Local Case Studies Research Articles

Identifying and addressing barriers and opportunities for bovine respiratory disease complex vaccination: a consensus paper on practical recommendations for best practise vaccination.

Many questions are raised, and challenges faced in the new era of (intranasal) bovine respiratory disease complex vaccination. An increase in vaccination rate is expected, due to its positive impact on cattle health, reduction of antimicrobial use and economic factors. However, engagement of farmers and veterinarians with regard to vaccination is often affected by limitations, resulting in the development of barriers to vaccination, but also opportunities to overcome these. The objective of the report is to provide practical recommendations and a consensus on best practises for BRDC vaccination, addressing barriers faced by veterinarians and farmers. The report combines an evidence review with expert opinions and includes discussions on different vaccination approaches, such as intranasal and systemic protocols. As result of the discussions, several barriers to BRDC vaccination were identified, including a lack of knowledge or visibility of the disease's impact, the preference for blanket antibiotic use over vaccination, resistance to change, the need for visible success, uncertainty about the best time to vaccinate, and concerns about adverse reactions and vaccine efficacy in the presence of maternal antibodies. While these barriers seem substantial, they provide opportunities for the veterinary sector. Indeed, veterinarians are encouraged to use the argumentation presented, along with local case studies and diagnostic testing to highlight the impact of disease, while conducting calf health audits, ensuring expectations are managed to achieve visible success. Overall, this consensus paper aims to provide practical recommendations and support for veterinarians and farmers to overcome barriers and increase BRDC vaccination rates in cattle.

SOCIO-ECONOMIC ANALYSIS OF CONDITIONS OF DEVELOPMENT OF HIGHER EDUCATION INSTITUTIONS

This article delves into the socio-economic analysis of higher education institutions, investigating the intricate relationship between economic conditions and educational development. Through a mixed-methods approach, quantitative data analysis and qualitative insights illuminate key factors influencing institutional growth, including funding sources, enrollment demographics, faculty-student ratios, and financial sustainability measures. By integrating findings from theoretical frameworks and localized case studies, the discussion underscores the broader societal implications of educational dynamics. The synthesis of insights underscores the imperative for policymakers, administrators, and stakeholders to prioritize equity, innovation, and resilience in shaping the future of higher education.

Strategies for monitoring and evaluation of climate change adaptation: localizing global approaches into Andean realities

While there is increasing progress made at the global scale on understanding climate change (CC) impacts and implementing adaptation solutions, there is still a major gap in documenting and assessing the effectiveness of monitoring and evaluation (M&E) systems for CC adaptation. This is particularly challenging if we consider the diversity of local perceptions and interpretations of what CC adaptation concretely means and how to measure it. We evaluate how global approaches on M&E to CC adaptation are being localized in the design and implementation of public policies and territorial strategies for CC adaptation in the Andes in four national and local case studies in Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Bolivia. The analysis is based on a review of the status of national programs for M&E of CC adaptation and the implementation in those countries of the project “Adaptation to Climate Change Impacts in Water Resources in the Andes” (AICCA). The M&E systems in the four case studies differed widely in the way in which global M&E approaches are localized, reflecting the diversity of conceptions, goals, strategies and contexts in which adaptation is being implemented as well as power relations among actors and scales. Despite the diversity of implementation contexts and the complexity of monitoring the responses of socio-ecological systems, the M&E proposals share a focus on biophysical indicators over sociopolitical and institutional indicators. In addition, this study emphasizes the need to further implement participatory M&E systems from the community, to improve the territorial articulation of M&E proposals in the Andean region.

Understanding Acharya’s Concept on Norms Localization: A Lesson Learned from Localization of Transnational Norms on Banning Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) in Gorontalo, Indonesia

This paper is a critical review of Amitav Acharya's concept related to the process of global norm adaptation. Acharya wrote that norm internalization leads to three possible outcomes, i.e., the norms being accepted (norm displacement), adapted and modified (localization), or rejected (resistance rejection). This paper will analyze the localization of transnational norms to the domestic sphere, both the process, and its result. To understand Acharya's concept, the authors use a case study of global norm localization on anti Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) in Gorontalo, Indonesia. In Gorontalo, the global norm of FGM was initially accepted by the people and was implemented as government policies. However, later on there was rejection by the people which pressured for the modification of the regulation. According to Acharya, this was made possible by the role of key actor of norm adaptation, which are the local agents.This paper tries to answer the question "How is the process of localization of transnational norms in the case study of female genital mutilation in Gorontalo, Indonesia?" which then contributes to the identification of the different factors that facilitate local agents to successfully modify the transnational norms imposed to the local settings.

