Integration Project Research Articles

High-resolution data are necessary to understand the effects of climate on plant population dynamics of a forest herb.

Climate is assumed to strongly influence species distribution and abundance. Although the performance of many organisms is influenced by the climate in their immediate proximity, the climate data used to model their distributions often have a coarse spatial resolution. This is problematic because the local climate experienced by individuals might deviate substantially from the regional average. This problem is likely to be particularly important for sessile organisms like plants and in environments where small-scale variation in climate is large. To quantify the effect of local temperature on vital rates and population growth rates, we used temperature values measured at the local scale (in situ logger measures) and integral projection models with demographic data from 37 populations of the forest herb Lathyrus vernus across a wide latitudinal gradient in Sweden. To assess how the spatial resolution of temperature data influences assessments of climate effects, we compared effects from models using local data with models using regionally aggregated temperature data at several spatial resolutions (≥1 km). Using local temperature data, we found that spring frost reduced the asymptotic population growth rate in the first of two annual transitions and influenced survival in both transitions. Only one of the four regional estimates showed a similar negative effect of spring frost on population growth rate. Our results for a perennial forest herb show that analyses using regionally aggregated data often fail to identify the effects of climate on population dynamics. This emphasizes the importance of using organism-relevant estimates of climate when examining effects on individual performance and population dynamics, as well as when modeling species distributions. For sessile organisms that experience the environment over small spatial scales, this will require climate data at high spatial resolutions.

Future of Europe: Reflections from Türkiye

This special issue delves into the complex challenges confronting the EU and its member states, offering a meticulous examination of Europe's future. Focusing on security policies, regional relations, energy strategies, digital transformation, and the societal impacts of populism, particularly in the realms of social policies and gender equality, it explores potential future scenarios for the integration project. The motivation behind this issue is twofold. Firstly, despite Türkiye’s pivotal role in the EU's strategic future, its direct involvement in discussions about Europe's prospects has been notably absent. This oversight ignores Türkiye’s unique position as a crucial actor in the EU's future, regardless of its potential accession. Secondly, the interest in the EU and Europe within Turkish academia extends beyond the accession process and EU-Türkiye relations. European Studies, as an interdisciplinary field, has gained momentum, reflecting Türkiye’s long-standing engagement with the study of the West's social and political aspects. This special issue aims to provide perspectives from Türkiye on themes crucial to Europe's unfolding future, envisioning a cooperative landscape that addresses critical challenges, with Türkiye as an integral part.

Why should stakeholders consider the effect of tensions in collaborative innovation in healthcare—lessons learned from surveying integrated care projects in Germany

IntroductionThe German Innovation Fund supports projects that aim to improve healthcare through integration and intersectoral collaboration. As is typical for collaborative innovation projects, partners often pursue different objectives, which can create tensions and affect outcomes. The study aims to explore the causes and effects of tensions in integrated care projects and how frameworks, processes, and management should be designed to deal with tensions and achieve their productive effects.MethodsIn an online survey we asked participants about the causes, effects, and management of tensions and their implications for integrated care projects (n = 58 completed questionnaires). We applied bivariate descriptive statistics to analyse the quantitative data.ResultsTensions between stakeholders, caused by deep-seated differences and the design of the project frameworks, often affect the course and outcome of innovative integrated care projects. However, through appropriate conflict management and negotiation processes such tensions can be managed constructively and lead to better outcomes.DiscussionTension is usually seen as something unpleasant to be avoided and/or overcome. In fact, tensions can have positive effects, the importance of which remains little understood. Developing appropriate frameworks for managing and integrating different perspectives are key factors in unlocking the positive potential of tensions in integrated care projects.

Investigating tritrophic interactions using bioenergetic demographic models.

