35 results
Search Results
2. Managing Racial Integration in BRICS Higher Education Institutions
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Naidoo, Shantha and Shaikhnag, Noorullah
- Abstract
The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) were developed by the United Nations in 2015 to encompass universal respect for equality and non-discrimination regardless of race, gender, ethnicity, and cultural diversity. Since 2000, Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa (BRICS) have aligned with SDG 4.3 by developing higher education institutions (HEIs) which aims to "By 2030, ensure equal access for all women and men to affordable and quality technical, vocational and tertiary education, including university". This was intended to create equal opportunities and permit full realisation and prosperity of human rights and human dignity. This paper explores the effectiveness of managing racial integration in BRICS HEIs and illustrates remarkable progress in research and policy enactment. Particular attention is devoted to the period from the mid-2000s when evidence around the globe exposed the presence of many forms of violence, which inhibit management of effective racial integration. Based on case studies from selected BRICS countries (South Africa, Russia, and Brazil), this paper explores how the management of racial integration is being addressed within these contexts. [For the complete Volume 20 proceedings, see ED622631.]
- Published
- 2022
3. Knowledge as Currency: A Comparative Exploration of the Relationship between Education Expenditure and Gross Domestic Product in the European Union and BRICS Countries
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Bulgarian Comparative Education Society (BCES) and Otto, Michelle
- Abstract
The purpose of this paper is to explore the relationship between the percentage of expenditure on public education of a country and the effect that each percentage mark has on the economic growth, and therefore Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of a country. The goal of this paper is to explore how investment in education impacts the economic growth of a country through the production of more skilled workers in the workforce. This paper aims to draw a comparison between the BRICS countries, and a representative number of the countries in the European Union to compare the investment, process and product delivered through these groupings. By looking at the production function from a Marxist perspective it is inevitable to notice that the error coefficient is significantly higher within the BRICS countries than in the European Union, which is reflected in the rate of economic growth. This paper would be of interest to economists, education policy makers, researchers, and scholars.
- Published
- 2020
4. Homeschooling in the BRICS Members States: A Comparative Study
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Bulgarian Comparative Education Society (BCES), de Beer, Louw, Vos, Deon, and Myburgh, Jeannine
- Abstract
Homeschooling is an alternative method of teaching where parents take the responsibility of education and teach their children at home. This method of education is increasing worldwide. Various authorities around the world have taken note of this trend and recognized homeschooling as an alternative method of education in their legislation. The paper examines the educational policy and practice of homeschooling in the BRICS countries (Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa) through a literature study, with the aim of comparing the five countries to hit. It also looks at what the BRICS countries can learn from each other regarding homeschooling. Most of the BRICS countries have education law that does not provide for homeschooling. In the countries where homeownership is legal, there are strict requirements that must be met. These requirements place a heavy burden on home school parents. However, it is clear from the investigation that homeschooling is increasing in the BRICS countries legally and illegally. There are also other similarities arising from the study.
- Published
- 2020
5. Understanding the Foremost Challenges in the Transition to Online Teaching and Learning during COVID-19 Pandemic: A Systematic Literature Review
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Hamad, Wahid Bakar
- Abstract
The study aims to understand the foremost challenges in the transition to online teaching and learning during the COVID-19 pandemic. The study adopts the PRISMA approach to screening the selection of journal articles and review papers according to the research aims and the inclusion criteria. The journal articles and review papers were extracted and stored in Microsoft Excel and Google Scholar, Academic. Microsoft, Semantic Scholar, Elsevier, and Emerald Insight databases searched relevant documents using formulated keywords. A statistical technique was applied using the M.S. Excel analysis tool (PivotTable and an independent t-Test) to analyze data and determine the differences between teachers and students. The review revealed the evidence that the majority of the studies were primarily focused on the individual developing countries and results from other developing countries were not considered. In addition, the foremost challenges in the transition to online teaching and learning during the COVID-19 pandemic were inadequate skills and training, inadequate Internet/Infrastructure, lack of supporting resources and lack of online student engagement and feedback. Finally, the independent t-test reveals there is no statistically significant difference in challenges in the transition to online teaching and learning during the COVID-19 pandemic. Both teachers and students encounter similar challenges. The systematic review raised concerns that higher learning needs to effectively implement long term strategies and support teachers and students in getting into online teaching and learning.
- Published
- 2022
6. Religion as an External Determinant of the Education Systems of the BRICS Member Countries: A Comparative Study
- Author
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de Kock, Fleetwood Jerry, de Beer, Zacharias Louw, Wolhuter, Charl C., and Potgieter, Ferdinand Jacobus
- Abstract
Various internal and external determinants influence an education system. External determinants include language, demographics, geography, technology, politics, and financial and economic trends. Religion is also one of these external determinants that can influence an education system, as well as the education systems of the. The BRICS member countries consist of Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa. The BRICS member countries are one of the most organized and supportive international cooperation organizations that currently exist. Religion is considered a controversial and sensitive topic. This research aimed to determine how religion as an external determinant influences the education systems of the BRICS member countries. The study focused on the differences and similarities that can be identified based on religion as an external determinant of the various education systems in the BRICS member countries. The BRICS member countries were deliberately chosen for this study because each member state is considered a secular country in terms of religion, yet each member state treats religion differently in their country. The comparative method was used during this study to identify the best practices from the BRICS member countries. The interpretive research paradigm was used during this study using the qualitative research approach. The document analysis was used during the study to analyse the content of policies, legislation, articles, and government publications using content analysis to be able to identify themes to be able to perform the comparison between the different education systems of the BRICS member countries. The findings from this study are as follows: Religion as an external determinant of an education system does have a significant influence on the education systems of the various BRICS member countries. It is very important to observe and describe these findings from the context of the various member states. [For the complete Volume 20 proceedings, see ED622631.]
- Published
- 2022
7. Special Education in BRICS: A Comparative Overview
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van Jaarsveld, Leentjie
- Abstract
Many discussions have taken place around the issue of the special needs of learners, special schools and inclusivity. UNESCO argues that inclusive education will accommodate all children, regardless of their physical, intellectual, social, emotional, linguistic or other conditions. This would include disabled and gifted children, street and working children, children from remote or nomadic populations, children from linguistic, ethnic or cultural minorities and children from other disadvantaged areas or groups. In inclusive education, the diverse needs of students would be recognised and responded to, accommodating different styles and rates of learning and ensuring quality education to all. However, globally, the views of countries on inclusivity differ, and setting up schools for learners with special needs is often preferred. The overall aim of this study is to give an overview of the perspectives of the BRICS countries regarding learners with special needs, special schools and inclusivity. A document analysis was done of both printed and electronic (computer-based and Internet-transmitted) material. The views of the BRICS countries on learners with special needs, special schools and inclusivity differ. [For the complete Volume 19 proceedings, see ED613922.]
