159 research outputs found
What a Difference Context Makes: Comparing Communication Strategies of Migration NGOs in Two Neighboring Countries
No full textThis research study compared non-governmental organizations (NGOs) working in the area of migration in two neighboring countries – Bulgaria and Turkey. Utilizing in-depth interviews with 39 NGO professionals in both countries, the analysis identified critical differences in public opinion dynamics, organizational structures and interdependencies, and government relationships. Further analysis unveiled how the local socio-economic and political context had impacted NGO communication strategies as well as the specific communication channels, public engagement activities, and social media campaigns in each country. Implications for communication scholarship during times of increasing migration flows and globalization are discussed.This article is published as Dimitrova, D., Ozdora-Aksak, E., What a Difference Context Makes: Comparing Communication Strategies of Migration NGOs in Two Neighboring Countries. Journal of Borderlands Studies. 31 Dec 2022. Latest Articles. https://doi.org/10.1080/08865655.2022.2161065. Posted with permission. © 2023 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group
This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/), which permits non-commercial re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited, and is not altered, transformed, or built upon in any way.<br
Submicron Particles and Inflammation
No full textIron nanoparticles occur naturally in the environment, but their exposure increases dramatically due to the field of nanotechnology and –medicine. It is poorly understood how the intracellular cooperative mechanisms of submicron particles and microorganisms function on mammalian immune system. In this study, superparamagnetic iron oxide (SPIO) submicron particles will be used to benefit the research within environmental diseases, addressing the biocompatibility of these particles. The size-dependent effects in the immune system of two carboxyl coated SPIO particles with stated sizes 100 nm and 1 µm will be studied in vitro. It would be interesting to determine whether these particles were able to activate the inflammasome, but still, the precise molecular mechanisms for the activation remain unknown. In order to reveal the biocompatibility of these particles, tests were performed as a function of particle concentration ranging from 0.01 to 100 µg/mL using both whole blood and peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) isolated from healthy donors. The monocytes were first primed with Lipopolysaccharide from Escherichia coli 0111:B4 strain, followed by stimulation with increasing concentrations of the submicron particles. Flow cytometry on whole blood samples identified up-regulation of CD11b monocytes and granulocytes by the particles. In addition, Terminal Complement Complex analyses proved activation of the complement system. It is possible that the particles have been coated with C3b by the complement and phagocytized by the monocytes through CD11b/CD18 receptor. Cytokine secretion from monocytes and whole blood was measured with sandwich ELISA and Bio-plex. The smaller particles seemed to induce higher inflammatory responses than the larger ones. It was, however, interesting to find that the particles themselves caused secretion of active IL-1β without being primed in advance. The mechanisms of the NLRP3 inflammasome activation might be explained by ROS production due to iron imbalance in the cytoplasm. Toxicity of the particles was seen at 10 µg/mL, suggesting their potentially low biocompatibility above this concentration. However, it is suggested better biocompatibility of the silica coated 1 µm particles than the polysaccharide coated 100 nm particles
Submicron Particles and Inflammation
No full textIron nanoparticles occur naturally in the environment, but their exposure increases dramatically due to the field of nanotechnology and –medicine. It is poorly understood how the intracellular cooperative mechanisms of submicron particles and microorganisms function on mammalian immune system. In this study, superparamagnetic iron oxide (SPIO) submicron particles will be used to benefit the research within environmental diseases, addressing the biocompatibility of these particles. The size-dependent effects in the immune system of two carboxyl coated SPIO particles with stated sizes 100 nm and 1 µm will be studied in vitro. It would be interesting to determine whether these particles were able to activate the inflammasome, but still, the precise molecular mechanisms for the activation remain unknown. In order to reveal the biocompatibility of these particles, tests were performed as a function of particle concentration ranging from 0.01 to 100 µg/mL using both whole blood and peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) isolated from healthy donors. The monocytes were first primed with Lipopolysaccharide from Escherichia coli 0111:B4 strain, followed by stimulation with increasing concentrations of the submicron particles. Flow cytometry on whole blood samples identified up-regulation of CD11b monocytes and granulocytes by the particles. In addition, Terminal Complement Complex analyses proved activation of the complement system. It is possible that the particles have been coated with C3b by the complement and phagocytized by the monocytes through CD11b/CD18 receptor. Cytokine secretion from monocytes and whole blood was measured with sandwich ELISA and Bio-plex. The smaller particles seemed to induce higher inflammatory responses than the larger ones. It was, however, interesting to find that the particles themselves caused secretion of active IL-1β without being primed in advance. The mechanisms of the NLRP3 inflammasome activation might be explained by ROS production due to iron imbalance in the cytoplasm. Toxicity of the particles was seen at 10 µg/mL, suggesting their potentially low biocompatibility above this concentration. However, it is suggested better biocompatibility of the silica coated 1 µm particles than the polysaccharide coated 100 nm particles
The bear in Eurasian plant names : motivations and models
No full textEthnolinguistic studies are important for understanding an ethnic group's ideas on the world, expressed in its language. Comparing corresponding aspects of such knowledge might help clarify problems of origin for certain concepts and words, e.g. whether they form common heritage, have an independent origin, are borrowings, or calques. The current study was conducted on the material in Slavonic, Baltic, Germanic, Romance, Finno-Ugrian, Turkic and Albanian languages. The bear was chosen as being a large, dangerous animal, important in traditional culture, whose name is widely reflected in folk plant names. The phytonyms for comparison were mostly obtained from dictionaries and other publications, and supplemented with data from databases, the co-authors' field data, and archival sources (dialect and folklore materials). More than 1200 phytonym use records (combinations of a local name and a meaning) for 364 plant and fungal taxa were recorded to help find out the reasoning behind bear-nomination in various languages, as well as differences and similarities between the patterns among them. Among the most common taxa with bear-related phytonyms were Arctostaphylos uva-ursi (L.) Spreng., Heracieum sphondylium L., Acanthus mollis L., and Allium ursinum L., with Latin loan translation contributing a high proportion of the phytonyms. Some plants have many and various bear-related phytonyms, while others have only one or two bear names. Features like form and/or surface generated the richest pool of names, while such features as colour seemed to provoke rather few associations with bears. The unevenness of bear phytonyms in the chosen languages was not related to the size of the language nor the present occurence of the Brown Bear in the region. However, this may, at least to certain extent, be related to the amount of the historical ethnolinguistic research done on the selected languages
The role of value references in shaping cultures of engagement: evidence from COVID-19 news on Facebook in Romania and the U.K.
No full textValues are consequential for opinion formation and remain a persuasive factor in shaping public attitudes. Still, the role of values remains under-researched in the context of online news production and engagement. This study investigates the intricate role values play by analyzing patterns of value references in online news coverage of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in two culturally distinct nations, Romania and the U.K. Conceptually, the study is based on Schwartz’s value typology; methodologically, it relies on the Concept Mover’s Distance method. Analyzing half a million Facebook posts, the study identifies four types of value references: universal, cultural, topic-based, and situational. We show that cultural values prevalent in British posts, such as stimulation and tradition, resonate with the culturally congruent context. Universal values, however, do not guarantee a high level of engagement. The findings underscore the nuanced impact of values in shaping online news engagement.This article is published as Cristina Monzer, Daniela V Dimitrova, The role of value references in shaping cultures of engagement: evidence from COVID-19 news on Facebook in Romania and the U.K., Human Communication Research, Volume 51, Issue 1, January 2025, Pages 40–51, https://doi.org/10.1093/hcr/hqae021.© The Author(s) 2024. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of International Communication Association.