A central debate in ecology has been the long-running discussion on the role of apex predators in affecting the abundance and dynamics of their prey. In terrestrial systems, research has primarily relied on correlational approaches, due to the challenge of implementing robust experiments with replication and appropriate controls. A consequence of this is that we largely suffer from a lack of mechanistic understanding of the population dynamics of interacting species, which can be surprisingly complex. Mechanistic models offer an opportunity to examine the causes and consequences of some of this complexity. We present a bioenergetic mechanistic model of a tritrophic system where the primary vegetation resource follows a seasonal growth function, and the herbivore and carnivore species are modeled using two integral projection models (IPMs) with body mass as the phenotypic trait. Within each IPM, the demographic functions are structured according to bioenergetic principles, describing how animals acquire and transform resources into body mass, energy reserves, and breeding potential. We parameterize this model to reproduce the population dynamics of grass, elk, and wolves in northern Yellowstone National Park (USA) and investigate the impact of wolf reintroduction on the system. Our model generated predictions that closely matched the observed population sizes of elk and wolf in Yellowstone prior to and following wolf reintroduction. The introduction of wolves into our basal grass-elk bioenergetic model resulted in a population of 99 wolves and a reduction in elk numbers by 61% (from 14,948 to 5823) at equilibrium. In turn, vegetation biomass increased by approximately 25% in the growing season and more than threefold in the nongrowing season. The addition of wolves to the model caused the elk population to switch from being food-limited to being predator-limited and had a stabilizing effect on elk numbers across different years. Wolf predation also led to a shift in the phenotypic composition of the elk population via a small increase in elk average body mass. Our model represents a novel approach to the study of predator-prey interactions, and demonstrates that explicitly considering and linking bioenergetics, population demography and body mass phenotypes can provide novel insights into the mechanisms behind complex ecosystem processes.

Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease and Rhinosinusitis: A Bidirectional Mendelian Randomization Study

Introduction: Comorbidities, such as gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), are common in patients with rhinosinusitis (RS). However, the link between RS and GERD has not been fully understood. This study aimed to investigate the causal relationship between GERD and acute (ARS) or chronic RS (CRS), providing references for the pathogenesis and management of RS. Methods: The data were obtained from the Integrative Epidemiology Unit Open GWAS project and FinnGen. A total of 972,838 individuals were included. The inverse variance-weighted (IVW) method was applied to obtain the primary results of the study. Weighted median, MR-Egger, and mode-based methods were used to determine the robustness of the results. Cochran’s Q statistic and MR-Egger method were applied to detect heterogeneity and pleiotrophy in instrumental variables (IVs). Other sensitivity analyses included MR-PRESSO and leave-one-out analysis. Results: The MR study showed that GERD was associated with an increased risk of CRS (OR: 1.36, 95% CI: 1.18–1.57, p < 0.001). The results of other analysis methods were broadly consistent with the IVW estimate. No heterogeneity was detected by Cochran’s Q test (p = 0.061) and MR-PRESSO (p = 0.074). No horizontal pleiotropy was shown in IVs (p = 0.700). GERD was also associated with an increased risk of ARS (OR: 1.31, 95% CI: 1.17–1.48, p < 0.001). Some analytical results were inconsistent with the IVW estimate. No heterogeneity and pleiotropy were observed. There was no sufficient evidence for a reverse causal effect of RS on GERD. Conclusion: Our study supported that GERD promoted the risk of CRS and may be a potential risk factor for ARS. This provides additional support for further investigation into the mechanisms of GERD on RS.

Development of governance for an integrated public data (GIPD) framework: illustrative use of GIPD in South Korea

PurposeUpon the realization of the need for guideline in cross-organizational data integration, in an exploratory manner, this study developed a public data governance framework, specifically, the governance for integrated public data (GIPD) framework and identified the influential factors of its successful implementation. This framework was then subjected to an analysis of a real data integration case in the South Korean public sector to test its efficacy.Design/methodology/approachTo develop the GIPD framework, the authors conducted an extensive meta study, focus group interviews and the analytic hierarchy process involving field experts. Further, the authors performed topic modeling on documents from Korean research and development data integration projects, and compared the extracted factors to those of the GIPD to illustrate the latter's usefulness in a real case.FindingsLegislation, policy goals and strategies, operation organization, decision-making council, financial support size and objective, system development and operation, data integration, data generation, system/data standardization and master data management were derived as the 10 important factors in implementing the GIPD framework. The illustrative case of Korea revealed that decision-making council, financial support size and objective, legislation, data generation and data integration were insufficient.Research limitations/implicationsAlthough this study reveals important findings, it has a few limitations. First, the potential factors for data governance might vary depending on the attribute of the “interviewee” (such as their career or experience period) and the goal and area of GIPD framework building. Second, the inherent limitation of topic modeling in determining topics from groups of extracted keywords means that topics may be interpreted in various ways, depending on the perspective of the expert.Practical implicationsThis study is highly significant in that it provides a starting point for discussions on the issue of data integration among public institutions. Therefore, although this study examined public data governance based on R&amp;D data, it will contribute to providing a sufficient guideline for any type of inter-institutional data governance framework, what to discuss and how to discuss between institutions.Originality/valueThe findings are expected to provide a roadmap to formulate practical guidelines on inter-institutional data cooperation and a diagnostic matrix to improve the existing data governance system, especially in the public sector, from the existing practice of empirical analysis using a mixed methodology approach.

