26 research outputs found
Empowerment evaluation of a Swedish gender equity plan
Background: Empowerment is essential for gender equity and health. The city of Malmö, Sweden, has formulated a development plan for gender equity integration (GEIDP). A âPolicy Empowerment Indexâ (PEI) was previously developed to assess the empowerment potential of policies. Objectives: To pilot-evaluate the GEIDP's potential for empowerment and to test the PEI for future policy evaluations. Design: The GEIDP was analyzed and scored according to electronically retrieved evidence on constituent opinion, participation, capacity development, evaluationâadaptation, and impact. Results: The plan's PEI score was 64% (CI: 48â78) and was classified as âenablingâ, ranging between âenablingâ and âsupportiveâ. The plan's strengths were: 1) constituent knowledge and concern; 2) peripheral implementation; 3) protection of vulnerable groups; and 4) evaluation/adaptation procedures. It scored average on: 1) policy agenda setting; 2) planning; 3) provisions for education; 4) network formation; 5) resource mobilization. The weakest point was regarding promotion of employment and entrepreneurship. Conclusions: The PEI evaluation highlighted the plan's potential of constituency empowerment and proposed how it could be augmented
MIBiG 3.0: a community-driven effort to annotate experimentally validated biosynthetic gene clusters
The European language technology landscape in 2020 : language-centric and human-centric AI for cross-cultural communication in multilingual Europe
Multilingualism is a cultural cornerstone of Europe and firmly anchored in the European treaties including full language equality. However, language barriers impacting business, cross-lingual and cross-cultural communication are still omnipresent. Language Technologies (LTs) are a powerful means to break down these barriers. While the last decade has seen various initiatives that created a multitude of approaches and technologies tailored to Europeâs specific needs, there is still an immense level of fragmentation. At the same time, AI has become an increasingly important concept in the European Information and Communication Technology area. For a few years now, AI â including many opportunities, synergies but also misconceptions â has been overshadowing every other topic. We present an overview of the European LT landscape, describing funding programmes, activities, actions and challenges in the different countries with regard to LT, including the current state of play in industry and the LT market. We present a brief overview of the main LT-related activities on the EU level in the last ten years and develop strategic guidance with regard to four key dimensions
MIBiG 3.0: a community-driven effort to annotate experimentally validated biosynthetic gene clusters
Microbial Biotechnolog
Empirical findings on infrastructure efficiency at a bicycle T-junction
In the pursuit of promoting cycling and providing better cycling infrastructure, its design is of great importance. One of the critical locations in a network are intersections, and specifically T-junctions, due to the inverted perception of priority. In this paper, we investigate the behaviour at T-junctions dedicated to cyclists and the effect on bicycle flow efficiency resulting from the introduction of lane markings that advise through cyclists to shift to the left so that merging cyclists can occupy the space on the right hand side of the cycle path. A comprehensive framework is proposed for the assessment of the T-junction efficiency. Empirical trajectory data from a large-scale cycling experiment are used for the analyses. The findings suggest that cyclist heterogeneity can be even more influential on the efficiency than the infrastructure design. Moreover, a form of self-organisation is observed, as through cyclists are willing to move to the left and allow merging cyclists to fit in the cycle path without the provision of any instructions. This means that the lane marking is both redundant and not improving the efficiency of the T-junction
Bicycle Parking Choice Behaviour at Train Stations. A Case Study in Delft, the Netherlands
Due to the increasing use of the bicycle as access and egress mode to public transport hubs, bicycle parking facilities are being constructed and extended. The provision of appropriate infrastructure requires the understanding of the needs and preferences of the cyclists. In order to gain insights into the parking spot choices of the cyclists, we have collected data at a bicycle parking facility in Delft train station (the Netherlands). This dataset is used to estimate discrete choice models that distinguish between an uncongested (i.e. many empty spots) and a congested (i.e. almost full) state of the facility. The findings reveal that cyclists want to park close to the exit of the parking facility which promotes the design in tiers. At the same time, they want to exert minimal effort, which calls for an easier mechanism to park in the top tier. Last but not least, providing real-time information signs is advisable, as it facilitates the parking spot choice as by reducing searching time.Accepted Author ManuscriptTransport and Plannin
Bicycle Parking Choice Behaviour at Train Stations. A Case Study in Delft, the Netherlands
Due to the increasing use of the bicycle as access and egress mode to public transport hubs, bicycle parking facilities are being constructed and extended. The provision of appropriate infrastructure requires the understanding of the needs and preferences of the cyclists. In order to gain insights into the parking spot choices of the cyclists, we have collected data at a bicycle parking facility in Delft train station (the Netherlands). This dataset is used to estimate discrete choice models that distinguish between an uncongested (i.e. many empty spots) and a congested (i.e. almost full) state of the facility. The findings reveal that cyclists want to park close to the exit of the parking facility which promotes the design in tiers. At the same time, they want to exert minimal effort, which calls for an easier mechanism to park in the top tier. Last but not least, providing real-time information signs is advisable, as it facilitates the parking spot choice as by reducing searching time
Empirical findings on infrastructure efficiency at a bicycle T-junction
In the pursuit of promoting cycling and providing better cycling infrastructure, its design is of great importance. One of the critical locations in a network are intersections, and specifically T-junctions, due to the inverted perception of priority. In this paper, we investigate the behaviour at T-junctions dedicated to cyclists and the effect on bicycle flow efficiency resulting from the introduction of lane markings that advise through cyclists to shift to the left so that merging cyclists can occupy the space on the right hand side of the cycle path. A comprehensive framework is proposed for the assessment of the T-junction efficiency. Empirical trajectory data from a large-scale cycling experiment are used for the analyses. The findings suggest that cyclist heterogeneity can be even more influential on the efficiency than the infrastructure design. Moreover, a form of self-organisation is observed, as through cyclists are willing to move to the left and allow merging cyclists to fit in the cycle path without the provision of any instructions. This means that the lane marking is both redundant and not improving the efficiency of the T-junction.Transport and PlanningTransport and Plannin
Microbial strains isolated from CO <sub>2</sub> -venting Kolumbo submarine volcano show enhanced co-tolerance to acidity and antibiotics
As ocean acidification intensifies, there is growing global concern about the impacts that future pH levels are likely to have on marine life and ecosystems. By analogy, a steep decrease of seawater pH with depth is encountered inside the Kolumbo submarine volcano (northeast Santorini) as a result of natural CO 2 venting, making this system ideal for ocean acidification research. Here, we investigated whether the increase of acidity towards deeper layers of Kolumbo crater had any effect on relevant phenotypic traits of bacterial isolates. A total of 31 Pseudomonas strains were isolated from both surface- (SSL) and deep-seawater layers (DSL), with the latter presenting a significantly higher acid tolerance. In particular, the DSL strains were able to cope with H + levels that were 18 times higher. Similarly, the DSL isolates exhibited a significantly higher tolerance than SSL strains against six commonly used antibiotics and As(III). More importantly, a significant positive correlation was revealed between antibiotics and acid tolerance across the entire set of SSL and DSL isolates. Our findings imply that Pseudomonas species with higher resilience to antibiotics could be favored by the prospect of acidifying oceans. Further studies are required to determine if this feature is universal across marine bacteria and to assess potential ecological impacts. </p