Integration Project Research Articles

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 > 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 < four years, and only 17% replicated across > 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.

BISON-FIPD integration enhanced low-burnup SFR metallic fuel swelling model evaluation framework

Experiments indicated that metallic fuel in sodium-cooled fast reactors (SFRs) rapidly swells radially and axially at low burnup. Despite that, prior studies have been focused on describing high burnup axial fuel elongation. With recent conventional and non-conventional metallic fuel concepts being considered for license applications, understanding multidimensional fuel swelling at a wide range of burnup levels is important to fuel analysis and qualification activities. Here, we report the development and demonstration efforts of a low-burnup SFR metallic fuel swelling model evaluation framework using the BISON advanced fuel performance code. The framework leverages the Integral Fast Reactor (IFR) program X423 experiment data through the ongoing integration project to enable standardized and automated use of legacy metallic fuel irradiation data maintained in the SFR fuel irradiation and physics database (FIPD) for BISON metallic fuel model verification and validation. The performance of the framework was demonstrated using the two representative metallic fuel swelling model sets implemented in BISON, with a series of insights about future advanced swelling model development.

Dynamics of protectionism and free trade measures in the competitive confrontation between the United States and China

The article examines the reconciliation mechanism of protectionist and liberalization components in the economic policy of the United States and China. Under tightening economic competition, the U.S. and China are implementing a set of measures to support national economies, aimed both at protecting the industries which are crucial for the development of the states, and at ensuring markets for the goods produced in the country. These observations have led to the hypothesis that the set of protectionist and liberalization tools in the economic policy of countries is combined and varied to ensure economic security and international competitiveness of national economies. Based on the analysis of indicators measuring the openness of the US and PRC economies as well as a number of examples of government intervention in the economy, the authors detect the trend towards the strengthening of protectionism in the economic policy of the states since 2008. Taking into consideration the research on the participation of both countries in globalization and integration projects, the authors determine the protectionist instruments implemented by China and the USA to improve the economic growth and competitive advantage of their economies. In particular, government subsidies, fiscal tools, administrative barriers, as well as tariff measures affecting the foreign trade of the countries under study have been identified. On the basis of the comparative analysis of certain indicators measuring the manifestation of protectionist and liberalization components in the economic policy of the United States and China, the authors highlight common and different trends in combining protectionism and free trade. The synthesis of findings has led to the conclusion about the complementarity and interdependence of the tools used in the economic policy of the states aimed at increasing the competitive advantages of national economies.

Demographic, health, and prognostic characteristics of Australians with liver cancer: a cohort study of linked data in New South Wales for informing cancer control

BackgroundAustralian age-standardized incidence and death rates for liver cancer are lower than world averages, but increasing as in other economically advanced western countries. World Health Organization emphasizes the need to address sociodemographic disparities in cancer risk. A more detailed sociodemographic risk profiling was undertaken for liver cancer in New South Wales (NSW) by diagnostic stage, than possible with NSW Cancer Registry (NSWCR) alone, by incorporating linked data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS). The purpose was to inform targeting and monitoring of cancer services.MethodsThe ABS manages the Multi-Agency Data Integration Project (MADIP) which includes a wide range of health, educational, welfare, census, and employment data. These data were linked at person level to NSWCR liver cancer registrations for the period post 2016 census to December 2018. De-identified data were analyzed. Sex-specific age-adjusted odds ratios (95%CIs) of liver cancer were derived using logistic regression by age, country of birth, residential remoteness, proficiency in spoken English, household income, employment status, occupation type, educational attainment, sole person household, joblessness, socioeconomic status, disability status, multimorbidity, and other health-related factors, including GP consultations. These data complement the less detailed sociodemographic data available from the NSWCR, with alignment of numerators and population denominators for accurate risk assessment.ResultsResults indicate liver cancer disproportionately affects population members already experiencing excess social and health disadvantage. Examples where 95% confidence intervals of odds ratios of liver cancer were elevated included having poor English-speaking proficiency, limited education, housing authority tenancy, living in sole-person households, having disabilities, multiple medicated conditions, and being carers of people with a disability. Also, odds of liver cancer were higher in more remote regions outside major cities, and in males, with higher odds of more advanced cancer stages (degrees of spread) at diagnosis in more remote regions.ConclusionsLinked data enabled more detailed risk profiling than previously possible. This will support the targeting of cancer services and benchmarking.

EVALUATING THE SUCCESS FACTORS OF INTEGRATING THE RAILWAY INTO THE PUBLIC URBAN–SUBURBAN TRANSPORT

The success of integrating the railway into the public urban and suburban transport depends upon a range of internal and external factors, with challenges arising in their number and complex interdependence. Furthermore, the significance and impact of some factors are uneven in cities. There is a necessity for the right mix of different factors that drive significant use of railway into the Public Transport System (PTS). The research problem is finding and defining factors needed to assess the success of railway implementation into public urban and suburban transport. An efficiency analysis of the factors that impact the level of the planned transport system use was conducted in a hierarchical or network system. The 1st step of research is to the determination of relevant factors. In this research 27 factors were determined. Based on the determining factors and their connection it is possible to design an Analytic Network Process (ANP) to evaluate the importance of factors. Factors are divided into 4 clusters: (1) user features, (2) road transport features, (3) services features, and (4) city and corridor features. Testing was carried out by group decision-making process by members of an expert panel. According to the testing, the most important factors according to their weight are: (1) frequency with 0.11651, (2) employment level with 0.10146, (3) ticket price with 0.09714, (4) reliability with 0.07256, and (5) integration of services with 0,07065. Using the weight of each factor it is possible to evaluate the success likelihood of a concrete project. In this research case study was oriented on integrating the railway into the public urban and suburban transport in the City of Rijeka in Croatia. For this purpose, the relevance of the determined weight factors was used for the concrete project of integration in the City of Rijeka that resulting in 67.17% fulfilment of the successful integration railway into the public urban and suburban transport.

