Prioritization Process Research Articles

Impact of cost approximation on the efficiency of collaborative regulation resolution mechanisms

Air Traffic Flow Management (ATFM) measures are often used to alleviate capacity demand imbalances. Usually, these measures impose a departure delay on flights crossing the airspace in question, where delay is assigned on a “First Planned First Served” (FPFS) base, which minimises total delay. Since delays typically have a different impact on individual flights in terms of cost, a procedure based on cost minimisation could reduce delay-related costs. User-Driven Prioritisation Process (UDPP) is developing a set of solutions aimed at allowing airlines to rearrange their flights within their own slots assigned by the FPFS rule. Inter-airline cost reducing approaches are still missing, but several works have been launched in this direction, using either central optimisations or market-based mechanisms.We analyse the impact of cost approximations procedures, integral part of certain inter-airline mechanisms, overall likely to be used by airlines or the Network Manager (that manages ATFM measures). Using cost models and simulations to collect the true cost of delay profiles, we show that the impact of cost approximations have been severely underestimated, leaving little room for new mechanisms to improve over UDPP. Moreover, we show that the errors made by the airlines on their own costs, expected at least for some airlines, further deteriorate the situation, including UDPP. However, we find that approximation procedures create a strong resilience to these errors, showing how both UDPP and inter-airline procedures may benefit from not having the airlines communicate their detailed costs. Thus, we find that any design of new mechanisms could include a cost approximation procedure in order to increase its resilience.

The uncertainty related to the inexactitude of prioritization based on consistent pairwise comparisons.

When the in/consistency in Pairwise Comparisons (PCs) is taken into consideration as the subarea of the Multi Attribute Decision Making (MADM) scientific field, it has many repercussions in various types of research areas including different modelling scenarios e.g. reduction of inconsistency during PCs, deriving appropriate consistency thresholds for inconsistent Pairwise Comparison Matrices (PCMs), completing of incomplete PCMs, aggregating of individual PCMs in relation to Group Decision Making (GDM) aspects, and PCMs in/consistency relation to credibility of Priority Vectors (PV) derived from PCMs with the application of various Priorities Deriving Methods (PDMs). The examination objective in the latter area of research is the uncertainty related to the inexactitude of prioritization based on derived PVs. However, only few research studies examine this problem from the perspective of PCM applicability for credible designation of decision maker's (DM) priorities in the way that leads to minimization of the prioritization uncertainty related to possible, and sometimes very probable, ranking fluctuations. This problem constitutes the primary area of interest for this research paper as no research study was thus far identified that examines this problem from the perspective of consistent PCMs. Hence, a research gap was identified. Thus, the objective of this research paper is to fill in this scientific gap. The research findings have serious repercussions in relation to prioritization quality with the application of PCs methodology, mostly in relation to the interpretation and reliability evaluation of prioritization results. Firstly, the research study outcome changes the perspective of the rank reversal phenomenon, which shed new light on many research studies that have been presented in the subject's literature for many decades. Secondly, the research study results throw new light on the discussion concerning the fuzziness of AHP's results. Last but not least, the effect of the research opens the unique opportunity to evaluate the prioritization outcome obtained within the process of consistent PCs from the well-known perspective of statistical hypothesis testing i.e. the probability designation of the chance that accepted ranking results which were considered as correct due to low probability of change may be incorrect, hence they should be rejected, and the probability designation of the chance that rejected ranking results which were considered as incorrect due to high probability of change may be correct and should be accepted. The paramount finding of the research is the fact that consistent PCMs provide PVs, which elements cannot be considered as established, but only approximated within certain confidence intervals estimated with a certain level of probability. As problems related to heuristics can be analyzed only via a computer simulation process, because they cannot be mathematically determined, the problem examined in this research paper is examined via Monte Carlo simulations, appropriately coded and executed with the application of Wolfram's Mathematica Software. It is believed that this research findings should be very important and useful for all decision makers and researchers during their problems' examinations that relate to prioritization processes with the application of PCs methodology.

