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2. Accreditation and Quality Assurance in Higher Education: Papers on Higher Education Series.
- Author
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United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization, Bucharest (Romania). European Centre for Higher Education. and Sterian, Paul Enache
- Abstract
This paper offers a broad look at accreditation and quality assurance in higher education and how these issues are addressed around the world. Section 1 is an overview of accreditation and addresses the aims and objectives of accreditation, standards, accreditation bodies, stages of the accreditation process, the quality of that process, the role of government in the accreditation process, some critical points of view concerning the process, and present accreditation trends. Section 2 looks at accreditation and quality assurance through brief national case studies. The nations represented are France, Germany, United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Sweden, the United States, China, India, Hong Kong, South Africa, Nigeria, Kenya, and Australia. This section closes with a section comparing accreditation and quality assurance in various regions. Section 3 takes a closer and more detailed look at the accreditation process in Romania, particularly in light of the recent political and educational changes in this nation and the fairly recent decision to introduce accreditation of institutions of higher education. This examination covers accreditation principles and objectives, standards for initial and subsequent accreditation, application rules, structure of the accreditation committee and its functions, and provisions for financing accreditation. Appendixes contain institutional evaluation standards and a glossary. (Contains 27 references.) (JB)
- Published
- 1992
3. 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.
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- 2022
4. Affirmative Action in Education and Black Economic Empowerment in the Workplace in South Africa since 1994: Policies, Strengths and Limitations
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Herman, Harold D.
- Abstract
This paper explains the concepts of Affirmative Action (AA) and Black Economic Empowerment (BEE) and the policies developed in post-Apartheid South Africa. It compares it to similar policies adopted in different contexts in Malaysia, India and the U.S.A. It explains and critiques the South African policies on AA and BEE, its history since 1994 and how class has replaced race as the determinant of who succeeds in education and the workplace. It analyses why these policies were essential to address the massive racial divide in education and the workplace at the arrival of democracy in 1994, but also why it has been controversial and racially divisive. The strengths and limitations of these policies are juxtaposed, the way it has benefitted the black and white elites, bolstered the black middle-class but has had little success in addressing the education and job futures of poor, working class black citizens in South Africa. The views of a number of key social analysts in the field are stated to explain the moral, racial, divisive aspects of AA in relation to the international experience and how South Africa is grappling with limited success to bridge the divide between the rich and poor. [For the complete Volume 15 proceedings, see ED574185.]
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- 2017
5. The Global Micro-Credential Landscape: Charting a New Credential Ecology for Lifelong Learning
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Brown, Mark, Mhichil, Mairéad Nic Giolla, Beirne, Elaine, and Mac Lochlainn, Conchúr
- Abstract
This article offers a global overview of the burgeoning field of micro-credentials and their relationship to lifelong learning, employability and new models of digital education. Although there is no globally accepted definition of micro-credentials, the term indicates smaller units of study, which are usually shorter than traditional forms of accredited learning and courses leading to conventional qualifications such as degrees. The paper aims to provide educators with a helicopter view of the rapidly evolving global micro-credential landscape, with particular relevance to higher education leaders, industry stakeholders and government policy-makers. It addresses five questions: (i) What are micro-credentials? (ii) Why micro-credentials? (iii) Who are the key stakeholders? (iv) What is happening globally? and (v) What are some of the key takeaways? Drawing on a European-wide perspective and recent developments in The Republic of Ireland, the paper concludes that micro-credentials are likely to become a more established and mature feature of the 21st-century credential ecology over the next five years. While the global micro-credential landscape is currently disconnected across national boundaries, more clarity and coherence will emerge as governments around the world increasingly align new credentialing developments with existing national qualification frameworks. The micro-credentialing movement also provides opportunities for governments and higher education institutions in partnership with industry to harness new digital learning models beyond the pandemic.
