Assessing Potential Data Sources for Landscape-scale Terrestrial Biodiversity Indicators.

Currently Russia doesn't have a national biodiversity information system, and is still not a GBIF (Global Biodiversity Information Facility) member. Nevertheless, GBIF is the largest source of biodiversity data for Russia. As of August 2020, >5M species occurrences were available through the GBIF portal, of which 54% were published by Russian organisations. There are 107 institutions from Russia that have become GBIF publishers and 357 datasets have been published. The important trend of data mobilization in Russia is driven by the considerable contribution of citizen science. The most popular platform is iNaturalist. This year, the related GBIF dataset (Ueda 2020) became the largest one for Russia (793,049 species occurrences as of 2020-08-11). The first observation for Russia was posted in 2011, but iNaturalist started becoming popular in 2017. That year, 88 observers added >4500 observations that represented 1390 new species for Russia, 7- and 2-fold more respectively, than for the previous 6 years. Now we have nearly 12,000 observers, about 15,000 observed species and >1M research-grade observations. The ratio of observations for Tracheophyta, Chordata, and Arthropoda in Russia is different compared to the global scale. There are almost an equal amount of observations in the global iNaturalist GBIF dataset for these groups. At the same time in Russia, vascular plants make up 2/3rds of the observations. That is due to the "Flora of Russia" project, which attracted many professional botanists both as observers and experts. Thanks to their activity, Russia has a high proportion of research-grade observations in iNaturalist, 78% versus 60% globally. Another consequence of wide participation by professional researchers is the high rate of species accumulation. For some taxonomic groups conspicuous species were already revealed. There are about 850 bird species in Russia of which 398 species were observed in 2018, and only 83 new species in 2019. Currently, the number of new species recorded over time is decreasing despite the increase in observers and overall user activity. Russian iNaturalist observers have shared a lot of archive photos (taken during past years). In 2018, it was nearly 1/4 of the total number of observations and about 3/4 of new species for the year, with similar trends observed during 2019. Usually archive photos are posted from December until April, but the 2020 pandemic lockdown spurred a new wave of archive photo mobilisation in April and May. There are many iNaturalist projects for protected areas in Russia: 27 for strict nature reserves and national parks, and about 300 for others. About 100,000 observations (7.5% of all Russian observations) from the umbrella project "Protected areas of Russia" represent >34% of the species diversity observed in Russia. For some regions, e.g., Novosibirsk, Nizhniy Novgorod and Vladimir Oblasts, almost all protected areas are covered by iNaturalist projects, and are often their only source of available biodiversity data. There are also other popular citizen science platforms developed by Russian researchers. The first one is the Russian birdwatching network RU-BIRDS.RU. The related GBIF dataset (Ukolov et al. 2019) is the third largest dataset for Russia (>370,000 species occurrences). Another Russian citizen science system is wildlifemonitoring.ru, which includes thematic resources for different taxonomic groups of vertebrates. This is the crowd-sourced web-GIS maintained by the Siberian Environmental Center NGO in Novosibirsk. It is noteworthy that iNaturalist activities in Russia are developed more as a social network than as a way to attract volunteers to participate in scientific research. Of 746 citations in the iNaturalist dataset, only 18 articles include co-authors from Russia. iNaturalist data are used for the management of regional red lists (in the Republic of Bashkortostan, Novosibirsk Oblast and others), and as an additional information source for regional inventories. RU-BIRDS data were used in the European Russia Breeding Bird Atlas and the new edition of the European Breeding Bird Atlas. In Russia, citizen science activities significantly contribute to filling gaps in the global biodiversity map. However, Russian iNaturalist observations available through GBIF originate from the USA. It is not ideal, because the iNaturalist GBIF dataset is growing rapidly, and in the future it will represent more than all other datasets for Russia combined. In our opinion, iNaturalist data should be repatriated during the process of publishing through GBIF, as it is implemented for the eBird dataset (Levatich and Ligocki 2020).

