Clusters and cluster initiatives: The role of collaboration and social capital in building a system of innovation in Ireland.

In Ireland, interest in the cluster concept (Porter 1990. 2003) dates back to the 1990s when enterprise policy focused on the development of competitive advantage in clusters of interlinked sectors (Doyle and Fanning 2007, Culliton 1992). Research in the early 1990s, found a weak system of innovation in Ireland and advocated a focus on broad institutional factors and the potential of clusters in the development of a national system of innovation (Mjøset 1992). International cluster policy is increasingly focused on raising levels of innovation as a means of improving competitiveness (Sölvell et al 2003). This thesis builds on Irish research focused on the development of clusters. It reviews the state of development of clusters in two sectors of the Irish economy; the high-technology ICT/ software sector of the modern economy and the dairy sector of the traditional economy. The thesis contributes to the literature on clusters through the application of the 'cluster initiative' concept in an Irish context and places greater emphasis than previous Irish studies on the role of collaboration. Sölvell et al (2003) defined a cluster initiative as an organised effort to increase the competitiveness of a cluster, involving firms, government and/or the research community. A new framework for analyzing collaboration is proposed, bringing together insights from the literature on clusters, institutional economics and the systems of innovation approach. This framework includes a new concept, organisations for collaboration (OFCs) to describe the role of industry associations and other organisations, which represent the views of business. The social capital concept (Field 2008) is used to add depth to the analysis of collaboration within clusters and cluster initiatives

A hybrid evaluation approach and guidance for mHealth education applications

© Springer International Publishing AG 2018. Mobile health education applications (MHEAs) are used to support different users. However, although these applications are increasing in number, there is no effective evaluation framework to measure their usability and thus save effort and time for their many user groups. This paper outlines a useful framework for evaluating MHEAs, together with particular evaluation metrics: an efficient hybrid of selected heuristic evaluation (HE) and usability evaluation (UE) factors to enable the determination of the usefulness and usability of MHEAs. We also propose a guidance tool to help stakeholders choose the most suitable MHEA. The outcome of this framework is envisioned as meeting the requirements of different users, in addition to enhancing the development of MHEAs using software engineering approaches by creating new and more effective evaluation techniques. Finally, we present qualitative and quantitative results for the framework when used with MHEAs

Broader niches revealed by fossil data don’t reduce estimates of range loss and fragmentation of African montane trees

This is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from Wiley via the DOI in this record.The data supporting the results already exists and is freely available in the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF) and the African Pollen Database (APD).Aim: Many species’ climate tolerances are broader than those estimated from current native ranges. Indeed, some Afromontane trees’ niches are up to 50% larger after incorporating fossil data. This expansion could reduce estimates of species’ future range loss due to climate change but also implies strong non-climatic limitations on species’ current ranges. One such limitation is land use, which fossil data suggest influences Afromontane tree distribution, preventing these trees from occupying warmer conditions than they currently do. We aim to assess the degree to which the broader climatic tolerances revealed by fossil data buffers projected range loss from climate and land use for Afromontane trees. Location: Africa. Time period: Last 21,000 years. Major taxa studied: Afromontane trees. Methods: We used species distribution models informed by both current and fossil distributions to project future ranges under climate and land-use projections. Results: We found that projected range reductions are only slightly ameliorated by incorporating fossil distributions and these improvements diminish further under severe land use or climate change scenarios. Taxa that are less impacted by climate are more impacted by intense land use. Depending on the severity of climate and land use, the geographic extent of Afromontane tree species’ ranges will contract by 40-85% and the trees will completely be lost from large portions of Africa. We projected that the surviving species’ ranges will become increasingly fragmented. Main conclusions: Maintaining Afromontane ecosystems will require mitigation of both climate and land-use change and protecting areas to optimize connectivity. Our findings caution that species with climate tolerances broader than their current range might not necessarily fare better under strong changes in climate or land use

Analisis Pola Konsumsi Keluarga Buruh Tani Singkong dan Buruh Penyadap Karet

The aims of the study were to analyze and describe the consumption pattern of the families belonging to cassava and rubber laborers in in Sawojajar village. This research used comparative descriptive method. The data analysis employed was descriptive statistic. The findings revealed that (1) The total income of both workers is under Lampung UMP, the families of cassava laborers and families of rubber laborers; (2) Food and non-food consumption of the rubber laborers families were more fulfilled than food consumption of the cassava laborers families; (3) The welfare rate of rubber laborers workers is higher than that of cassava laborers because the percentage of food consumption is smaller than the total expenditure.Penelitian ini bertujuan menganalisis dan menggambarkan pola konsumsi keluarga buruh tani singkong dan buruh penyadap karet di Desa Sawojajar. Metode penelitian yaitu metode deskriptif komparatif. Hasil penelitian menunjukkan: (1) Pendapatan total kedua buruh berada dibawah UMP Lampung, baik keluarga buruh tani singkong maupun keluarga buruh penyadap karet; (2) Konsumsi makanan dan nonmakanan keluarga buruh penyadap karet lebih terpenuhi dibandingkan keluarga buruh tani singkong; (3) Tingkat kesejahteraan keluarga buruh penyadap karet lebih tinggi dibandingkan buruh tani singkong dikarenakan persentase konsumsi makanan lebih kecil daripada total pengeluaran