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- 2021
6. COVID-19's Impact on Higher Education: A Rapid Review of Early Reactive Literature
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Khan, Muzammal Ahmad
- Abstract
This rapid systematic review aims to examine emerging evidence on the effects of COVID-19 on educational institutions and assess the prevalence of e-learning changes in the sector. This paper reviews literature on learning, teaching, and assessment approaches adopted since the COVID-19 outbreak, and assesses the impact on the sector, staff, and students, summarizing findings from peer-reviewed articles. It categorizes these into five key themes: (1) digital learning; (2) e-learning challenges; (3) digital transition to emergency virtual assessment (EVA); (4) psychological impact of COVID-19; and (5) creating collaborative cultures. This represents the first systematic review of COVID-19's impact on education, clarifying current themes being investigated. The author suggests that the term 'emergency virtual assessment' (EVA) is now added for future research discussion. Finally, the paper identifies research gaps, including researching the impact on lesser developed countries, the psychological impact of transition, and the important role of leadership and leadership styles during the transition and handling of the pandemic.
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- 2021
7. New Challenges to Education: Lessons from around the World. BCES Conference Books, Volume 19
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Bulgarian Comparative Education Society (BCES), Popov, Nikolay, Wolhuter, Charl, de Beer, Louw, Hilton, Gillian, Ogunleye, James, Achinewhu-Nworgu, Elizabeth, Niemczyk, Ewelina, Popov, Nikolay, Wolhuter, Charl, de Beer, Louw, Hilton, Gillian, Ogunleye, James, Achinewhu-Nworgu, Elizabeth, Niemczyk, Ewelina, and Bulgarian Comparative Education Society (BCES)
- Abstract
This volume contains a collection of selected papers submitted to the 19th Annual International Conference of the Bulgarian Comparative Education Society (BCES) held in June 2021. The 19th BCES Conference theme is "New Challenges to Education: Lessons from around the World." The book includes 40 papers written by 66 authors from 15 countries. The volume starts with an introductory piece co-authored by Zoltán Rónay and Ewelina K Niemczyk. The other 39 papers are divided into 6 parts representing the thematic sections: (1) Comparative and International Education & History of Education; (2) International Organizations and Education; (3) School Education: Policies, Innovations, Practices & Entrepreneurship; (4) Higher Education & Teacher Education and Training; (5) Law and Education; and (6) Research Education & Research Practice. The papers included in this year's conference volume outline a variety of challenges all actors in the education process (students, teachers, administrators, policy decision makers) at all levels of the education systems have recently faced. Readers can find conceptual and empirical studies, quantitative and qualitative methods, descriptive and analytical approaches, and even pessimistic and optimistic authors' views. This volume presents how novel concepts, ironical definitions, and provoking considerations are born in difficult times, when restricted life meets unrestricted spirit. [Individual papers are indexed in ERIC.]
- Published
- 2021
8. Variables Affecting Student Motivation Based on Academic Publications
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Yilmaz, Ercan, Sahin, Mehmet, and Turgut, Mehmet
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In this study, the variables having impact on the student motivation have been analyzed based on the articles, conference papers, master's theses and doctoral dissertations published in the years 2000-2017. A total of 165 research papers were selected for the research material and the data were collected through qualitative research techniques through document review and content analysis. According to the research results, the most important factors affecting student motivation are the fields of teacher, teachers' classroom management skills and their teaching methods. In this research, factors having less influence on the student motivation are parental communication, student characteristics and study fields. In addition, relational search type was used more than others, mostly students were selected as the study group and most researches were conducted in USA and Turkey.
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- 2017
9. Mapping the Integration of the Sustainable Development Goals in Universities: Is It a Field of Study?
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Murillo-Vargas, Guillermo, Gonzalez-Campo, Carlos Hernan, and Brath, Diony Ico
- Abstract
This article maps the scientific production and the contents associated with the sustainable development goals and their integration with universities during the past 21 years. Although many of the topics related to sustainable development goals (SDGs) have been addressed in different studies for decades, it is since 2015 onwards that they gained greater prominence due to the inclusion of higher education as an important actor in the fulfillment of the 2030 agenda and the United Nations SDGs. For the purpose of this paper, a bibliometric analysis of 871 papers, 535 documents in Scopus, and 336 in Web of Science (WoS) from 1998 to 2019 was performed, and the Bibliometrix analysis tool was used. The objective of this mapping is to answer the following research question: Is the integration of the Sustainable Development Goals and Universities a field of study? An analysis of the network of collaborators and trend topics in Scopus and WoS allows us to identify the concurrence and relationships of some keywords, such as sustainable development, sustainability and planning, and some background words, such as humans and global health. In another analysis, the word "higher education" is related to change. This article suggests that the integration of the Sustainable Development Goals in Universities is becoming a field of study under exploration, with a peak of production in 2016 and that has remained stable in the last three years, but thanks to the leading role assigned to Universities, intellectual production should increase in the following years.