COVID-19 and MIS-C treatment in children—results from an international survey

Children have been mostly excluded from COVID-19 clinical trials, and, as a result, most medicines approved for COVID-19 have no pediatric indication. In addition, access to COVID-19 therapeutics remains limited. Collecting physicians’ experiences with off-label use of therapeutics is important to inform global prioritization processes and better target pediatric research and development. A standardized questionnaire was designed to explore the use of therapeutics used to treat COVID-19 and multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS-C) in pediatric patients globally. Seventy-three physicians from 29 countries participated. For COVID-19, steroids were used by 75.6% of respondents; remdesivir and monoclonal antibodies were prescribed by 48.6% and 27.1% of respondents, respectively. For MIS-C, steroids were prescribed by 79.1% of respondents and intravenous immunoglobulins by 69.6%. The use of these products depended on their pediatric approval and the limited availability of antivirals and most monoclonal antibodies in Africa, South America, Southeast Asia, and Eastern Europe. Off-label prescription resulted widespread due to the paucity of clinical trials in young children at the time of the survey; though, based on our survey results, it was generally safe and led to clinical benefits. Conclusion: This survey provides a snapshot of current practice for treating pediatric COVID-19 worldwide, informing global prioritization efforts to better target pediatric research and development for COVID-19 therapeutics. Off-label use of such medicines is widespread for the paucity of clinical trials under 12 years and 40 kg, though appears to be safe and generally results in clinical benefits, even in young children. However, access to care, including medicine availability, differs widely globally. Clinical development of COVID-19 antivirals and monoclonal antibodies requires acceleration to ensure pediatric indication and allow worldwide availability of therapeutics that will enable more equitable access to COVID-19 treatment.What is Known:• Children have been mostly excluded from COVID-19 clinical trials, and, as a result, most medicines approved for COVID-19 have no pediatric indication.• Access to care differs widely globally, so because of the diversity of national healthcare systems; the unequal availability of medicines for COVID-19 treatment represents an obstacle to the pediatric population's universal right to health care.What is New:• Off-label COVID-19 drug prescription is widespread due to the lack of clinical trials in children younger than 12 years and weighing less than 40 kg, but relatively safe and generally leading to clinical benefit.• The application of the GAP-f framework to COVID-19 medicines is crucial, ensuring widespread access to all safe and effective drugs, enabling the rapid development of age-appropriate formulations, and developing specific access plans (including stability, storage, packaging, and labeling) for distribution in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). Antivirals and monoclonal antibodies may benefit from the acceleration to reach widespread and equal diffusion.

A New Methodology for the Prioritization of Visual Inspections of Bridges and Viaducts

AbstractThe assessment of risk conditions of bridges and viaducts allows management authorities to ensure the safety of the users and the proper allocation of economic resources for maintenance and retrofitting interventions. A common circumstance in practice regards the lack of information as well as the need to update it, causing delays in the risk evaluation and, consequently, in the entire decision‐making process. Especially in the managing of large bridge assets, the retrieval/updating of information can be costly, both in terms of time and economic resources. In this regard, the execution of visual inspections to determine the defect level of bridges and viaducts is the most resource‐intensive operation on the part of the management authorities. In this paper, a new methodology to prioritize visual inspections of bridges according to their risk condition and operating costs is proposed and illustrated with a real case study. A novel aspect of the proposed methodology regards the use of information gain criteria to refine the outcomes from the risk assessment and prioritization process. Finally, the outcomes of the methodology are implemented in a GIS framework to ensure high interoperability and facilitate the construction of intuitive risk maps to assist inspection plans.

Healthcare resource allocation decisions and non-emergency treatments in the aftermath of Covid-19 pandemic. How should children with chronic illness feature in prioritisation processes?