- Published
- 2021
8. Proceedings of the International Conferences on Internet Technologies & Society (ITS), Education Technologies (ICEduTECH), and Sustainability, Technology and Education (STE) (Melbourne, Australia, December 6-8, 2016)
- Author
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International Association for Development of the Information Society (IADIS), Kommers, Piet, Issa, Tomayess, Issa, Theodora, McKay, Elspeth, and Isias, Pedro
- Abstract
These proceedings contain the papers and posters of the International Conferences on Internet Technologies & Society (ITS 2016), Educational Technologies (ICEduTech 2016) and Sustainability, Technology and Education (STE 2016), which have been organised by the International Association for Development of the Information Society and co-organised by the RMIT University, in Melbourne, Australia, December 6-8, 2016. The Internet Technologies & Society conference aims to address the main issues of concern within WWW/Internet as well as to assess the influence of Internet in the Information Society. The International Conference on Educational Technologies (ICEduTech) is the scientific conference addressing the real topics as seen by teachers, students, parents and school leaders. The International Conference on Sustainability, Technology and Education (STE) aims to address the main issues which occur by assessing the relationship between Sustainability, Education and Technology. Full papers in these proceedings include: (1) ECG Identification System Using Neural Network with Global and Local Features (Kuo Kun Tseng, Dachao Lee and Charles Chen); (2) Smartening Up: Ongoing Challenges for Australia's Outback (Lucy Cradduck); (3) Extraction of Graph Information Based on Image Contents and the Use of Ontology (Sarunya Kanjanawattana and Masaomi Kimura); (4) Applicability of Domain-Specific Application Framework for End-User Development (Takeshi Chusho); (5) Application of Business Intelligence System in Company Restructuring Process: The Case of Croatia (Iva Bakula, Katarina Curko, Mirjana Pejic Bach and Vesna Bosilj Vukšic); (6) Method to Identify Deep Cases Based on Relationships between Nouns, Verbs, and Particles (Daisuke Ide and Madaomi Kimura); (7) Leveraging Data Analysis for Domain Experts: An Embeddable Framework for Basic Data Science Tasks (Johannes-Y. Lohrer, Daniel Kaltenthaler and Peer Kröger); (8) Investigating the Identity Theft Prevention Strategies in M-Commerce (Mahmood Hussain Shah, Javed Ahmed and Zahoor Ahmed Soomro); (9) Electronic Invoice in Costa Rica: Challenges for Its Implementation (Juan José Ramírez-Jiménez, Mario De La O-Selva and Roberto Cortés-Morales); (10) Car App's Persuasive Design Principles and Behavior Change (Chao Zhang, Lili Wan and Daihwan Min); (11) Evaluating the Quality of Experience of a System for Accessing Educational Objects in Health (Miguel Wanderley, Júlio Menezes Jr., Cristine Gusmão and Rodrigo Lins); (12) An Evaluation of iPad As a Learning Tool in Higher Education within a Rural Catchment: A Case Study at a South African University (Ruth Diko Wario, Bonface Ngari Ireri and Lizette De Wet); (13) Towards a Framework to Improve the Quality of Teaching and Learning: Consciousness and Validation in Computer Engineering Science, UCT (Marcos Lévano and Andrea Albornoz); (14) MOOCs--Theoretical and Practical Aspects: Comparison of Selected Research Results: Poland, Russia, Ukraine, and Australia (Eugenia Smyrnova-Trybulska, Ewa Ogrodzka-Mazur, Anna Szafranska-Gajdzica, Nataliia Morze, Rusudan Makhachashvili, Tatiana Noskova, Tatiana Pavlova, Olga Yakovleva, Tomayess Issa and Theodora Issa); (15) Evaluating the Design and Development of an Adaptive E-Tutorial Module: A Rasch-Measurement Approach (Allaa Barefah and Elspeth McKay); (16) Analysing Students' Interactions through Social Presence and Social Network Metrics (Vanessa Cristina Martins da Silva and Sean Wolfgand Matsui Siqueira); (17) Differences between Perceived Usefulness of Social Media and Institutional Channels by Undergraduate Students (Leandro Sumida Garcia and Camila Mariane Costa Silva); (18) Integrate WeChat with Moodle to Provide a Mobile Learning Environment for Students (Zhigao Li, Yibo Fan and Jianli Jiao); (19) Scaling a Model of Teacher Professional Learning--to MOOC or Not to MOOC (Deirdre Butler, Margaret Leahy, Michael Hallissy and Mark Brown); (20) A Preliminary Study on Building an E-Education Platform for Indian School-Level Curricula (Rajeev Kumar Kanth and Mikko-Jussi Laakso); (21) Automated Assessment in Massive Open Online Courses (Dmitrii A. Ivaniushin, Dmitrii G. Shtennikov, Eugene A. Efimchick and Andrey V. Lyamin); (22) Application of Digital Cybersecurity Approaches to University Management--VFU Smart Student (Anna Nedyalkova, Teodora Bakardjieva and Krasimir Nedyalkov); (23) Developing a Technology Enhanced CSO Course for Engineering Students (Erno Lokkila, Erkki Kaila, Rolf Lindén, Mikko-Jussi Laakso and Erkki Sutinen); (24) Teaching Data Science to Post Graduate Students: A Preliminary Study Using a "F-L-I-P" Class Room Approach (Sunet Eybers and Mariè Hattingh); (25) Educational Robots in Primary School Teachers' and Students' Opinion about STEM Education for Young Learners (Eugenia Smyrnova-Trybulska, Nataliia Morze, Piet Kommers, Wojciech Zuziak and Mariia Gladun); (26) Towards the Successful Integration of Design Thinking in Industrial Design Education (Omar Mubin, Mauricio Novoa and Abdullah Al Mahmud); (27) International Study Tours: A Key to 21st Century Academic and Industry Exchanges (Ana Hol, Danielle Simiana, Gilbert Lieu, Ivan Ong, Josh Feder, Nimat Dawre and Wakil Almazi); (28) A Rethink for Computing Education for Sustainability (Samuel Mann); (29) Technical Education as a Tool for Ensuring Sustainable Development: A Case of India (Gagan Deep Sharma, Raminder Singh Uppal and Mandeep Mahendru); (30) Evaluating Eco-Innovation of OECD Countries with Data Development Analysis (Reza Kiani Mavi and Craig Standing); (31) Revealing Greenwashing: A Consumers' Perspective (Anne Brouwer); and (32) Benchmarking Anthropogenic Heavy Metals Emissions: Australian and Global Urban Environmental Health Risk Based Indicators of Sustainability (Nick Dejkovski). Short papers in these proceedings include: (1) Racing to the Future: Security in the Gigabit Race? (Mark A Gregory and Lucy Cradduck); (2) An E-Learning System with MR for Experiments Involving Circuit Construction to Control a Robot (Atsushi Takemura); (3) Simulations for Crisis Communication: The Use of Social Media (Siyoung Chung); (4) Social Networking Framework for Universities in Saudi Arabia (Sulaiman Alqahtani); (5) Rethinking E-Learning Media: What Happens When Student "Like" Meets Professor "Me"? (Stephen Arnold); (6) Telling the Story of Mindrising: Minecraft, Mindfulness and Meaningful Learning (Deirdre Butler, Mark Brown and Gar Mac Críosta); (7) Green IT Model for IT Departments in Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) Organisations (Abdulaziz Albahlal); (8) How Does the Use of Mobile Devices Affect Teachers' Perceptions on Mobile Learning (Dong-Joong Kim, Daesang Kim and Sang-Ho Choiv); (9) Categorizing "Others": The Segmentation of Other Actors for "Faith in Others" Efficacy (FIO) (Chi Kwan Ng and Clare D'Souza); (10) Design Thinking: A Methodology towards Sustainable Problem Solving in Higher Education in South Africa (Keneilwe Munyai); and (11) New Ecological Paradigm and Sustainability Attitudes with Respect to a Multi-Cultural Educational Milieu in China (Mona Wells and Lynda Petherick). Reflection papers in these proceedings include: (1) Synthetic Biology: Knowledge Accessed by Everyone (Open Sources) (Patricia Margarita Sánchez Reyes); (2) Envisioning the City of the Future: Knowlege Societies vs. Entertainment Societies (Yolanda Alicia Villegas González); (3) Blue Ocean Strategy for Higher Education (Ricardo Bragança); (4) Exploring How Digital Media Technology Can Foster Saudi EFL Students' English Language Learning (Abdulmohsin Altawil); (5) Cloud Computing in Higher Education Sector for Sustainable Development (Yuchao Duan); and (6) Exploring Connectivism in the Context of Online Social Trading (Endrit Kromidha). Posters in these proceedings include: (1) A Preliminary Investigation into the Information Sharing Behavior of Social Media Users after a Natural Disaster (Yukiko Maruyama); (2) Effects of a Technology-Friendly Education Program on Pre-Service Teachers' Perceptions and Learning Styles (Dong-Joong Kim and Sang-Ho Choi); (3) Use of Cognitive and Metacognitive Strategies in Online Search: An Eye-Tracking Study (Mingming Zhou and Jing Ren); (4) Development of a Diagnostic System for Information Ethics Education (Shingo Shiota, Kyohei Sakai and Keita Kobayashi); (5) A Practical Study of Mathematics Education Using Gamification (Kyohei Sakai and Shingo Shiota); (6) Demonstrating the CollaTrEx Framework for Collaborative Context-Aware Mobile Training and Exploration (Jean Botev); (7) Development of Training/Self-Recognizing Tools for Disability Students Using a Face Expression Recognition Sensor and a Smart-Watch (Taku Kawada, Akinobu Ando, Hirotaka Saito, Jun Uekida, Nobuyuki Nagai, Hisashi Takeshima and Darold Davis); and (8) Analysis of Usage Trends of Social Media and Self-Esteem by the Rosenberg Scale (Hiroko Kanoh). Finally, one doctoral consortium is included: A Model for an Information Security Risk Management (ISRM) Framework for Saudi Arabian Organisations (Naser Alshareef). An author index is provided. Individual papers contain references.
