The challenges of good governance in the aquatic animal health sector.

PubMed

Kahn, S; Mylrea, G; Yaacov, K Bar

2012-08-01

Animal health is fundamental to efficient animal production and, therefore, to food security and human health. This holds true for both terrestrial and aquatic animals. Although partnership between producers and governmental services is vital for effective animal health programmes, many key activities are directly carried out by governmental services. Noting the need to improve the governance of such services in many developing countries, the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE), using the OIE Tool for the Evaluation of Performance of Veterinary Services, conducts assessments of Veterinary Services and Aquatic Animal Health Services (AAHS) to help strengthen governance and support more effective delivery of animal health programmes. While good governance and the tools to improve governance in the aquatic animal sector are largely based on the same principles as those that apply in the terrestrial animal sector, there are some specific challenges in the aquatic sector that have a bearing on the governance of services in this area. For example, the aquaculture industry has experienced rapid growth and the use of novel species is increasing; there are important gaps in scientific knowledge on diseases of aquatic animals; there is a need for more information on sustainable production; the level of participation of the veterinary profession in aquatic animal health is low; and there is a lack of standardisation in the training of aquatic animal health professionals. Aquaculture development can be a means of alleviating poverty and hunger in developing countries. However, animal diseases, adverse environmental impacts and food safety risks threaten to limit this development. Strengthening AAHS governance and, in consequence, aquatic animal health programmes, is the best way to ensure a dynamic and sustainable aquaculture sector in future. This paper discusses the specific challenges to AAHS governance and some OIE initiatives to help Member Countries to address them.

The skills gap in nursing management in South Africa: a sectoral analysis: a research paper.

PubMed

Pillay, Rubin

2010-03-01

To identify competencies important for effective nursing management and to assess managers' proficiency therein. A lack of management capacity has been identified as the key stumbling block to health delivery in South Africa. Despite nursing managers being central to overcoming the challenges facing health care, there has been a paucity of research that empirically evaluates their skill levels. A survey was conducted among 171 senior nursing managers in South Africa using a self-administered questionnaire. Public sector managers assessed themselves as being relatively less competent than private sector managers. The largest skill gaps for public sector managers were for 'ethico-legal', 'task-related' and 'controlling' skills whereas those for private sector managers were for 'ethico-legal', 'health-related ' and 'task-related' skills. This research confirmed the lack of management capacity within the health sector and identified areas in which the skills deficit was most significant for both the public and private sectors. These findings reflect the needs of nursing managers and will be useful in the conceptualization, design and delivery of health management programmes aimed at enhancing management and leadership capacity in the health sector in South Africa.

System integration of wind and solar power in integrated assessment models: A cross-model evaluation of new approaches

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Pietzcker, Robert C.; Ueckerdt, Falko; Carrara, Samuel

Mitigation-Process Integrated Assessment Models (MP-IAMs) are used to analyze long-term transformation pathways of the energy system required to achieve stringent climate change mitigation targets. Due to their substantial temporal and spatial aggregation, IAMs cannot explicitly represent all detailed challenges of integrating the variable renewable energies (VRE) wind and solar in power systems, but rather rely on parameterized modeling approaches. In the ADVANCE project, six international modeling teams have developed new approaches to improve the representation of power sector dynamics and VRE integration in IAMs. In this study, we qualitatively and quantitatively evaluate the last years' modeling progress and study themore » impact of VRE integration modeling on VRE deployment in IAM scenarios. For a comprehensive and transparent qualitative evaluation, we first develop a framework of 18 features of power sector dynamics and VRE integration. We then apply this framework to the newly-developed modeling approaches to derive a detailed map of strengths and limitations of the different approaches. For the quantitative evaluation, we compare the IAMs to the detailed hourly-resolution power sector model REMIX. We find that the new modeling approaches manage to represent a large number of features of the power sector, and the numerical results are in reasonable agreement with those derived from the detailed power sector model. Updating the power sector representation and the cost and resources of wind and solar substantially increased wind and solar shares across models: Under a carbon price of 30$/tCO2 in 2020 (increasing by 5% per year), the model-average cost-minimizing VRE share over the period 2050-2100 is 62% of electricity generation, 24%-points higher than with the old model version.« less

Process Evaluation of Communitisation Programme in Public Sector Health Facilities, Mokokchung District, Nagaland, 2015.

PubMed

Tushi, Aonungdok; Kaur, Prabhdeep

2017-01-01

Public sector health facilities were poorly managed due to a history of conflict in Nagaland, India. Government of Nagaland introduced "Nagaland Communitisation of Public Institutions and Services Act" in 2002. Main objectives of the evaluation were to review the functioning of Health Center Managing Committees (HCMCs), deliver health services in the institutions managed by HCMC, identify strengths as well as challenges perceived by HCMC members in the rural areas of Mokokchung district, Nagaland. The evaluation was made using input, process and output indicators. A doctor, the HCMC Chairman and one member from each of the three community health centers (CHC) and four primary health centers (PHC) were surveyed using a semi-structured questionnaire and an in-depth interview guide. Proportions for quantitative data were computed and key themes from the same were identified. Overall; the infrastructure, equipment and outpatient/inpatient service availability was satisfactory. There was a lack of funds and shortage of doctors, drugs as well as laboratory facilities. HCMCs were in place and carried out administrative activities. HCMCs felt ownership, mobilized community contributions and managed human resources. HCMC members had inadequate funds for their transport and training. They faced challenges in service delivery due to political interference and lack of adequate human, material, financial resources. Communitisation program was operational in the district. HCMC members felt the ownership of health facilities. Administrative, political support and adequate funds from the government are needed for effective functioning of HCMCs and optimal service delivery in public sector facilities.

Hydrogen-related challenges for the steelmaker: the search for proper testing

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Thiessen, R. G.

2017-06-01

The modern steelmaker of advanced high-strength steels has always been challenged with the conflicting targets of increased strength while maintaining or improving ductility. These new steels help the transportation sector, including the automotive sector, to achieve the goals of increased passenger safety and reduced emissions. With increasing tensile strengths, certain steels exhibit an increased sensitivity towards hydrogen embrittlement (HE). The ability to characterize the material's sensitivity in an as-delivered condition has been developed and accepted (SEP1970), but the complexity of the stress states that can induce an embrittlement together with the wide range of applications for high-strength steels make the development of a standardized test for HE under in-service conditions extremely challenging. Some proposals for evaluating the material's sensitivity give an advantage to materials with a low starting ductility. Despite this, newly developed materials can have a higher original elongation with only a moderate reduction in elongation due to hydrogen. This work presents a characterization of new materials and their sensitivity towards HE. This article is part of the themed issue 'The challenges of hydrogen and metals'.

Hydrogen-related challenges for the steelmaker: the search for proper testing.

PubMed

Thiessen, R G

2017-07-28

The modern steelmaker of advanced high-strength steels has always been challenged with the conflicting targets of increased strength while maintaining or improving ductility. These new steels help the transportation sector, including the automotive sector, to achieve the goals of increased passenger safety and reduced emissions. With increasing tensile strengths, certain steels exhibit an increased sensitivity towards hydrogen embrittlement (HE). The ability to characterize the material's sensitivity in an as-delivered condition has been developed and accepted (SEP1970), but the complexity of the stress states that can induce an embrittlement together with the wide range of applications for high-strength steels make the development of a standardized test for HE under in-service conditions extremely challenging. Some proposals for evaluating the material's sensitivity give an advantage to materials with a low starting ductility. Despite this, newly developed materials can have a higher original elongation with only a moderate reduction in elongation due to hydrogen. This work presents a characterization of new materials and their sensitivity towards HE.This article is part of the themed issue 'The challenges of hydrogen and metals'. © 2017 The Author(s).

A Proposal for Public and Private Partnership in Extension.

PubMed

Krell, Rayda K; Fisher, Marc L; Steffey, Kevin L

2016-01-01

Public funding for Extension in the United States has been decreasing for many years, but farmers' need for robust information on which to make management decisions has not diminished. The current Extension funding challenges provide motivation to explore a different model for developing and delivering extension. The private sector has partnered with the public sector to fund and conduct agricultural research, but partnering on extension delivery has occurred far less frequently. The fundamental academic strength and established Extension network of the public sector combined with the ability of the private sector to encourage and deliver practical, implementable solutions has the potential to provide measurable benefits to farmers. This paper describes the current Extension climate, presents data from a survey about Extension and industry relationships, presents case studies of successful public- and private-sector extension partnerships, and proposes a framework for evaluating the state of effective partnerships. Synergistic public-private extension efforts could ensure that farmers receive the most current and balanced information available to help with their management decisions.

A Proposal for Public and Private Partnership in Extension

PubMed Central

Krell, Rayda K.; Fisher, Marc L.; Steffey, Kevin L.

2016-01-01

Public funding for Extension in the United States has been decreasing for many years, but farmers’ need for robust information on which to make management decisions has not diminished. The current Extension funding challenges provide motivation to explore a different model for developing and delivering extension. The private sector has partnered with the public sector to fund and conduct agricultural research, but partnering on extension delivery has occurred far less frequently. The fundamental academic strength and established Extension network of the public sector combined with the ability of the private sector to encourage and deliver practical, implementable solutions has the potential to provide measurable benefits to farmers. This paper describes the current Extension climate, presents data from a survey about Extension and industry relationships, presents case studies of successful public- and private-sector extension partnerships, and proposes a framework for evaluating the state of effective partnerships. Synergistic public–private extension efforts could ensure that farmers receive the most current and balanced information available to help with their management decisions. PMID:26949567

Privatization of solid waste collection services: Lessons from Gaborone.

PubMed

Bolaane, Benjamin; Isaac, Emmanuel

2015-06-01

Formal privatization of solid waste collection activities has often been flagged as a suitable intervention for some of the challenges of solid waste management experienced by developing countries. Proponents of outsourcing collection to the private sector argue that in contrast to the public sector, it is more effective and efficient in delivering services. This essay is a comparative case study of efficiency and effectiveness attributes between the public and the formal private sector, in relation to the collection of commercial waste in Gaborone. The paper is based on analysis of secondary data and key informant interviews. It was found that while, the private sector performed comparatively well in most of the chosen indicators of efficiency and effectiveness, the public sector also had areas where it had a competitive advantage. For instance, the private sector used the collection crew more efficiently, while the public sector was found to have a more reliable workforce. The study recommends that, while formal private sector participation in waste collection has some positive effects in terms of quality of service rendered, in most developing countries, it has to be enhanced by building sufficient capacity within the public sector on information about services contracted out and evaluation of performance criteria within the contracting process. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Advising and Optimizing the Deployment of Sustainability-Oriented Technologies in the Integrated Electricity, Light-Duty Transportation, and Water Supply System

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tarroja, Brian

The convergence of increasing populations, decreasing primary resource availability, and uncertain climates have drawn attention to the challenge of shifting the operations of key resource sectors towards a sustainable paradigm. This is prevalent in California, which has set sustainability-oriented policies such as the Renewable Portfolio Standards and Zero-Emission Vehicle mandates. To meet these goals, many options have been identified to potentially carry out these shifts. The electricity sector is focusing on accommodating renewable power generation, the transportation sector on alternative fuel drivetrains and infrastructure, and the water supply sector on conservation, reuse, and unconventional supplies. Historical performance evaluations of these options, however, have not adequately taken into account the impacts on and constraints of co-dependent infrastructures that must accommodate them and their interactions with other simultaneously deployed options. These aspects are critical for optimally choosing options to meet sustainability goals, since the combined system of all resource sectors must satisfy them. Certain operations should not be made sustainable at the expense of rendering others as unsustainable, and certain resource sectors should not meet their individual goals in a way that hinders the ability of the entire system to do so. Therefore, this work develops and utilizes an integrated platform of the electricity, transportation, and water supply sectors to characterize the performance of emerging technology and management options while taking into account their impacts on co-dependent infrastructures and identify synergistic or detrimental interactions between the deployment of different options. This is carried out by first evaluating the performance of each option in the context of individual resource sectors to determine infrastructure impacts, then again in the context of paired resource sectors (electricity-transportation, electricity-water), and finally in the context of the combined tri-sector system. This allows a more robust basis for composing preferred option portfolios to meet sustainability goals and gives a direction for coordinating the paradigm shifts of different resource sectors. Overall, it is determined that taking into account infrastructure constraints and potential operational interactions can significantly change the evaluation of the preferred role that different technologies should fulfill in contributing towards satisfying sustainability goals in the holistic context.

Pulsed Eddy Current Sensing for Critical Pipe Condition Assessment.

PubMed

Ulapane, Nalika; Alempijevic, Alen; Vidal Calleja, Teresa; Valls Miro, Jaime

2017-09-26

Pulsed Eddy Current (PEC) sensing is used for Non-Destructive Evaluation (NDE) of the structural integrity of metallic structures in the aircraft, railway, oil and gas sectors. Urban water utilities also have extensive large ferromagnetic structures in the form of critical pressure pipe systems made of grey cast iron, ductile cast iron and mild steel. The associated material properties render NDE of these pipes by means of electromagnetic sensing a necessity. In recent years PEC sensing has established itself as a state-of-the-art NDE technique in the critical water pipe sector. This paper presents advancements to PEC inspection in view of the specific information demanded from water utilities along with the challenges encountered in this sector. Operating principles of the sensor architecture suitable for application on critical pipes are presented with the associated sensor design and calibration strategy. A Gaussian process-based approach is applied to model a functional relationship between a PEC signal feature and critical pipe wall thickness. A case study demonstrates the sensor's behaviour on a grey cast iron pipe and discusses the implications of the observed results and challenges relating to this application.

Life Cycle Assessment Comparing the Use of Jatropha Biodiesel in the Indian Road and Rail Sectors

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Whitaker, M.; Heath, G.

2010-05-01

This life cycle assessment of Jatropha biodiesel production and use evaluates the net greenhouse gas (GHG) emission (not considering land-use change), net energy value (NEV), and net petroleum consumption impacts of substituting Jatropha biodiesel for conventional petroleum diesel in India. Several blends of biodiesel with petroleum diesel are evaluated for the rail freight, rail passenger, road freight, and road-passenger transport sectors that currently rely heavily on petroleum diesel. For the base case, Jatropha cultivation, processing, and use conditions that were analyzed, the use of B20 results in a net reduction in GHG emissions and petroleum consumption of 14% and 17%,more » respectively, and a NEV increase of 58% compared with the use of 100% petroleum diesel. While the road-passenger transport sector provides the greatest sustainability benefits per 1000 gross tonne kilometers, the road freight sector eventually provides the greatest absolute benefits owing to substantially higher projected utilization by year 2020. Nevertheless, introduction of biodiesel to the rail sector might present the fewest logistic and capital expenditure challenges in the near term. Sensitivity analyses confirmed that the sustainability benefits are maintained under multiple plausible cultivation, processing, and distribution scenarios. However, the sustainability of any individual Jatropha plantation will depend on site-specific conditions.« less

Outcomes in Economic Evaluations of Public Health Interventions in Low‐ and Middle‐Income Countries: Health, Capabilities and Subjective Wellbeing

PubMed Central

Lorgelly, Paula; Yamabhai, Inthira

2016-01-01

Abstract Public health programmes tend to be complex and may combine social strategies with aspects of empowerment, capacity building and knowledge across sectors. The nature of the programmes means that some effects are likely to occur outside the healthcare sector; this breadth impacts on the choice of health and non‐health outcomes to measure and value in an economic evaluation. Employing conventional outcome measures in evaluations of public health has been questioned. There are concerns that such measures are too narrow, overlook important dimensions of programme effect and, thus, lead to such interventions being undervalued. This issue is of particular importance for low‐income and middle‐income countries, which face considerable budget constraints, yet deliver a large proportion of health activities within public health programmes. The need to develop outcome measures, which include broader measures of quality of life, has given impetus to the development of a variety of new, holistic approaches, including Sen's capability framework and measures of subjective wellbeing. Despite their promise, these approaches have not yet been widely applied, perhaps because they present significant methodological challenges. This paper outlines the methodological challenges for the identification and measurement of broader outcomes of public health interventions in economic evaluation in low‐income and middle‐income countries. PMID:26804360

Toward greater inclusion: lessons from Peru in confronting challenges of multi-sector collaboration.

PubMed

Buffardi, Anne L; Cabello, Robinson; Garcia, Patricia J

2012-09-01

Despite widespread enthusiasm for broader participation in health policy and programming, little is known about the ways in which multi-sector groups address the challenges that arise in pursuing this goal. Based on the experience of Peru's National Multi-sector Health Coordinating Body (CONAMUSA), this article characterizes these challenges and identifies organizational strategies the group has adopted to overcome them. Comprising nine government ministries, nongovernmental organizations, academia, religious institutions, and international cooperation agencies, CONAMUSA has faced three principal challenges: 1) selecting representatives, 2) balancing membership and leadership across sectors, and 3) negotiating role transition and conflict. In response, the group has instituted a rotation system for formal leadership responsibiliti es, and professionalized management functions; created electoral systems for civil society; and developed conflict of interest guidelines. This case study offers lessons for other countries trying to configure multi-sector groups, and for donors who mandate their creation, tempering unbridled idealism toward inclusive participation with a dose of healthy realism and practical adaptation.

The Future of Public Health Informatics: Alternative Scenarios and Recommended Strategies

PubMed Central

Edmunds, Margo; Thorpe, Lorna; Sepulveda, Martin; Bezold, Clem; Ross, David A.

2014-01-01

Background: In October 2013, the Public Health Informatics Institute (PHII) and Institute for Alternative Futures (IAF) convened a multidisciplinary group of experts to evaluate forces shaping public health informatics (PHI) in the United States, with the aim of identifying upcoming challenges and opportunities. The PHI workshop was funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation as part of its larger strategic planning process for public health and primary care. Workshop Context: During the two-day workshop, nine experts from the public and private sectors analyzed and discussed the implications of four scenarios regarding the United States economy, health care system, information technology (IT) sector, and their potential impacts on public health in the next 10 years, by 2023. Workshop participants considered the potential role of the public health sector in addressing population health challenges in each scenario, and then identified specific informatics goals and strategies needed for the sector to succeed in this role. Recommendations and Conclusion: Participants developed recommendations for the public health informatics field and for public health overall in the coming decade. These included the need to rely more heavily on intersectoral collaborations across public and private sectors, to improve data infrastructure and workforce capacity at all levels of the public health enterprise, to expand the evidence base regarding effectiveness of informatics-based public health initiatives, and to communicate strategically with elected officials and other key stakeholders regarding the potential for informatics-based solutions to have an impact on population health. PMID:25848630

Measuring and Understanding Education Advocacy

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Whitehurst, Grover J.; Stuit, David; Graves, Claire; Shaw, Lauren

2015-01-01

The traditional delivery system for public K-12 education in the U.S. is being disrupted by forces from without (e.g., forms of competition, including charter schools) and from within (e.g., new regulatory requirements, including meaningful teacher evaluation and the Common Core). As in any sizable sector of the economy, challenges to the status…

Findings: Sector-Leading and Innovative Practice in Advancing Equality and Diversity. Report to HEFCE by the Equality Challenge Unit

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Higher Education Funding Council for England, 2017

2017-01-01

Following our "Call for evidence of sector-leading and innovative practice in advancing equality and diversity" (HEFCE Circular letter 16/2016), HEFCE commissioned the Equality Challenge Unit (ECU) to report back on the range of equality and diversity practice undertaken across the higher education sector. Of 120 submissions received,…

Cross-sector partnerships and public health: challenges and opportunities for addressing obesity and noncommunicable diseases through engagement with the private sector.

PubMed

Johnston, Lee M; Finegood, Diane T

2015-03-18

Over the past few decades, cross-sector partnerships with the private sector have become an increasingly accepted practice in public health, particularly in efforts to address infectious diseases in low- and middle-income countries. Now these partnerships are becoming a popular tool in efforts to reduce and prevent obesity and the epidemic of noncommunicable diseases. Partnering with businesses presents a means to acquire resources, as well as opportunities to influence the private sector toward more healthful practices. Yet even though collaboration is a core principle of public health practice, public-private or nonprofit-private partnerships present risks and challenges that warrant specific consideration. In this article, we review the role of public health partnerships with the private sector, with a focus on efforts to address obesity and noncommunicable diseases in high-income settings. We identify key challenges-including goal alignment and conflict of interest-and consider how changes to partnership practice might address these.

Challenges for IT-supported shared care: a qualitative analyses of two shared care initiatives for diabetes treatment in Denmark “I'll never use it” (GP5).

PubMed Central

Granlien, Maren Fich; Simonsen, Jesper

2007-01-01

Purpose To investigate the circumstances as to why it is so difficult in the primary care sector to implement IT based infrastructures supporting shared care. Case study The qualitative analysis includes two separate case studies of IT-supported shared care implemented in two different regions of Denmark throughout 2005. The study comprises 21 interviews and 35 hours of observations. The data were analysed through a coding process that led to the emergence of three main challenges impeding the organisational implementation of IT-supported shared care. Discussion and conclusion The two cases faced the same challenges that led to the same problem: The secondary care sector quickly adopted the system while the primary sector was far more sceptical towards using it. In both cases, we observe a discrepancy of needs satisfied, especially with regard to the primary care sector and its general practitioners which hinder bridging the primary sector (general practitioners) and the secondary sector (hospitals and outpatient clinics). Especially the needs associated with the primary sector were not being satisfied. We discovered three main challenges related to bridging the gap between the two sectors: (1) Poor integration with the general practitioners' existing IT systems; (2) low compatibility with general practitioners' work ethic; (3) and discrepancy between the number of diabetes patients and the related need for shared care. We conclude that development of IT-supported shared care must recognise the underlying and significant differences between the primary and secondary care sectors: If IT-supported shared care does not meet the needs of the general practitioners as well as the needs of the secondary care sector the initiative will fail. PMID:17627300

Analysis on critical success factors for agile manufacturing evaluation in original equipment manufacturing industry-an AHP approach

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ajay Guru Dev, C.; Senthil Kumar, V. S.

2016-09-01

Manufacturing industries are facing challenges in the implementation of agile manufacturing in their products and processes. Agility is widely accepted as a new competitive concept in the manufacturing sector in fulfilling varying customer demand. Thus, evaluation of agile manufacturing in industries has become a necessity. The success of an organisation depends on its ability to manage finding the critical success factors and give them special and continued attention in order to bring about high performance. This paper proposes a set of critical success factors (CSFs) for evaluating agile manufacturing considered appropriate for the manufacturing sector. The analytical hierarchy process (AHP) method is applied for prioritizing the success factors, by summarizing the opinions of experts. It is believed that the proposed CSFs enable and assist manufacturing industries to achieve a higher performance in agile manufacturing so as to increase competitiveness.

Reviewing the Nutrition and Health Claims Regulation (EC) No. 1924/2006: What do we know about its challenges and potential impact on innovation?

PubMed

Bröring, Stefanie; Khedkar, Sukhada; Ciliberti, Stefano

2017-02-01

Health claims potentially represent an opportunity for firms to engage in product differentiation and thereby induce investment into R&D and innovation in the food sector. The Nutrition and Health Claims Regulation (EC) No. 1924/2006 (NHCR) aims at protecting and promoting innovation as one of its objectives. However, existing studies indicate that this regulation may create several challenges for innovation in the food sector. To this end, we review the challenges related to the NHCR (Article 13.1) and its impact on innovation. Extant literature suggests that companies face challenges related to changing list of ingredients, missing transparency, wording of claims, limited financial resources, limited R&D resources, switching product categories and abandoning the functional foods sector. Moreover, current studies imply that so far the NHCR (in specific Article 13.1) does not seem to encourage innovation in the EU food sector.

Method meets application: on the use of earthquake scenarios in community-based disaster preparedness and response

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sargeant, S.; Sorensen, M. B.

2011-12-01

More than 50% of the world's population now live in urban areas. In less developed countries, future urban population increase will be due to natural population growth and rural-to-urban migration. As urban growth continues, the vulnerability of those living in these areas is also increasing. This presents a wide variety of challenges for humanitarian organisations that often have more experience of disaster response in rural settings rather than planning for large urban disasters. The 2010 Haiti earthquake highlighted the vulnerability of these organisations and the communities that they seek to support. To meet this challenge, a key consideration is how scientific information can support the humanitarian sector and their working practices. Here we review the current state of earthquake scenario modelling practice, with special focus on scenarios to be used in disaster response and response planning, and present an evaluation of how the field looks set to evolve. We also review current good practice and lessons learned from previous earthquakes with respect to planning for and responding to earthquakes in urban settings in the humanitarian sector, identifying key sectoral priorities. We then investigate the interface between these two areas to investigate the use of earthquake scenarios in disaster response planning and identify potential challenges both with respect to development of scientific models and their application on the ground.

Global impacts of U.S. bioenergy production and policy: A general equilibrium perspective

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Evans, Samuel Garner

The conversion of biomass to energy represents a promising pathway forward in efforts to reduce fossil fuel use in the transportation and electricity sectors. In addition to potential benefits, such as greenhouse gas reductions and increased energy security, bioenergy production also presents a unique set of challenges. These challenges include tradeoffs between food and fuel production, distortions in energy markets, and terrestrial emissions associated with changing land-use patterns. Each of these challenges arises from market-mediated responses to bioenergy production, and are therefore largely economic in nature. This dissertation directly addresses these opportunities and challenges by evaluating the economic impacts of U.S. bioenergy production and policy, focusing on both existing and future biomass-to-energy pathways. The analysis approaches the issue from a global, economy-wide perspective, reflecting two important facts. First, that large-scale bioenergy production connects multiple sectors of the economy due to the use of agricultural land resources for biomass production, and competition with fossil fuels in energy markets. Second, markets for both agricultural and energy commodities are highly integrated globally, causing domestic policies to have international effects. The reader can think of this work as being comprised of three parts. Part I provides context through an extensive review of the literature on the market-mediated effects of conventional biofuel production (Chapter 2) and develops a general equilibrium modeling framework for assessing the extent to which these phenomenon present a challenge for future bioenergy pathways (Chapter 3). Part II (Chapter 4) explores the economic impacts of the lignocellulosic biofuel production targets set in the U.S. Renewable Fuel Standard on global agricultural and energy commodity markets. Part III (Chapter 5) extends the analysis to consider potential inefficiencies associated with policy-induced competition for biomass between the electricity and transportation fuel sectors.

Athletic Trainer Services in Public and Private Secondary Schools.

PubMed

Pike, Alicia M; Pryor, Riana R; Vandermark, Lesley W; Mazerolle, Stephanie M; Casa, Douglas J

2017-01-01

 The presence of athletic trainers (ATs) in secondary schools to provide medical care is crucial, especially with the rise in sports participation and resulting high volume of injuries. Previous authors have investigated the level of AT services offered, but the differences in medical care offered between the public and private sectors have not been explored.  To compare the level of AT services in public and private secondary schools.  Concurrent mixed-methods study.  Public and private secondary schools in the United States.  A total of 10 553 secondary schools responded to the survey (8509 public, 2044 private).  School administrators responded to the survey via telephone or e-mail. Descriptive statistics depict national data. Open-ended questions were evaluated through content analysis.  A greater percentage of public secondary schools than private secondary schools hired ATs. Public secondary schools provided a higher percentage of full-time, part-time, and clinic AT services than private secondary schools. Only per diem AT services were more frequent in the private sector. Regardless of the extent of services, reasons for not employing an AT were similar between sectors. Common barriers were budget, school size, and lack of awareness of the role of an AT. Unique to the public sector, remote location was identified as a challenge faced by some administrators.  Both public and private secondary schools lacked ATs, but higher percentages of total AT services and full-time services were available in the public sector. Despite differences in AT services, both settings provided a similar number of student-athletes with access to medical care. Barriers to hiring ATs were comparable between public and private secondary schools; however, remote location was a unique challenge for the public sector.

Athletic Trainer Services in Public and Private Secondary Schools

PubMed Central

Pike, Alicia M.; Pryor, Riana R.; Vandermark, Lesley W.; Mazerolle, Stephanie M.; Casa, Douglas J.

2017-01-01

Context: The presence of athletic trainers (ATs) in secondary schools to provide medical care is crucial, especially with the rise in sports participation and resulting high volume of injuries. Previous authors have investigated the level of AT services offered, but the differences in medical care offered between the public and private sectors have not been explored. Objective: To compare the level of AT services in public and private secondary schools. Design: Concurrent mixed-methods study. Setting: Public and private secondary schools in the United States. Patients or Other Participants: A total of 10 553 secondary schools responded to the survey (8509 public, 2044 private). Main Outcome Measure(s): School administrators responded to the survey via telephone or e-mail. Descriptive statistics depict national data. Open-ended questions were evaluated through content analysis. Results: A greater percentage of public secondary schools than private secondary schools hired ATs. Public secondary schools provided a higher percentage of full-time, part-time, and clinic AT services than private secondary schools. Only per diem AT services were more frequent in the private sector. Regardless of the extent of services, reasons for not employing an AT were similar between sectors. Common barriers were budget, school size, and lack of awareness of the role of an AT. Unique to the public sector, remote location was identified as a challenge faced by some administrators. Conclusions: Both public and private secondary schools lacked ATs, but higher percentages of total AT services and full-time services were available in the public sector. Despite differences in AT services, both settings provided a similar number of student-athletes with access to medical care. Barriers to hiring ATs were comparable between public and private secondary schools; however, remote location was a unique challenge for the public sector. PMID:28157403

Development and Performance of Alternative Electricity Sector Pathways Subject to Multiple Climate and Water Projections

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Newmark, R. L.; Vorosmarty, C. J.; Miara, A.; Cohen, S.; Macknick, J.; Sun, Y.; Corsi, F.; Fekete, B. M.; Tidwell, V. C.

2017-12-01

Climate change impacts on air temperatures and water availability have the potential to alter future electricity sector investment decisions as well as the reliability and performance of the power sector. Different electricity sector configurations are more or less vulnerable to climate-induced changes. For example, once-through cooled thermal facilities are the most cost-effective and efficient technologies under cooler and wetter conditions, but can be substantially affected by and vulnerable to warmer and drier conditions. Non-thermal renewable technologies, such as PV and wind, are essentially "drought-proof" but have other integration and reliability challenges. Prior efforts have explored the impacts of climate change on electric sector development for a limited set of climate and electricity scenarios. Here, we provide a comprehensive suite of scenarios that evaluate how different electricity sector pathways could be affected by a range of climate and water resource conditions. We use four representative concentration pathway (RCP) scenarios under five global circulation models (GCM) as climate drivers to a Water Balance Model (WBM), to provide twenty separate future climate-water conditions. These climate-water conditions influence electricity sector development from present day to 2050 as determined using the Regional Energy Deployment Systems (ReEDS) model. Four unique electricity sector pathways will be considered, including business-as-usual, carbon cap, high renewable energy technology costs, and coal reliance scenarios. The combination of climate-water and electricity sector pathway scenarios leads to 80 potential future cases resulting in different national and regional electricity infrastructure configurations. The vulnerability of these configurations in relation to climate change (including in-stream thermal pollution impacts and environmental regulations) is evaluated using the Thermoelectric Power and Thermal Pollution (TP2M) model, providing quantitative estimates of the power sector's ability to meet loads, given changes in air temperature, water temperature, and water availability.

Effectiveness of a voluntary family befriending service: a mixed methods evaluation using the Donabedian model.

PubMed

Gentry, S V; Powers, E F J; Azim, N; Maidrag, M

2018-07-01

Voluntary befriending schemes operate in many countries, promoting public health by supporting vulnerable individuals and families. Use of third sector and voluntary services to complement health and social care provision is increasingly important globally in the context of economic and demographic challenges, but the evidence base around such collaborations is limited. This article reports the results of operational evaluation research seeking to use robust routine work to generate transferable findings for use by those commissioning and providing services. The subject of our evaluation research is 'Home-Start Suffolk' (HSS) in Suffolk County, UK, an example of a third sector organisation commissioned to support the public health offer to local families. This evaluation research used the Donabedian framework, which assesses the structure, process and outcome in delivery of health services. Methods included a cross-sectional stakeholder survey with qualitative and quantitative elements (n = 96), qualitative interviews (n = 41) and quantitative analysis of the service's routine data (5740 visits) for the period from 01 July 2014 to 01 July 2016. Triangulation of data from each component revealed that HSS was perceived by diverse stakeholders to successfully support families in need of additional help. HSS service users perceived the service to offer greater flexibility, to be tailored to their needs and to be more trustworthy and supportive than statutory services. Volunteering with HSS enabled people to feel productive in their community and gain new skills. Managers of social care services perceived that HSS activity decreased burden on their staff. These benefits were facilitated through a long-standing organisational HSS structure and relationships between HSS and social care. Challenges posed by service provision by a third sector organisation included the need for volunteers to negotiate the boundary between being a friend and a professional outside of a professional framework. Quantitative analysis of impact was limited by the poor quality of routinely collected administrative data, highlighting the importance of planning processes for data collection with evaluation in mind. We believe that the results of this evaluation research provide transferrable lessons. They demonstrate how a third sector organisation with a long-standing structure and relationships with statutory services was able to reduce perceived service burden while also offering support in a more flexible and tailored way greatly valued by service users. Copyright © 2018 The Royal Society for Public Health. All rights reserved.

Working with the private sector for child health.

PubMed

Waters, Hugh; Hatt, Laurel; Peters, David

2003-06-01

Private sector providers are the most commonly consulted source of care for child illnesses in many countries, offering significant opportunities to expand the reach of essential child health services and products. Yet collaboration with private providers presents major challenges - the suitability and quality of the services they provide is often questionable and governments' capacity to regulate them is limited. This article assesses the actual and potential contributions of the private sector to child health, and classifies and evaluates public sector strategies to promote and rationalize the contributions of private sector actors. Governments and international organizations can use a variety of strategies to collaborate with and influence private sector actors to improve child health - including contracting, regulating, financing and social marketing, training, coordinating and informing the public. These mutually reinforcing strategies can both improve the quality of services currently delivered in the private sector, and expand and rationalize the coverage of these services. One lesson from this review is that the private sector is very heterogeneous. At the country level, feasible strategies depend on the potential of the different components of the private sector and the capacity of governments and their partners for collaboration. To date, experience with private sector strategies offers considerable promise for children's health, but also raises many questions about the feasibility and impact of these strategies. Where possible, future interventions should be designed as experiments, with careful assessment of the intervention design and the environment in which they are implemented.

Pulsed Eddy Current Sensing for Critical Pipe Condition Assessment

PubMed Central

2017-01-01

Pulsed Eddy Current (PEC) sensing is used for Non-Destructive Evaluation (NDE) of the structural integrity of metallic structures in the aircraft, railway, oil and gas sectors. Urban water utilities also have extensive large ferromagnetic structures in the form of critical pressure pipe systems made of grey cast iron, ductile cast iron and mild steel. The associated material properties render NDE of these pipes by means of electromagnetic sensing a necessity. In recent years PEC sensing has established itself as a state-of-the-art NDE technique in the critical water pipe sector. This paper presents advancements to PEC inspection in view of the specific information demanded from water utilities along with the challenges encountered in this sector. Operating principles of the sensor architecture suitable for application on critical pipes are presented with the associated sensor design and calibration strategy. A Gaussian process-based approach is applied to model a functional relationship between a PEC signal feature and critical pipe wall thickness. A case study demonstrates the sensor’s behaviour on a grey cast iron pipe and discusses the implications of the observed results and challenges relating to this application. PMID:28954392

The impact of two organizational interventions on the health of service sector workers.

