Forward Projects Research Articles

Carbon cycle feedbacks in an idealized simulation and a scenario simulation of negative emissions in CMIP6 Earth system models

Abstract. Limiting global warming to well below 2 ∘C by the end of the century is an ambitious target that requires immediate and unprecedented emission reductions. In the absence of sufficient near-term mitigation, this target will only be achieved by carbon dioxide removal (CDR) from the atmosphere later during this century, which would entail a period of temperature overshoot. Aside from the socio-economic feasibility of large-scale CDR, which remains unclear, the effects on biogeochemical cycles and climate are key to assessing CDR as a mitigation option. Changes in atmospheric CO2 concentration and climate alter the CO2 exchange between the atmosphere and the underlying carbon reservoirs of the land and the ocean. Here, we investigate carbon cycle feedbacks under idealized and more realistic overshoot scenarios in an ensemble of Earth system models. The responses of oceanic and terrestrial carbon stocks to changes in atmospheric CO2 concentration and changes in surface climate (the carbon–concentration feedback and the carbon–climate feedback, quantified by the feedback metrics β and γ, respectively) show a large hysteresis. This hysteresis leads to growing absolute values of β and γ during phases of negative emissions. We find that this growth over time occurs such that the spatial patterns of feedbacks do not change significantly for individual models. We confirm that the β and γ feedback metrics are a relatively robust tool to characterize inter-model differences in feedback strength since the relative feedback strength remains largely stable between phases of positive and negative emissions and between different simulations, although exceptions exist. When the emissions become negative, we find that the model uncertainty (model disagreement) in β and γ increases more strongly than expected from the assumption that the uncertainties would accumulate linearly with time. This indicates that the model response to a change from increasing to decreasing forcing introduces an additional layer of uncertainty, at least in idealized simulations with a strong signal. We also briefly discuss the existing alternative definition of feedback metrics based on instantaneous carbon fluxes instead of carbon stocks and provide recommendations for the way forward and future model intercomparison projects.

Fuzzy-ANP를 활용한 빈집 정비대상 선정 기준 연구

The problem of increasing vacant houses in Korea is more and more severe every year. In order to solve the problem of increasing vacant houses, the Korean government is carrying forward various projects. However, it is difficult due to various reasons to expect that such projects would be effective. For an vacant house improvement project, huge public funds and administrative efforts should be used. Hence, it is important to select the vacant houses for improvement in consideration of the fitness in public purpose and effects of the project. Nevertheless, it is still to see the guidelines for selection of the vacant houses for improvement as well as the relevant researches. Thus, this study used the Fuzzy-ANP to select the indicatives that should be examined first for selection of the houses for improvement and thereby, determined their relative importance, and thereupon, suggested some guidelines for selection of the vacant houses for improvement. As a result, it was found necessary to select the vacant houses for improvement in consideration of the fitness in public purpose, the risk of being collapsed or outbreak of fire, and the easy improvement not opposed by the owners. Summing up the results of the study, the following policy suggestions are put forward. First, central and local administrations should check the safety of the vacant houses periodically. Secondly, a P.R program should be operated continuously for the owners of the vacant houses regarding the risks and relevant support projects. Lastly, the government and the people should join efforts for a periodic monitoring or managing & checking of the vacant houses, beginning from the local communities featuring their members’ stronger attachment.

Advanced practice nursing initiatives in Africa, moving towards the nurse practitioner role: Experiences from the field.

This paper discusses the development and progression of the advanced practice nurse practitioner role in Africa. Providing adequate primary health care is problematic in Africa. The World Health Organization and International Council of Nurses proposed that nurses, specifically advanced practice nurse practitioners with the requisite skills in disease prevention, diagnosis and management, can be key to solving the primary care issue. This paper utilized publications from PUBMED, CINAHL, policy papers, websites, workgroups, conferences, and the experiences and knowledge of authors involved in leading and moving forward key events and projects. Four African countries have formally adopted the advanced practice nurse practitioner role, with significant interest from countries throughout Africa, and ever-increasing requests for assistance regarding initiation, development and integration of advanced practice roles. Initiatives to advance the roles have been supported by the International Council of Nurses Nurse Practitioner/Advanced Practice Nurse Network and Global Academy of Research and Enterprise. Next steps and projects for future role development are discussed. There is a progression towards the adoption of the advanced practice nurse practitioner role in Africa, and further mechanisms are suggested to allow full uptake and utilization. Prioritization and investment in initiatives implementing nurse practitioner/advanced practice nurse roles in Africa allows nurses to pursue further education, advanced role and leadership opportunities consistent with Nursing Now goals. Implementation of nurse practitioner/advanced practice nurse roles increases the primary care workforce, consistent with recommendations and priorities in the World Health Organization Global Strategic Directions for Nursing and Midwifery 2021-2025 helping countries ensure that nurses optimally contribute to achieving universal health coverage and other population health goals.

