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River cross-section characteristics are not available for many regions of the world, and they are generally expressed as hydraulic geometry (HG) relationships. These relationships usually represent average characteristics of a region, which can generate biased estimates in smaller basins. Therefore, to improve the representation of river channel geomorphological characteristics, the objective of this study was to use a large database of river cross-section geometries to refine HG relationships for five river basins in Brazil. HG relationships were developed for the entire basins and for hydraulically homogeneous regions, obtained through a geographical convenience method. The relationship between the coefficients of the geometric relationships and morphoclimatic characteristics was assessed, showing a trend between precipitation and slope and the coefficients of the depth relationships. The estimated bankfull width and depth values were also compared to observed data and global datasets, showing an improvement in estimates with the more refined HG relationships. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Statistical tools are crucial for a variety of hydrological applications, whether to model processes and enhance understanding and knowledge or to design infrastructure systems. Given the rapid evolution of statistical methods and the need for a solid theoretical foundation for their correct application, a multidisciplinary community STAtistics in HYdrology Working Group (STAHY-WG) aggregated under the International Association of Hydrological Sciences (IAHS) umbrella to contribute to this research field. Now, more than 15 years since its inception, this paper summarizes the main achievements of this productive community collaboration in four (of many) branches of statistical hydrology: extreme value analysis, multivariate analysis, time series analysis, and regionalization. The aim is to provide an overview of recent developments, offer practical suggestions (e.g. software packages), and outline future challenges to support scientists and practitioners in their endeavours within the realm of statistical hydrology studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) price transparency rule tries to facilitate cost-conscious decision-making. For surgical services, such as pancreaticoduodenectomy (PD), factors mediating transparency and real-world reimbursement are not well described. Methods: The Leapfrog Survey was used to identify United States hospitals performing PD. Financial and operational data were obtained from Turquoise Health and CMS Cost Reports. Chi-square tests and modified Poisson regression evaluated associations with reimbursement disclosure. Two-part logistic and gamma regression models estimated effects of hospital factors on commercial, Medicare, and self-pay reimbursements for PD. Results: Of 452 Leapfrog hospitals, 295 (65%) disclosed PD hospital or procedure reimbursements. Disclosing hospitals were larger (beds > 200: 81.0% vs. 71.3%, p = 0.04), reported higher net margins (0.7% vs. − 2.1%, p = 0.04), more likely for-profit (26.1% vs. 6.4%, p < 0.001), and teaching-affiliated (82.0% vs. 65.6%, p < 0.001). Nonprofit status conferred hospitalization reimbursement increases of $8683–$12,329, while moderate market concentration predicted savings up to $5066. Teaching affiliation conferred reimbursement increases of $4589–$16,393 for hospitalizations and $644 for procedures. Top Leapfrog volume ratings predicted an increase of up to $7795 for only Medicare hospitalization reimbursement. Conclusions: Nondisclosure of hospital and procedural reimbursements for PD remains a major issue. Transparency was noted in hospitals with higher margins, size, and academic affiliation. Factors associated with higher reimbursement were non-profit status, academic affiliation, and more equitable market share. Reimbursement inconsistently tracked with PD quality or volume measures. Policy changes may be required to incentivize reimbursement disclosure and translate transparency into increased value for patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