PubMed

Dahl-Jørgensen, Carla; Saksvik, Per Oystein

2005-01-01

Studies focusing on interactive service work that involves face-to-face interactions between employees and customers/clients have shown that employees tend to show symptoms of job dissatisfaction, stress, and emotional exhaustion because they are expected to display or suppress certain emotions in the performance of their jobs. To meet the health challenges and reduce sickness absenteeism among employees in this sector, two organizational interventions were implemented among service workers employed by the municipality and in a shopping mall in a medium-sized Norwegian city. In a field experiment, the authors evaluated the effect of this type of intervention on employee health. The experiment combined survey measures (pre- and post-intervention) with observations and unstructured interviews. The survey data showed positive changes on only two of the measured variables among the shopping mall employees, and no effect on the municipal employees. This article focuses on the qualitative data, which show how constraints related to time and to interactional and organizational practices impeded full involvement of the employees during implementation of the interventions. The authors discuss the results from the perspective of the general challenges of implementing interventions in the service sector.

Partnerships between the faith-based and medical sectors: Implications for preventive medicine and public health.

PubMed

Levin, Jeff

2016-12-01

Interconnections between the faith-based and medical sectors are multifaceted and have existed for centuries, including partnerships that have evolved over the past several decades in the U.S. This paper outlines ten points of intersection that have engaged medical and healthcare professionals and institutions across specialties, focusing especially on primary care, global health, and community-based outreach to underserved populations. In a time of healthcare resource scarcity, such partnerships-involving religious congregations, denominations, and communal and philanthropic agencies-are useful complements to the work of private-sector medical care providers and of federal, state, and local public health institutions in their efforts to protect and maintain the health of the population. At the same time, challenges and obstacles remain, mostly related to negotiating the complex and contentious relations between these two sectors. This paper identifies pressing legal/constitutional, political/policy, professional/jurisdictional, ethical, and research and evaluation issues that need to be better addressed before this work can realize its full potential.

Privatization of solid waste collection services: Lessons from Gaborone

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Bolaane, Benjamin, E-mail: bolaaneb@mopipi.ub.bw; Isaac, Emmanuel, E-mail: eisaac300@gmail.com

Highlights: • We compared efficiency and effectiveness of waste collection by the public and private sector. • Public sector performs better than private sector in some areas and vice versa. • Outsourcing waste collection in developing countries is hindered by limited capacity on contractual issues. • Outsourcing collection in developing countries is hampered by inadequate waste information. • There is need to build capacity in the public sector of developing countries to support outsourcing. - Abstract: Formal privatization of solid waste collection activities has often been flagged as a suitable intervention for some of the challenges of solid waste managementmore » experienced by developing countries. Proponents of outsourcing collection to the private sector argue that in contrast to the public sector, it is more effective and efficient in delivering services. This essay is a comparative case study of efficiency and effectiveness attributes between the public and the formal private sector, in relation to the collection of commercial waste in Gaborone. The paper is based on analysis of secondary data and key informant interviews. It was found that while, the private sector performed comparatively well in most of the chosen indicators of efficiency and effectiveness, the public sector also had areas where it had a competitive advantage. For instance, the private sector used the collection crew more efficiently, while the public sector was found to have a more reliable workforce. The study recommends that, while formal private sector participation in waste collection has some positive effects in terms of quality of service rendered, in most developing countries, it has to be enhanced by building sufficient capacity within the public sector on information about services contracted out and evaluation of performance criteria within the contracting process.« less

Exploring the Nutrition and Health Claims Regulation (EC) No. 1924/2006: What is the impact on innovation in the EU food sector?

PubMed

Khedkar, Sukhada; Bröring, Stefanie; Ciliberti, Stefano

2017-02-01

Literature suggests that despite its positive aim of promoting innovation, the Nutrition and Health Claims Regulation (EC) No. 1924/2006 (NHCR) may bring along several compliance challenges, which might affect innovation in the EU food sector. This study investigates the challenges faced by companies to comply with the NHCR (specifically Article 13.1) and their impact on innovation. To this end, we conducted an online survey with 105 companies involved in the EU food sector. Results indicate that companies perceive wording of claims, missing transparency and limited financial resources as major challenges to comply with the NHCR (Article 13.1). Companies reported not to have increased their R&D expenditure or innovation activities after the NHCR (Article 13.1) was implemented. Thus, this study highlights specific compliance challenges related to the NHCR (Article 13.1) and indicates that currently, the regulation does not seem to have fostered innovation in the EU food sector.

Building a comprehensive mill-level database for the Industrial Sectors Integrated Solutions (ISIS) model of the U.S. pulp and paper sector.

PubMed

Modak, Nabanita; Spence, Kelley; Sood, Saloni; Rosati, Jacky Ann

2015-01-01

Air emissions from the U.S. pulp and paper sector have been federally regulated since 1978; however, regulations are periodically reviewed and revised to improve efficiency and effectiveness of existing emission standards. The Industrial Sectors Integrated Solutions (ISIS) model for the pulp and paper sector is currently under development at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and can be utilized to facilitate multi-pollutant, sector-based analyses that are performed in conjunction with regulatory development. The model utilizes a multi-sector, multi-product dynamic linear modeling framework that evaluates the economic impact of emission reduction strategies for multiple air pollutants. The ISIS model considers facility-level economic, environmental, and technical parameters, as well as sector-level market data, to estimate the impacts of environmental regulations on the pulp and paper industry. Specifically, the model can be used to estimate U.S. and global market impacts of new or more stringent air regulations, such as impacts on product price, exports and imports, market demands, capital investment, and mill closures. One major challenge to developing a representative model is the need for an extensive amount of data. This article discusses the collection and processing of data for use in the model, as well as the methods used for building the ISIS pulp and paper database that facilitates the required analyses to support the air quality management of the pulp and paper sector.

Building a Comprehensive Mill-Level Database for the Industrial Sectors Integrated Solutions (ISIS) Model of the U.S. Pulp and Paper Sector

PubMed Central

Modak, Nabanita; Spence, Kelley; Sood, Saloni; Rosati, Jacky Ann

2015-01-01

Air emissions from the U.S. pulp and paper sector have been federally regulated since 1978; however, regulations are periodically reviewed and revised to improve efficiency and effectiveness of existing emission standards. The Industrial Sectors Integrated Solutions (ISIS) model for the pulp and paper sector is currently under development at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and can be utilized to facilitate multi-pollutant, sector-based analyses that are performed in conjunction with regulatory development. The model utilizes a multi-sector, multi-product dynamic linear modeling framework that evaluates the economic impact of emission reduction strategies for multiple air pollutants. The ISIS model considers facility-level economic, environmental, and technical parameters, as well as sector-level market data, to estimate the impacts of environmental regulations on the pulp and paper industry. Specifically, the model can be used to estimate U.S. and global market impacts of new or more stringent air regulations, such as impacts on product price, exports and imports, market demands, capital investment, and mill closures. One major challenge to developing a representative model is the need for an extensive amount of data. This article discusses the collection and processing of data for use in the model, as well as the methods used for building the ISIS pulp and paper database that facilitates the required analyses to support the air quality management of the pulp and paper sector. PMID:25806516

Review 2000: The Challenge of Knowledge and Know-How.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Science and Technology Policy Council of Finland, Helsinki.

The public sector in Finland faces tasks and challenges in promoting science, technology, and innovations in conditions of global change. Sustainable economic, social, and cultural development will continue to demand comprehensive development of the innovation system based on solid cooperation between the public and private sectors in the country.…

Assessing global resource utilization efficiency in the industrial sector.

PubMed

Rosen, Marc A

2013-09-01

Designing efficient energy systems, which also meet economic, environmental and other objectives and constraints, is a significant challenge. In a world with finite natural resources and large energy demands, it is important to understand not just actual efficiencies, but also limits to efficiency, as the latter identify margins for efficiency improvement. Energy analysis alone is inadequate, e.g., it yields energy efficiencies that do not provide limits to efficiency. To obtain meaningful and useful efficiencies for energy systems, and to clarify losses, exergy analysis is a beneficial and useful tool. Here, the global industrial sector and industries within it are assessed by using energy and exergy methods. The objective is to improve the understanding of the efficiency of global resource use in the industrial sector and, with this information, to facilitate the development, prioritization and ultimate implementation of rational improvement options. Global energy and exergy flow diagrams for the industrial sector are developed and overall efficiencies for the global industrial sector evaluated as 51% based on energy and 30% based on exergy. Consequently, exergy analysis indicates a less efficient picture of energy use in the global industrial sector than does energy analysis. A larger margin for improvement exists from an exergy perspective, compared to the overly optimistic margin indicated by energy. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Integrating impact evaluation in the design and implementation of monitoring marine protected areas

PubMed Central

Ahmadia, Gabby N.; Glew, Louise; Provost, Mikaela; Gill, David; Hidayat, Nur Ismu; Mangubhai, Sangeeta; Purwanto; Fox, Helen E.

2015-01-01

Quasi-experimental impact evaluation approaches, which enable scholars to disentangle effects of conservation interventions from broader changes in the environment, are gaining momentum in the conservation sector. However, rigorous impact evaluation using statistical matching techniques to estimate the counterfactual have yet to be applied to marine protected areas (MPAs). While there are numerous studies investigating ‘impacts’ of MPAs that have generated considerable insights, results are variable. This variation has been linked to the biophysical and social context in which they are established, as well as attributes of management and governance. To inform decisions about MPA placement, design and implementation, we need to expand our understanding of conditions under which MPAs are likely to lead to positive outcomes by embracing advances in impact evaluation methodologies. Here, we describe the integration of impact evaluation within an MPA network monitoring programme in the Bird's Head Seascape, Indonesia. Specifically we (i) highlight the challenges of implementation ‘on the ground’ and in marine ecosystems and (ii) describe the transformation of an existing monitoring programme into a design appropriate for impact evaluation. This study offers one potential model for mainstreaming impact evaluation in the conservation sector. PMID:26460128

Is the Brazilian pharmaceutical policy ensuring population access to essential medicines?

PubMed

Bertoldi, Andréa Dâmaso; Helfer, Ana Paula; Camargo, Aline L; Tavares, Noêmia U L; Kanavos, Panos

2012-03-21

To evaluate medicine prices, availability and affordability in Brazil, considering the differences across three types of medicines (originator brands, generics and similar medicines) and different types of facilities (private pharmacies, public sector pharmacies and "popular pharmacies"). Data on prices and availability of 50 medicines were collected in 56 pharmacies across six cities in Southern Brazil using the World Health Organization / Health Action International methodology. Median prices obtained were divided by international reference prices to derive the median price ratio (MPR). In the private sector, prices were 8.6 MPR for similar medicines, 11.3 MRP for generics and 18.7 MRP for originator brands, respectively. Mean availability was 65%, 74% and 48% for originator brands, generics and similar medicines, respectively. In the public sector, mean availability of similar medicines was 2-7 times higher than that of generics. Mean overall availability in the public sector ranged from 68.8% to 81.7%. In "popular pharmacies", mean availability was greater than 90% in all cities. Availability of medicines in the public sector does not meet the challenge of supplying essential medicines to the entire population, as stated in the Brazilian constitution. This has unavoidable repercussions for affordability, particularly amongst the lower socio-economic strata.

Good governance and corruption in the health sector: lessons from the Karnataka experience.

PubMed

Huss, R; Green, A; Sudarshan, H; Karpagam, Ss; Ramani, Kv; Tomson, G; Gerein, N

2011-11-01

Strengthening good governance and preventing corruption in health care are universal challenges. The Karnataka Lokayukta (KLA), a public complaints agency in Karnataka state (India), was created in 1986 but played a prominent role controlling systemic corruption only after a change of leadership in 2001 with a new Lokayukta (ombudsman) and Vigilance Director for Health (VDH). This case study of the KLA (2001-06) analysed the:Scope and level of poor governance in the health sector; KLA objectives and its strategy; Factors which affected public health sector governance and the operation of the KLA. We used a participatory and opportunistic evaluation design, examined documents about KLA activities, conducted three site visits, two key informant and 44 semi-structured interviews and used a force field model to analyse the governance findings. The Lokayukta and his VDH were both proactive and economically independent with an extended social network, technical expertise in both jurisdiction and health care, and were widely perceived to be acting for the common good. They mobilized media and the public about governance issues which were affected by factors at the individual, organizational and societal levels. Their investigations revealed systemic corruption within the public health sector at all levels as well as in public/private collaborations and the political and justice systems. However, wider contextual issues limited their effectiveness in intervening. The departure of the Lokayukta, upon completing his term, was due to a lack of continued political support for controlling corruption. Governance in the health sector is affected by positive and negative forces. A key positive factor was the combined social, cultural and symbolic capital of the two leaders which empowered them to challenge corrupt behaviour and promote good governance. Although change was possible, it was precarious and requires continuous political support to be sustained.

Making Evidence Work: A Framework for Monitoring, Tracking and Evaluating Widening Participation Activity across the Student Lifecycle

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Raven, Neil

2016-01-01

The need for a robust evidence base able to demonstrate the impact of widening participation activity across the student lifecycle has been emphasised in recent guidance to the higher education sector. However, with competing demands on their time this is likely to represent a challenge for practitioners. Yet, there is wide recognition of the need…

Cost-Benefit Analysis of the 2006 Air Force Materiel Command Test and Evaluation Proposal

DTIC Science & Technology

2008-01-01

research organization providing objective analysis and effective solutions that address the challenges facing the public and private sectors...distribution unlimited The RAND Corporation is a nonprofit research organization providing objective analysis and effective solutions that address the...paper) 1. United States. Air Force Materiel Command—Reorganization—Cost effectiveness . I. Thirtle, Michael R., 1967– UG633.2.C67 2008

Drop-in Services: Findings from an Evaluation of the Healthy Living Centre Programme in Scotland

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Truman, J.; Rankin, D.; Backett-Milburn, K.; Platt, S.

2007-01-01

Objective: To explore the diverse roles of drop-in services in the HLC sector; to develop further the classification of drop-in services offered by earlier studies; and to provide an example of some the challenges faced by HLCs in their attempts to tackle poor health using area-based methods with vulnerable, hard-to-reach users. Setting: Scottish…

Dancing the two-step: Collaborating with intermediary organizations as research partners to help implement workplace health and safety interventions.

PubMed

Kramer, Desre M; Wells, Richard P; Bigelow, Phillip L; Carlan, Niki A; Cole, Donald C; Hepburn, C Gail

2010-01-01

To evaluate the effect of the involvement of intermediaries who were research partners on three intervention studies. The projects crossed four sectors: manufacturing, transportation, service sector, and electrical-utilities sectors. The interventions were participative ergonomic programs. The study attempts to further our understanding of collaborative workplace-based research between researchers and intermediary organizations; to analyze this collaboration in terms of knowledge transfer; and to further our understanding of the successes and challenges with such a process. The intermediary organizations were provincial health and safety associations (HSAs). They have workplaces as their clients and acted as direct links between the researchers and workplaces. Data was collected from observations, emails, research-meeting minutes, and 36 qualitative interviews. Interviewees were managers, and consultants from the collaborating associations, 17 company representatives and seven researchers. The article describes how the collaborations were created, the structure of the partnerships, the difficulties, the benefits, and challenges to both the researchers and intermediaries. The evidence of knowledge utilization between the researchers and HSAs was tracked as a proxy-measure of impact of this collaborative method, also called Mode 2 research. Despite the difficulties, both the researchers and the health and safety specialists agreed that the results of the research made the process worthwhile.

Human Resource Development in Mauritius: Context, Challenges and Opportunities

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Garavan, Thomas N.; Neeliah, Harris; Auckloo, Raj; Ragaven, Raj

2016-01-01

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to explore human resource development (HRD) in Mauritius and the challenges and opportunities faced by organisations in different sectors in adopting HRD practices. Findings: This special issue presents four papers that explore dimensions of HRD in public sector, small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and…

Growth of the Proprietary Sector in Social Welfare: A Challenge to the Social Policy Curriculum.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ortiz, Elizabeth T.

The rapid growth of the proprietary sector in the provision of social services traditionally administered under non-profit or government auspices creates a problem and challenge for teachers of social policy. Instructors need to interpret this new trend, without much literature support, to a group of students with increasing potential for…

From Teacher to Manager: Expectations and Challenge in the Further Education Sector. A Relationship Model

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Corbett, Stephen

2017-01-01

In a turbulent working environment with varying expectations and challenges is it fair to expect further education teachers and managers to maintain and improve standards? This article highlights that with the incorporation of colleges began a series of initiatives to professionalise the FE sector. This coupled with pressures for those who work…

Data Linkage in VET Research: Opportunities, Challenges and Principles. Discussion Paper

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Osborne, Kristen; Fowler, Craig; Circelli, Michelle

2018-01-01

This discussion paper explores the possibilities and risks that data linkage presents for the vocational education and training (VET) sector. Along with a broad overview of the nature of data linkage, it highlights possible applications for data linkage in the VET sector and examines the key challenges associated with its use. A number of case…

Nursing simulation: a community experience.

PubMed

Gunowa, Neesha Oozageer; Elliott, Karen; McBride, Michelle

2018-04-02

The education sector faces major challenges in providing learning experiences so that newly qualified nurses feel adequately prepared to work in a community setting. With this in mind, higher education institutions need to develop more innovative ways to deliver the community-nurse experience to student nurses. This paper presents and explores how simulation provides an opportunity for educators to support and evaluate student performance in an environment that models a complete patient encounter in the community. Following the simulation, evaluative data were collated and the answers analysed to identify key recommendations.

Benefit or burden: introducing paraprofessional support staff to health visiting teams: the case of Starting Well.

PubMed

Mackenzie, Mhairi

2006-11-01

With increased public-sector funding to expand and improve frontline services, pre-existing skill shortages within key professional workforces have become more acute. One response to this has been to encourage the development of skill-mix approaches which allow tasks previously undertaken by professional staff groupings to be assumed by new paraprofessional employees. Within the UK National Health Service, one group of professionals who are being challenged to change their way of working in this way are health visitors. Starting Well, one of Scotland's four health demonstration projects, which was established in 2000 to bring about a step-change in child health within deprived communities in Glasgow, operated as a pilot for such a skill-mix model of health visiting. The project was evaluated using a multimethod approach that encompassed the study of both processes and outcomes. The present paper reports on a process evaluation of the project's implementation that addressed the rationale underlying the development of Starting Well's skill-mix approach and the challenges which this model faced in practice. The perceptions of both managerial staff (n=18) and those working in practice (n=33) were gathered using semistructured interviews which sought to elicit and test Starting Well's theory of change in relation to the use of paraprofessional staff. Two sets of interviews were conducted with each group of staff between 2001 and 2003. Two main types of challenge were identified: deploying potentially vulnerable members of staff; and co-management of paraprofessionals by the health service and a voluntary-sector organisation. A potential challenge identified from the literature, i.e. that of implementing a new role within an existing team, proved to be less problematic within Starting Well. These issues are discussed in relation to current policy and practice debates.

Public and private sector contributions to the discovery and development of "impact" drugs.

PubMed

Reichert, Janice M; Milne, Christopher-Paul

2002-01-01

Recently, well-publicized reports by Public Citizen and the Joint Economic Committee (JEC) of the US Congress questioned the role of the drug industry in the discovery and development of therapeutically important drugs. To gain a better understanding of the relative roles of the public and private sectors in pharmaceutic innovation, the Tufts Center for the Study of Drug Development evaluated the underlying National Institutes of Health (NIH) and academic research cited in the Public Citizen and JEC reports and performed its own assessment of the relationship between the private and public sectors in drug discovery and development of 21 "impact" drugs. We found that, ultimately, any attempt to measure the relative contribution of the public and private sectors to the research and development (R&D) of therapeutically important drugs by output alone, such as counting publications or even product approvals, is flawed. Several key factors (eg, degree of uncertainty, expected market value, potential social benefit) affect investment decisions and determine whether public or private sector funds, or both, are most appropriate. Because of the competitiveness and complexity of today's R&D environment, both sectors are increasingly challenged to show returns on their investment and the traditional boundaries separating the roles of the private and public research spheres have become increasingly blurred. What remains clear, however, is that the process still starts with good science and ends with good medicine.

New jobs old roles - working for prevention in a whole-system model of health and social care for older people.

PubMed

Smith, Naomi; Barnes, Marian

2013-01-01

The Partnerships for Older People Projects programme provided government funding for local and health authorities to pilot prevention and intervention services in partnership with the voluntary sector and older people between 2006 and 2009. This local evaluation of a pilot in southern England undertaken between 2007 and 2009 used a Theory of Change approach to gathering and reflecting on data with different groups involved in the delivery of this whole-system based model of prevention. The model was delivered in the same way in seven social services locality areas within a large county authority. The method of data gathering enabled structured reflection on the implementation, development and projected outcomes of the model and a consideration of the key learning of working in a whole-system way with partners and stakeholders. The whole-system model, although complex and challenging to implement, was considered overall to have been a success and provided significant learning for partners and stakeholders on the challenges and benefits of working across professional and sectoral boundaries. New posts were created as part of the model. Two of these, recruited to and managed by voluntary sector partners, were identified as 'new jobs', but echoed 'old roles' within community and voluntary sector based health and social care. The authors reflect on the parallels of these roles with previously existing roles and ways of working and reflect on how the whole-system approach of this particular pilot enabled these new jobs to develop in particularly appropriate and successful ways. © 2012 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

Accelerated reforms in healthcare financing: the need to scale up private sector participation in Nigeria.

PubMed

Ejughemre, Ufuoma John

2014-01-01

The health sector, a foremost service sector in Nigeria, faces a number of challenges; primarily, the persistent under-funding of the health sector by the Nigerian government as evidence reveals low allocations to the health sector and poor health system performance which are reflected in key health indices of the country.Notwithstanding, there is evidence that the private sector could be a key player in delivering health services and impacting health outcomes, including those related to healthcare financing. This underscores the need to optimize the role of private sector in complementing the government's commitment to financing healthcare delivery and strengthening the health system in Nigeria. There are also concerns about uneven quality and affordability of private-driven health systems, which necessitates reforms aimed at regulation. Accordingly, the argument is that the benefits of leveraging the private sector in complementing the national government in healthcare financing outweigh the challenges, particularly in light of lean public resources and finite donor supports. This article, therefore, highlights the potential for the Nigerian government to scale up healthcare financing by leveraging private resources, innovations and expertise, while working to achieve the universal health coverage.

Addressing governance challenges in the provision of animal health services: A review of the literature and empirical application transaction cost theory.

PubMed

Ilukor, John; Birner, Regina; Nielsen, Thea

2015-11-01

Providing adequate animal health services to smallholder farmers in developing countries has remained a challenge, in spite of various reform efforts during the past decades. The focuses of the past reforms were on market failures to decide what the public sector, the private sector, and the "third sector" (the community-based sector) should do with regard to providing animal health services. However, such frameworks have paid limited attention to the governance challenges inherent in the provision of animal health services. This paper presents a framework for analyzing institutional arrangements for providing animal health services that focus not only on market failures, but also on governance challenges, such as elite capture, and absenteeism of staff. As an analytical basis, Williamson's discriminating alignment hypothesis is applied to assess the cost-effectiveness of different institutional arrangements for animal health services in view of both market failures and governance challenges. This framework is used to generate testable hypotheses on the appropriateness of different institutional arrangements for providing animal health services, depending on context-specific circumstances. Data from Uganda and Kenya on clinical veterinary services is used to provide an empirical test of these hypotheses and to demonstrate application of Williamson's transaction cost theory to veterinary service delivery. The paper concludes that strong public sector involvement, especially in building and strengthening a synergistic relation-based referral arrangement between paraprofessionals and veterinarians is imperative in improving animal health service delivery in developing countries. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Is the Brazilian pharmaceutical policy ensuring population access to essential medicines?

PubMed Central

2012-01-01

Background To evaluate medicine prices, availability and affordability in Brazil, considering the differences across three types of medicines (originator brands, generics and similar medicines) and different types of facilities (private pharmacies, public sector pharmacies and “popular pharmacies”). Methods Data on prices and availability of 50 medicines were collected in 56 pharmacies across six cities in Southern Brazil using the World Health Organization / Health Action International methodology. Median prices obtained were divided by international reference prices to derive the median price ratio (MPR). Results In the private sector, prices were 8.6 MPR for similar medicines, 11.3 MRP for generics and 18.7 MRP for originator brands, respectively. Mean availability was 65%, 74% and 48% for originator brands, generics and similar medicines, respectively. In the public sector, mean availability of similar medicines was 2–7 times higher than that of generics. Mean overall availability in the public sector ranged from 68.8% to 81.7%. In “popular pharmacies”, mean availability was greater than 90% in all cities. Conclusions Availability of medicines in the public sector does not meet the challenge of supplying essential medicines to the entire population, as stated in the Brazilian constitution. This has unavoidable repercussions for affordability, particularly amongst the lower socio-economic strata. PMID:22436555

Challenges facing European agriculture and possible biotechnological solutions.

PubMed

Ricroch, Agnès; Harwood, Wendy; Svobodová, Zdeňka; Sági, László; Hundleby, Penelope; Badea, Elena Marcela; Rosca, Ioan; Cruz, Gabriela; Salema Fevereiro, Manuel Pedro; Marfà Riera, Victoria; Jansson, Stefan; Morandini, Piero; Bojinov, Bojin; Cetiner, Selim; Custers, René; Schrader, Uwe; Jacobsen, Hans-Joerg; Martin-Laffon, Jacqueline; Boisron, Audrey; Kuntz, Marcel

2016-10-01

Agriculture faces many challenges to maximize yields while it is required to operate in an environmentally sustainable manner. In the present study, we analyze the major agricultural challenges identified by European farmers (primarily related to biotic stresses) in 13 countries, namely Belgium, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Portugal, Romania, Spain, Sweden, UK and Turkey, for nine major crops (barley, beet, grapevine, maize, oilseed rape, olive, potato, sunflower and wheat). Most biotic stresses (BSs) are related to fungi or insects, but viral diseases, bacterial diseases and even parasitic plants have an important impact on yield and harvest quality. We examine how these challenges have been addressed by public and private research sectors, using either conventional breeding, marker-assisted selection, transgenesis, cisgenesis, RNAi technology or mutagenesis. Both national surveys and scientific literature analysis followed by text mining were employed to evaluate genetic engineering (GE) and non-GE approaches. This is the first report of text mining of the scientific literature on plant breeding and agricultural biotechnology research. For the nine major crops in Europe, 128 BS challenges were identified with 40% of these addressed neither in the scientific literature nor in recent European public research programs. We found evidence that the private sector was addressing only a few of these "neglected" challenges. Consequently, there are considerable gaps between farmer's needs and current breeding and biotechnology research. We also provide evidence that the current political situation in certain European countries is an impediment to GE research in order to address these agricultural challenges in the future. This study should also contribute to the decision-making process on future pertinent international consortia to fill the identified research gaps.

Planning an integrated agriculture and health program and designing its evaluation: Experience from Western Kenya.

PubMed

Cole, Donald C; Levin, Carol; Loechl, Cornelia; Thiele, Graham; Grant, Frederick; Girard, Aimee Webb; Sindi, Kirimi; Low, Jan

2016-06-01

Multi-sectoral programs that involve stakeholders in agriculture, nutrition and health care are essential for responding to nutrition problems such as vitamin A deficiency among pregnant and lactating women and their infants in many poor areas of lower income countries. Yet planning such multi-sectoral programs and designing appropriate evaluations, to respond to different disciplinary cultures of evidence, remain a challenge. We describe the context, program development process, and evaluation design of the Mama SASHA project (Sweetpotato Action for Security and Health in Africa) which promoted production and consumption of a bio-fortified, orange-fleshed sweetpotato (OFSP). In planning the program we drew upon information from needs assessments, stakeholder consultations, and a first round of the implementation evaluation of a pilot project. The multi-disciplinary team worked with partner organizations to develop a program theory of change and an impact pathway which identified aspects of the program that would be monitored and established evaluation methods. Responding to the growing demand for greater rigour in impact evaluations, we carried out quasi-experimental allocation by health facility catchment area, repeat village surveys for assessment of change in intervention and control areas, and longitudinal tracking of individual mother-child pairs. Mid-course corrections in program implementation were informed by program monitoring, regular feedback from implementers and partners' meetings. To assess economic efficiency and provide evidence for scaling we collected data on resources used and project expenses. Managing the multi-sectoral program and the mixed methods evaluation involved bargaining and trade-offs that were deemed essential to respond to the array of stakeholders, program funders and disciplines involved. Copyright © 2016 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.

Planning an integrated agriculture and health program and designing its evaluation: Experience from Western Kenya

PubMed Central

Cole, Donald C.; Levin, Carol; Loechl, Cornelia; Thiele, Graham; Grant, Frederick; Girard, Aimee Webb; Sindi, Kirimi; Low, Jan

2016-01-01

Multi-sectoral programs that involve stakeholders in agriculture, nutrition and health care are essential for responding to nutrition problems such as vitamin A deficiency among pregnant and lactating women and their infants in many poor areas of lower income countries. Yet planning such multi-sectoral programs and designing appropriate evaluations, to respond to different disciplinary cultures of evidence, remain a challenge. We describe the context, program development process, and evaluation design of the Mama SASHA project (Sweetpotato Action for Security and Health in Africa) which promoted production and consumption of a bio-fortified, orange-fleshed sweetpotato (OFSP). In planning the program we drew upon information from needs assessments, stakeholder consultations, and a first round of the implementation evaluation of a pilot project. The multi-disciplinary team worked with partner organizations to develop a program theory of change and an impact pathway which identified aspects of the program that would be monitored and established evaluation methods. Responding to the growing demand for greater rigour in impact evaluations, we carried out quasi-experimental allocation by health facility catchment area, repeat village surveys for assessment of change in intervention and control areas, and longitudinal tracking of individual mother-child pairs. Mid-course corrections in program implementation were informed by program monitoring, regular feedback from implementers and partners’ meetings. To assess economic efficiency and provide evidence for scaling we collected data on resources used and project expenses. Managing the multi-sectoral program and the mixed methods evaluation involved bargaining and trade-offs that were deemed essential to respond to the array of stakeholders, program funders and disciplines involved. PMID:27003730

The ALIVE program: developing a web-based professional development program for nursing leaders in the home healthcare sector.

PubMed

Lankshear, Sara; Huckstep, Sherri; Lefebre, Nancy; Leiterman, Janis; Simon, Deborah

2010-05-01

Home healthcare nurses often work in isolation and rarely have the opportunity to meet or congregate in one location. As a result, nurse leaders must possess unique leadership skills to supervise and manage a dispersed employee base from a distance. The nature of this dispersed workforce creates an additional challenge in the ability to identify future leaders, facilitate leadership capacity, and enhance skill development to prepare them for future leadership positions. The ALIVE (Actively Leading In Virtual Environments) web-based program was developed to meet the needs of leaders working in virtual environments such as the home healthcare sector. The program, developed through a partnership of three home healthcare agencies, used nursing leaders as content experts to guide program development and as participants in the pilot. Evaluation findings include the identification of key competencies for nursing leaders in the home healthcare sector, development of program learning objectives and participant feedback regarding program content and delivery.

Innovative work behavior of managers: Implications regarding stressful challenges of modernized public- and private-sector organizations

PubMed Central

Mukherjee, Sudeshna Basu; Ray, Anjali

2009-01-01

Background: The present study was firstly aimed to find out the nature of stressful life events arising out of the innovative challenges in modernized organizations; and secondly, it tried to identify the relationship between innovative work behavior of managers and the levels of stress arising out of stressful events in modernized organizations (public and private) in West Bengal. Materials and Methods: Data was collected from a sample of 200 managers, by using 3 tools (General Information Schedule, Life Event Inventory and Innovative Work Behavior Scale) through a face-to-face interview. Responses were subjected to both quantitative and qualitative analyses. The data was statistically treated for ‘t’ and ANOVA. Results: Data highlighted the fact that the qualitative profile of stressful events in the lives of managers expressed specificity in terms of their organizational type (public- and private-sector modernized organizations), and levels of stress from stressful life events were significantly higher among the modernized private-sector managers than those among public-sector managers. The prevalence of innovative work behavior was moderately higher among managers of private-sector modernized organizations than their counterparts in public-sector organizations. The trends of innovative work behavior of the managers indicated much variability due to interaction of their level of perceived stressful challenges for innovation and the global forces of change that have unleashed dynamic, systematic and higher expectation level from them. PMID:21180486

Innovative work behavior of managers: Implications regarding stressful challenges of modernized public- and private-sector organizations.

PubMed

Mukherjee, Sudeshna Basu; Ray, Anjali

2009-07-01

The present study was firstly aimed to find out the nature of stressful life events arising out of the innovative challenges in modernized organizations; and secondly, it tried to identify the relationship between innovative work behavior of managers and the levels of stress arising out of stressful events in modernized organizations (public and private) in West Bengal. Data was collected from a sample of 200 managers, by using 3 tools (General Information Schedule, Life Event Inventory and Innovative Work Behavior Scale) through a face-to-face interview. Responses were subjected to both quantitative and qualitative analyses. The data was statistically treated for 't' and ANOVA. Data highlighted the fact that the qualitative profile of stressful events in the lives of managers expressed specificity in terms of their organizational type (public- and private-sector modernized organizations), and levels of stress from stressful life events were significantly higher among the modernized private-sector managers than those among public-sector managers. The prevalence of innovative work behavior was moderately higher among managers of private-sector modernized organizations than their counterparts in public-sector organizations. The trends of innovative work behavior of the managers indicated much variability due to interaction of their level of perceived stressful challenges for innovation and the global forces of change that have unleashed dynamic, systematic and higher expectation level from them.

China in International Institutions: Challenges and Opportunities for Singapore

DTIC Science & Technology

2011-12-16

Thornton points out that the Chinese civil service is facing increasing competition from the private sector in attracting top graduates. 78 In...demographics and education system, Thornton highlights that China’s civil service faces challenges from the private sector in recruiting and retaining the... private and unofficial” 25 visit to Taiwan, China “expressed strong dissatisfaction with and protest against the visit” and threatened that

Russian Policy on Methane Emissions in the Oil and Gas Sector: A Case Study in Opportunities and Challenges in Reducing Short-Lived Forcers

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Evans, Meredydd; Roshchanka, Volha

2014-08-04

This paper uses Russian policy in the oil and gas sector as a case study in assessing options and challenges for scaling-up emission reductions. We examine the challenges to achieving large-scale emission reductions, successes that companies have achieved to date, how Russia has sought to influence methane emissions through its environmental fine system, and options for helping companies achieve large-scale emission reductions in the future through simpler and clearer incentives.

Cross-sector Service Provision in Health and Social Care: An Umbrella Review.

PubMed

Winters, Shannon; Magalhaes, Lilian; Anne Kinsella, Elizabeth; Kothari, Anita

2016-04-08

Meeting the complex health needs of people often requires interaction among numerous different sectors. No one service can adequately respond to the diverse care needs of consumers. Providers working more effectively together is frequently touted as the solution. Cross-sector service provision is defined as independent, yet interconnected sectors working together to better meet the needs of consumers and improve the quality and effectiveness of service provision. Cross-sector service provision is expected, yet much remains unknown about how it is conceptualised or its impact on health status. This umbrella review aims to clarify the critical attributes that shape cross-sector service provision by presenting the current state of the literature and building on the findings of the 2004 review by Sloper. Literature related to cross-sector service provision is immense, which poses a challenge for decision makers wishing to make evidence-informed decisions. An umbrella review was conducted to articulate the overall state of cross-sector service provision literature and examine the evidence to allow for the discovery of consistencies and discrepancies across the published knowledge base. Sixteen reviews met the inclusion criteria. Seven themes emerged: Focusing on the consumer, developing a shared vision of care, leadership involvement, service provision across the boundaries, adequately resourcing the arrangement, developing novel arrangements or aligning with existing relationships, and strengthening connections between sectors. Future research from a cross-organisational, rather than individual provider, perspective is needed to better understand what shapes cross-sector service provision at the boundaries. Findings aligned closely with the work done by Sloper and raise red flags related to reinventing what is already known. Future researchers should look to explore novel areas rather than looking into areas that have been explored at length. Evaluations of out-comes related to cross-sector service provision are still needed before any claims about effectiveness can be made.