Background: In the aftermath of the Coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) pandemic, allocation of non-urgent medical interventions is a persistent ethical challenge as health systems currently face an unprecedented backlog of patients requiring treatment. Difficult decisions must be made that prioritise certain patients over others. Ethical resource allocation requires that the needs of all patients are considered properly, but at present there is no guidance that can help support such decision-making which explicitly considers the needs of children with chronic and complex conditions. Methods: This paper reviews the NHS guidance for priorities and operational planning and examines how the needs of children with chronic illness are addressed in NHS objectives for restoring services and meeting elective care demands. Results: The usual criteria for prioritisation featured in the NHS guidance fail to account for the distinct needs of children with chronic illnesses and fail to match more general considerations of what constitutes fair resource allocation decisions. To address this issue, two considerations, namely 'protecting age-related opportunity' and 'recognising complexity of care,' are proposed as additions to the existing approach. Conclusion: By providing a broader conception of needs, these criteria address inefficiencies of the current guidance and relevant ethical frameworks and help to embed a currently missing children-related ethical approach to healthcare policy making in general.

Zoo-Sanitary Situation Assessment, an Initial Step in Country Disease Prioritization Process: Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis from 2000 to 2020 in Cameroon.

To prevent and/or control infectious diseases in animal and human health, an appropriate surveillance system based on suitable up-to-date epidemiological data is required. The systematic review protocol was designed according to the PRISMA statement to look at the available data on infectious diseases of livestock in Cameroon from 2000-2020. Data were searched through online databases. Grey literature was comprised of dissertations and theses from veterinary higher education institutions in Cameroon. A random-effects model was used to calculate pooled prevalence using Comprehensive Meta-Analysis Software. Based on disease prevalence, major infectious diseases of livestock in Cameroon were gastrointestinal parasitosis (57.4% in cattle, 67.2% in poultry, 88% in pigs), hemoparasites (21.6% in small ruminants, 19.7% in cattle), bovine pasteurellosis (55.5%), fowl salmonellosis (48.2%), small ruminant plague (39.7%), foot-and-mouth disease (34.5% in cattle), and African swine fever (18.9%). Furthermore, other important endemic zoonoses in the country included: Rift Valley fever (10.9% in cattle, 3.7% in small ruminants), brucellosis (7% in cattle, 8% in pigs), bovine tuberculosis (4.7% in cattle), hepatitis E virus (8.4% in pigs) and bovine leptospirosis (2.5%). Most of the retrieved research were carried out in the Adamawa, Northwest, and West regions of Cameroon. The evaluation of existing data as evidence, albeit publication-specific, is an important step towards the process of prioritizing animal diseases, including zoonoses.

The capability approach and social equity in transport: Understanding factors affecting capabilities of urban residents, using structural equation modeling

Transport planning has recently gained increased attention due to its potential alignment with human-centered justice theories, particularly the Capability Approach. However, the existing literature lacks quantitative measurements of the interaction between effective factors that contribute to the development of individuals' capabilities, specifically for those living in urban areas. This study aims to address this gap by proposing a bottom-up model within the general framework of the capability approach and sufficientarianism. Through a survey of 1096 individuals in Tehran, Iran, this research examines the impact of individual characteristics, the living environment, and transport and mobility options on residents' capabilities using the Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) technique. Therefore, the study evaluates one model for the entire population and two sub-groups defined by high and low capability levels. The findings indicate that individual characteristics significantly predict the level of capabilities, with a stronger effect observed in the low-capability group. Also, individual characteristics positively affect the environmental constructs, with a stronger effect observed among the low-capability group. Importantly, the low-capability group experiences a mismatch between their level of education, job status, and income level. Regarding environmental factors, the road network, public transport performance, land use-transport system integration, land use diversity, and land use spatial distribution exhibit a considerable relationship with residents' capabilities. Additionally, it has been demonstrated that active transport modes have a greater impact on the capabilities of low-capability groups. These findings provide valuable insights for policymakers to develop a just prioritization process for urban transport planning.

