Integration Project Research Articles

Effect of weight loss following Roux-en-Y gastric bypass on cancer risk: A Mendelian randomization study.

Cancer incidence and development are strongly correlated with obesity, however there is insufficient data to support a causal relationship between intentional weight loss and the prevention or promotion of cancer. We investigated the causal relationship between weight loss following Roux-en-Y gastric bypass (RYGB) and the incidence of 18 cancers using Mendelian randomization (MR). A genome-wide association studies (GWAS) data related to weight loss following RYGB from the GWAS catalog database were used as exposure, and GWAS data related to 18 cancers from the Medical Research Council integrative epidemiology unit open GWAS project were used as outcomes. In order to investigate the causal relationship between exposure and results, we used a two-sample MR approach. The primary analysis technique was inverse variance weighting, with weighted median, and MR-Egger regression utilized as supplemental techniques to confirm the findings. Heterogeneity and horizontal pleiotropy were investigated using a variety of sensitivity studies, including the Cochran Q test, MR-Egger regression pleiotropy test, MR pleiotropy residual sum and outlier, and leave-one-out analysis. We included a total of 4 single-nucleotide polymorphisms as instrumental variables through rigorous quality control screening. Under the limitations of Bonferroni correction threshold (P < 2.78 × 10-3), our results suggest that the weight loss following RYGB has a significant causal relationship with a reduced risk of breast (odds ratio [OR]: 0.784; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.762-0.808; P = 2.167e-58) and lung cancer (OR: 0.992; 95% CI: 0.987-0.997; P = .0023), and a potential causal relationship with a decreased risk of hematological cancer (OR: 0.9998462; 95% CI: 0.9997088-0.9999836; P = .028) and an increased risk of cervical cancer (OR: 1.000123; 95% CI: 1.0000313-1.000215; P = .009). Sensitivity analysis confirms the robustness of our analysis results. Genetically predicted weight loss following RYGB has significant causal effects in reducing the risk of breast and lung cancer. It also has potential benefits in lowering the risk of hemotological cancers and increasing the risk of cervical cancer. Considering the limitations of our study, the reliability of its results and the underlying mechanisms require further investigation.

Role of Solar Energy in Achieving Global Net-Zero Targets: Policy and Technological Perspective

Solar Energy Essential in Global Drive for Net Zero Emissions This paper sets out to address the complex role of solar power as an enabler for decarbonization, highlighting both policy and technology-related matters. We assess the effectiveness of different policy instruments in fostering solar energy uptake: financial incentives and regulatory frameworks that level the playing field with other technologies or curtail them by limiting, e.g., fossil fuel use, carbon pricing mechanisms, and international cooperation. We also review key technological advancements in photovoltaics, energy storage, and grid integration that are essential for solar energy to play an optimized role in a sustainable energy future. For these intents and purposes, we explore how new technologies such as perovskite solar cells (PSCs), concentrated solar power (CSP), or building-integrated photovoltaics (BIPV) could offer a significant enhancement of efficiency and dynamism in converting sunlight into electricity. Case We explore the dos and don’ts of being a perfect project through stories from successful solar energy integration projects. We assess the challenges and opportunities associated with solar powering in the future, underscoring the provision of cohesive policy as well as technology road-maps to achieve global net-zero targets. Our study underscores the potential of solar energy as a transformative resource. It provides direction to policy-makers, scholars, and industry actors regarding pathways that may accelerate the deployment of this increasingly vital renewable technology.