Cross-sector Service Provision in Health and Social Care: An Umbrella Review

PubMed Central

Magalhaes, Lilian; Anne Kinsella, Elizabeth; Kothari, Anita

2016-01-01

Introduction: Meeting the complex health needs of people often requires interaction among numerous different sectors. No one service can adequately respond to the diverse care needs of consumers. Providers working more effectively together is frequently touted as the solution. Cross-sector service provision is defined as independent, yet interconnected sectors working together to better meet the needs of consumers and improve the quality and effectiveness of service provision. Cross-sector service provision is expected, yet much remains unknown about how it is conceptualised or its impact on health status. This umbrella review aims to clarify the critical attributes that shape cross-sector service provision by presenting the current state of the literature and building on the findings of the 2004 review by Sloper. Methods: Literature related to cross-sector service provision is immense, which poses a challenge for decision makers wishing to make evidence-informed decisions. An umbrella review was conducted to articulate the overall state of cross-sector service provision literature and examine the evidence to allow for the discovery of consistencies and discrepancies across the published knowledge base. Findings: Sixteen reviews met the inclusion criteria. Seven themes emerged: Focusing on the consumer, developing a shared vision of care, leadership involvement, service provision across the boundaries, adequately resourcing the arrangement, developing novel arrangements or aligning with existing relationships, and strengthening connections between sectors. Future research from a cross-organisational, rather than individual provider, perspective is needed to better understand what shapes cross-sector service provision at the boundaries. Conclusion: Findings aligned closely with the work done by Sloper and raise red flags related to reinventing what is already known. Future researchers should look to explore novel areas rather than looking into areas that have been explored at length. Evaluations of out-comes related to cross-sector service provision are still needed before any claims about effectiveness can be made. PMID:27616954

Use of communities of practice in business and health care sectors: a systematic review.

PubMed

Li, Linda C; Grimshaw, Jeremy M; Nielsen, Camilla; Judd, Maria; Coyte, Peter C; Graham, Ian D

2009-05-17

Since being identified as a concept for understanding knowledge sharing, management, and creation, communities of practice (CoPs) have become increasingly popular within the health sector. The CoP concept has been used in the business sector for over 20 years, but the use of CoPs in the health sector has been limited in comparison. First, we examined how CoPs were defined and used in these two sectors. Second, we evaluated the evidence of effectiveness on the health sector CoPs for improving the uptake of best practices and mentoring new practitioners. We conducted a search of electronic databases in the business, health, and education sectors, and a hand search of key journals for primary studies on CoP groups. Our research synthesis for the first objective focused on three areas: the authors' interpretations of the CoP concept, the key characteristics of CoP groups, and the common elements of CoP groups. To examine the evidence on the effectiveness of CoPs in the health sector, we identified articles that evaluated CoPs for improving health professional performance, health care organizational performance, professional mentoring, and/or patient outcome; and used experimental, quasi-experimental, or observational designs. The structure of CoP groups varied greatly, ranging from voluntary informal networks to work-supported formal education sessions, and from apprentice training to multidisciplinary, multi-site project teams. Four characteristics were identified from CoP groups: social interaction among members, knowledge sharing, knowledge creation, and identity building; however, these were not consistently present in all CoPs. There was also a lack of clarity in the responsibilities of CoP facilitators and how power dynamics should be handled within a CoP group. We did not find any paper in the health sector that met the eligibility criteria for the quantitative analysis, and so the effectiveness of CoP in this sector remained unclear. There is no dominant trend in how the CoP concept is operationalized in the business and health sectors; hence, it is challenging to define the parameters of CoP groups. This may be one of the reasons for the lack of studies on the effectiveness of CoPs in the health sector. In order to improve the usefulness of the CoP concept in the development of groups and teams, further research will be needed to clarify the extent to which the four characteristics of CoPs are present in the mature and emergent groups, the expectations of facilitators and other participants, and the power relationship within CoPs.

Organizational responses to a changing aid environment: the German Agency for Technical Cooperation (GTZ).

PubMed

Hill, Peter S

2002-01-01

As a major European donor, German government development assistance faces a series of challenges. Recent political changes have raised expectations for demonstrable health outcomes as a result of German development assistance; there has been a deepened commitment to collaboration with other bilateral and multilateral donors; and partner countries are increasingly open to new approaches to development. German development assistance also reflects a new ethos of partnership and the shift to programmatic and sector based development approaches. At the same time, its particular organizational structure and administrative framework highlight the extent of structural and systems reforms required of donors by changing development relationships, and the tensions created in responding to these. This paper examines organizational changes within the German Agency for Technical Cooperation (Deutsche Gesellschaft für Technische, Zusammenarbeit) (GTZ), aimed at increasing its Regional, Sectoral, Managerial and Process competence as they affect health and related sectors. These include the decentralization of GTZ, the trend to integration of projects, the increasing focus on policy and health systems reform, increased inter-sectoral collaboration, changes in recruitment and training, new perspectives in planning and evaluation and the introduction of a quality management programme.

Bridging the Divide: Challenges and Opportunities for Public Sector Agricultural Professionals Working with Amish and Mennonite Producers on Conservation.

PubMed

Brock, Caroline; Ulrich-Schad, Jessica D; Prokopy, Linda

2018-05-01

As Amish and Old Order and Conservative Mennonite (i.e., Plain) farmers increase their presence in the agricultural sector, it is crucial for public sector agricultural professionals to effectively work with them to mediate nonpoint source pollution and address issues like the hypoxic zone in the Gulf of Mexico. However, there is a dearth of research on how public sector agricultural professionals can better work with Plain producers on environmental management. There are also few training resources for those working with this key, yet hard to reach, population. Additionally, due to their religious doctrines, Plain communities strive to live apart from the "world" and may be discouraged from working with government entities and attending non-Plain people events. This study analyzes interview data from 23 Amish farmers in one region of Indiana and 18 public sector agricultural professionals from a variety of backgrounds and geographies in areas of the U.S. with heavy Plain populations. Public sector agricultural professionals identified some key agronomic challenges on Plain farms related to issues like poor pasture and manure management as well as socio-cultural challenges such as restrictions on electronic and phone communication. Educators should design outreach strategies that take into consideration that faith convictions and conservation concerns may vary greatly based on the specificities of the particular Plain church group. By better understanding this population and how to work with them, public sector agricultural professionals can more effectively work towards addressing environmental problems with this under-served group.

Progress and challenges to male and female condom use in South Africa.

PubMed

Beksinska, Mags E; Smit, Jennifer A; Mantell, Joanne E

2012-03-01

South Africa has responded to the sexually transmissible infection and HIV epidemic with a rapid expansion of its national-level public sector condom program. Male condoms are available widely at no cost in the public sector, with expanded access via social marketing and the private sector. The female condom program is one of the largest and best established globally. National surveys show progressive increases in rates of condom use at last sex. However, inconsistent and incorrect condom use and the likelihood that condoms are discontinued in longer-term partnerships are some of the challenges impeding the condom program's successes in the fight against sexually transmissible infections and HIV. This article reviews the current condom program, related guidelines and policies, and the existing data on male and female condom use, including distribution and uptake. We discuss the main challenges to condom use, including both user and service-related issues and finally how these challenges could be addressed.

Effects of Sectoral Diversity on Community Coalition Processes and Outcomes.

PubMed

Brown, Louis D; Wells, Rebecca; Jones, Eric C; Chilenski, Sarah Meyer

2017-07-01

Collaboration with diverse partners is challenging but essential for the implementation of prevention programs and policies. Increased communication with partners from diverse sectors may help community coalitions overcome the challenges that diversity presents. We examined these issues empirically in a study of 17 substance use prevention coalitions in Mexico. Building on coalition and workgroup literatures, we hypothesized that sectoral diversity would improve outcomes but undermine coalition processes. Conversely, we expected uniformly positive effects from higher levels of intersectoral communication. Data are from a 2015 survey of 211 members within the 17 community coalitions. Regression models used sectoral diversity and intersectoral communication to predict coalition processes (cohesion, leader-member communication, efficiency) and outcomes (community support, community improvement, sustainability planning). Sectoral diversity was negatively associated with coalition processes and was not associated with coalition outcomes. Intersectoral communication was positively associated with two of the three measures of coalition outcomes but not associated with coalition processes. Our findings concur with those from prior research indicating that sectoral diversity may undermine coalition processes. However, more communication between sectors may facilitate the coalition outcomes of community support and sustainability planning. Skilled team leaders and participatory decision making may also help coalitions promote intersectoral communication, thereby engaging diverse community sectors to implement preventive interventions and actualize sustained public health impact.

Developing injury prevention policy through a multi-agency partnership approach: a case study of a state-wide sports safety policy in New South Wales, Australia.

PubMed

Poulos, Roslyn G; Donaldson, Alex; McLeod, Brent

2012-01-01

Sports injuries are an important public health issue. A multi-agency key stakeholder partnership was formed to develop a state-wide response to sports injury prevention in New South Wales, Australia. This study evaluated the partnership approach to injury prevention policy development. The partnership approach to policy development was evaluated pre- and post-partnership using semi-structured telephone interviews and questionnaire data gathered from participants. Participants were satisfied with the partnership operation and outcomes. Challenges included: maintaining focus and efficiency; time constraints; sector diversity limiting the likelihood of addressing needs and reaching consensus; and ensuring commitment from all relevant organisations. Potential benefits included: a sense of policy ownership; a broad-based approach across the sector and savings from resource sharing. Policy resulted from a shared understanding of the injury problem, and of an appropriate response. A credible industry leader, investment in partnership management and a consultative approach facilitated the success of the partnership.

Reduction of Multi-pollutant Emissions from Industrial Sectors: The U.S. Cement Industry – A Case Study

EPA Science Inventory

For Frank Princiotta’s book, Global Climate Change—The Technology Challenge Carbon dioxide (CO2) accounts for more than 90% of worldwide CO2-eq green-house gas (GHG) emissions from industrial sectors other than power generation. Amongst these sectors, the cement industry is one ...

Balancing the benefits and risks of public-private partnerships to address the global double burden of malnutrition.

PubMed

Kraak, Vivica I; Harrigan, Paige B; Lawrence, Mark; Harrison, Paul J; Jackson, Michaela A; Swinburn, Boyd

2012-03-01

Transnational food, beverage and restaurant companies, and their corporate foundations, may be potential collaborators to help address complex public health nutrition challenges. While UN system guidelines are available for private-sector engagement, non-governmental organizations (NGO) have limited guidelines to navigate diverse opportunities and challenges presented by partnering with these companies through public-private partnerships (PPP) to address the global double burden of malnutrition. We conducted a search of electronic databases, UN system websites and grey literature to identify resources about partnerships used to address the global double burden of malnutrition. A narrative summary provides a synthesis of the interdisciplinary literature identified. We describe partnership opportunities, benefits and challenges; and tools and approaches to help NGO engage with the private sector to address global public health nutrition challenges. PPP benefits include: raising the visibility of nutrition and health on policy agendas; mobilizing funds and advocating for research; strengthening food-system processes and delivery systems; facilitating technology transfer; and expanding access to medications, vaccines, healthy food and beverage products, and nutrition assistance during humanitarian crises. PPP challenges include: balancing private commercial interests with public health interests; managing conflicts of interest; ensuring that co-branded activities support healthy products and healthy eating environments; complying with ethical codes of conduct; assessing partnership compatibility; and evaluating partnership outcomes. NGO should adopt a systematic and transparent approach using available tools and processes to maximize benefits and minimize risks of partnering with transnational food, beverage and restaurant companies to effectively target the global double burden of malnutrition.

Implementing national strategies on antimicrobial resistance in Thailand: potential challenges and solutions.

PubMed

Sommanustweechai, A; Tangcharoensathien, V; Malathum, K; Sumpradit, N; Kiatying-Angsulee, N; Janejai, N; Jaroenpoj, S

2018-04-01

Thailand has developed a national strategic plan on antimicrobial resistance (NSP-AMR) and endorsed by the Cabinet in August 2016. This study reviewed the main contents of the NSP-AMR and the mandates of relevant implementing agencies and identified challenges and recommends actions to mitigate implementation gaps. This study analysed the contents of NSP-AMR, reviewed institutional mandates and assessed the implementation gaps among agencies responsible for NSP-AMR. Two of six strategies are related to monitoring and surveillance of AMR and antimicrobial consumption in human and animal. Two other strategies aim to improve antibiotic stewardship and control the spread of AMR in both clinical and farm settings. The remaining two strategies aim to increase knowledge and public awareness on AMR and establish national governance for inter-sectoral actions. Strategies to overcome implementation challenges are sustaining cross-sectoral policy commitments, effective cross-sectoral coordination using One Health approach, generating evidence which guides policy implementation, and improving enforcement capacities in regulatory authorities. To address AMR, Thailand requires significant improvements in implementation capacities in two dimensions. First, technical capacities among implementing agencies are needed to translate policies into practice. Second, governance and organizational capacities enable effective multi-sectoral actions across human, animal, and environmental sectors. Copyright © 2018 The Royal Society for Public Health. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Challenges and responsibilities for public sector scientists.

PubMed

Van Montagu, Marc

2010-11-30

Current agriculture faces the challenge of doubling food production to meet the food needs of a population expected to reach 9 billion by mid-century whilst maintaining soil and water quality and conserving biodiversity. These challenges are more overwhelming for the rural poor, who are the custodians of environmental resources and at the same time particularly vulnerable to environmental degradation. Solutions have to come from concerted actions by different segments of society in which public sector science plays a fundamental role. Public sector scientists are at the root of all the present generation of GM crop traits under cultivation and more will come with the new knowledge that is being generated by systems biology. To speed up innovation, molecular biologists must interact with scientists from the different fields as well as with stakeholders outside the academic world in order to create an environment capable of capturing value from public sector knowledge. I highlight here the measures that have to be taken urgently to guarantee that science and technology can tackle the problems of subsistence farmers. Copyright © 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Prohibit, constrain, encourage, or purchase: how should we engage with the private health-care sector?

PubMed

Montagu, Dominic; Goodman, Catherine

2016-08-06

The private for-profit sector's prominence in health-care delivery, and concern about its failures to deliver social benefit, has driven a search for interventions to improve the sector's functioning. We review evidence for the effectiveness and limitations of such private sector interventions in low-income and middle-income countries. Few robust assessments are available, but some conclusions are possible. Prohibiting the private sector is very unlikely to succeed, and regulatory approaches face persistent challenges in many low-income and middle-income countries. Attention is therefore turning to interventions that encourage private providers to improve quality and coverage (while advancing their financial interests) such as social marketing, social franchising, vouchers, and contracting. However, evidence about the effect on clinical quality, coverage, equity, and cost-effectiveness is inadequate. Other challenges concern scalability and scope, indicating the limitations of such interventions as a basis for universal health coverage, though interventions can address focused problems on a restricted scale. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The advantages of creating a positive radiation safety culture in the higher education and research sectors.

PubMed

Coldwell, T; Cole, P; Edwards, C; Makepeace, J; Murdock, C; Odams, H; Whitcher, R; Willis, S; Yates, L

2015-12-01

The safety culture of any organisation plays a critical role in setting the tone for both effective delivery of service and high standards of performance. By embedding safety at a cultural level, organisations are able to influence the attitudes and behaviours of stakeholders. To achieve this requires the ongoing commitment of heads of organisations and also individuals to prioritise safety no less than other competing goals (e.g. in universities, recruitment and retention are key) to ensure the protection of both people and the environment. The concept of culture is the same whatever the sector, e.g. medical, nuclear, industry, education, and research, but the higher education and research sectors within the UK are a unique challenge in developing a strong safety culture. This report provides an overview of the challenges presented by the sector, the current status of radiation protection culture, case studies to demonstrate good and bad practice in the sector and the practical methods to influence change.

Climate Leadership in the Financial Sector Webinar

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

Financial sector winners from the 2015 Climate Leadership Awards discuss best practices and challenges faced by their corporations based on their experience of attempting to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and address climate risk.

ISO 50001 for US Commercial Buildings - Current Status and Opportunities

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Liu, Jingjing; Sheaffer, Paul

''ISO 50001: 2011 Energy management systems – Requirements with guidance for use'' is a voluntary International Standard which provides organizations a proven framework to manage energy and continuously improve their energy performance. Implementing ISO 50001 in the commercial building sector has its unique opportunities and challenges in comparison with the industrial sector. The energy footprint of a portfolio of commercial buildings can be just as significant as a large industrial facility in comparison. There are many energy-saving opportunities in commercial buildings that can be addressed without capital investments, and the perceived risks for making energy improvements can be lower thanmore » in the industrial sector. In addition, the energy-consuming systems in commercial buildings are limited in types and have many similarities across buildings, which makes it much easier to standardize many ISO 50001 required processes, 5 procedures and documents to simplify implementation. There are also some sector-unique challenges, such as less familiar with ISO systems and the certification process. Another challenge arises from the complexity in some buildings’ ownership, tenancy, and O&M responsibilities. This whitepaper discusses these opportunities and issues in detail. The paper also recommends the characteristics of organizations in the commercial building sector that can benefit the most from adopting the ISO 50001 standard – namely the “suitable market”. Eight segments (education, food sales, retail, inpatient health care, hospitality, office buildings, laboratories and data centers) within the commercial building sector are highlighted.« less

Evaluating the benefits of government funded R & D aimed at the private sector

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Greenberg, J. S.

1977-01-01

Federal funding of technological research and development is discussed with regard to the procedures for an economic analysis with the goals of (1) determining when the public sector should invest in a research and development program, (2) evaluating the likelihood of private sector participation in terms of public sector participation, and (3) considering the major factors in the formulation of a research and development program in terms of defining initiatives. Public sector investments are evaluated, noting procedures for determining whether benefits exceed costs. The role of the public sector research and development planning is described, considering the procedure for private sector implementation decisions and a methodology for evaluating the possibility of private sector commercialization. The economic value of the public sector research and development program is presented with attention given to a specific case of NASA-sponsored research and development aimed toward the commercialization of new public communications services.

Factors Affecting Teachers' Motivation: An HRM Challenge for Public Sector Higher Educational Institutions of Pakistan (HEIs)

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rasheed, Muhammad Imran; Humayon, Asad Afzal; Awan, Usama; Ahmed, Affan ud Din

2016-01-01

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to explore/investigate various issues of teachers ' motivation in public sector Higher Educational Institutions of Pakistan. Design/methodology/approach: This is an exploratory research where surveys have been conducted in the well known public sector Universities of Pakistan; primary data have been collected…

Evaluating health policy capacity: Learning from international and Australian experience

PubMed Central

Gleeson, Deborah H; Legge, David G; O'Neill, Deirdre

2009-01-01

Background The health sector in Australia faces major challenges that include an ageing population, spiralling health care costs, continuing poor Aboriginal health, and emerging threats to public health. At the same time, the environment for policy-making is becoming increasingly complex. In this context, strong policy capacity – broadly understood as the capacity of government to make "intelligent choices" between policy options – is essential if governments and societies are to address the continuing and emerging problems effectively. Results This paper explores the question: "What are the factors that contribute to policy capacity in the health sector?" In the absence of health sector-specific research on this topic, a review of Australian and international public sector policy capacity research was undertaken. Studies from the United Kingdom, Canada, New Zealand and Australia were analysed to identify common themes in the research findings. This paper discusses these policy capacity studies in relation to context, models and methods for policy capacity research, elements of policy capacity and recommendations for building capacity. Conclusion Based on this analysis, the paper discusses the organisational and individual factors that are likely to contribute to health policy capacity, highlights the need for further research in the health sector and points to some of the conceptual and methodological issues that need to be taken into consideration in such research. PMID:19245704

Workplace safety in Bangladesh ready-made garment sector: 3 years after the Rana Plaza collapse.

PubMed

Barua, Uttama; Ansary, Mehedi Ahmed

2017-12-01

Workplace safety is one of the most important issues in industries worldwide, and is endangered by industrial accidents. Different industrial disasters have resulted in several initiatives worldwide to protect human life and reduce material damage, both nationally and internationally. In Bangladesh, the ready-made garment (RMG) industry is one of the most important export-oriented business sectors, which is facing challenges to ensure workplace safety. The Rana Plaza collapse in Bangladesh is the consequence of such non-compliance. The accident resulted in different local and global initiatives to address the challenges. This article reviews progress and achievement of the initiatives to reduce vulnerability in the Bangladesh RMG industry within 3 years after the deadly accident. In the long run, the challenge is to maintain momentum already created for achieving sustainability in the RMG sector in Bangladesh and maintaining compliance even after the end of support from external partners.

Changing dynamics in the Canadian voluntary sector: challenges in sustaining organizational capacity to support healthy communities.

PubMed

Steedman, Eric; Rabinowicz, Jane

2006-11-01

The voluntary sector is recognized, by citizens, industry and government, as an increasingly vital contributor to healthy communities within Canadian society, called upon to provide front-line service delivery in areas of community support that were in the past often served by government and or religious charity. (The voluntary sector is large, consisting of an estimated 180,000 non-profit organizations [of which 80,000 are registered as charities] and hundreds of thousands more volunteer groups that are not incorporated [Statistics Canada, 2002].) The dynamics of the sector have changed considerably over the past decade, as government has pulled back the level of core organizational funding support and the role of the church has diminished. As community health is directly related to the organizational health of service-providing non-profits and charities, these organizations are looking increasingly towards corporate and individual donors, along with new self-financing approaches that generate revenues. They are also facing challenges in attracting and retaining skilled and motivated volunteers. As the scope of the voluntary sector and its overall influence grows, so do the organizational and financial challenges it faces. This article will address in particular the issue of funding support for healthy communities and examine a number of potential and existing best practices for sustaining community health in Canada. We will also look at the issue of volunteerism and human resource capacity challenges for organizations. This is an area in which the Canadian government has decided to focus as a result of explicit policy decisions taken in the late 1990s.

An Evaluation of Health Impact Assessments in the United States, 2011–2014

PubMed Central

Charbonneau, Diana; Cahill, Carol; Dannenberg, Andrew L.

2015-01-01

Introduction The Center for Community Health and Evaluation conducted a 3-year evaluation to assess results of health impact assessments (HIAs) in the United States and to identify elements critical for their success. Methods The study used a retrospective, mixed-methods comparative case study design, including a literature review; site visits; interviews with investigators, stakeholders, and decision makers for 23 HIAs in 16 states that were completed from 2005 through 2013; and a Web-based survey of 144 HIA practitioners. Results Analysis of interviews with decision makers suggests HIAs can directly influence decisions in nonhealth-related sectors. HIAs may also influence changes beyond the decision target, build consensus and relationships among decision makers and their constituents, and give community members a stronger voice in decisions that affect them. Factors that may increase HIA success include care in choosing a project or policy to be examined’ selecting an appropriate team to conduct the HIA; engaging stakeholders and decision makers throughout the process; crafting clear, actionable recommendations; delivering timely, compelling messages to appropriate audiences; and using multiple dissemination methods. Challenges to successful HIAs include underestimating the level of effort required, political changes during the conduct of the HIA, accessing relevant local data, engaging vulnerable populations, and following up on recommendations. Conclusion Results of this study suggest HIAs are a useful tool to promote public health because they can influence decisions in nonhealth-related sectors, strengthen cross-sector collaborations, and raise awareness of health issues among decision makers. PMID:25695261

Environmental performance and financial report integrity: challenges for the mining sector in Indonesia

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mayangsari, S.

2018-01-01

This study investigates the influence of environmental performance on the financial report integrity. The statistics used were primary data from interviews with senior members of the mining sector regarding environmental issues, as well as secondary data using Financial Report 2016. The samples were listed mining companies with semester data. Questionnaires were used to measure their perceptions of the challenges concerning climate change faced by the mining sector. The results of this research show that regulatory interventions will be critical to environmental issues. This study employed KLD as a proxy for environmental performance, correlated with other variables regarding the integrity of disclosure. The outcome indicates that environmental issues will increase the integrity of financial reports.

The moral economy of austerity: analysing UK welfare reform.

PubMed

Morris, Lydia

2016-03-01

This paper notes the contemporary emergence of 'morality' in both sociological argument and political rhetoric, and analyses its significance in relation to ongoing UK welfare reforms. It revisits the idea of 'moral economy' and identifies two strands in its contemporary application; that all economies depend on an internal moral schema, and that some external moral evaluation is desirable. UK welfare reform is analysed as an example of the former, with reference to three distinct orientations advanced in the work of Freeden (1996), Laclau (2014), and Lockwood (1996). In this light, the paper then considers challenges to the reform agenda, drawn from third sector and other public sources. It outlines the forms of argument present in these challenges, based respectively on rationality, legality, and morality, which together provide a basis for evaluation of the welfare reforms and for an alternative 'moral economy'. © London School of Economics and Political Science 2016.

Eliminating malaria in Malaysia: the role of partnerships between the public and commercial sectors in Sabah.

PubMed

Sanders, Kelly C; Rundi, Christina; Jelip, Jenarun; Rashman, Yusof; Smith Gueye, Cara; Gosling, Roly D

2014-01-21

Countries in the Asia Pacific region have made great progress in the fight against malaria; several are rapidly approaching elimination. However, malaria control programmes operating in elimination settings face substantial challenges, particularly around mobile migrant populations, access to remote areas and the diversity of vectors with varying biting and breeding behaviours. These challenges can be addressed through subnational collaborations with commercial partners, such as mining or plantation companies, that can conduct or support malaria control activities to cover employees. Such partnerships can be a useful tool for accessing high-risk populations and supporting malaria elimination goals. This observational qualitative case study employed semi-structured key informant interviews to describe partnerships between the Malaysian Malaria Control Programme (MCP), and private palm oil, rubber and acacia plantations in the state of Sabah. Semi-structured interview guides were used to examine resource commitments, incentives, challenges, and successes of the collaborations. Interviews with workers from private plantations and the state of Sabah MCP indicated that partnerships with the commercial sector had contributed to decreases in incidence at plantation sites since 1991. Several plantations contribute financial and human resources toward malaria control efforts and all plantations frequently communicate with the MCP to help monitor the malaria situation on-site. Management of partnerships between private corporations and government entities can be challenging, as prioritization of malaria control may change with annual profits or arrival of new management. Partnering with the commercial sector has been an essential operational strategy to support malaria elimination in Sabah. The successes of these partnerships rely on a common understanding that elimination will be a mutually beneficial outcome for employers and the general public. Best practices included consistent communication, developing government-staffed subsector offices for malaria control on-site, engaging commercial plantations to provide financial and human resources for malaria control activities, and the development of new worker screening programmes. The successes and challenges associated with partnerships between the public and commercial sector can serve as an example for other malaria-eliminating countries with large plantation sectors, and may also be applied to other sectors that employ migrant workers or have commercial enterprises in hard to reach areas.

Designing effective power sector reform: A road map for the republic of Georgia

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kurdgelashvili, Lado

Around the world, network utilities (i.e., electricity, natural gas, railway, telecommunications, and water supply industries) are undergoing major structural transformation. A new wave of market liberalization, together with rapid technological changes, has challenged the previously dominant monopoly organization of these industries. A global trend toward deregulation and restructuring is evident in countries at different levels of social and economic development. The challenges of transition from a monopolistic to an open market competitive structure are numerous. Understanding these problems and finding solutions are essential to successful restructuring. In developing countries and economies in transition (i.e., the Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union), government-owned utilities are often considered to be highly inefficient. The dominant power sector restructuring strategies seek to promote economic efficiency through a gradual introduction of competition into the power sector. Five components of power sector reform are commonly proposed by the World Bank and others for these countries: commercialization, privatization, establishment of an independent regulatory agency, unbundling and gradual introduction of competition in generation and retail markets. The Republic of Georgia, like many economies in transition (e.g., Hungary, Ukraine, and Kazakhstan) has followed this reform model. However, outcomes of the reform have not been as promised. The acute economic problems facing Georgia after it regained independence have compounded problems in the power sector. A review of Georgia's utility reforms reveals that the country has undertaken electricity industry restructuring without giving substantial consideration to the problems that these reforms might have created within the industry or society. The main task of this dissertation is to find the restructuring model, which can best serve economic, social and environmental goals under circumstances similar to those in economies of transition. The dissertation provides a guide for policy makers in the energy sector for implementing power sector reform. At first the dissertation offers a general overview of different models of power sector organization, regulatory frameworks and market arrangements, and the potential impact of reform on social welfare. This knowledge is then applied for analysis of power sector reform in the Republic of Georgia. Social welfare analysis (SWA) is a major analytical tool used in the research for assessing the potential impacts of different power sector organization models on various stakeholders. Through the research it was identified that power industry arrangements in different countries have their particularities; however, after some level of simplification, power sector organization models can fit into one of three broad categories: (1) Government control and regulation of generation and retail segments of the power industry. (2) Full scale competition in the generation segment and retail choice. (3) Partial government control of the generation segment and limited retail choice. For SWA of different power market arrangement scenarios, electricity supply and demand curves had to be derived; for this purpose electricity demand forecasting and power supply evaluation methodologies were developed. This dissertation combines SWA, accepted demand forecasting methods and established power supply evaluation techniques to assess power sector performance under specified policy scenarios relevant to the circumstances of economies in transition such as the Republic of Georgia. Detailed analyses are performed for understanding possible outcomes with the introduction of different reform models. In addition, specific options for incorporating sustainable energy alternatives in the energy planning process are identified and assessed in economic, environmental and social terms. Special attention is given to market-based instruments for promoting sustainable energy options (e.g., renewable portfolio standards, energy conservation and energy efficiency programs) and social policies (e.g., lifeline rates, local employment). Results obtained from the detailed analysis of policy options for Georgia guide recommendations for a reform of the power sector.

Business Ethics 101 for the biotech industry.

PubMed

MacDonald, Chris

2004-01-01

Biotechnology companies face ethical challenges of two distinct types: bioethical challenges faced on account of the nature of work in the life sciences, and corporate ethical challenges on account of their nature as commercial entities. The latter set of challenges has received almost no attention at all in the academic literature or media. This paper begins to remedy that lacuna, examining ethical issues that arise specifically on account of the status of biotech companies as commercial entities. The focus here is on three representative issues: product safety, corporate social responsibility, and corporate governance. It is argued that each of these issues poses particular ethical challenges for companies in the biotech sector. In the area of product safety, it is noted that biotech companies face particular challenges in determining what counts as a "safe" product, given the contentious nature of what might count as a "harm" in the biotech field. In the area of corporate social responsibility, the adoption of a "stakeholder approach" and an attempt to manage the social consequences of products pose special challenges for biotech companies. This is due to the enormous range of groups and individuals claiming to have a stake in the doings of such companies, and the trenchant controversies over just what the social consequences of various biotechnologies might be. In the area of corporate governance, biotech companies need to seek out and follow best practices regarding the ways in which information, authority, and influence flow between a company's shareholders, managers, and Board of Directors, if they are to avoid duplicating the ethical and financial scandal that brought down ImClone. An important meta-issue, here--one that renders each of these corporate ethical challenges more vexing--is the difficulty of finding the appropriate benchmarks for ethical corporate behavior in a field as controversial, and as rapidly evolving, as biotechnology. Three programmatic suggestions can be made: Firstly, scholars and others interested in the ethical performance of the biotech sector must seek out and build opportunities for richer interdisciplinary collaboration. Secondly, companies within the biotech sector must seek out expertise and build capacity and competency in dealing with the corporate ethical issues that arise in their sector. Finally, companies in the biotech sector should explore the opportunities for collective problem solving afforded by the existence of local, national, and international industry associations such as the Biotechnology Industry Organization, BIOTECanada, and EuropaBio.

Interaction dynamics: The case of the water sector skills plan in South Africa.

PubMed

Moyo, Laurane; Wehn, Uta

2017-02-01

Despite extensive and continuous efforts to strengthen the capacity of people, organizations and institutions, there is evidence of an increasing gap between the existing and required capacities within the water sector. Consensus seems to be emerging regarding the need for national strategies to improve water sector capacity development. This paper analyses the dynamics of actors' interactions and their characteristics (motivation, cognition and power) during the formulation and implementation of a specific capacity development strategy, namely the Water Sector Skills Plan (SSP) in South Africa. Based on the Contextual Interactive Theory and empirical findings, our analysis indicates slow progression and challenges with implementing the SSP, mainly due to the lack of consultation with key stakeholders during the formulation stage, a lack of data sharing among the target group (the Sector Education Training Authorities), and a lack of capacities within the key implementing organizations. These policy dynamics need to be taken into account when advocating for national capacity development strategies as a solution for challenges with water sector capacity development. The paper proposes the recommendations that are of relevance for the SSP as well as similar initiatives in other countries. Copyright © 2016. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Risk of equine infectious disease transmission by non-race horse movements in Japan.

PubMed

Hayama, Yoko; Kobayashi, Sota; Nishida, Takeshi; Nishiguchi, Akiko; Tsutsui, Toshiyuki

2010-07-01

For determining surveillance programs or infectious disease countermeasures, risk evaluation approaches have been recently undertaken in the field of animal health. In the present study, to help establish efficient and effective surveillance and countermeasures for equine infectious diseases, we evaluated the potential risk of equine infectious disease transmission in non-race horses from the viewpoints of horse movements and health management practices by conducting a survey of non-race horse holdings. From the survey, the non-race horse population was classified into the following five sectors based on their purposes: the equestrian sector, private owner sector, exhibition sector, fattening sector and others. Our survey results showed that the equestrian and private owner sectors had the largest population sizes, and movements between and within these sectors occurred quite frequently, while there was little movement in the other sectors. Qualitative evaluation showed that the equestrian and private owner sectors had relatively high risks of equine infectious disease transmission through horse movements. Therefore, it would be effective to concentrate on these two sectors when implementing surveillance or preventative measures. Special priority should be given to the private owner sector because this sector has not implemented inspection and vaccination well compared with the equestrian sector, which possesses a high compliance rate for these practices. This qualitative risk evaluation focused on horse movements and health management practices could provide a basis for further risk evaluation to establish efficient and effective surveillance and countermeasures for equine infectious diseases.

Budget Issues: Accrual Budgeting Useful in Certain Areas but Does Not Provide Sufficient Information for Reporting on Our Nation’s Longer-Term Fiscal Challenge

DTIC Science & Technology

2007-12-01

Government Auditing Standards GDP gross domestic product IPSAS International Public Sector Accounting Standards OBEGAL Operating Balance...aligned with the international public sector accounting standards ( IPSAS ), but there were some deviations from IPSAS for constitutional reasons such...which is required under IPSAS . Besides developing the accounting standards to be used in the budget, a key challenge when switching to accrual

What can a participatory approach to evaluation contribute to the field of integrated care?