The Effectiveness of Emergency Triage Systems: A Systematic Review

Triage is the first process of assessment and prioritization of all patients who present to emergency departments (EDs) into categories according to their condition and level of urgency. In this study, a systematic review of the literature on the effectiveness of triage systems was conducted in Saudi Arabia. Following PRISMA guidelines, six large databases were searched for relevant articles published between 2003 and 2023. Three authors reviewed the titles, abstracts, and full texts. The databases were searched using the following keywords: triage systems, CTAS, emergency department overcrowding, non-urgent or inappropriate visits to the ED, ED overutilization, and triage and ED overcrowding in the Middle East. A total of 1,051 articles were identified, of which 245 met our inclusion criteria. From the findings of these studies, in relation to the factors that reduce triage efficacy in the Middle East and specifically in Saudi Arabia, it can be argued that there is a need for more studies and solutions to address these issues. Patients are in need of health education, and alternative solutions must be considered to address the high percentage of non-urgent visits to the ED. Emergency department triage is the first screening step that sorts patients in emergency situations by categorizing their urgency levels to prioritize patients for evaluation and treatment. Because the ED is an integral hospital department and a complicated, fast-paced environment, ED healthcare services have evolved to be delivered through effective triage systems to reduce waiting times and overcrowding.

'It doesn't happen how you think, it is very complex!' Reconciling stakeholder priorities, evidence, and processes for zoonoses prioritisation in India.

Why do some zoonotic diseases receive priority from health policy decision-makers and planners whereas others receive little attention? By leveraging Shiffman and Smith's political prioritisation framework, our paper advances a political economy of disease prioritisation focusing on four key components: the strength of the actors involved in the prioritisation, the power of the ideas they use to portray the issue, the political contexts in which they operate, and the characteristics of the issue itself (e.g., overall burdens, severity, cost-effective interventions). These components afford a nuanced characterisation of how zoonotic diseases are prioritised for intervention and highlight the associated knowledge gaps affecting prioritisation outcomes. We apply this framework to the case of zoonoses management in India, specifically to identify the factors that shape disease prioritisation decision-making and outcomes. We conducted 26 semi-structured interviews with national, state and district level health policymakers, disease managers and technical experts involved in disease surveillance and control in India. Our results show pluralistic interpretation of risks, exemplified by a disconnect between state and district level actors on priority diseases. The main factors identified as shaping prioritisation outcomes were related to the nature of the zoonoses problem (the complexity of the zoonotic disease, insufficient awareness and lack of evidence on disease burdens and impacts) as well as political, social, cultural and institutional environments (isolated departmental priorities, limited institutional authority, opaque funding mechanisms), and challenges in organisation leadership for cross-sectoral engagement. The findings highlight a compartmentalised regulatory system for zoonoses where political, social, cultural, and media factors can influence disease management and prioritisation. A major policy window is the institutionalisation of One Health to increase the political priority for strengthening cross-sectoral engagement to address several challenges, including the creation of effective institutions to reconcile stakeholder priorities and prioritisation processes.

Advancement of research on nurse practitioners: Setting a research agenda

BackgroundPrimary care delivered by nurse practitioners (NPs) helps to meet the United States’ growing demand for care and improves patient outcomes. Yet, barriers impede NP practice. Knowledge of these barriers is limited, hindering opportunities to eliminate them. PurposeWe convened a 1.5-day conference to develop a research agenda to advance evidence on the primary care NP workforce. MethodsThirty experts gathered in New York City for a conference in 2022. The conference included plenary sessions, small group discussions, and a prioritization process to identify areas for future research and research questions. DiscussionThe research agenda includes top-ranked research questions within five categories: (a) policy regulations and implications for care, quality, and access; (b) systems affecting NP practice; (c) health equity and the NP workforce; (d) NP education and workforce dynamics, and (e) international perspectives. ConclusionThe agenda can advance evidence on the NP workforce to guide policy and practice.

MOM: A user-friendly Galaxy workflow to detect modifiers from genome sequencing data using C. elegans.

