General Drivers Research Articles

MAKING REGIONAL FOOD SYSTEMS MORE SUSTAINABLE

This paper analyses and compares regional food systems in Latvia and Lithuania from the perspective of sustainable food security and poses three questions: (i) what are the general food system characteristics and drivers of change in Latvia and Lithuania? (ii) how are the regional food systems constructed and performing? (iii) what are the conditions and pathways for regional food systems to become more sustainable?  The paper examines in-depth the food systems in two regions – Pierīga region in Latvia and Vilnius region in Lithuania. The research is carried out within the framework of the EU projects TRANSMANGO and SALSA, and the Latvian Council of Sciences project SINFO. We find that food chain concentration and the interests of big food industries and retailers drive food systems in Latvia and Lithuania while civic and consumer-driven initiatives are becoming more important in stimulating a transition towards sustainable diets. The regional food systems are a complex intertwinement between the agro-industrial, proximity, domestic, and ecological subsystems. The pathways towards more sustainable regional food systems are difficult to negotiate and enforce as they require collaboration among various stakeholders who have different agendas. The long-term prospects of the regional food systems in terms of social and economic sustainability cannot be viewed in isolation from the demographic trends in the region, the steady depopulation in rural areas and efforts in strengthening urban-rural synergies.

Understanding Patient Perspectives on Medication Adherence in Asthma: A Targeted Review of Qualitative Studies.

Adherence to asthma medications is generally poor and undermines clinical outcomes. Poor adherence is characterized by underuse of inhaled corticosteroids (ICS), often accompanied by over-reliance on short-acting β2-agonists for symptom relief. To identify drivers of poor medication adherence, a targeted literature search was performed in MEDLINE and EMBASE for articles presenting qualitative data evaluating medication adherence in asthma patients (≥12 years old), published from January 1, 2012 to February 26, 2018. A thematic analysis of 21 relevant articles revealed several key themes driving poor medication adherence, including asthma-specific drivers and more general drivers common to chronic diseases. Due to the episodic nature of asthma, many patients felt that their daily life was not substantially impacted; consequently, many harbored doubts about the accuracy of their diagnosis or were in denial about the impact of the disease and, in turn, the need for long-term treatment. This was further compounded by poor patient-physician communication, which contributed to suboptimal knowledge about asthma medications, including lack of understanding of the distinction between maintenance and reliever inhalers, suboptimal inhaler technique, and concerns about ICS side effects. Other drivers of poor medication adherence included the high cost of asthma medication, general forgetfulness, and embarrassment over inhaler use in public. Overall, patients’ perceived lack of need for asthma medications and medication concerns, in part due to suboptimal knowledge and poor patient-physician communication, emerged as key drivers of poor medication adherence. Optimal asthma care and management should therefore target these barriers through effective patient- and physician-centered strategies.

General Patterns and Drivers of Changes in Employment Structure: Evidence from Five European Countries

This paper seeks to answer whether the general patterns and drivers of the sectoral employment shifts depend on a country’s level of development. To accomplish this, we examined employment in Germany, Hungary, Poland, Romania and Ukraine at the national level (1998-2018) using econometric analysis, and at the regional NUTS2 level (2009-2018) using shift-share analysis. We obtained evidence that the general trend is the service sector expansion. Using the ARDL approach and the Granger causality test, we identified long-run unidirectional causality running from income proxies to employment in services in all countries except Romania, where the opposite causality was found. We revealed that household income moderates the impact of urbanization on service sector growth in all countries except Poland. At the regional level, the change in the employment rate in services is explained by the national growth effect and slightly by the industry-mix effect if the active phase of structural changes is completed.