PubMed

Eyre, Laura; Farrelly, Michael; Marshall, Martin

2017-07-01

Better integration of care within the health sector and between health and social care is seen in many countries as an essential way of addressing the enduring problems of dwindling resources, changing demographics and unacceptable variation in quality of care. Current research evidence about the effectiveness of integration efforts supports neither the enthusiasm of those promoting and designing integrated care programmes nor the growing efforts of practitioners attempting to integrate care on the ground. In this paper we present a methodological approach, based on the principles of participatory research, that attempts to address this challenge. Participatory approaches are characterised by a desire to use social science methods to solve practical problems and a commitment on the part of researchers to substantive and sustained collaboration with relevant stakeholders. We describe how we applied an emerging practical model of participatory research, the researcher-in-residence model, to evaluate a large-scale integrated care programme in the UK. We propose that the approach added value to the programme in a number of ways: by engaging stakeholders in using established evidence and with the benefits of rigorously evaluating their work, by providing insights for local stakeholders that they were either not familiar with or had not fully considered in relation to the development and implementation of the programme and by challenging established mindsets and norms. While there is still much to learn about the benefits and challenges of applying participatory approaches in the health sector, we demonstrate how using such approaches have the potential to help practitioners integrate care more effectively in their daily practice and help progress the academic study of integrated care. Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to http://www.bmj.com/company/products-services/rights-and-licensing/.

Regulating the economic evaluation of pharmaceuticals and medical devices: a European perspective.

PubMed

Cookson, Richard; Hutton, John

2003-02-01

Throughout the developed world, economic evaluation of costly new pharmaceuticals and medical devices became increasingly widespread and systematic during the 1990s. However, serious concerns remain about the validity and relevance of this economic evidence, and about the transparency and accountability of its use in public sector reimbursement decisions. In this article, we summarise current concerns in Europe, based on interviews with European health economists from industry, universities, research institutes and consulting firms. We identify five challenges for European policy-makers, and conclude that there is considerable scope for improving decision-making without damaging incentives to innovate. The challenges are: (1). full publication of the economic evidence used in reimbursement decisions; (2). the redesign of licensing laws to improve the relevance of economic data available at product launch; (3). harmonisation of economic evaluation methodologies; (4). development of methodologies for evaluation of health inequality impacts; and (5). negotiation of price-performance deals to facilitate the use of economic evidence in post-launch pricing review decisions, as information is gathered from studies of product performance in routine use.

Access to artemisinin-combination therapy (ACT) and other anti-malarials: national policy and markets in Sierra Leone.

PubMed

Amuasi, John H; Diap, Graciela; Nguah, Samuel Blay; Karikari, Patrick; Boakye, Isaac; Jambai, Amara; Lahai, Wani Kumba; Louie, Karly S; Kiechel, Jean-Rene

2012-01-01

Malaria remains the leading burden of disease in post-conflict Sierra Leone. To overcome the challenge of anti-malarial drug resistance and improve effective treatment, Sierra Leone adopted artemisinin-combination therapy artesunate-amodiaquine (AS+AQ) as first-line treatment for uncomplicated P. falciparum malaria. Other national policy anti-malarials include artemether-lumefantrine (AL) as an alternative to AS+AQ, quinine and artemether for treatment of complicated malaria; and sulphadoxine-pyrimethamine (SP) for intermittent preventive treatment (IPTp). This study was conducted to evaluate access to national policy recommended anti-malarials. A cross-sectional survey of 127 medicine outlets (public, private and NGO) was conducted in urban and rural areas. The availability on the day of the survey, median prices, and affordability policy and available non-policy anti-malarials were calculated. Anti-malarials were stocked in 79% of all outlets surveyed. AS+AQ was widely available in public medicine outlets; AL was only available in the private and NGO sectors. Quinine was available in nearly two-thirds of public and NGO outlets and over one-third of private outlets. SP was widely available in all outlets. Non-policy anti-malarials were predominantly available in the private outlets. AS+AQ in the public sector was widely offered for free. Among the anti-malarials sold at a cost, the same median price of a course of AS+AQ (US$1.56), quinine tablets (US$0.63), were found in both the public and private sectors. Quinine injection had a median cost of US$0.31 in the public sector and US$0.47 in the private sector, while SP had a median cost of US$0.31 in the public sector compared to US$ 0.63 in the private sector. Non-policy anti-malarials were more affordable than first-line AS+AQ in all sectors. A course of AS+AQ was affordable at nearly two days' worth of wages in both the public and private sectors.

Use of communities of practice in business and health care sectors: A systematic review

PubMed Central

Li, Linda C; Grimshaw, Jeremy M; Nielsen, Camilla; Judd, Maria; Coyte, Peter C; Graham, Ian D

2009-01-01

Background Since being identified as a concept for understanding knowledge sharing, management, and creation, communities of practice (CoPs) have become increasingly popular within the health sector. The CoP concept has been used in the business sector for over 20 years, but the use of CoPs in the health sector has been limited in comparison. Objectives First, we examined how CoPs were defined and used in these two sectors. Second, we evaluated the evidence of effectiveness on the health sector CoPs for improving the uptake of best practices and mentoring new practitioners. Methods We conducted a search of electronic databases in the business, health, and education sectors, and a hand search of key journals for primary studies on CoP groups. Our research synthesis for the first objective focused on three areas: the authors' interpretations of the CoP concept, the key characteristics of CoP groups, and the common elements of CoP groups. To examine the evidence on the effectiveness of CoPs in the health sector, we identified articles that evaluated CoPs for improving health professional performance, health care organizational performance, professional mentoring, and/or patient outcome; and used experimental, quasi-experimental, or observational designs. Results The structure of CoP groups varied greatly, ranging from voluntary informal networks to work-supported formal education sessions, and from apprentice training to multidisciplinary, multi-site project teams. Four characteristics were identified from CoP groups: social interaction among members, knowledge sharing, knowledge creation, and identity building; however, these were not consistently present in all CoPs. There was also a lack of clarity in the responsibilities of CoP facilitators and how power dynamics should be handled within a CoP group. We did not find any paper in the health sector that met the eligibility criteria for the quantitative analysis, and so the effectiveness of CoP in this sector remained unclear. Conclusion There is no dominant trend in how the CoP concept is operationalized in the business and health sectors; hence, it is challenging to define the parameters of CoP groups. This may be one of the reasons for the lack of studies on the effectiveness of CoPs in the health sector. In order to improve the usefulness of the CoP concept in the development of groups and teams, further research will be needed to clarify the extent to which the four characteristics of CoPs are present in the mature and emergent groups, the expectations of facilitators and other participants, and the power relationship within CoPs. PMID:19445723

Analysis of environmental impacts of renewable energy on the Moroccan electricity sector: A System Dynamics approach

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chentouf, M.; Allouch, M.

2018-05-01

Producing electricity at an affordable price while taking into account environmental concerns has become a major challenge in Morocco. Moreover, the technical and financial issues related to renewable electricity plants are still hindering their efficient integration in the country. In fact, the energy sector (both electricity and heat) accounted for more than half of all Greenhouse Gases (GHG) emissions in the kingdom due to the major reliance on fossil fuels for answering the growing local demand. The key strategies to alleviate this critical situation include the integration of more renewable energies in the total energy mix and the enhancement of energy efficiency measures in different sectors. This paper strives to (1) evaluate the potential of carbon dioxide mitigation in Moroccan electricity sector following the actual and projected strategies and (2) highlight the policy schemes to be taken in order to achieve the ambitious carbon dioxide mitigation targets in the mid-term. A system dynamics model was built in order to simulate different scenarios of carbon dioxide mitigation policies up to 2030. The results shows that the achievement of renewable energies projects by 2030 could save 228.143 MtCO2 between 2020 and 2030 and an additional 18.127 MtCO2 could be avoided in the same period by enhancing energy efficiency measures.

Converting Energy Subsidies to Investments: Scaling-Up Deep Energy Retrofit in Residential Sector of Ukraine

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Denysenko, Artur

After collapse of the Soviet Union, Ukraine inherited vast and inefficient infrastructure. Combination of historical lack of transparency, decades without reforms, chronical underinvestment and harmful cross-subsidization resulted in accumulation of energy problems, which possess significant threat to economic prosperity and national security. High energy intensity leads to excessive use of energy and heavy reliance on energy import to meet domestic demand. Energy import, in turn, results in high account balance deficit and heavy burden on the state finances. A residential sector, which accounts for one third of energy consumption and is the highest consumer of natural gas, is particularly challenging to reform. This thesis explores energy consumption of the residential sector of Ukraine. Using energy decomposition method, recent changes in energy use is analyzed. Energy intensity of space heating in the residential sector of Ukraine is compared with selected EU member states with similar climates. Energy efficiency potential is evaluated for whole residential sector in general and for multistory apartment buildings connected to the district heating in particular. Specifically, investments in thermal modernization of multistory residential buildings will result in almost 45TWh, or 3.81 Mtoe, of annual savings. Required investments for deep energy retrofit of multistory buildings is estimated as much as $19 billion in 2015 prices. Experience of energy subsidy reforms as well as lessons from energy retrofit policy from selected countries is analyzed. Policy recommendations to turn energy subsidies into investments in deep energy retrofit of residential sector of Ukraine are suggested. Regional dimension of existing energy subsidies and capital subsidies required for energy retrofit is presented.

Innovation evaluation model for macro-construction sector companies: A study in Spain.

PubMed

Zubizarreta, Mikel; Cuadrado, Jesús; Iradi, Jon; García, Harkaitz; Orbe, Aimar

2017-04-01

The innovativeness of the traditional construction sector, composed of construction companies or contractors, is not one of its strong points. Likewise, its poor productivity in comparison with other sectors, such as manufacturing, has historically been criticized. Similar features are found in the Spanish traditional construction sector, which it has been described as not very innovative. However, certain characteristics of the sector may explain this behavior; the companies invest in R+D less than in other sectors and release fewer patents, so traditional innovation evaluation indicators do not reflect the true extent of its innovative activity. While previous research has focused on general innovation evaluation models, limited research has been done regarding innovation evaluation in the macro-construction sector, which includes, apart from the traditional construction companies or contractors, all companies related to the infrastructure life-cycle. Therefore, in this research an innovation evaluation model has been developed for macro-construction sector companies and is applied in the Spanish case. The model may be applied to the macro-construction sector companies in other countries, requiring the adaption of the model to the specific characteristics of the sector in that country, in consultation with a panel of experts at a national level. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Linkages between public and non-government sectors in healthcare: A case study from Uttar Pradesh, India.

PubMed

Srivastava, Aradhana; Bhattacharyya, Sanghita; Gautham, Meenakshi; Schellenberg, Joanna; Avan, Bilal I

2016-12-01

Effective utilisation of collaborative non-governmental organisation (NGO)-public health system linkages in pluralistic health systems of developing countries can substantially improve equity and quality of services. This study explores level and types of linkages between public health sector and NGOs in Uttar Pradesh (UP), an underprivileged state of India, using a social science model for the first time. It also identifies gaps and challenges for effective linkage. Two NGOs were selected as case studies. Data collection included semi-structured in-depth interviews with senior staff and review of records and reporting formats. Formal linkages of NGOs with the public health system related to registration, participation in district level meetings, workforce linkages and sharing information on government-supported programmes. Challenges included limited data sharing, participation in planning and limited monitoring of regulatory compliances. Linkage between public health system and NGOs in UP was moderate, marked by frequent interaction and some reciprocity in information and resource flows, but weak participation in policy and planning. The type of linkage could be described as 'complementarity', entailing information and resource sharing but not joint action. Stronger linkage is required for sustained and systematic collaboration, with joint planning, implementation and evaluation.

Overcoming Obstacles to Peace: Local Factors in Nation-Building

DTIC Science & Technology

2013-01-01

institutional barriers to private investment remained, and Bosnia had no commercial banking sector .15 The war largely destroyed the economy but not...World Bank worked to improve the management of state finances, reform the mining sector , and improve the civil service. Some bilateral assistance...present research findings and objective analysis that address the challenges facing the public and private sectors . All RAND reports undergo rigorous

Energy finance data warehouse: Tracking revenues through the power sector

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Claire, Zeng; Hendrickson, Stephen; Lee, Sangkeun

Reliable data is needed to understand financial relationships in the power sector. However, relevant data acquisition and visualization can be a challenge due to the fragmented nature of the power sector. The Energy Policy and Systems Analysis office of the U.S. Department of Energy led a team of data scientists at Oak Ridge National Lab to collect revenue information from a variety of sources.

Energy finance data warehouse: Tracking revenues through the power sector

DOE PAGES

Claire, Zeng; Hendrickson, Stephen; Lee, Sangkeun; ...

2017-03-24

Reliable data is needed to understand financial relationships in the power sector. However, relevant data acquisition and visualization can be a challenge due to the fragmented nature of the power sector. The Energy Policy and Systems Analysis office of the U.S. Department of Energy led a team of data scientists at Oak Ridge National Lab to collect revenue information from a variety of sources.

Dynamic airspace configuration algorithms for next generation air transportation system

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wei, Jian

The National Airspace System (NAS) is under great pressure to safely and efficiently handle the record-high air traffic volume nowadays, and will face even greater challenge to keep pace with the steady increase of future air travel demand, since the air travel demand is projected to increase to two to three times the current level by 2025. The inefficiency of traffic flow management initiatives causes severe airspace congestion and frequent flight delays, which cost billions of economic losses every year. To address the increasingly severe airspace congestion and delays, the Next Generation Air Transportation System (NextGen) is proposed to transform the current static and rigid radar based system to a dynamic and flexible satellite based system. New operational concepts such as Dynamic Airspace Configuration (DAC) have been under development to allow more flexibility required to mitigate the demand-capacity imbalances in order to increase the throughput of the entire NAS. In this dissertation, we address the DAC problem in the en route and terminal airspace under the framework of NextGen. We develop a series of algorithms to facilitate the implementation of innovative concepts relevant with DAC in both the en route and terminal airspace. We also develop a performance evaluation framework for comprehensive benefit analyses on different aspects of future sector design algorithms. First, we complete a graph based sectorization algorithm for DAC in the en route airspace, which models the underlying air route network with a weighted graph, converts the sectorization problem into the graph partition problem, partitions the weighted graph with an iterative spectral bipartition method, and constructs the sectors from the partitioned graph. The algorithm uses a graph model to accurately capture the complex traffic patterns of the real flights, and generates sectors with high efficiency while evenly distributing the workload among the generated sectors. We further improve the robustness and efficiency of the graph based DAC algorithm by incorporating the Multilevel Graph Partitioning (MGP) method into the graph model, and develop a MGP based sectorization algorithm for DAC in the en route airspace. In a comprehensive benefit analysis, the performance of the proposed algorithms are tested in numerical simulations with Enhanced Traffic Management System (ETMS) data. Simulation results demonstrate that the algorithmically generated sectorizations outperform the current sectorizations in different sectors for different time periods. Secondly, based on our experience with DAC in the en route airspace, we further study the sectorization problem for DAC in the terminal airspace. The differences between the en route and terminal airspace are identified, and their influence on the terminal sectorization is analyzed. After adjusting the graph model to better capture the unique characteristics of the terminal airspace and the requirements of terminal sectorization, we develop a graph based geometric sectorization algorithm for DAC in the terminal airspace. Moreover, the graph based model is combined with the region based sector design method to better handle the complicated geometric and operational constraints in the terminal sectorization problem. In the benefit analysis, we identify the contributing factors to terminal controller workload, define evaluation metrics, and develop a bebefit analysis framework for terminal sectorization evaluation. With the evaluation framework developed, we demonstrate the improvements on the current sectorizations with real traffic data collected from several major international airports in the U.S., and conduct a detailed analysis on the potential benefits of dynamic reconfiguration in the terminal airspace. Finally, in addition to the research on the macroscopic behavior of a large number of aircraft, we also study the dynamical behavior of individual aircraft from the perspective of traffic flow management. We formulate the mode-confusion problem as hybrid estimation problem, and develop a state estimation algorithm for the linear hybrid system with continuous-state-dependent transitions based on sparse observations. We also develop an estimated time of arrival prediction algorithm based on the state-dependent transition hybrid estimation algorithm, whose performance is demonstrated with simulations on the landing procedure following the Continuous Descend Approach (CDA) profile.

Developing a methodological framework for estimating water productivity indicators in water scarce regions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mubako, S. T.; Fullerton, T. M.; Walke, A.; Collins, T.; Mubako, G.; Walker, W. S.

2014-12-01

Water productivity is an area of growing interest in assessing the impact of human economic activities on water resources, especially in arid regions. Indicators of water productivity can assist water users in evaluating sectoral water use efficiency, identifying sources of pressure on water resources, and in supporting water allocation rationale under scarcity conditions. This case study for the water-scarce Middle Rio Grande River Basin aims to develop an environmental-economic accounting approach for water use in arid river basins through a methodological framework that relates water use to human economic activities impacting regional water resources. Water uses are coupled to economic transactions, and the complex but mutual relations between various water using sectors estimated. A comparison is made between the calculated water productivity indicators and representative cost/price per unit volume of water for the main water use sectors. Although it contributes very little to regional economic output, preliminary results confirm that Irrigation is among the sectors with the largest direct water use intensities. High economic value and low water use intensity economic sectors in the study region include Manufacturing, Mining, and Steam Electric Power. Water accounting challenges revealed by the study include differences in water management regimes between jurisdictions, and little understanding of the impact of major economic activities on the interaction between surface and groundwater systems in this region. A more comprehensive assessment would require the incorporation of environmental and social sustainability indicators to the calculated water productivity indicators.

[Satisfaction with work in the home care sector].

PubMed

Haumann, Anja; Bellin, Judith; Gräske, Johannes

2013-01-01

Due to the demographic change and the growing number of care-dependent people, the number of professional caregivers is increasing. To slow down the cost explosion in the health care sector, the German government brings forward the home care principle. However, the recruitment of new nursing staff is challenging already, and will become harder in the future. A higher satisfaction with work indicates staying in the job and in the nursing sector. Valid data, concerning the satisfaction of work of nursing staff in the home care sector is lacking, yet. The present study aims to reduce this research gap. A written, standardized cross-sectional study was conducted in 2011. In this study socio-demographic characteristics as well as characteristics of the working circumstances were collected. In addition, the satisfaction with work (SAZ) and the satisfaction with life (SWLS) were evaluated. In total, 102 staff members of community health care providers were included in the study (37.5 years; 85 percent female). Registered nurses (n = 62) are significant older than nursing assistants (n = 40). No differences between satisfaction with work and satisfaction with life, professions, gender, marital status, and working condition could be found. Satisfaction with work interacts not significantly with age. However, it depends significantly on working in three shifts (morning, afternoon, night). Staff members working in all three shifts show a significant higher satisfaction with work. The present study adds knowledge in terms of satisfaction with work in the German home care sector.

Strategy for Addressing the Retail Sector under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act's Regulatory Framework

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

The Retail Strategy lays out a cohesive and effective plan to address the unique challenges the retail sector has with complying with the hazardous waste regulations while reducing burden and protecting human health and the environment.

E-government factors to reduce administrative and finance corruption in Arab countries: Case study Iraqi oil sector

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mohammed, M. A.; Eman, Y.; Hussein, A. H.; Hasson, A. R.

2015-12-01

Arab countries face the corruption issues in its several public organizations. The corruption in these countries is considered as the main challenge. The oil sector is one of the public sectors that have huge level of corruption. However, the Iraqi economy had become dependable on oil sector daring the last three decades, and on the contrary, of what other oil countries did. The capital is considered as one of the essential factor for economic development. The revenues of oil exports will stay the essential source for economic development in Iraq in the future in order to reduce being dependable on oil. Since the beginning of the 3rd thousands, the world witnessed great rise in the demand on oil, but the Iraqi exports of crude oil come to be less than its similarities in the seventeenths of last century. So our oil sector is still in need of deep study. This study focuses on technological technique that can make huge decrease for corruption in oil sector in Iraq. However, e-government is considered as the best techniques that can decrease the corruption. Thus, this study bases on challenges that effect on build successful e-government project in Iraqi oil industry.

A review of economic evaluations of behavior change interventions: setting an agenda for research methods and practice.

PubMed

Alayli-Goebbels, Adrienne F G; Evers, Silvia M A A; Alexeeva, Daria; Ament, André J H A; de Vries, Nanne K; Tilly, Jan C; Severens, Johan L

2014-06-01

The objective of this study was to review methodological quality of economic evaluations of lifestyle behavior change interventions (LBCIs) and to examine how they address methodological challenges for public health economic evaluation identified in the literature. Pubmed and the NHS economic evaluation database were searched for published studies in six key areas for behavior change: smoking, physical activity, dietary behavior, (illegal) drug use, alcohol use and sexual behavior. From included studies (n = 142), we extracted data on general study characteristics, characteristics of the LBCIs, methodological quality and handling of methodological challenges. Economic evaluation evidence for LBCIs showed a number of weaknesses: methods, study design and characteristics of evaluated interventions were not well reported; methodological quality showed several shortcomings and progress with addressing methodological challenges remained limited. Based on the findings of this review we propose an agenda for improving future evidence to support decision-making. Recommendations for practice include improving reporting of essential study details and increasing adherence with good practice standards. Recommendations for research methods focus on mapping out complex causal pathways for modeling, developing measures to capture broader domains of wellbeing and community outcomes, testing methods for considering equity, identifying relevant non-health sector costs and advancing methods for evidence synthesis. © The Author 2013. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Faculty of Public Health. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Developing the radiation protection safety culture in the UK.

PubMed

Cole, P; Hallard, R; Broughton, J; Coates, R; Croft, J; Davies, K; Devine, I; Lewis, C; Marsden, P; Marsh, A; McGeary, R; Riley, P; Rogers, A; Rycraft, H; Shaw, A

2014-06-01

In the UK, as elsewhere, there is potential to improve how radiological challenges are addressed through improvement in, or development of, a strong radiation protection (RP) safety culture. In preliminary work in the UK, two areas have been identified as having a strong influence on UK society: the healthcare and nuclear industry sectors. Each has specific challenges, but with many overlapping common factors. Other sectors will benefit from further consideration.In order to make meaningful comparisons between these two principal sectors, this paper is primarily concerned with cultural aspects of RP in the working environment and occupational exposures rather than patient doses.The healthcare sector delivers a large collective dose to patients each year, particularly for diagnostic purposes, which continues to increase. Although patient dose is not the focus, it must be recognised that collective patient dose is inevitably linked to collective occupational exposure, especially in interventional procedures.The nuclear industry faces major challenges as work moves from operations to decommissioning on many sites. This involves restarting work in the plants responsible for the much higher radiation doses of the 1960/70s, but also performing tasks that are considerably more difficult and hazardous than those original performed in these plants.Factors which influence RP safety culture in the workplace are examined, and proposals are considered for a series of actions that may lead to an improvement in RP culture with an associated reduction in dose in many work areas. These actions include methods to improve knowledge and awareness of radiation safety, plus ways to influence management and colleagues in the workplace. The exchange of knowledge about safety culture between the nuclear industry and medical areas may act to develop RP culture in both sectors, and have a wider impact in other sectors where exposures to ionising radiations can occur.

A realist evaluation of social prescribing: an exploration into the context and mechanisms underpinning a pathway linking primary care with the voluntary sector.

PubMed

Bertotti, Marcello; Frostick, Caroline; Hutt, Patrick; Sohanpal, Ratna; Carnes, Dawn

2018-05-01

This article adopts a realist approach to evaluate a social prescribing pilot in the areas of Hackney and City in London (United Kingdom). It unpacks the contextual factors and mechanisms that influenced the development of this pilot for the benefits of GPs, commissioners and practitioners, and reflects on the realist approach to evaluation as a tool for the evaluation of health interventions. Primary care faces considerable challenges including the increase in long-term conditions, GP consultation rates, and widening health inequalities. With its emphasis on linking primary care to non-clinical community services via a social prescribing coordinator (SPC), some models of social prescribing could contribute to reduce the burden on primary care, tackle health inequalities and encourage people to make greater use of non-clinical forms of support. This realist analysis was based on qualitative interviews with users, commissioners, a GP survey, focus groups and learning events to explore stakeholders' experience. To enable a detailed analysis, we adapted the realist approach by subdividing the social prescribing pathway into stages, each with contextual factors, mechanisms and outcomes. SPCs were pivotal to the effective functioning of the social prescribing service and responsible for the activation and initial beneficial impact on users. Although social prescribing shows significant potential for the benefit of patients and primary care, several challenges need to be considered and overcome, including 'buy in' from some GPs, branding, and funding for the third sector in a context where social care cuts are severely affecting the delivery of health care. With its emphasis on context and mechanisms, the realist evaluation approach is useful in understanding how to identify and improve health interventions, and analyse in greater detail the contribution of different stakeholders. As the SPC is central to social prescribing, more needs to be done to understand their role conceptually and practically.

An economic and financial exploratory

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cincotti, S.; Sornette, D.; Treleaven, P.; Battiston, S.; Caldarelli, G.; Hommes, C.; Kirman, A.

2012-11-01

This paper describes the vision of a European Exploratory for economics and finance using an interdisciplinary consortium of economists, natural scientists, computer scientists and engineers, who will combine their expertise to address the enormous challenges of the 21st century. This Academic Public facility is intended for economic modelling, investigating all aspects of risk and stability, improving financial technology, and evaluating proposed regulatory and taxation changes. The European Exploratory for economics and finance will be constituted as a network of infrastructure, observatories, data repositories, services and facilities and will foster the creation of a new cross-disciplinary research community of social scientists, complexity scientists and computing (ICT) scientists to collaborate in investigating major issues in economics and finance. It is also considered a cradle for training and collaboration with the private sector to spur spin-offs and job creations in Europe in the finance and economic sectors. The Exploratory will allow Social Scientists and Regulators as well as Policy Makers and the private sector to conduct realistic investigations with real economic, financial and social data. The Exploratory will (i) continuously monitor and evaluate the status of the economies of countries in their various components, (ii) use, extend and develop a large variety of methods including data mining, process mining, computational and artificial intelligence and every other computer and complex science techniques coupled with economic theory and econometric, and (iii) provide the framework and infrastructure to perform what-if analysis, scenario evaluations and computational, laboratory, field and web experiments to inform decision makers and help develop innovative policy, market and regulation designs.

The commercial marketing of healthy lifestyles to address the global child and adolescent obesity pandemic: prospects, pitfalls and priorities.

PubMed

Kraak, Vivica I; Kumanyika, Shiriki K; Story, Mary

2009-11-01

Public- and private-sector initiatives to promote healthy eating and physical activity, called 'healthy lifestyles', are a relatively recent response to the global obesity pandemic. The present paper explores different views about marketing healthy lifestyles with a special emphasis on private-sector initiatives and public-private partnerships designed to reach young people. We discuss aspects of these initiatives and partnerships from three perspectives: (i) the potential for commercial marketing practices to have a favourable influence on reversing global obesity trends (termed prospects); (ii) unresolved dilemmas and challenges that may hinder progress (termed pitfalls); and (iii) the implementation and evaluation of coordinated and systematic actions (termed priorities) that may increase the likelihood that commercially marketed healthy-lifestyle initiatives and public-private partnerships can make a positive contribution to reverse the rise in overweight and obesity among young people globally.

Engendering the bureaucracy? Challenges and opportunities for mainstreaming gender in Ministries of Health under sector-wide approaches.

PubMed

Theobald, Sally; Tolhurst, Rachel; Elsey, Helen; Standing, Hilary; Standing, Helen

2005-05-01

The increasing ascendancy of 'gender mainstreaming' as the central approach to improving gender equity has largely determined strategies to integrate a gender focus in sector-wide approaches (SWAps). This paper explores the impetus for and process of gender mainstreaming in SWAps in the Ministries of Health in Uganda, Ghana, Malawi and Mozambique, and outlines some achievements and challenges. The shifting and contested relationships between the Ministry of Health, donors and other government ministries (such as Ministries of Finance and Ministries of Women's Affairs/Gender) are important in shaping the opportunities and constraints faced in gender mainstreaming. The refocusing of resource allocation to different sectors has led to changes in the balance of power between the various actors at the national level, with diverse implications for promoting gender equity in health. Some of the achievements to date and ongoing challenges are explored through concrete examples from different countries. These include: the development of structures for mainstreaming, including the dilemmas of the 'focal points' approach and the role of national gender mainstreaming machinery; the need for training and building capacity to identify and address gender issues, which involves engaging with new languages and concepts, and developing new skills; building alliances, consensus and momentum; integrating gender concerns into policy and planning documents; and promoting gender equity in human resources in the health sector. Cross-cutting themes underlying these challenges are the need for gender-specific information and ways to finance mainstreaming strategies. Implications are drawn for ways forward, without losing sight of the challenge of translating discourses of gender mainstreaming, and its central ideal of social transformation, into pragmatic strategies in the bureaucratic environment.

Innovations in Community Development.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Flora, Cornelia Butler

1997-01-01

Decentralization and budget reduction in the public sector, and globalization and downsizing in the private sector have placed more responsibility on localities to address challenges to the health of their economies, ecosystems, and people. Community development theory and practice are also changing, evidenced by changes in vocabulary. Community…

Constructions of Professional Identity in a Dynamic Higher Education Sector

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lewis, Kenton

2014-01-01

The expansion and specialisation of "non-academic" higher education roles, in response to increased regulation, monitoring and measurement of the sector, can be attributed to a rise in neoliberal manageralism and globalisation. Such changes have challenged the professional status of the academy, potentially…

Predictors of Workforce Retention Among Malawian Nurse Graduates of a Scholarship Program: A Mixed-Methods Study

PubMed Central

Schmiedeknecht, Kelly; Perera, Melanie; Schell, Ellen; Jere, Joyce; Geoffroy, Elizabeth; Rankin, Sally

2015-01-01

ABSTRACT Background: Malawi faces critical health care worker shortages of both physicians and nurses. The Global AIDS Interfaith Alliance (GAIA) began a nursing scholarship program in Malawi that requires graduates to work in the public sector for 4–5 years following graduation. The main objective of this study was to identify job satisfaction and retention factors of scholarship recipients after graduation. Methods: We conducted a mixed-methods study consisting of 30 individual qualitative interviews and 56 quantitative surveys that evaluated job satisfaction, factors associated with retention, and impact of the GAIA Nursing Scholarship Program. Participants included GAIA scholarship recipients who had graduated. We used thematic analysis to analyze qualitative interviews. Kruskal-Wallis, Spearman correlation, and chi-squared tests were used to analyze survey data. Results: The majority of survey and interview participants indicated it was unlikely that they would leave the public sector (70% and 90%, respectively). Most interview and survey participants cited a lack of supplies, inadequate human resources, and high workload as major challenges to their work. Poor working relationships with management or coworkers was significantly correlated with consideration of changing jobs in the next 6 months (correlation coefficient −0.28, P < .05 and −0.36, P < .01, respectively). Low salaries, high workload, poor accommodations, and a lack of appreciation were the most common reasons given for considering leaving the public sector while job security, desire to pursue further education, and public service agreement were primary motivations for continuing to work in the public system. Participants felt supported by GAIA staff and expressed a desire to serve their communities in return by working in government-supported health facilities. Conclusions: Despite the many challenges faced by public-sector nurses, low-income countries such as Malawi can employ non-remuneration strategies to retain nurses in the public sector, including adequate housing, availability of supplies, advancement opportunities, and positive work environments. Scholarship programs with close follow-up of graduates may also help increase retention. PMID:25745122

Pesticide Health and Safety Challenges Facing Informal Sector Workers: A Case of Small-scale Agricultural Workers in Tanzania.

PubMed

Ngowi, Aiwerasia; Mrema, Ezra; Kishinhi, Stephen

2016-08-01

The Tanzania informal sector is growing fast, with precarious working conditions and particular hazards for women and children in agriculture. Hazardous agricultural chemicals including pesticides are mostly imported and have been used for many years. Despite the role played by pesticides in food security and vector control, these chemicals are responsible for acute and chronic illnesses among communities. The availability of obsolete persistent organic pesticides on the open market indicates existence of an inadequate regulatory system. People who get injured or ill in the agriculture sector in Tanzania receive health services in primary health care facilities where professionals have little or no knowledge of pesticides. We are presenting the pesticide health and safety challenges faced by small-scale farmers who fall in the informal sector. Achievements that have been made by the government and other players to reduce and prevent pesticide exposures and poisoning are also outlined. © The Author(s) 2016.

Evaluating Drug Prices, Availability, Affordability, and Price Components: Implications for Access to Drugs in Malaysia

PubMed Central

Babar, Zaheer Ud Din; Ibrahim, Mohamed Izham Mohamed; Singh, Harpal; Bukahri, Nadeem Irfan; Creese, Andrew

2007-01-01

Background Malaysia's stable health care system is facing challenges with increasing medicine costs. To investigate these issues a survey was carried out to evaluate medicine prices, availability, affordability, and the structure of price components. Methods and Findings The methodology developed by the World Health Organization (WHO) and Health Action International (HAI) was used. Price and availability data for 48 medicines was collected from 20 public sector facilities, 32 private sector retail pharmacies and 20 dispensing doctors in four geographical regions of West Malaysia. Medicine prices were compared with international reference prices (IRPs) to obtain a median price ratio. The daily wage of the lowest paid unskilled government worker was used to gauge the affordability of medicines. Price component data were collected throughout the supply chain, and markups, taxes, and other distribution costs were identified. In private pharmacies, innovator brand (IB) prices were 16 times higher than the IRPs, while generics were 6.6 times higher. In dispensing doctor clinics, the figures were 15 times higher for innovator brands and 7.5 for generics. Dispensing doctors applied high markups of 50%–76% for IBs, and up to 316% for generics. Retail pharmacy markups were also high—25%–38% and 100%–140% for IBs and generics, respectively. In the public sector, where medicines are free, availability was low even for medicines on the National Essential Drugs List. For a month's treatment for peptic ulcer disease and hypertension people have to pay about a week's wages in the private sector. Conclusions The free market by definition does not control medicine prices, necessitating price monitoring and control mechanisms. Markups for generic products are greater than for IBs. Reducing the base price without controlling markups may increase profits for retailers and dispensing doctors without reducing the price paid by end users. To increase access and affordability, promotion of generic medicines and improved availability of medicines in the public sector are required. PMID:17388660

Evaluating drug prices, availability, affordability, and price components: implications for access to drugs in Malaysia.

PubMed

Babar, Zaheer Ud Din; Ibrahim, Mohamed Izham Mohamed; Singh, Harpal; Bukahri, Nadeem Irfan; Creese, Andrew

2007-03-27

Malaysia's stable health care system is facing challenges with increasing medicine costs. To investigate these issues a survey was carried out to evaluate medicine prices, availability, affordability, and the structure of price components. The methodology developed by the World Health Organization (WHO) and Health Action International (HAI) was used. Price and availability data for 48 medicines was collected from 20 public sector facilities, 32 private sector retail pharmacies and 20 dispensing doctors in four geographical regions of West Malaysia. Medicine prices were compared with international reference prices (IRPs) to obtain a median price ratio. The daily wage of the lowest paid unskilled government worker was used to gauge the affordability of medicines. Price component data were collected throughout the supply chain, and markups, taxes, and other distribution costs were identified. In private pharmacies, innovator brand (IB) prices were 16 times higher than the IRPs, while generics were 6.6 times higher. In dispensing doctor clinics, the figures were 15 times higher for innovator brands and 7.5 for generics. Dispensing doctors applied high markups of 50%-76% for IBs, and up to 316% for generics. Retail pharmacy markups were also high-25%-38% and 100%-140% for IBs and generics, respectively. In the public sector, where medicines are free, availability was low even for medicines on the National Essential Drugs List. For a month's treatment for peptic ulcer disease and hypertension people have to pay about a week's wages in the private sector. The free market by definition does not control medicine prices, necessitating price monitoring and control mechanisms. Markups for generic products are greater than for IBs. Reducing the base price without controlling markups may increase profits for retailers and dispensing doctors without reducing the price paid by end users. To increase access and affordability, promotion of generic medicines and improved availability of medicines in the public sector are required.