Climate Change-Related Disaster Risk Mitigation through Innovative Insurance Mechanism: A System Dynamics Model Application for a Case Study in Latvia

This study explores how the System Dynamics modeling approach can help deal with the problem of conventional insurance mechanisms by studying the feedback loops governing complex systems connected to the disaster insurance mechanism. Instead of addressing the disaster’s underlying risk, the traditional disaster insurance strategy largely focuses on providing financial security for asset recovery after a disaster. This constraint becomes especially concerning as the threat of climate-related disasters grows since it may result in rising long-term damage expenditures. A new insurance mechanism is suggested as a solution to this problem to lower damage costs while safeguarding insured assets and luring new assets to be protected. A local case study utilizing a System Dynamics stock and flow model is created and validated by examining the model’s structure, sensitivity analysis, and extreme value test. The results of the case study performed on a city in Latvia highlight the significance of effective disaster risk reduction strategies applied within the innovative insurance mechanism in lowering overall disaster costs. The logical coherence seen throughout the analysis of simulated scenario results strengthens the established model’s plausibility. The case study’s findings support the innovative insurance mechanism’s dynamic hypothesis and show the main influencing factors on the dynamics within the proposed innovative insurance mechanism. The information this study can help insurance firms, policy planners, and disaster risk managers make decisions that will benefit local communities and other stakeholders regarding climate-related disaster risk mitigation.

Socio-Economic Order and the Legacies of Armed Governance: The Aftermath of Paramilitary Rule in Colombia

ABSTRACT This paper focuses on the legacies of paramilitary governance in the Colombian civil war. Using a local case study, we show that former militia strongholds have been shaped by the lasting effects of armed rule on the ability of impoverished peasants and rural workers to challenge existing forms of land tenure and labour organisation. Our case highlights the need to adopt a local view to understand the embeddedness of armed governance in existing socio-economic orders. Our conclusion emphasises the importance of integrating a political economy perspective when studying the legacies of armed governance.

Effect of long-term climate signatures on regional and local potato yield in Finland

This research study investigates the impact of air temperature and precipitation on annual potato crop yield in Finland region and a local area in northern Finland. For this, the annual crop yield data of regional and local case study area is processed using Z-score normalization technique. Classification of computed z-score values was carried out into different classes ranging between the most beneficial crop yield year and the most vulnerable crop yield year. Later, the detection of feasible potato cropping season at monthly and daily scale was carried out using different weather parameters. Further, long-term trend analysis using Mann-Kendall's approach at annual, seasonal, and monthly scales was carried out using 60 years of dataset of both case study areas. Then after, the comparative analysis of annual crop yield and the characteristics obtained within climate data using different statistical approaches at annual, seasonal, and monthly scale. Finally, multivariate analysis was carried out to find most influential climate variables obtained using different statistical signatures. The results shows that, over the 100 years of period the annual potato crop yield of regional case study area shows a rising trend with declining area under potato crop. Classification approach found 16 % annual yield scored lowest Z-score while, 18% the highest. Likewise, 20 years of data for the local case study area found that 25 % of the dataset scored the highest Z-score and 15 % of the dataset values scored the lowest. Long-term trend analysis of air temperature shows significant increasing trend annually, seasonally and for monthly during the months between July-September. Whereas, similar procedure with the precipitation data showed increasing trend only at annual scale with the precipitation data analysis. During the comparative analysis between the annual crop yield data based on z-score classification and different statistical results obtained from weather parameters such as variation of precipitation and temperature sum, long-term climate data maximum-minimum totals seasonally as well as monthly during crop growing season; noticeable anomalies were observed in the weather parameters in line with the crop yield years grouped into the lowest and the highest Z-scores. The Multivariate analysis emphasized the impact of air temperature over precipitation on potato crop yield. Present study provides quantitative assessment on usefulness of long-term climate signatures for region specific either event-based or crop-based modelling development efforts to provide efficient decision support for enhancing farm-level crop productivity and sustainability of local and regional agriculture.