FGI를 활용한 민간공원 특례사업 평가항목 선정 연구

This study aims to select evaluation items that can be used in planning park creation to evaluate the proposal to solve the environmental and social problems in promoting private-initiated park development projects. To this end, evaluation items that can consider various aspects of the development project were selected, and the indicators’ validity and appropriateness were carried out through an expert Focus Group Interview (FGI). Firstly, an expert FGI was performed for six major categories and 50 evaluation items derived from literature reviews and brainstorming. As a result, five major and 27 middle category items were selected. Based on the derived major and middle classification items, 95 detailed items were selected. Secondly, 55 sub-items were derived through a suitability questionnaire. As a result of the suitability survey, the average scores of the subcategories for the major categories of natural environment, function of parks, and use of land were relatively high. The average scores for environmental index items such as ecology/vegetation, topography and slope, landscape, park service, wildlife, wide-area ecosystem, and park items were high in the middle classification. The average score of indicators in the natural environment was relatively high, and the average score in the function of parks also soared. In the environmental impact assessment, the occurrence of plan change issues, including the reappraisal of the location, led to unclear detailed evaluation factors for the faithfulness of the plan and the appropriateness of the plan direction. This study is significant in that it is a study on the selection of evaluation items that can minimize the problem of plan alteration and achieve objective evaluation when promoting development projects. This study could be used to forward development projects in the future and evaluate long-term unexecuted urban parks.

FEATURES OF DIRECT DEMOCRACY IN SWITZERLAND: POLITICAL AND LEGAL ANALYSIS

The tools of realization of direct democracy in Switzerland are considered. The Swiss political system, levels of government and distribution of powers between institutions are analyzed. Emphasis is placed on the fact that direct democracy allows the population to directly influence important decisions at all levels. Swiss citizens have the opportunity to vote on their own through a popular initiative and a referendum, which is optional and mandatory. The historical principles of development of instruments of direct democracy are considered. Assumptions are made about possible risks and shortcomings in the process of implementing direct democracy. The point is that extreme right-wing forces may abuse the instruments of democracy to amend existing legislation. The goal is to promote politicians' own interests. With the help of political technologies, in particular the use of populist slogans, inaccurate statistics and false facts, the leaders of radical parties manipulate the opinion of citizens, inciting them to put forward certain projects to national referendums. The assumption is substantiated that the vote of citizens can lead to the tyranny of the majority. Legislation and responsibility of citizens minimize the risk of such a scenario. The political and legal bases for the use of direct democracy in Switzerland are analyzed. Comparing the advantages and risks of decision-making with such a system, it is concluded that it is optimal for today. The focus of Switzerland's direct democracy is a compromise dialogue between citizens and the authorities. The draft law «On Local Referendum» № 5512 was considered. Its purpose is to return to the citizens of Ukraine the constitutional right to independently resolve issues of local significance by the territorial community by direct vote. Suggestions for improving the content of this bill have been formulated. We are talking about: the expediency of dividing referendums into types; analysis of the percentage of turnout when considering issues of local importance, increasing the number of questions for voting, etc. It is noted that in order to successfully use the Swiss experience in Ukrainian society, these proposals require broad discussion with the involvement of political scientists and lawyers, awareness of their own responsibility to politicians and the public.

Multitask machine learning models for predicting lipophilicity (logP) in the SAMPL7 challenge

Accurate prediction of lipophilicity—logP—based on molecular structures is a well-established field. Predictions of logP are often used to drive forward drug discovery projects. Driven by the SAMPL7 challenge, in this manuscript we describe the steps that were taken to construct a novel machine learning model that can predict and generalize well. This model is based on the recently described Directed-Message Passing Neural Networks (D-MPNNs). Further enhancements included: both the inclusion of additional datasets from ChEMBL (RMSE improvement of 0.03), and the addition of helper tasks (RMSE improvement of 0.04). To the best of our knowledge, the concept of adding predictions from other models (Simulations Plus logP and logD@pH7.4, respectively) as helper tasks is novel and could be applied in a broader context. The final model that we constructed and used to participate in the challenge ranked 2/17 ranked submissions with an RMSE of 0.66, and an MAE of 0.48 (submission: Chemprop). On other datasets the model also works well, especially retrospectively applied to the SAMPL6 challenge where it would have ranked number one out of all submissions (RMSE of 0.35). Despite the fact that our model works well, we conclude with suggestions that are expected to improve the model even further.