Identifying Drug Sensitivity Subnetworks with NETPHIX

Phenotypic heterogeneity in cancer is often caused by different patterns of genetic alterations. Understanding such phenotype-genotype relationships is fundamental for the advance of personalized medicine. One of the important challenges in the area is to predict drug response on a personalized level and to understand the causes of different responses. The pathway-centric view of cancer significantly advanced the understanding of genotype-phenotype relationships. However, most network module identification methods in cancer focus on identifying subnetworks that include general cancer drivers, hence cannot be applied directly for the analysis of continuous features like drug response. On the other hand, existing genome wide association approaches or drug response prediction algorithms do not fully utilize the complex properties of cancer mutational landscape and cannot pinpoint the genetic alterations that are causal to drug sensitivity. To address these challenges, we developed a computational method, named NETPHIX (NETwork-to-PHenotype assocIation with eXclusivity), which aims to identify subnetworks of genes whose genetic alterations are associated with a continuous cancer phenotype. Leveraging the properties of cancer mutations and the interactions among genes, we formulate the problem as an integer linear program and solve it optimally to obtain a subnetwork of associated genes. Applied to a large-scale drug screening dataset, NETPHIX uncovered gene modules significantly associated with drug responses. Utilizing interaction in formation among genes, NETPHIX modules are functionally coherent, and can thus provide important insights into drug action.

ADAPTED SUBSURFACE WATER SOLUTIONS ACROSS CONTINENTS

Temporary water scarcity and saltwater intrusion in coastal aquifers are problems which are common in various parts of the world and can be addressed by subsurface water solutions (SWS). SWS comprise of various intelligent well and sensor configurations for different hydrogeological aquifer conditions. They can be combined for aquifer storage, (treatment), and recovery (AS(T)R), managed aquifer recharge (MAR), and various water reuse options including rainwater harvesting or treated waste water usage. To date, pilot SWS are implemented in the Netherlands, where they demonstrate highly beneficial applications for the above-mentioned purposes. This report presents the technology transfer to other coastal regions by utilising a participatory co-design approach with key stakeholders and institutions. The methodology developed mainly consists of two missions, which were applied to four target regions: Brazil, Mexico, Vietnam, and Cyprus. In these regions stakeholders were identified, framework conditions were assessed, and public events and project development workshops were conducted aiming to adapt the technology and implementation approach to the specific local requirements. General drivers and barriers were identified for institutional, political, legal, and socio-economic aspects. The report provides an outline of general implementation concepts, region-specific prerequisites, and ideas for follow-up projects.

A Study on the Gaze Range Calculation Method During an Actual Car Driving Using Eyeball Angle and Head Angle Information.

Car operation requires advanced brain function. Currently, evaluation of the motor vehicle driving ability of people with higher brain dysfunction is medically unknown and there are few evaluation criteria. The increase in accidents by elderly drivers is a social problem in Japan, and a method to evaluate whether elderly people can drive a car is needed. Under these circumstances, a system to evaluate brain dysfunction and driving ability of elderly people is needed. Gaze estimation research is a rapidly developing field. In this paper, we propose the gaze calculation method by eye and head angles. We used the eye tracking device (TalkEyeLite) made by Takei Scientific Instruments Cooperation. For our image processing technique, we estimated the head angle using the template matching method. By using the eye tracking device and the head angle estimate, we built a system that can be used during actual on-road car operation. In order to evaluate our proposed method, we tested the system on Japanese drivers during on-road driving evaluations at a driving school. The subjects were one instructor of the car driving school and eight general drivers (three 40–50 years old and five people over 60 years old). We compared the gaze range of the eight general subjects and the instructor. As a result, we confirmed that one male in his 40s and one elderly driver had narrower gaze ranges.

Effect of visible presence of policing activities on drivers’ vigilance and intention to refrain from non-driving activities: A scenario-based survey of general Japanese drivers