A Model for Understanding and Expanding the Scope of Critical Thinking

Abstract In this article I draw on existing theory in a project of synthesis and integration to develop a terminological, conceptual, and graphic model for understanding the scope of critical thinking. I begin by showing why the idea of critical scope matters. I then develop a model that maps the scope of critical thinking across individual, sociocultural, and existential domains, in conjunction with the ontological, epistemological, emotional, and political dimensions. Building on this, I outline the relationships between contexts, critical frameworks, and metacritique as essential to understanding the scope of critical thinking. The model also includes a means for organising the attributes (character traits) of critical thinkers. This project provides resources to encourage and guide critical thinking at a more expansive scope in education, society, and daily life by helping people to understand the contours and potential confines of criticality. This has profound implications for education and society, helping to improve the rigour, reach, and diversity of critical thinking. This model is far from complete, and designed to invite ongoing engagement, including critique. It is intended as a rubric to prompt and inspire, not as a device to ‘measure’ or ‘assess’ critical thinking. Educationally, the intention is to provide resources for understanding, negotiating, and facilitating critical thinking at an expansive scope.

The experience of the Faculty of Arts and Humanities at Sultan Moulay Slimane University in the field of knowledge integration: An analysis of the knowledge integration projects of the Center for Knowledge and Civilization Studies and the Maqasid and Dialogue Research Laboratory.

Sultan Moulay Slimane University in Beni Mellal, Morocco, is one of the leading academic institutions in implementing new pedagogical guidelines and visions aimed at achieving epistemic integration between the sciences of revelation, natural sciences, and humanities. The Faculty of Arts and Humanities has worked to embed this methodology through its academic supervision and foundational training programs offered to students at various levels, whether basic, advanced, or in-depth. Additionally, the faculty supports this approach through the activities of its research laboratories and centers, which organize national and international seminars and conferences. At the forefront of these efforts are the Maqasid and Dialogue Studies and Research Laboratory and the Center for Knowledge and Civilization Studies, both of which have prioritized the integration of sciences and knowledge as an essential component of their academic research and activities. Their aim is to build bridges between different disciplines, achieving a comprehensive and inclusive perspective, grounded in the belief that humanity's crises are multidimensional and that solutions must adopt diverse and integrated scientific and methodological approaches, whether religious, humanistic, or natural. This research paper seeks to evaluate this pioneering experience through a descriptive and analytical methodology to highlight the methodological and scientific advantages of the university's laboratories and centers. It also aims to showcase their scientific potential and tireless efforts in achieving epistemic integration between Shari’ah sciences, humanities, and natural sciences. The paper further examines the key educational strategies adopted to transcend the traditional system and provide innovative alternatives in teaching methodologies, contributing to intellectual productivity, scientific advancement, and civilizational contribution. This is rooted in the belief that academic institutions and research laboratories are the driving forces for the desired reform. Keywords: epistemic integration, Sultan Moulay Slimane University, Maqasid Laboratory, Center for Knowledge and Civilization Studies.

ACoRA – A Platform for Automating Code Review Tasks

Background: Modern Code Reviews (MCR) are frequently adopted when assuring code and design quality in continuous integration and deployment projects. Although tiresome, they serve a secondary purpose of learning about the software product. Aim: Our objective is to design and evaluate a support tool to help software developers focus on the most important code fragments to review and provide them with suggestions on what should be reviewed in this code. Method: We used design science research to develop and evaluate a tool for automating code reviews by providing recommendations for code reviewers. The tool is based on Transformer-based machine learning models for natural language processing, applied to both programming language code (patch content) and the review comments. We evaluate both the ability of the language model to match similar lines and the ability to correctly indicate the nature of the potential problems encoded in a set of categories. We evaluated the tool on two open-source projects and one industry project. Results: The proposed tool was able to correctly annotate (only true positives) 35%–41% and partially correctly annotate 76%–84% of code fragments to be reviewed with labels corresponding to different aspects of code the reviewer should focus on. Conclusion: By comparing our study to similar solutions, we conclude that indicating lines to be reviewed and suggesting the nature of the potential problems in the code allows us to achieve higher accuracy than suggesting entire changes in the code considered in other studies. Also, we have found that the differences depend more on the consistency of commenting rather than on the ability of the model to find similar lines.