Genetic modifiers are variants modulating phenotypic outcomes of a primary detrimental variant. They contribute to rare diseases phenotypic variability, but their identification is challenging. Genetic screening with model organisms is a widely used method for demystifying genetic modifiers. Forward genetics screening followed by whole genome sequencing (WGS) allows the detection of variants throughout the genome, but typically produces thousands of candidate variants making the interpretation and prioritization process very time consuming and tedious. Despite WGS being more time and cost efficient, usage of computational pipelines specific to modifier identification remains a challenge for biological-experiment-focused laboratories doing research with model organisms. To facilitate a broader implementation of WGS in genetic screens, we have developed MOM, a Model Organism Modifier pipeline as a user-friendly Galaxy workflow. MOM analyses raw short-read WGS data and implements tailored filtering to provide a Candidate Variant List (CVL) short enough to be further manually curated. We provide a detailed tutorial to run the Galaxy workflow MOM and guidelines to manually curate the CVLs. We have tested MOM on published and validated C. elegans modifiers screening datasets. As WGS facilitates high-throughput identification of genetic modifiers in model organisms, MOM provides a user-friendly solution to implement the bioinformatics analysis of the short-read datasets in laboratories without expertise or support in Bioinformatics.

Priority setting for non-communicable disease prevention – Co-producing a regulatory agenda informing novel codes of practice in Australia

There are a range of priority setting methods for non-communicable disease (NCDs) prevention. However, existing methods are often designed without detailed consideration of local context and political economy– critical success factors for implementation. In Australia, codes of practice under state government Public Health Acts could be used for NCD prevention. To inform the potential development of codes of practice under Public Health Acts, this study aimed to co-create a priority setting framework that accounts for local context and the prevailing regulatory agenda. A priority setting framework was co-produced by a multidisciplinary technical advisory group consisting of government representatives, public health lawyers and academic experts. It incorporated general prioritisation criteria (evidence, cost-effectiveness, equity, burden of disease) and local contextual criteria (legal compatibility, unmet-needs, political acceptability, structural and technical feasibility, community support). The framework was then applied in practice through surveys and policy dialogue workshops to discuss political economy factors. Policies were limited to nutrition, alcohol and physical activity risk factors. Through the prioritisation process, the most impactful, feasible and acceptable policies for NCD prevention via state government codes of practice were: restrictions on in-store placement of unhealthy products, enhancing data systems and capabilities for health surveillance and implementation monitoring, removal of unhealthy foods and drinks sold and supplied in public institutions, prohibition of marketing of unhealthy foods and drinks on assets controlled by government, and implementation of subsidies or grants to increase fruit and vegetable intake. The process illustrated that explicit consideration of local context, legal compatibility and the political economy had a substantial influence on the prioritised list of actions. The proposed priority setting framework is designed to be flexible and adaptable to varying contexts, can be embedded in government processes or utilised by researchers and practitioners to co-produce a regulatory agenda that is locally relevant.

Proposed Project Selection & Prioritization Framework during Front-End Planning (FEP) for Revitalization Project Portfolio at Indonesian Oil Refinery Plant

Abstract— Due to their aging, refinery facilities face the threat of suffering from incidents and accidents. Even fatal injury may be caused if running without proper maintenance planning. The revitalization project is performed intended to replace, repair, or increase production capacity at an existing refinery. Like other projects in the construction sector, the revitalization project tends to experience the same common flaws in their performance; project delay, cost overrun, scope creeping, operational mishaps, and canceled or stopped. The best time for a project to experience idea development, conduct scope changes, prepare excellent project engineering, etc., is at the Front-end Planning stage. This paper focused on project selection and prioritization at the Front-end Planning. The focus is then zoomed in to the sub-stage of Front-end Planning (initiation, conceptual, and basic engineering design). The aim is to eliminate the infeasible and unpromising projects that cannot meet the requirement. This focus is necessary before more resources are expended, which can ignite catastrophic events in the organization, primarily financial.The literature reviews have been done on the references to develop a comprehensive framework that decomposes the front-end planning into three sub-phases, providing the platform for project selection in each stage with its different focus and objectives. The new framework is proposed emphasizing the gate review and decision gates for those three sub-stages under the Front-end planning phase. The framework also provides the windows of having different selection criteria at each stage; hence the proper criteria will be efficiently used at the right time. Project proposals must go through a prioritization process since the organization's resource is not unlimited. Project proposals would experience the evaluation and selection as an individual project and, at a subsequent level, would be evaluated as part of the project proposals pool where the Project Management Office will prioritize the suitable projects worth execution.

