Local Protest and Resistance to the Rupert Diversion Project, Northern Quebec

This article examines various political strategies employed by Nemaska Crees in northern Quebec to defend their land and way of life against the EM-1-A& Rupert Diversion Project. Notwithstanding the regional Cree leadership’s endorsement of the project and the ambivalence of the majority of the local community toward the project, a local resistance group composed of committed individuals from the Nemaska Cree community demonstrated a remarkable capacity to engage in a range of political strategies to voice their opposition to the hydroelectric expansion project. Although construction of the project is now underway, our findings affirm the role and significance of individuals and organizations operating at the local level in articulating and framing efforts to enhance local empowerment and governance and respond to the ecological degradation imposed by large-scale industrial development on the “local.”Le présent article examine diverses stratégies politiques employées par les Cris de Nemaska du nord du Québec dans le but de défendre leur territoire et leur mode de vie contre le Projet de l’Eastmain-1-A-Rupert. Nonobstant l’appui des chefs cris régionaux et l’ambivalence de la majorité de la communauté locale à l’égard de ce projet, un groupe de résistance local composé de particuliers dévoués de la communauté crie de Nemaska a démontré une capacité remarquable à adopter diverses stratégies politiques afin de communiquer son opposition au projet d’agrandissement hydroélectrique. Bien que les travaux de construction soient déjà en cours, nos observations ont pour effet d’affirmer le rôle et l’importance des particuliers et des organisations à l’échelle locale quand vient le temps d’articuler et d’encadrer des efforts pour renforcer l’autonomie et la gouvernance locales et réagir à la dégradation écologique découlant de la mise en valeur industrielle à grande échelle pour les gens de la région

Comparison of CATs, CURB-65 and PMEWS as Triage Tools in Pandemic Influenza Admissions to UK Hospitals: Case Control Analysis Using Retrospective Data

Triage tools have an important role in pandemics to identify those most likely to benefit from higher levels of care. We compared Community Assessment Tools (CATs), the CURB-65 score, and the Pandemic Medical Early Warning Score (PMEWS); to predict higher levels of care (high dependency - Level 2 or intensive care - Level 3) and/or death in patients at or shortly after admission to hospital with A/H1N1 2009 pandemic influenza. This was a case-control analysis using retrospectively collected data from the FLU-CIN cohort (1040 adults, 480 children) with PCR-confirmed A/H1N1 2009 influenza. Area under receiver operator curves (AUROC), sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive values and negative predictive values were calculated. CATs best predicted Level 2/3 admissions in both adults [AUROC (95% CI): CATs 0.77 (0.73, 0.80); CURB-65 0.68 (0.64, 0.72); PMEWS 0.68 (0.64, 0.73), p<0.001] and children [AUROC: CATs 0.74 (0.68, 0.80); CURB-65 0.52 (0.46, 0.59); PMEWS 0.69 (0.62, 0.75), p<0.001]. CURB-65 and CATs were similar in predicting death in adults with both performing better than PMEWS; and CATs best predicted death in children. CATs were the best predictor of Level 2/3 care and/or death for both adults and children. CATs are potentially useful triage tools for predicting need for higher levels of care and/or mortality in patients of all ages

CONCEPTT: Continuous Glucose Monitoring in Women with Type 1 Diabetes in Pregnancy Trial: A multi-center, multi-national, randomized controlled trial - Study protocol.

BACKGROUND: Women with type 1 diabetes strive for optimal glycemic control before and during pregnancy to avoid adverse obstetric and perinatal outcomes. For most women, optimal glycemic control is challenging to achieve and maintain. The aim of this study is to determine whether the use of real-time continuous glucose monitoring (RT-CGM) will improve glycemic control in women with type 1 diabetes who are pregnant or planning pregnancy. METHODS/DESIGN: A multi-center, open label, randomized, controlled trial of women with type 1 diabetes who are either planning pregnancy with an HbA1c of 7.0 % to ≤10.0 % (53 to ≤ 86 mmol/mol) or are in early pregnancy (<13 weeks 6 days) with an HbA1c of 6.5 % to ≤10.0 % (48 to ≤ 86 mmol/mol). Participants will be randomized to either RT-CGM alongside conventional intermittent home glucose monitoring (HGM), or HGM alone. Eligible women will wear a CGM which does not display the glucose result for 6 days during the run-in phase. To be eligible for randomization, a minimum of 4 HGM measurements per day and a minimum of 96 hours total with 24 hours overnight (11 pm-7 am) of CGM glucose values are required. Those meeting these criteria are randomized to RT- CGM or HGM. A total of 324 women will be recruited (110 planning pregnancy, 214 pregnant). This takes into account 15 and 20 % attrition rates for the planning pregnancy and pregnant cohorts and will detect a clinically relevant 0.5 % difference between groups at 90 % power with 5 % significance. Randomization will stratify for type of insulin treatment (pump or multiple daily injections) and baseline HbA1c. Analyses will be performed according to intention to treat. The primary outcome is the change in glycemic control as measured by HbA1c from baseline to 24 weeks or conception in women planning pregnancy, and from baseline to 34 weeks gestation during pregnancy. Secondary outcomes include maternal hypoglycemia, CGM time in, above and below target (3.5-7.8 mmol/l), glucose variability measures, maternal and neonatal outcomes. DISCUSSION: This will be the first international multicenter randomized controlled trial to evaluate the impact of RT- CGM before and during pregnancy in women with type 1 diabetes. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT01788527 Registration Date: December 19, 2012