Eliminating malaria in Malaysia: the role of partnerships between the public and commercial sectors in Sabah

PubMed Central

2014-01-01

Background Countries in the Asia Pacific region have made great progress in the fight against malaria; several are rapidly approaching elimination. However, malaria control programmes operating in elimination settings face substantial challenges, particularly around mobile migrant populations, access to remote areas and the diversity of vectors with varying biting and breeding behaviours. These challenges can be addressed through subnational collaborations with commercial partners, such as mining or plantation companies, that can conduct or support malaria control activities to cover employees. Such partnerships can be a useful tool for accessing high-risk populations and supporting malaria elimination goals. Methods This observational qualitative case study employed semi-structured key informant interviews to describe partnerships between the Malaysian Malaria Control Programme (MCP), and private palm oil, rubber and acacia plantations in the state of Sabah. Semi-structured interview guides were used to examine resource commitments, incentives, challenges, and successes of the collaborations. Results Interviews with workers from private plantations and the state of Sabah MCP indicated that partnerships with the commercial sector had contributed to decreases in incidence at plantation sites since 1991. Several plantations contribute financial and human resources toward malaria control efforts and all plantations frequently communicate with the MCP to help monitor the malaria situation on-site. Management of partnerships between private corporations and government entities can be challenging, as prioritization of malaria control may change with annual profits or arrival of new management. Conclusions Partnering with the commercial sector has been an essential operational strategy to support malaria elimination in Sabah. The successes of these partnerships rely on a common understanding that elimination will be a mutually beneficial outcome for employers and the general public. Best practices included consistent communication, developing government-staffed subsector offices for malaria control on-site, engaging commercial plantations to provide financial and human resources for malaria control activities, and the development of new worker screening programmes. The successes and challenges associated with partnerships between the public and commercial sector can serve as an example for other malaria-eliminating countries with large plantation sectors, and may also be applied to other sectors that employ migrant workers or have commercial enterprises in hard to reach areas. PMID:24443824

Malawi's contribution to "3 by 5": achievements and challenges.

PubMed

Libamba, Edwin; Makombe, Simon D; Harries, Anthony D; Schouten, Erik J; Yu, Joseph Kwong-Leung; Pasulani, Olesi; Mhango, Eustice; Aberle-Grasse, John; Hochgesang, Mindy; Limbambala, Eddie; Lungu, Douglas

2007-02-01

Many resource-poor countries have started scaling up antiretroviral therapy (ART). While reports from individual clinics point to successful implementation, there is limited information about progress in government institutions at a national level. Malawi started national ART scale-up in 2004 using a structured approach. There is a focus on one generic, fixed-dose combination treatment with stavudine, lamivudine and nevirapine. Treatment is delivered free of charge to eligible patients with HIV and there is a standardized system for recruiting patients, monthly follow-up, registration, monitoring and reporting of cases and outcomes. All treatment sites receive quarterly supervision and evaluation. In January 2004, there were nine public sector facilities delivering ART to an estimated 4 000 patients. By December 2005, there were 60 public sector facilities providing free ART to 37,840 patients using national standardized systems. Analysis of quarterly cohort treatment outcomes at 12 months showed 80% of patients were alive, 10% dead, 9% lost to follow-up and 1% had stopped treatment. Achievements were the result of clear national ART guidelines, implementing partners working together, an intensive training schedule focused on clinical officers and nurses, a structured system of accrediting facilities for ART delivery, quarterly supervision and monitoring, and no stock-outs of antiretroviral drugs. The main challenges are to increase the numbers of children, pregnant women and patients with tuberculosis being started on ART, and to avert high early mortality and losses to follow-up. The capacity of the health sector to cope with escalating case loads and to scale up prevention alongside treatment will determine the future success of ART delivery in Malawi.

50 CFR 648.123 - Scup accountability measures.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-10-01

... remainder of the period. (1) Commercial ACL overage evaluation. The commercial sector ACL will be evaluated... discards will be evaluated in determining if the commercial sector ACL has been exceeded. (2) Commercial... the commercial sector ACL is exceeded. Any current year landings in excess of the commercial quota in...

50 CFR 648.123 - Scup accountability measures.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-10-01

... remainder of the period. (1) Commercial ACL overage evaluation. The commercial sector ACL will be evaluated... discards will be evaluated in determining if the commercial sector ACL has been exceeded. (2) Commercial... the commercial sector ACL is exceeded. Any current year landings in excess of the commercial quota in...

50 CFR 648.123 - Scup accountability measures.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-10-01

... remainder of the period. (1) Commercial ACL overage evaluation. The commercial sector ACL will be evaluated... discards will be evaluated in determining if the commercial sector ACL has been exceeded. (2) Commercial... the commercial sector ACL is exceeded. Any current year landings in excess of the commercial quota in...

Project Ukko - Design of a climate service visualisation interface for seasonal wind forecasts

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hemment, Drew; Stefaner, Moritz; Makri, Stephann; Buontempo, Carlo; Christel, Isadora; Torralba-Fernandez, Veronica; Gonzalez-Reviriego, Nube; Doblas-Reyes, Francisco; de Matos, Paula; Dykes, Jason

2016-04-01

Project Ukko is a prototype climate service to visually communicate probabilistic seasonal wind forecasts for the energy sector. In Project Ukko, an interactive visualisation enhances the accessibility and readability to the latests advances in seasonal wind speed predictions developed as part of the RESILIENCE prototype of the EUPORIAS (EC FP7) project. Climate services provide made-to-measure climate information, tailored to the specific requirements of different users and industries. In the wind energy sector, understanding of wind conditions in the next few months has high economic value, for instance, for the energy traders. Current energy practices use retrospective climatology, but access to reliable seasonal predictions based in the recent advances in global climate models has potential to improve their resilience to climate variability and change. Despite their potential benefits, a barrier to the development of commercially viable services is the complexity of the probabilistic forecast information, and the challenge of communicating complex and uncertain information to decision makers in industry. Project Ukko consists of an interactive climate service interface for wind energy users to explore probabilistic wind speed predictions for the coming season. This interface enables fast visual detection and exploration of interesting features and regions likely to experience unusual changes in wind speed in the coming months.The aim is not only to support users to better understand the future variability in wind power resources, but also to bridge the gap between practitioners' traditional approach and the advanced prediction systems developed by the climate science community. Project Ukko is presented as a case study of cross-disciplinary collaboration between climate science and design, for the development of climate services that are useful, usable and effective for industry users. The presentation will reflect on the challenge of developing a climate service for industry users in the wind energy sector, the background to this challenge, our approach, and the evaluation of the visualisation interface.

Growing toward the Sun: How the Good-Food Movement Catapulted a Small New York City Third-Sector Organization into Rapid Growth, Success, and Many Challenges

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hutchinson, Carole L.

2013-01-01

This dissertation is an ethnographic study of a New York City-based third-sector organization focused on what it calls "food justice." This study concentrates on how this organization, that I call Food Rights, has built a broad multi-sector network made up of a varied set of constituents and collaborators aiming to develop and promote an…

Design and implementation of an affordable, public sector electronic medical record in rural Nepal.

PubMed

Raut, Anant; Yarbrough, Chase; Singh, Vivek; Gauchan, Bikash; Citrin, David; Verma, Varun; Hawley, Jessica; Schwarz, Dan; Harsha Bangura, Alex; Shrestha, Biplav; Schwarz, Ryan; Adhikari, Mukesh; Maru, Duncan

2017-06-23

Globally, electronic medical records are central to the infrastructure of modern healthcare systems. Yet the vast majority of electronic medical records have been designed for resource-rich environments and are not feasible in settings of poverty. Here we describe the design and implementation of an electronic medical record at a public sector district hospital in rural Nepal, and its subsequent expansion to an additional public sector facility.DevelopmentThe electronic medical record was designed to solve for the following elements of public sector healthcare delivery: 1) integration of the systems across inpatient, surgical, outpatient, emergency, laboratory, radiology, and pharmacy sites of care; 2) effective data extraction for impact evaluation and government regulation; 3) optimization for longitudinal care provision and patient tracking; and 4) effectiveness for quality improvement initiatives. For these purposes, we adapted Bahmni, a product built with open-source components for patient tracking, clinical protocols, pharmacy, laboratory, imaging, financial management, and supply logistics. In close partnership with government officials, we deployed the system in February of 2015, added on additional functionality, and iteratively improved the system over the following year. This experience enabled us then to deploy the system at an additional district-level hospital in a different part of the country in under four weeks. We discuss the implementation challenges and the strategies we pursued to build an electronic medical record for the public sector in rural Nepal.DiscussionOver the course of 18 months, we were able to develop, deploy and iterate upon the electronic medical record, and then deploy the refined product at an additional facility within only four weeks. Our experience suggests the feasibility of an integrated electronic medical record for public sector care delivery even in settings of rural poverty.

Design and implementation of an affordable, public sector electronic medical record in rural Nepal

PubMed Central

Raut, Anant; Yarbrough, Chase; Singh, Vivek; Gauchan, Bikash; Citrin, David; Verma, Varun; Hawley, Jessica; Schwarz, Dan; Harsha, Alex; Shrestha, Biplav; Schwarz, Ryan; Adhikari, Mukesh; Maru, Duncan

2018-01-01

Introduction Globally, electronic medical records are central to the infrastructure of modern healthcare systems. Yet the vast majority of electronic medical records have been designed for resource-rich environments and are not feasible in settings of poverty. Here we describe the design and implementation of an electronic medical record at a public sector district hospital in rural Nepal, and its subsequent expansion to an additional public sector facility. Development The electronic medical record was designed to solve for the following elements of public sector healthcare delivery: 1) integration of the systems across inpatient, surgical, outpatient, emergency, laboratory, radiology, and pharmacy sites of care; 2) effective data extraction for impact evaluation and government regulation; 3) optimization for longitudinal care provision and patient tracking; and 4) effectiveness for quality improvement initiatives. Application For these purposes, we adapted Bahmni, a product built with open-source components for patient tracking, clinical protocols, pharmacy, laboratory, imaging, financial management, and supply logistics. In close partnership with government officials, we deployed the system in February of 2015, added on additional functionality, and iteratively improved the system over the following year. This experience enabled us then to deploy the system at an additional district-level hospital in a different part of the country in under four weeks. We discuss the implementation challenges and the strategies we pursued to build an electronic medical record for the public sector in rural Nepal. Discussion Over the course of 18 months, we were able to develop, deploy and iterate upon the electronic medical record, and then deploy the refined product at an additional facility within only four weeks. Our experience suggests the feasibility of an integrated electronic medical record for public sector care delivery even in settings of rural poverty. PMID:28749321

Factors on green service industry: Case study at AirAsia

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Abdullah, Muhammad-Azfar; Chew, Boon-Cheong; Hamid, Syaiful-Rizal

2017-03-01

Presently service organizations are challenged by fierce global competition, new technology and changing customer demands. These trends force service sectors to adapt environmental factors and places innovation at the core of their competitive strategy. On the other hand, service sectors challenge to deliver value memorable experiences and complete "service solutions" while lowering costs and keep sustainable. Despite, many studies have attempted to explore the factors that help toward environmental sustainability in the manufacturing sector, the service sector has not yet received a considerable attention in all world countries generally and in developing countries particularly. Thus, this paper aims to explore the factors that help to attain environmental sustainability in the service sector. A qualitative case study through semi-structured interview conducted with twenty managers from AirAsia to explore the factors that are related to environmental sustainability and green services. Besides, secondary data from document analysis was reviewed to gain more comprehensive understanding and triangulate the interview data. The finding of this paper emphasizes to three important factors namely institutional factors, process factors and result factors that each factor contain sustainability and innovations to promote competitive green service in the marketplace.

The mining sector of Liberia: current practices and environmental challenges.

PubMed

Wilson, Samuel T K; Wang, Hongtao; Kabenge, Martin; Qi, Xuejiao

2017-08-01

Liberia is endowed with an impressive stock of mineral reserves and has traditionally relied on mining, namely iron ore, gold, and diamonds, as a major source of income. The recent growth in the mining sector has the potential to contribute significantly to employment, income generation, and infrastructure development. However, the development of these mineral resources has significant environmental impacts that often go unnoticed. This paper presents an overview of the Liberian mining sector from historical, current development, and economic perspectives. The efforts made by government to address issues of environmental management and sustainable development expressed in national and international frameworks, as well as some of the environmental challenges in the mining sector are analyzed. A case study was conducted on one of the iron ore mines (China Union Bong Mines Investment) to analyze the effects of the water quality on the local water environment. The results show that the analyzed water sample concentrations were all above the WHO and Liberia water standard Class I guidelines for drinking water. Finally the paper examines the application of water footprint from a life cycle perspective in the Liberian mining sector and suggests some policy options for water resources management.

Organizing for Social Partnership: Higher Education in Cross-Sector Collaboration

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Siegel, David J.

2010-01-01

The most complex social challenges--such as post-secondary access and success for under-represented students, diversification of the workforce, poverty, environmental degradation, and global health--exceed the problem-solving capacity of single organizations or societal sectors. "Organizing for Social Partnership" provides colleges and…

Evaluation of Story Maps to Enhance Public Engagement and Communication at Legacy Management Sites – 17334

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Castillo, Darina; Carpenter, Cliff; Linard, Joshua

Story Maps are being used in both public and private sectors to convey information to stakeholders, create enterprise platforms, and assist in decision making. Story Maps are web applications that combine maps, narrative text, images, and multimedia content to provide information. These applications provide a user-friendly platform to share the remarkable history of our sites, the complexity of their contamination and remediation, successes we achieve in our LTS&M activities, and even the challenges we face as we aim to fulfill our mission.

Surety of the nation`s critical infrastructures: The challenge restructuring poses to the telecommunications sector

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Cox, R.; Drennen, T.E.; Gilliom, L.

1998-04-01

The telecommunications sector plays a pivotal role in the system of increasingly connected and interdependent networks that make up national infrastructure. An assessment of the probable structure and function of the bit-moving industry in the twenty-first century must include issues associated with the surety of telecommunications. The term surety, as used here, means confidence in the acceptable behavior of a system in both intended and unintended circumstances. This paper outlines various engineering approaches to surety in systems, generally, and in the telecommunications infrastructure, specifically. It uses the experience and expectations of the telecommunications system of the US as an examplemore » of the global challenges. The paper examines the principal factors underlying the change to more distributed systems in this sector, assesses surety issues associated with these changes, and suggests several possible strategies for mitigation. It also studies the ramifications of what could happen if this sector became a target for those seeking to compromise a nation`s security and economic well being. Experts in this area generally agree that the U. S. telecommunications sector will eventually respond in a way that meets market demands for surety. Questions remain open, however, about confidence in the telecommunications sector and the nation`s infrastructure during unintended circumstances--such as those posed by information warfare or by cascading software failures. Resolution of these questions is complicated by the lack of clear accountability of the private and the public sectors for the surety of telecommunications.« less

Challenges towards realization of health care sector goals of Tanzania development vision 2025: training and deployment of graduate human resource for health.

PubMed

Siril, Nathanael; Kiwara, Angwara; Simba, Daud

2013-06-01

Human resource for health (HRH) is an essential building block for effective and efficient health care system. In Tanzania this component is faced by many challenges which in synergy with others make the health care system inefficient. In vision 2025 the country recognizes the importance of the health care sector in attaining quality livelihood for its citizens. The vision is in its 13th year since its launch. Given the central role of HRH in attainment of this vision, how the HRH is trained and deployed deserves a deeper understanding. To analyze the factors affecting training and deployment process of graduate level HRH of three core cadres; Medical Doctors, Doctor of Dental Surgery and Bachelor of Pharmacy towards realization of development vision 2025. Explorative study design in five training institutions for health and Ministry of Health and Social Welfare (MoHSW) headquarters utilizing in-depth interviews, observations and review of available documents methodology. The training Institutions which are cornerstone for HRH training are understaffed, underfunded (donor dependent), have low admitting capacities and lack co-ordination with other key stakeholders dealing with health. The deployment of graduate level HRH is affected by; limited budget, decision on deployment handled by another ministry rather than MoHSW, competition between health care sector and other sectors and lack of co-ordination between employer, trainers and other key health care sector stakeholders. Awareness on vision 2025 is low in the training institutions. For the vision 2025 health care sector goals to be realized well devised strategies on raising its awareness in the training institutions is recommended. Quality livelihood as stated in vision 2025 will be a forgotten dream if the challenges facing the training and deployment of graduate level HRH will not be addressed timely. It is the authors' view that reduction of donor dependency syndrome, extension of retirement age for academic Staffs in the training institutions for health and synergizing the training and deployment of the graduate level HRH can be among the initial strategies towards addressing these challenges.

An assessment of opportunities and challenges for public sector involvement in the maternal health voucher program in Uganda

PubMed Central

2013-01-01

Background Continued inequities in coverage, low quality of care, and high out-of-pocket expenses for health services threaten attainment of Millennium Development Goals 4 and 5 in many sub-Saharan African countries. Existing health systems largely rely on input-based supply mechanisms that have a poor track record meeting the reproductive health needs of low-income and underserved segments of national populations. As a result, there is increased interest in and experimentation with results-based mechanisms like supply-side performance incentives to providers and demand-side vouchers that place purchasing power in the hands of low-income consumers to improve uptake of facility services and reduce the burden of out-of-pocket expenditures. This paper describes a reproductive health voucher program that contracts private facilities in Uganda and explores the policy and implementation issues associated with expansion of the program to include public sector facilities. Methods Data presented here describes the results of interviews of six district health officers and four health facility managers purposefully selected from seven districts with the voucher program in southwestern Uganda. Interviews were transcribed and organized thematically, barriers to seeking RH care were identified, and how to address the barriers in a context where voucher coverage is incomplete as well as opportunities and challenges for expanding the program by involving public sector facilities were investigated. Results The findings show that access to sexual and reproductive health services in southwestern Uganda is constrained by both facility and individual level factors which can be addressed by inclusion of the public facilities in the program. This will widen the geographical reach of facilities for potential clients, effectively addressing distance related barriers to access of health care services. Further, intensifying ongoing health education, continuous monitoring and evaluation, and integrating the voucher program with other services is likely to address some of the barriers. The public sector facilities were also seen as being well positioned to provide voucher services because of their countrywide reach, enhanced infrastructure, and referral networks. The voucher program also has the potential to address public sector constraints such as understaffing and supply shortages. Conclusions Accrediting public facilities has the potential to increase voucher program coverage by reaching a wider pool of poor mothers, shortening distance to service, strengthening linkages between public and private sectors through public-private partnerships and referral systems as well as ensuring the awareness and buy-in of policy makers, which is crucial for mobilization of resources to support the sustainability of the programs. Specifically, identifying policy champions and consulting with key policy sectors is key to the successful inclusion of the public sector into the voucher program. PMID:24139603

An assessment of opportunities and challenges for public sector involvement in the maternal health voucher program in Uganda.

PubMed

Okal, Jerry; Kanya, Lucy; Obare, Francis; Njuki, Rebecca; Abuya, Timothy; Bange, Teresah; Warren, Charlotte; Askew, Ian; Bellows, Ben

2013-10-18

Continued inequities in coverage, low quality of care, and high out-of-pocket expenses for health services threaten attainment of Millennium Development Goals 4 and 5 in many sub-Saharan African countries. Existing health systems largely rely on input-based supply mechanisms that have a poor track record meeting the reproductive health needs of low-income and underserved segments of national populations. As a result, there is increased interest in and experimentation with results-based mechanisms like supply-side performance incentives to providers and demand-side vouchers that place purchasing power in the hands of low-income consumers to improve uptake of facility services and reduce the burden of out-of-pocket expenditures. This paper describes a reproductive health voucher program that contracts private facilities in Uganda and explores the policy and implementation issues associated with expansion of the program to include public sector facilities. Data presented here describes the results of interviews of six district health officers and four health facility managers purposefully selected from seven districts with the voucher program in southwestern Uganda. Interviews were transcribed and organized thematically, barriers to seeking RH care were identified, and how to address the barriers in a context where voucher coverage is incomplete as well as opportunities and challenges for expanding the program by involving public sector facilities were investigated. The findings show that access to sexual and reproductive health services in southwestern Uganda is constrained by both facility and individual level factors which can be addressed by inclusion of the public facilities in the program. This will widen the geographical reach of facilities for potential clients, effectively addressing distance related barriers to access of health care services. Further, intensifying ongoing health education, continuous monitoring and evaluation, and integrating the voucher program with other services is likely to address some of the barriers. The public sector facilities were also seen as being well positioned to provide voucher services because of their countrywide reach, enhanced infrastructure, and referral networks. The voucher program also has the potential to address public sector constraints such as understaffing and supply shortages. Accrediting public facilities has the potential to increase voucher program coverage by reaching a wider pool of poor mothers, shortening distance to service, strengthening linkages between public and private sectors through public-private partnerships and referral systems as well as ensuring the awareness and buy-in of policy makers, which is crucial for mobilization of resources to support the sustainability of the programs. Specifically, identifying policy champions and consulting with key policy sectors is key to the successful inclusion of the public sector into the voucher program.

The application of knowledge synthesis methods in agri-food public health: recent advancements, challenges and opportunities.

PubMed

Young, Ian; Waddell, Lisa; Sanchez, Javier; Wilhelm, Barbara; McEwen, Scott A; Rajić, Andrijana

2014-03-01

Knowledge synthesis refers to the integration of findings from individual research studies on a given topic or question into the global knowledge base. The application of knowledge synthesis methods, particularly systematic reviews and meta-analysis, has increased considerably in the agri-food public health sector over the past decade and this trend is expected to continue. The objectives of our review were: (1) to describe the most promising knowledge synthesis methods and their applicability in agri-food public health, and (2) to summarize the recent advancements, challenges, and opportunities in the use of systematic review and meta-analysis methods in this sector. We performed a structured review of knowledge synthesis literature from various disciplines to address the first objective, and used comprehensive insights and experiences in applying these methods in the agri-food public health sector to inform the second objective. We describe five knowledge synthesis methods that can be used to address various agri-food public health questions or topics under different conditions and contexts. Scoping reviews describe the main characteristics and knowledge gaps in a broad research field and can be used to evaluate opportunities for prioritizing focused questions for related systematic reviews. Structured rapid reviews are streamlined systematic reviews conducted within a short timeframe to inform urgent decision-making. Mixed-method and qualitative reviews synthesize diverse sources of contextual knowledge (e.g. socio-cognitive, economic, and feasibility considerations). Systematic reviews are a structured and transparent method used to summarize and synthesize literature on a clearly-defined question, and meta-analysis is the statistical combination of data from multiple individual studies. We briefly describe and discuss key advancements in the use of systematic reviews and meta-analysis, including: risk-of-bias assessments; an overall quality-of-evidence approach; engagement of stakeholders; Bayesian, multivariate, and network meta-analysis; and synthesis of diagnostic test accuracy studies. We also highlight several challenges and opportunities in the conduct of systematic reviews (e.g. inclusion of grey literature, minimizing language bias, and optimizing search strategies) and meta-analysis (e.g. inclusion of observational studies and approaches to address the insufficient reporting of data and significant heterogeneity). Many of these developments have yet to be comprehensively applied and evaluated in an agri-food public health context, and more research is needed in this area. There is a need to strengthen knowledge synthesis capacity and infrastructure at the regional, national, and international levels in this sector to ensure that the best available knowledge is used to inform future decision-making about agri-food public health issues. Crown Copyright © 2013. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Social Work-Business Sector Collaboration in Pursuit of Economic Justice.

PubMed

Lee, Wonhyung

2016-07-01

This article examines social workers' perceptions, experiences, and prospects regarding working in the business sector after participating in an MSW field practicum with a local microlending program. Social workers' insights suggest that cross-sector collaboration leads to vast opportunities not only for the populations served by the collaborative efforts, but also for social work as a profession. However, several challenges are evealed, including social workers' unfamiliarity with business operations, the business sector's narrow understanding of social workers' roles, and divisions between participants in interprofessional collaboration. This article calls for enhancing the role of social work to maximize its impact on economic development through further research and tangible cross-sector projects.

Large scale hydro-economic modelling for policy support

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

de Roo, Ad; Burek, Peter; Bouraoui, Faycal; Reynaud, Arnaud; Udias, Angel; Pistocchi, Alberto; Lanzanova, Denis; Trichakis, Ioannis; Beck, Hylke; Bernhard, Jeroen

2014-05-01

To support European Union water policy making and policy monitoring, a hydro-economic modelling environment has been developed to assess optimum combinations of water retention measures, water savings measures, and nutrient reduction measures for continental Europe. This modelling environment consists of linking the agricultural CAPRI model, the LUMP land use model, the LISFLOOD water quantity model, the EPIC water quality model, the LISQUAL combined water quantity, quality and hydro-economic model, and a multi-criteria optimisation routine. With this modelling environment, river basin scale simulations are carried out to assess the effects of water-retention measures, water-saving measures, and nutrient-reduction measures on several hydro-chemical indicators, such as the Water Exploitation Index (WEI), Nitrate and Phosphate concentrations in rivers, the 50-year return period river discharge as an indicator for flooding, and economic losses due to water scarcity for the agricultural sector, the manufacturing-industry sector, the energy-production sector and the domestic sector, as well as the economic loss due to flood damage. Recently, this model environment is being extended with a groundwater model to evaluate the effects of measures on the average groundwater table and available resources. Also, water allocation rules are addressed, while having environmental flow included as a minimum requirement for the environment. Economic functions are currently being updated as well. Recent development and examples will be shown and discussed, as well as open challenges.

Evaluation and Private Philanthropy: View from a Corporation.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Roser, Hal

The role of evaluation in the profit and loss sector of American economy differs from its role in the nonprofit sector. Since corporate industry and private foundations contribute approximately 4.5 billion dollars to help finance the ninety-billion dollar private nonprofit sector, sound planning and evaluation activities are essential to maintain…

Libya After Qaddafi: Lessons and Implications for the Future

DTIC Science & Technology

2014-01-01

research findings and objective analysis that address the challenges facing the public and private sectors . All RAND reports undergo rigorous peer...8 The Need for Far-Reaching Security Sector Reform...World Bank , International Monetary Fund, IHS, Inter- national Foundation for Electoral Systems, Dartmouth College, the National Endowment for

Further Education Sector Governors as Ethnographers: Five Case Studies

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Clapham, Andrew; Vickers, Rob

2018-01-01

This paper considers how governors in the English "Further Education and Skills" (FE) sector examined their practice as ethnographers. The paper locates both FE governance and ethnography within the challenges of the performative and Panoptic environments facing English education. In doing so, the paper explores how the informants'…

Skill Development for Volunteering in Rural Communities

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kilpatrick, Sue; Stirling, Christine; Orpin, Peter

2010-01-01

This paper examines the skills required of volunteers in the voluntary sector organisations that operate in three rural Tasmanian communities. It reports how volunteers acquire those skills and reveals the challenges faced by voluntary sector organisations in rural communities whose industries and, following from this, community members have a…

Health issues amongst call center employees, an emerging occupational group in India.

PubMed

Raja, Jeyapal Dinesh; Bhasin, Sanjiv Kumar

2014-07-01

Call center sector in India is a relatively new industry and one of the fastest growing sectors driving employment and growth in modern India today. While employment in the business process outsourcing (BPO) sector has meant that young adults are reaching their career milestones and financial goals much earlier than before, surveys and anecdotal evidence show that workers in the BPO sector experience high levels of stress and its related disorders, primarily due to its contemporary work settings. Safeguarding the health of youngsters employed in this new, growing economy becomes an occupational health challenge to public health specialists.

The private partners of public health: public-private alliances for public good.

PubMed

McDonnell, Sharon; Bryant, Carol; Harris, Jeff; Campbell, Marci Kramish; Lobb, Ano; Hannon, Peggy A; Cross, Jeffrey L; Gray, Barbara

2009-04-01

We sought to convey lessons learned by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC's) Prevention Research Centers (PRCs) about the value and challenges of private-sector alliances resulting in innovative health promotion strategies. Several PRCs based in a variety of workplace and community settings contributed. We conducted interviews with principal investigators, a literature review, and a review of case studies of private-sector alliances in a microbusiness model, a macrobusiness model, and as multiparty partnerships supporting public health research, implementation, and human resource services. Private-sector alliances provide many advantages, particularly access to specialized skills generally beyond the expertise of public health entities. These skills include manufacturing, distribution, marketing, business planning, and development. Alliances also allow ready access to employee populations. Public health entities can offer private-sector partners funding opportunities through special grants, data gathering and analysis skills, and enhanced project credibility and trust. Challenges to successful partnerships include time and resource availability and negotiating the cultural divide between public health and the private sector. Critical to success are knowledge of organizational culture, values, mission, currency, and methods of operation; an understanding of and ability to articulate the benefits of the alliance for each partner; and the ability and time to respond to unexpected changes and opportunities. Private-public health alliances are challenging, and developing them takes time and resources, but aspects of these alliances can capitalize on partners' strengths, counteract weaknesses, and build collaborations that produce better outcomes than otherwise possible. Private partners may be necessary for program initiation or success. CDC guidelines and support materials may help nurture these alliances.

Extending health insurance coverage to the informal sector: Lessons from a private micro health insurance scheme in Lagos, Nigeria.

PubMed

Peterson, Lauren; Comfort, Alison; Hatt, Laurel; van Bastelaer, Thierry

2018-04-15

As a growing number of low- and middle-income countries commit to achieving universal health coverage, one key challenge is how to extend coverage to informal sector workers. Micro health insurance (MHI) provides a potential model to finance health services for this population. This study presents lessons from a pilot study of a mandatory MHI plan offered by a private insurance company and distributed through a microfinance bank to urban, informal sector workers in Lagos, Nigeria. Study methods included a survey of microfinance clients, key informant interviews, and a review of administrative records. Demographic, health care seeking, and willingness-to-pay data suggested that microfinance clients, particularly women, could benefit from a comprehensive MHI plan that improved access to health care and reduced out-of-pocket spending on health services. However, administrative data revealed declining enrollment, and key informant interviews further suggested low use of the health insurance plan. Key implementation challenges, including changes to mandatory enrollment requirements, insufficient client education and marketing, misaligned incentives, and weak back-office systems, undermined enrollment and use of the plan. Mandatory MHI plans, intended to mitigate adverse selection and facilitate private insurers' entry into new markets, present challenges for covering informal sector workers, including when distributed through agents such as a microfinance bank. Properly aligning the incentives of the insurer and the agent are critical to effectively distribute and service insurance. Further, an urban environment presents unique challenges for distributing MHI, addressing client perceptions of health insurance, and meeting their health care needs. Copyright © 2018 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Comparing the Costs of Military Treatment Facilities with Private Sector Care

DTIC Science & Technology

2016-02-01

Log: H 15-000527 Comparing the Costs of Military Treatment Facilities with Private Sector Care Philip M. Lurie INSTITUTE FOR DEFENSE ANALYSES 4850 Mark...other national challenges. Comparing the Costs of Military Treatment Facilities with Private Sector Care Philip M. Lurie I N S T I T U T E F O R D...members. The latter benefit, known as TRICARE, serves 9.5 million beneficiaries worldwide, and consists of care in Military Treatment Facilities (MTFs

Bridging Climate Change Resilience and Mitigation in the Electricity Sector Through Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency: Emerging Climate Change and Development Topics for Energy Sector Transformation

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Cox, Sarah L; Hotchkiss, Elizabeth L; Bilello, Daniel E

Reliable, safe, and secure electricity is essential for economic and social development and a necessary input for many sectors of the economy. However, electricity generation and associated processes make up a significant portion of global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions contributing to climate change. Furthermore, electricity systems are vulnerable to climate change impacts - both short-term events and changes over the longer term. This vulnerability presents both near-term and chronic challenges in providing reliable, affordable, equitable, and sustainable energy services. Within this context, developing countries face a number of challenges in the energy sector, including the need to reliably meet growingmore » electricity demand, lessen dependence on imported fuels, expand energy access, and improve stressed infrastructure for fuel supply and electricity transmission. Energy efficiency (EE) and renewable energy (RE) technical solutions described in this paper can bridge action across climate change mitigation and resilience through reducing GHG emissions and supporting electric power sector adaptation to increasing climate risk. Integrated planning approaches, also highlighted in this paper, play an integral role in bringing together mitigation and resilience action under broader frameworks. Through supporting EE and RE deployment and integrated planning approaches, unique to specific national and local circumstances, countries can design and implement policies, strategies, and sectoral plans that unite development priorities, climate change mitigation, and resilience.« less

Genetic Counsellors and Private Practice: Professional Turbulence and Common Values.

PubMed

Collis, Sarah; Gaff, Clara; Wake, Samantha; McEwen, Alison

2017-12-27

Genetic counsellors face tensions between past and future identities: between established values and goals, and a broadening scope of settings and activities. This study examines the advent of genetic counsellors in private practice in Australia and New Zealand from the perspectives of the small numbers working in this sector and those who have only worked in public practice. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 16 genetic counsellors who had experience in private practice, and 14 genetic counsellors without private sector experience. Results demonstrated that circumstantial and personal factors can mitigate the challenges experienced and the amount of support desired by those who had established a private practice, and those who were employed by private companies. Notably, most participants with private sector experience perceived themselves to be viewed negatively by other genetic counsellors. Most participants without private sector experience expressed concern that the challenges they believed genetic counsellors face in private practice may impact service quality, but wished to address such concerns by providing appropriate support. Together, our results reinforce that participants in private and public sectors are strong advocates for peer support, multidisciplinary team work, and professional development. These core values, and seeking understanding of different circumstances and support needs, will enable genetic counsellors in different sectors to move forward together. Our results suggest supports that may be acted upon by members of the profession, professional groups, and training programs, in Australia, New Zealand, and overseas.

Medical education in Saudi Arabia: a review of recent developments and future challenges.

PubMed

Telmesani, A; Zaini, R G; Ghazi, H O

2011-08-01

Medical education has been changing rapidly in Saudi Arabia. Within a decade, the number of medical colleges increased from 5 medical schools with traditional disciplined-based curricula to 21 medical colleges with varied curricula ranging from the traditional to more innovative, problem-based, community-oriented programmes. The private sector has started investing in higher education generally and medical education in particular. Also other government sectors that provide advanced health services have started established new medical colleges. The expansion of quantity in medical education has been associated with a drive for greater quality assurance. Accreditation of higher education institutes began with the establishment of the National Commission for Academic Assessment and Accreditation in 2005. This review focuses on documenting developments in Saudi medical education up to 2008 and discussing the future potential and challenges facing the sector.

Dilemmas and challenges for the shelter sector: lessons learned from the Sphere revision process.

PubMed

Saunders, Graham

2004-06-01

Key dilemmas and challenges for those involved in the shelter sector are described, based on issues that emerged from the extensive global consultative process undertaken to inform the revision of the Sphere handbook. The range of perspectives on the major themes is presented, with suggestions as to how these issues could be progressed. Themes include the poor definition of the sector and the lack of a consistent approach among the leading shelter actors; the absence of a common terminology; the conflict between "temporary" versus "durable" solutions; the disconnect between technical advisers and the field; the need for greater recognition of local coping strategies and the local context; the involvement of recipients and host governments in policy development; the need for better "how-to" guidance; and the limited incorporation of the emerging themes of livelihoods etc. to date.

