Search

STRiDE was an ambitious four-year project in seven countries aiming to build capacity around generating and using research to support the development of policies to improve quality of life of people with dementia and their carers. The project's innovative approach combined rigorous academic research and hands-on civil society advocacy. This paper explores the project's unique strategy for policy change and compiles case-studies from several of the STRiDE countries. Finally, we share lessons learned and next steps to keep momentum for policy change going in each of these countries – and beyond. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, youth across the planet have begun to mobilise, motivated by the perceived injustices associated with the causes, consequences and politics of climate change. However, education systems lag behind, preoccupied with the "what" and "how" of climate change, rather than engaging it as a social issue in which students themselves are implicated. In this paper, we share the results of our participatory research exploration into youth and climate change through an international education project, in which 99 students from 13 countries joined virtually in a climate change learning experience, culminating in the collaborative development and presentation of a White Paper to the 2018 IPCC Cities and Climate Change Conference. Grounded in a critical global citizenship education framework, this project provides a site to explore climate change education from the perspectives of diverse youth, who inform possibilities for climate change education that addresses justice, individualisation and emotionality.

This paper reports preliminary findings on students enrolled in a massive open online course, who were also assigned to work in groups. Part of a larger study on the effect of groups on retention and completion in MOOCs, the paper provides students' demographics (i.e., location, gender, education level, and employment status), and motivation for taking the course. Findings show that women outnumbered men and that students mostly enrolled into the course because of a friend. Indeed, research on MOOCs demonstrates that men outnumber women and that educational pursuit and professional development are the main motivators for taking MOOCs. Yet, this paper shows that when group work is included in a MOOC, women participate more. Furthermore, for students assigned to groups in a MOOC, friends are the principal incentive for enrolling into the course. These results are discussed in light of previous research, and implications for teaching and learning in online environments addressed.

This paper presents a compilation of personal reflections from 66 contributors on the impact of, and responses to, COVID-19 in accounting education in 45 different countries around the world. It reveals a commonality of issues, and a variability in responses, many positive outcomes, including the creation of opportunities to realign learning and teaching strategies away from the comfort of traditional formats, but many more that are negative, primarily relating to the impact on faculty and student health and well-being, and the accompanying stress. It identifies issues that need to be addressed in the recovery and redesign stages of the management of this crisis, and it sets a new research agenda for studies in accounting education.

Abstract: This paper looks into the clean development mechanism (CDM) projects involving energy recovery from municipal solid waste (MSW). The paper looks into the municipal waste management problems, regulatory framework in place and the CDM opportunities in India. A comparative assessment of the Indian CDM projects vis a vis projects worldwide is also presented. One hundred and nineteen worldwide CDM projects, including 16 from India, based on MSW and implemented across the developing countries in the world were studied to assess the various processes and methodologies used and the green house gas (GHG) reductions estimated. RDF, composting and landfill gas recovery methods have been explained in brief. Two case studies from India and Brazil have also been outlined. Brazil has the highest number of CDM projects of MSW origin (25) followed by China (16), India (16), Chile (10), Mexico (10) and Argentina (8). Rest of the non-Annex-1 countries have one, two or three projects each. It was observed that out of the 119 projects, 88 projects were using ACM0001 methodology where electricity is being produced and supplied to a grid. Out of the 16 Indian projects, only one of the projects has electricity being supplied to the grid. Nine out of the sixteen projects are based on AMS.III.E. methodology that is RDF. To conclude, India does not have well designed sanitary landfills where methane can be captured. India needs to make conscious effort towards developing more scientific landfills, capture methane and take carbon credits. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to evaluate and determine the effectiveness of university education on the economy of various countries. Design/methodology/approach: To determine the necessity and expedience of making provision for the effectiveness of university education on the market economy, this work uses the method of regression and correlation analysis. Evaluation of effectiveness of the system of university education is performed separately for students, state, and employers by taking as example countries with specially developed formulas. Findings: The authors substantiate the necessity for provision of effectiveness of university education on the market economy, view the effective system of university education as a basis for the development of a knowledge economy, determine approaches to evaluate the effectiveness of university education on the market economy, perform evaluation of effectiveness of the system of university education by the example of various countries, determine its connection with indicators of economic growth and development, and provide recommendations for provision of effectiveness of the system of university education on modern market economies. Practical implications: The practical value of results of the conducted research consists in the possibility to use the developed formulas for determining the level of effectiveness of the system of university education on various countries of the world. Originality/value: Theoretical value of this paper consists in the possibility for the application of authors' conclusions and recommendations in the process of development of the policy of management of effectiveness of university education system.

