/library/oar/handle/123456789/1946 2025-12-25T02:55:38Z /library/oar/handle/123456789/133521 Title: Research, Innovation and Development Trust (RIDT) : annual report 2022 Abstract: 1/ VELLA, Alfred J. - Message by the chairman -- 2/ KENELY, Wilfred - Message by the CEO -- 3/ RIDT in numbers -- 4/ ALIVE - 10 years of cycling for cancer research -- 5/ Conserving the Great Siege wall paintings cycle -- 6/ BORG, Joseph - Out of this world MALETH II research in space -- 7/ Creating legacies research in ALS -- 8/ Europa Donna sponsors second Ph.D. scholarship -- 9/ Further support for renal research by LifeCycle -- 10/ Chair in Economics Central Bank of Malta re-instates Chair in Economics -- 11/ Women in research -- 12/ Grandmaster's delights an evening of art and beauty at the Grandmaster's Palace, Valletta -- 13/ Christmas celebration concert -- 14/ Communicating our message -- 15/ BUTTIGIEG, Claudette - New position at RIDT -- 16/ Our supporters -- 17/ How can you help? -- 18/ RIDT management accounts December 2022 -- 19/ Thanking all our supports 2022-01-01T00:00:00Z /library/oar/handle/123456789/132746 Title: Connect, collaborate, conquer : how OiPub transforms research discovery and discussion Authors: Bianchi, Robert Abstract: Keeping up to date with Research is HARD WORK. More and more research is published each year. It is hard to find the research that matters, that elusive work that is perfectly relevant, well written and not 10 years out-of-date. You have got that experiment to run, lectures, various meetings, conferences, articles to write, a few peer reviews and perhaps among all that you might even get some work done on that very important thing you are working on. The one that will hopefully change the world but you never have time for. 2024-01-01T00:00:00Z /library/oar/handle/123456789/132745 Title: The influence of migration on Malta’s demographic transition : an observational study Authors: Grech, Victor; Cuschieri, Sarah; Gatt, Miriam; Cordina, Charmaine; Calleja, Neville; Scherb, Hagen Abstract: The demographic transition model (DTM) refers to the historical change from elevated birth and high death rates to low birth and low death rates in more advanced and higher education societies with higher levels of economic development. Malta is a small, central Mediterranean country (population ≈ 500,000) with a high influx of workers. This study was carried out to ascertain secular trends in births in Malta by nationality of mother, including age standardised fertility rates, population levels and employment trends. The study design uses ecological methodology. Births, age-specific fertility rates (ASFR), population and employment data were analysed for 2000-2020. Total births increased from 4,311 in 2000 to 4,420 in 2021 (p = 0.0001) as did proportion of nonMaltese births from 5.2 to 46.7% (p < 0.0001). Maltese ASFR only was in significant decline (p = 0.0003). Total population increased from 388,759 in 2000 to 520,971 in 2022 (p < 0.0001) as did the proportion of nonMaltese workers, which increased from 2.2% in 2000 to 20.6% in 2022 (p < 0.0001). Maltese and non-Maltese, part-time and full-time employment rates significantly increased (p < 0.0001). The proportion of non-Maltese increased for part-time and full-time workers also increased (p < 0.0001). Fertility is falling almost globally with ageing population and declining births and populations. In Malta, domestic labour supply cannot keep up with an influx of foreign workers, weathering its demographic transition at the expense of a rapidly expanding population but the long-term results are of significant concern as infrastructures may not cope and a substantial worker efflux for whatever reason could potentially precipitate a significant economic downturn. 2024-01-01T00:00:00Z /library/oar/handle/123456789/132744 Title: The 2024 COPCA conference in Valletta Authors: Mifsud, Duncan; Attard-Trevisan, Rebekah; Verkhovtsev, Alexey; Mason, Nigel Abstract: The physical and chemical changes induced by collision processes are of indisputable significance to various fields of scientific inquiry. Indeed, the transfer of energy during a collision needs to be investigated over multiple spatial and energetic scales, ranging from the nanoscale (e.g., nanolithographic fabrication techniques during focused electron beam induced deposition) (De Teresa et al., 2016; Huth et al., 2012) to the cosmic scale (e.g., cometary or asteroidal impacts with planetary bodies in the Solar System) (Gisler et al., 2011; Toon et al., 1997). The evident multidisciplinary nature of collisions research therefore means that experimental and theoretical methodologies used in one particular field of research may prove useful to solving outstanding problems in another (Solovyov et al., 2024), and thus cross-disciplinary collaborations should be encouraged and fostered in order to further advance the current status of investigative research work. Such was the primary motivation of the inaugural Collisions Physics and Chemistry and their Applications (COPCA) Conference, held in Valletta in 2022: to bring together researchers from apparently disparate fields whose work relates broadly to collisions on the nano-, meso- and macroscales so as to provide new insights into ongoing research projects as well as foster the establishment of new collaborations. (Excerpt) 2024-01-01T00:00:00Z