AbstractThe concept of regions has long been crucial for understanding and managing Earth’s phenomena, leading to regionalization, aggregating smaller areas into larger, contiguous, and homogeneous regions to achieve specific goals. Open-source regionalization is gaining traction because it reduces dependence on commercial software and fosters wider adoption in analysis and decision-making. However, these packages, often designed by experts for specialized tasks, can be challenging to understand and utilize due to domain-specific jargon and functionalities, especially for unfamiliar users. A prevalent disconnect must be addressed: How can we make a complex optimization approach available to a broad audience with various backgrounds? This study introduces RegionDefiner, a Large Language Modeling (LLM)-powered conversational agent, to comprehensively understand the functionality, inputs, outputs, and potential applications of regionalization problems. We selected it as an illustrative example due to its wide-ranging potential for delineating study regions in various applications. RegionDefiner is designed to guide users in framing their problems, collecting necessary data, and implementing solution approaches in a straightforward and user-centric manner. The experiments demonstrate that RegionDefiner interprets and presents the results in an understandable way for all audiences, thus bridging the gap between intricate computations and practical problem-solving needs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Squamates have independently evolved an elongate, limb-reduced body form numerous times. This transition has been proposed to involve either changes to regulatory gene expression or downstream modification of target enhancers to produce a homogeneous, deregionalized axial skeleton. Analysis of vertebral morphology has suggested that regionalization is maintained in snake-like body forms, but morphological variation in the other primary component of the axial skeleton, the dorsal ribs, has not been previously examined. We quantified rib morphology along the anterior–posterior axis in limbed and snake-like squamates to test different regionalization models. We find that the relative position of regional boundaries remains consistent across taxa of differing body types, including in the homoplastic evolution of snake-like body forms. The consistent retention of regional boundaries in this primaxial domain is uncorrelated with more plastic abaxial region markers. Rather than loss of regions, rib shape at the anterior and posterior of the axis converges on those in the middle, resulting in axial regions being distinguishable by allometric shape changes rather than by discrete morphologies. This complexity challenges notions of deregionalization, revealing a nuanced evolutionary history shaped by shared functions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Current procedures to establish vertebral column regionalization (e.g., histology) in fish are time consuming and difficult to apply. The aim of this study was to develop a more rapid and accurate radiology‐based method for Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar). A detailed analysis of 90 animals (4 kg) led to the establishment of region‐specific radiographic hallmarks. To elucidate its transferability to other salmonid species, radiography was carried out in brown trout (Salmo trutta), Arctic char (Salvelinus alpinus), rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss), pink salmon (Oncorhynchus gorbuscha), and Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha). This method was also evaluated for whole ungutted fish. The vertebral column of Atlantic salmon can be subdivided into five regions (R1–R5) based on anatomy: postcranial (R1, V1, and V2), abdominal (R2, V3–V26), transitional (R3, V27–V36), caudal (R4, V37–V53), and ural (R5, V54–V59). The following specific radiographic hallmarks allow the identification of regions: (i) lack of ribs in R1, (ii) modified parapophysis of the first vertebra of R3, (iii) prominent hemal spine of the first vertebra of R4, and (iv) the separated hemal spine of the most cranial pre‐ural vertebra of R5. These hallmarks were all transferable to the other salmonid species assessed. The results include a further description of various region‐specific characteristics in Atlantic salmon. The method was found applicable for sedated/whole ungutted fish, verifying it as quick and easy compared to other regionalization methods. The regions defined by radiology in this study agree with the vertebral column regions recently defined for Chinook salmon (O. tshawytscha). Thus, and considering the results of this study on various salmonid species, the currently developed regionalization protocol can be generally used for salmonids. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Current implementations of hybrid life cycle assessment (LCA) mostly do not fully exploit valuable information from multi‐regional input–output databases by aggregating regional supply chains to the lower geographical resolution of process LCA databases. We propose a method for sampling the various individual regions within the aggregated regional scope of LCA processes. This sampling maximizes the information content of hybrid LCA footprint results by preserving the regional variance, and it allows for regional price distributions from BACI/UN‐COMTRADE international trade statistics to be used to simultaneously improve the accuracy of the hybrid model. This work makes the previously hidden regional and price variance explicit and analyzes uncertainty of the hybrid carbon (global warming potential 100, GWP100) and land use footprints arising from these variances, both separately and in combination. We find that the median process footprint intensity increases by 7−3+18%$7^{+18}_{-3}\%$ for the GWP100 due to hybridization, and 90−23+143%$90^{+143}_{-23}\%$ for the land use footprint. Results show that the magnitude of the footprint uncertainty strongly depends on the product sector of the LCA process and environmental impact considered. In a case study of Swiss household consumption, we find truncation error estimates of 8.4−2.7+9.2%$8.4^{+9.2}_{-2.7}\%$ for the GWP100 and 36−14+64%$36^{+64}_{-14}\%$ for the land use footprint. Our results highlight the importance of regionalization of process LCA databases, as it has the potential to significantly improve both the precision and accuracy of derived hybrid LCA models. This article met the requirements for a gold/gold JIE data openness badge described at http://jie.click/badges. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Canadian immigration programs are increasingly emphasizing regionalization in order to contribute to the population base of smaller Canadian communities and to address local labour market needs. Despite frequent Canadian national surveys of public attitudes toward immigrants and immigration, however, little is known about the warmth of the welcome presented to immigrants in regions outside of the large metropolises. The current study involved a representative survey of attitudes toward immigrants and immigration in eleven smaller communities across Canada, including Kamloops (BC), Wood Buffalo (AB), Prince Albert (SK), Brandon (MB), Thunder Bay (ON), Greater Sudbury (ON), Saint-Hyacinthe (QC), Bathurst (NB), Charlottetown (PEI), Cape Breton (NS), and St. John’s (NL). The study also examined the extent to which individual demographic characteristics and two community variables – the size of the community and the immigrant share of the community population – predicted these attitudes. While there were differences between the surveyed communities, overall, residents of these communities were relatively satisfied with Canada’s immigration levels, were quite willing to believe that refugee claimants are “real” refugees and that the Federal Government has control over who can immigrate, and supported bringing in immigrants who have the work skills that the country needs. They were less sure of the integration of immigrants into Canadian society in terms of adopting Canadian values. Younger, female, White and highly educated residents of these communities were more likely to hold positive immigration attitudes. Furthermore, immigrant respondents were more likely to hold positive attitudes toward immigration and less likely to believe that immigrants are not adopting Canadian values and that the government has lost control over who can immigrate. At the community level, residents in communities in which immigrants constitute a higher share of the population were more likely to express negative attitudes toward immigrants and immigration. Overall, the findings provide some optimism for the positive reception that immigrants are likely to receive in smaller Canadian communities. They also demonstrate, however, that attitudes in these communities are not uniform and provide information for community leaders and policy-makers about who is most likely to benefit from interventions to promote more positive attitudes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Determining the optimal number of regions is a challenging issue in regionalization. Although cluster validity indices developed for non-spatial clustering have been used to determine the optimal number of regions, spatial contiguity constraints for regionalization are often neglected. Consequently, different regionalization results can share the same validity index value, which reduces the reliability of identifying the optimal number of regions in regionalization. To overcome this limitation, this study proposes a spatially constrained statistical approach for determining the optimal number of regions using two metrics: (i) a permutation-based variance for measuring the homogeneity within regions and (ii) a proportion index based on spatially constrained k-nearest neighbors to quantify the separation between regions. Furthermore, a distance-based method is employed to balance these two metrics to automatically determine the optimal number of regions. Experimental results on five synthetic datasets, the US presidential election and climate datasets show that the statistical approach developed in this study outperforms three widely used cluster validity indices in determining the optimal number of regions. The proposed statistical approach is straightforward to implement and can effectively reduce subjectivity in regionalization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Patients undergoing emergency general surgery (EGS) often require complex management and transfer to higher acuity facilities, especially given increasing national efforts aimed at centralizing care. We sought to characterize factors and evaluate outcomes associated with interhospital transfer using a contemporary national cohort. Methods: All adult hospitalizations for EGS (appendectomy, cholecystectomy, laparotomy, lysis of adhesions, small/large bowel resection, and perforated ulcer repair) ≤2 days of admission were identified in the 2016-2020 National Inpatient Sample. Patients initially admitted to a different institution and transferred to the operating hospital comprised the Transfer cohort (others: Non-Transfer). Multivariable models were developed to consider the association of Transfer with outcomes of interest. Results: Of ~1 653 169 patients, 107 945 (6.5%) were considered the Transfer cohort. The proportion of patients experiencing interhospital transfer increased from 5.2% to 7.7% (2016-2020, P < .001). On average, Transfer was older, more commonly of White race, and of a higher Elixhauser comorbidity index. After adjustment, increasing age, living in a rural area, receiving care in the Midwest, and decreasing income quartile were associated with greater odds of interhospital transfer. Following risk adjustment, Transfer remained linked with increased odds of in-hospital mortality (AOR 1.64, CI 1.49-1.80), as well as any perioperative complication (AOR 1.33, CI 1.27-1.38; Reference: Non-Transfer). Additionally, Transfer was associated with significantly longer duration of hospitalization (β + 1.04 days, CI + .91-1.17) and greater costs (β+$3,490, CI + 2840-4140). Discussion: While incidence of interhospital transfer for EGS is increasing, transfer patients face greater morbidity and resource utilization. Novel interventions are needed to optimize patient selection and improve post-transfer outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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