Driver distraction is an important issue for road safety. The visible presence of policing activities alongside roadways seems to be significant in preventing driver distraction and other unsafe driving behaviors. The purpose of this study was to provide evidence of the effectiveness of visible policing presence on drivers’ self-reported intention to refrain from non-driving activities and that this effectiveness can be enhanced by manipulating deployment even with limited resources. We conducted a scenario-based survey to compare drivers’ self-reported intention to refrain from non-driving activities and their vigilance state across several hypothetical driving situations. The three aims of the study were to examine whether drivers’ self-reported vigilance and intention to refrain from non-driving activities were associated with (a) the presence or absence of common forms of roadside policing, (b) the agent (police vs. civilian) and medium (human vs. advertisement) of road safety interventions, and (c) different forms of policing (police officer vs. police car) and their respective levels of conspicuousness.Japanese drivers (N = 367) were randomly assigned to receive one of three booklets that included a scenario-based survey. The three booklets contained different combinations of various hypothetical driving scenarios based on the three experiment designs (a, b, c) described above. Participants were asked to rate their vigilance and their intention to refrain from non-driving activities in hypothetical driving situations that varied by the presence or absence of policing and how conspicuous that presence was. We conducted repeated measures within-subject analysis of variance using the three experimental designs.The results showed that the presence of a single police unit engaged in policing activities was associated with more vigilance and greater intention to refrain from non-driving activities. The results suggested that effectiveness of visible policing could be enhanced by increasing conspicuousness of police officers in order to help drivers more easily recognize the presence of police without having to purchase extra equipment. These findings provide useful insights for traffic police to conduct routine policing practices more efficiently to address non-driving activities. Future research is needed to examine these results in a real-world setting.

Usability evaluation of detectable warning surfaces in Quebec City (Canada): an exploratory study

Background International standards govern the installation of detectable warning surfaces in urban environments. However, the application of these standards at the local level poses many challenges due to contextual differences. Methods The aim of this qualitative cross-sectional study was to evaluate the usability of detectable warning surfaces installed in Quebec City (Canada) with people with visual impairments. Nineteen participants with various profiles visited two sites where the detectable warning surfaces had been installed. They tested the surfaces as well as adjacent urban facilities following a pedestrian route. They were then interviewed about what they thought of the detectable warning surfaces: their usefulness, messages transmitted, locations chosen, how safe they make users feel, types of environment in which they should be installed, how detectable they are, their advantages and disadvantages, and any desired improvements. Results Generally, the participants understood the messages transmitted by the warning surfaces and were in favor of their installation. They identified some disadvantages and suggested various improvements. Conclusions The results of this study provide important information concerning the usability of detectable warning surfaces for partners and stakeholders in Quebec City and also contribute to the international literature in this field. Implications for rehabilitation Detectable warning surfaces increase the readability or use of road infrastructures by people with visual impairments. They make it easier for them to get around independently. This project supports the importance of establishing an effective communication plan, particularly with the aim of clarifying the contexts of implantation and the messages transmitted by the detectable warning surfaces to the people with visual impairments. Training could systematically be offered to them by an orientation and mobility specialist. It is also important to inform and educate the general public and bus drivers about the presence of detectable warning surfaces. Information could be transmitted via some community organizations and the public transit networks. In order to effectively coordinate the implantation process of detectable warning surfaces, communication and consultation between the various stakeholders are essential, including the designers, the municipalities and the concerned government authorities.

National general truck drivers' strike and food security in a Brazilian metropolis.

We analysed the impact of the national general truck drivers' strike on the availability, variety and price of foods sold by a food supply centre. Descriptive study using secondary data to examine the percentage change in the mean price of fruits, vegetables and eggs before, during and after the strike. The strike in Brazil lasted 10 d from 21 to 30 May 2018. The drivers were on strike in order to make diesel oil tax-free and to obtain better working conditions. The food supply centre, named CEASA-Minas Grande BH, was located in the metropolitan area of a Brazilian city. We examined twenty types of foods. After 10 d, there was a ~30 % reduction in the availability of all types of foods and prices increased. Foods with the highest price increases included cabbage (233·3 %), potatoes (220·0 %), papaya (160·0 %) and oranges (78·6 %). At the end of the strike, we observed reductions in the price of eggs, fruits, vegetables, roots and tubers; however, some foods remained more expensive than before the strike, including chayote (203·2 % higher), cucumber (66·7 % higher) and potatoes (60·0 % higher). The general truck drivers' strike was correlated with a reduction in the availability of food and, consequently, increases in price and possibly restrictions on access. The strike demonstrated the dependence of metropolises on road transportation and the conventional market. We speculate that initiatives aiming to shorten the food supply chain and promote food sovereignty and resilience of the supply circuits could be important.