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- 2020
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10. Hearing care across the life course provided in the community.
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Suen, Jonathan J., Bhatnagar, Kaustubh, Emmett, Susan D., Marrone, Nicole, Kleindienst Robler, Samantha, Swanepoel, De Wet, Wong, Aileen, and Nieman, Carrie L.
- Subjects
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TREATMENT of hearing disorders , *AUDIOMETRY , *CHILDREN'S health , *COST effectiveness , *HUMAN life cycle , *MEDICAL practice , *SOCIAL support , *TASK performance , *CLINICAL supervision , *EVALUATION of human services programs - Abstract
Untreated hearing loss is recognized as a growing global health priority because of its prevalence and harmful effects on health and well-being. Until recently, little progress had been made in expanding hearing care beyond traditional clinic-based models to incorporate public health approaches that increase accessibility to and affordability of hearing care. As demonstrated in numerous countries and for many health conditions, sharing health-care tasks with community health workers (CHWs) offers advantages as a complementary approach to expand health-service delivery and improve public health. This paper explores the possibilities of task shifting to provide hearing care across the life course by reviewing several ongoing projects in a variety of settings -- Bangladesh, India, South Africa and the United States of America. The selected programmes train CHWs to provide a range of hearing-care services, from childhood hearing screening to management of age-related hearing loss. We discuss lessons learnt from these examples to inform best practices for task shifting within community-delivered hearing care. Preliminary evidence supports the feasibility, acceptability and effectiveness of hearing care delivered by CHWs in these varied settings. To make further progress, community-delivered hearing care must build on established models of CHWs and ensure adequate training and supervision, delineation of the scope of practice, supportive local and national legislation, incorporation of appropriate technology and analysis of programme costs and cost--effectiveness. In view of the growing evidence, community-delivered hearing care may now be a way forward to improve hearing health equity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2019
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11. Education's Role in Preparing Globally Competent Citizens. BCES Conference Books, Volume 12
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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
12. Turning the Digital Divide into Digital Dividends through Free Content and Open Networks: WikiEducator Learning4Content (L4C) Initiative
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Schlicht, Patricia
- Abstract
In today's world where tuition fees continue to rise rapidly and the demand for higher education increases in both the developing and developed world, it is important to find additional and alternative learning pathways that learners can afford. Traditional education as we have known it has begun to change, allowing for new parallel learning opportunities to take shape and new avenues to open up. This paper describes the world's largest online training initiative on open education that teaches wiki technology to educators in the formal education sector worldwide. WikiEducator, founded in 2006, initially operated with funding support from the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation (WFHF) under the auspices of the Commonwealth of Learning (COL), an intergovernmental organization created by Commonwealth Heads of Government to encourage the development and sharing of open learning and distance education knowledge, resources, and technology. In May 2009, it became its own entity residing under Otago Polytechnic's International Centre for Open Education Resources under the auspices of the Open Education Resource Foundation (OERF) in Dunedin, New Zealand, where it continues today. WikiEducator's flagship, the Learning4Content (L4C) project, builds capacity among global educators by teaching wiki technology to newcomers and experts in the field of open education. In exchange for the free training opportunity they receive, participants are asked to create open content on WikiEducator and contribute toward WikiEducator's strategic objectives. The success of the L4C project helped WikiEducator reach its target number of equipping 2,500 educators with wiki skills to create open educational resources online two years ahead of the initially planned three years and was the reason for a large additional number of novices and experts alike joining the project. Even though many learners make use of the free learning opportunities offered through the L4C project, for those who do not have access to online content--or even computers--WikiEducator has developed a feature called "wiki-to-print," which allows users to select free and open WikiEducator content and combine it into a book that can be printed and used offline. Distribution of these print-based, compiled books provides an opportunity to those who do not or will never have access to the Internet and technology to gain access to knowledge and information. This paper will describe WikiEducator's stages of development and the outcomes it has achieved as the world's largest attempt to build wiki skills among global educators.