Evidence from middle-income countries indicates high and increasing prevalence of dementia and need for services. However, there has been little investment in care, treatment or support for people living with dementia and their carers. The Strengthening Responses to Dementia in Developing Countries (STRiDE) project aims to build both research capacity and evidence on dementia care and services in Brazil, Indonesia, India, Jamaica, Kenya, Mexico and South Africa. This article presents the Theory of Change (ToC) approach we used to co-design our research project and to develop a strategic direction for dementia care, treatment and support, with stakeholders. ToC makes explicit the process underlying how a programme will achieve its impact. We developed ToCs in each country and across the STRiDE project with researchers, practitioners, people living with dementia, carers and policymakers at different levels of government. This involved (1) an initial ToC workshop with all project partners (43 participants); (2) ToC workshops in each STRiDE country (22–49 participants in each); (3) comparison between country-specific and overall project ToCs; (4) review of ToCs in light of WHO dementia guidelines and action plan and (5) a final review. Our experiences suggest ToC is an effective way to generate a shared vision for dementia care, treatment and support among diverse stakeholders. However, the project contribution should be clearly delineated and use additional strategies to ensure appropriate participation from people living with dementia and their carers in the ToC process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: This paper presents an overview of the current status of the main CCS initiatives in the major emerging economies: China, India, Brazil, Mexico, Russia, and South Africa. This study first covers all six countries as a group and describes their natural resources. The second part of this study embraces each country individually and includes current initiatives and current legal and technological status of CCS. At the end, this study summarizes the main findings in the emerging economies and the potential of including CCS as part of the CDM. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

In the COVID-19 pandemic, patients who are older and residents of long-term care facilities (LTCF) are at greatest risk of worse clinical outcomes. We reviewed discharge criteria for hospitalised COVID-19 patients from 10 countries with the highest incidence of COVID-19 cases as of 26 July 2020. Five countries (Brazil, Mexico, Peru, Chile and Iran) had no discharge criteria; the remaining five (USA, India, Russia, South Africa and the UK) had discharge guidelines with large inter-country variability. India and Russia recommend discharge for a clinically recovered patient with two negative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) tests 24 h apart; the USA offers either a symptom based strategy—clinical recovery and 10 days after symptom onset, or the same test-based strategy. The UK suggests that patients can be discharged when patients have clinically recovered; South Africa recommends discharge 14 days after symptom onset if clinically stable. We recommend a unified, simpler discharge criteria, based on current studies which suggest that most SARS-CoV-2 loses its infectivity by 10 days post-symptom onset. In asymptomatic cases, this can be taken as 10 days after the first positive PCR result. Additional days of isolation beyond this should be left to the discretion of individual clinician. This represents a practical compromise between unnecessarily prolonged admissions and returning highly infectious patients back to their care facilities, and is of particular importance in older patients discharged to LTCFs, residents of which may be at greatest risk of transmission and worse clinical outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Multimorbidity is rising in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). However, the evidence on its epidemiology from LMICs settings is limited and the available literature has not been synthesized as yet. Objectives: To review the available evidence on the epidemiology of multimorbidity in LMICs. Methods: PubMed, Scopus, PsycINFO and Grey literature databases were searched. We followed the PRISMA-ScR reporting guideline. Results: Of 33, 110 articles retrieved, 76 studies were eligible for the epidemiology of multimorbidity. Of these 76 studies, 66 (86.8%) were individual country studies. Fifty-two (78.8%) of which were confined to only six middle-income countries: Brazil, China, South Africa, India, Mexico and Iran. The majority (n = 68, 89.5%) of the studies were crosssectional in nature. The sample size varied from 103 to 242, 952. The largest proportion (n = 33, 43.4%) of the studies enrolled adults. Marked variations existed in defining and measuring multimorbidity. The prevalence of multimorbidity in LMICs ranged from 3.2% to 90.5%. Conclusion and Recommendations: Studies on the epidemiology of multimorbidity in LMICs are limited and the available ones are concentrated in few countries. Despite variations in measurement and definition, studies consistently reported high prevalence of multimorbidity. Further research is urgently required to better understand the epidemiology of multimorbidity and define the best possible interventions to improve outcomes of patients with multimorbidity in LMICs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper examines if there has been an increase in the attention paid to social and environmental issues (SEI) in accounting curricula. Using schools participating in the Aspen Institute's Beyond Grey Pinstripes (BGP) program, we measure the increase in the number of accounting courses incorporating SEI across the biennial application years of 2005, 2007 and 2009. We also examine the percentage of SEI coverage in accounting courses between 2007 and 2009. Our findings suggest that there was not an appreciable increase in the number of accounting courses dealing with SEI between 2005 and 2007, but that the increase was significant during the period from 2007 to 2009. Further, the increase over the four-year period from 2005 to 2009 was also significant. In addition, there is a significant increase in the percentage of SEI coverage in accounting courses between 2007 and 2009. Implications of these findings are discussed.