- Published
- 2016
9. Chronic Noncommunicable Diseases in 6 Low- and Middle-Income Countries: Findings From Wave 1 of the World Health Organization's Study on Global Ageing and Adult Health (SAGE).
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Arokiasamy, Perianayagam, Uttamacharya, Kowal, Paul, Capistrant, Benjamin D., Gildner, Theresa E., Thiele, Elizabeth, Biritwum, Richard B., Yawson, Alfred E., Mensah, George, Maximova, Tamara, Fan Wu, Yanfei Guo, Yang Zheng, Kalula, Sebastiana Zimba, Rodríguez, Aarón Salinas, Espinoza, Betty Manrique, Liebert, Melissa A., Eick, Geeta, Sterner, Kirstin N., and Barrett, Tyler M.
- Subjects
CHRONIC disease diagnosis ,CHRONIC disease risk factors ,CHRONIC disease treatment ,AGING ,ALGORITHMS ,ANGINA pectoris ,ARTHRITIS ,ASTHMA ,CHRONIC diseases ,CONFIDENCE intervals ,MENTAL depression ,HEALTH status indicators ,HYPERTENSION ,INCOME ,INTERVIEWING ,LUNG diseases ,MULTIVARIATE analysis ,REGRESSION analysis ,SELF-evaluation ,SOCIOECONOMIC factors ,EDUCATIONAL attainment ,DISEASE prevalence ,DESCRIPTIVE statistics ,MIDDLE-income countries ,LOW-income countries ,ODDS ratio ,CLUSTER sampling - Abstract
In this paper, we examine patterns of self-reported diagnosis of noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) and prevalences of algorithm/measured test-based, undiagnosed, and untreated NCDs in China, Ghana, India, Mexico, Russia, and South Africa. Nationally representative samples of older adults aged ≥50 years were analyzed from wave 1 of the World Health Organization's Study on Global Ageing and Adult Health (2007-2010; n = 34,149). Analyses focused on 6 conditions: angina, arthritis, asthma, chronic lung disease, depression, and hypertension. Outcomes for these NCDs were: 1) self-reported disease, 2) algorithm/measured test-based disease, 3) undiagnosed disease, and 4) untreated disease. Algorithm/measured test-based prevalence of NCDs was much higher than self-reported prevalence in all 6 countries, indicating underestimation of NCD prevalence in low- and middle-income countries. Undiagnosed prevalence of NCDs was highest for hypertension, ranging from 19.7% (95% confidence interval (CI): 18.1, 21.3) in India to 49.6% (95% CI: 46.2, 53.0) in South Africa. The proportion untreated among all diseases was highest for depression, ranging from 69.5% (95% CI: 57.1, 81.9) in South Africa to 93.2% (95% CI: 90.1, 95.7) in India. Higher levels of education and wealth significantly reduced the odds of an undiagnosed condition and untreated morbidity. A high prevalence of undiagnosed NCDs and an even higher proportion of untreated NCDs highlights the inadequacies in diagnosis and management of NCDs in local health-care systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2017
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10. Education's Role in Preparing Globally Competent Citizens. BCES Conference Books, Volume 12
- Author
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Bulgarian Comparative Education Society (BCES), Popov, Nikolay, Wolhuter, Charl, Ermenc, Klara Skubic, Hilton, Gillian,, Ogunleye, James, Chigisheva, Oksana, Popov, Nikolay, Wolhuter, Charl, Ermenc, Klara Skubic, Hilton, Gillian,, Ogunleye, James, Chigisheva, Oksana, and Bulgarian Comparative Education Society (BCES)
- Abstract
This volume contains papers submitted to the 12th Annual International Conference of the Bulgarian Comparative Education Society (BCES), held in Sofia and Nessebar, Bulgaria, in June 2014, and papers submitted to the 2nd International Partner Conference, organized by the International Research Centre 'Scientific Cooperation,' Rostov-on-Don, Russia. The volume also includes papers submitted to the International Symposium on Comparative Sciences, organized by the Bulgarian Comparative Education Society in Sofia, in October 2013. The 12th BCES Conference theme is "Education's Role in Preparing Globally Competent Citizens." The 2nd Partner Conference theme is "Contemporary Science and Education: New Challenges -- New Decisions." The book consists of 103 papers, written by 167 authors and co-authors, and grouped into 7 parts. Parts 1-4 comprise papers submitted to the 12th BCES Conference, and Parts 5-7 comprise papers submitted to the 2nd Partner Conference. The 103 papers are divided into the following parts: (1) Comparative Education & History of Education; (2) Pre-service and In-service Teacher Training & Learning and Teaching Styles; (3) Education Policy, Reforms and School Leadership; (4) Higher Education, Lifelong Learning and Social Inclusion; (5) Educational Development Strategies in Different Countries and Regions of the World: National, Regional and Global Levels; (6) Key Directions and Characteristics of Research Organization in Contemporary World; and (7) International Scientific and Educational Cooperation for the Solution of Contemporary Global Issues: From Global Competition to World Integration.