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- 2013
13. BEYOND COMPULSORY LICENSING: PFIZER SHARES ITS COVID-19 MEDICINES WITH THE PATENT POOL.
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Chenglin Liu
- Subjects
INTELLECTUAL property ,CORONAVIRUS diseases ,VACCINES ,PUBLIC health - Abstract
On March 15, 2022, the United States, European Union, India, and South Africa reached an agreement on the waiver of intellectual property rights (IP rights) for COVID-19 vaccines. The waiver agreement has rekindled the debate on the balance between IP rights protection and equitable access to medicines during a public health crisis. India, South Africa, and other developing countries maintain that a waiver was the only way to make vaccines affordable and accessible. Leading pharmaceutical companies argue that the waiver will stifle innovation and make lifesaving medicines less accessible. Both sides have seemingly overlooked Pfizer's voluntary agreement with the Medicines Patent Pool (MPP) to share the IP rights for Paxlovid, the company's highly effective COVID-19 medicine. Based on a careful examination of Pfizer's agreement, this Article argues that the MPP presents an effective alternative to the waiver approach and concludes that the Pfizer-MPP model has the potential to reach an equilibrium between access and innovation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2023
14. 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
15. Bibliometric Analysis of the Research on Seamless Learning
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Talan, Tarik
- Abstract
Seamless learning has a significance that has been increasing in recent years, and an increasing number of studies on the subject in the literature draws attention. This study aimed to examine the research on seamless learning between 1996 and 2020 with the bibliometric analysis method. The Scopus database was used in the collection of the data. After various screening processes, a total of 389 publications were included in the analysis. Descriptive analysis and bibliometric analysis were used in the analysis of the data. The distribution of publications by years, types of publications, sources, and languages were analyzed in the research. Additionally, visual maps were created with analyses of co-author, cocitation, and co-word. At the end of the study, it was seen that there has been an increase in the number of publications from the past to the present, articles and papers were predominant, and that most of the studies were carried out in English. As a result of bibliometric analysis, it was concluded that the most efficient countries in seamless learning were the United Kingdom, the United States, and Singapore. Also, it has been determined that the National Institute of Education, Center for International Education and Exchange, and Kyushu University institutions are dominant. The most frequently mentioned authors cited in studies in many different fields are M. Sharples, L.-H. Wong, and H. Ogata. According to the co-word analysis, the keywords seamless learning, mobile learning, ubiquitous learning, and mobile-assisted language learning stand out in the field of seamless learning.
- Published
- 2021
16. 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
17. DO RACE-BASED PREFERENCES PERPETUATE DISCRIMINATION AGAINST MARGINALIZED ETHNIC GROUPS?
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Wydick, Bruce
- Subjects
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AFFIRMATIVE action programs , *EMPLOYMENT policy , *LABOR policy , *ETHNIC groups , *INCOME - Abstract
Race-based preferential policies have been employed in the United States and other countries such as Malaysia, South Africa, Brazil, and India to foster economic development among economically marginalized ethnic groups. This research applies a two-player signaling model to help understand labor-market effects of race-based preferential policies used in college admissions. The model shows that in the context of imperfect information in the labor market, purely race-based forms of preferential policies in college admissions are likely to lead to statistical discrimination by future employers, reducing the equilibrium wage of targeted minority groups for both college graduates and non-college graduates. In addition, average wages of the targeted group remain unchanged in the model, with the targeted group being worse off to the extent that educational signaling is costly. In conclusion, the paper argues that race-base preferences cannot substitute for policies and programs that genuinely address imbalances in college preparation between ethnic groups. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
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- 2008
- Full Text
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18. Multidimensional Attribution of Causality in Five Cross-National Samples.
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Chandler, Theodore A.
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This study examined four causal attributions (ability, effort, task difficulty and luck) for success and failure in achievement and affiliation contexts across five countries (U.S., South Africa, Japan, India, and Yugoslavia) in three subject majors: teacher training, social science, and science. Each 5x2x3x2 analysis of variance assessed the effects of five countries, both sexes, and three academic majors repeated across both success and failure situations. Although there was some support of earlier studies of sex differences and western-eastern country distractions, the findings are more complex than previously determined using a single dimension and only one context. Results suggest more similarities than differences among subjects from the five nations studied. They believed their failures mainly due to lack of effort. Females attributed their achievement significantly less to contextual factors than did males. Education majors attributed more to context than did social science majors. Social affiliation was attributed more to ability than to other causes, and more so by females than by males. (Author/CTM)
- Published
- 1980
19. Gender Differences in Multiattributional Causality for Achievement and Affiliation in Five Cross-National Samples.
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Chandler, Theodore A.