Virtual learning solutions in COVID-19 era: University Italian Ophthalmology department perspective.

Introduction:Few months after the COVID-19 pandemic burst, many aspects of the human life, including education, dramatically changed. Because of the lockdown measures taken to limit the virus spread in Italy, in-person teaching and learning have been interrupted in all health care disciplines and readapted in virtual formulae.Methods:As academic ophthalmology departments, we had to maintain the educational needs of medical and orthoptic students, internships, surgical training of residents, as well as to cover the scientific update of health care personnel (HCPs), and the continuation of research and academic activities. To assure these needs we ideated an educational strategy and a team, which was then translated on a multichannel virtual platform created with Microsoft Teams.Results:In this platform there were 21 channels organized in a public view mode, open to all Team members, or in private view mode to separate non-permanent HCPs, internships, residents, and students’ tasks, from permanent HCPs tasks. Virtual channels were dedicated to provide theoretical lessons, clinical cases, surgical video, internal meetings and webinar, to offer news from scientific societies, requests of appointments from biomedical companies, links with ophthalmological websites, to move forward research projects, to participate at institutional academic duties, and to obtain feedbacks from users. Residents continued their training on surgery using a surgical simulator, after consulting an agenda uploaded into the dedicated virtual channel.Conclusion:These positive initial results should represent a boost to rapidly proceed with the development of even more versatile virtual learning solutions, given that the forecasts for the duration of the COVID-19 pandemic are not encouraging.

The efficiency of Islamic banks versus conventional banks: an empirical study of an emerging economy

The purpose of this study is to investigate the efficiency of two different banking systems operating in Egypt (Islamic versus conventional banks). A sample of 35 banks has been used to examine the technical efficiency before and after the financial crisis using data envelopment analysis model. Evaluating the technical efficiency of Egyptian banks will enable policymakers to support which banking system is more efficient to facilitate the financial inclusion and enhance the economic development.Before the financial crisis, conventional banks outperformed conventional banks with Islamic windows and Islamic banks, scale technical efficiency outperformed pure technical efficiency when analyzing conventional banks and conventional banks with Islamic windows. In terms of Islamic banks, pure efficiency outperformed scale efficiency. After the financial crisis, technical efficiency of all banks decreased. However, pure technical efficiency of Islamic banks has improved as a result of the quality of management and outperformed both conventional banks and conventional banks with Islamic windows. These results imply that Islamic banks have not been affected by the financial crisis. Therefore, the increased adoption and support of the Islamic banks in Egypt is addressed to develop the economy and push forward entrepreneurship projects, support the financial inclusion and the informal economy integration.

Revisitar a gaia scienza de Mario Mieli

Practically unknown in Portugal, the work of Mario Mieli (1952-1983) is one with his politically engaged life and is on the process of being rediscovered, in a time when the younger queer generations are putting forward projects that are akin of his gaia scienza, and namely in what concerns his particular notion of trans-sexuality, unaware of the latter, as well as of the questions it raised already at its inception. The present text introduces it in its nine points, traces its dissemination in queer studies, concerning both its insights and its limitations, and its critical reception down to the present day.

A commuting model for the analysis of the impacts of a tramway project: application to the Lens area

ABSTRACTRoad congestion is not only an issue for major European urban agglomerations, but also for smaller ones. It is also the case of the Lens urban area, where car use is much higher than the average for medium-sized urban agglomerations in France. Local authorities put forward tramway projects to deal with the strongly negative externalities of congestion: travel time losses and pollution. To analyse its medium-term impact, we have developed a commuting with congestion model, inspired by the four-step traditional model, but with data made available from an origin–destination matrix. The results are encouraging but insufficient, and it is necessary to adopt supplementary measures in order to retrieve and justify the sizeable investments needed. Some measures prove to be very efficient, such as parking fees and urban tolls. Other measures, such as the subsidization of public transport, are partially efficient since they have an impact mainly on intra-urban commutes.