- Published
- 2014
11. Economics of Human Resources Development under Globalization Era: A Study of BRICS Countries
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Hassan, Samir Ul, Rymbai, Motika Sinha, and Bhat, Aasif Ali
- Abstract
Purpose: The study aims to explore the extent to which human resources development quantifies the economic growth of BRICS countries under the globalization era by controlling country differences. Design/methodology/approach: The study used the Generalized Method of Moments (GMM) and Scheffe pairwise comparison tests to quantify the impact of the variables and the level of difference among the BRICS countries onto human Resources development. Findings: The study observes that the impact of human resources development on economic growth of BRICS counties is significant but limited to few countries. The study reveals that countries such as India and South Africa are unable to utilize their human resources efficiently to promote economic growth, as compared with Russia, China and Brazil. The study further argues that there is urgent need of amalgam of various economic development theories keeping in mind the regional needs to extract the positive impact from human resource on economic development. Research limitations/implications: The single limitation of this research is that it was not possible to compare the results with other developing countries to unleash the capabilities of human resources development with regard to economic growth at the universal level. Originality/value: To the best of the authors' knowledge, this paper is the first of its kind to analyze human resources development at a much deeper level. The paper has chosen variables which are important from the policy perspective of government rather than the working perspective, which is a great contribution. Further, for human index the variables chose covering major aspects of human development from spending perspective.
- Published
- 2019
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12. Non-technical health care quality and health system responsiveness in middle-income countries: a cross-sectional study in China, Ghana, India, Mexico, Russia, and South Africa.
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Geldsetzer, Pascal, Haakenstad, Annie, James, Erin Kinsella, and Atun, Rifat
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MEDICAL care ,MEDICAL quality control ,SURVEYS ,CROSS-sectional method - Abstract
Background: While there is increasing recognition that the non-technical aspects of health care quality - particularly the inter-personal dimensions of care - are important components of health system performance, evidence from population-based studies on these outcomes in low- and middle-income countries is sparse. This study assesses these non-technical aspects of care using two measures: health system responsiveness (HSR), which quantifies the degree to which the health system meets the expectations of the population, and non-technical health care quality (QoC), for which we 'filtered out' these expectations. Pooling data from six large middle-income countries, this study therefore aimed to determine how HSR and QoC vary between countries and by individuals' sociodemographic characteristics within countries.Methods: We pooled individual-level data, collected between 2007 and 2010, from nationally representative household surveys of (primarily) adults aged 50 years and older in China, Ghana, India, Mexico, Russia, and South Africa. The outcome measure was a binary indicator for a 'bad' rating (HSR: "very bad" or "bad" on a five-point Likert scale; QoC: a worse rating of one's own visit than that of the character in an anchoring vignette) on at least one of seven dimensions for the most recent primary care visit.Results: 23 749 adults who reported to have sought primary care during the preceding 12 months were includedin the analysis. The proportion of participants who gave a bad rating for their last primary care visit on at least one of seven dimensions varied from 4.3% (95% confidence interval (CI) = 2.8-6.7) in China to 33.1% (95% CI = 23.6-44.2) in South Africa for HSR, and from 17.0% (95% CI = 11.4-24.5) in Russia to 50.8% (95% CI = 46.0-55.6) in Ghana for QoC. There was a strong negative association between increasing household wealth and both bad HSR and QoC in India and South Africa.Conclusions: Achieving universal health coverage (UHC) with good-quality health services ("effective UHC") will require efforts to improve HSR and QoC across the population in Ghana and South Africa. Additionally, a particular focus on raising HSR and QoC for the poorest population groups is needed in India and South Africa. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]- Published
- 2018
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13. Examination of the Researches on the Use of Technology by Fine Arts Teachers
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Rakhat, Berikbol, Kuralay, Bekbolatova, Akmaral, Smanova, Zhanar, Nebessayeva, and Miyat, Dzhanaev
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The aim of this study was to determine the examination of the researches about the use of technology by fine arts teachers. The study was conducted according to the content and citation analysis model. In this context, Web of Science (WOS) Core Collection indexes were included. In the document scanning in the WOS environment, the keywords 'Fine arts', 'Teachers' and 'Technology' were searched. In total, 169 documents were examined and analysed one by one. They were analysed according to year, document type, WOS content category, country, source title, organisation and citation, authors, publication language and categories. As a result of this research, the first study was conducted in 2004, while the most studies were conducted in 2016. It was concluded that the published studies had the most Proceedings papers as the document type. The area where the studies of fine arts teachers on the use of technology are mostly carried out is Education Educational Research, according to the Web of Science content category. The most researched title in the distribution according to the Source Title field is 'International Multidisciplinary Scientific Conferences on Social Sciences and Arts.' The university with the most studies is Kazan Federal University. The 19 authors who conducted the studies have a large number of studies in this field. It was concluded that other authors had only one study in the field. Again, when we look at the distribution of the countries and documents according to the language of writing, the country with the most studies is China and the language of the documents is English. The area continues to evolve.
- Published
- 2021
14. BRICS: opportunities to improve road safety.
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Hyder, Adnan A. and Vecino-Ortiz, Andres I.
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TRAFFIC safety , *WORLD health , *WOUNDS & injuries , *SOCIOECONOMIC factors ,TRAFFIC accident risk factors - Abstract
Brazil, the Russian Federation, India, China and South Africa -- the countries known as BRICS -- are currently undergoing a deep epidemiological transition that is mainly driven by rapid economic growth and technological change. The changes being observed in the distribution of the burden of diseases and injuries -- such as recent increases in the incidence of road traffic injuries -- are matters of concern. BRICS may need stronger institutional capacity to address such changes in a timely way. In this paper, we present data on road traffic injuries in BRICS and illustrate the enormous challenge that these countries currently face in reducing the incidence of such injuries. There is an urgent need to improve road safety indicators in every country constituting BRICS. It is imperative for BRICS to invest in system-wide road safety interventions and reduce the mortality and morbidity from road traffic injuries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2014
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15. Diffusion of KM Education in LIS Schools
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Katušcáková, Marcela and Jasecková, Galina
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This paper aims to identify the current state of knowledge management (KM) diffusion in LIS schools. In terms of content, we have identified two principal approaches to the perception of KM in the LIS community: an active approach, seeing KM as an opportunity for the LIS community to change; and a passive approach, seeing KM merely as a topic of information management with a new label. Our research analyzed study programs at 145 LIS schools and in 188 LIS study programs in the United States, Canada, Europe (in particular, Russia), Australia, India, South Africa, China, Japan, Singapore, and Brazil and observed the inclusion or non-inclusion of KM courses in those programs. We employ a narrower approach to defining a KM course as being one having the term "knowledge management" in its name. The findings indicate that KM courses are integrated in one-third of the LIS study programs analyzed, and in schools with an information science focus this figure can rise to around 45%. Given the importance of this area and various views regarding KM diffusion in LIS schools, we recommend that those who have already implemented a KM course in their LIS programs create an informal community of practice (CoP) on KM implementation in LIS schools and build an open database of lessons learned from such integration, thereby capturing and sharing this crucial knowledge in a single place.
