The Auckland Urban Liveability Index: A Mechanism for Quantifying and Evaluating Modern Urban Densification

We present the Auckland Urban Liveability Index (AULI), an indicator that quantifies modern liveability at the neighbourhood level in Auckland. The index comprises 29 variables spanning several components of liveability: social infrastructure, green space, transportation, safety and diversity. Each is documented transparently with accompanying data and code. We find that neighbourhoods with the highest liveability scores have comparatively good public transport provision and are amenable to active travel, reflecting the principles of modern urban densification. Through local modelling frameworks, we provide useful context on the generalisability of index components that supports the transfer of our index to other cities in New Zealand and re-evaluation of our index in light of new data

Thermodynamics of entropy-driven phase transformations

Thermodynamic properties of one-dimensional lattice models exhibiting entropy-driven phase transformations are discussed in quantum and classical regimes. Motivated by the multistability of compounds exhibiting photoinduced phase transitions, we consider systems with asymmetric, double, and triple well on-site potential. One finds that among a variety of regimes, quantum versus classical, discrete versus continuum, a key feature is asymmetry distinguished as a "shift" type and "shape" type in limiting cases. The behavior of the specific heat indicates one phase transformation in a "shift" type and a sequence of two phase transformations in "shape"-type systems. Future analysis in higher dimensions should allow us to identify which of these entropy-driven phase transformations would evolve into phase transitions of the first order

Simulation games as a catalyst for social learning: The case of the water-food-energy nexus game

Role-playing simulations have gained in popularity in recent years as a novel method of engaging researchers and stakeholders in a variety of social and environmental issues. While academic interest has grown on this topic, knowledge remains sparse on the underlying theories that may guide the design of such games. Thsi article introduces a new game design framework - Com­pleC­Sus (Com­plex­ity-Col­lab­o­ra­tion-Sus­tain­abil­ity) - built on the concepts of social learning and procedural rhetoric. We describe and discuss the conceptual basis for our framework, giving a detailed account of its application through the recently developed the Water–Food–Energy Nexus Game (Nexus Game) as an example. We illustrate the process involved in designing the Nexus Game through initial scoping, prototyping, and design decisions, and how game structure and debriefing have been crafted to foster social learning focused on the understanding of the underlying social-ecological system as well as fostering collaboration between stakeholders. We also provide the analysis of qualitative data collected during recent gaming sessions across three continents to evaluate the Nexus Game’s potential learning effects

Adaptive Management of Riverine Socio-ecological Systems

If ongoing change in ecosystems and society can render inflexible policies obsolete, then management must dynamically adapt as a counter to perennial uncertainty. This chapter describes a general synthesis of how to make decision-making more adaptive and then explores the barriers to learning in management. We then describe how one such process, known as adaptive management (AM), has been applied in different river basins, on which basis we discuss AM’s strengths and limitations in various resource management contexts

Reviewing the use of resilience concepts in forest sciences

Purpose of the review Resilience is a key concept to deal with an uncertain future in forestry. In recent years, it has received increasing attention from both research and practice. However, a common understanding of what resilience means in a forestry context, and how to operationalise it is lacking. Here, we conducted a systematic review of the recent forest science literature on resilience in the forestry context, synthesising how resilience is defined and assessed. Recent findings Based on a detailed review of 255 studies, we analysed how the concepts of engineering resilience, ecological resilience, and social-ecological resilience are used in forest sciences. A clear majority of the studies applied the concept of engineering resilience, quantifying resilience as the recovery time after a disturbance. The two most used indicators for engineering resilience were basal area increment and vegetation cover, whereas ecological resilience studies frequently focus on vegetation cover and tree density. In contrast, important social-ecological resilience indicators used in the literature are socio-economic diversity and stock of natural resources. In the context of global change, we expected an increase in studies adopting the more holistic social-ecological resilience concept, but this was not the observed trend. Summary Our analysis points to the nestedness of these three resilience concepts, suggesting that they are complementary rather than contradictory. It also means that the variety of resilience approaches does not need to be an obstacle for operationalisation of the concept. We provide guidance for choosing the most suitable resilience concept and indicators based on the management, disturbance and application context