Terrestrial mammals shape their ecosystems, and mammalian community assemblages can be important indicators of ecosystem functioning and ecosystem changes over time. Numerous taxa of terrestrial mammals are currently threatened by habitat loss and face displacement to new geographical areas or systems to which they are less suited and where they may affect the original communities. Understanding past ecosystem changes is important for predicting future responses of species assemblages to changes in their environments. Thus, ecological and evolutionary history, as well as adaptive capacity, are important predictors of future population viability. Genomic and metagenomic approaches using environmental or ancient DNA offer a wealth of information regarding genome‐wide variation of changing communities or of taxonomic groups over time, which may help explain past changes and predict future responses of communities to changes in their environment; however, to date, such studies are relatively scarce. We review studies on environmental DNA and environmental genomics of terrestrial mammals to assess the potential of such approaches regarding past, contemporary, and future terrestrial ecosystems, identify inherent challenges, and discuss potential applications. We elaborate on lessons to be learned from mammal genomics of past ecosystems and compare metabarcoding with general metagenetic and metagenomic techniques. We provide a comprehensive overview of current applications, challenges, and future potential of environmental DNA with regards to terrestrial mammals. As current major challenges regarding mammalian eDNA we identify its scarcity and patchy distribution, along with the persistent necessity of genomic reference data. While the latter are steadily increasing, the former can only be tackled by explicitly mapping the environment to gain understanding of spatial eDNA distribution. Such understanding may facilitate informed choices of sample sites and substrates and, together with new sequencing techniques, this can allow mammalian eDNA to be maximally exploited as a source of biodiversity data.

Systematic conservation planning aims to identify comprehensive protected area networks that together will minimize biodiversity loss. Importantly, conservation planners seek to determine where to allocate limited resources first, particularly given the uneven spread of, and threats to, biodiversity. The International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species incorporates data not only on threats to species, but also on species distributions and ecological requirements. These temporal and spatial attributes, when combined with other datasets, have proven useful for determining the most urgent priority areas for conserving biodiversity, from the global level down to the scale of individual sites. Although many challenges remain, the increasing reliability and comprehensiveness of the IUCN Red List suggests that its role as a source of biodiversity data in systematic conservation planning is certain to expand dramatically.

Building the Genetic Counsellor Profession in the United Kingdom: Two Decades of Growth and Development

This thesis concerns the influence of healthcare systems regulation on firm-level capabilities and affordable healthcare technologies. Regulatory change is highly contentious, critics arguing that regulatory changes interfere with the efficiency of the market, and advocates arguing that well designed regulatory changes make markets more efficient and ensure market outcomes are more equitable. To date, very few studies analyze the influence of regulatory change on the medical device industry, and its ability to manufacture and supply affordable healthcare technologies. To respond to this gap, this research employs the Sectoral Systems of Innovation (SSI) approach as a theoretical framework to analyze the influence of regulatory changes on industrial capabilities in medical device industries and affordable healthcare technologies in South Africa and the United Kingdom. A mixed-method approach, focusing on three cases of regulatory change, emphasised documentary analysis and questionnaire-guided interviews to collect primary and secondary data from different sources in the healthcare systems of the two study countries. Regulatory changes facilitated some firms to create new strategies and innovative capabilities. Regulatory changes enabled some firms to develop close collaborative linkages with external providers in search of competitive advantage and improved market positioning. One reactive regulatory change, in particular, illustrated negative influence on innovative capabilities. Smaller firms were at a particular disadvantage in adapting to regulatory change. In the South Africa case, the more stringent regulatory requirements made it hard for domestic suppliers to enter the supply chain and led to joint ventures mainly with multinational corporations. The thesis argues, with empirical evidence, that a more enabling and discriminating regulation that takes into consideration of firms’ technological capabilities can achieve intended goals more efficiently and effectively, than constraining and indiscriminate regulation.

The geography of Canada is highly varied. A large portion of the country is arctic, but temperate regions span the continent from rainforests in British Columbia in the west to rich deciduous hardwood forests in the east. The present patterns of species distribution across Canada have been affected by several important factors. As a northern temperate country, Canada's flora is not as rich as that of a tropical region or biodiversity hotspot, but is nevertheless diverse and fascinating. Canada is also a member of the Nature Serve network, which includes conservation and biodiversity data sources across Canada and the USA. Canada has supported the development of Environmental Farm Plans to encourage land management in accord with the principles of biodiversity conservation. Canada has developed a multilevel system for the protection of at-risk populations and species of certain taxa, with legislation for their protection and recovery at both the Federal level and within certain provinces.