A situational analysis of breast cancer early detection services in Trinidad and Tobago.

PubMed

Badal, Kimberly; Rampersad, Fidel; Warner, Wayne A; Toriola, Adetunji T; Mohammed, Hamish; Scheffel, Harold-Alexis; Ali, Rehanna; Moosoodeen, Murrie; Konduru, Siva; Russel, Adaila; Haraksingh, Rajini

2018-01-01

A situational analysis of breast cancer (BC) early detection services was carried out to investigate whether Trinidad and Tobago (T&T) has the framework for successful organized national screening. An online survey was designed to assess the availability, accessibility, quality control and assurance (QC&A), and monitoring and evaluation (M&E) mechanisms for public and private BC early detection. A focus group with local radiologists (n = 3) was held to identify unaddressed challenges and make recommendations for improvement. Major public hospitals offer free detection services with wait times of 1-6 months for an appointment. Private institutions offer mammograms for TTD$240 (USD$37) at minimum with same day service. Both sectors report a lack of trained staff. Using 1.2 mammograms per 10,000 women ≥40 years as sufficient, the public sector's rate of 0.19 mammograms per 10,000 women ≥40 years for screening and diagnosis is inadequate. Program M&E mechanisms, QC&A guidelines for machinery use, delays in receipt of pathology reports, and unreliable drug access are further unaddressed challenges. T&T must first strengthen its human and physical resources, implement M&E and QC&A measures, strengthen cancer care, and address other impediments to BC early detection before investing in nationally organized BC screening.

Evaluating the Quality of Colorectal Cancer Care across the Interface of Healthcare Sectors

PubMed Central

Ludt, Sabine; Urban, Elisabeth; Eckardt, Jörg; Wache, Stefanie; Broge, Björn; Kaufmann-Kolle, Petra; Heller, Günther; Miksch, Antje; Glassen, Katharina; Hermann, Katja; Bölter, Regine; Ose, Dominik; Campbell, Stephen M.; Wensing, Michel; Szecsenyi, Joachim

2013-01-01

Background Colorectal cancer (CRC) has a high prevalence in western countries. Diagnosis and treatment of CRC is complex and requires multidisciplinary collaboration across the interface of health care sectors. In Germany, a new nationwide established program aims to provide quality information of healthcare delivery across different sectors. Within this context, this study describes the development of a set of quality indicators charting the whole pathway of CRC-care including data specifications that are necessary to operationalize these indicators before practice testing. Methods Indicators were developed following a systematic 10 step modified ‘RAND/UCLA Appropriateness Method’ which involved a multidisciplinary panel of thirteen participants. For each indicator in the final set, data specifications relating to sources of quality information, data collection procedures, analysis and feedback were described. Results The final indicator set included 52 indicators covering diagnostic procedures (11 indicators), therapeutic management (28 indicators) and follow-up (6 indicators). In addition, 7 indicators represented patient perspectives. Primary surgical tumor resection and pre-operative radiation (rectum carcinoma only) were perceived as most useful tracer procedures initiating quality data collection. To assess the quality of CRC care across sectors, various data sources were identified: medical records, administrative inpatient and outpatient data, sickness-funds billing code systems and patient survey. Conclusion In Germany, a set of 52 quality indicators, covering necessary aspects across the interfaces and pathways relevant to CRC-care has been developed. Combining different sectors and sources of health care in quality assessment is an innovative and challenging approach but reflects better the reality of the patient pathway and experience of CRC-care. PMID:23658684

Multi-objective, multiple participant decision support for water management in the Andarax catchment, Almeria

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

van Cauwenbergh, N.; Pinte, D.; Tilmant, A.; Frances, I.; Pulido-Bosch, A.; Vanclooster, M.

2008-04-01

Water management in the Andarax river basin (Almeria, Spain) is a multi-objective, multi-participant, long-term decision-making problem that faces several challenges. Adequate water allocation needs informed decisions to meet increasing socio-economic demands while respecting the environmental integrity of this basin. Key players in the Andarax water sector include the municipality of Almeria, the irrigators involved in the intensive greenhouse agricultural sector, and booming second residences. A decision support system (DSS) is developed to rank different sustainable planning and management alternatives according to their socio-economic and environmental performance. The DSS is intimately linked to sustainability indicators and is designed through a public participation process. Indicators are linked to criteria reflecting stakeholders concerns in the 2005 field survey, such as fulfilling water demand, water price, technical and economical efficiency, social and environmental impacts. Indicators can be partly quantified after simulating the operation of the groundwater reservoir over a 20-year planning period and partly through a parallel expert evaluation process. To predict the impact of future water demand in the catchment, several development scenarios are designed to be evaluated in the DSS. The successive multi-criteria analysis of the performance indicators permits the ranking of the different management alternatives according to the multiple objectives formulated by the different sectors/participants. This allows more informed and transparent decision-making processes for the Andarax river basin, recognizing both the socio-economic and environmental dimensions of water resources management.

Towards greener environment: Energy efficient pathways for the transportation sector in Malaysia

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Indati, M. S.; Ghate, A. T.; Leong, Y. P.

2013-06-01

Transportation sector is the second most energy consuming sector after industrial sector, accounting for 40% of total energy consumption in Malaysia. The transportation sector is one of the most energy intensive sectors in the country and relies primarily on petroleum products, which in total account for nearly 98% of the total consumption in the sector. Since it is heavily reliant on petroleum based fuels, the sector contributes significantly to the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. The need to reduce the greenhouse gas emission is paramount as Malaysia at Conference of the Parties (COP15) pledged to reduce its carbon intensity by 40% by 2020 from 2005 level subject to availability of technology and finance. Transport sector will be among the first sectors that need to be addressed to achieve this goal, as two-thirds of the emissions come from fuel combustion in transport sector. This paper will analyse the factors influencing the transport sector's growth and energy consumption trends and discuss the key issues and challenges for greener environment and sustainable transportation in Malaysia. The paper will also discuss the policy and strategic options aimed towards energy efficient pathways in Malaysia.

Grand challenges in the management and conservation of North American inland fishes and fisheries

USGS Publications Warehouse

Lynch, Abigail; Cooke, Steven J.; Beard, Douglas; Kao, Yu-Chun; Lorenzen, Kai; Song, Andrew M.; Allen, Micheal S.; Basher, Zeenatul; Bunnell, David B.; Camp, Edward V.; Cowx, Ian G.; Freedman, Jonathan A.; Nguyen, Vivian M.; Nohner, Joel K.; Rogers, Mark W.; Siders, Zachary A.; Taylor, William W.; Youn, So-Jung

2017-01-01

Even with long-standing management and extensive science support, North American inland fish and fisheries still face many conservation and management challenges. We used a grand challenges approach to identify critical roadblocks that if removed would help solve important problems in the management and long-term conservation of North American inland fish and fisheries. We identified seven grand challenges within three themes (valuation, governance, and externalities) and 34 research needs and management actions. The major themes identified are to (1) raise awareness of diverse values associated with inland fish and fisheries, (2) govern inland fish and fisheries to satisfy multiple use and conservation objectives, and (3) ensure productive inland fisheries given nonfishing sector externalities. Addressing these grand challenges will help the broader community understand the diverse values of inland fish and fisheries, promote open forums for engagement of diverse stakeholders in fisheries management, and better integrate the inland fish sector into the greater water and land use policy process.

Energy Efficiency Investments in Public Facilities - Developing a Pilot Mechanism for Energy Performance Contracts (EPCs) in Russia

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Evans, Meredydd; Roshchanka, Volha; Parker, Steven A.

: Russian public sector buildings tend to be very inefficient, which creates vast opportunities for savings. This report overviews the latest developments in the Russian legislation related to energy efficiency in the public sector, describes the major challenges the regulations pose, and proposes ways to overcome these challenges. Given Russia’s limited experience with energy performance contracts (EPCs), a pilot project can help test an implementation mechanism. This paper discusses how EPCs and other mechanisms can help harness energy savings opportunities in Russia in general, and thus, can be applicable to any Russian region.

Challenges Facing Global Health Networks: The NCD Alliance Experience

PubMed Central

Dain, Katie

2018-01-01

Successful prevention and control of the epidemic of noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) cannot be achieved by the health sector alone: a wide range of organisations from multiple sectors and across government must also be involved. This requires a new, inclusive approach to advocacy and to coordinating, convening and catalysing action across civil society, best achieved by a broad-based network. This comment maps the experience of the NCD Alliance (NCDA) on to Shiffman’s challenges for global health networks – framing (problem definition and positioning), coalition-building and governance – and highlights some further areas overlooked in his analysis. PMID:29524960

Teaching Chinese Students: Understanding Their Public Sector Paradigm

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Conrad, Cynthia; Coleman, Charles

2011-01-01

Teaching Chinese students in an American university can be both challenging and rewarding. Cultural and language differences can lead to some superficial confusion and interpretational problems. However, the vast differences in the ways Chinese students view the role of the public sector, as compared to the US, can mean that the instructors and…

Ecosystem services: foundations, opportunities, and challenges for the forest products sector

Treesearch

Trista M. Patterson; Dana L. Coelho

2009-01-01

The ecosystem service concept has been proposed as a meaningful framework for natural resource management. In theory, it holds concomitant benefit and consequence for the forest product sector. However, numerous barriers impede practitioners from developing concrete and enduring responses to emerging ecosystem service markets, policies, and initiatives. Principal among...

76 FR 9278 - Safety Zone; Fourth Annual Offshore Challenge, Sunny Isles Beach, FL

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2011-02-17

... Lieutenant Paul A. Steiner, Sector Miami Prevention Department, Coast Guard; telephone 305-535-8724, e-mail Paul.A.Steiner@uscg.mil . If you have questions on viewing or submitting material to the docket, call.... Steiner, Sector Miami Prevention Department, Coast Guard; telephone 305-535- 8724, e-mail Paul.A.Steiner...

Organization Development and Change in Universities

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Torraco, Richard J.; Hoover, Richard E.; Knippelmeyer, Sheri A.

2005-01-01

Organization development is an approach to planned change that is used in the private, public, and nonprofit sectors. However, relatively little is known about OD in universities. This paper examines the challenges associated with the use of OD in universities that may not be present in the private sector and other non-university settings. Five…

21st Century Universities--Less Regulated but More Accountable

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hodgson, Patricia

2006-01-01

This paper discusses the cost and purpose of regulation in the higher education sector in the United Kingdom. Higher education is changing fast, facing competition from around the world and offering new economic drive in Britain's regions. Tuition fees bring much needed investment to this growing sector. This means a new challenge for funding…

ERP System Implementation: An Oil and Gas Exploration Sector Perspective

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mishra, Alok; Mishra, Deepti

Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems provide integration and optimization of various business processes which leads to improved planning and decision quality, smoother coordination between business units resulting in higher efficiency, and quicker response time to customer demands and inquiries. This paper reports challenges, opportunities and outcome of ERP implementation in Oil & Gas exploration sector. This study will facilitate in understanding transition, constraints and implementation of ERP in this sector and also provide guidelines from lessons learned in this regard.

Scaling up ART adherence clubs in the public sector health system in the Western Cape, South Africa: a study of the institutionalisation of a pilot innovation.

PubMed

MacGregor, Hayley; McKenzie, Andrew; Jacobs, Tanya; Ullauri, Angelica

2018-04-25

In 2011, a decision was made to scale up a pilot innovation involving 'adherence clubs' as a form of differentiated care for HIV positive people in the public sector antiretroviral therapy programme in the Western Cape Province of South Africa. In 2016 we were involved in the qualitative aspect of an evaluation of the adherence club model, the overall objective of which was to assess the health outcomes for patients accessing clubs through epidemiological analysis, and to conduct a health systems analysis to evaluate how the model of care performed at scale. In this paper we adopt a complex adaptive systems lens to analyse planned organisational change through intervention in a state health system. We explore the challenges associated with taking to scale a pilot that began as a relatively simple innovation by a non-governmental organisation. Our analysis reveals how a programme initially representing a simple, unitary system in terms of management and clinical governance had evolved into a complex, differentiated care system. An innovation that was assessed as an excellent idea and received political backing, worked well whilst supported on a small scale. However, as scaling up progressed, challenges have emerged at the same time as support has waned. We identified a 'tipping point' at which the system was more likely to fail, as vulnerabilities magnified and the capacity for adaptation was exceeded. Yet the study also revealed the impressive capacity that a health system can have for catalysing novel approaches. We argue that innovation in largescale, complex programmes in health systems is a continuous process that requires ongoing support and attention to new innovation as challenges emerge. Rapid scaling up is also likely to require recourse to further resources, and a culture of iterative learning to address emerging challenges and mitigate complex system errors. These are necessary steps to the future success of adherence clubs as a cornerstone of differentiated care. Further research is needed to assess the equity and quality outcomes of a differentiated care model and to ensure the inclusive distribution of the benefits to all categories of people living with HIV.

Morbidity and Health Risk Factors Among New Mexico Miners: A Comparison Across Mining Sectors.

PubMed

Shumate, Alice M; Yeoman, Kristin; Victoroff, Tristan; Evans, Kandace; Karr, Roger; Sanchez, Tami; Sood, Akshay; Laney, Anthony Scott

2017-08-01

This study examines differences in chronic health outcomes between coal, uranium, metal, and nonmetal miners. In a cross-sectional study using data from a health screening program for current and former New Mexico miners, log-binomial logistic regression models were used to estimate relative risks of respiratory and heart disease, cancer, osteoarthritis, and back pain associated with mining in each sector as compared with coal, adjusting for other relevant risk factors. Differential risks in angina, pulmonary symptoms, asthma, cancer, osteoarthritis, and back pain between mining sectors were found. New Mexico miners experience different chronic health challenges across sectors. These results demonstrate the importance of using comparable data to understand how health risks differ across mining sectors. Further investigation among a broader geographic population of miners will help identify the health priorities and needs in each sector.

The Enduring Challenges in Public Management: Surviving and Excelling in a Changing World.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Halachmi, Arie, Ed.; Bouckaert, Geert, Ed.

This book addresses in different ways the prospect of improving the performance of government and nonprofit organizations. The chapters are clustered around enduring management challenges that may influence productivity in the public sector. Fifteen chapters discuss the challenges to productivity posed by immediate and distant changes in the…

77 FR 51983 - Availability of Department of Energy EV Everywhere Grand Challenge Initial Framing Document and...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-08-28

... information? How can information on private sector innovation be captured without compromising competitive... of Energy EV Everywhere Grand Challenge Initial Framing Document and Request for Public Comment... availability and request for public comment. SUMMARY: The EV Everywhere Grand Challenge is a U.S. Department of...

Troubling the Boundaries: Overcoming Methodological Challenges in a Multi-Sectoral and Multi-Jurisdictional HIV/HCV Policy Scoping Review

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hare, Kathleen A.; Dubé, Anik; Marshall, Zack; Gahagan, Jacqueline; Harris, Gregory E.; Tucker, Maryanne; Dykeman, Margaret; MacDonald, Jo-Ann

2016-01-01

Policy scoping reviews are an effective method for generating evidence-informed policies. However, when applying guiding methodological frameworks to complex policy evidence, numerous, unexpected challenges can emerge. This paper details five challenges experienced and addressed by a policy trainee-led, multi-disciplinary research team, while…

Barriers and Benefits to Learning in Natural Environments: Towards a Reconceptualisation of the Possibilities for Change

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dillon, Justin

2013-06-01

Policies designed to increase public engagement with biodiversity advocate increased education across a range of educational contexts. Evidence of the benefits of learning in natural environments (LINE) continues to be amassed. LINE affords direct benefits as diverse as educational, health and psychological and indirect benefits ranging from social to financial. Research into the value of LINE has failed to address the full range of benefits. Instead, there has been a narrow focus on easily measurable outcomes and a desire to seek answers to simplistic questions such as "does LINE raise standards more than learning in the classroom?" An attempt is made to outline the full range of benefits which are available to all school students. The outcomes include: benefits to individual participants (knowledge and understanding; skills; attitudes and behaviours; health and well-being; self-efficacy and self-worth); benefits to teachers, schools and the wider community, and benefits to the natural environment sector. Several barriers exist to the effective delivery of LINE. These barriers can be grouped into those that challenge the natural environment sector and those that challenge schools. The challenges facing the sector include a lack of a coordinated effective approach to working with schools at a local level. The challenges facing schools include those frequently mentioned such as the risk of accidents, cost and curriculum pressures. However, another set of challenges exists, at local, institutional and personal levels. These challenges include teachers' confidence, self-efficacy and their access to training in using natural environments close to the school and further afield.

Barriers and Benefits to Learning in Natural Environments: Towards a Reconceptualisation of the Possibilities for Change

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dillon, Justin

2012-12-01

Policies designed to increase public engagement with biodiversity advocate increased education across a range of educational contexts. Evidence of the benefits of learning in natural environments (LINE) continues to be amassed. LINE affords direct benefits as diverse as educational, health and psychological and indirect benefits ranging from social to financial. Research into the value of LINE has failed to address the full range of benefits. Instead, there has been a narrow focus on easily measurable outcomes and a desire to seek answers to simplistic questions such as "does LINE raise standards more than learning in the classroom?" An attempt is made to outline the full range of benefits which are available to all school students. The outcomes include: benefits to individual participants (knowledge and understanding; skills; attitudes and behaviours; health and well-being; self-efficacy and self-worth); benefits to teachers, schools and the wider community, and benefits to the natural environment sector. Several barriers exist to the effective delivery of LINE. These barriers can be grouped into those that challenge the natural environment sector and those that challenge schools. The challenges facing the sector include a lack of a coordinated effective approach to working with schools at a local level. The challenges facing schools include those frequently mentioned such as the risk of accidents, cost and curriculum pressures. However, another set of challenges exists, at local, institutional and personal levels. These challenges include teachers' confidence, self-efficacy and their access to training in using natural environments close to the school and further afield.

Learning from our apartheid past: human rights challenges for health professionals in contemporary South Africa.

PubMed

Baldwin-Ragaven, L; London, L; De Gruchy, J

2000-01-01

Central to South Africa's democratic transformation have been attempts to understand how and why human rights abuses were common under apartheid. In testimony to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission evidence has emerged of a wide range of past complicity in human rights abuses by health professionals and their organisations. This has presented a major challenge to the health sector to develop ways to operationalize a commitment to human rights in the future. This paper argues that only after a process of self-reflection, both personal and institutional, which enables a thorough and accurate analysis of why things went so wrong, can the health sector effectively move forward. The authors' perspective draws on the submission to the TRC Health Sector Hearings by the Health and Human Rights Project in 1997, which provides a systemic and case-based analysis of the health sector's role in human rights abuses under apartheid. However, human rights responses have to take account of a changing national and global terrain in which human rights issues are no longer as morally absolute as previously encountered, and in which seemingly insuperable resource constraints, inimical economic policies, and the demobilization of civil society, are serious obstacles. Moreover, the politics of transformation has generated expediencies that threaten to rewrite history in ways that fundamentally cheapen human rights. To address this contradiction, the authors propose a set of objectives that places accountability of health professionals in a human rights framework. These objectives are intended to give substance to the main tasks facing the health sector--to develop and infuse the capacity to recognise and integrate both the 'new' and traditional human rights dilemmas, and to effect personal and institutional transformation. A matrix is presented, linking these objectives to key role players in the health sector and identifying activities specific for each role player. As the health sector in South Africa grapples with the challenges framed in this model, key lessons for the international community may emerge that further our understanding of the complex relationship between health and human rights and how best to implement strategies for the attainment of human rights in health.

[Quality in the healthcare sector: new strategic measures for new challenges].

PubMed

Larroca, Norberto

2002-01-01

This article reviews the experience of the organizations representing the private healthcare industry in Argentina in their request to improve the quality of care. In it, the author highlights how their collaboration with the PAHO/WHO in the nineties led to the drafting of a Quality Accreditation Handbook, as well as its circulation in most of the countries in the area. Ten years on, the new challenges are analyzed in order to achieve better quality fro all, without limits. With these challenges in mind, the study presents the five programmes being developed at present, by the private health sector as a way of collaborating with society and the government in its progress towards the nationalization of resources and achieving a fairer system and better quality in healthcare.

Innovation Balanced with Community Collaboration, ESIP

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

White, C. E.

2016-12-01

Representing the Federation of Earth Science Information Partners (ESIP), I'll speak to how the organization supports a diverse community of science, data and information technology practitioners to foster innovation balanced with community collaboration on the why and how. ESIP builds connections among organizations, sectors, disciplines, systems and data so participants can leverage their collective expertise and technical capacity to address common challenges. This work improves Earth science data management practices and makes Earth science data more discoverable, accessible and useful to researchers, policy makers and the public. Greater than ever is the desire for guidelines in software/code development, evaluation of technology and its artifacts, and community validation of products and practices. ESIP's mechanisms for evaluation and assessment range from informal to formal, with opportunities for all.

Innovation and construction management in Brazil: Challenges of companies in times of quality and productivity

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Barbosa, A. A. R.; Vilnītis, M.

2017-10-01

Considering the efforts to optimize productivity and quality in the construction through the potential existing in the respective companies, this study presents an approach for identification, management and priorities of improvements actions at construction sites focusing status on productivity, added value and innovation in the socioeconomic context and scenario of construction industry in Brazil. Technological advances in recent years have made the Brazilian construction industry gradually incorporate technologies and forms of management, despite its traditionally conservative character. In current days, the innovations are pursued with the quest for greater quality, productivity, safety and customer satisfaction, which have been increasingly competitive and global. Construction in Brazil occupies an important role in the economy, directly contributing to GDP and acting on an extensive productive chain of suppliers, commercialization services and maintenance. The Brazilian construction sector has undergone major changes in recent years, facilitated by factors such as the resumption of public investments, the creation of laws that facilitate real estate, investments and funding of external resources, and the efforts of the Brazilian Quality and Productivity Program - PBQP H. However, the sector faces problems of a lack of skilled labour to meet the growth needs of the sector. There are still problems and challenges of quality and productivity that prevent full sector development. The aspects of nonconformity, low quality, high tax burden, outsourcing and informality of the workforce have not been adequately addressed and resolved. Through the use of indicators of productivity and growth, the challenges of the Brazilian construction industry are discussed and the possible paths for the sector that allow its full development and to reduce the distance between the Brazilian construction industry and that of the developed countries.

Navigating institutional complexity in the health sector: lessons from tobacco control in Kenya

PubMed Central

Lencucha, Raphael; Magati, Peter; Drope, Jeffrey

2016-01-01

Introduction This research examines the institutional dynamics of tobacco control following the establishment of Kenya’s 2007 landmark tobacco control legislation. Our analysis focuses specifically on coordination challenges within the health sector. Methods We conducted semi-structured interviews with key informants (n = 17) involved in tobacco regulation and control in Kenya. We recruited participants from different offices and sectors of government and non-governmental organizations. Results We find that the main challenges toward successful implementation of tobacco control are a lack of coordination and clarity of mandate of the principal institutions involved in tobacco control efforts. In a related development, the passage of a new constitution in 2010 created structural changes that have affected the successful implementation of the country’s tobacco control legislation. Discussion We discuss how proponents of tobacco control navigated these two overarching institutional challenges. These findings point to the institutional factors that influence policy implementation extending beyond the traditional focus on the dynamic between government and the tobacco industry. These findings specifically point to the intragovernmental challenges that bear on policy implementation. The findings suggest that for effective implementation of tobacco control legislation and regulation, there is need for increased cooperation among institutions charged with tobacco control, particularly within or involving the Ministry of Health. Decisive leadership was also widely presented as a component of successful institutional reform. Conclusion This study points to the importance of coordinating policy development and implementation across levels of government and the need for leadership and clear mandates to guide cooperation within the health sector. The Kenyan experience offers useful lessons in the pitfalls of institutional incoherence, but more importantly, the value of investing in and then promoting well-functioning institutions. PMID:27418654

Maldistribution or scarcity of nurses? The devil is in the detail.

PubMed

Both-Nwabuwe, Jitske M C; Dijkstra, Maria T M; Klink, Ab; Beersma, Bianca

2018-03-01

The goal of this paper was to improve our understanding of nursing shortages across the variety of health care sectors and how this may affect the agenda for addressing nursing shortages. A health care sector comprises a number of health care services for one particular type of patient care, for example, the hospital care sector. Most Western countries are shifting health care services from hospital care towards community and home care, thus increasing nursing workforce challenges in home and community care. In order to implement appropriate policy responses to nursing workforce challenges, we need to know if these challenges are caused by maldistribution of nurses and/or the scarcity of nurses in general. Focusing on the Netherlands, we reviewed articles based on data of a labour market research programme and/or data from the Dutch Employed Persons' Insurance Administration Agency. The data were analysed using a data synthesis approach. Nursing shortages are unevenly distributed across the various health care sectors. Shortages of practical nurses are caused by maldistribution, with a long-term projected surplus of practical nurses in hospitals and projected shortages in nursing/convalescent homes and home care. Shortages of first-level registered nurses are caused by general scarcity in the long term, mainly in hospitals and home care. Nursing workforce challenges are caused by a maldistribution of nurses and the scarcity of nurses in general. To implement appropriate policy responses to nursing workforce challenges, integrated health care workforce planning is necessary. Integrated workforce planning models could forecast the impact of health care transformation plans and guide national policy decisions on transitioning programmes. Effective transitioning programmes are required to address nursing shortages and to diminish maldistribution. In addition, increased recruitment and retention as well as new models of care are required to address the scarcity of nurses in general. © 2017 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Industrial Preparedness Sector Study Guideline

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

1990-03-01

This guideline relates to special studies under the Army Industrial Preparedness Program where domestic industrial sectors or commodity sectors are evaluated for meeting Defense requirements. Modern sector study activities are described in a framewor...

50 CFR 648.103 - Summer flounder accountability measures.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-10-01

... sector ACL to be exceeded, or if the commercial fisheries in all states have been closed. The Regional... commercial fisheries in one or more states have been reopened without causing the sector ACL to be exceeded... in that state. (1) Commercial ACL overage evaluation. The commercial sector ACL will be evaluated...

50 CFR 648.103 - Minimum fish sizes.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-10-01

... determines that the inaction of one or more states will cause the commercial sector ACL to be exceeded, or if... more states have been reopened without causing the sector ACL to be exceeded. (b) State commercial...) Commercial ACL overage evaluation. The commercial sector ACL will be evaluated based on a single-year...

50 CFR 648.103 - Summer flounder accountability measures.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-10-01

... sector ACL to be exceeded, or if the commercial fisheries in all states have been closed. The Regional... commercial fisheries in one or more states have been reopened without causing the sector ACL to be exceeded... in that state. (1) Commercial ACL overage evaluation. The commercial sector ACL will be evaluated...

50 CFR 648.103 - Summer flounder accountability measures.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-10-01

... sector ACL to be exceeded, or if the commercial fisheries in all states have been closed. The Regional... commercial fisheries in one or more states have been reopened without causing the sector ACL to be exceeded... in that state. (1) Commercial ACL overage evaluation. The commercial sector ACL will be evaluated...

77 FR 1761 - Self-Regulatory Organizations; NYSE Arca, Inc.; Order Granting Approval of Proposed Rule Change...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-01-11

... quantitative research and evaluation process that forecasts economic excess sector returns (over/under the... proprietary SectorSAM quantitative research and evaluation process. \\8\\ The following convictions constitute... Allocation Methodology'' (``SectorSAM''), which is a proprietary quantitative analysis, to forecast each...

The Oregon Health and Science University-Oregon State Hospital Collaboration: Reflections on an Evolving Public-Academic Partnership.

PubMed

Chien, Joseph; Novosad, David; Mobbs, Karl E

2016-03-01

This column describes the conceptualization and implementation of an innovative collaboration between Oregon State Hospital and Oregon Health and Science University that was created to address understaffing and improve the quality of care. The hospital created a forensic evaluation rotation to address the growing population of forensic patients, which created a valuable recruiting tool for the hospital. One of the authors, a recent recruit, provides a first-person account of his experience working within the collaboration. The model could be emulated by other public-sector facilities facing similar challenges with psychiatrist recruitment and retention.

Effectiveness of Higher Diploma Program for Early Career Academics in Ethiopia

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gebru, Demewoz Admasu

2016-01-01

Unprecedented expansion of the public higher education sector in Ethiopia has brought about masses of early career academics (ECAs) to take up teaching and research in the sector. In recognition of a multitude of responsibilities and challenges these ECAs would face, a higher diploma program (HDP) was introduced in 2004 both for ECAs and senior…

Private Sector Consultants and Public Universities: The Challenges of Cross-Sectoral Knowledge Transfers

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Serrano-Velarde, Kathia; Krucken, Georg

2012-01-01

Since the early 1990s, European higher education has been undergoing drastic changes with regard to the organisation and governance of academic work. The political emphasis on higher education autonomy and accountability went hand in hand with the introduction of market type steering devices and a new discourse regarding the universities'…

Higher Education in the College Sector: Widening Access or Diversion? Questions and Challenges from the Scottish Experience

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gallacher, Jim

2017-01-01

Higher education in the college sector has become an increasingly important aspect of the tertiary education system in Scotland, particularly in widening access to higher education for students from disadvantaged backgrounds. In this respect there is a distinctively different tradition in Scotland when compared with England. Despite the success of…

Aiding Education in Conflict: The Role of International Education Providers Operating in Afghanistan and Pakistan

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Harmer, Adele; Stoddard, Abby; DiDomenico, Victoria

2011-01-01

Amid rising violence against civilian aid operations in insecure environments, attacks on the education sector pose a unique set of challenges for international aid actors. In recent years incidents of violence targeting the education sector in Afghanistan and the conflict-affected areas of Pakistan have increased. This article synthesizes recent…

CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES FOR EMISSION REDUCTIONS FROM THE COAL-FIRED POWER SECTOR IN GROWING ECONOMIES: THE CASE OF COAL-FIRED ELECTRIC UTILITY PLANTS IN RUSSIA

EPA Science Inventory

China, Russia and India together contribute over one-fourth of the total global greenhouse gas emissions from the combustion of fossil-fuels. This paper focuses on the Russian coal-fired power sector, and identifies potential opportunities for reducing emissions. The Russian powe...

Designing a Teaching Excellence Framework: Lessons from Other Sectors. Occasional Paper 13

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Darian, Louisa

2016-01-01

The Government is committed to introducing a Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF) to assess the quality of teaching and learning in higher education. Designing the right solution is challenging. There is no off-the-shelf solution from other countries that we can lift. But we can learn lessons from other sectors. This pamphlet explores rating…

Examining Barriers to Internationalisation Created by Diverse Systems and Structures in Vocational Education and Training

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Shaw, Angela Joy; Shaw, Kieron John; Blake, Suzanne

2016-01-01

In a global society, all educational sectors need to recognise internationalism as a core, foundational principle. Whilst most educational sectors are taking up that challenge, vocational education and training (VET) is still being pulled towards the national agenda in terms of its structures and systems, and the policies driving it,…

The Skills Minister's In-Tray

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hancock's, Matthew

2012-01-01

In the "Adults Learning" autumn issue, the journal staff asked key players in the learning and skills sector what they thought should be at the top of new skills minister Matthew Hancock's in-tray. The new minister shares that his job in the further education and skills sector is to rise to the challenge and play his full part in giving…

The Brazilian Organic Food Sector: Prospects and Constraints of Facilitating the Inclusion of Smallholders

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Blanc, Julien; Kledal, Paul R.

2012-01-01

The Brazilian organic food sector has experienced important growth during the last two decades. Brazilian smallholders, however, are facing huge challenges to enter and benefit from this growth in a sustainable way. Combining the lens of New Institutional Economics and socio-anthropology, we analyze six experiences of Brazilian smallholders who…

75 FR 80853 - Designing a Digital Future: Federally Funded Research and Development in Networking and...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-12-23

... general public. Such information includes, but is not limited to: A person's Social Security number; date... innovation is key to strengthening our economy and forming policy that works for the American people. PCAST... challenges are common across all of these sectors? c. What emerging innovations in these or other sectors...

Biotechnology in the southern research station: a problem analysis

Treesearch

F.E. Bridgwater; C.D. Nelson

2006-01-01

We provide an analysis of opportunities and challenges for biotechnology in forest research in the southern United States. Four major areas of biotechnology were identified and described and then rated for priority among three groups of researchers—private sector, public sector, and the USDA Forest Service, Southern Research Station (SRS). The four areas of...

Integrating Health and Sustainability: The Higher Education Sector as a Timely Catalyst

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Orme, J.; Dooris, M.

2010-01-01

Higher education is an influential sector with enormous potential to impact positively on health and sustainability. The purpose of this paper was to explore its emergent role as a key setting for promoting health and sustainability and for addressing their challenges in an integrated and coherent way. Acknowledging both the relative narrowness of…

Educational Reforms and Marketization in Norway--A Challenge to the Tradition of the Social Democratic, Inclusive School?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Helgøy, Ingrid; Homme, Anne

2016-01-01

A social democratic, egalitarian public sector and a corporatist political economy have been strong, distinctive and enduring characteristics of Norwegian education. However, this article demonstrates that the education sector has experienced a period of rapid and extensive implementation of New Public Management (NPM) reforms and post-NPM reforms…

Steps to Leadership Action Learning Sets: "Make It Challenging but Not Too Challenging"

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hughes, Derek

2010-01-01

This paper reviews how action learning was used as part of a regional leadership development programme involving a number of public sector organisations. It explores how the sets were designed and set up and the significant challenges that this particular approach brought. A number of positive tangible outcomes were produced from the sets and…

Quantitative option analysis for implementation and management of landfills.

PubMed

Kerestecioğlu, Merih

2016-09-01

The selection of the most feasible strategy for implementation of landfills is a challenging step. Potential implementation options of landfills cover a wide range, from conventional construction contracts to the concessions. Montenegro, seeking to improve the efficiency of the public services while maintaining affordability, was considering privatisation as a way to reduce public spending on service provision. In this study, to determine the most feasible model for construction and operation of a regional landfill, a quantitative risk analysis was implemented with four steps: (i) development of a global risk matrix; (ii) assignment of qualitative probabilities of occurrences and magnitude of impacts; (iii) determination of the risks to be mitigated, monitored, controlled or ignored; (iv) reduction of the main risk elements; and (v) incorporation of quantitative estimates of probability of occurrence and expected impact for each risk element in the reduced risk matrix. The evaluated scenarios were: (i) construction and operation of the regional landfill by the public sector; (ii) construction and operation of the landfill by private sector and transfer of the ownership to the public sector after a pre-defined period; and (iii) operation of the landfill by the private sector, without ownership. The quantitative risk assessment concluded that introduction of a public private partnership is not the most feasible option, unlike the common belief in several public institutions in developing countries. A management contract for the first years of operation was advised to be implemented, after which, a long term operating contract may follow. © The Author(s) 2016.

Toward a consistent modeling framework to assess multi-sectoral climate impacts.