Four Questions to Guide Decision-Making for Data Sharing and Integration

IntroductionThis paper presents a Four Question Framework to guide data integration partners in building a strong governance and legal foundation to support ethical data use. ObjectivesWhile this framework was developed based on work in the United States that routinely integrates public data, it is meant to be a simple, digestible tool that can be adapted to any context. MethodsThe framework was developed through a series of public deliberation workgroups and 15 years of field experience working with a diversity of data integration efforts across the United States. ResultsThe Four Questions - Is this legal? Is this ethical? Is this a good idea? How do we know (and who decides)? - should be considered within an established data governance framework and alongside core partners to determine whether and how to move forward when building an Integrated Data System (IDS) and also at each stage of a specific data project. We discuss these questions in depth, with a particular focus on the role of governance in establishing legal and ethical data use. In addition, we provide example data governance structures from two IDS sites and hypothetical scenarios that illustrate key considerations for the Four Question Framework. ConclusionsA robust governance process is essential for determining whether data sharing and integration is legal, ethical, and a good idea within the local context. This process is iterative and as relational as it is technical, which means authentic collaboration across partners should be prioritized at each stage of a data use project. The Four Questions serve as a guide for determining whether to undertake data sharing and integration and should be regularly revisited throughout the life of a project. Highlights Strong data governance has five qualities: it is purpose-, value-, and principle-driven; strategically located; collaborative; iterative; and transparent. Through a series of public deliberation workgroups and 15 years of field experience, we developed a Four Question Framework to determine whether and how to move forward with building an IDS and at each stage of a data sharing and integration project. The Four Questions—Is this legal? Is this ethical? Is this a good idea? How do we know (and who decides)? —should be carefully considered within established data governance processes and among core partners.

EAEU’s Human Potential: New Risks and Opportunities for Development

This study is aimed at studying human potential, its development and implementation in the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU). Taking into account the commitments made by the countries of the Union to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in accordance with Agenda 2030 and under sanctions pressure from hostile countries.Aim. To present the human potential of the integration association as a complex phenomenon of the socio-economic relations of the integrating countries, as well as to identify the emerging risks and offer practical recommendations for reproducing the human potential within the EAEU.Tasks. To trace the dynamics of indicators of development and realization of human potential in each country of the EAEU and the aggregate human potential of the EAEU, to reveal the features of reproduction of human potential by dividing it into qualitative and functional forms, to identify modern risks for reproduction of human potential of the EAEU and new opportunities for development.Methods. To compare indicators of human development of the EAEU countries, the method of comparative analysis is used. In the part of the human potential of the EAEU, it is proposed to take into account new risks for ensuring sustainable human development in the integration association, which make it possible to make methods of analysis and synthesis, induction and statistical method.Results. Based on the analysis of the dynamics of development of such forms of human potential as health potential, educational potential and labor potential, accumulated problems, modern challenges and risks for reproduction of human potential of each EAEU country.Conclusion. The EAEU can no longer remain only an economic integration project, and it is time to expand the horizons of interaction between countries, including on the sphere of development and the realization of human potential. By taking into account new risks, countries need to coordinate the directions of development of the EAEU’s total human potential within the framework of commitments to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals in accordance with Agenda 2030 and under the conditions of ongoing sanctions pressure from hostile countries.

A Spoonful of Sugar: Deference at the Court of Justice

AbstractThis article analyses the European Court of Justice's strategic use of deference as a resilience technique in the preliminary reference procedure. It focuses on the strategic potential of using deference in two scenarios: first, when the Court uses teleological interpretation or expands the scope of the EU legal order and, second, when it declares national measures incompatible with EU law. The findings indicate that the Court is more likely to use deference when expanding EU law and less likely to defer when it declares national measures incompatible with EU law. The article challenges commonly held assumptions regarding the use of deference. First, the findings substantially qualify accounts linking the increase of deference to the maturity of the EU legal order and a certain halt of judicial activism. Deference allows the Court to explore new frontiers of EU law, suggesting that although the legal order might have matured, the Court does not perceive the project of legal integration as completed. Second, the article defies claims that deference is used by the Court as a ‘weapon of restraint’.

Systemic Failure and Systemic Change in Private and Business Law: An Introduction

European private and business law has been able to maintain its foundational principles and structures intact, while rapidly reacting to and incorporating societal change. Time and again, profound crises have threatened the project of European integration. In hindsight, many of these challenges have furthered rather than derailed this project. However, the system of European private and business law will only be able to evolve if it is able to translate the mechanisms of social change into the language of the law. The task ahead is one for different areas of private and business law, from the law of contracts to company law, but it is also a task for a new theory and methodology of private law. Systemic Failure, System Building, European Private and Business Law, Global Financial Crisis, Climate Crisis, Stability, Evolution, Innovation, Disruption, Regulatory Competition