Business analytics in industry 4.0: a systematic review

Recently, the term “Industry 4.0” has emerged to characterize several Information Technology and Communication (ICT) adoptions in production processes (e.g., Internet-of-Things, implementation of digital production support information technologies). Business Analytics is often used within the Industry 4.0, thus incorporating its data intelligence (e.g., statistical analysis, predictive modelling, optimization) expert system component. In this paper, we perform a Systematic Literature Review (SLR) on the usage of Business Analytics within the Industry 4.0 concept, covering a selection of 169 papers obtained from six major scientific publication sources from 2010 to March 2020. The selected papers were first classified in three major types, namely, Practical Application, Reviews and Framework Proposal. Then, we analysed with more detail the practical application studies which were further divided into three main categories of the Gartner analytical maturity model, Descriptive Analytics, Predictive Analytics and Prescriptive Analytics. In particular, we characterized the distinct analytics studies in terms of the industry application and data context used, impact (in terms of their Technology Readiness Level) and selected data modelling method. Our SLR analysis provides a mapping of how data-based Industry 4.0 expert systems are currently used, disclosing also research gaps and future research opportunities.The work of P. Cortez was supported by FCT - Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia within the R&D Units Project Scope: UIDB/00319/2020. We would like to thank to the three anonymous reviewers for their helpful suggestions

Participation in biocultural diversity conservation : insights from five Amazonian examples

Unidad de excelencia María de Maeztu CEX2019-000940-MThe past three decades have seen the emergence of myriads of initiatives focused on conserving, revitalizing, and maintaining Indigenous and Local Knowledge (ILK) as part of biocultural approaches to conservation. However, the extent to which these efforts have been participatory has been often overlooked. In this chapter, we focus on five prominent ILK conservation initiatives in the Amazon Basin to examine the participation of Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities (IPLCs) in ILK conservation. Our review illustrates several examples of ILK conservation initiatives offering substantial opportunities for meaningful IPLC participation over the long term. Overall, our case studies suggest that the development of robust and inclusive decision-making processes is essential to optimize IPLC participation in ILK conservation, thereby increasing the legitimacy of these initiatives. Our review is not an exhaustive account of the breadth and depth of all initiatives promoting participatory biocultural conservation in this region, but it illustrates that there are many strategies that can help foster IPLC engagement and lead the participatory turn in biocultural conservation

Social-ecological resilience in indigenous coastal edge contexts

Cultural edges, as sites of encounter and interaction between two or more cultural groups, tend to result in increased access to knowledge, skills, and material goods. First proposed more than a decade ago as an elaboration of the ecological edge concept, we suggest that cultural edges merit closer attention, particularly in relation to the complex histories and diverse processes of interaction indigenous communities have had with outsiders, including settlers and other indigenous groups. Our analysis is focused on the coastal Cree Nation of Wemindji, Eeyou Istchee, northern Québec (Canada) where multiple ecological and cultural edges have provided increased access to harvesting resources as well as expanded opportunities for social interaction and partnerships, knowledge and technology transfer, and economic diversification. As the locus within indigenous social-ecological systems where strategies for resistance and adaptation to disturbance and change are applied, including active enhancement of edge benefits, the concept of edges contributes to our understanding of the social, cultural, and ecological processes that shape indigenous territories and contribute to enhanced social-ecological resilience

Tracking the History of Protected Areas in Chile: Territorialization Strategies and Shifting State Rationalities

While the history of Chile’s protected areas (PA) has been documented in relation to the overall development and distribution of PAs over time, and their contribution to the goal of ecosystem protection, limited consideration has been given to the larger social and political context of PA development. This paper attempts to address this by investigating the connections between PA creation and aspirations to extend state-level control over territory. We focus in particular on the rationalities and practices of state-led territorialization that have occurred through the creation and expansion of PAs. We provide a history of evolving state justifications for putting aside land as PAs. Our findings suggest that while the prevailing discourses have shifted over time, the fundamental project has remained the same: extending and elaborating state control of territory. We do not analyze the effects on indigenous people, but their dispossession and marginalization is clearly implicated in the process of PA creation in Chile. Resumen La historia de las áreas protegidas (APs) en Chile ha sido documentada en relación a su distribución y extensión como también a su contribución al objetivo de protección ecosistémica. Escasa atención se ha prestado al contexto social y político del desarrollo de las AP. Basándonos en el concepto de territorialización, exploramos las conexiones entre la creación de áreas protegidas (AP) y las aspiraciones del Estado chileno de afirmar la soberanía geopolítica sobre territorios. Nos centramos en particular en las racionalidades y prácticas cambiantes de la territorialización dirigida por el Estado que se produjo a través de la creación y expansión de las AP. Nuestras conclusiones, basadas principalmente en la investigación de archivos y documentos, sugieren que, si bien los discursos imperantes han cambiado con el tiempo, el proyecto fundamental ha seguido siendo el mismo: ampliar y elaborar el control estatal del territorio. Nuestro análisis también revela que el estado no siempre fue hegemónico y con control sobre la expansion y el manejo de las AP. De hecho, las razones cambiantes y evolutivas del Estado chileno apuntan a una falta de capacidad y a la consiguiente debilidad de sus esfuerzos de territorialización. Key words: protected areas, national parks, Chile, territorialization, political ecology, environmental history, conservation policie