable information for the target farmers. In this paper, the incorporation of the information on environmental and social dimensions into a "science-based" pesticide management practice is presented as an example of a replicable multidisciplinary approach. This approach depicts the importance of the context-specific scenario analysis and of the involvement of farmers starting from their practices and their knowledge. A diverse range of engagement initiatives have been adopted to consult, inform, and involve the community. Tools as target guidelines of good practices, self-evaluation checklists, and a user-friendly indicator that considers social, environmental, and territorial parameters of the specific area, gained a lot of interest and trust and have proven to be useful in disseminating the methodology of environmental risk assessment to farmers, supporting and assisting them in the comparison of different phytosanitary strategies at farm scale to identify weaknesses in their current pesticide management at farm level and to find corresponding corrective actions. The experience also highlighted the importance of the role of properly trained and informed advisors.

Podnik sa považuje za ekonomicky bezpečný ak si udržuje stabilitu svojich podnikových procesov, ktoré uskutočňuje na dennej báze. Podnikové krízy sú nevyhnutnými fázami životného cyklu podnikov, pretože podniky, rovnako ako akékoľvek iné systémy, prirodzene inklinujú k strate svojej stability. Preto je pre každý podnik kľúčové identifikovať, analyzovať a monitorovať stabilitu svojich kľúčových prvkov, ako napríklad svojich aktív či podnikových procesov. Identifikované riziká nestability kľúčových prvkov vyjadrujú mieru ohrozenia ekonomickej bezpečnosti podniku. Identifikovanie, analyzovanie a monitorovanie podnikových rizík umožňuje manažmentu pôsobiť proti krízovému vývoju. Účelom bežne používaných metód hodnotenia ekonomickej kondície podniku je zvyčajne zvýšiť či ochrániť hodnotu pre vlastníka podniku, a nie sledovať podnikové riziká či symptómy podnikovej krízy. Predkladáme systém základných ukazovateľov pre posudzovanie ekonomickej bezpečnosti prevádzkovateľa verejnej autobusovej dopravy z oblastí výkonových, nákladových a výsledkových ukazovateľov. Je vytvorený metódou identifikácie podnikových rizík, Ishikawa diagram, pričom v sebe zahŕňa ukazovatele z výročných správ slovenských prevádzkovateľov hromadnej dopravy osôb., Enterprise is considered as economically secure if it maintains its stability in business processes which the enterprise performs daily. Enterprise crises are inevitable stages of business lifecycle because enterprises, just as any other systems, naturally incline to losing their stability. Therefore, it is crucial for any enterprise to identify, analyze, and monitor stability of its key elements, such as assets and business processes. Identified risks to the elements’ instability express the measure of the threat to economic security of the enterprise. Identifying, analyzing, and monitoring enterprise risks enables management to counteract crisis development. The purpose of commonly used methods to assess economic condition of an enterprise, is usually to increase or preserve shareholders’ value rather than monitoring enterprise risks or enterprise crisis symptoms. We present a system of the core indicators for assessment of economic security of a public bus transport provider from the areas of performance indicators, costs indicators, and financial ratios of enterprise. The system is constructed using a risk identification methodology, Ishikawa diagram, and it includes indicators from Slovak public bus transport providers’ annual reports.

The extensive scope of climate change research and the diversity of scientific traditions involved in vulnerability research have resulted in different conceptual definitions and theoretical conceptualizations of the climate vulnerability phenomenon. This diversity of interpretations has led to copious methods for operationalizing vulnerability as an analytical concept, i.e., frameworks and approaches for vulnerability assessments. This paper is intended to review literature on climate change vulnerability by exploring and synthesizing the various conceptual and analytical frameworks which is regarded to be important in the assessment of vulnerability to climate change. From the reviewed literature, several interpretation of the concept of climate change vulnerability as well as theoretical frameworks are brought to the fore. The paper further highlighted on the two well- known methodologies of estimating vulnerability in literature; the vulnerability variable assessment method and the indicator technique by espousing the merits and demerits of each approach. It is suggested that exploring integrated quantitative vulnerability assessment approach will enhance the understanding of climate change vulnerabilities. DOI: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.6206933

In order to progress towards a more sustainable energy future, Malaysia should reduce its reliance on fossil-based energy sources and shifting to green and renewable energy. Therefore, focus on energy education awareness programmes emphasising sustainable behaviours and frameworks are required. These programmes connect with Sustainable Development Goal 7 of the United Nations, which is to provide affordable and clean energy. In this study, dimensions and indicators of a framework for energy education were studied and evaluated in an effort to improve decision making. This study systematic approach comprised a review of relevant literature and consultation with an ad hoc panel of energy education experts via surveys, interviews, and questionnaires. This study also included an analytic hierarchy process to evaluate the framework’s criteria selection, alternative indicators, and priority or weights. The results indicated that the “Aim to minimise climate change” dimension is deemed the most essential criterion for selecting energy education dimension criteria. On the other hand, “National policy makers” is the most essential stakeholder across all parties. It has been determined that the use of analytic hierarchy process to the design of the framework for energy education in Malaysia could help simplifies a systematic decision-making process.