The general ownership structure of the european aerospace industry a statistical and network analysis

In this paper, we investigate the ownership structure of the 3143 EU28 aerospace companies in 2019, and extend the analysis to the 2428 neighbor partners outside EU28 and/or aerospace. Different from the previous studies, we consider all equity capital flows regardless of their size, and their monetary value instead of the corresponding ownership share. We further innovate by applying new methods to measure degree of influence power and hierarchical structure. The resulting picture shows that between the pure EU28 aerospace companies: (i) ownership relationships concern only relatively few companies (10%), which trigger horizontal and vertical structures; (ii) density is extremely low; (iii) relationships are fully hierarchical with no cross-ownership; (iv) capital is seldom transferred across business groups; (v) most of the main topological parameters have a typically polarized scale-free structure. When including also the ownership neighbors, some of those traits change substantially: (i) the share of connected companies substantially grows up to 63%; (ii) size and length of the largest pyramidal structures will grow remarkably, reaching a top of 874 companies; (iii) the industry becomes a full small-world structure, thus allowing huge capital transfer across business groups. Finally, a dramatic financialization, meant as a pivotal and quantitatively heavy role of financial operators, emerges also as a clear characteristic of the extended network

How Nodes and Groups Properties Influence Assortativity in Social Networks?

A model of social network construction taking into account both social and individual influences on the distribution of links is proposed. The balance between social and individual factors is regulated through a "flexibility" parameter, reflecting how strong the initial individual sociability is altered by groups structure. The main interest is focused on the effect of groups on degree-degree correlation. Both numerical and analytical results on the relationship between assortativity and flexibility are presented

CHA2DS2-VASc score can guide the screening of atrial fibrillation - cross-sectional study in a geriatric ward

Zyta Beata Wojszel,1,2 Agnieszka Kasiukiewicz,1,2 Marta Swietek,2,3 Michal Lukasz Swietek,3 Lukasz Magnuszewski2,31Department of Geriatrics, Medical University of Bialystok, Bialystok, Poland; 2Department of Geriatrics, Hospital of the Ministry of Interior in Bialystok, Bialystok, Poland; 3Doctoral Studies, Department of Geriatrics, Medical University of Bialystok, Bialystok, PolandPurpose: Atrial fibrillation (AF) is an increasingly common rhythm disorder and an important risk factor of ischemic stroke, heart failure, hospitalization, and cardiovascular mortality. Its diagnosis, however, is often delayed because of silent character of the arrhythmia. The aim of the study was to identify independent determinants of AF in patients of the geriatric ward, so as to be able to propose a strategy for screening of this arrhythmia.Methods: Cross-sectional cohort study of patients admitted to the department of geriatrics was conducted. The prevalence of AF and its health correlates (including AF recognized risk factors) was assessed. Relative risks were calculated and multivariable logistic regression analysis model was built. The predictive performance was evaluated using receiver-operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis.Results: There were 416 patients hospitalized in the study period and 98 (23.6%) presented with AF. The independent predictors with top 3 strongest association with AF were congestive heart failure (OR 5.43; 95%CI 3.14–9.39; P<0.001), age of 75+years (OR 4.0; 95% CI 1.43–11.2; P=0.008), and previous history of stroke or transient ischemic attack (OR 2.1; 95% CI 1.06–4.13; P=0.03). ROC analysis showed CHA2DS2-VASc scale significance as a screening tool for AF (ROC-AUC 0.75; 0.7–0.8; P<0.001), with the value of 4 or more as the best cut-off point.Conclusions: Based on CHA2DS2-VASc score the intensity of surveillance for AF at a primary prevention population level could be probably guided, but it requires further research.Keywords: atrial fibrillation screening, older people, risk factors and determinants, CHA2DS2-VASc scor