- Published
- 2019
16. Solar Power Generation for ICT and Sustainable Development in Emerging Economies
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Paul, Damasen I. and Uhomoibhi, James
- Abstract
Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to systematically examine and draw attention to the potential benefits of solar power generation for access to and use of information and communication technologies (ICT) aimed at sustainable development in emerging economies. Design/methodology/approach: Electricity plays a crucial role in the development and use of ICT and in the process of striving to achieve sustainable development in emerging economies. It has been shown that electrical energy is intrinsically linked to economic, environmental and social dimensions of sustainable development. An extensive analysis of the major contribution of solar electricity in various sectors such as economic, social and environmental benefits is provided. The paper concludes with a discussion on current status of solar electricity in major emerging economies, their planning policies and strategies for promoting solar power generation for increased access to ICT by people and sustainable development of society. Findings: The demand for electricity in residential, commercial and industrial sectors in developing countries (emerging economies) is likely to increase, both as a result of increase in population and expanding industrialization. It remains amongst others, a growing challenge for these nations to obtain and put in place reliable and secured electricity supplies, for accessing ICT and to work towards achieving sustainability. The important issues that must be considered and addressed for the successful implementation of solar electricity programs for sustainability and wellbeing in developing nations are pointed out. Practical implications: The paper shows that the problems of lack of qualified solar technicians and established Photovoltaic (PV) markets and business modes, renewable (solar) energy education have to be addressed. Other issues include appreciation of solar electricity as one of the major energy component, lowering initial cost of the PV technology, availability of finance mechanisms for customers, import tax exemption and regarding electricity as one of the basic needs like food, shelter and clothing. Overhaul of existing systems needs to take place in order to provide the means to deal with some of these issues. Originality/value: Availability of power remains crucial for development in emerging markets. Solar electricity is of major interest for the energy sector in developing or emerging economies because it offers the possibility of generating renewable electricity using sunlight: a resource that is widely and freely available in most, if not all, developing countries. This paper raises awareness about this in a unique way and identifies problems faced by the sectors. To address some of these challenges without compromising the goal of sustainability and development, it is important that low carbon emitting electrical energy sources such as solar electricity are given high priorities by policy makers, industries and research and development institutions in emerging countries. Some innovative suggestions are provided for achieving this. (Contains 1 figure and 1 table.)
- Published
- 2012
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17. Examining the impact of socioeconomic status, demographic characteristics, lifestyle and other risk factors on adults' cognitive functioning in developing countries: an analysis of five selected WHO SAGE Wave 1 Countries.
- Author
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Larnyo, Ebenezer, Dai, Baozhen, Nutakor, Jonathan Aseye, Ampon-Wireko, Sabina, Larnyo, Abigail, and Appiah, Ruth
- Subjects
COGNITION disorder risk factors ,LIFESTYLES ,SELF-evaluation ,CHRONIC diseases ,AGE distribution ,REGRESSION analysis ,RISK assessment ,SOCIOECONOMIC factors ,MEMORY disorders ,DESCRIPTIVE statistics ,COGNITIVE testing ,SOCIODEMOGRAPHIC factors ,DISEASE complications ,ADULTS ,DEVELOPING countries - Abstract
Background: Though extensive studies have been conducted on assessing the predictors of cognitive functioning among older adults in small community-based samples, very few studies have focused on understanding the impact of socioeconomic status (SES), demographic characteristics and other risk factors such as lifestyle and chronic diseases on the cognitive functioning among adults of all ages in a nationally representative population-based sample across low- and middle-income countries. This study, therefore, seeks to evaluate the impact of SES, demographic characteristics and risk factors on the cognitive functioning of adults across all ages in five selected developing countries. Methods: Data from 12,430 observations obtained from the WHO Study on Global AGEing and Adult Health (SAGE) Wave 1; consisting of 2,486 observations each for China, Ghana, India, the Russian Federation, and South Africa, were used for the study. A meta-regression and a five-step hierarchical linear regression were used to analyze the data, with cognitive functioning as the dependent variable. Independent variables used in this study include SES; assessed by household income and education, demographic characteristics, other risk factors such as lifestyle, self-reported memory difficulty and chronic diseases. Results: This study found that SES and lifestyle significantly predicted cognitive functioning in all the five selected countries as obtained by the pooled results of the meta-regression analysis. The hierarchical linear regression results also revealed that demographic characteristics such as age, type of residency, and self-reported memory difficulty significantly impact cognitive functioning in China, Ghana, Russia, and South Africa. Conclusion: The findings in this study provide new insights for policymakers, caregivers, parents, and individuals, especially those in developing countries, to implement policies and actions targeted at improving SES and eliminating risk factors associated with cognitive decline, as these measures could help improve the cognitive functioning among their populations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2022
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18. Core policies disparity response to COVID-19 among BRICS countries.
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Jiao, Jun, Shi, Leiyu, Zhang, Yuyao, Chen, Haiqian, Wang, Xiaohan, Yang, Manfei, Yang, Junyan, Liu, Meiheng, and Sun, Gang
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HEALTH policy ,COVID-19 ,INTERNATIONAL relations ,DESCRIPTIVE statistics ,DEVELOPING countries ,HEALTH equity - Abstract
Objective: To provide experience for formulating prevention and control policies, this study analyzed the effectiveness of the Coronavirus disease 2019(COVID-19) prevention and control policies, and evaluated health equity and epidemic cooperation among BRICS countries. Methods: This study summarized the pandemic prevention and control policies in BRICS countries and evaluated the effectiveness of those policies by extracting COVID-19 related data from official websites. Result: As of May 4, 2021, responding to COVID-19. China adopted containment strategies. China's total confirmed cases (102,560) were stable, without a second pandemic peak, and the total deaths per million (3.37) were much lower than others. India and South Africa who adopted intermediate strategies have similar pandemic curves, total confirmed cases in India (20,664,979) surpassed South Africa (1,586,148) as the highest in five countries, but total deaths per million (163.90) lower than South Africa (919.11). Brazil and Russia adopted mitigation strategies. Total confirmed cases in Brazil (14,856,888) and Russia (4,784,497) continued to increase, and Brazil's total deaths per million (1,936.34) is higher than Russia (751.50) and other countries. Conclusion: This study shows BRICS countries implemented different epidemic interventions. Containment strategy is more effective than intermediate strategy and mitigation strategy in limiting the spread of COVID-19. Especially when a strict containment strategy is implemented in an early stage, but premature relaxation of restrictions may lead to rebounding. It is a good choice to combat COVID-19 by improving the inclusiveness of intervention policies, deepening BRICS epidemic cooperation, and increasing health equities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2022
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19. Current status of CCS initiatives in the major emerging economies.
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Condor, Jose, Unatrakarna, Datchawan, Asghari, Koorosh, and Wilson, Malcolm
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CARBON sequestration ,NATURAL resources ,DEVELOPING countries - Abstract
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]
- Published
- 2011
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20. The need for improved discharge criteria for hospitalised patients with COVID-19—implications for patients in long-term care facilities.
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Sze, Shirley, Pan, Daniel, Williams, Caroline M L, Barker, Joseph, Minhas, Jatinder S, Miller, Chris J, Tang, Julian W, Squire, Iain B, and Pareek, Manish
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LONG-term health care ,MEDICAL protocols ,NURSING care facilities ,POLYMERASE chain reaction ,DISCHARGE planning ,REVERSE transcriptase polymerase chain reaction ,COVID-19 - Abstract
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]
- Published
- 2021
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21. Patients with more comorbidities have better detection of chronic conditions, but poorer management and control: findings from six middle-income countries.