Tissue mimicking materials for imaging and therapy phantoms: a review

Tissue mimicking materials (TMMs), typically contained within phantoms, have been used for many decades in both imaging and therapeutic applications. This review investigates the specifications that are typically being used in development of the latest TMMs. The imaging modalities that have been investigated focus around CT, mammography, SPECT, PET, MRI and ultrasound. Therapeutic applications discussed within the review include radiotherapy, thermal therapy and surgical applications. A number of modalities were not reviewed including optical spectroscopy, optical imaging and planar x-rays. The emergence of image guided interventions and multimodality imaging have placed an increasing demand on the number of specifications on the latest TMMs. Material specification standards are available in some imaging areas such as ultrasound. It is recommended that this should be replicated for other imaging and therapeutic modalities. Materials used within phantoms have been reviewed for a series of imaging and therapeutic applications with the potential to become a testbed for cross-fertilization of materials across modalities. Deformation, texture, multimodality imaging and perfusion are common themes that are currently under development

ATG8 is conserved between Saccharomyces cerevisiae and psychrophilic, polar-collected fungi

Autophagy is a conserved catabolic process by which eukaryotic cells respond to stress by targeting damaged or unneeded molecules or organelles for sequestration into specialized vesicles known as autophagosomes. Autophagosomes ultimately facilitate the digestion and recycling of their contents by fusing with the degradative organelle of the cell. Studies of the budding yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae have revealed various types of stress that can regulate autophagy, including starvation and extreme temperatures. While autophagy has not yet been directly shown to confer the ability to survive extreme cold or freeze-thaw stress in yeast, upregulation of autophagy has been directly implicated in the ability of arctic insects to survive cold temperatures. We are interested in investigating the potential role of autophagy in polar habitat survival by cold-loving (psychrophilic) yeast like Mrakia blollopsis. To begin to examine the conservation of Atg machinery in polar-collected yeast, we focused on Atg8, a small, ubiquitin-like protein that plays an important role in autophagy. We report that Atg8 is conserved between S. cerevisiae and polar-collected yeast, using Atg8 from Mrakia blollopsis (strain TGK1-2) as an example. This study represents the first direct examination of autophagy machinery conservation across mesophilic and psychrophilic species of yeast

A scoping review of mathematical models of Plasmodium vivax

Plasmodium vivax is one of the most geographically widespread malaria parasites in the world due to its ability to remain dormant in the human liver as hypnozoites and subsequently reactivate after the initial infection (i.e. relapse infections). More than 80% of P. vivax infections are due to hypnozoite reactivation. Mathematical modelling approaches have been widely applied to understand P. vivax dynamics and predict the impact of intervention outcomes. In this article, we provide a scoping review of mathematical models that capture P. vivax transmission dynamics published between January 1988 and May 2023 to provide a comprehensive summary of the mathematical models and techniques used to model P. vivax dynamics. We aim to assist researchers working on P. vivax transmission and other aspects of P. vivax malaria by highlighting best practices in currently published models and highlighting where future model development is required. We provide an overview of the different strategies used to incorporate the parasite's biology, use of multiple scales (within-host and population-level), superinfection, immunity, and treatment interventions. In most of the published literature, the rationale for different modelling approaches was driven by the research question at hand. Some models focus on the parasites' complicated biology, while others incorporate simplified assumptions to avoid model complexity. Overall, the existing literature on mathematical models for P. vivax encompasses various aspects of the parasite's dynamics. We recommend that future research should focus on refining how key aspects of P. vivax dynamics are modelled, including the accumulation of hypnozoite variation, the interaction between P. falciparum and P. vivax, acquisition of immunity, and recovery under superinfection

Ecological consequences of early Late Pleistocene megadroughts in tropical Africa

Extremely arid conditions in tropical Africa occurred in several discrete episodes between 135 and 90 ka, as demonstrated by lake core and seismic records from multiple basins [Scholz CA, Johnson TC, Cohen AS, King JW, Peck J, Overpeck JT, Talbot MR, Brown ET, Kalindekafe L, Amoako PYO, et al. (2007) Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 104:16416–16421]. This resulted in extraordinarily low lake levels, even in Africa\u27s deepest lakes. On the basis of well dated paleoecological records from Lake Malawi, which reflect both local and regional conditions, we show that this aridity had severe consequences for terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems. During the most arid phase, there was extremely low pollen production and limited charred-particle deposition, indicating insufficient vegetation to maintain substantial fires, and the Lake Malawi watershed experienced cool, semidesert conditions (\u3c400 mm/yr precipitation). Fossil and sedimentological data show that Lake Malawi itself, currently 706 m deep, was reduced to an ≈125 m deep saline, alkaline, well mixed lake. This episode of aridity was far more extreme than any experienced in the Afrotropics during the Last Glacial Maximum (≈35–15 ka). Aridity diminished after 95 ka, lake levels rose erratically, and salinity/alkalinity declined, reaching near-modern conditions after 60 ka. This record of lake levels and changing limnological conditions provides a framework for interpreting the evolution of the Lake Malawi fish and invertebrate species flocks. Moreover, this record, coupled with other regional records of early Late Pleistocene aridity, places new constraints on models of Afrotropical biogeographic refugia and early modern human population expansion into and out of tropical Africa