Impact of intensive water use from farm dams on the storage dynamics in strategic reservoirs

ABSTRACTThe construction of dams and interbasin water transfers are major strategies to adapt to water scarcity. In the semi-arid Jaguaribe basin, Brazil, large strategic reservoirs supply water for urban centres, while farm dams serve multiple demands of rural communities. We used the Model of Water Availability in SemiArid Environments (WASA) to assess the water storage dynamics of strategic reservoirs impacted by: (i) water withdrawal from farm dams located upstream; (ii) interbasin water transfer to the Jaguaribe basin. Simulations show that intensive water use from smaller reservoirs reduces large reservoir volumes by less than 10%, whereas inflows from the São Francisco Integration Project to the basin can increase by 6% the period of time in which reservoir capacity is above the alert volume. The practice of saving water from small dams can be abandoned, enabling higher agricultural production without compromising the water supply of large urban centres.

Person‐Centred Planning in Centres of Activities for Inclusion

Person‐centred planning includes the active social participation of individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) and is the fairest path towards assuring human rights and citizenship among people with IDD. Semi‐structured interviews were undertaken with four technicians from centres of activities in Portugal, four family members, and four adults with IDD to observe the best practices that facilitate/hinder the implementation of person‐centred interventions. Several discrepancies were identified regarding inclusive practices in centres of activities and capacity building, associated with the sense of mission, vision and perspective of technical structures, the bureaucratic weight that conditions the transition between intervention models, the participation and positioning of families regarding their representation of the centres, as well as the investment these centres make concerning effective and fair inclusion in surrounding communities. Still far from successful implementation, a person‐centred approach must be considered and include all participants’ perspectives to build robust and integral life projects.

Plant demographic knowledge is biased towards short‐term studies of temperate‐region herbaceous perennials

Plant demography has a long history resulting in a large knowledge base. Comparative analysis of this information allows exploration of the drivers of demographic patterns globally and the study of life‐history evolution. Studies aiming to generalise demographic patterns rely on data being derived from a representative sample. However, the data are likely to be taxonomically, geographically and methodologically biased. Matrix population models (MPMs) are widely‐used in plant demography, so an assessment of publications using MPMs is a convenient way to assess the distribution of plant demographic knowledge using this modelling approach. We assessed bias in this knowledge using data from the COMPADRE Plant Matrix Database, containing MPMs for &gt; 700 species. We show that tree species and tropical areas are under‐represented, while herbaceous perennials and temperate areas are over‐represented. There is a positive association between the number of studies per country and per capita GDP. Most studies have low spatiotemporal replication with 43% of studies conducted over &lt; four years, and only 17% replicated across &gt; three sites. This limited spatiotemporal coverage means existing data may not represent the environmental conditions the species experience. These biases and knowledge gaps inhibit theory development and limit current utility for identifying useful generalities for management decisions, such as typical responses to climate change. It is likely that similar biases extend to other demographic modelling tools such as integral projection models. We urge researchers to address these biases and close these knowledge gaps.

Distinct impacts of feeding frequency and warming on life history traits affect population fitness in vertebrate ectotherms.

Body size shifts in ectotherms are mostly attributed to the Temperature Size Rule (TSR) stating that warming speeds up initial growth rate but leads to smaller size when food does not limit growth. Investigating the links between temperature, growth, and life history traits is key to understand the adaptive value of TSR, which might be context dependent. In particular, global warming can affect food quantity or quality which is another major driver of growth, fecundity, and survival. However, we have limited information on how temperature and food jointly influence life history traits in vertebrate predators and how changes in different life history traits combine to influence fitness and population demography. We investigate (1) whether TSR is maintained under different food conditions, (2) if food exacerbates or dampens the effects of temperature on growth and life history traits and (3) if food influences the adaptive value of TSR. We combine experiments on the medaka with Integral Projection Models to scale from life history traits to fitness consequences. Our results confirm that warming triggers a higher initial growth rate and a lower adult size, reduces generation time and increases mean fitness. A lower level of food exacerbates the effects of warming on growth trajectories. Although lower feeding frequency increased survival and decreased fecundity, it did not influence the effects of warming on fish development rates, fecundity, and survival. In contrast, feeding frequency influenced the adaptive value of TSR, as, under intermittent feeding, generation time decreased faster with warming and the increase in growth rate with warming was weaker compared to continuously fed fish. These results are of importance in the context of global warming as resources are expected to change with increasing temperatures but, surprisingly, our results suggest that feeding frequency have a lower impact on fitness at high temperature.