- Abstract
The purpose of this study was to expand the previous limited locus of control focus of gender differences cross-nationally by shifting to an attributional model for both successes and failures in both achievement and affiliation domains in order to test the hypothesis that women differ from men in their attributional patterns for achievement and affiliation across various attributional factors for success/failure outcomes. The Multidimensional-Multiattributional Causality Scale was administered to a total of 684 college students from India, Japan, South Africa, Yugoslavia, and the United States. There were significant differences between males and females across all five countries for achievement attributions to task, and for the internal/external dimension. The differences for attributions to ability, effort, and luck, as well as for the stable/unstable dimension, were not significant. All these differences were generally small, and so may not be meaningful. Gender differences appeared to be stronger in the affiliation than in the achievement domain. (Author/BW)
- Published
- 1982
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
- Subjects
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
- Full Text
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21. Breastfeeding and childhood obesity: A 12‐country study.
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Ma, Jian, Qiao, Yijuan, Zhao, Pei, Li, Wei, Katzmarzyk, Peter T., Chaput, Jean‐Philippe, Fogelholm, Mikael, Kuriyan, Rebecca, Lambert, Estelle V., Maher, Carol, Maia, Jose, Matsudo, Victor, Olds, Timothy, Onywera, Vincent, Sarmiento, Olga L., Standage, Martyn, Tremblay, Mark S., Tudor‐Locke, Catrine, and Hu, Gang
- Subjects
ADIPOSE tissues ,BODY weight ,BREASTFEEDING ,BREASTFEEDING promotion ,CHI-squared test ,CONFIDENCE intervals ,FOOD habits ,GESTATIONAL age ,CHILDHOOD obesity ,RESEARCH funding ,SLEEP ,STATURE ,EDUCATIONAL attainment ,BODY mass index ,ACCELEROMETRY ,DISEASE prevalence ,CROSS-sectional method ,SEDENTARY lifestyles ,PHYSICAL activity ,DATA analysis software ,WAIST circumference ,DESCRIPTIVE statistics ,ODDS ratio ,ONE-way analysis of variance - Abstract
This study aimed to examine the association between breastfeeding and childhood obesity. A multinational cross‐sectional study of 4,740 children aged 9–11 years was conducted from 12 countries. Infant breastfeeding was recalled by parents or legal guardians. Height, weight, waist circumference, and body fat were obtained using standardized methods. The overall prevalence of obesity, central obesity, and high body fat were 12.3%, 9.9%, and 8.1%, respectively. After adjustment for maternal age at delivery, body mass index (BMI), highest maternal education, history of gestational diabetes, gestational age, and child's age, sex, birth weight, unhealthy diet pattern scores, moderate‐to‐vigorous physical activity, sleeping, and sedentary time, exclusive breastfeeding was associated with lower odds of obesity (odds ratio [OR] 0.76, 95% confidence interval, CI [0.57, 1.00]) and high body fat (OR 0.60, 95% CI [0.43, 0.84]) compared with exclusive formula feeding. The multivariable‐adjusted ORs based on different breastfeeding durations (none, 1–6, 6–12, and > 12 months) were 1.00, 0.74, 0.70, and 0.60 for obesity (Ptrend =.020) and 1.00, 0.64, 047, and 0.64 for high body fat (Ptrend =.012), respectively. These associations were no longer significant after adjustment for maternal BMI. Breastfeeding may be a protective factor for obesity and high body fat in 9‐ to 11‐year‐old children from 12 countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2020
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
22. An Assessment of the Growth in Coverage of Social and Environmental Issues in Graduate Accounting Courses
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Green, Sharon and Weber, James
- Abstract
The paper examines if there has been an increase in the attention paid to social and environmental issues (SEI) in accounting curricula. Using schools participating in the Aspen Institute's Beyond Grey Pinstripes (BGP) program, we measure the increase in the number of accounting courses incorporating SEI across the biennial application years of 2005, 2007 and 2009. We also examine the percentage of SEI coverage in accounting courses between 2007 and 2009. Our findings suggest that there was not an appreciable increase in the number of accounting courses dealing with SEI between 2005 and 2007, but that the increase was significant during the period from 2007 to 2009. Further, the increase over the four-year period from 2005 to 2009 was also significant. In addition, there is a significant increase in the percentage of SEI coverage in accounting courses between 2007 and 2009. Implications of these findings are discussed.