Characterisation of DNA methylation changes in EBF3 and TBC1D16 associated with tumour progression and metastasis in multiple cancer types

BackgroundCharacteristic DNA methylation differences have been identified between primary and metastatic melanomas at EBF3 and/or TBC1D16 gene loci. To further evaluate whether these epigenetic changes may act more generally as drivers of tumour onset and metastasis, we have investigated DNA methylation changes involving EBF3 and TBC1D16 in additional publicly available data of multiple different tumour types.ResultsPromoter hypermethylation and gene body hypomethylation of EBF3 were observed in a number of metastatic tumour types, when compared to normal or primary tumour tissues, as well as in tumour vs normal tissues and in a colorectal primary/metastasis pair, although not all tumour samples or primary/metastasis cancer pairs exhibited altered patterns of EBF3 methylation. In addition, hypomethylation of TBC1D16 was observed in multiple tumours, including a breast cancer primary/metastasis pair, and to a lesser degree in melanoma, although again not all tumours or cancer primary/metastasis pairs exhibited altered patterns of methylation.ConclusionsThese findings suggest characteristic DNA methylation changes in EBF3 and TBC1D16 are relatively common tumour-associated epigenetic events in multiple tumour types, which is consistent with a potential role as more general drivers of tumour progression.

Commuting accidents of Spanish professional drivers: when occupational risk exceeds the workplace

Background. Work traffic accidents are an issue both in Spain and all over the world, and specific evidence on commuting accidents is scarce. Even though both industrial safety and welfare have been improved during the last decades, the commuting accidents rate is growing worldwide. Purpose. The aim of this study was to examine and describe the characteristics of commuting traffic crashes of Spanish professional drivers. Materials and methods. For this cross-sectional study, commuting accidents suffered by drivers during the last 12 years were analyzed. Crossed and heatmap-based analyses were performed in order to establish patterns and driver-based differences among commuting crashes. Results. Commuting crashes’ features were found to be associated with demographic and job-related variables of professional drivers. Drivers’ gender, time slots (peak/off-peak hours) and the specific hour of the event explained different trends in accident severity and characteristics. Conclusions. The results of this study suggest that commuting accidents involving professional drivers differ in demographic and situational issues from general and on-duty professional drivers’ traffic crashes. Also, since in Spain commuting crashes are occupational accidents, more numerous and better actions should be taken in this regard, especially considering the association of professional drivers’ accidents with fatigue and shift-working.

Driven by change: Commercial drivers' acceptance and efficiency perceptions of light-duty electric vehicle usage in Germany

By conducting a cross-sectional survey at Deutsche Post, a major German postal delivery service provider, we examine to what extent commercial drivers accept the substitution of conventional cars with light-duty e-vehicles (LDEVs). Specifically, we explore drivers’ acceptance from two perspectives. First, we investigate drivers’ perceived satisfaction with LDEVs compared to conventional vehicles. Second, we question whether electric cars in general increase drivers’ perceived efficiency of them. Combining these two perspectives, we show that the greater the drivers’ overall perceived satisfaction with LDEVs is, the higher is the drivers’ perceived efficiency of LDEVs. We prove this by means of perceived usefulness (perceived relative advantage) and perceived ease of use (the opposite of perceived complexity) of LDEVs, using adaptations of Davis’ Technology Acceptance Model and Rogers’ Diffusion of Innovations Theory to form our Unified Technology Acceptance Model (UTAM). Our findings suggest that, on average, drivers are slightly more satisfied with the LDEVs than with the available conventional cars (n = 66). If drivers were able to choose their preferred vehicles, the majority of them would favor LDEVs. We detect statistically significant patterns of latent measures affecting perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use of LDEVs. Although this paper focuses on German delivery service employees, the methodology presented here could easily be applied to any other enterprise in the growing logistics segment which plans to electrify its car fleet. Hence, our contributions are valuable for transportation research and, more specifically, to all potential commercial EV drivers, e.g., our insights might be relevant for the approx. 500,400 drivers employed in the German logistics sector alone.