Invisible social Europe? Linking citizens' awareness of European cohesion funds, individual power resources, and support for the EU.

In the twentieth century national social policies stabilized the European state systems, favouring domestic concordance and citizens' support to the nation-building process. Welfare institutions have historically served this key political function also in federal systems, where social citizenship has been used as a tool to foster unity. In contrast, even though the EU devotes a consistent part of its (however limited) budget to social cohesion and inclusion programmes, it takes little credit for such efforts. Building on original survey data on public opinion collected in 2019 across ten EU countries, this article shows that, indeed, only a limited number of citizens are aware of the social role played by the EU in their local community. On the other hand, it demonstrates that citizens' awareness of EU programmes strengthens the individual perception of power resources stemming from euro-social initiatives, the feeling of 'being heard' by the EU and, ultimately, the support for the European integration project as a whole. By implication, increasing the relevance and visibility of euro-social programmes could possibly reinforce the very foundations of the EU.

Crafting Recognition: Understanding Gendered and Ethnicised Experiences in an Arts-Based Integration Project

In Denmark, heightened public interest surrounding migration politics has become embodied in the arts, leading to the development of migration-related arts projects. In this study we explore the experiences of women taking part in an arts-based integration project designed for migrant and Danish women to knit, sew, and crochet in female company, with a view to professionalise their handicrafts. Our findings, which are grounded in ethnographic fieldwork as well as interviews with members of the group, demonstrate how handicraft acts as a prism through which categories such as gender, class, and ethnicity are negotiated within the project. We found that group members’ national and cultural backgrounds shaped their different expectations and experiences in the project. The roles they occupied and their self-perception within the group were also shaped by other factors, such as their family status, their state of employment, and whether handicraft was more of a ‘hobby’ or a source of income. The study makes a case for appreciating the importance of social recognition. Understanding how these women perceived their own and each other’s work becomes a magnifier of the socio-political context in which the integration project is situated. Artistic practice both enabled members to respond to an integration and refugee discourse, while simultaneously positioning them within such frameworks.

AUTHORITARIAN LIBERALISM, ORDOLIBERAL RATIONALITY AND THE EUROPEAN INTEGRATION PROJECT

Abstract. The author assesses the relevance and analytical significance of authoritarian liberalism and interprets it as one of the modern conceptual models of ordoliberalism and European integration. The basic concepts of authoritarian liberalism and ordoliberalism emphasise the political and ideological connection between the authoritarianism of the strong state and the economic liberalism of market rationality. As a flexible market-oriented form of authoritarian liberalism, ordoliberalism means a rational strategy for maintaining and promoting the European integration project towards which the market economy and the technocratic elite are moving to contain crises. Due to the presence of the values of political liberalism, pluralism and the rule of law, authoritarianism in this structure is not repressive or monocentric, but subject to democratic criticism in relation to the supranational regulation of European integration. Keywords: authoritarian liberalism, ordoliberalism, market capitalism, democracy, eurocrisis, European integration

Solar channels as an innovative energy approach for large water transposition projects

Open water transposition channels in hot and arid regions lose significant amounts of water through evaporation. This is the case with the São Francisco River Integration Project (PISF) in Brazil. This paper proposes using photovoltaic (PV) panels to cover the channels of the PISF to reduce evaporation and save water. The study aims to evaluate the potential amount of water saved by this technology across all channel lengths, as well as the energy that can be generated by the covered watercourses. The study also examines whether the energy produced can be used to power the transposition pumps during peak radiation hours, improving the energy efficiency of the project. To achieve the study’s goals, the authors conducted a thorough review of academic and industrial literature on the state-of-the-art of PV generation in Brazil and worldwide. They also examined the regional geography, meteorology, irradiation, and social characteristics of the area. The authors identified the characteristics of the channels and watercourses of PISF and calculated their solar potential. The study found that covering all current channel extensions with PV panels could save up to 25,000 m3Water per day to supply the deprived population, improving their quality of life and generating 1,250 GWh annually.

Analysis Validation of Modern Physics Learning Media Based on Smartphone Integrated Project Based Learning to Improve Students’ Creativity and Scientific Literacy

The development of modern physics learning media based on project based learning integrated with smartphones to increase students' creativity and scientific literacy has been successfully carried out. The aim of this development is to produce modern physics learning media based on project based learning integrated with smartphones that is valid to increase students' creativity and scientific literacy. The media development uses a 4D model which consists of four stages, namely: define, design, develop and disseminate. Based on the results of assessments by material experts, learning media experts and learning experts, it can be concluded that modern physics learning media based on project based learning integrated with smartphones is very suitable to be used as a learning media in increasing students' creativity and scientific literacy.