Legal Aspects of Disintegration: Lessons of States’ Withdrawals from European Regional Organizations

INTRODUCTION. Viewed for a long time as an outstanding example of restoring durable peace on the continent and a major precondition for its prosperity, the European integration project is increasingly running existential risks. The precedents of States’ withdrawals from the main European regional organisations – the European Union and the Council of Europe – command a critical review of both their experience and the perspectives for their continuing existence. While the aforementioned events were unique in nature, they have shaken in their own ways the long-established architecture of Pan-European cooperation and prompted in-depth studies of political and legal models of States’ withdrawals from European regional organisations.MATERIALS AND METHODS. The study is based on a broad ensemble of international and national norms and case-law that have shaped the Great Britain’s exit from the European Union. The analysis has been nurtured by an array of sources connected with the long negotiation process and the parallel legal and political processes within the UK. Mass media publications have been used along with official speeches and statements by high-level lawyers and politicians. The research also benefits from an in-depth study of the doctrine and practice, including the commentaries by direct actors of the pivotal events. Beyond the traditional methods of legal analysis the author has used historic and dialectic approach with a view to combining the study of the formal legal sense of the desintegration processes with their systemic understanding as interconnected elements within the broader dynamics of international law and international relations.RESEARCH RESULTS. The study has analysed through the prism of Brexit the legal aspects of desintegration as a complex process of the State’s desengaging from a highly organised supranational union. On the one hand, the article reviews the international-law dimension of the desintegration process through the denunciation of the statutory treaties and the conclusion of new ones with a view to a «soft exit», thus ensuring a progressive transformation of the intra-union relations into new formats, cutting off multiple connections, while preserving some others. On the other hand, the article explores the way the desintegration is framed and its consequences managed in national law. The progressive transformation of the nationaly rooted elements of the European legal order requires thousands of new legal acts, let alone the review of a more voluminous body of the EU-related case-law through national judicial decisions.DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS. The geopolitical shifts in Europe and the world, allied with the unprecedented deterioration of the political and economic situation within the European Union itself, raise doubts at both its continued leadership and even its capacity to survive in its present format. The current international context therefore commands a review of the Brexit experience in a comparative perspective, taking it as a highly sophisticated legal model, albeit not the only one, of withdrawal from the regional integration project. While the United Kingdom’s withdrawal from the EU presents notable differences with Russia’s withdrawal from the Council of Europe, which deserves a separate study, certain parallels have been identified between the two phenomena both in terms of their framing in international and national law and in terms of their significance for further desintegration on the European arena.

Technology transfer in the integrative projects of the new educational model at the Technological University of Jalisco, campus Digital Creative City

An Integrative Project is a work that is prepared in a specific area of knowledge, through which the student highlights the knowledge acquired throughout a specific period of studies, promoting the understanding, analysis and transformation of the problems of the context, is a collaborative work that aims to develop and integrate the acquired skills. This article shows the process of technological transfer in the integrative projects of the new model of the Technological University of Jalisco campus Digital Creative City, which are presented in a plenary exhibition at the end of each training cycle, through which scientific and technological knowledge is delivered. to develop new applications. The sources of knowledge and development of the technologies to be transferred are of diverse origin and belong to or have some link with the University

Causal Relationship between Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder and Autism Spectrum Disorder: A Two-Sample Mendelian Randomization.

Aims/Background Despite the exponential increase in the incidence rate of Autism spectrum disorder (ASD), effective therapies for the disorder are still limited. According to vast clinical observations, the pathogeneses of ASD and Attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) share a great deal of similarities. This serves as a prompt to investigate, in this study, whether patients with ADHD are at a higher risk for ASD, which is significant for disease prevention. Methods Data concerning ADHD as the exposure variable and ASD as the outcome variable were collected from the publicly available Integrative Epidemiology Unit Open GWAS project (IEU GWAS) database. After screening the instrumental variables (IVs), statistical analysis was performed using the TwoSampleMR package of version R4.3.1, and sensitivity testing was conducted to evaluate the stability and reliability of the results. Results After screening the Single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) through the calculation of F-value and Mendelian randomization (MR) Pleiotropy RESidual Sum and Outlier test (MR-PRESSO), seven SNPs that satisfied the three major assumptions of Mendelian randomization were selected as IVs and could be used in place of ADHD in exploring the aforementioned causal relationship. The Odds ratio (OR) for the random-effect Inverse-variance weighted (IVW) method was 1.31 (95% Confidence interval [CI]: 1.14-1.52; p = 0.0001). A similar trend was observed for the Weighted median estimator (WME) method, with an OR of 1.37 (wider 95% CI: 1.15-1.64; p = 0.0005). Conclusion This study includes the pooled data on ADHD and ASD from the IEU GWAS public database, and there is sufficient evidence that patients with ADHD have a higher risk of ASD.