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Sum, Grace, Koh, Gerald Choon-Huat, Mercer, Stewart W., Wei, Lim Yee, Majeed, Azeem, Oldenburg, Brian, and Lee, John Tayu
- Subjects
COMORBIDITY ,NON-communicable diseases ,CHRONIC disease diagnosis ,HEALTH services accessibility ,PHYSIOLOGICAL aspects of aging ,MIDDLE-income countries ,PREVENTION of chronic diseases ,CHRONIC diseases ,CROSS-sectional method - Abstract
Background: The burden of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) is rising rapidly in middle-income countries (MICs), where NCDs are often undiagnosed, untreated and uncontrolled. How comorbidity impacts diagnosis, treatment, and control of NCDs is an emerging area of research inquiry and have important clinical implications as highlighted in the recent National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guidelines for treating patients suffering from multiple NCDs. This is the first study to examine the association between increasing numbers of comorbidities with being undiagnosed, untreated, and uncontrolled for NCDs, in 6 large MICs.Methods: Cross-sectional analysis of the World Health Organisation Study of Global Ageing and Adult Health (WHO SAGE) Wave 1 (2007-10), which consisted of adults aged ≥18 years from 6 populous MICs, including China, Ghana, India, Mexico, Russia and South Africa (overall n = 41, 557).Results: A higher number of comorbidities was associated with better odds of diagnosis for hypertension, angina, and arthritis, and higher odds of having treatment for hypertension and angina. However, more comorbidities were associated with increased odds of uncontrolled hypertension, angina, arthritis, and asthma. Comorbidity with concordant conditions was associated with improved diagnosis and treatment of hypertension and angina.Conclusion: Patients with more comorbidities have better diagnosis of chronic conditions, but this does not translate into better management and control of these conditions. Patients with multiple NCDs are high users of health services and are at an increased risk of adverse health outcomes. Hence, improving their access to care is a priority for healthcare systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]- Published
- 2020
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22. Positioning South Africa's energy supply mix internationally: Comparative and policy review analysis.
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Ndlovu, Vanessa and Inglesi-Lotz, Roula
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POWER resources ,POLICY analysis ,NATURAL resources ,FOSSIL fuels ,ENERGY futures ,ECONOMIC development - Abstract
Optimisation and diversification of South Africa's energy generation mix is fundamental to meeting its developmental goals and enhancing the crucially important security of supply. South Africa should investigate means to diversify its generating capacity. With the growing demand, South Africa has reached a point where other methods of power generation need to be considered and implemented. This study gives a detailed description of the South African energy supply mix, its evolvement in the past 25 years, and assesses how South Africa fares in comparison with other countries such as its BRICS companions (Brazil, Russia, India, and China) and in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), in terms of its current and future energy mix. It was found that the total primary energy supply (TPES) share of non-OECD countries is becoming more prominent, with China, India, and Russia being significant contributors. The OECD's ratio of universal TPES decreased from 1990 to 2015. There is a heavy reliance on fossil fuels in the BRICS countries, which appeals to appropriate policies to influence and guide the transition from the current fossil fuel-dominated energy supply mix to one that follows international trends but, most of all, appreciates its specific geographic position and natural resources. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2019
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23. Association between life-course socio-economic status and prevalence of cardio-metabolic risk ractors in five middle-income countries.
- Author
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Ogunsina, Kemi, Dibaba, Daniel T., and Akinyemiju, Tomi
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CARDIOVASCULAR diseases ,DEVELOPING countries ,METABOLIC disorders ,SOCIAL classes ,HEALTH equity ,DISEASE prevalence ,CROSS-sectional method - Abstract
Background: The burden of non-communicable diseases has increased rapidly in low- and middle-income countries. Past studies have reported an association between socioeconomic status (SES) and cardio-metabolic risk factors, but most have focused on upper income countries. The purpose of this study is to examine the association between SES over the life-course and the burden of cardio-metabolic risk factors in middle-income countries.Methods: A total of 38 297 adults from China, Mexico, India, South Africa and Russia were included in this cross-sectional study. Life-course SES was defined based on maternal and participant education, and data on blood pressure, body mass index (BMI), self-reported diabetes and hypertension were obtained by trained interviewers. Descriptive, age standardized and multivariable adjusted analyses were conducted using survey weighted statistical procedures in SAS 9.4 (SAS Institute, Cary, NC, USA).Results: Although 14% of men and 12% of women had current hypertension based on blood pressure measurements, only 2% of men and 4% of women were aware of their hypertensive status. Men with stable high life-course SES had higher odds of being overweight/obese (odds ratio OR = 2.01, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 1.30-3.10), diabetic (OR = 4.82, 95% CI = 2.07-11.2) and hypertensive based on self-report (OR = 3.42, 95% CI = 1.85-6.32) compared to men of low life-course SES. Among women, the odds of being overweight/obese were significantly higher among women with high life-course SES (OR = 1.50, 95% CI = 1.08-2.08).Conclusions: Higher life-course SES for both men and women was associated with increased odds of overweight/ obesity, and additionally diabetes and hypertension for men in middle income countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]- Published
- 2018
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24. Comparative health system performance in six middle-income countries: cross-sectional analysis using World Health Organization study of global ageing and health.
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Alshamsan, Riyadh, Lee, John Tayu, Rana, Sangeeta, Areabi, Hasan, and Millett, Christopher
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CHRONIC disease treatment ,MEDICAL care standards ,CLINICAL medicine ,COMPARATIVE studies ,DEVELOPING countries ,HEALTH services accessibility ,HEALTH status indicators ,INCOME ,HEALTH insurance ,RESEARCH methodology ,MEDICAL cooperation ,RESEARCH ,RESEARCH funding ,ETHNOLOGY research ,EVALUATION research ,KEY performance indicators (Management) ,CROSS-sectional method ,PATIENT-centered care - Abstract
Objective To assess and compare health system performance across six middle-income countries that are strengthening their health systems in pursuit of universal health coverage. Design Cross-sectional analysis from the World Health Organization Study on global AGEing and adult health, collected between 2007 and 2010. Setting Six middle-income countries: China, Ghana, India, Mexico, Russia and South Africa. Participants Nationally representative sample of adults aged 50 years and older. Main outcome measures We present achievement against key indicators of health system performance across effectiveness, cost, access, patient-centredness and equity domains. Results We found areas of poor performance in prevention and management of chronic conditions, such as hypertension control and cancer screening coverage. We also found that cost remains a barrier to healthcare access in spite of insurance schemes. Finally, we found evidence of disparities across many indicators, particularly in the effectiveness and patient centredness domains. Conclusions These findings identify important focus areas for action and shared learning as these countries move towards achieving universal health coverage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2017
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25. Political repression, civil society and the politics of responding to AIDS in the BRICS nations.
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Gómez, Eduardo J and Harris, Joseph
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HIV prevention ,AIDS treatment ,HIV infections ,THERAPEUTICS ,AIDS prevention ,POLITICAL persecution ,PUBLIC health ,PSYCHOLOGICAL adaptation ,AIDS ,HEALTH policy ,POLICY sciences ,PRACTICAL politics ,PSYCHOLOGICAL tests - Abstract
Copyright of Health Policy & Planning is the property of Oxford University Press / USA and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)
- Published
- 2016
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26. Assessing the Efficiency of HIV Prevention around the World: Methods of the PANCEA Project.
- Author
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Marseille, Elliot, Dandona, Lalit, Saba, Joseph, McConnel, Coline, Rollins, Brandi, Gaist, Paul, Lundberg, Mattias, Over, Mead, Bertozzi, Stefano, and Kahn, James G.