This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted reuse, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.Supplementary material is available online at Human Communication Research online
Academic network for research of food diversity in the Balkans
No full textAfter four editions in Sofia (2010, 2012), Dubrovnik (2014) and Tirana (2016), Terra Madre Balkans (TMB) network has gathered at the heart of the European debate in a moment that is crucial for the definition of the Europe 's Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) beyond 2020. The knowledge about common history, rich biodiversity and natural resources together with the similar socio-economic challenges experiences in the region make it possible to transform the CAP into a toolbox, responding to the regional context. TMB2018 is a strategic tool to raise that the European integration of the Western Balkans needs a holistic approach in order to ensure the peace, security and prosperity of this diverse region. In line with improving the region's connectivity, considering human dimension of agricultural biodiversity demonstrates the potential of small-scale food producers and rural communities from the Balkans to be the driving force for fostering local growth and socio-economic development. Slow Food conducted a recent survey of 10.000 small-scale farmers from across the EU with the aim to contribute to the debate of the future CAP. It emerged the need to integrate policy processes affecting food systems to achieve a transition to diversified agroecological systems based on agrobiodiversity, lower dependency on external inputs, social relationships and short supply chains. Food reflects the skills of local communities to survive at specific local conditions utilizing the available resources - rich food heritage and food-related biodiversity. Results of the ESSEDRA project can describe 174 pro ducts from the Ark of Taste with plant component with a bigger diversity and deeper connection with territories. They were classified in 17 Categories across the 9 Countries (Albania, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Macedonia, Serbia, Romania, Turkey, Montenegro). It helps to design and to promote specific models of the Ark of Taste products by category and by country, with Identifying common threats. An academic research network can be developed with the aim: - To explore the potential of the network of territories, running activities and relevant stakeholders in the Balkans, to study and valorize the wild and crop plant genetic resources as a source for balanced and socially responsible territorial development. - To develop the methodology for testing this model first in Bulgaria and to discuss tools and approaches for its multiplication at the Balkan level through the concept of Farmers' Schools. Coordinating activities and sharing knowledge and approaches is essential for many topics that are transnationals and, needs more alignment in research across countries: - Sustainable Use of PGRFA, with a special attention to traditional varieties and NUS; Seed Savers Farms and Network of Heritage Exchange; Linking Seed Diversity & Food Diversity; Landscape and territorial approaches; Participatory Guarantee System, Participatory Labelling & Collective Brands; Agroecology. Cooperation in Mediterranean research, with this example of an Academic network for research of food diversity in the Balkans, could be a major driver to cooperation in the Balkans with other Mediterranean countries, for EU integration and better prosperity of rural areas
Multimodal Interface for DNA Alignment of Sequences
No full textMajor research efforts in Bioinformatics include sequence alignment, gene finding, genome assembly, protein structure alignment, protein structure prediction, prediction of gene expression and protein-protein interactions, and the modeling of evolution. To perform these specific tasks different tools are used. Using these tools separately is a time consuming, inefficient and expensive process. MIDAS is a tool that integrates sequence alignment, genome annotation, and spectral clustering and alignment under the same application. The challenge in this project is in representing the knowledge and analyzing the genome data. The DNA data is first transformed into Fourier domain and clustered in MATLAB based on Euclidean distances between the sequences. Our tool allows visualizing the DNA spectra together with a hierarchical tree in a multimodal interface. This in turn enables a bioinformatician to analyze patterns of a group of sequences. MIDAS is a standalone application which provides an interface around standard sequence alignment tools such as BLAT, ClustalW, as well as newer alignment tools such as Spectrogram analysis via integrating MATLAB code, server connections and data visualizations. JAVA is used as the main programming language during the development of MIDAS. The Spectrogram Analysis script-files in MATLAB are converted into JAVA classes. These classes are used to run standalone MATLAB applications from within JAVA.Media and Knowledge EngineeringElectrical Engineering, Mathematics and Computer Scienc
LAG 2.0 : refining a reusable adaptation language and improving on its authoring