Adaptation to local climate in multi-trait space: evidence from silver fir (Abies alba Mill.) populations across a heterogeneous environment.

Heterogeneous environments, such as mountainous landscapes, create spatially varying selection pressure that potentially affects several traits simultaneously across different life stages, yet little is known about the general patterns and drivers of adaptation in such complex settings. We studied silver fir (Abies alba Mill.) populations across Switzerland and characterized its mountainous landscape using downscaled historical climate data. We sampled 387 trees from 19 populations and genotyped them at 374 single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) to estimate their demographic distances. Seedling morphology, growth and phenology traits were recorded in a common garden, and a proxy for water use efficiency was estimated for adult trees. We tested whether populations have more strongly diverged at quantitative traits than expected based on genetic drift alone in a multi-trait framework, and identified potential environmental drivers of selection. We found two main responses to selection: (i) populations from warmer and more thermally stable locations have evolved towards a taller stature, and (ii) the growth timing of populations evolved towards two extreme strategies, 'start early and grow slowly' or 'start late and grow fast', driven by precipitation seasonality. Populations following the 'start early and grow slowly' strategy had higher water use efficiency and came from inner Alpine valleys characterized by pronounced summer droughts. Our results suggest that contrasting adaptive life-history strategies exist in silver fir across different life stages (seedling to adult), and that some of the characterized populations may provide suitable seed sources for tree growth under future climatic conditions.

Viscosity solutions of systems of PDEs with interconnected obstacles and switching problem without monotonicity condition

We show the existence and uniqueness of a continuous viscosity solution of a system of partial differential equations (PDEs for short) without assuming the usual monotonicity conditions on the driver function as in Hamad\`ene and Morlais's article \cite{hamadene2013viscosity}. Our method strongly relies on the link between PDEs and reflected backward stochastic differential equations with interconnected obstacles for which we already know that the solution exists and is unique for general drivers.

Association between visual field impairment and involvement in motor vehicle collision among a sample of Japanese drivers

BackgroundThere is an expectation that the addition of visual field testing to driving licencing procedures may contribute to detecting unsafe drivers due to visual field (VF) impairment. However, previous research has been inconclusive as to the association between VF impairment and motor vehicle collision (MVC), and there are relatively fewer trials conducted outside the United States using a sample of general drivers compared to studies using eye clinic patients. PurposeTo investigate the association between ophthalmic indicators of VF impairment and involvement in at-fault MVC in the previous five years among a sample of middle-aged or older drivers. MethodDriving licence holders aged 40 years or over (N = 546) were administered a questionnaire survey and underwent a visual assessment at a driving licence examination centre in the suburbs of Tokyo. Of these participants, 458 were current drivers. Their response to the written questionnaire and ophthalmic indicators of VF impairment were subjected to multivariate logistic regression models to predict at-fault MVC. The analyses were done while adjusting for variables pertinent to driving habit, near-miss experience and perceived driving difficulties. We compared two different dependent variables separately: at-fault MVC based on police record and self-reports. ResultsAnalysis showed that ophthalmic indicators of binocular VF impairment such as Esterman score and Integrated Visual Field was not statistically significant in explaining at-fault MVC involvement. This was true both for predicting police-registered MVC and self-reported at-fault MVC. It was indicated that history of citation, presence of medical conditions and certain driving circumstances such as frequent night-time driving would increase risk of at-fault MVC in conjunction with the individual’s perception about driving difficulties. ConclusionThe results of this study were consistent with previous research in that ophthalmic VF impairment may not be directly associated with MVC involvement when VF impairment is not severe. However, a combination of at-risk driving behaviour (exposure to high-risk driving situations and certain near-miss experience), deterioration in health condition, and lack of insight into such circumstances would likely increase at-fault MVC risk.