PubMed

Monier, Erwan; Paltsev, Sergey; Sokolov, Andrei; Chen, Y-H Henry; Gao, Xiang; Ejaz, Qudsia; Couzo, Evan; Schlosser, C Adam; Dutkiewicz, Stephanie; Fant, Charles; Scott, Jeffery; Kicklighter, David; Morris, Jennifer; Jacoby, Henry; Prinn, Ronald; Haigh, Martin

2018-02-13

Efforts to estimate the physical and economic impacts of future climate change face substantial challenges. To enrich the currently popular approaches to impact analysis-which involve evaluation of a damage function or multi-model comparisons based on a limited number of standardized scenarios-we propose integrating a geospatially resolved physical representation of impacts into a coupled human-Earth system modeling framework. Large internationally coordinated exercises cannot easily respond to new policy targets and the implementation of standard scenarios across models, institutions and research communities can yield inconsistent estimates. Here, we argue for a shift toward the use of a self-consistent integrated modeling framework to assess climate impacts, and discuss ways the integrated assessment modeling community can move in this direction. We then demonstrate the capabilities of such a modeling framework by conducting a multi-sectoral assessment of climate impacts under a range of consistent and integrated economic and climate scenarios that are responsive to new policies and business expectations.

Analysis of Macro-micro Simulation Models for Service-Oriented Public Platform: Coordination of Networked Services and Measurement of Public Values

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kinoshita, Yumiko

When service sectors are a major driver for the growth of the world economy, we are challenged to implement service-oriented infrastructure as e-Gov platform to achieve further growth and innovation for both developed and developing countries. According to recent trends in service industry, it is clarified that main factors for the growth of service sectors are investment into knowledge, trade, and the enhanced capacity of micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs). In addition, the design and deployment of public service platform require appropriate evaluation methodology. Reflecting these observations, this paper proposes macro-micro simulation approach to assess public values (PV) focusing on MSMEs. Linkage aggregate variables (LAVs) are defined to show connection between macro and micro impacts of public services. As a result, the relationship of demography, business environment, macro economy, and socio-economic impact are clarified and their values are quantified from the behavioral perspectives of citizens and firms.

Accounting Information Systems in Healthcare: A Review of the Literature.

PubMed

Hammour, Hadal; Househ, Mowafa; Razzak, Hira Abdul

2017-01-01

As information technology progresses in Saudi Arabia, the manual accounting systems have become graduallyinadequate for decision needs. Subsequently, private and public healthcare divisions in Saudi Arabia perceive Computerized accounting information system (CAIS) as a vehicle to safeguard efficient and effective flow of information during the analysis, processes, and recording of financial data. Efficient and effective flow of information improvesthe decision making of staff, thereby improving the capability of health care sectors to reduce cost of the medical services.In this paper, we define computerized accounting systems from the point of view of health informatics. Also, the challenges and benefits of supporting CAIS applications in hospitals of Saudi Arabia. With these elements, we conclude that CAIS in Saudi Arabia can serve as a valuable tool for evaluating and controlling the cost of medical services in healthcare sectors. Supplementary education on the significance of having systems of computerized accounting within hospitals for nurses, doctors, and accountants with other health care staff is warranted in future.

A multifractal detrended fluctuation analysis of financial market efficiency: Comparison using Dow Jones sector ETF indices

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tiwari, Aviral Kumar; Albulescu, Claudiu Tiberiu; Yoon, Seong-Min

2017-10-01

This study challenges the efficient market hypothesis, relying on the Dow Jones sector Exchange-Traded Fund (ETF) indices. For this purpose, we use the generalized Hurst exponent and multifractal detrended fluctuation analysis (MF-DFA) methods, using daily data over the timespan from 2000 to 2015. We compare the sector ETF indices in terms of market efficiency between short- and long-run horizons, small and large fluctuations, and before and after the global financial crisis (GFC). Our findings can be summarized as follows. First, there is clear evidence that the sector ETF markets are multifractal in nature. We also find a crossover in the multifractality of sector ETF market dynamics. Second, the utilities and consumer goods sector ETF markets are more efficient compared with the financial and telecommunications sector ETF markets, in terms of price prediction. Third, there are noteworthy discrepancies in terms of market efficiency, between the short- and long-term horizons. Fourth, the ETF market efficiency is considerably diminished after the global financial crisis.

Indigenous Child Health in Brazil: The Evaluation of Impacts as a Human Rights Issue.

PubMed

Coates, Anna R; Del Pino Marchito, Sandra; Vitoy, Bernardino

2016-06-01

Improving the health status of indigenous children is a long-standing challenge. Several United Nations committees have identified the health of indigenous peoples as a human rights concern. Addressing the health of indigenous children cannot be separated from their social, cultural, and historic contexts, and any related health program must offer culturally appropriate services and a community perspective broad enough to address the needs of children and the local worlds in which they live. Evaluations of programs must, therefore, address process as well as impacts. This paper assesses interventions addressing indigenous children's health in Brazil, ranging from those explicitly targeting indigenous children's health, such as the targeted immunization program for indigenous peoples, as well as more generalized programs, including a focus upon indigenous children, such as the Integrated Management of Childhood Illness. The paper discusses the tensions and complexities of ethnically targeted health interventions as well as the conceptual and methodological challenge of measuring the processes employed and their impact. The lessons learned, especially the need for countries to more systematically collect data and evaluate impacts using ethnicity as an analytical category, are drawn out with respect to ensuring human rights for all within health sector responses.

India's Computational Biology Growth and Challenges.

PubMed

Chakraborty, Chiranjib; Bandyopadhyay, Sanghamitra; Agoramoorthy, Govindasamy

2016-09-01

India's computational science is growing swiftly due to the outburst of internet and information technology services. The bioinformatics sector of India has been transforming rapidly by creating a competitive position in global bioinformatics market. Bioinformatics is widely used across India to address a wide range of biological issues. Recently, computational researchers and biologists are collaborating in projects such as database development, sequence analysis, genomic prospects and algorithm generations. In this paper, we have presented the Indian computational biology scenario highlighting bioinformatics-related educational activities, manpower development, internet boom, service industry, research activities, conferences and trainings undertaken by the corporate and government sectors. Nonetheless, this new field of science faces lots of challenges.

Recession, debt and mental health: challenges and solutions

PubMed Central

2009-01-01

Background During the economic downturn, the link between recession and health has featured in many countries' media, political, and medical debate. This paper focuses on the previously neglected relationship between personal debt and mental health. Aims Using the UK as a case study, this paper considers the public health challenges presented by debt to mental health. We then propose solutions identified in workshops held during the UK Government's Foresight Review of Mental Capital and Wellbeing. Results Within their respective sectors, health professionals should receive basic ‘debt first aid’ training, whilst all UK financial sector codes of practice should – as a minimum – recognise the existence of customers with mental health problems. Further longitudinal research is also needed to ‘unpack’ the relationship between debt and mental health. Across sectors, a lack of co-ordinated activity across health, money advice, and creditor organisations remains a weakness. A renewed emphasis on co-ordinated ‘debt care pathways’ and better communication between local health and advice services is needed. Discussion The relationship between debt and mental health presents a contemporary public health challenge. Solutions exist, but will require action and investment at a time of competition for funds. PMID:22477896

Research, Development, Demonstration and Deployment Issues in the Power Sector

EPA Science Inventory

For Frank Princiotta’s book, Global Climate Change—The Technology Challenge In this chapter we explore the challenges in developing and deploying technology for mitigation of CO2 emissions associated with power generation. Past successes with controlling other pollutants (notab...

76 FR 72474 - Self-Regulatory Organizations; NYSE Arca, Inc.; Notice of Filing of Proposed Rule Change To List...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2011-11-23

... has developed a proprietary SectorSAM \\TM\\ quantitative research and evaluation process that forecasts... and short portfolios as dictated by its proprietary SectorSAM quantitative research and evaluation... a proprietary quantitative analysis, to forecast each sector's excess return within a specific time...

Leveraging the private health sector to enhance HIV service delivery in lower-income countries.

PubMed

Rao, Pamela; Gabre-Kidan, Tesfai; Mubangizi, Deus Bazira; Sulzbach, Sara

2011-08-01

Evidence that the private health sector is a key player in delivering health services and impacting health outcomes, including those related to HIV/AIDS, underscores the need to optimize the role of the private health sector to scale up national HIV responses in lower-income countries. This article reviews findings on the types of HIV/AIDS services provided by the private health sector in developing countries and elaborates on the role of private providers of HIV services in Ethiopia. Drawing on data from the nation's innovative Private Health Sector Project, a pilot project that has demonstrated the feasibility of public-private partnerships in this area, the article highlights the potential for national governments to scale up HIV/AIDS services by leveraging private health sector resources, innovations, and expertise while working to regulate quality and cost of services. Although concerns about uneven quality and affordability of private sector health services must be addressed through regulation, policy, or other innovative approaches, we argue that the benefits of leveraging the private sector outweigh these challenges, particularly in light of finite donor and public domestic resources.

Responsible leader behavior in health sectors.

PubMed

Longest, Beaufort

2017-02-06

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to expand attention to responsible leader behavior in the world's health sectors by explaining how this concept applies to health sectors, considering why health sector leaders should behave responsibly, reviewing how they can do so, and asserting potential impact through an applied example. Design/methodology/approach This paper is a viewpoint, reflecting conceptualizations rooted in leadership literature which are then specifically applied to health sectors. A definition of responsible leader behavior is affirmed and applied specifically in health sectors. Conceptualizations and viewpoints about practice of responsible leader behavior in health sectors and potential consequences are then discussed and asserted. Findings Leadership failures and debacles found in health, but more so in other sectors, have led leadership researchers to offer insights, many of them empirical, into the challenges of leadership especially by more clearly delineating responsible leader behavior. Practical implications Much of what has been learned in the research about responsible leader behavior offers pathways for health sector leaders to more fully practice responsible leadership. Social implications This paper asserts and provides a supporting example that greater levels of responsible leader behavior in health sectors hold potentially important societal benefits. Originality/value This paper is the first to apply emerging conceptualizations and early empirical findings about responsible leader behavior specifically to leaders in health sectors.

Evaluating digital libraries in the health sector. Part 1: measuring inputs and outputs.

PubMed

Cullen, Rowena

2003-12-01

This is the first part of a two-part paper which explores methods that can be used to evaluate digital libraries in the health sector. In this first part, some approaches to evaluation that have been proposed for mainstream digital information services are examined for their suitability to provide models for the health sector. The paper summarizes some major national and collaborative initiatives to develop measures for digital libraries, and analyses these approaches in terms of their relationship to traditional measures of library performance, which are focused on inputs and outputs, and their relevance to current debates among health information specialists. The second part* looks more specifically at evaluative models based on outcomes, and models being developed in the health sector.

Integrating indigenous livelihood and lifestyle objectives in managing a natural resource

PubMed Central

Plagányi, Éva Elizabeth; van Putten, Ingrid; Hutton, Trevor; Deng, Roy A.; Dennis, Darren; Pascoe, Sean; Skewes, Tim; Campbell, Robert A.

2013-01-01

Evaluating the success of natural resource management approaches requires methods to measure performance against biological, economic, social, and governance objectives. In fisheries, most research has focused on industrial sectors, with the contributions to global resource use by small-scale and indigenous hunters and fishers undervalued. Globally, the small-scale fisheries sector alone employs some 38 million people who share common challenges in balancing livelihood and lifestyle choices. We used as a case study a fishery with both traditional indigenous and commercial sectors to develop a framework to bridge the gap between quantitative bio-economic models and more qualitative social analyses. For many indigenous communities, communalism rather than capitalism underlies fishers’ perspectives and aspirations, and we find there are complicated and often unanticipated trade-offs between economic and social objectives. Our results highlight that market-based management options might score highly in a capitalistic society, but have negative repercussions on community coherence and equity in societies with a strong communal ethic. There are complex trade-offs between economic indicators, such as profit, and social indicators, such as lifestyle preferences. Our approach makes explicit the “triple bottom line” sustainability objectives involving trade-offs between economic, social, and biological performance, and is thus directly applicable to most natural resource management decision-making situations. PMID:23401546

Integrating indigenous livelihood and lifestyle objectives in managing a natural resource.

PubMed

Plagányi, Éva Elizabeth; van Putten, Ingrid; Hutton, Trevor; Deng, Roy A; Dennis, Darren; Pascoe, Sean; Skewes, Tim; Campbell, Robert A

2013-02-26

Evaluating the success of natural resource management approaches requires methods to measure performance against biological, economic, social, and governance objectives. In fisheries, most research has focused on industrial sectors, with the contributions to global resource use by small-scale and indigenous hunters and fishers undervalued. Globally, the small-scale fisheries sector alone employs some 38 million people who share common challenges in balancing livelihood and lifestyle choices. We used as a case study a fishery with both traditional indigenous and commercial sectors to develop a framework to bridge the gap between quantitative bio-economic models and more qualitative social analyses. For many indigenous communities, communalism rather than capitalism underlies fishers' perspectives and aspirations, and we find there are complicated and often unanticipated trade-offs between economic and social objectives. Our results highlight that market-based management options might score highly in a capitalistic society, but have negative repercussions on community coherence and equity in societies with a strong communal ethic. There are complex trade-offs between economic indicators, such as profit, and social indicators, such as lifestyle preferences. Our approach makes explicit the "triple bottom line" sustainability objectives involving trade-offs between economic, social, and biological performance, and is thus directly applicable to most natural resource management decision-making situations.

Developing cross-sectoral quality assurance for cataract surgery in the statutory quality assurance program of the German health care system: Experiences and lessons learned.

PubMed

Bramesfeld, Anke; Pauletzki, Jürgen; Behrenz, Lars; Szecsenyi, Joachim; Willms, Gerald; Broge, Björn

2015-08-01

Since 2001, statutory external quality assurance (QA) for hospital care has been in place in the German health system. In 2009, the decision was taken to expand it to cross-sectoral procedures. This novel and unprecedented form of national QA aims at (1) making the quality procedures comparable that are provided both in inpatient and outpatient care, (2) following-up outcomes of hospital care after patients' discharge and (3) measuring the quality of complex treatment chains across interfaces. As a pioneer procedure a QA procedure in cataract surgery QA was developed. Using this as an example, challenges of cross-sectoral QA are highlighted. These challenges relate, in particular, to three technical problems: triggering cases for documentation, following-up patients' after hospital discharge, and the burden of documentation in outpatient care. These problems resulted finally in the haltering of the development of the QA procedure. However, the experiences gained with this first development of cross-sectoral QA inspired the reorientation and further development of the field in Germany. Future cross-sectoral QA will rigorously aim at keeping burden of documentation small. It will draw data for QA mainly at three sources: routine data, patient surveys and peer reviews using indicators. Policy implications of this reorientation are discussed. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

The Role of Private Corporations in Regional Planning and Development: Opportunities and Challenges for the Governance of Housing and Land Use

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Morrison, T. H.; Wilson, C.; Bell, M.

2012-01-01

There is a broad consensus that the corporate sector has an active role in facilitating community development through corporate-community investment. However, there remains uncertainty as to how much the sector should invest without taking on responsibilities and influencing decisions which are traditionally within the realm of the state. This…

Education Exclusion in a Social-Class Framework: An Inquiry into the Major Sub-Sectors of the Professional Self-Financing Sector in Kerala

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rajasenan, D.; Bijith, G. A.; Rajeev, B.

2016-01-01

Education and education exclusion are two mammoth social and political challenges in a society characterized by diverse social groups. Although "self-financing regime" helped to barricade the outflow of money from the state, it also hampered the "social equity" in education and hence germinated the seed of education exclusion…

The Challenges Facing Further Education College Governors in England: A Time for Caution or Creativity?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hill, Ron; James, Chris; Forrest, Colin

2016-01-01

"Further education" (FE) is a substantial sector in the education system in England. It has funding of approximately £8 billion annually and educates close to three million students. Within the sector are 231 FE colleges which provide a range of courses that are typically vocational/skills-based. They vary in scale and scope with the…

2010 U.S. Drinking Water Innovation Vendor Outlook - Report on the Companies and Market Trends Shaping Innovation in the U.S. Drinking Water Sector

EPA Science Inventory

Innovation in the water sector is unanimously viewed as critical to meeting water challenges that will emerge in the 21st century. However, a large number of open questions remain around the speed at which innovation must occur, where financing of development will come from, and ...

The Impact of Private Sector Competition on Public Schooling in Kuwait: Some Socio-Educational Implications

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Al-Shehab, Ali Jasem

2010-01-01

With the diminishing model of the welfare state, public education in Kuwait is facing the challenges of the competition of private schools, while the private sector has always struggled against the monopolistic power of the public schools that educate a broad spectrum of K-12 students. This article presents estimates of the effect of private…

Challenge 21. Building Tomorrow's Public Service. Report of the Multilevel Public Sector Leadership Symposium (Lake Lanier Islands, Georgia, March 22-23, 1990).

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Office of Personnel Management, Washington, DC.

This document summarizes the discussions held at a conference of public sector executives and human resource managers designed to address the problems of attracting and keeping good workers in public service. Presentations made by the governor of Georgia, federal officials, educators, and regional representatives in three plenary sessions…

IT Governance and the Public Sector: A Survey of Perceptions, Attitudes, and Knowledge of Federal Public Sector IT Employees

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Martin, David P.

2013-01-01

IT governance has become an important topic as both public and private organizations struggle to meet the challenge of aligning complex IT systems with operational needs. Without effective IT governance, organizations fail to gain strategic benefits that come by the proper strategic alignment of IT resources with the larger organizational mission.…

From Bureaucracy to Profession: Remaking the Educational Sector for the Twenty-First Century

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mehta, Jal

2013-01-01

In this essay, Jal Mehta examines the challenges faced by American schooling and the reasons for persistent failure of American school reforms to achieve successful educational outcomes at scale. He concludes that many of the problems faced by American schools are artifacts of the bureaucratic form in which the education sector as a whole was…

The Role of Technology in Mitigating Greenhouse Gas Emissions from Power Sector in Developing Countries: the Case of China, India, and Mexico

EPA Science Inventory

For Frank Princiotta’s book, Global Climate Change—The Technology Challenge China, India, and Mexico are the top emitters of CO2 among developing nations. The electric power sectors in China and India is dominated by coal-fired power plants, whereas in Mexico, fuel oil and natur...

In Challenging Times, Might the Equality Act 2010 Assist Universities in Embracing and Embedding Widening Participation?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lewis, Kenton; Hammond, John; Horvers, Kea

2012-01-01

Not for the first time in its history, the UK Higher Education sector finds itself in a position of significant financial constraint. The current coalition Government's actions to address the budget deficit have led to sweeping cuts across many public sector departments, but it is higher education that has seen the most draconian reduction in…

Role of government in public health: Current scenario in India and future scope

PubMed Central

Lakshminarayanan, Subitha

2011-01-01

The new agenda for Public Health in India includes the epidemiological transition, demographical transition, environmental changes and social determinants of health. Based on the principles outlined at Alma-Ata in 1978, there is an urgent call for revitalizing primary health care in order to meet these challenges. The role of the government in influencing population health is not limited within the health sector but also by various sectors outside the health systems. This article is a literature review of the existing government machinery for public health needs in India, its success, limitations and future scope. Health system strengthening, human resource development and capacity building and regulation in public health are important areas within the health sector. Contribution to health of a population also derives from social determinants of health like living conditions, nutrition, safe drinking water, sanitation, education, early child development and social security measures. Population stabilization, gender mainstreaming and empowerment, reducing the impact of climate change and disasters on health, improving community participation and governance issues are other important areas for action. Making public health a shared value across the various sectors is a politically challenging strategy, but such collective action is crucial. PMID:21694957

An RFID-based luggage and passenger tracking system for airport security control applications

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Vastianos, George E.; Kyriazanos, Dimitris M.; Kountouriotis, Vassilios I.; Thomopoulos, Stelios C. A.

2014-06-01

Market analysis studies of recent years have shown a steady and significant increase in the usage of RFID technology. Key factors for this growth were the decreased costs of passive RFIDs and their improved performance compared to the other identification technologies. Besides the benefits of RFID technologies into the supply chains, warehousing, traditional inventory and asset management applications, RFID has proven itself worth exploiting on experimental, as well as on commercial level in other sectors, such as healthcare, transport and security. In security sector, airport security is one of the biggest challenges. Airports are extremely busy public places and thus prime targets for terrorism, with aircraft, passengers, crew and airport infrastructure all subject to terrorist attacks. Inside this labyrinth of security challenges, the long range detection capability of the UHF passive RFID technology can be turned into a very important tracking tool that may outperform all the limitations of the barcode tracking inside the current airport security control chain. The Integrated Systems Lab of NCSR Demokritos has developed an RFID based Luggage and Passenger tracking system within the TASS (FP7-SEC-2010-241905) EU research project. This paper describes application scenarios of the system categorized according to the structured nature of the environment, the system architecture and presents evaluation results extracted from measurements with a group of different massive production GEN2 UHF RFID tags that are widely available in the world market.

A Framework for the Cross-Sectoral Integration of Multi-Model Impact Projections: Land Use Decisions Under Climate Impacts Uncertainties

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Frieler, K.; Elliott, Joshua; Levermann, A.; Heinke, J.; Arneth, A.; Bierkens, M. F. P.; Ciais, P.; Clark, D. B.; Deryng, D.; Doll, P.;

A framework for the cross-sectoral integration of multi-model impact projections: land use decisions under climate impacts uncertainties

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Frieler, K.; Levermann, A.; Elliott, J.; Heinke, J.; Arneth, A.; Bierkens, M. F. P.; Ciais, P.; Clark, D. B.; Deryng, D.; Döll, P.; Falloon, P.; Fekete, B.; Folberth, C.; Friend, A. D.; Gellhorn, C.; Gosling, S. N.; Haddeland, I.; Khabarov, N.; Lomas, M.; Masaki, Y.; Nishina, K.; Neumann, K.; Oki, T.; Pavlick, R.; Ruane, A. C.; Schmid, E.; Schmitz, C.; Stacke, T.; Stehfest, E.; Tang, Q.; Wisser, D.; Huber, V.; Piontek, F.; Warszawski, L.; Schewe, J.; Lotze-Campen, H.; Schellnhuber, H. J.

2015-07-01

Climate change and its impacts already pose considerable challenges for societies that will further increase with global warming (IPCC, 2014a, b). Uncertainties of the climatic response to greenhouse gas emissions include the potential passing of large-scale tipping points (e.g. Lenton et al., 2008; Levermann et al., 2012; Schellnhuber, 2010) and changes in extreme meteorological events (Field et al., 2012) with complex impacts on societies (Hallegatte et al., 2013). Thus climate change mitigation is considered a necessary societal response for avoiding uncontrollable impacts (Conference of the Parties, 2010). On the other hand, large-scale climate change mitigation itself implies fundamental changes in, for example, the global energy system. The associated challenges come on top of others that derive from equally important ethical imperatives like the fulfilment of increasing food demand that may draw on the same resources. For example, ensuring food security for a growing population may require an expansion of cropland, thereby reducing natural carbon sinks or the area available for bio-energy production. So far, available studies addressing this problem have relied on individual impact models, ignoring uncertainty in crop model and biome model projections. Here, we propose a probabilistic decision framework that allows for an evaluation of agricultural management and mitigation options in a multi-impact-model setting. Based on simulations generated within the Inter-Sectoral Impact Model Intercomparison Project (ISI-MIP), we outline how cross-sectorally consistent multi-model impact simulations could be used to generate the information required for robust decision making. Using an illustrative future land use pattern, we discuss the trade-off between potential gains in crop production and associated losses in natural carbon sinks in the new multiple crop- and biome-model setting. In addition, crop and water model simulations are combined to explore irrigation increases as one possible measure of agricultural intensification that could limit the expansion of cropland required in response to climate change and growing food demand. This example shows that current impact model uncertainties pose an important challenge to long-term mitigation planning and must not be ignored in long-term strategic decision making.

Ecosystems Vulnerability Challenge and Prize Competition

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Smith, J. H.; Frame, M. T.; Ferriter, O.; Recker, J.

2014-12-01

Stimulating innovation and private sector entrepreneurship is an important way to advance the preparedness of communities, businesses and individuals for the impacts of climate change on certain aspects of ecosystems, such as: fire regimes; water availability; carbon sequestration; biodiversity conservation; weather-related hazards, and the spread of invasive species. The creation of tools is critical to help communities and natural resource managers better understand the impacts of climate change on ecosystems and the potential resulting implications for ecosystem services and conservation efforts. The Department of the Interior is leading an interagency effort to develop the Ecosystems Vulnerability theme as part of the President's Climate Action Plan. This effort will provide seamless access to relevant datasets that can help address such issues as: risk of wildfires to local communities and federal lands; water sensitivity to climate change; and understanding the role of ecosystems in a changing climate. This session will provide an overview of the proposed Ecosystem Vulnerability Challenge and Prize Competition, outlining the intended audience, scope, goals, and overall timeline. The session will provide an opportunity for participants to offer new ideas. Through the Challenge, access will be made available to critical datasets for software developers, engineers, scientists, students, and researchers to develop and submit applications addressing critical science issues facing our Nation today. Application submission criteria and guidelines will also be discussed. The Challenge will be open to all sectors and organizations (i.e. federal, non-federal, private sector, non-profits, and universities) within the United States. It is anticipated the Challenge will run from early January 2015 until spring of 2015.

Evaluating Public Spending: A Framework of Public Expenditure Reviews. World Bank Discussion Papers No. 323.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Pradhan, Sanjay

This paper presents a framework for evaluating the level and composition of public expenditures, illustrated by sectoral and country examples. The paper illustrates how this framework can be applied to analyzing broad allocations of spending within and across sectors, drawing upon some key findings and country examples from major sectors (health,…

Modeling the Energy-Water-Food Nexus: Where Do We Go From Here?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Johnson, N. A.

2015-12-01

Economic development, population growth, and the changing diets and lifestyles of a growing middle class are expected to lead to increasing demands for water, food, and energy in the future. Meanwhile, climate change may cause localized resource scarcity and exacerbate the supply challenges. Moreover, there is a growing awareness that the supply systems for water, food, and energy are inextricably linked and cannot be evaluated in independent silos. Rather, integrated approaches are needed that can identify the potential trade-offs and synergies among sectors, identify holistic solutions, and evaluate the impacts of socioeconomic and hydroclimatic change. Some initial efforts at modeling the energy-water-food nexus in an integrated fashion have been attempted, but they all suffer from limitations and much more research is needed. This study provides a review of the current state-of-the-art in modeling the energy-water-food nexus at both global and regional scales, identifies limitations associated with existing approaches, and proposes specific recommendations for improving nexus assessments. Some limitations of existing models include insufficient spatial resolution for assessing water constraints in the energy sector, inadequate representation of the linkages among sectors, limited assessment of the impacts of socioeconomic and hydroclimatic change, limited inclusion of water conveyance, simplistic downscaling of water and energy demands, and the lack of a consistent framework for global nexus assessment. In addition, research gaps are identified by graphically classifying existing nexus assessments according to their spatial resolution, coverage of nexus sectors and linkages, and suitability for assessing the main drivers of global change (e.g., development, urbanization, technology, and climate change). The final portion of the study proposes recommendations for addressing the research gaps and identifies tremendous opportunity for developing better models and assessment tools for informing the design and deployment of future sustainable food, water, and energy supply systems.

Economic considerations and health in all policies initiatives: evidence from interviews with key informants in Sweden, Quebec and South Australia.

PubMed

Pinto, Andrew D; Molnar, Agnes; Shankardass, Ketan; O'Campo, Patricia J; Bayoumi, Ahmed M

2015-02-18

Health in All Policies (HiAP) is a form of intersectoral action that aims to include the promotion of health in government initiatives across sectors. To date, there has been little study of economic considerations within the implementation of HiAP. As part of an ongoing program of research on the implementation of HiAP around the world, we examined how economic considerations influence the implementation of HiAP. By economic considerations we mean the cost and financial gain (or loss) of implementing a HiAP process or structure within government, or the cost and financial gain (or loss) of the policies that emerge from such a HiAP process or structure. We examined three jurisdictions: Sweden, Quebec and South Australia. Semi-structured telephone interviews were conducted with 12 to 14 key informants in each jurisdiction. Two investigators separately coded transcripts to identify relevant statements. Initial readings of transcripts led to the development of a coding framework for statements related to economic considerations. First, economic evaluations of HiAP are viewed as important for prompting HiAP and many forms of economic evaluation were considered. However, economic evaluations were often absent, informal, or incomplete. Second, funding for HiAP initiatives is important, but is less important than a high-level commitment to intersectoral collaboration. Furthermore, having multiple sources of funding of HiAP can be beneficial, if it increases participation across government, but can also be disadvantageous, if it exposes underlying tensions. Third, HiAP can also highlight the challenge of achieving both economic and social objectives. Our results are useful for elaborating propositions for use in realist multiple explanatory case studies. First, we propose that economic considerations are currently used primarily as a method by health sectors to promote and legitimize HiAP to non-health sectors with the goal of securing resources for HiAP. Second, allocating resources and making funding decisions regarding HiAP are inherently political acts that reflect tensions within government sectors. This study contributes important insights into how intersectoral action works, how economic evaluations of HiAP might be structured, and how economic considerations can be used to both promote HiAP and to present barriers to implementation.

[An assessment of the Family Health Program in municipalities of Northeast Brazil: old and new challenges].

PubMed

Rocha, Paulo de Medeiros; Uchoa, Alice da Costa; Rocha, Nadja de Sá Pinto Dantas; Souza, Elizabethe Cristina Fagundes de; Rocha, Marconi de Lima; Pinheiro, Themis Xavier de Albuquerque

2008-01-01

This article presents part of the results from the Baseline Studies, an evaluative research conducted in 21 municipalities with more than 100,000 inhabitants each, in three States of Northeast Brazil. The overall objective was to assess experiences in the implementation of the Family Health Program (FHP), with a focus on inductions in the PROESF. An implementation analysis was performed, using the case study method. The analysis focused on these dimensions: political-institutional, health organization, and comprehensive care. Outstanding advances included: prioritize the FHP in high-risk areas; institutional learning, with qualification of managers and teams; definition of institutional levels for regulating the FHP; and health team-user bonds and positive perceptions concerning the program. Challenges included: strengthening of local policy and decision-making capacity; allocation of primary care resources; greater employment security for human resources; effective implementation of the health care network; strengthening of social participation; upgrading of monitoring and evaluation for decision-making; receptivity; waiting lines for tests, appointments, and hospital admissions; implementation of teamwork; health promotion and inter-sector activities.

Mechanisms of change of a novel weight loss programme provided by a third sector organisation: a qualitative interview study.

PubMed

McMahon, Naoimh E; Visram, Shelina; Connell, Louise A

2016-05-10

There is a need for theory-driven studies that explore the underlying mechanisms of change of complex weight loss programmes. Such studies will contribute to the existing evidence-base on how these programmes work and thus inform the future development and evaluation of tailored, effective interventions to tackle overweight and obesity. This study explored the mechanisms by which a novel weight loss programme triggered change amongst participants. The programme, delivered by a third sector organisation, addressed both diet and physical activity. Over a 26 week period participants engaged in three weekly sessions (education and exercise in a large group, exercise in a small group and a one-to-one education and exercise session). Novel aspects included the intensity and duration of the programme, a competitive selection process, milestone physical challenges (e.g. working up to a 5 K and 10 K walk/run during the programme), alumni support (face-to-face and online) and family attendance at exercise sessions. Data were collected through interviews with programme providers (n = 2) and focus groups with participants (n = 12). Discussions were audio-recorded, transcribed and analysed using NVivo10. Published behaviour change frameworks and behaviour change technique taxonomies were used to guide the coding process. Clients' interactions with components of the weight loss programme brought about a change in their commitment, knowledge, beliefs about capabilities and social and environmental contexts. Intervention components that generated these changes included the competitive selection process, group and online support, family involvement and overcoming milestone challenges over the 26 week programme. The mechanisms by which these components triggered change differed between participants. There is an urgent need to establish robust interventions that can support people who are overweight and obese to achieve a healthy weight and maintain this change. Third sector organisations may be a feasible alternative to private and public sector weight loss programmes. We have presented findings from one example of a novel community-based weight loss programme and identified how the programme components resulted in change amongst the participants. Further research is needed to robustly test the effectiveness, and cost-effectiveness, of this programme.

Water footprint characteristic of less developed water-rich regions: Case of Yunnan, China.

PubMed

Qian, Yiying; Dong, Huijuan; Geng, Yong; Zhong, Shaozhuo; Tian, Xu; Yu, Yanhong; Chen, Yihui; Moss, Dana Avery

2018-03-30

Rapid industrialization and urbanization pose pressure on water resources in China. Virtual water trade proves to be an increasingly useful tool in water stress alleviation for water-scarce regions, while bringing opportunities and challenges for less developed water-rich regions. In this study, Yunnan, a typical province in southwest China, was selected as the case study area to explore its potential in socio-economic development in the context of water sustainability. Both input-output analysis and structural decomposition analysis on Yunnan's water footprint for the period of 2002-2012 were performed at not only an aggregated level but also a sectoral level. Results show that although the virtual water content of all economic sectors decreased due to technological progress, Yunnan's total water footprint still increased as a result of economic scale expansion. From the sectoral perspective, sectors with large water footprints include construction sector, agriculture sector, food manufacturing & processing sector, and service sector, while metal products sector and food manufacturing & processing sector were the major virtual water exporters, and textile & clothing sector and construction sector were the major importers. Based on local conditions, policy suggestions were proposed, including economic structure and efficiency optimization, technology promotion and appropriate virtual water trade scheme. This study provides valuable insights for regions facing "resource curse" by exploring potential socio-economic progress while ensuring water security. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Triple Aim in Canada: developing capacity to lead to better health, care and cost

PubMed Central

Farmanova, Elina; Kirvan, Christine; Verma, Jennifer; Mukerji, Geetha; Akunov, Nurdin; Phillips, Kaye; Samis, Stephen

2016-01-01

Abstract Quality problem Many modern health systems strive for ‘Triple Aim’ (TA)—better health for populations, improved experience of care for patients and lower costs of the system, but note challenges in implementation. Outcomes of applying TA as a quality improvement framework (QI) have started to be realized with early lessons as to why some systems make progress while others do not. Initial assessment Limited evidence is available as to how organizations create the capacity and infrastructure required to design, implement, evaluate and sustain TA systems. Choice of solution To support embedding TA across Canada, the Canadian Foundation for Healthcare Improvement supported enrolment of nine Canadian teams to participate in the Institute for Healthcare Improvement's TA Improvement Community. Implementation Structured support for TA design, implementation, evaluation and sustainability was addressed in a collaborative programme of webinars and action periods. Teams were coached to undertake and test small-scale improvements before attempting to scale. Evaluation A summative evaluation of the Canadian cohort was undertaken to assess site progress in building TA infrastructure across various healthcare settings. The evaluation explored the process of change, experiences and challenges and strategies for continuous QI. Lessons learned Delivering TA requires a sustained and coordinated effort supported by strong leadership and governance, continuous QI, engaged interdisciplinary teams and partnering within and beyond the healthcare sector. PMID:28423164

THE DNAPL REMEDIATION CHALLENGE: IS THERE A CASE FOR SOURCE DEPLETION?

EPA Science Inventory

Releases of Dense Non-Aqueous Phase Liquids (DNAPLs) at a large number of public and private sector sites in the United States pose significant challenges in site remediation and long-term site management. Extensive contamination of groundwater occurs as a result of significant ...

The science of team science: overview of the field and introduction to the supplement.