Development of a Mission-Driven Research Agenda to Support Efforts to End Epidemics.

New York State continues efforts to end the AIDS and hepatitis C epidemics and reduce new infections of sexually transmitted infections. In 2022, the New York State Department of Health AIDS Institute released its first-ever Research Agenda. This Research Agenda was systematically developed following input from internal and external research and community stakeholders. We used a participatory and iterative process to prioritize research knowledge gaps related to HIV/AIDS; sexual health and sexually transmitted infections; hepatitis C; lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender health; drug user health; health equity; and emerging issues such as COVID-19. Questions were prioritized on the basis of the alignment with the following 5 criteria: magnitude of impact; funding and resources; feasibility of conducting research; translatability; and addresses an internal priority area. Findings are anticipated to generate actionable results that can be readily translatable into programs, policies, and practices. This Research Agenda includes 79 research and program evaluation questions prioritized for internally led and collaborative research. Efforts on 35 of the 61 internally led questions and funding of 11 collaborative research projects related to Research Agenda priorities began in 2022. An evaluation survey was conducted among all stakeholders involved in the prioritization process. All were satisfied or very satisfied with the process, and results yielded recommendations for future processes including weighting of questions relative to one another within each focus area and other suggestions to streamline the process. In year 1, 10 of the 35 questions were completed. Lessons learned include use of a participatory process to facilitate support and completion of Research Agenda, prioritize research questions to maximize impact and translatability, streamline the prioritization process by restricting proposed questions to those with clear potential for innovative research, emphasize anticipated resources necessary to implement the Research Agenda to set a realistic and actionable plan, and adaptability toward shifting priorities.

Paediatric medicine issues and gaps from healthcare workers point of view: survey results and a narrative review from the global accelerator for paediatric formulations project.

The WHO Model List of Essential Medicines for Children (EMLc) has not been systematically revised in the last few years. We conducted a survey addressed to healthcare professionals prescribing, preparing, or administering medicines to children and a narrative review to identify problematic paediatric formulations or missing medicines in all therapeutic fields to inform the review of the EMLc in 2023. A total of 285 physicians (63%), 28 nurses (6%) and 142 pharmacists (31%), mostly working in the hospital setting, reported at least one problematic medicine. 290 medicines were reported as missing (completely or the child-appropriate formulation). The top three most mentioned were ciprofloxacin together with phenobarbital and omeprazole. 387 medicines were reported as problematic (34% were oral liquid formulations, 34% tablets, 18% parenteral preparations. Mostly of the products were antibacterials (27%), cardiovascular medicines (11%) and antivirals (11%). The obtained responses show the perspective of healthcare workers working around the world, particularly in the European region (25%), in the African region (24%), and in the Region of the Americas (19%), with limited representation from Northern Africa and the Middle East. Our results need to be analysed with the outputs of other ongoing works before specific products can enter the WHO-hosted Global Accelerator for Paediatric formulations network prioritisation process. Efforts to develop appropriate formulations for children should be accelerated so that the uncertainties associated with off-label drug preparation and use are minimised, and therapeutic benefits are optimised.