Introduction to the Special Issue: Critical versus Administrative Policy Studies—Celebrating 75 Years since Paul Lazarsfeld's “Remarks on Administrative and Critical Communication Research”

Introduction to the Special Issue: Critical versus Administrative Policy Studies—Celebrating 75 Years since Paul Lazarsfeld's “Remarks on Administrative and Critical Communication Research”

International Real Estate Review

The paper studies the residential micromarket of the Gurgaon region of the Delhi National Capital Region in India, to identify the key determinants of real estate investment selection and perform empirical analysis of property prices. A primary survey suggests that the goodwill of the developer is the most important factor for investors in the case of residential properties that are under construction (forward projects). Other factors include location, amenities, project density and construction quality. These factors enjoy almost equal importance in selecting completed projects (spot projects). The factor information can be used to construct property quality rating classes. High risk adjusted returns are provided by high quality spot projects and low quality forward projects. A long run equilibrium relationship is observed between spot projects and forward prices with the former playing the lead role. Gross domestic product and non-food bank credit are the macroeconomic variables that can predict property prices. The highest pre-tax internal rate of return is observed for forward projects in the first quarter holding itself while for spot projects, it is around the eighth quarter. The research has implications for property developers, real estate investors and market regulators. The study contributes to the real estate investment literature on emerging markets.

Unearthing, untangling and re-articulating genocide corpses in Rwanda

This paper is concerned with the mass graves and exhumed bodies of victims of the Rwanda genocide and war of the 1990s. A government-led programme of exhumation of mass burials and individual graves has taken place over the last decade. The exhumation of mass graves has been undertaken, in the main, by Tutsi genocide survivors who work under the supervision of state officials. Post-unearthing, these bodies are unravelled, and the remnants of soft flesh, clothing, personal possessions and bones are separated from each other. Skeletal structures are fully disarticulated and the bones pooled into a vast collective, for placement within memorials. The outcome of these exhumations is that remains almost always lack individual identity at the point of reinterring. A productive analytical comparison is found in examining exhumations of Spanish Civil War graves, where the fates of individual dead are closely entangled with the lives of survivors. Here there is a clear contrast with exhumations in Rwanda, in the possible re-articulation of identities with specific human remains. But a similarity is also critical: in both cases the properties of human remains, as unsettling materials, garner specific ‘affects’, which drive forward national political projects that aim to consolidate particular collective memories of conflict, albeit that this kind of ‘material agency’ is mobilized to very different ends in each case.

Critical Factors Affecting the Viability of Using Public-Private Partnerships for Prison Development

AbstractBuilding, managing, and operating prisons is essential for sustaining a country’s criminal justice system. The provision of prison services usually incurs large capital expenditures and high operating costs, requires hybrid types of operational services, and involves multigroup stakeholders. Internationally, public-private partnerships (PPPs) were introduced by governments to bring forward prison projects. This research aims to evaluate PPP experiences in the prison sector, extract critical factors affecting the viability of PPPs and recommend strategies and measures for improved use of PPPs for prison development. Comparative case studies of two prison projects were adopted as the main research method with semi-structured interviews and focus group as primary data collection instruments. The research shows that the critical factors leading to the success of prison PPP are (1) relevant business case development, (2) robust and streamlined project development, (3) effective contract administration ...

Using public-private partnerships for the building and management of school assets and services

Purpose – The provision of school assets and associated services is essential for achieving a country's educational outcomes. Building and managing schools usually features large component of operation, multiple groups of stakeholders, relatively simple design and technical requirements and tight timeframes to be completed to meet the open date. Internationally, public-private partnerships (PPPs) were introduced as innovative delivery models to bring forward school projects. The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the PPP experiences in the school sector focusing on the critical dimensions impacting on the viability of using PPPs for school development. Design/methodology/approach – Comparative case studies of two school PPP projects based in Australia and New Zealand were adopted as the main research method. Semi-structured interviews with key stakeholders were used as primary data collection method. Findings – By examining the procedural and organisational arrangements from a comparative perspective, the research finds that, for a successful school PPP, the followings are critical: sound business case development; size-adjusted and streamlined tendering process; localised private sector partner and streamlined finance; extensive stakeholder engagement; and effective governance and organisational structure and enhanced partnership. Originality/value – The findings provide practical implications for policy makers and public procuring authorities initiating school projects and private entities seeking investment opportunities. By implementing the strategies derived from this research and adjusting to their own social and economic environment, governments and industry would be at a better position to develop and manage schools using PPPs.