- Subjects
HIV infections ,PREVENTIVE medicine ,PUBLIC health - Abstract
To develop data collection methods suitable to obtain data to assess the costs, cost-efficiency, and cost-effectiveness of eight types of HIV prevention programs in five countries.Primary data collection from prevention programs for 2002–2003 and prior years, in Uganda, South Africa, India, Mexico, and Russia.This study consisted of a retrospective review of HIV prevention programs covering one to several years of data. Key variables include services delivered (outputs), quality indicators, and costs.Data were collected by trained in-country teams during week-long site visits, by reviewing service and financial records and interviewing program managers and clients.Preliminary data suggest that the unit cost of HIV prevention programs may be both higher and more variable than previous studies suggest.A mix of standard data collection methods can be successfully implemented across different HIV prevention program types and countries. These methods can provide comprehensive services and cost data, which may carry valuable information for the allocation of HIV prevention resources. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2004
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27. Into the Unknown: A Critical Reflection on a Truly Global Learning Experience
- Author
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Wolf, Katharina and Archer, Catherine
- Abstract
Over the past decade, industry relevance and connectedness have evolved into a key requirement for students and their parents, who increasingly perceive employability upon graduation as a critical factor in the degree selection process. Simultaneously, professional bodies emphasise the need for high levels of industry engagement as a condition for accreditation, which in turn further impacts on the "marketability" of a specific degree. However, many of the skills emphasised by potential employers and industry reference groups are more closely aligned with generic graduate attributes, rather than discipline specific knowledge and skills. This increasingly includes an emphasis on cultural awareness, excellent communication skills and the ability to work in dispersed, often even virtual teams. This observation is arguably particularly relevant within the business (degree) context, where workforces become increasingly multicultural, as traditional borders and limitations make way for transnational opportunities. This paper discusses the benefits and challenges associated with a third year student project that set out to combine the need for discipline specific knowledge, with the acquisition of versatile, culturally sensitive business skills. Students participating in the aptly titled "communications challenge" competed against their peers as part of multicultural teams, representing twelve countries, across five continents. The authors conclude that experiential learning opportunities like this global, real life client project may not necessarily be popular amongst the wider student cohort. Furthermore, the acquisition of discipline specific knowledge may be limited when compared to "traditional" teaching deliveries. However, projects like this provide a number of benefits, in particular in the context of capstone units that set out to prepare students for a diverse career in an increasingly global, multicultural and complex environment.
- Published
- 2013
28. Dynamic analysis of SARS-CoV-2 evolution based on different countries.
- Author
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Xiao B, Wu L, Sun Q, Shu C, and Hu S
- Subjects
- Humans, South Africa epidemiology, India epidemiology, Spike Glycoprotein, Coronavirus genetics, Spike Glycoprotein, Coronavirus immunology, Brazil epidemiology, United Kingdom epidemiology, Russia epidemiology, Genome, Viral, Phylogeny, United States epidemiology, SARS-CoV-2 genetics, SARS-CoV-2 immunology, COVID-19 epidemiology, COVID-19 virology, Evolution, Molecular, Mutation
- Abstract
Since late 2019, COVID-19 has significantly impacted the world. Understanding the evolution of SARS-CoV-2 is crucial for protecting against future infectious pathogens. In this study, we conducted a comprehensive chronological analysis of SARS-CoV-2 evolution by examining mutation prevalence from the source countries of VOCs: United Kingdom, India, Brazil, South Africa, plus two countries: United States, Russia, utilizing genomic sequences from GISAID. Our methodological approach involved large-scale genomic sequence alignment using MAFFT, Python-based data processing on a high-performance computing platform, and advanced statistical methods the Maximal Information Coefficient (MIC), and also Long Short-Term Memory (LSTM) models for correlation analysis. Our findings elucidate the dynamics of SARS-CoV-2 evolution, highlighting the virus's changing behaviour over various pandemic stages. Key results include the discovery of three temporal mutation patterns-lineage distinct, long-span, and competitive mutations-with varying levels of impact on the virus. Notably, we observed a convergence of advantageous mutations in the spike protein, especially in the later stages of the pandemic, indicating a substantial evolutionary pressure on the virus. One of the most significant revelations is the predominant role of natural immunity over vaccination-induced immunity in driving these evolutionary changes. This emphasizes the critical need for regular vaccine updates to maintain efficacy against evolving strains. In conclusion, our study not only sheds light on the evolutionary trajectory of SARS-CoV-2 but also underscores the urgency for robust, continuous global data collection and sharing. It highlights the necessity for rapid adaptations in medical countermeasures, including vaccine development, to stay ahead of pathogen evolution. This research provides valuable insights for future pandemic preparedness and response strategies., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024. Published by Elsevier B.V.)
- Published
- 2024
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29. Assessment of the Impact of Higher Education on Environmental Quality in BRICS Economies Based on Sustainable Development Pathways.
- Author
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Guo M
- Subjects
- Carbon, China, Economic Development, India, Russia, South Africa, Carbon Dioxide analysis, Sustainable Development
- Abstract
From the perspective of ecological environmental protection, higher education can not only train a large number of professionals dedicated to environmental protection for the construction of environmental quality, but more importantly, it can promote the improvement of the quality of ecological civilization in the whole society, so as to achieve the effect of indirectly improving environmental quality. BRICS economies, as the most important economies in the world, have an impact on the development of the world in many aspects. However, under the guidance of the concept of sustainable development, whether the environmental quality of BRICS economies meets the standards has also become the focus of scholars. Starting from the sustainable development path, this paper summarizes the model of environmental education in BRICS national higher education. At the same time, through the establishment of the BRICS environmental quality assessment system, the environmental quality of the BRICS countries after the implementation of environmental education was assessed based on the content of the sustainable development system. This paper performs matrix operations on the weight values of the indicators at all levels and the membership vector to obtain a 4 × 4 matrix, that is, the evaluation result Q of each indicator is [0.050, 0.200, 0.113, 0,011], which proves that the evaluation results in this paper are basically reasonable. It can be seen that in terms of forest coverage and environmental protection areas, environmental education in higher education has the deepest impact on Russia. In terms of carbon emissions, South Africa benefits the most from environmental education in higher education, so each country should take corresponding actions according to different environmental assessment results., Competing Interests: The author declares no conflicts of interest., (Copyright © 2022 Miao Guo.)
- Published
- 2022
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30. The impact of the Covid-19 related media coverage upon the five major developing markets.
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Umar Z, Gubareva M, and Sokolova T
- Subjects
- Brazil epidemiology, China epidemiology, Commerce, Forecasting, Humans, India epidemiology, Models, Econometric, Russia epidemiology, South Africa epidemiology, COVID-19 epidemiology, Social Media
- Abstract
This paper analyses the influence of the Covid-19 coverage by the social media upon the shape of the sovereign yield curves of the five major developing countries, namely Federative Republic of B razil, Russian Federation, Republic of India, People's Republic of China, and the Republic of South Africa (BRICS). The coherenc e between the level, slope, and the curvature of the sovereign yield term structures and the Covid-19 medi a coverage is found to vary between low and high ranges, depending on the phases of the pandemic. The empirical estimations of the yield-curve factors a re performed by means of the Diebold-Li modified version of the Nelson-Siegel model. The intervals of low coherence reveal the capacity of the two latent factors, level and slope, to be used for creating cross-factor diversification strategies, workable under crisis conditions, as evidenced on the example of the ongoing pandemic. Diverse coherence patterns are reported on a per-country basis, highlighting a promising potential of sovereign debt investments for designing cross-country and cross-factor fixed-income strategies, capable of hedging downside risks., Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.
- Published
- 2021
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31. A bibliometric study on the research outcome of Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa.
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I Narayan A, Chogtu B, Janodia M, and Venkata SK
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- Brazil, China, India, Russia, South Africa, Bibliometrics
- Abstract
Background : Publication is one of the quantitative measures of countries' contribution to research and innovation. This paper attempts to understand the publication related information of the BRICS countries (Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa). Methods : Detailed analysis of publications on the basis of collaboration, research area, number of publications, percentage of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) spent on research, and citation is presented in the paper. An attempt is also made to understand the relations between each of the parameters and the overall performance of the country. Results : Times Higher Education global ranking is considered as a measure to validate the claims of this paper. This study shows that among the BRICS nations, China with the highest percentage of GDP spent on research has also the highest number of researchers and publication output whereas South Africa excels in terms of number of international collaborative publications and publications in high impact journals. This article has highlighted the distribution of publications as per the subject area with India leading in the area of Computer Science. Discussion : Results showed a strong relationship between each of the parameters discussed on the research performance of a country., Competing Interests: No competing interests were disclosed., (Copyright: © 2021 I Narayan A et al.)