INTRODUCTION: Pancreatic cancer (PC) surgery has been associated with improved outcomes and value when performed at high-volume centers (HVC; ≥20 surgeries annually) compared to low-volume centers (LVC). Some have used these differences to suggest that regionalization of PC surgery would optimize patient outcomes and expenditures. METHODS: A Markov model was created to evaluate 30-day mortality, 30-day complications, and 30-day costs. The differences in these outcome measures between the current and future states were measured to assess the population-level benefits of regionalization. A sensitivity analysis was performed to evaluate the impact of variations of input variables in the model. RESULTS: Among 5958 new cases of pancreatic cancer in California in 2021, a total of 2443 cases (41 %) would be resectable; among patients with resectable PC, a total of 977 (40 %) patients would undergo surgery. In aggregate, HVC and LVC 30-day postoperative complications occurred in 364 patients, 30-day mortality in 35 patients, and healthcare costs expended managing complications were $6,120,660. In the predictive model of complete regionalization to only HVC in California, an estimated 29 fewer complications, 17 fewer deaths, and a cost savings of $487,635 per year would occur. CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE: Pancreatic cancer (PC) surgery has been associated with improved outcomes and value when performed at high-volume centers (HVC; ≥20 surgeries annually) compared to low-volume centers (LVC). Complete regionalization of pancreatic cancer surgery predicted benefits in mortality, complications and cost, though implementing this strategy at a population-level may require investment of resources and redesigning care delivery models.