Simulated Impacts of Harvesting Chamaedorea linearis and C. pinnatifrons (Arecaceae): Implications for Their Conservation

ABSTRACTPalms are important sources of nontimber forest products. One of their most common uses is as ornamentals, which often involves harvesting whole individuals or plant parts from wild populations. Chamaedorea linearis and Chamaedorea pinnatifrons are still not excessively harvested, but they have substantial ornamental potential, and their populations are decreasing. The use of a wild species can contribute to its conservation if the use is governed by adequate harvest rates. We simulated harvest impacts on the population dynamics of C. linearis and C. pinnatifrons in an Andean montane forest in Parque Natural Chicaque, Colombia, using integral projection models (IPMs) over the period 2019–2021. We projected management scenarios including the harvest of juveniles, as well as leaves and fruits of adults. In our model, the finite growth rate of C. linearis decreased (λ = 0.76–0.91) whereas in C. pinnatifrons it remained stable (λ = 0.98–1.04). The simulations of the harvest of juveniles and leaves suggested negative impacts on the populations' sizes and in the transient growth rate (λ20) in the long term when compared to no harvest. Fruits harvest had no considerable effects under 20% of removal once per year in both of the populations, but had a decrease in populations under 20% of removal twice and four times a year. We conclude that sustainable use strategies should focus on protecting juveniles in both populations. Fruit harvest for propagation can be promoted as a sustainable use strategy that does not endanger their conservation.

An authentic and contextualized integration project related to the beer production process at the “Usine-École Siboire”

During the third semester of the bachelor's degree in chemical/biotechnology engineering, students have frequent assignments and exams that generate stress, anxiety, and interfere with the teachers’ educational objectives. Based on these observations, how could it possible to decrease the number of assessments to alleviate the students’ stress and ensure that they remain motivated throughout the semester and achieve in-depth learning. The proposed solution is to replace all the homework from the mathematics, thermodynamics, and transport phenomena classes by a joint authentic and contextualized integrative project related to the beer production process where the students benefit from an easy access to the “Usine-École” installations. In the 2023 fall semester, a pilot version was implemented. The teachers noticed that the students were comfortable in solving open problems that met their interests, and that their motivation and involvement was increased. An area to improve for the students concerned the analysis and interpretation of their results.

From conflicts law to transformative law: facing ‘fragmented globalisation’

Abstract How does ‘Europe’ cope with its dark past and how does it handle its internal conflicts and contradictions? This is the question at the heart of Christian Joerges’s 600-page opus magnum Conflict and Transformation – Essays on European Law and Policy where he advances his reconceptualization of EU law as a particular form of conflicts law as his answer. But the problem constellation the EU is faced with in today’s world is well-beyond what can be encapsulated by a conflicts law perspective. As an alternative the idea of transformative law is introduced and its potential for acting as a basis for the reconceptualization of the EU legal order discussed. Joerges’s oeuvre moreover has a blind angle, as it is internalistic in nature. But rather than internal forces driving the integration project forward the structural trigger and driver of European integration should rather be found in the reconfiguration of Europe’s relations with the wider world. From (de-)colonialisation to todays ‘fragmented globalisation’ it is the structural reconfigurations of Europe’s relationships to the rest of the world which is the central driver of the integration process.