- Published
- 2021
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32. Towards Achieving Sustainable Development: Role of Technology Innovation, Technology Adoption and CO 2 Emission for BRICS.
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Su CW, Xie Y, Shahab S, Faisal CMN, Hafeez M, and Qamri GM
- Subjects
- Brazil, China, Economic Development, Humans, India, Policy, Russia, South Africa, Carbon Dioxide, Inventions, Sustainable Development, Technology organization & administration
- Abstract
In the digital era, technology innovation and adoption trigger economic growth and enhance CO
2 emissions through productivity, which places it in the mainstream policy debate. For BRICS economies, this paper uses the first method proposed in the literature to quantify their information and communication technology (ICT) and innovatively links each country to their information technology adoption rate, as a surrogate indicator for measuring information and communication technology. Environmental Kuznets curve evidence is also examined, using technology innovation, technology adoption, and trade openness as the control variables for sustainable development. The results show that two out of three technology innovation instruments, fixed telephone, and broadband subscriptions increase CO2 emissions. Simultaneously, mobile cellular subscriptions have a lowering effect on CO2 emission in BRICS. The technology adoption indicators, high-technology exports, and electric power consumption also cause an upsurge in CO2 emission. Moreover, trade openness also enriches the level of CO2 emission in the BRICS regions. There is a need to devise technology innovation and adoption policies to better use technology and to ensure a green environment.- Published
- 2021
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33. Examining the role of BRICS countries at the global economic and environmental resources nexus.
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Tian X, Sarkis J, Geng Y, Bleischwitz R, Qian Y, Xu L, and Wu R
- Subjects
- Brazil, China, India, Russia, South Africa, Carbon Dioxide, Economic Development
- Abstract
The BRICS countries (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) are central to future global economic development. However, they are facing both environmental and natural resource stresses due to their rapid economic growth. This study examines the balance between economic benefits and cost of environmental emissions and resource usage in BRICS countries so that future sustainable development insights can be provided. The historical trends of carbon dioxide (CO
2 ), sulfur dioxide (SO2 ), water, land, energy and material footprints of these countries from 1995 to 2015 are evaluated with a multi-regional input-output model. Also, whether a decoupling relationship exists between economic development, environmental emissions and resources consumption, is examined. In addition, whether environmental emissions and resource usage costs to obtain identical economic gains of these countries in global trade are explored. The major results show that in congruence with economic development, the average annual growth rates of footprint indicators ranged from 0.2% in 1995 to 9.8% in 2015. A decoupling effect did not occur for CO2 emissions or water consumption but did exist for other indicators. Global trade across the supply chain shows to achieve a unit of USD economic benefit from trade, BRICS countries tend to use relatively greater environmental emissions and resource consumption to high income countries, when compared to other income level countries. These emergent economies did receive relatively greater benefits per environmental emissions and resource usage cost from lower-middle and low-income countries., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2020 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)- Published
- 2020
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34. Mapping the tuberculosis scientific landscape among BRICS countries: a bibliometric and network analysis.
- Author
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Castor K, Mota FB, da Silva RM, Cabral BP, Maciel EL, de Almeida IN, Arakaki-Sanchez D, Andrade KB, Testov V, Vasilyeva I, Zhao Y, Zhang H, Singh M, Rao R, Tripathy S, Gray G, Padayatchi N, Bhagwandin N, Swaminathan S, Kasaeva T, and Kritski A
- Subjects
- Brazil, China, Humans, India, Russia, South Africa, Bibliometrics, Biomedical Research statistics & numerical data, Periodicals as Topic statistics & numerical data, Publication Bias, Tuberculosis
- Abstract
Background: The five BRICS (Brazil, Russian, Indian, China, and South Africa) countries bear 49% of the world's tuberculosis (TB) burden and they are committed to ending tuberculosis., Objectives: The aim of this paper is to map the scientific landscape related to TB research in BRICS countries., Methods: Were combined bibliometrics and social network analysis techniques to map the scientific publications related to TB produced by the BRICS. Was made a descriptive statistical data covering the full period of analysis (1993-2016) and the research networks were made for 2007-2016 (8,366 records). The bubble charts were generated by VantagePoint and the networks by the Gephi 0.9.1 software (Gephi Consortium 2010) from co-occurrence matrices produced in VantagePoint. The Fruchterman-Reingold algorithm provided the networks' layout., Findings: During the period 1993-2016, there were 38,315 peer-reviewed, among them, there were 11,018 (28.7%) articles related by one or more authors in a BRICS: India 38.7%; China 23.8%; South Africa 21.1%; Brazil 13.0%; and Russia 4.5% (The total was greater than 100% because our criterion was all papers with at least one author in a BRICS). Among the BRICS, there was greater interaction between India and South Africa and organisations in India and China had the highest productivity; however, South African organisations had more interaction with countries outside the BRICS. Publications by and about BRICS generally covered all research areas, especially those in India and China covered all research areas, although Brazil and South Africa prioritised infectious diseases, microbiology, and the respiratory system., Main Conclusions: An overview of BRICS scientific publications and interactions highlighted the necessity to develop a BRICS TB research plan to increase efforts and funding to ensure that basic science research successfully translates into products and policies to help end the TB epidemic.
- Published
- 2020
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35. Disparate compensation policies for research related injury in an era of multinational trials: a case study of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa.
- Author
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Chingarande GR and Moodley K
- Subjects
- Beneficence, Biomedical Research ethics, Brazil, Cross-Cultural Comparison, Developing Countries, Humans, India, Multicenter Studies as Topic, Personal Autonomy, Principle-Based Ethics, Russia, Social Justice, South Africa, Biomedical Research legislation & jurisprudence, Compensation and Redress, Government Regulation, Policy, Research Subjects, Wounds and Injuries etiology
- Abstract
Background: Compensation for research related injuries is a subject that is increasingly gaining traction in developing countries which are burgeoning destinations of multi center research. However, the existence of disparate compensation rules violates the ethical principle of fairness. The current paper presents a comparison of the policies of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa (BRICS)., Methods: A systematic search of good clinical practice guidelines was conducted employing search strategies modeled in line with the recommendations of ADPTE Collaboration (2007). The search focused on three main areas namely bibliographic data bases, clinical practice guidelines data bases and a restricted internet search. A manual search of references cited in relevant guideline documents was also conducted. The search terms, Medical Subject Headings (MeSH) and key words were developed for a PubMed platform and then adapted for all other data bases. The search terms were kept constant for each country with the only difference being the country name. The documents so obtained were subjected to systematic content analysis., Results: The study revealed that there is vast panoply of regulations which exist on a continuum. On one extreme is India with comprehensive regulations that are codified into law, and on the other end there is China which does not have specific laws regulating research related injuries. There are a number of differences and similarities such as mandatory insurance requirements, existence of no fault compensation, compensable injuries and the role of research ethics committees., Conclusions: It is imperative to enact legislations that protect participants without stifling the research enterprise. There is need for consistency and ideally harmonization of such regulations at a global level. A model policy on compensation for research related injuries should borrow from the best aspects of the different country policies and should be informed by the cardinal ethics principles of autonomy, justice and beneficence.
- Published
- 2018
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
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