No full textReusable adaptation specifications for adaptive behaviour has come to the forefront of adaptive research recently, with EU projects such as GRAPPLE, and PhD research efforts on designing an adaptation language for learning style specification [28]. However, this was not the case five years ago, when an adaptation language for adaptive hypermedia (LAG) was first proposed. This paper describes the general lessons learnt during the last five years in designing, implementing and using an adaptation language, as well as the changes that the language has undergone in order to better fulfil its goal of combining a high level of semantics with simplicity, portability as well as being flexible. Besides discussing these changes based on some sample strategies, this paper also presents a novel authoring environment for the programming-savvy adaptation author, that applies feedback accumulated during various evaluation sessions with the previous set of tools, and its first evaluation with programming experts
Next-generation wind turbine tower modeling: Uncertainty quantification
No full textThe natural frequency of wind turbine towers can be more than 10% off from the designed frequency. This frequency is important for control because it sets bandwidth limits to some of the control loops. Improving the model will result in better control and load reduction that will in turn contribute to the decrease of the cost of wind energy. The main focus of this project is on uncertainty quantification. Finding more accurate uncertainty quantification techniques will help determining the accuracy of models. Currently, the accuracy of the models is described based on asymptotic statistics theory. However, asymptotic uncertainty descriptions exhibit some problems. Variance results are not reliable for small numbers of measurement samples. Moreover, the true values of the parameters are present in the asymptotic variance expressions. As a result, the uncertainty of the model is often approximately quantified or unknown. When the uncertainty of the model is not known or approximately quantified the controllers have to be designed with conservative margins. Therefore, obtaining more reliable uncertainty descriptions will enable the use of less conservative margins, and thus more aggressive controllers. For this purpose, the bootstrap technique for accuracy quantification of model estimates is proposed. Additionally, Operational Modal Analysis (OMA) is used to obtain an estimate of the natural frequency of the tower. With OMA a model of a system is identified based on the output data collected when the system is in operating conditions. The use of OMA eliminates the need to artificially excite the wind turbine tower by using artificial exciters. Another advantage of OMA over system identification approaches is that the input signal to the system is not measured and only the output vibration response of the tower is measured. In this project, the system identification method optimized Predictor Based System Identification (PBSIDopt) was adapted to work with output only data. The identification procedure was tested on a simulation example and the results showed that the proposed identification based on ambient excitation was effective. Asymptotic variance expressions for the uncertainty of the natural frequencies and damping ratios have been derived for the OMA-PBSIDopt. The uncertainty of the natural frequency and damping ratio of the identified system model has been quantified using both the asymptotic statistics and bootstrap techniques and a comparison of the results is made. It is shown that the bootstrap method outperforms the asymptotic variance approach in the sense that the bootstrap estimates of the accuracy are less sensitive to the number of measurements samples. In addition to that, unlike the asymptotic variance technique the bootstrap method is straightforward to apply.Systems and ControlDelft Center for Systems and ControlMechanical, Maritime and Materials Engineerin
Learning Object Metadata Workflows for Description, Findability and Reusability Improvement
No full textWith the increase of online education, a good description of learning resources has become vital for educational resource sharing and reuse. Resource description has been under the spotlight in recent years. Educational platforms can benefit from good resource organisation and description, thereby providing a higher quality of services and attracting more learners to use their systems. Furthermore, well-described resources with metadata, promote content sharing and re-use. This work starts with an extensive literature research on metadata generation techniques and breaks the findings down to metadata types. A detailed taxonomy of metadata types, based on this research, is provided. The taxonomy takes into account properties common to these types. Second, this work analyzes the state-of-the-art metadata collection techniques in literature and real-world educational content repositories including a showcase with the TUDelft library, in order to estimate the gap of metadata employment in the field of education. Following the results of this research and based on the observation that similar steps are often performed together, a set of easy-to-follow and generic enough design patters for generating metadata was identified. These design patterns aim at assisting content authors or data professionals with filling in metadata and thereafter, allowing for feature development or improvement in the respective platforms. The patterns for metadata extraction are based on the identified taxonomy of metadata. Finally, semantic metadata is extracted as proof of concept for two of the proposed patterns. A satisfactory to a high-quality result was achieved, showing that the patterns are intuitive and the data extracted with them, can be potentially used to describe the respective Educational Resource (ER) by adding the extracted information to its metadata.Computer Science | Web Information System
- …
