Background: Public trust is central to the collection of genomic and health data and the sustainability of genomic research. To merit trust, those involved in collecting and sharing data need to demonstrate they are trustworthy. However, it is unclear what measures are most likely to demonstrate this. Methods: We analyse the ‘Your DNA, Your Say’ online survey of public perspectives on genomic data

Polycentrism has gradually become a newly emergent dimension of global urbanization. Many countries worldwide have tailored plans suited to functional polycentricity, in light of the prevalent “ghost cities” or “empty towns” as lessons from the morphologically polycentric development practices. However, the subject of defining and measuring functional polycentricity is still in an initial developm

OBJECTIVE: To identify ways that provision of hemophilia care can be maximized at the local level, irrespective of available resources or cultural or geographic challenges.METHODS: The SHIELD group used its multinational experience to share examples of local initiatives that have been employed to deliver optimal hemophilia care.RESULTS: The examples were reviewed and categorized into four key them

Soil freezing/thawing is an important mechanism to control soil water and heat redistribution in mid-to-high latitudes. Salt in the agricultural soil from mid-to-high latitudes can alter characteristics of soil freezing/thawing cycle and then affect soil thermal and hydrological processes in winter and finally cause salinization in spring. To quantify the impacts of soil salinization on soil water

Shelterbelts (or windbreaks) can effectively improve the microclimate and soil conditions of adjacent farmland and thus increase crop yield. However, the individual contribution of these two factors to yield changes is still unclear since the short-term effect from the microclimate and the accumulated effect from the soil jointly affect crop yield. The latter (soil effect) is supposed to remain af

Things such as organizations, persons, or locations are ubiquitous in all texts circulating on the internet, particularly in the news, forum posts, and social media. Today, there is more written material than any single person can read through during a typical lifespan. Automatic systems can help us amplify our abilities to find relevant information, where, ideally, a system would learn knowledge

Carbon pricing, including carbon taxes and emissions trading, has been adopted by different kinds of polities worldwide. Yet, beyond the increasing adoption over time, little is known about what polities–countries as well as sub- and supranational entities–adopt carbon pricing and why. This paper explores patterns of adoption (both implemented policies and those scheduled to be) through cluster an

In recent years, the flash flood occurs frequently and intensively. It has become a world-wide focus in the field of disaster prevention and mitigation. The flash flood critical rainfall determination method, flash floods forecasting model and experience forecasting method are the most commonly used methods. This study focused on the application of hydrological models for flash floods simulation.T

The regional loess stratigraphy in the Vojvodina region, in the southeastern Carpathian Basin, has often been successfully correlated to the global palaeoclimate. This is a quasi-continuous sedimentary record that provides detailed environmental reconstruction during the last four glacial/interglacial cycles. In this study, we present a standardized loess stratigraphy and illustrate how it correla

The widely accepted “Milankovitch theory” explains insolation-induced waxing and waning of the ice sheets and their effect on the global climate on orbital timescales. In the past half century, however, the theory has often come under scrutiny, especially regarding its “100-ka problem.” Another drawback, but the one that has received less attention, is the “monsoon problem,” which pertains to the

BACKGROUND: Dysbiosis of the oral mycobiome has been linked to some diseases, including cancers. However, the role of oral fungal communities in nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) carcinogenesis has not previously been investigated.METHODS: We characterized the oral salivary fungal mycobiome in 476 untreated incident NPC patients and 537 population-based controls using fungal internal transcribed spac

Climate change mitigation requires rapid expansion of low-carbon electricity but there is a disagreement on whether available technologies such as renewables and nuclear power can be scaled up sufficiently fast. Here we analyze the diffusion of nuclear (from the 1960s), as well as wind and solar (from the 1980-90s) power. We show that all these technologies have been adopted in most large economie

Ending the use of unabated coal power is a key climate change mitigation measure. However, we do not know how fast it is feasible to phase-out coal on the global scale. Historical experience of individual countries indicates feasible coal phase-out rates, but can these be upscaled to the global level and accelerated by deliberate action? To answer this question, we analyse 72 national coal power p

Jus cogens norms and obligations erga omnes are concepts within international law that are often used to reinforce legal claims. This thesis aims to assess to what extent invoking these concepts, along with their reinforcing capabilities, is justified in specific cases. In order to achieve this, the thesis first gives an overview of the theoretical debate surrounding the concepts of jus cogens no

Water for Injection (WFI) is a critical utility in pharmaceutical manufacturing, traditionally produced through an energy-intensive distillation process. This thesis investigates the feasibility of a more sustainable alternative, ambient WFI production using membrane-based purification technologies combined with ozonation in the storage and distribution loop. Conducted in collaboration with AstraZ

In order to reveal the nature of dark matter, it is crucial to detect its non-gravitational interactions with the standard model particles. The traditional dark matter searches focused on the so-called weakly interacting massive particles. However, this paradigm is strongly constrained by the null results of current experiments with high precision. Therefore there is a renewed interest of searches