- Published
- 2013
23. Antecedents, Correlates and Consequences of Faculty Burnout
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Sabagh, Zaynab, Hall, Nathan C., and Saroyan, Alenoush
- Abstract
Background: Over the past few decades, higher education institutions worldwide have experienced substantial changes, including: massification, internationalisation and increasing demands for exceptional instructional quality and research quantity in environments that have also seen heightened competition for students, faculty and resources. Accordingly, these changes have contributed to a highly demanding academic employment climate that pose challenges for personal and professional development in post-secondary faculty (i.e. university or college research and teaching academics), as well as potential negative impacts on student learning and, ultimately, institutional productivity. Purpose: Given the emergent nature of scattered existing research on faculty burnout, the present paper attempts to synthesise and critically examine published empirical findings concerning the various correlates, antecedents and outcomes of faculty burnout as informed by the Job Demands-Resources model (Demerouti et al. 2001). Design and method: Existing empirical research on faculty burnout was identified through a rigorous search of English language, peer-reviewed articles across relevant databases (e.g. ERIC, Psycinfo, Scopus) resulting in 36 quantitative, cross-sectional studies, satisfying detailed a priori inclusion criteria. Results: The review revealed multiple themes across studies with respect to mixed effects of demographic background factors on burnout levels, as well as clear detrimental effects of adverse job demands (e.g. workload, task characteristics, value conflict) and lack of resources (e.g. social support, rewards, control) on faculty burnout. Additionally, both personal characteristics (e.g. motivation, optimism) and stressors outside the workplace (e.g. family stressors and lack of support) were found to contribute significantly to faculty burnout, with greater burnout, in turn, having consistent adverse consequences for performance and commitment (e.g. reduced work activities, turnover intentions) as well as psychological and physical health (e.g. ill health, depression) in faculty. Conclusions: The findings presented underscore the importance of faculty burnout and the challenges it presents in terms of faculty well-being as well as student development and institutional performance. Findings also provide further insight into the ways in which intervention efforts and resources targeting faculty burnout may prove effective.
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- 2018
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24. THE DECLINING INFLUENCE OF THE UNITED STATES CONSTITUTION.
- Author
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Law, David S. and Versteeg, Mila
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CONSTITUTIONALISM ,HUMAN rights - Abstract
It has been suggested, with growing frequency, that the United States may be losing its influence over constitutionalism in other countries because it is increasingly out of sync with an evolving global consensus on issues of human rights. Little is known in an empirical and systematic way, however, about the extent to which the U. S. Constitution influences the revision and adoption of formal constitutions in other countries. In this Article, we show empirically that other countries have, in recent decades, become increasingly unlikely to model either the rights-related provisions or the basic structural provisions of their own constitutions upon those found in the U.S. Constitution. Analysis of sixty years of comprehensive data on the content of the world's constitutions reveals that there is a significant and growing generic component to global constitutionalism, in the form of a set of rights provisions that appear in nearly all formal constitutions. On the basis of this data, we are able to identify the world's most and least generic constitutions. Our analysis also confirms, however, that the U.S. Constitution is increasingly far from the global mainstream. The fact that the U.S. Constitution is not widely emulated raises the question of whether there is an alternative paradigm that constitutional drafters in other countries now employ as a model instead. One possibility is that their attention has shifted to some other prominent national constitution. To evaluate this possibility, we analyze the content of the world's constitutions for telltale patterns of similarity to the constitutions of Canada, Germany, South Africa, and India, which have often been identified as especially influential. We find some support in the data for the notion that the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms has influenced constitution making in other countries. This influence is neither uniform nor global in scope, however, but instead reflects an evolutionary path shared primarily by other common law countries. By comparison, we uncover no patterns that would suggest widespread constitutional emulation of Germany, South Africa, or India. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2012
25. Change and Continuity: A Quantitative Investigation of Trends and Characteristics of International Social Workers in England.