Objective: Business development is a capability consisting of practices and skills involved in identifying opportunities, directing, and employing resources to expand a company's value-creating activities in areas of technology or markets that are relatively new to the company, thus enabling growth. In recent years, researchers have shown an increased interest in the area of technological business development, leading to a considerable accumulation of knowledge in this field. Methodology: Accordingly, the current research utilized a systematic review approach, employing the PRISMA protocol for document screening. A bibliometric review of 205 studies, from 1984 to the present, was conducted using data analysis software such as VOSviewer and R. This included performance analyses such as the analysis of the most influential journals and authors in the field of technological business development, and network analyses including co-citation of authors, co-citation of countries, and co-occurrence of terms. The findings of this research can be beneficial for researchers and policymakers in the field of technological business development. Findings: The analyses indicate that the leading author in the field of technological business development, who has the most global citations in this area, is Keil. His article, titled "The impact of governance methods and the articulation of external business development activities on innovative performance," was published in 2008. Indeed, his paper is the most important and most cited in this field. In terms of the most influential journal, the analyses show that the journal Technological Forecasting and Social Change is the most influential in the field of technological business development. As for the most influential countries, Finland has the highest number of citations in the field of technological business development, followed by Poland, China, Korea, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Germany, India, the United States, and Romania. Conclusion: The results of the network analysis in this study clarified that based on the co-citation patterns of researchers, a cluster core author named Theis has the most co-citations among various authors. Additionally, the co-citation analysis of countries shows that there is established collaboration between Pakistan and Chile, Chile and China, Georgia and China, Pakistan and China, the United Kingdom and China, Macedonia and Croatia, North Macedonia and Croatia, the United Kingdom and Finland, France and India, as well as Italy and India. In the analysis of keyword co-occurrence, the results highlighted that the most frequent co-occurrences with the field of technological business development are terms such as technology, economy, strategic planning, research and development management, innovation, communities and institutions, product development, project management, small businesses, and new business development.

This article explores cyberspace as a new strategic domain made up of interconnected networks of information technology infrastructure and analyzes the changes taking place in the management, training, and human resource policies of the armed forces. The research utilizes theoretical analysis, international experiences, and comparative research methods, focusing on case studies from NATO, the United States, Germany, the United Kingdom, Russia, China, and Estonia. It discusses the theoretical perspective of considering cyberspace as a fifth conflict domain, cyber force structure and management reform, red/blue team training, and ongoing capability development trends. The findings highlight that addressing cyberspace issues requires not only technical solutions but also a comprehensive modernization of strategy, organization, and human factors. This underscores the critical importance of developing human resource policies, management structures, and training systems in the defense sector as part of an integrated strategy. Dedicated cyber forces have improved response times to cyber incidents, while enhanced training programs have bolstered cyber discipline and threat awareness among military personnel. Effective cyber defense necessitates the development of human resource policies, management structures, and training systems within the defense sector as part of a cohesive strategy. The research emphasizes the need for a holistic ecosystem encompassing practical training, continuous capability development, flexible human resource policies, multidisciplinary expertise, and robust public-private partnerships to combat evolving cyber threats. Sustaining a competitive edge in cybersecurity requires ongoing adaptation and investment in technological infrastructure and human capital development.

Mapping technological trajectories and exploring knowledge sources: A case study of E-payment technologies

Plus Que Ça Change

Maximizing the effectiveness of qualitative systematic reviews: A case study on terrestrial arthropod conservation translocations

Sir, We thank Heong et al (2010) for their interest in our study on chemotherapy treatment pathways of advanced colorectal cancer (CRC) patients in the United Kingdom (Shabaruddin et al, 2010a). The purpose of our national survey of UK consultant oncologists was to identify predominant treatment pathways within NHS CRC specialties and to determine the extent of variation within current practice. Economic models need to establish current practice as a basis from which to evaluate the incremental cost and benefits of introducing a new intervention, such as the UGT1A1 pharmacogenetic test. In the United Kingdom, available national data sets do not provide the level of detail needed to describe current clinical practice and the respective outcomes. Some cancer-related registries do exist, such as the UK Association of Cancer Registries and the National Bowel Cancer Audit Programme for CRC surgeries, but do not contain data relevant to current clinical practice in oncology specialties. The National Cancer Intelligence Network (http://www.ncin.org.uk) is currently conducting a chemotherapy data set review that aims to capture data on all chemotherapy carried out in the country. The level of detail for the data collected is yet to be determined. It is necessary to consider that comprehensive UK NHS patient registries are not an easy option. The size of the NHS, funding constraints, issues with data management and quality assurance challenges preclude the establishment and maintenance of such registries for all conditions across the United Kingdom. In an ideal world, information technology in the NHS should allow extraction of data on current practice. This ideal situation does not exist in the current NHS (Anderson, 2010). In the absence of real-world data on routine care, other means of generating parameters to inform economic analyses are necessary, which may be sufficient depending on the purpose of the evaluation (Cooper et al, 2007). Expert estimates are useful starting points to describe current practice and patients' clinical pathways. It is necessary to elicit expert estimates from across the United Kingdom rather than from one locality in order to understand the variation in routine NHS practice. Economic models allow the systematic compilation of data from various sources, such as epidemiological studies and clinical trials, within a single framework. Expert estimates are primarily used to inform model parameters in the absence of other data sources. The degrees of uncertainty in the parameters are then explored using the ranges and measures of variation from the expert estimates. An economic model will allow for exploration of the key areas of uncertainties, generate the expected value of further research to minimise these uncertainties and help inform what research should be conducted to address them. Value of information analysis can indicate whether funding is better directed to more clinical trials or to setting up robust observational studies. We believe that the usefulness of expert estimates will only be as good as the design, construct and framing of the questions asked. Our final questionnaire was informed by a pilot study of eight consultant oncologists. To address the concern of Heong et al regarding the agreement between expert estimates and standard practice, we present (Table 1) preliminary results from an observational study of 48 advanced CRC patients on IrMdG chemotherapy in a UK NHS tertiary care oncology centre (Shabaruddin et al, 2010b), in which there were similar parameters with the experts' estimates (Shabaruddin et al, 2010a). Table 1 Expert estimates from 44 NHS consultant oncologists compared with data from an observational study at a UK tertiary care oncology centre Currently, on the basis of our data, there is no evidence to suggest that pooled UK experts' estimates varied widely from routine NHS practice. In the absence of other data sources, we believe that expert opinion is useful to inform economic evaluations and to help focus research resources by identifying key areas of uncertainties that offer the best value for future research investments. Finally, we do agree with Heong et al on the need to collect data on current clinical practice and acknowledge the value of access to such data. The key question from the UK perspective is: who will pay and be responsible for collecting, storing and maintaining data on routine NHS clinical practice?