Abstract Cervical cancer is a preventable disease that continues to burden socioeconomically underserved regions, especially in Africa. Vaccination of adolescents who have never had sex with prophylactic human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccines proves effective in preventing the disease. However, vaccine accessibility and availability are two persistent challenges in low-resource settings. For this commentary, a trend analysis is conducted for national HPV vaccination and coverage rates in Africa, a region with high burden of the disease. This is in consideration of the World Health Organization (WHO) strategy to vaccinate 90% of adolescent girls by the age of 15, as part of strategy to eliminate cervical cancer by 2030. The analysis estimated that the rate of incorporating HPV vaccination in national immunization programs in Africa occurs slowly, at a mean wait time of 12 years with estimated coverage rate of 52%. A policy change that harnesses strategic approaches, such as a regionalized vaccination program, is recommended to hasten HPV vaccination for the rest of African countries without a national program.

Purpose – This article focuses on regional-level cooperation in higher education by examining the functional, organizational and political approaches (FOPA) framework for higher education regionalization and using supra-national regional universities as established and successful examples of regional-level higher education cooperation among countries. Design/methodology/approach – A conceptual framework is used to provide the structure for analyzing the key approaches to higher education regionalization, followed by an analysis of supra-national regional universities to demonstrate the application of the model. Findings – The FOPA framework for higher education regionalization includes three approaches. The first is the functional approach, which includes both collaborative academic and research activities among higher education institutions as well strategies and policies to help align systems across a region. The second is the organizational approach, which focuses on networks, organizations, institutions and programs, which facilitate partnerships. The third is the political approach, which includes regional-level agreements, declarations and strategic plans to promote higher education collaboration. Key higher education activities for each approach are discussed in generic terms, with examples provided from major regions of the world. Research limitations/implications – The research was based on desk research only. No interviews were conducted. Practical implications – A conceptual analysis and a model were provided for the concept of regionalization of higher education and for regional universities, which can help readers locate their interests and research in the regionalization of higher education. Examples of three different types of regional universities were provided to give concrete illustrations of a regional university. Social implications – One of the rationales driving regional universities is to address and increase a sense of regional identify and to meet the social, economic and educational needs of the specified region. Originality/value – Regional universities, such as the University of West Indies, Arab Open University and the Pan-Africa University, are an understudied phenomenon. Using them as innovative and sustainable examples of higher education regional cooperation and the FOPA model, this study illustrates how single-campus, multiple-campus and virtual regional universities are functioning to meet the diversified needs and priorities across a region through cooperation among countries.

The Standardized Streamflow Index (SSI) has frequently been used to quantify drought by comparing periods of streamflow against a river's historical values. This study expands upon previous SSI methodologies by creating a more flexible, regionalized version of the metric for Iowa, a Midwestern state located in the central United States. Five drought regions were developed for Iowa that largely correspond to the state's Major Land Resource Areas. Several United States Geological Survey gauges were identified within each drought region and streamflow data were used to calculate daily water yields from 1960 to the present. SSI values calculated for both individual river sites and the entire drought region provide insights into the relative dryness of Iowa watersheds over the past several decades. The SSI methodology can be used to evaluate river dryness with limited data records and water yields of specific streams can be compared to each other and across the overall region. This study demonstrates the potential for developing versions of the SSI that enable real‐time calculations at a daily scale at locations with limited historical streamflow data. The new SSI metric may be a valuable tool for decision‐makers as state and federal agencies continue to identify and manage drought. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Life cycle inventory (LCI) databases, such as ecoinvent, are crucial for life cycle assessment (LCA), but lack country‐specific resolution in activity details and trade between regional activities in the supply chain. For example, ecoinvent only provides rest‐of‐world and European datasets for photovoltaic panel production, consuming the same global consumption mix of photovoltaic cells. Global or continental activities and trade limit the use of existing country activities, such as electricity production, and the accuracy and granularity of LCA results. We addressed this issue by disaggregating ecoinvent's global and continental unit processes to the country level and by regionalizing trade using country‐sector‐specific consumption mixes of product origins from the multiregional input–output table EXIOBASE. This produced a consistently regionalized ecoinvent at country level. Comparing the climate change impacts of 195,708 non‐market datasets in our regionalized ecoinvent with reference datasets in ecoinvent reveals manufacturing sectors as the most affected. The study of photovoltaic panel production shows that the differences in climate change impacts are mainly due to the different country‐specific suppliers of components and their electricity mixes, which are lost in the aggregated original data. The water consumption impacts of wheat production show the country differences only when regionalized CFs are applied, indicating that regionalized biosphere and technosphere flow amounts are needed for better results. The mapping quality between ecoinvent and EXIOBASE and inconsistent market definitions were discussed along with further limitations. Our study highlights the potential of incorporating better trade information and regional disaggregation in LCI databases to improve the LCA outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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