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Hussein, Shereen, Stevens, Martin, Manthorpe, Jill, and Moriarty, Jo
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CLINICAL competence ,AGE distribution ,ANALYSIS of variance ,CHI-squared test ,FOREIGN medical personnel ,RESEARCH funding ,SOCIAL workers ,QUANTITATIVE research - Abstract
The UK has long experienced a shortage of social workers and has recruited internationally to meet demand. There have been few specific data quantifying the scale of social work mobility to the UK through which such experiences can be set in context. The analysis reported in this article uses data from October 2008, relating to registered social workers working in England. As part of a wider study of migrant social care workers in England, the article reports analysis of data records of over 7,000 non-UK social workers registered to work in England and compares their characteristics to UK-qualified social workers. These analyses are supplemented by analysis of more recent application and registration data from the General Social Care Council pertaining to social workers qualified within and outside the European Union during 2008 and 2009. The findings highlight several important observations in terms of non-UK-qualified social workers' profile as well as some possible trends in migration and variations in rates of qualification verification. Over half of all international social workers in England were trained in four countries: Australia, South Africa, India and the USA. Findings are contextualised with qualitative data obtained from the wider study and policy debates. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]
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- 2011
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26. A cross-national analysis of affirmative action: an evolutionary psychological perspective.
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Chulguen Yang, D'Souza, Geeta C., Bapat, Ashwini S., and Colarelli, Stephen M.
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AFFIRMATIVE action programs ,EVOLUTIONARY psychology - Abstract
Affirmative action (AA) is a government policy permitting employers and universities to give preferential treatment to applicants from specific (e.g. racial) groups. We present a comparative analysis of AA in six countries (India, USA, Malaysia, Canada, South Africa, and Brazil) and explain similarities among these programs according to universal psychological mechanisms and variation according to cultural–historical contexts. It appears that similarities in contextual conditions (e.g. democratic government, multi-ethnic states) interact with ancient psychological mechanisms (e.g. fairness, cheater detection, alliance tracking) to provide at least part of the motivation for the development and expansion of AA, despite its problematic consequences. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
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- 2006
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27. Into the Unknown: A Critical Reflection on a Truly Global Learning Experience
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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.
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- 2013
28. Policy of Preference: Lessons from India, the United States, and South Africa.
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Tummula, Krishna K.
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SOCIAL policy ,DEMOCRACY ,DISCRIMINATION (Sociology) ,LEGAL status of minorities ,PUBLIC administration - Abstract
The article compares the public policy experience of three nations, India, the United States, and South Africa. The article provides a brief rationale for affirmative action, describes the policy initiatives and the politics of preference, and presents an assessment followed by some concluding remarks. India, the largest working democracy, in an effort to transform an essentially unequal and hierarchical society into a "Sovereign Socialist Secular Democratic Republic" has over the last 50 years embarked upon a serious measure of "reservations to undo institutionalized social discrimination practiced over the millennia. The United States of America, an immigrant nation and the most stable democracy, has to come to grips with its ethnic diversity and more importantly undo the impact of past discrimination against minorities. South Africa, after a long rule by a tiny minority, has come into the comity of modern democratic nations only recently with the transfer of power to the majority blacks in 1994. While the experience of India and the United States in this context is formidable and long, the South African experience is nascent but important.
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- 1999
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29. Rainwater Harvesting for Agricultural Irrigation: An Analysis of Global Research.
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Velasco-Muñoz, Juan F., Aznar-Sánchez, José A., Batlles-delaFuente, Ana, and Fidelibus, Maria Dolores
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WATER harvesting ,RAINWATER ,HARVESTING ,IRRIGATION ,GLOBAL analysis (Mathematics) ,ENVIRONMENTAL sciences ,LIFE sciences - Abstract
Within a context of scarce water resources for agriculture, rainwater harvesting constitutes a promising alternative that has been studied by different disciplines in recent years. This article analyses the dynamics of global research on rainwater harvesting for agricultural irrigation over the last two decades. To do this, qualitative systematic analysis and quantitative bibliometric analysis have been carried out. The results reveal that this line of research is becoming increasingly important within research on irrigation. Environmental sciences and agricultural and biological sciences are the most relevant subject areas. Agricultural Water Management, Physics and Chemistry of the Earth, and Irrigation and Drainage are the journals that have published the most articles on the subject. India, China, the United States (USA), South Africa, and the Netherlands are the countries that lead this line of research. Although significant progress has been made in this subject area, it is necessary to increase the number of studies on the capacity of rainwater harvesting systems to cover irrigation needs in different farming contexts, the factors that determine their adoption by farmers, the economic and financial feasibility of their implementation, and their contribution to mitigating global climate change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
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- 2019
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30. The WEEK.