Aim and Methods: The aim of this article is to provide a narrative literature review of the ‘third gender’ phenomenon in Brazil (Travestis), India (Hijras) and Mexico (Muxes), considering the social stigma, the legal and health aspects of these identities. Results: These three groups share similar experiences of stigmatisation, marginalisation, sexual abuse, HIV infection, infringement of civil rights and harassment accessing health services. Brazil, India and Mexico public services for the third gender conditions are still very scarce and inadequate for the heavy demand from potential users. Discussion and Conclusion: Although all three countries have used legislation to promote provision of comprehensive healthcare services for third gender, there is still strong resistance to implementation of such laws and policies. Brazil, India and Mexico face a huge challenge to become countries where all human rights are respected. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on a study which examines large-scale observational evidence of cross-cultural differences in facial behavior using advanced in computer science. Topics discussed include the automated facial coding used, the reliability of the facial action unit detection algorithms across different testing subsets, multilevel regression estimates predicting each facial action's base rate percentage.

As documented in this special issue, all over the world hard choices must be made in education, government, business, and medicine. Intelligence tests, used intelligently and with appropriate ethical safeguards, are one tool of many that help make hard choices work out well, or at least better than the next-best alternative (Kaufman, Raiford, & Coalson, 2016). The reliability of intelligence tests is far from perfect. Complaining about IQ tests is the privilege of those who have them. It is probably no accident that intelligence tests were invented in France, not long after a series of reforms from 1881 to 1901 made education free and compulsory for all children (Harrigan, 2001). It is likewise probably not an accident that intelligence testing was then adopted most enthusiastically in the world's wealthiest countries in the midst of similar attempts to raise educational standards. Among the countries featured in this special issue, Greece, Japan, the Netherlands, and the United States achieved near-universal education decades ago; Brazil, India, Mexico, Oman, and Peru have done so only within the last 15 years. Once a government takes on the responsibility of educating all of its citizens and then successfully achieves near-universal school attendance, it is confronted with the magnitude of population-wide individual differences in academic aptitude. The most pressing concern has to do with vulnerable children with intellectual disabilities. It is true that every child can learn, but not every child learns best in regular education. In this commentary, the author addresses the relation between universal education and the need for intelligence testing. The article goes on to compare U.S. developments in intelligence testing with those in Oman, Greece, India, Japan, Brazil, Peru, and the Netherlands. It concludes with three themes that emerged among the articles in this issue.

Promoting men's participation in unpaid care work is part of the Programme of Action for the International Conference on Population and Development. However, men's involvement in care work does not mirror the advances women have made in paid work outside the home. This mixed method study explores which men are more involved in caregiving, and what childhood and adulthood factors influence their level of involvement. Quantitative research presents findings from 1169 men across six countries with children aged 0–4, and a qualitative study presents findings from in-depth interviews with 83 men engaged in atypical caregiving practices. Survey research finds that being taught to care for children, witnessing one's father take care of one's siblings, respondents' present attitudes about gender equality and having outside help (or none, in some cases) were all also associated with men's higher level of involvement. Qualitative research reveals that men's experiences of violence, the normalisation of domestic work as children and life circumstances rather than greater-than-average beliefs in gender equality all propelled them into care work. Findings suggest that engaging more men into care work implies changes to policies and structural realities in the workplace coupled with changing gender attitudes. These insights inform policy and practice aimed at promoting greater involvement in care work by men. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

BackgroundIn this global study we sought to estimate the degree to which a family member might feel embarrassed when a close relative is suffering from an alcohol, drug, or mental health condition (ADMC) versus a general medical condition (GMC). To date, most studies have considered embarrassment and stigma in society and internalized by the afflicted individual but have not assessed family embarrassment in a large-scale study.MethodIn 16 sites of the World Mental Health Surveys (WMHS), standardized assessments were completed including items on family embarrassment. Site matching was used to constrain local socially shared determinants of stigma-related feelings, enabling a conditional logistic regression model that estimates the embarrassment close relatives may hold in relation to family members affected by an ADMC, a GMC, or both conditions.ResultsThere was a statistically robust association such that subgroups with an ADMC-affected relative were more likely to feel embarrassed compared to subgroups with a relative affected by a GMC (p < 0.001), even with covariate adjustments for age and sex.ConclusionsThe pattern of evidence from this research is consistent with conceptual models for interventions that target individual- and family-level stigma-related feelings of embarrassment as possible obstacles to effective early intervention and treatment for an ADMC. Macro-level interventions are under way but micro-level interventions may also be required among family members, along with care for each person with an ADMC. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Recent talks on UN Security Council reform mainly focused on enlargement issues based on the competing positions of the G4 (Germany, Japan, Brazil and India) and UfC (core members Italy, Pakistan, Mexico and Egypt); groups which seem unable to reach a compromise in the near future. Even if they did manage to cooperate such will not produce efficiency in the UNSC's work, since the main shortcoming of the Council is not a number of its members but the sacred veto power of its P5. Indeed, there are only five beneficiaries out of 194 UN members which are politically satisfied; the permanent members, which are relicts of World War II and since the Council continues to be formed by the P5, it is argued that the Council has lost its raison d'être. This work evaluates the international tensions derived from UNSC stagnation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]