At a regional scale, decision-making in water resources management is based on the analysis of long-term, continuous observations of hydrometeorological variables including streamflow. Quite often, constraints such as paucity of observed flow data hinder scientific planning in ungauged watersheds of developing countries. In this context, we present an improved framework for predicting streamflow data in an ungauged tropical watershed (Jambhira) in eastern India utilizing coupled data analytics and the Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) for flow regionalization. In this study, the choice of different dimensionality reduction methods such as principal components analysis (PCA) and Isomap during the clustering stage, as well as the choice of inverse distance weighting (IDW) and physical similarity (PS) approaches for regionalization of SWAT model parameters for the ungauged watershed, are investigated. As a novel aspect, in this case study, we included certain seasonal climate characteristics and changed land-use composition of the study watersheds as pertinent features for clustering of homogeneous watersheds. The proposed framework is then evaluated for its possible limitations, namely, whether the integrated approaches yield the best estimates of hydrological model parameters for ungauged watersheds, and if they guarantee good performance across different flow regimes. The regionalization results for the pseudoungauged watershed (Govindpur, India) indicate that coupled PS-SWAT approach is the most efficient with R2 and Nash–Sutcliffe efficiency (NSE) values ranging from 0.75 to 0.83 and from 0.74 to 0.77, respectively. The hydrological model of the ungauged watershed (Jambhira) is developed using the regionalization framework, and using the simulated flows, flow duration curve (FDC) analysis is also performed. Analysis of regime-based flow characteristics reveals a declining trend in the magnitude of low and high flows by 4% and 22.2%, respectively, in Jambhira. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Cities are making infrastructure investments to make travel by bicycle safer and more attractive. A challenge for promoting bicycling is effectively using data to support decision making and ensuring that data represent all communities. However, ecologists have been addressing a similar type of question for decades and have developed an approach to stratifying landscapes based on ecozones or areas with homogenous ecology. Our goal is to classify street and path segments and map streetscape categories by applying ecological classification methods to diverse spatial data on the built environment, communities, and bicycling. Piloted in Ottawa, Canada, we use GIS data on the built environment, socioeconomics and demographics of neighborhoods, and bicycling infrastructure, behavior, and safety, and apply a k-means clustering algorithm. Each street or path, an intuitive spatial unit that reflects lived experience in cities, is assigned a streetscape category: bicycling destination; wealthy neighborhoods; urbanized; lower income neighborhoods; and central residential streets. We demonstrate how streetscape categories can be used to prioritize monitoring (counts), safety, and infrastructure interventions. With growing availability of continuous spatial data on urban settings, it is an opportune time to consider how street and path classification approaches can help guide our data collection, analysis, and monitoring. While there is no one right answer to clustering, care must be taken when selecting appropriate input variables, the number of categories, and the correct spatial unit for output. The approach used here is designed for bicycling application, yet the methods are applicable to other forms of active transportation and micromobility.

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

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

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

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

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

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

Copyright of Dokuz Eylul University Muhendislik Faculty of Engineering Journal of Science & Engineering / Dokuz Eylül Üniversitesi Mühendislik Fakültesi Fen ve Mühendislik Dergisi is the property of Dokuz Eylul Universitesi Muhendislik Fakultesi Fen ve Muhendislik Dergisi and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

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

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

Copyright of Informacion Comercial Espanola Revista de Economia is the property of S.G.E.E.I.P.C., Secretaria de Estado de Comercio, Ministerio de Industria, Comercio y Turismo and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)