Small Manufacturing Enterprises (SMEs) contribute to economic dynamism, entrepreneurship and have potentials to contribute to sustainable industrial development in less developed countries (LDCs). They are however handicapped since they lack the capacity to develop infrastructure and acquire technologies that give them a competitive advantage in the global market. This paper explores collective efficiency as a paradigm that could inform technology development in LDCs to enhance SMEs growth. Data was obtained from wood based enterprises owner/managers (284) who were sampled from three districts Kericho, Nakuru and Uasin Gishu all in the Rift valley province of Kenya using multistage sampling strategy. Data was collected by use of questionnaires, observation and documentary analysis. Using regression analysis the study found the relationship between collective efficiency and technology development in wood based enterprises to be logarithmic. This revealed that the rate of change in technology development is higher with higher levels of joint actions up to a certain maximum point when further joint actions do not benefit the wood based enterprise. These findings demonstrate the need for a paradigm shift in the support of SMEs sector in order to sustain industrial development. The use of collective efficiency paradigm in the planning and development of infrastructure that anchors technology development for the SMEs is recommended. Key words: Wood based enterprises, collective efficiency, technology development, small manufacturing enterprises.

This study examines the relationship between information and communication technology (ICT), infrastructure, and tourism development in Africa between 1996 and 2016 using a dynamic panel gravity model. Our findings show that ICT and infrastructure have a positive, statistically significant relationship with tourism development; as ICT and infrastructure increase, the level of tourist arrivals also increases. This study also identifies relevant factors including bilateral real exchange rate and gross domestic product per capita of the origin countries, suggesting a major role for the variables measured in the region of origin and for those that serve as a comparison between origin and destination. The effect of distance is statistically significant and negative: countries farthest from the origin countries generate less tourism demand, given the higher transportation costs. Repeat tourism (or habit persistence) and natural resources show a significant and positive effect on tourism development. Overall, the empirical results provide evidence that ICT and infrastructural development have opened huge opportunities for growing and strengthening tourism in Africa.

This research is a case study on two students of SLB Negeri 1 Padang. The methods and techniques used in this research are, at the data collection stage using the rules of observation and analysis, case studies, natural observation, and listening. In addition, the listening-engagement technique (SLC) is also used, free-engage-in conversation (SBLC) listening, recording, taking notes, recording with a speech analyzer, flash cards, articulatory matching method for the data analysis stage, and formal and informal presentation methods for the presentation stage. results of data analysis. The source of data in this study is the source of oral data taken from the speech of the Down syndrome sufferer, namely P and S. Based on the data analysis that has been done, P is able and understands the use of affixation from the description of the picture card (FC) shown to him, there are 6 types of affixation produced by P and as many as 11 forms are said by P. In contrast to S who is still unable to to pronounce affixation at all, because the sylabas that can be pronounced tend to only be final sylabas on each picture card (FC) submitted to S. The factors that influence the difference in verbal abilities of DS sufferers are P and S, including attention disorders (understanding), memory disorders, emotional and feeling disorders, as well as psychological factors.