Understanding Acharya’s Concept on Norms Localization: A Lesson Learned from Localization of Transnational Norms on Anti- Female Genital Mutilation in Gorontalo, Indonesia

This paper is a critical review of Amitav Acharya's concept related to the process of global norm internalization. According to Acharya the process leads to three possible outcomes, i.e., the norms being accepted (norm displacement), adapted and modified (localization), or rejected (resistance rejection). This paper analyzes the localization of transnational norms to the domestic sphere, both the process, and its result, focusing on the case study of norm localization on anti-Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) in Gorontalo, Indonesia. In Gorontalo, the global norm of anti-FGM was initially accepted by the people and was implemented as government policies. However, later there was rejection by the people which pressured for the modification of the regulation. This paper attempts to answer the question of "How is the process of localization of transnational norms anti-female genital mutilation in Gorontalo, Indonesia?". Our findings lead to the identification of the various actors, factors and model of localization which are not necessarily similar to what has been proposed by Acharya. This paper hence contributes to the modification of Acharya’s model of norms internalization.

The Matrix Profile in Seismology: Template Matching of Everything With Everything

AbstractTemplate matching has proven to be an effective method for seismic event detection, but is biased toward identifying events similar to previously known events, and thus is ineffective at discovering events with non‐matching waveforms (e.g., those dissimilar to existing catalog events). In principle, this limitation can be overcome by cross‐correlating every segment (possible template) of a seismogram with every other segment to identify all similar event pairs, but doing so has been previously considered computationally infeasible for long time series. Here we describe a method, called the ‘Matrix Profile’ (MP), a “correlate everything with everything” calculation that can be efficiently and scalably computed. The MP returns the maximum value of the correlation coefficient of every sub‐window of continuous data with every other sub‐window, as well as the best‐correlated sub‐window location. Here we show how MP methods can obtain valuable results when applied to months and years of continuous seismic data in both local and global case studies. We find that the MP can identify many new events in Parkfield, California seismicity that are not contained in existing event catalogs and that it can efficiently find clusters of similar earthquakes in global seismic data. Either used by itself, or as a starting point for subsequent template matching calculations, the MP is likely to provide a useful new tool for seismology research.

Authoritarian neoliberalism debates: A critical review of the literature in central and eastern Europe

Since communism’s collapse, Central and Eastern Europe adopted neoliberal reforms for democratization and market integration. However, democratic institutions in many countries have backslid. Scholars debate neoliberalism’s impacts and the rise of oligarchs concentrating wealth and distorting democracy. This review analyzes 50 sources from 1990-2020 through meta-analysis. Literature is assessed regarding neoliberalization’s mechanisms and effects. Privatization concentrated assets in politically-connected oligarchs, enabling state capture constraining competition. Deregulation empowered economic elites with disproportionate political influence, distorting representation toward oligarchic over public interests. Evidence partially supports the hypothesis that neoliberalism benefiting oligarchs distorted democracy, contributing to backsliding. However, grassroots resistance offers alternatives. Further research could integrate local case studies and frameworks focused on equitable distribution rather than growth alone.

Chemical bonding in Uranium-based materials: A local vibrational mode case study of Cs UO Cl and UCl crystals.

The Local Vibrational Mode Analysis, initially applied to diverse molecular systems, was extended to periodic systems in 2019. This work introduces an enhanced version of the LModeA software, specifically designed for the comprehensive analysis of two and three-dimensional periodic structures. Notably, a novel interface with the Crystal package was established, enabling a seamless transition from molecules to periodic systems using a unified methodology. Two distinct sets of uranium-based systems were investigated: (i) the evolution of the Uranyl ion (UO ) traced from its molecular configurations to the solid state, exemplified by Cs UO Cl and (ii) Uranium tetrachloride (UCl ) in both its molecular and crystalline forms. The primary focus was on exploring the impact of crystal packing on key properties, including IR and Raman spectra, structural parameters, and an in-depth assessment of bond strength utilizing local mode perspectives. This work not only demonstrates the adaptability and versatility of LModeA for periodic systems but also highlights its potential for gaining insights into complex materials and aiding in the design of new materials through fine-tuning.

Typology of agricultural holdings: a starting point for understanding the performance of irrigated systems in Baalbek Al Hermel Lebanon.

The Mediterranean region is one of the most vulnerable regions to climate change (CC) which raises important problems for Mediterranean agriculture. In fact, climate disruption creates some uncertainty in the decision-making of farmers in the management of their farms. This understanding can help researchers to better orient agricultural research on adaptation at the farm level and can help policy makers to develop adaptation policies. The semi-arid region of Baalbeck El Hermel is increasingly threatened by climate change. The agricultural systems constituting the main source of household subsistence in this zone show a significant vulnerability to these disturbances, especially about the limit in water resources. In this research we propose a framework to represent agricultural activities using typologies of farms and production units aggregated at a regional scale. We used empirical data from a local case study of the five most representative farming systems in the Baalbek-Hermel Governorate. Analysis of the results showed several behaviors and several levels of resilience of these farms:1-farms specializing in market gardening or perennial crops are very sensitive to drought conditions and are not resilient in the face of water limit conditions;2-the diversified farm with olive tree dominance is less sensitive and more resilient.