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INTERNATIONAL relations, 1955-1965 ,APARTHEID ,INTERNATIONAL economic assistance ,PUBLIC demonstrations ,ANTI-communist movements - Abstract
Focuses on various socio-political developments from the world. Reference to apartheid in South Africa as the worst situation in the world; Information on a week-long demonstration in New York City by Strike for Peace; Aid to India by Western nations against Chinese attack; Appeal by the Anti-Communist Feminine Movement of Venezuela to all Venezuelans to support the United States in its blockade against Cuban Prime Minister Fidel Castro; Decision of the United Nations General Assembly to close their ports to South African ships, boycott all South African goods and refuse landing facilities to South African aircraft to protest against her internal racial policies.
- Published
- 1962
31. 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.)
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- 2024
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32. Toward identifying reproducible brain signatures of obsessive-compulsive profiles: rationale and methods for a new global initiative.
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Simpson HB, van den Heuvel OA, Miguel EC, Reddy YCJ, Stein DJ, Lewis-Fernández R, Shavitt RG, Lochner C, Pouwels PJW, Narayanawamy JC, Venkatasubramanian G, Hezel DM, Vriend C, Batistuzzo MC, Hoexter MQ, de Joode NT, Costa DL, de Mathis MA, Sheshachala K, Narayan M, van Balkom AJLM, Batelaan NM, Venkataram S, Cherian A, Marincowitz C, Pannekoek N, Stovezky YR, Mare K, Liu F, Otaduy MCG, Pastorello B, Rao R, Katechis M, Van Meter P, and Wall M
- Subjects
- Adolescent, Adult, Brain pathology, Brain physiopathology, Brazil, Case-Control Studies, Female, Humans, India, Male, Middle Aged, Netherlands, Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder pathology, Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder physiopathology, Research Design, Siblings psychology, South Africa, United States, Young Adult, Brain diagnostic imaging, Brain Mapping, Diffusion Tensor Imaging, Internationality, Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Multicenter Studies as Topic methods, Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder diagnostic imaging
- Abstract
Background: Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) has a lifetime prevalence of 2-3% and is a leading cause of global disability. Brain circuit abnormalities in individuals with OCD have been identified, but important knowledge gaps remain. The goal of the new global initiative described in this paper is to identify robust and reproducible brain signatures of measurable behaviors and clinical symptoms that are common in individuals with OCD. A global approach was chosen to accelerate discovery, to increase rigor and transparency, and to ensure generalizability of results., Methods: We will study 250 medication-free adults with OCD, 100 unaffected adult siblings of individuals with OCD, and 250 healthy control subjects at five expert research sites across five countries (Brazil, India, Netherlands, South Africa, and the U.S.). All participants will receive clinical evaluation, neurocognitive assessment, and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). The imaging will examine multiple brain circuits hypothesized to underlie OCD behaviors, focusing on morphometry (T1-weighted MRI), structural connectivity (Diffusion Tensor Imaging), and functional connectivity (resting-state fMRI). In addition to analyzing each imaging modality separately, we will also use multi-modal fusion with machine learning statistical methods in an attempt to derive imaging signatures that distinguish individuals with OCD from unaffected siblings and healthy controls (Aim #1). Then we will examine how these imaging signatures link to behavioral performance on neurocognitive tasks that probe these same circuits as well as to clinical profiles (Aim #2). Finally, we will explore how specific environmental features (childhood trauma, socioeconomic status, and religiosity) moderate these brain-behavior associations., Discussion: Using harmonized methods for data collection and analysis, we will conduct the largest neurocognitive and multimodal-imaging study in medication-free subjects with OCD to date. By recruiting a large, ethno-culturally diverse sample, we will test whether there are robust biosignatures of core OCD features that transcend countries and cultures. If so, future studies can use these brain signatures to reveal trans-diagnostic disease dimensions, chart when these signatures arise during development, and identify treatments that target these circuit abnormalities directly. The long-term goal of this research is to change not only how we conceptualize OCD but also how we diagnose and treat it.
- Published
- 2020
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
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