Large-scale public venue development and the application of Public–Private Partnerships (PPPs)

Large-scale venues for exhibitions and events are important public infrastructure. Developing venues have captured much of governments' attention due to the potential benefits the industry would bring to the community. However, venue development requires considerable capital and operating costs, unique standards of design and complicated operational issues. Public–Private Partnerships were introduced by governments as innovative delivery models to bring forward venue projects. This paper presents comparative case studies of two PPP venue projects in Hong Kong Special Administrative Region and New Zealand aiming to investigate key challenges for using PPPs in venue development and propose strategies to address the problems and assist future planning and organization for venue PPPs. The research shows that for a successful venue PPP, the following are critical features: (1) sound business case development; (2) streamlined financial arrangements; (3) robust tendering; (4) effective governance structure and partnership-based consortium; and (5) realistic risk allocation.

Chloroplast 2010: A Database for Large-Scale Phenotypic Screening of Arabidopsis Mutants

Large-scale phenotypic screening presents challenges and opportunities not encountered in typical forward or reverse genetics projects. We describe a modular database and laboratory information management system that was implemented in support of the Chloroplast 2010 Project, an Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana) reverse genetics phenotypic screen of more than 5,000 mutants (http://bioinfo.bch.msu.edu/2010_LIMS; www.plastid.msu.edu). The software and laboratory work environment were designed to minimize operator error and detect systematic process errors. The database uses Ruby on Rails and Flash technologies to present complex quantitative and qualitative data and pedigree information in a flexible user interface. Examples are presented where the database was used to find opportunities for process changes that improved data quality. We also describe the use of the data-analysis tools to discover mutants defective in enzymes of leucine catabolism (heteromeric mitochondrial 3-methylcrotonyl-coenzyme A carboxylase [At1g03090 and At4g34030] and putative hydroxymethylglutaryl-coenzyme A lyase [At2g26800]) based upon a syndrome of pleiotropic seed amino acid phenotypes that resembles previously described isovaleryl coenzyme A dehydrogenase (At3g45300) mutants. In vitro assay results support the computational annotation of At2g26800 as hydroxymethylglutaryl-coenzyme A lyase.

Evaluating the impact of investment incentives: The case of Italy's Law 488/1992

Italy's Law 488/1992 allows firms willing to invest in lagging areas to receive a public subsidy. By comparing subsidized firms with firms with rejected applications, this paper evaluates whether the program made investments possible that otherwise would not have been made. We find evidence that financed firms brought forward investment projects originally planned for the post-intervention period to take advantage of the incentives. We also find some support that subsidized firms may have taken some of the investment opportunities that unsubsidized firms would have exploited in the absence of incentives.

Structural Reform in Russian Oil and Gas Industries

The Russian oil and gas industries have performed very well recently. However, some tasks have to be accomplished in order to ensure further development. The oil industry must continue to invest in both upstream and downstream areas, and to drive forward oil export projects directed to Asian markets. The gas industry must both enhance profitability in the domestic market, and drive forward gas export projects directed to Asian markets. For this it is necessary for Russian oil and gas companies to strengthen their competitiveness. It is also necessary for the Russian government to put in place a legal framework enabling foreign capital to be introduced.

T-DNA-associated duplication/translocations in Arabidopsis. Implications for mutant analysis and functional genomics.

T-DNA insertion mutants have become a valuable resource for studies of gene function in Arabidopsis. In the course of both forward and reverse genetic projects, we have identified novel interchromosomal rearrangements in two Arabidopsis T-DNA insertion lines. Both rearrangements were unilateral translocations associated with the left borders of T-DNA inserts that exhibited normal Mendelian segregation. In one study, we characterized the embryo-defective88 mutation. Although emb88 had been mapped to chromosome I, molecular analysis of DNA adjacent to the T-DNA left border revealed sequence from chromosome V. Simple sequence length polymorphism mapping of the T-DNA insertion demonstrated that a >40-kbp region of chromosome V had inserted with the T-DNA into the emb88 locus on chromosome I. A similar scenario was observed with a prospective T-DNA knockout allele of the LIGHT-REGULATED RECEPTOR PROTEIN KINASE (LRRPK) gene. Whereas wild-type LRRPK is on lower chromosome IV, mapping of the T-DNA localized the disrupted LRRPK allele to chromosome V. In both these cases, the sequence of a single T-DNA-flanking region did not provide an accurate picture of DNA disruption because flanking sequences had duplicated and inserted, with the T-DNA, into other chromosomal locations. Our results indicate that T-DNA insertion lines--even those that exhibit straightforward genetic behavior--may contain an unexpectedly high frequency of rearrangements. Such duplication/translocations can interfere with reverse genetic analyses and provide misleading information about the molecular basis of mutant phenotypes. Simple mapping and polymerase chain reaction methods for detecting such rearrangements should be included as a standard step in T-DNA mutant analysis.