A column generation-based framework for ATFM incorporating a user-driven prioritization process

A column generation-based framework is proposed for air traffic flow management (ATFM) incorporating a user-driven prioritization process (UDPP). Airspace Users' (AUs') preferences and priorities can be explicitly reflected in the framework. AUs are allowed to propose their preferred routes as initial options and AUs' delay cost structure can be customized and not revealed to other AUs. Major UDPP features, including Fleet Delay Reordering, Selective Flight Protection, and Margins, are fully incorporated in the proposed framework. In the master problem, the model selects 4D-routes for flights subject to sector capacity constraints. In the subproblems, new 4D-routes are generated. Numerical experiments demonstrate that the proposed framework can efficiently solve the ATFM problem considering UDPP features with often zero or small optimality gaps. The effectiveness of UDPP is also verified using case studies. Parallelism of subproblems considerably further reduces the runtime and the large-scale scenario computational time can be reduced to around 30 min.

Geospatial techniques and PCA-based prioritization of reservoir catchments located in Shivalik foot-hills of Indian Punjab for land and water conservation

Abstract Nine reservoir catchments (Chohal, Damsal, Dholbaha, Januari, Maili, Nara, Patiaria, Selaran and Thana) located in Shivalik foot-hills of Indian Punjab were prioritized using geospatial techniques and principal component analysis (PCA) for soil and water conservation planning. The selected catchments were demarcated using a digital elevation model (DEM) of 12.5 m resolution (ALOS PALSAR) in ArcGIS 10.4.1 software. The higher values of shape parameters (Ff > 0.78, Re > 0.8 and Cc ≥ 1) indicated circular shapes of Saleran and Nara dam catchments with high peaks for a shorter duration, from where the flood flows cannot be easily managed. These basins indicate coarse drainage density (Dd = 2.0–4.0 km km−2). The relative relief (Rrel) was also computed to the highest (0.124) for Saleran and Nara dam catchments, respectively. The geospatial techniques-based morphometric analysis helped to identify the shapes of the reservoir catchments including the factors affecting hydrological conditions and soil erodibility. The PCA application simplified the prioritization process via a reduction in the number of parameters. Thus, geospatial techniques-based morphometric analysis coupled with PCA-based prioritization is significant to identify the most critical reservoir catchment in a region for conservation planning. The study would be useful for implementing appropriate soil and water management measures in the highly prioritized reservoir catchment.

Contrasting effects of climate change on the invasion risk and biocontrol potential of the invasive Iris pseudacorus L. between Northern and Southern Hemisphere

Iris pseudacorus is both a prized ornamental and an invasive aquatic plant that tends to grow dense monospecific stands, displacing the local vegetation and altering the hydrology of freshwater ecosystems. Originally from Europe, this species has historically invaded North America, China and Japan, and more recently spread through Argentina, South Africa and Australasia, where it is now a target for biological control. Field surveys within its native range have led to the selection of three candidate biocontrol agents. Prioritizing the best candidates for different regions constitutes a critical step, which could save significant time and resources before further cost-intensive experimental studies are conducted. Climate change is seldom taken into consideration in the prioritization process. In this regard, climatic suitability can be used to model the potential distributions of weeds and their candidate agents, both in space and time, thus allowing to identify areas at risk of invasion and predict where agents will be able to establish long-term. Accordingly, the objectives of this work were (i) to predict I. pseudacorus invasions and range shifts in the context of climate change; (ii) to identify wetland areas most at risk of invasion under present and future climatic conditions; and (iii) to prioritize the best suite of candidate biocontrol agents for different invaded ranges, worldwide. To do so, we modelled the present and future (2040–2060) climatic suitability of I. pseudacorus and its candidate agents using the software MaxEnt. Our results highlight a clear distinction between predictions for the Northern and Southern Hemispheres. In North America and eastern Asia, the area climatically suitable for I. pseudacorus is expected to increase and shift northwards. As for its biocontrol agents, very low suitability is predicted across these regions, further decreasing under future climatic conditions. On the other hand, climatically suitable areas for the plant in South America, southern Africa and Australasia are predicted, on average, to reduce in response to climate change. A decrease in climatic suitability is also expected for its candidate biocontrol agents which, however, would still maintain a significant range overlap with their host. These results can be used to prioritize areas most at risk of invasion and identify which combination of candidates could potentially provide the best level of control across different invaded ranges.

