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The project 'Quality Decision-making by women and providers' (QUALI-DEC) combines four non-clinical interventions to promote informed decision-making surrounding mode of birth, improve women's birth experiences, and reduce caesarean sections among low-risk women. QUALI-DEC is currently being implemented in 32 healthcare facilities across Argentina, Burkina Faso, Thailand, and Viet Nam. In this paper, we detail implementation processes and the planned process evaluation, which aims to assess how and for whom QUALI-DEC worked, the mechanisms of change and their interactions with context and setting; adaptations to intervention and implementation strategies, feasibility of scaling-up, and cost-effectiveness of the intervention. We developed a project theory of change illustrating how QUALI-DEC might lead to impact. The theory of change, together with on the ground observations of implementation processes, guided the process evaluation strategy including what research questions and perspectives to prioritise. Main data sources will include: 1) regular monitoring visits in healthcare facilities, 2) quantitative process and output indicators, 3) a before and after cross-sectional survey among post-partum women, 4) qualitative interviews with all opinion leaders, and 5) qualitative interviews with postpartum women and health workers in two healthcare facilities per country, as part of a case study approach. We foresee that the QUALI-DEC process evaluation will generate valuable information that will improve interpretation of the effectiveness evaluation. At the policy level, we anticipate that important lessons and methodological insights will be drawn, with application to other settings and stakeholders looking to implement complex interventions aiming to improve maternal and newborn health and wellbeing. Trial registration: ISRCTN67214403. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines the relationship among engineers' basic skills, problem-finding and -solving capabilities, and innovation outcomes, using questionnaire survey data for Lao P.D.R., Thailand and Vietnam for the period 2016 to 2017. We perform two-stage least squares (2S.L.S.) estimations, which use the variables for engineers' basic skills and capabilities for finding and solving problems within the firm as instruments, and the indicators for capabilities for finding and solving problems of suppliers and customers as endogenous variables. The estimation results reveal the relationship between problem-finding and -solving capabilities and process innovation. The findings from the empirical analyses suggest a possible upgrading strategy for firms to transform quality control management into innovative abilities. The estimation results also support the necessity of policy support for nurturing both engineers' basic technological and managerial skills and capabilities for problem-finding and -solving. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Phlebopus spongiosus is a well-known edible ectomycorrhizal mushroom indigenous to southern Vietnam. The mushroom specimens collected from northern Thailand in this study were identified as P. spongiosus. This identification was based on morphological characteristics and the multi-gene phylogenetic analyses. Pure cultures were isolated and the relevant suitable mycelial growth conditions were investigated. The results indicated that the fungal mycelia grew well on L-modified Melin-Norkans, and Murashige and Skoog agar all of which were adjusted to a pH of 5.0 at 30 °C. Sclerotia-like structures were observed on cultures. The ability of this mushroom to produce fruiting bodies in the absence of a host plant was determined by employing a bag cultivation method. Fungal mycelia completely covered the cultivation substrate after 90–95 days following inoculation of mushroom spawn. Under the mushroom house conditions, the highest amount of primordial formation was observed after 10–15 days at a casing with soil:vermiculite (1:1, v/v). The primordia developed into a mature stage within one week. Moreover, identification of the cultivated fruiting bodies was confirmed by both morphological and molecular methods. This is the first record of P. spongiosus found in Thailand and its ability to form fruiting bodies without a host plant. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]