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Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to present the main themes in this special issue focusing on the impact of transformations in the global economy on public management. Design/methodology/approach – This paper takes the from of a presentation of articles in this special issue. Findings – The paper finds that focusing on examples form Europe and North America, public management adaptability varies across states and regions. Capacity is identified as an important indicator of adaptability. Originality/value – The paper introduces an issue that highlights concrete examples of adaptability in public management. It opens the door to further research tracing linkages between changes in the global environment and the practice of public management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Non-consensual sterilisation is not only a historic abuse. Cases of unethical treatment of women around the time of a pregnancy continue in the Twenty-First Century in five continents. Sterilisation is being carried out by some healthcare professionals at the time of delivery, or soon afterwards, without valid consent. A range of contemporary examples of such practices is given. Respecting women's autonomy should be the touchstone of the consent process. Avoidance of force, duress, deception and manipulation should go without saying. Ethnic minority communities and women living with HIV, in particular, are being targeted for this kind of abuse. Attempts have been made in various countries and by international professional organisations to introduce clinical guidelines to steer health professionals away from this malpractice. Survivors have sought justice in domestic and international courts. This paper critically assesses the evidence on the practical, ethical and legal issues around the handling of consent for these procedures. Suggestions are made about possible regulatory responses that address abuse, whilst maintaining access for those individuals who freely elect to undergo these procedures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Twice a year, most areas of North America and Europe observe a time shift. In spring, a positive shift occurs when clocks are reset from 02:00 to 03:00 hours, generally on a Sunday morning. In late autumn, a negative shift occurs when clocks are reset from 03:00 to 02:00 hours, generally on a Sunday morning. These time shifts can have an impact on the data quality if they are not considered appropriately. Especially for pharmacokinetic studies, this can lead to issues and wrong results in the calculation of time-dependent variables like area under the curve (AUC) or terminal half-life (t1/2). It also affects recording of safety data like adverse events or serial ECGs. This paper describes possible pitfalls in the study set-up and possible impact on data quality and analysis. It also shows traceable data handling options in case a solution in the data collection cannot be achieved. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper briefly describes Internet development in the Republic of Korea (South Korea), which started research and development on computer networking in the late 1970s. Korea became one of the first countries to deploy the Internet in 1982 [1], and organized one of the first global Internet conferences in 1985 [2]. In the late 1990s, Korea put much effort into development of broadband networks, starting from a master plan in 1995. Korea became a world leader with widely available wired and wireless broadband networks. Korea also led in Internet applications including online games, search engines and social networking services. As one of the earlier Internet countries, Korea has been vulnerable to newly arising problems on the Internet such as cybersecurity, net abuse and game addiction. Korea has been trying to solve these problems in collaboration with other leading countries. Korea has also shared its Internet experience with other countries, in particular with developing countries. A book is in preparation on the early history of the Internet in Korea [3] together with another, co-authored with Internet pioneers in other countries, on the early history of the Internet in Asia. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

A review and synthesis of behavioural safety literature identified three behaviour change perspectives: cognitive (goal setting); behaviourist (behaviour modification); and eclectic (social learning). Bandura's social learning theory usefully integrates the divergent philosophies of Locke's goal setting and Luthan's behaviour modification. Social learning theory assumes that behaviour is controlled by internal processes and environmental stimuli, and so human action can be explained by the combined effect of goals and feedback. The effectiveness of behavioural safety has been demonstrated consistently, but, despite some success, token reward programmes are controversial because they are close to 'paying for safety'. Researchers have overwhelmingly favoured initiatives based on goals and performance feedback without material reward. Goals and feedback produced good results in the varying cultures of North American, European and Middle-East manufacturing environments, including mines, chemical plants, laboratories, paper mills and shipyards. Goals and feedback, aimed principally at operatives, have been used to improve safety in Finnish, British and Hong Kong construction industries. It is also clear that their effectiveness is strongly related to management commitment; and that they must be supported by a developed safety infrastructure. This suggests that goals should also embrace management safety behaviours, in order to improve management commitment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Enhancement methods have been applied for more than a century throughout the natural range of the Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar L.). Hatcheries, the cornerstone of enhancement programmes, are used to: facilitate colonization of new habitats; restore or rehabilitate stocks to once productive habitats; supplement wild stock production; compensate for major environmental disturbances or problems such as hydroelectric development and acid rain; support fisheries entirely dependent upon hatchery stocking; and foster research and technology development. The benefits from enhancement programmes include: contributing to fisheries and wild stock conservation; increased awareness of the resource and natural environment; technology support for the aquaculture industry; and increased knowledge of salmon biology. The risks from enhancement include: reduced genetic diversity and population fitness; adverse ecological effects; and further degradation and loss of wild stocks. Enhancement is one of a series of management measures that requires careful planning and should be fully integrated within management programmes for the stocks, the resource and its ecosystem. This paper reviews the application of enhancement technology in management programmes for Atlantic salmon in North America and Europe with emphasis on the former. Emphasis is placed on the use of hatcheries because of their prominence as an enhancement tool. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Background: Non‐pharmacologic interventions might be effective to reduce the incidence of delirium in pediatric intensive care units (PICU). Aim: To explore expert opinions and generate informed consensus decisions regarding the content of a non‐pharmacologic delirium bundle to manage delirium in PICU patients. Study design: A two‐round online Delphi study was conducted from February to April 2021. PICU experts (nurses, physicians, researchers, physical therapists, play specialists, and occupational therapists) located in Europe, North America, South America, Asia, and Australia participated. Results: We developed a questionnaire based on the outcomes of a comprehensive literature search in the domains: 1) cognition support; 2) sleep support; and 3) physical activity support. Under these domains, we listed 11 strategies to promote support with 61 interventions. Participants rated the feasibility of each intervention on a 9‐point Likert scale (ranging from 1 strongly disagree to 9 strongly agree). A disagreement index and panel median were calculated to determine the level of agreement among experts. In the second round, participants reassessed the revised statements and ranked the interventions in each domain in order of importance for age groups: 0–2, 3–5, and 6–18 years of age. During the first Delphi round, 53 of 74 (72%) questionnaires were completed, and in the second round 45 of 74 (61%) were completed. Five of the highest ranked interventions across the age groups were: 1) developing a daily routine, 2) adjusting light exposure according to the time of day, 3) scheduling time for sleep, 4) providing eyeglasses and hearing aids if appropriate, 5) encouraging parental presence. Conclusions: Based on expert consensus, we developed an age‐specific non‐pharmacologic delirium bundle of interventions to manage delirium in PICU patients. Relevance to Clinical Practice: An age‐specific Non‐Pharmacological Delirium bundle is now ready to be tested in the PICU and will hopefully reduce pediatric delirium. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: This paper addresses the design of container liner shipping networks taking into consideration container management issues including empty container repositioning. We examine two typical service networks with different ship sizes: multi-port calling by conventional ship size and hub-and-spoke by mega-ship. The entire solution process is performed in two phases: the service network design and container distribution. A wide variety of numerical experiments are conducted for the Asia–Europe and Asia–North America trade lanes. In most scenarios the multi-port calling is superior in terms of total cost, while the hub-and-spoke is more advantageous in the European trade for a costly shipping company. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Current centers of active research on the management of technology and innovation (MOT) are identified through the use of a publication-based study. This article develops a methodology for ranking centers of MOT research and in doing so identifies 120 centers of MOT research in different parts of the world. Centers of research are identified in Africa, Asia, Australia, Europe, and North America. Detailed assessment is offered for the 21 U.S.-based schools with three or more active MOT researchers present. The nature and quality of research activity is assessed with a series of 21 metrics. These metrics consider the number of active faculty, the number of publications researchers have in the base journals during the study period, total publication history, MOT publication history, number of equivalent articles, number of pages published, frequency of citations, and a series of metrics that are a combination of two or more of these factors. The assessment identifies four groups of schools that have MOT research capabilities. Schools with substantial research capability are divided into three tiers based on their rankings in different metrics. Each of the schools ranked in the first tier placed first on at least two of the 21 metrics considered in this study. A reasonable argument can be made that any one of the schools ranking in the first tier is the strongest school in terms of MOT research capabilities. These U.S.-based schools in alphabetical order are Georgia Tech, MIT, Rensselaer, Rutgers, and Stanford. An important point to note is that there are clear differences in research focus between the different first-tier schools; therefore, it is quite likely that different types of students, faculties, and practitioners will find each of the first-tier schools most attractive based on personal fit with these differences in specialization. The schools in the second and third tier have substantial MOT research capability. The fourth tier identifies 18 additional U.S.-based schools that have some capability due to a core of two researchers. This core could be the springboard to a national ranking or a transitory state due to departure of a faculty member. Future research should consider the stability of the results over time and should explore the links among research capabilities, program structure, student output, and placement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The role of the country manager in the multinational corporation has changed substantially in recent years in both North America and Europe. Where the country manager previously held full responsibility for the national operations, frequently the role is now reduced to that of spokesperson and figurehead. This article describes four generic country management functions that were identified in a recent study of 15 multinationals, and describes the structural and environmental contingencies associated with each. The future role of the country manager is also assessed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The author discusses the similarities and differences in the management of status epilepticus (SE) between Europe and North America. He states that in Europe, licensure for a certain indication, such as SE, is given more emphasis compared in North America. He relates that in the early treatment of SE, there is an important comprehensive agreement between Europe and North America, except for the dose of lorazepam that was proposed.

Background: Gender equity remains a challenge across various labor markets with the health market being no exception. Despite the increased influx of women into health professions, horizontal and vertical occupational gender inequities persist.Main Body: The objective of this scoping review is to map the studies on gender equity in healthcare systems in terms of workforce planning, development, and management, as well as to identify the barriers and facilitators for integrating gender equity into healthcare systems. We reviewed the literature on the topic using nine electronic and two grey literature databases with the search strategy combining medical subheadings and keywords for each of the following four concepts of interest: "gender equity," "human resources for health," "healthcare setting," and "management processes." The scoping review included studies focusing on the examination of gender equity at the level of the health workforce. Out of 20,242 studies identified through the database search, the full text of 367 articles was assessed for eligibility and 110 were included in the qualitative analysis. The data of those studies was abstracted and analyzed into themes. Results do not only reveal a global dearth of studies focused on this important topic, but also the concentration of such studies in a few countries around the globe, mainly in North America and Europe. Four out of each five studies included in this review focused on physicians, followed by nurses (14%). In terms of design, an overwhelming majority of studies utilized quantitative designs (75%), followed by qualitative designs and database analyses. Studies were categorized into four pre-determined main themes: facilitators and barriers, workforce planning, HRH management, and HRH development.Conclusion: Future research is needed to better understand poorly covered sub-themes such as mentorship, professional development, and training, as well as recruitment and retention among others. It is also equally needed to fill in the gaps in professional groups, study type, methodology, and region. While the review unearthed a number of well-studied themes, significant aspects of the topic remain untapped especially in developing countries and at the level of health professionals other than physicians. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]