Incorporating mechanism into conservation actions in an age of multiple and emerging threats: The case of boreal caribou

AbstractConservation strategies for imperiled species are frequently based on identifying and addressing the probable causes of population decline, an approach known as the declining population paradigm. Causes, however, are frequently linked to demographic outcomes by multiple mechanisms, and failing to target the primary mechanisms can reduce the effectiveness and efficiency of conservation actions. Increasingly, conservation strategies also need to consider emerging threats, such as climate change. Here, we use boreal caribou (Rangifer tarandus caribou), a threatened ecotype of woodland caribou, as a case study to illustrate how landscape disturbance and climate change can each exert negative demographic effects on caribou through multiple and complex mechanisms. We reviewed the extensive literature focused on woodland caribou to identify and assess the relative importance of each putative mechanism. While disturbance‐mediated apparent competition, the expansion of novel predators, and altered predator behavior appear to be primary mechanisms dictating past and current declines of caribou, climate change has increasing potential to exert strong direct and indirect effects now and in the future. Predicted climate effects may prevent some populations from regaining self‐sustaining status, despite local conservation actions. Our review revealed several knowledge gaps, notably a lack of clarity on the spatial extent of undisturbed habitat required for caribou populations to be stable. We used outcomes from our review to demonstrate how a mechanistic understanding of population decline can inform habitat‐based conservation strategies for caribou. For populations residing within highly disturbed ranges, habitat restoration is a key recommendation of current conservation strategies, yet the large spatial extent of disturbances will require prioritization of areas for restoration. Maximizing the conservation return‐on‐investment for caribou will require a mechanistically informed prioritization process that targets conservation actions toward the primary mechanisms underlying population decline.

Building a novel strategic research agenda for METROFOOD-RI: design process and multi-stakeholder engagement towards thematic prioritization.

The European research landscape suffers widely from fragmentation and little cross-border research collaboration. Efforts are underway to bring the European Research Area to a higher level of performance and capacity in cutting-edge science, with high anticipations for the promotion of multidisciplinary research infrastructures of transnational engagement. A European distributed research infrastructure active in this framework is METROFOOD-RI, committed to promoting metrology in food and nutrition with particular focus on measurement research related to agrifood systems. For research infrastructures, streamlining resources among partner organizations and establishing priorities around specific topics is critical for ensuring smooth operation. Similarly, METROFOOD-RI faced the challenge of exploring its strategic direction and research priorities as revealed in its first Strategic Research and Innovation Agenda (SRIA). This report details how the internal process of topic identification and prioritization progressed within the METROFOOD-RI SRIA and what obstacles were encountered along the way. A dual-track strategy was taken for locating future SRIA topics, applying a top-down and bottom-up approach, followed by internal consultation with METROFOOD-RI experts. The topic prioritization drew on a vote among the METROFOOD-RI Management Committee employing a custom-designed numerical rating scale questionnaire. Based on the maximum scores obtained for each topic, appropriate thresholds were introduced for classifying individual topics into high, medium, low, and very low priority ones. A total of 80 topics categorized into eight major clusters of challenges were located as potential SRIA candidates. Upon prioritization, 9 topics of very high priority and 16 topics of medium priority were identified as key research thematic areas of the newly developed SRIA. As a strategic framework, the SRIA occupies a central position and sets not only the scientific focus of the research infrastructure in the coming years, but also contributes to realizing the full potential and excellence of METROFOOD-RI, selectively expanding the existing portfolio and thus contributing to maximum efficiency and sustainability. It is anticipated that the lessons learned by METROFOOD-RI and its experiences shared are a valuable stimulus and guide for those who are taking on the challenge of setting-up a SRIA and are looking for edifying and constructive information on how to do so.