Health impact pathways related to air quality changes: testing two health risk methodologies over a local traffic case study

Health impact pathways related to air quality changes: testing two health risk methodologies over a local traffic case study

An Analysis of Cultural Adaptation in Video Game Localization --A Case Study of Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty

This thesis examines the localization of the DLC "Phantom Liberty" in the video game "Cyberpunk 2077" using Yang Shizhang's cultural adaptation strategy. It explores four sub-strategies: cultural assimilation, cultural weakening, cultural transformation, and cultural beautification. The localization process faces challenges due to the extensive volume of game text and the inclusion of science fiction terminology and cultural references. Previous research on game localization and cultural adaptation strategies is reviewed, highlighting the significance of cultural adaptation in game translation. Factors such as playability, censorship, game experience, and business practices are considered. Through a case study of the Chinese localization of "Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty", focusing on subtitles and dialogue translations, it is concluded that the localization team effectively employs cultural adaptation strategies to enhance the immersion and enjoyment of Chinese players. The thesis suggests that the gaming industry should prioritize cultural adaptation patterns in video game localization.

Next-generation study databases require FAIR, EHR-integrated, and scalable Electronic Data Capture for medical documentation and decision support

Structured patient data play a key role in all types of clinical research. They are often collected in study databases for research purposes. In order to describe characteristics of a next-generation study database and assess the feasibility of its implementation a proof-of-concept study in a German university hospital was performed. Key characteristics identified include FAIR access to electronic case report forms (eCRF), regulatory compliant Electronic Data Capture (EDC), an EDC with electronic health record (EHR) integration, scalable EDC for medical documentation, patient generated data, and clinical decision support. In a local case study, we then successfully implemented a next-generation study database for 19 EDC systems (n = 2217 patients) that linked to i.s.h.med (Oracle Cerner) with the local EDC system called OpenEDC. Desiderata of next-generation study databases for patient data were identified from ongoing local clinical study projects in 11 clinical departments at Heidelberg University Hospital, Germany, a major tertiary referral hospital. We compiled and analyzed feature and functionality requests submitted to the OpenEDC team between May 2021 and July 2023. Next-generation study databases are technically and clinically feasible. Further research is needed to evaluate if our approach is feasible in a multi-center setting as well.

A Real Estate Appraisal Model with Artificial Neural Networks and Fuzzy Logic: A Local Case Study of Samsun City

There have been great innovations in the field of real estate appraisal which have replaced the classical methods by recently established modern methods that involve computer technologies known as artificial intelligence. here are several artificial intelligent methods like fuzzy logic and artificial neural networks. In this study, two different real estate appraisal applications that are based on the artificial neural network and fuzzy logic methods are compared. An actual data set is taken from real estate agencies to develop a real estate appraisal model in Samsun city in Turkey. All of the real estate data belong to a certain time interval in May 2020. The selected parameters are scored by a valuation expert and the scores are then subjected to normalization. The obtained values are inputted into a fuzzy logic and artificial neural networks editor in MATLAB software and the valuation model is created. The values we obtain from the artificial neural networks and fuzzy logic are compared with actual sales data. It is observed that using these methods in real estate appraisal provides advantages in terms of time, cost and tangibility, as well as the means to create large database for real estate appraisal in a certain region.

Adaptive Reuse (AR) of Historical and Heritage Buildings Through Concepts of Addition and Expansion