Changes in reproduction mediate the effects of climate change and grassland management on plant population dynamics.

Climate change is one of the largest threats to grassland plant species, which can be modified by land management. Although climate change and land management are expected to separately and interactively influence plant demography, this has been rarely considered in climate change experiments. We used a large-scale experiment in central Germany to quantify the effects of grassland management, climate change, and their joint effect on the demography and population growth rate of 11 plant species all native to this temperate grassland ecosystem. We parameterized integral projection models with five years of demographic data to project population growth rate. We hypothesized that plant populations perform better in the ambient than in the future climate treatment that creates hotter and drier summer conditions. Further, we hypothesized that plant performance interactively responds to climate and land management in a species-specific manner based on the drought, mowing, and grazing tolerances as well as the flowering phenology of each species. Due to extreme drought events, over half of our study species went quasi extinct, which highlights how extreme climate events can influence long-term experimental results. We found no consistent support for our expectation that plants perform better in ambient compared with future climate conditions. However, several species showed interactive responses to the treatments, indicating that optimal management strategies for plant performance are expected to shift with climate change. Changes in population growth rates of these species across treatments were mostly due to changes in plant reproduction. Experiments combined with measuring plant demographic responses provide a way to isolate the effects of different drivers on the long-term persistence of species and to identify the demographic vital rates that are critical to manage in the future. Our study suggests that it will become increasingly difficult to maintain species with preferences for moister soil conditions, and that climate and land use can interactively alter demographic responses of the remaining grassland species.

Book Forum on Hans Kundnani's Eurowhiteness: Culture, Empire and Race in the European Project

This book forum discusses Hans Kundnani’s pivotal book on “Eurowhiteness” and the role of race in the EU integration project. It includes three reactions from Stefan Auer, Pavel Barša, and Agnes Gagyi, along with Kundnani’s response. Eurowhiteness skillfully reveals what has been obscured by the European Union as a vehicle of “imperial amnesia”. The three reactions and the author’s response continue a polemical discussion on this imperial amnesia, as viewed through different intellectual traditions and regions, including Central and Eastern Europe and anti-colonial perspectives. As a result, the forum uses the book to either deepen the debate on the EU’s civilizationism with new perspectives or expand the Eurowhiteness narrative with new geo-historical contexts and connections. Issues of Russian imperialism in Ukraine, the Israeli war in Gaza, and the economic dimensions of European coloniality are brought to the foreground, particularly when viewed through the imagination and reality of Central (and Eastern) Europe.

The Challenges of Teachers Using Digital Games for Game-based Learning in Primary, Middle and High schools

Using digital games for game-based learning provides great potential for language learning. However, game-based learning differs from gamification, which teachers may be more familiar with, and it presents numerous conceptual and technical challenges to current front-line teachers, who are considered essential for the success of any technology integration project in schools. It is undeniable that the implementation and effectiveness of game-based learning significantly relies on the willingness of classroom teachers to embrace it. Therefore, this article explores front-line teachers understanding and attitudes toward using digital games for game-based learning and its application in teaching. 4 front-line teachers from the primary, middle and high school levels in China participated in this qualitative study. Data for the study were gathered through semi-structured interviews and subsequently analyzed using thematic and content analysis. According to the findings of the study, the participating teachers showed negative attitudes towards using digital games for language learning purposes, and almost all participants had difficulty distinguishing between game-based learning and gamification; In addition, all participating teachers showed their limited ability in using game-based learning strategies as educational support in teaching. This research aims to enhance the understanding of English teachers perceptions and attitudes toward using digital games for game-based learning in the Chinese context, potentially leading to constructive recommendations for educational authorities. Moreover, relevant teaching resources, including teacher training programs, can be further tailored to meet the specific needs of educators.