Bathyal benthic megafauna from the Mid‐Atlantic Ridge in the region of the Charlie-Gibbs fracture zone based on remotely operated vehicle observations

Mid-ocean ridges are important geological features that cover around 33% of the global ocean floor, increase environmental heterogeneity on a regional scale and influence benthic community ecology. Benthic communities at the Mid-Atlantic Ridge (MAR) were studied at four contrasting sites, located east and west of the ridge, which were further separated into northern (54°N) and southern (48°N) sites by the Charlie-Gibbs Fracture Zone (CGFZ) and the Sub-Polar Front (SPF). The MAR in the CCFZ region area had flat areas surrounded by gentle slopes between rocky cliffs. A total of 32 remotely operated vehicle video transects (32,000 m2 of seafloor) were surveyed on the flat areas and sedimented slopes (10°). In total, 154 distinct taxonomic units were identified (from 9 phyla) across all sites. The sediments of the flat and sloping sites were generally similar, but differences were seen in the community composition and faunal abundance (~ 4 times higher in the flat sites, except at the northwestern site). Significant differences in abundance were observed between sites (highest in the northern sites). The two northern sites had distinct community compositions, while the two southern sites were similar. This suggests that the MAR acts as a stronger barrier between communities north of the CGFZ than it does to the south. There was high heterogeneity between transects and it was not possible to identify general drivers for the benthic megafauna at the MAR. Our results emphasize the limited knowledge of this vast system with its unique benthic megafauna.

Why Countries ‘Get Tough on the Work-Shy’: The Role of Adverse Economic Conditions

AbstractThere has been a clear trend toward greater conditionality and coercion in labour market and social policy in recent decades, a key part of which is tougher sanctions for unemployment benefit claimants who refuse offers of employment or otherwise fail to comply with their obligations. Our understanding of this trend and its determinants is so far built only on a corpus of small-N evidence, while systematic comparative large-N analyses are lacking. As a result, the broad patterns of policy change and their general political drivers remain underexplored. This paper fills this gap by examining unemployment benefit sanction reforms in 20 democracies between 1980 and 2012 using an original dataset. It is shown that governments introduce tougher sanctions in order to reconcile two competing pressures that arise during economic downturns: an increased need for social protection and reduced fiscal revenues. The findings, which are also applicable to other historical periods and policy areas, provide an impulse for future comparative large-N research on ‘demanding activation’ policies.

Bottom-up and top-down control of dispersal across major organismal groups.

Ecology and evolution unfold in spatially structured communities, where dispersal links dynamics across scales. Because dispersal is multicausal, identifying general drivers remains challenging. In a coordinated distributed experiment spanning organisms from protozoa to vertebrates, we tested whether two fundamental determinants of local dynamics, top-down and bottom-up control, generally explain active dispersal. We show that both factors consistently increased emigration rates and use metacommunity modelling to highlight consequences on local and regional dynamics.

The Ecology and Evolution of Alien Plants

We review the state of the art of alien plant research with emphasis on conceptual advances and knowledge gains on general patterns and drivers, biotic interactions, and evolution. Major advances include the identification of different invasion stages and invasiveness dimensions (geographic range, habitat specificity, local abundance) and the identification of appropriate comparators while accounting for propagule pressure and year of introduction. Developments in phylogenetic and functional trait research bear great promise for better understanding of the underlying mechanisms. Global patterns are emerging with propagule pressure, disturbance, increased resource availability, and climate matching as major invasion drivers, but species characteristics also play a role. Biotic interactions with resident communities shape invasion outcomes, with major roles for species diversity, enemies, novel weapons, and mutualists. Mounting evidence has been found for rapid evolution of invasive aliens and evolutionary responses of natives, but a mechanistic understanding requires tighter integration of molecular and phenotypic approaches. We hope the open questions identified in this review will stimulate further research on the ecology and evolution of alien plants.

Ecological, evolutionary, and geographical correlates of variation in consumer elemental composition

Ecological, evolutionary, and geographical correlates of variation in consumer elemental composition