With the emergence of significant changes occurring rapidly in all aspects of life, and their profound impact on job transformation and evolution, there is a necessity for adaptively reusing existing buildings (whether heritage, historical, or modern) to accommodate these new variables through the realization of expansion and addition concepts, whether horizontally or vertically, internally or externally. A set of global experiments has demonstrated various methods and strategies for adapting the reuse of different buildings, which were in urgent need of addition and expansion in various forms to meet the evolving requirements and emerging needs. These experiences can be studied and analyzed to derive key indicators that can be applied to future local experiments.The research adopts a descriptive and analytical approach by reviewing and analyzing previous studies first. It then studies the essential concepts related to the research (assumed building lifespan, expansion, addition, as well as adaptive reuse). Subsequently, a group of global experiments applying these concepts is studied and analyzed to extract essential indicators that can be applied to the local case study, represented by the historic Qishla building. The research concludes with a set of findings.Through the analysis of previous studies, the research identified the research problem as "the lack of knowledge and local studies and applications regarding adaptive reuse for historical and heritage buildings, even modern ones, through expansion and addition processes of all types used in them. The research emphasizes the importance of reassessing global experiences that practically achieved the concepts of addition and expansion and choosing successful strategies for future addition and expansion of local buildings in need of enhancement to meet new requirements and contemporary spirit. The study yielded several conclusions, among which is the acknowledgment that each building has an assumed lifespan (at the technical, functional, and economic levels) that requires adaptive reuse through horizontal and vertical expansion and addition, whether at the structural or spatial levels, above, inside, or adjacent to the building. The appropriate strategy should be selected for each building based on its function, chronological age, social significance, available space inside and around it, while preserving its value and style. This was observed during the analysis of the historic Qishla building in Baghdad. This study serves as a valuable resource for architects, urban development planners, and policymakers seeking to understand and implement adaptive reuse with thoughtful additions to buildings in their different contexts. The indicators derived from the research can also be applied to a range of Iraqi buildings in need of adaptive reuse.

Habitability of low-lying socio-ecological systems under a changing climate

Climate change will push the planet worryingly close to its boundaries, across all latitudes and levels of development. One question therefore is the extent to which climate change does (and will) severely affect societies’ livelihoods, health, well-being, and cultures. This paper discusses the “severe climate risks” concept developed under Working Group II’s contribution to the Fifth and Sixth Assessment Reports of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC, AR5, and AR6). Focusing on low-lying coastal socio-ecological systems (LCS) and acknowledging that attempts to define “severe” climate risk have been problematic at the level of global syntheses, we argue for a more place- and people-based framing relating to “habitability under a changing climate.” We summarize habitability in terms of five habitability pillars: land, freshwater, food, settlement and infrastructure, and economic and subsistence activities; we acknowledge social and cultural factors (including perceptions, values, governance arrangements, human agency, power structures) as critical underlying factors rather than as separate pillars. We further develop the habitability framing and examine climate risk to future human health and habitability for three climate “hotspot” archetypes (arctic coasts, atoll islands, densely populated urban areas). Building on the IPCC AR6 framing of severe climate risks, we discuss three key parameters describing severe climate risks in LCS: the point of irreversibility of changes, physical and socio-ecological thresholds, and cascading effects across various habitability dimensions. We also highlight the variability of severe risk conditions both between coastal archetypes and within each of them. Further work should consist of refining the case study framing to find the right balance between capturing context-specificities through real-world local case studies and commonalities derived from more generic archetypes. In addition, there is a need to identify appropriate methods to assess irreversibility, thresholds, and cascading effects, and thus severe climate risks to habitability.

Urban Religion through the Lens of Urban Archaeology

Cities and religion are among the most intensely studied topics in the classical world. Yet, they have hardly been studied in their broader relationship to each other. The concept of “urban religion” has proposed to change this and is advocating the “mutual formation of religion and urbanity” as a globally applicable tool. For the ancient world, archaeology is the most relevant discipline and its most important “lens” for any such study. In this article we develop this relationship by proposing and testing two concepts that further nuance the lived ancient religion approach, namely ephemerality and anomaly. Each two address the problem of producing better accounts of comparability and change when combining local case studies with an interest in transregional entanglement and comparability. This is demonstrated in a series of short case studies.

A Real Estate Appraisal Model with Artificial Neural Networks and Fuzzy Logic: A Local Case Study of Samsun City

There have been great innovations in the field of real estate appraisal which have replaced the classical methods by recently established modern methods that involve computer technologies known as artificial intelligence. here are several artificial intelligent methods like fuzzy logic and artificial neural networks. In this study, two different real estate appraisal applications that are based on the artificial neural network and fuzzy logic methods are compared. An actual data set is taken from real estate agencies to develop a real estate appraisal model in Samsun city in Turkey. All of the real estate data belong to a certain time interval in May 2020. The selected parameters are scored by a valuation expert and the scores are then subjected to normalization. The obtained values are inputted into a fuzzy logic and artificial neural networks editor in MATLAB software and the valuation model is created. The values we obtain from the artificial neural networks and fuzzy logic are compared with actual sales data. It is observed that using these methods in real estate appraisal provides advantages in terms of time, cost and tangibility, as well as the means to create large database for real estate appraisal in a certain region.