Exploring the impact of information technology integration capability on project management performance in Chinese construction industry: a moderated mediation analysis

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to explore whether information technology (IT) integration capability and data sharing can improve project management performance in China’s construction industry under the background of global informatization. Moreover, the authors explore the moderating role of relational governance between IT integration capability and data sharing.Design/methodology/approachA theoretical model based on the research hypotheses proposed in this study was developed, and a questionnaire survey was conducted with 205 professionals. The data collected were analyzed by the structural equation modeling (SEM) technique.FindingsThe results indicate that IT integration capability has a significant and positive impact on project management performance and data sharing. Moreover, data sharing has a significant and positive impact on project management performance, and it plays a mediating role between IT integration capability and project management performance. In addition, relational governance significantly influences the mediating effect of data sharing.Research limitations/implicationsThe data used in this study is from Chinese scenarios, so the research conclusions and application effects based on this are bound to have certain regional limitations. So, a larger sample size from other countries could be selected to test the model. Besides, there are many factors that affect project management performance improving, and the theoretical model proposed in this study may not be fully considered. Therefore, follow-up researchers can consider bringing more suitable variables into their research studies, so that the theoretical research studies can be more in line with the actual project management practice.Originality/valueThis research’s value is as follows: Firstly, this paper broadens the understanding of how IT integration capability, data sharing and relational governance affects project management performance and enriches the literature in the construction management field under the background of global informatization. Secondly, this research provides a detailed governance solution to improve project management performance.

Beyond Survival: Transformative Impacts of Integrating Mental Health and Livelihood Support in Conflict Zones

This article presents a case study of an integrated humanitarian intervention that combines mental health and psychosocial support (MHPSS) with livelihood assistance to enhance the psychosocial well-being, interpersonal relations, and social cohesion of internally displaced persons. Focusing on International Organization for Migration's MHPSS and Livelihood Integration project in Iraq, this paper critically assesses its outcomes and limitations in a protracted conflict and displacement context. Key findings reveal that MHPSS and Livelihood Integration project participants, compared to those in non-integrated programs, reported improved emotional well-being, new life skills and social skills, enhanced problem-solving and stress management abilities, as well as greater adaptability and motivation. Integration of MHPSS and livelihood activities also facilitated social network development and a sense of connectedness. These results show the effectiveness of integrated interventions in supporting the mental health and well-being of internally displaced persons, returnees, and vulnerable community members while promoting a sense of belonging and community cohesion, contributing indirectly to intracommunal peace and positive social transformation. Offering valuable empirical insights, this study contributes to humanitarian, development, and peacebuilding research by demonstrating how structured MHPSS activities can be integrated into livelihood programs to support the mental health and emotional well-being of affected populations in a protracted conflict setting.

A comparison of the EU and AU in the field of peace and security – partners and rivals?

The intention of this paper is to examine how the European Union and the African Union are developing in parallel as voluntary integration projects, and how they compare with regard to the respective development of their defence policies, Union level military forces and strategies for the future. The author looks at the EU and AU as peace projects, their efforts regarding crisis management and territorial defence, the structures they use to further their integration, and also cooperation with each other. Remarkable parallel processes and also problems are found with respect to the financing, generation and use of forces. The paper compares the standby forces of the two organisations, namely the Battlegroups and the Rapid Deployment Capacity (RDC) in the EU, and the African Standby Force (ASF) in Africa. The author assesses the priorities, strategies, levels of ambition of the EU and the AU, taking into account their geopolitical situations, military alliance membership, and their potential regarding their size, population, resources, amounting to advantages and disadvantages with regard to reaching potential great power status in the future. According to the author’s assessment, the topic of cooperation and/or rivalry between the European Union and the African Union is a topic to watch, as the two continents come from very different histories but develop in remarkably similar ways, which might point to structural patterns working at deep levels.