The operation of adjacent lands’ integration project for removal of narrow lands

The operation of adjacent lands’ integration project for removal of narrow lands

Non-recognizing the Other? Discursive deligitimation of the EAEU by the EU

ABSTRACT The Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU), despite being regarded as the most developed integration project in the post-Soviet area, has faced different hurdles in acquiring international recognition. Especially, the EU, the EAEU’s Significant Other, has been reluctant to formally recognize it, in spite of close ties with EAEU member states as well as of its own self-image as a supporter of regional integrations. This paper focuses on this puzzle and examines how the EU has been discursively explaining its non-recognition of the EAEU at the institutional level. Based on the analysis of EU-articulated narratives since 2010, the paper reveals three dominant representations of the EAEU in the EU discourse: (1) Russia’s geopolitical project; (2) a protectionist union; and (3) a dysfunctional union. These narratives have been used by Brussels to create the EAEU’s image as a threatening Other, thus justifying why the EU cannot formally recognize the EAEU and officially engage with it. The paper also identifies five different stages of the EU’s discursive representation of the EAEU since 2010, when its tone and content varied. The paper concludes that such non-recognition from the Significant Other still limits the EAEU’s international agency despite its increasing interest in cooperation with non-Western actors.

Charting the Impacts of Media Discourses on the European Integration Project

The over-exposure to information facilitated by the hybrid media system and social networks is a key factor contributing to the increasing polarization of public opinion on major political issues. The European integration project is one of the major political processes affected by information manipulation and disinformation. In this regard, social networks have become powerful tools for nurturing news siloes or “echo chambers,” influencing people’s perceptions of important political issues in a manner that could have a destabilizing effect on democratic processes and institutions. In this context, the role of media discourses and their circulation among networked publics has become particularly relevant, leading audiences to adopt different views supporting or rejecting the European project. This thematic issue features a range of articles considering how the Europeanization process is impacted by discourses circulating in the hybrid media system or threatened by the destructive dynamics of disinformation and polarization.

Turkey and the Greater Eurasian Partnership: Opportunities and Challenges in “Amalgamated” Regionalism

The Greater Eurasian Partnership (GEP), introduced by Russia in 2015, is a regional integration project that aims to encompass the Eurasian Economic Union, the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations. With this broad spectrum, it embodies various forms of regionalism, arranges a flexible institutional structure for non-/governmental actors without denting their other regional affiliations and provides commercial, developmental, and security opportunities. Such features could also facilitate the GEP’s ability to enhance Turkey’s recent efforts to deepen its relations with Asia. In return, Turkey could play several key roles for the GEP with its “dialogue partner” status in the SCO, “Middle Corridor” initiative for the BRI, and well-established links in Central Asia. Originating from potential mutual interests, this study applies a theoretical perspective underlining the commonalities of various regionalism categories to analyze the GEP’s amalgamated nature and highlight its significance for Turkey’s political-economic priorities without undermining its traditional ties with the West.

Presentation of the xM3 Test Case of the P2M Simulation Exercise and Modeling with the Fuel Performance Code ALCYONE

This paper presents simulations of the xM3 power ramp with the fuel performance code ALCYONE performed during an international simulation exercise organized within the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development/Nuclear Energy Agency Power to Melt and Maneuverability project. The xM3 test involved a large-grain UO2 fuel from Mitsubishi Heavy Industries cladded with Zirlo and pre-irradiated in a Spanish pressurized water reactor up to an average burnup of 27 GWd/tU−1. It was then submitted to a staircase ramp protocol in the R2 reactor at Studsvik (Sweden) with 10 successive steps of 5 kW·m−1 up to a ramp terminal level of 70 kW·m−1. The fuel rodlet did not fail, and detailed post irradiation examinations performed during the Studsvik Cladding Integrity Project II evidenced recrystallization of the pellet center around a central hole, interpreted as signs of fuel melting. In this paper, simulations with ALCYONE of the xM3 power ramp, including an advanced model for fuel melting based on thermodynamic equilibrium calculations, are detailed. The model relies on the determination of the liquid fuel fraction evolution with temperature that is used to obtain a continuous description of the material properties during phase change. In consequence of the incorporation of rare earths and actinides in the bulk of the fuel, distinct solidus and liquidus temperatures are estimated. It is shown that the observed central hole and recrystallized central part of the pellet could be the consequence of totally melted fuel (liquidus is reached), partially melted fuel (solidus is reached), or pore migration only.