Not anxious enough: The discursive articulation of ontological security in the European Parliament

Abstract This paper makes the case for a discursive understanding of ontological security and demonstrates the utility of such an approach in an analysis of European Parliament (EP) debates between 1990 and 2020. We argue that articulations of ontological (in)security operate through the (re)inscription of a set of metanarratives in what we call ‘discursive nodal points’. Building on an extensive analysis of EP debates over 30 years, we demonstrate that in contrast to the prevailing view of the European Union (EU) as an ‘anxious community’, at least on the political level, EU actors remain surprisingly confident in the European project. While they do invoke challenges to the EU, they see these as incentives to strengthen the integration project and often consider operating in crisis mode as an essential EU characteristic. In doing so, they draw on modernist metanarratives of progress, control, and power to construct an ontologically secure EU. We argue that the future ontological security of the EU will partly depend on allowing for more ambiguity in this modernist narrative without accepting a nationalist counter-narrative that undermines the idea of European integration.

Exploring the development of past and future episodic memory in adolescents with autism spectrum disorder: A preliminary longitudinal study

Adolescence is a critical period where individuals build their identity and consolidate how they interact with others. However, for adolescents with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), the development of identity and social bounds is at stake. These challenges with the development of identity and social bonds could be linked to difficulties in autobiographical memory (AM), whether recalling past events (past episodic memory; past EM) or imagining future scenarios (episodic future thinking; EFT). To date, developmental patterns of AM over time remain poorly understood in ASD. Eleven adolescents with ASD or typical development (TD) completed an assessment of past EM and EFT once per year for three years. Preliminary results show that past EM becomes more detailed over the years for adolescents with ASD, while there is no change for TD adolescents. Interestingly, only the content elements of the narrated events are increasing, not the context elements. Furthermore, EFT evolves in the TD group but remains stable in the ASD group. This first multi-case longitudinal study of AM needs to be replicated with more participants, but it seems to indicate a heterogeneous evolution of AM in ASD. For future studies, these results will lead us to explore the hypothesis of developmental delay and the factors influencing AM development in ASD. Finally, understanding these developmental pathways highlights the importance of personalized therapeutic approaches to support social integration, identity construction, and future projects for adolescents with ASD.

Patterns of natural vegetation removal in the Caatinga biome in Prodes Project scope

Abstract. The native vegetation removal (NVR) of Caatinga Brazilian biome has been mapped by Prodes Project coordinated by National Institute for Spatial Research (INPE) between 2000 to 2023 year. Prodes is considered an official government product for achieving Brazilian and international targets for the conservation of natural vegetation. Therefore, Prodes is committed to achieving the highest possible accuracy associated with the history of mapping already carried out, by visual interpretation of satellite images and the use of past mapping masks techniques. Mapping NVR in Caatinga biome is a major challenge compared to biomes where the tree canopy with native vegetation prevails. Caatinga is one of the least protected of Brazilian biomes and is in one of the most pressured semi-arid regions on the planet. This work aims to present the NVR in Caatinga biome from Prodes data, in terms of its trajectory and main geographical patterns, concerning the municipalities, and areas that are the focus of monitoring, conservation or restoration. According to Prodes results, by 2023, the cumulative NVR in the entire Caatinga reached 43,05%; in 2000, this figure was 29,54%. The major NVR occurred in the easternmost areas of Caatinga and regions of Serrinha and Feira de Santana in Bahia State. Also, there are areas with considerable NVR further inside the biome, such as, Irecê and Guanambi region in Bahia, west of Pernambuco and Paraíba States and South and North of Ceará State. Areas prioritized for conservation actions showed high NVR values, indicating the urgent need for implementation of such actions. The fact that Desertification Cores showed low NVR values is important, and these regions should be closely monitored to prevent uncontrolled NVR rates. The two regions with high anthropic pressure or speculation showed contrasting behaviors; while the Araripe Gypsum Pole exhibited higher NVR levels compared to the control area, the São Francisco River integration project (PISF) so far does not appear significantly different from the rest of the biome. Overall, this study clearly demonstrates the potential of monitoring the Caatinga through Prodes in understanding and integrating the various factors influencing changes in the biome's native vegetation cover. Future approaches should move beyond descriptive studies to increasingly contribute to the territorial management of this important Brazilian region.