PubMed

Stokols, Daniel; Hall, Kara L; Taylor, Brandie K; Moser, Richard P

2008-08-01

The science of team science encompasses an amalgam of conceptual and methodologic strategies aimed at understanding and enhancing the outcomes of large-scale collaborative research and training programs. This field has emerged rapidly in recent years, largely in response to growing concerns about the cost effectiveness of public- and private-sector investments in team-based science and training initiatives. The distinctive boundaries and substantive concerns of this field, however, have remained difficult to discern. An important challenge for the field is to characterize the science of team science more clearly in terms of its major theoretical, methodologic, and translational concerns. The articles in this supplement address this challenge, especially in the context of designing, implementing, and evaluating cross-disciplinary research initiatives. This introductory article summarizes the major goals and organizing themes of the supplement, draws links between the constituent articles, and identifies new areas of study within the science of team science.

Gazing into the crystal ball: future considerations for ensuring sustained growth of the functional food and nutraceutical marketplace.

PubMed

Marinangeli, Christopher P F; Jones, Peter J H

2013-06-01

Over the last decade the concept of functional foods and nutraceuticals (FFN) has gained support from various stakeholders including the food industry, scientific and academic community, government institutions or regulators, producers and consumers. However, as one begins to evaluate the global FFN industry, several issues emerge including (i) a lack of consensus across jurisdictions for acknowledging safe and efficacious FFN, (ii) challenges regarding the classification of novel food-derived bioactives as FFN or drugs, and (iii) a disconnect between nutrient requirements and dosages of FFN required to facilitate health benefits. The objectives of the present review are to discuss the role of existing stakeholders within the FFN marketplace and identify performance indicators for growth within the FFN sector. In addition, the following report provides feasible resolutions to present and future challenges facing the global FFN industry to ensure sustained long-term growth.

Assumptions at the philosophical and programmatic levels in evaluation.

PubMed

Mertens, Donna M

2016-12-01

Stakeholders and evaluators hold a variety of levels of assumptions at the philosophical, methodological, and programmatic levels. The use of a transformative philosophical framework is presented as a way for evaluators to become more aware of the implications of various assumptions made by themselves and program stakeholders. The argument is examined and demonstrated that evaluators who are aware of the assumptions that underlie their evaluation choices are able to provide useful support for stakeholders in the examination of the assumptions they hold with regard to the nature of the problem being addressed, the program designed to solve the problem, and the approach to evaluation that is appropriate in that context. Such an informed approach has the potential for development of more appropriate and culturally responsive programs being implemented in ways that lead to the desired impacts, as well as to lead to evaluation approaches that support effective solutions to intransigent social problems. These arguments are illustrated through examples of evaluations from multiple sectors; additional challenges are also identified. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Breastfeeding practices among employed Thai women in Chiang Mai.

PubMed

Yimyam, S; Morrow, M

1999-09-01

In many developing countries, labor force participation by women in the childbearing years has increased rapidly. Social and economic changes present new challenges for women attempting to combine their roles as workers and mothers. Little is known about how these challenges affect infant feeding choices. This multidisciplinary study investigated work and infant feeding decisions among 313 employed women in Chiang Mai, Thailand. Resumption of employment generally had negative affects on breastfeeding rates and duration. At 6 months postpartum, women who worked inside the home breastfed more than those working in the formal sector at jobs with inflexible hours (home, 80%; public sector, 37%; private sector, 39%). Women who were working outside the home for a long period or had shift jobs encountered many obstacles to maintaining breastfeeding, and most gave it up within 1 month after resuming employment. There is a need for multisectoral policies that address obstacles to breastfeeding among women in the paid labor force in Thailand.

Representative concentration pathways and mitigation scenarios for nitrous oxide

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Davidson, Eric A.

2012-06-01

The challenges of mitigating nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions are substantially different from those for carbon dioxide (CO2) and methane (CH4), because nitrogen (N) is essential for food production, and over 80% of anthropogenic N2O emissions are from the agricultural sector. Here I use a model of emission factors of N2O to demonstrate the magnitude of improvements in agriculture and industrial sectors and changes in dietary habits that would be necessary to match the four representative concentration pathways (RCPs) now being considered in the fifth assessment report (AR5) of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). Stabilizing atmospheric N2O by 2050, consistent with the most aggressive of the RCP mitigation scenarios, would require about 50% reductions in emission factors in all sectors and about a 50% reduction in mean per capita meat consumption in the developed world. Technologies exist to achieve such improved efficiencies, but overcoming social, economic, and political impediments for their adoption and for changes in dietary habits will present large challenges.

Programmatic and economic challenges for commercial space processing

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Overfelt, Tony; Watkins, John

1997-01-01

The International Space Station is the largest cooperative space project in history and is likely to be industry's most viable access to the low-g environment for long duration materials processing experiments. Such access will provide unique and competitive research capabilities to industry if private sector entities can commercially utilize the Space Station for their industrial projects. Although ``commercial utilization'' implies a variety of things to different people, the key industrial issues are frequent, reliable, and economical access to space as well as protection of private sector intellectual property rights. This paper discusses how these key issues will influence the programmatic and economic challenges for commercial space processing in the future Space Station era.

Digital health and the challenge of health systems transformation.

PubMed

Alami, Hassane; Gagnon, Marie-Pierre; Fortin, Jean-Paul

2017-01-01

Information and communication technologies have transformed all sectors of society. The health sector is no exception to this trend. In light of "digital health", we see multiplying numbers of web platforms and mobile health applications, often brought by new unconventional players who produce and offer services in non-linear and non-hierarchal ways, this by multiplying access points to services for people. Some speak of a "uberization" of healthcare. New realities and challenges have emerged from this paradigm, which question the abilities of health systems to cope with new business and economic models, governance of data and regulation. Countries must provide adequate responses so that digital health, based increasingly on disruptive technologies, can benefit for all.

In vitro meat production system: why and how?

PubMed

Sharma, Shruti; Thind, Sukhcharanjit Singh; Kaur, Amarjeet

2015-12-01

Due to the nutritional importance and the sustained popularity of meat as a foodstuff, the livestock production sector has been expanding incessantly. This exponential growth of livestock meat sector poses a gigantic challenge to the sustainability of food production system. A new technological breakthrough is being contemplated to develop a substitute for livestock meat. The idea is to grow meat in a culture in the lab and manipulate its composition selectively. This paper aims to discuss the concept of In Vitro Meat production system, articulate the underlying technology and analyse the context of its implications, as proposed by several scientists and stakeholders. The challenges facing this emerging technology have also been discussed.

Government and voluntary sector differences in organizational capacity to do and use evaluation.

PubMed

Cousins, J Bradley; Goh, Swee C; Elliott, Catherine; Aubry, Tim; Gilbert, Nathalie

2014-06-01

Research on evaluation capacity is limited although a recent survey article on integrating evaluation into the organizational culture (Cousins, Goh, Clark, & Lee, 2004) revealed that interest in the topic is increasing. While knowledge about building the capacity to do evaluation has developed considerably, less is understood about building the organizational capacity to use evaluation. This article reports on the results of a pan-Canadian survey of evaluators working in organizations (internal evaluators or organization members with evaluation responsibility) conducted in 2007. Reliability across all constructs was high. Responses from government evaluators (N=160) were compared to responses from evaluators who work in the voluntary sector (N=89). The former were found to self-identify more highly as 'evaluators' (specialists) whereas the latter tended to identify as 'managers' (non-specialists). As a result, government evaluators had significantly higher self-reported levels of evaluation knowledge (both theory and practice); and they spent more time performing evaluation functions. However, irrespective of role, voluntary sector respondents rated their organizations more favorably than did their government sector counterparts with respect to the antecedents or conditions supporting evaluation capacity, and the capacity to use evaluation. Results are discussed in terms of their implications for evaluation practice and ongoing research. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Recruiting and Retaining Cyberwarriors

DTIC Science & Technology

2008-02-07

Air Force due to the high public and private sector demand for people with IT and related engineering skills, the aging federal workforce, the lack...cyber domain. Recruiting and retaining this highly skilled workforce is a significant challenge for the Air Force due to the high public and...private sector demand for people with IT and related engineering skills and several other demographic and society factors. This recruitment and retention

Culture, Structure and Leadership Impacts on Gender Inclusion in the Security Sector

DTIC Science & Technology

2017-09-01

culture were outcomes of structural reform. A guided evolution in security sector culture occurred following persistent social pressure, compliance...brought about a change in national and organizational culture to address socially complex issues. As the orchestrators of large successful corporate...challenges them (Jolly 2002). In the process, we are influenced and shaped as we interact with local, national and international information. Likewise, we

Multi-Level Policy Transfer in Turkey and Its Impact on the Development of the Vocational Education and Training (VET) Sector

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Barabasch, Antje; Petrick, Stefanie

2012-01-01

In its attempt to become a member of the European Union (EU), Turkey is challenged to upgrade its workforce to keep up with economic developments and improve the living conditions in the country. Multiple policy players on global, European and transnational levels are assisting in reforming Turkey's vocational education and training (VET) sector.…

Environmental performance policy indicators for the public sector: the case of the defence sector.

PubMed

Ramos, Tomás B; Alves, Inês; Subtil, Rui; Joanaz de Melo, João

2007-03-01

The development of environmental performance policy indicators for public services, and in particular for the defence sector, is an emerging issue. Despite a number of recent initiatives there has been little work done in this area, since the other sectors usually focused on are agriculture, transport, industry, tourism and energy. This type of tool can be an important component for environmental performance evaluation at policy level, when integrated in the general performance assessment system of public missions and activities. The main objective of this research was to develop environmental performance policy indicators for the public sector, specifically applied to the defence sector. Previous research included an assessment of the environmental profile, through the evaluation of how environmental management practices have been adopted in this sector and an assessment of environmental aspects and impacts. This paper builds upon that previous research, developing an indicator framework--SEPI--supported by the selection and construction of environmental performance indicators. Another aim is to discuss how the current environmental indicator framework can be integrated into overall performance management. The Portuguese defence sector is presented and the usefulness of this methodology demonstrated. Feasibility and relevancy criteria are applied to evaluate the set of indicators proposed, allowing indicators to be scored and indicators for the policy level to be obtained.

Contesting authority: China and the new landscape of power sector governance in the developing world

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hannam, Phillip Matthew

Two co-constructed trends threaten to complicate global efforts to manage climate change. Electric power in developing countries is becoming more coal-intensive, while the international institutions capable of assisting lower-carbon growth paths are having their authority challenged by an emergent set of institutions under China's leadership. In the last decade Chinese firms and state banks have become central players in power sector development across the developing world; China has been involved in over sixty percent of Africa's hydropower capacity and is the single largest exporter of coal power plants globally. Statistical and qualitative evidence suggests that China's growing role in these power markets has contributed to re-prioritization of the power sector in U.S. bilateral development assistance, complicated negotiation and implementation of coal power finance rules among OECD export credit agencies, and influenced where the World Bank chooses to build hydropower projects. The thesis establishes a framework for understanding responses to discord in development governance by drawing inductively on these contemporary cases. Competition between established and emerging actors increases with two variables: 1) conflicting ideological, commercial and diplomatic goals (difference in interests); and 2) the degree to which the emerging actor challenges rules and norms upheld by the established actor (contested authority). Competitive policy adjustment - one actor seeking to undermine or diminish the other's pursuit of its objectives - has been historically commonplace when an emerging actor challenged an established actor in the regime for development assistance. China's growing authority in global power sector assistance has prompted competitive policy adjustment among established donors while also enabling recipient countries to leverage donors and better direct their own development pathways. The thesis shows that although contested authority increases development sovereignty among recipients, it can cause backsliding on safeguards and rules among established donors with consequences for power sector outcomes, making fragile movement away from carbon-intensive development even more tenuous. By characterizing this new and uncertain landscape of power sector governance, the thesis contributes to theorization on discord in international governance and to policy development for mitigating climate change.

Nanotechnology: Development and challenges in Indonesia

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Joni, I. Made; Muthukannan, Vanitha; Hermawan, Wawan; Panatarani, Camellia

2018-02-01

Nanotechnology today is regarded as a revolutionary technology that can help to address the key needs related to energy, environment, health and agriculture in developing countries. This paper is a short review on the development and challenges of nanotechnology in Indonesia. Nanotechnology offers great potential benefits, there is emerging concerns arising from its novel physicochemical properties. The main applications of nanotechnology in the different sectors which is vital and its economic impact in Indonesia is also discussed. The achievment and development of nanotechnology including synthesis and dispersion of nanoparticles (NPs) and its applications in various fields is briefly addressed in Nanotehcnology and Graphene Research Center, Universitas Padjadjaran (Unpad). Despite significant progress in developmental goals, many challenges in the development of nanotechnology proccesing need to be resolved such as support infrastructure and evolution of new form of collaborative arrangements between various sectors and policies which is emerged as an important factor enabling development.

Conserving endangered marine organisms: causes, trends and challenges

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ambariyanto

2017-02-01

Increasing demand for marine resources in recent decades for human needs has led to intensified exploitation. This increase accelerates the process of extinction of various marine resources. In order to avoid extinction, it requires conservation measures of marine resources appropriately. This paper provides an overview of causes of extinction, trends and challenges in the conservation of endangered marine organisms. The success of conservation measures is highly dependent on various stakeholders such as governments, communities, the private sector and academics. Differences of the interest of these parties often lead to the failure of conservation programs. In general there is an increasing public awareness of the importance of protecting the diversity of marine resources and avoiding extinction of marine organisms, especially endangered organisms. The existence of comprehensive actions, legislation and improved coordination among government, community, private sector, and academics will significantly improve the success in overcoming all the challenges.

Challenges Facing Global Health Networks: The NCD Alliance Experience Comment on "Four Challenges that Global Health Networks Face".

PubMed

Dain, Katie

2017-08-07

Successful prevention and control of the epidemic of noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) cannot be achieved by the health sector alone: a wide range of organisations from multiple sectors and across government must also be involved. This requires a new, inclusive approach to advocacy and to coordinating, convening and catalysing action across civil society, best achieved by a broad-based network. This comment maps the experience of the NCD Alliance (NCDA) on to Shiffman's challenges for global health networks - framing (problem definition and positioning), coalition-building and governance - and highlights some further areas overlooked in his analysis. © 2018 The Author(s); Published by Kerman University of Medical Sciences. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

An analysis of the theoretical rationale for using strategic environmental assessment to deliver environmental justice in the light of the Scottish Environmental Assessment Act

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Jackson, Tony; Illsley, Barbara

2007-10-15

The different ways in which its territorial jurisdictions have chosen to apply the European Union's (EU's) Directive on strategic environmental assessment (SEA) to their public sector policies, plans and programmes (PPPs) suggest that the United Kingdom (UK) continues to be uncertain about the theoretical rationale for this technique. In order to evaluate the analytical significance of these alternative interpretations, their methodological foundations need to be examined. Baseline-led approaches to SEA which are intended to operationalise sustainability can be shown to place unrealistic expectations on instrumental rationality. Objectives-led policy appraisal makes SEA contingent on whatever particular social construction of sustainable developmentmore » holds sway. These expert-driven approaches contrast with a reflexive interpretation of environmental governance, in which SEA helps to expose the conflictual nature of public actions claiming to deliver sustainability, and offers stakeholders increased opportunities to challenge these. The approach adopted in Scotland, in which SEA forms part of an agenda for environmental justice, is evaluated in the light of this critique. The Scottish Executive's eclectic legislation, which covers all its public sector PPPs, may offer a way of mediating between these competing interpretations of SEA.« less

Employee Engagement and Turnover Intent: An Analysis of the Thai Public Sector

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Tanthasith, Sitthichai

2016-01-01

Organizations these days are facing a number of challenges that affect their performance and productivity. As workplaces become more challenging to employees, employee engagement and turnover become critical concerns for management. Drawing on insights from the Job Demand-Resource model, this study explores the relationships between key…

Financing and Political Economy of Higher Education: The Case of Lebanon

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Nahas, Charbel

2011-01-01

This paper assesses the adequacy, efficiency, and equity of higher education in Lebanon in both the public and private sectors, while highlighting challenges that are specific to Lebanon. It concludes by discussing various approaches and strategies to remedy the challenges facing higher education in Lebanon.

Competition, regulation, and energy efficiency options in the electricity sector: Opportunities and challenges in developing countries

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Phadke, Amol Anant

This dissertation explores issues related to competition in and regulation of electricity sectors in developing countries on the backdrop of fundamental reforms in their electricity sectors. In most cases, electricity sector reforms promoted privatization based on the rationale that it will lower prices and improve quality. In Chapter 2, I analyze this rationale by examining the stated capital cost of independent (private) power producer's (IPPs) power projects in eight developing countries and find that the stated capital cost of projects selected via competitive bidding is on an average about 40% to 60% lower than that of the projects selected via negotiations, which, I argue, represents the extent to which the costs of negotiated projects are overstated. My results indicate that the policy of promoting private sector without an adequate focus on improving competition or regulation has not worked in most cases in terms of getting competitively priced private sector projects. Given the importance of facilitating effective competition or regulation, In Chapter 3, I examine the challenges and opportunities of establishing a competitive wholesale electricity market in a developing country context. I model a potential wholesale electricity market in Maharashtra (MH) state, India and find that it would be robustly competitive even in a situation of up-to five percent of supply shortage, when opportunities for demand response are combined with policies such as divestiture and requiring long-term contracts. My results indicate that with appropriate policies, some developing countries could establish competitive wholesale electricity markets. In Chapter 4, I focus on the demand side and analyze the cost effectiveness of improving end-use efficiency in an electricity sector with subsidized tariffs and electricity shortages and show that they offer the least expensive way of reducing shortages in Maharashtra State, India. In Chapter 5, I examine the costs of reducing carbon dioxide emissions in the Indian power sector and find that the costs are higher than those in the US because of mark-ups in the Indian gas based power projects. Overall, this dissertation shows the importance of facilitating effective competition and regulation and pursuing end-use efficiency improvements in electricity sectors of developing countries.

The third sector, user involvement and public service reform: a case study in the co-governance of health service provision.

PubMed

Martin, Graham P

2011-01-01

The ‘modernization’ of British public services seeks to broaden public sector governance networks, bringing the views of third sector organizations, the public and service users (among others) to the design, management and delivery of welfare. Building on previous analyses of the contradictions generated by these roles, this paper draws on longitudinal qualitative research to enunciate the challenges faced by one third-sector organization in facilitating service user influence in a UK National Health Service (NHS) pilot programme, alongside other roles in tension with this advocacy function. The analysis highlights limits in the extent to which lateral governance networks pluralize stakeholder involvement. The ‘framing’ of governance may mean that traditional concerns outweigh the views of new stakeholders such as the third sector and service users. Rather than prioritizing wider stakeholders' views in the design and delivery of public services, placing third sector organizations at the centre of governance networks may do more to co-opt these organizations in reproducing predominant priorities.

[Health care plans: interfaces between the public and private system in the dental sector].

PubMed

Pietrobon, Louise; da Silva, Cíntia Magali; Batista, Luciana Rodrigues Vieira; Caetano, João Carlos

2008-01-01

The present work presents a brief history of health plans in Brazil examining the interface between the public and the private sector. The evolution and regulation of the supplementary care system is analyzed, the different care modalities are defined and the main differences between health plans and dental care insurance are pointed out. The coverage provided by the supplementary care system and its relationship with the public health system is shown on the basis of current data. On the other hand, the study focuses on the care services, health plans and the labor market in the sector correlating, also on the basis of current data, the challenges and new opportunities of the supplementary care market, mainly in the dental sector. Although the dental sector is living an extraordinary moment within the private health care system and given that ANS data are pointing to a growth of this sector of 210% over last the 7 years, the service coverage of the supplementary care sector mainly directed to medical and inpatient care does not meet the real demand for integrated health care.

Evidence and AIDS activism: HIV scale-up and the contemporary politics of knowledge in global public health

PubMed Central

Colvin, Christopher J.

2014-01-01

The HIV epidemic is widely recognised as having prompted one of the most remarkable intersections ever of illness, science and activism. The production, circulation, use and evaluation of empirical scientific ‘evidence’ played a central part in activists’ engagement with AIDS science. Previous activist engagement with evidence focused on the social and biomedical responses to HIV in the global North as well as challenges around ensuring antiretroviral treatment (ART) was available in the global South. More recently, however, with the roll-out and scale-up of large public-sector ART programmes and new multi-dimensional prevention efforts, the relationships between evidence and activism have been changing. Scale-up of these large-scale treatment and prevention programmes represents an exciting new opportunity while bringing with it a host of new challenges. This paper examines what new forms of evidence and activism will be required to address the challenges of the scaling-up era of HIV treatment and prevention. It reviews some recent controversies around evidence and HIV scale-up and describes the different forms of evidence and activist strategies that will be necessary for a robust response to these new challenges. PMID:24498918

[The user oriented hospital - chances and challenges for the healthcare industry].

PubMed

Borchers, Uwe; Evans, Michaela

2011-01-01

Hardly any other part of the healthcare sector is under such a pressure to change as the hospital sector. Hospitals are high-performers in coping with complex changes in modernising patient care, process design, quality, cost-effectiveness and service orientation. But, what really makes value to the patient? Currently, this question is raised with new seriousness. Those hospitals which consequently align their portfolio to value based and 'patient driven' healthcare delivery will succeed by both quality and cost-effectiveness. We receive such messages from the USA. In Germany there are on-going and admonishing pleas since the end of the 1990s not to lose sight of the patients' needs while designing new concepts for healthcare delivery. Future challenges imply not only the renaissance of patient centred care, but also demand for a comprehensive user orientation as a key factor to successful hospital modernisation. This is particularly true of concepts of structured, integrated and regional healthcare delivery. But a consequent alignment of healthcare with value for patients clearly exceeds the focus on integrating hospital and outpatient care. In designing new services of coordinated regional healthcare, hospitals gain strategic options for a single-source healthcare delivery. In terms of business development, user orientation does not only yield important impulses for stronger patient centred care, but also opens up chances for better quality and competitive advantages. Nevertheless, it requires a new understanding of innovation processes which considers value for patients and quality of results and outcome as a relevant scale for measuring effects of change management. Finally, the methods of the assessment of user oriented healthcare delivery are an essential challenge for the evaluation of cooperative healthcare services. Copyright © 2011. Published by Elsevier GmbH.

Building Low Carbon Cities: Framework to Design and Evaluate Alternative Technologies and Policies for Land Use Planning

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hashimoto, S.; Hamano, H.; Fujita, T.; Hori, H.

2008-12-01

Annex I parties of the Kyoto Protocol are facing even greater pressures to fulfill their commitment for GHG reduction as they enter the first commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol 2008-2012. In Japanese context, one such challenge is to reduce CO2 emissions from the household and business sectors because CO2 emissions from the both sectors has increased by 12% and 20% respectively since 1990 while the industry has achieved 21% of CO2 emissions reduction. Land use planning, which, either directly or indirectly, controls appropriate uses for land within jurisdictions, might play very important roles to deal with CO2 reductions from the household and business sectors. In this research, aiming at effective reductions of air- conditioning energy consumption and resultant CO2 emissions from the household and business sectors, the framework to design and evaluate land use planning was developed. The design and evaluation processes embraced in this framework consist of GIS database, technology and policy inventory for planning, one- dimensional urban canopy model which evaluate urban climate at neighborhood level and air-conditioning load calculation procedure. The GIS database provides spatial information of target areas such as land use, building use and road networks, which, then, helps design alternative land use plans. The technology and policy inventory includes various planning options ranging from those for land over control to those for building energy control, which, combined with the GIS database, serves for planning process. The urban canopy model derives vertical profiles of local climate, such as temperature and humidity, using the information of land use, building height and so on, aided by the GIS database. Vertical profiles of the urban climate are then utilized to derive air-conditioning load and associated CO2 emissions for each building located in target areas. The framework developed was applied to the coastal district of Kawasaki, Japan, with an area of 40 square kilometers, for August 2006, to explore effective combinations of technologies and policies for land use planning. Six alternative land use policies were designed, including BaU in which current land use continues, and were, then, evaluated to seek more effective alternatives. Our findings suggested that about 541 MWh power and 204 tons of CO2 emission be saved at maximum by greening building sites, introducing water retentive pavement and installing energy-saving technologies for buildings in an appropriate manner.

Motivation and challenges for use of malaria rapid diagnostic tests among informal providers in Myanmar: a qualitative study.

PubMed

Sudhinaraset, May; Briegleb, Christina; Aung, Moe; Khin, Hnin Su Su; Aung, Tin

2015-02-06

Rapid diagnostic tests (RDTs) for malaria enable proper diagnosis and have been shown to reduce overuse of artemisinin combination therapy. Few studies have evaluated the feasibility and use of RDTs in the private sector in Myanmar. The objectives of the study were to: 1) understand the acceptability of using RDTs in the informal sector in Myanmar; 2) examine motivations for use among informal providers; and, 3) highlight decision-making and knowledge of providers for diagnostic testing and treatment. Qualitative interviews were conducted with 30 informal providers. Purposeful sampling was used to enrol study participants in the Mon and Shan State in Myanmar. All interviews were conducted in Burmese, translated into English, and two researchers coded all interviews using Atlas ti. Major themes identified included: 1) informal provider and outlet characteristics, including demographic and background characteristics; 2) the benefits and challenges of using RDTs according to providers; 3) provider experiences with using RDTs, including motivations for using the RDT; 4) adherence to test results, either positive or negative; and, 5) recommendations from informal providers to promote increased use of RDTs in their communities. This study found that introducing RDTs to informal providers in Myanmar was feasible, resulting in improved provider empowerment and patient-provider relationships. Specific challenges included facility infrastructure to use and dispose RDTs and provider knowledge. This varied across the type of informal provider, with itinerant drug vendors more comfortable and knowledgeable about RDTs compared to general retail sellers and medical drug representatives. This study found informal providers in Myanmar found the introduction of RDTs to be highly acceptable. Providers discussed improvement in service quality including provider empowerment and patient-provider relationships. The study also highlighted a number of challenges that informal providers face which may be used for future development of interventions.

Clean energy and the hydrogen economy.

PubMed

Brandon, N P; Kurban, Z

2017-07-28

In recent years, new-found interest in the hydrogen economy from both industry and academia has helped to shed light on its potential. Hydrogen can enable an energy revolution by providing much needed flexibility in renewable energy systems. As a clean energy carrier, hydrogen offers a range of benefits for simultaneously decarbonizing the transport, residential, commercial and industrial sectors. Hydrogen is shown here to have synergies with other low-carbon alternatives, and can enable a more cost-effective transition to de-carbonized and cleaner energy systems. This paper presents the opportunities for the use of hydrogen in key sectors of the economy and identifies the benefits and challenges within the hydrogen supply chain for power-to-gas, power-to-power and gas-to-gas supply pathways. While industry players have already started the market introduction of hydrogen fuel cell systems, including fuel cell electric vehicles and micro-combined heat and power devices, the use of hydrogen at grid scale requires the challenges of clean hydrogen production, bulk storage and distribution to be resolved. Ultimately, greater government support, in partnership with industry and academia, is still needed to realize hydrogen's potential across all economic sectors.This article is part of the themed issue 'The challenges of hydrogen and metals'. © 2017 The Author(s).

Building and testing models with extended Higgs sectors

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ivanov, Igor P.

2017-07-01

Models with non-minimal Higgs sectors represent a mainstream direction in theoretical exploration of physics opportunities beyond the Standard Model. Extended scalar sectors help alleviate difficulties of the Standard Model and lead to a rich spectrum of characteristic collider signatures and astroparticle consequences. In this review, we introduce the reader to the world of extended Higgs sectors. Not pretending to exhaustively cover the entire body of literature, we walk through a selection of the most popular examples: the two- and multi-Higgs-doublet models, as well as singlet and triplet extensions. We will show how one typically builds models with extended Higgs sectors, describe the main goals and the challenges which arise on the way, and mention some methods to overcome them. We will also describe how such models can be tested, what are the key observables one focuses on, and illustrate the general strategy with a subjective selection of results.

India's growing clinical research sector: opportunity for global companies.

PubMed

Varawalla, Nermeen

2007-06-01

Backed by a compelling foundation of essential requirements necessary for effective clinical trial conduct, and aided by initiatives that address concerns of data quality, regulatory timelines and IP protection, the clinical development sector in India has experienced annual revenue growth rates of 25% in the past two to three years, and is poised to participate substantially in global drug development. As both clinical trial sponsors and CROs increase their research capabilities in India, the clinical development sector is facing challenges with staff resourcing and facilities. Existing initiatives in the clinical sector must continue, and further investment must be made by stakeholders to overcome the current limitations in sector growth. Furthermore, global organizations seeking to derive long-term sustainable revenue growth and competitive advantage in the global marketplace from their business units in India must establish an appropriate organizational culture and an effective intra-organizational and industry interface for their operations.

Shared Socio-Economic Pathways of the Energy Sector – Quantifying the Narratives

DOE PAGES

Bauer, Nico; Calvin, Katherine; Emmerling, Johannes; ...

2016-08-23

Energy is crucial for supporting basic human needs, development and well-being. The future evolution of the scale and character of the energy system will be fundamentally shaped by socioeconomic conditions and drivers, available energy resources, technologies of energy supply and transformation, and end-use energy demand. However, because energy-related activities are significant sources of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and other environmental and social externalities, energy system development will also be influenced by social acceptance and strategic policy choices. All of these uncertainties have important implications for many aspects of economic and environmental sustainability, and climate change in particular. In the Shared-Socioeconomicmore » Pathway (SSP) framework these uncertainties are structured into five narratives, arranged according to the challenges to climate change mitigation and adaptation. In this study we explore future energy sector developments across the five SSPs using Integrated Assessment Models (IAMs), and we also provide summary output and analysis for selected scenarios of global emissions mitigation policies. The mitigation challenge strongly corresponds with global baseline energy sector growth over the 21st century, which varies between 40% and 230% depending on final energy consumer behavior, technological improvements, resource availability and policies. The future baseline CO 2-emission range is even larger, as the most energy-intensive SSP also incorporates a comparatively high share of carbon-intensive fossil fuels, and vice versa. Inter-regional disparities in the SSPs are consistent with the underlying socioeconomic assumptions; these differences are particularly strong in the SSPs with large adaptation challenges, which have little inter-regional convergence in long-term income and final energy demand levels. The scenarios presented do not include feedbacks of climate change on energy sector development. The energy sector SSPs with and without emissions mitigation policies are introduced and analyzed here in order to contribute to future research in climate sciences, mitigation analysis, and studies on impacts, adaptation and vulnerability.« less

Navigating institutional complexity in the health sector: lessons from tobacco control in Kenya.

PubMed

Lencucha, Raphael; Magati, Peter; Drope, Jeffrey

2016-12-01

 This research examines the institutional dynamics of tobacco control following the establishment of Kenya's 2007 landmark tobacco control legislation. Our analysis focuses specifically on coordination challenges within the health sector.  We conducted semi-structured interviews with key informants (n = 17) involved in tobacco regulation and control in Kenya. We recruited participants from different offices and sectors of government and non-governmental organizations.  We find that the main challenges toward successful implementation of tobacco control are a lack of coordination and clarity of mandate of the principal institutions involved in tobacco control efforts. In a related development, the passage of a new constitution in 2010 created structural changes that have affected the successful implementation of the country's tobacco control legislation.  We discuss how proponents of tobacco control navigated these two overarching institutional challenges. These findings point to the institutional factors that influence policy implementation extending beyond the traditional focus on the dynamic between government and the tobacco industry. These findings specifically point to the intragovernmental challenges that bear on policy implementation. The findings suggest that for effective implementation of tobacco control legislation and regulation, there is need for increased cooperation among institutions charged with tobacco control, particularly within or involving the Ministry of Health. Decisive leadership was also widely presented as a component of successful institutional reform.  This study points to the importance of coordinating policy development and implementation across levels of government and the need for leadership and clear mandates to guide cooperation within the health sector. The Kenyan experience offers useful lessons in the pitfalls of institutional incoherence, but more importantly, the value of investing in and then promoting well-functioning institutions. © The Author 2016. Published by Oxford University Press in association with The London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Developing the medicinal plants sector in northern India: challenges and opportunities

PubMed Central

Kala, Chandra Prakash; Dhyani, Pitamber Prasad; Sajwan, Bikram Singh

2006-01-01

The medicinal properties of plant species have made an outstanding contribution in the origin and evolution of many traditional herbal therapies. These traditional knowledge systems have started to disappear with the passage of time due to scarcity of written documents and relatively low income in these traditions. Over the past few years, however, the medicinal plants have regained a wide recognition due to an escalating faith in herbal medicine in view of its lesser side effects compared to allopathic medicine in addition the necessity of meeting the requirements of medicine for an increasing human population. Through the realization of the continuous erosion of traditional knowledge of plants used for medicine in the past and the renewed interest at the present time, a need existed to review this valuable knowledge of medicinal plants with the purpose of developing medicinal plants sectors across the different states in India. Our major objectives therefore were to explore the potential in medicinal plants resources, to understand the challenges and opportunities with the medicinal plants sector, and also to suggest recommendations based upon the present state of knowledge for the establishment and smooth functioning of the medicinal plants sector along with improving the living standards of the underprivileged communities. The review reveals that northern India harbors a rich diversity of valuable medicinal plants, and attempts are being made at different levels for sustainable utilization of this resource in order to develop the medicinal plants sector.

The biotechnology and bioeconomy landscape in Malaysia.

PubMed

Arujanan, Mahaletchumy; Singaram, Muthu

2018-01-25

Since 1990s Malaysia aspired to make biotechnology and bioeconomy as her engines of economic growth to utlise the abundance of natural resources and biodiversity. The public sector plays an integral role in developing the sector and various incentives are in place for the private sector to be actively involved and to forge collaboration with the public sector. The country launched its National Biotechnology Policy in 2005 and later launched its National Bioeconomy Programme in 2010 to become the first country in South East Asia and second in Asia after China to have such an initiative. Malaysia is also very proactive in its biosafety law and regulations and has most of the related legal instrument in place. A lot of success has been recorded since the inception of the National Biotechnology Policy in terms of job creation, contribution to GDP through biobusinesses and investment from foreign companies, but the sector is not spared from challenges too. Due to the nature of the discipline that is multidisciplinary and that requires huge amount of investment, expertise and political will, there are a lot of barriers before the country emerges as a bioeconomy player. This paper discusses the public policies, initiatives and funding mechanisms in place in Malaysia that drive its research, development and commercialisation in the area of biotechnology and bioeconomy. The authors also discuss the challenges faced in Malaysia in implementing the policies. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Private sector participation in domestic waste management in informal settlements in Lagos, Nigeria.

PubMed

Opoko, Akunnaya P; Oluwatayo, Adedapo A

2016-12-01

Lagos is one of the fastest growing cities in Africa, which is grappling with the challenges of poorly managed urbanisation. With an estimated population of about 17.5 million, solid waste management is one of the most pressing environmental challenges currently faced in the city. It is estimated that more than 9071847.4kg of urban waste is generated every day in the city. The city lacks the capacity to deal with such magnitude of waste. Consequently, the city has involved the private sector (private sector participation) in its waste management drive. This article examines the effectiveness of this public-private sector collaboration model in waste management in informal settlements in Lagos using empirical data. Major findings of the article include the irregularity of waste collection owing to a poor road network, an inadequate transport infrastructure and the desire to maximise profit, as well as poor waste handling and disposal methods by the private sector participation operators who are not chosen based on competence and capacity to perform. Another major finding is the lack of cooperation from residents evidenced in non-payment of bills and poor packaging of wastes, resulting in wastes being littered. The article concludes on the need to restructure the scheme through proper sensitisation of residents, selection of operators with demonstrable delivery capacity and provision of a well-maintained road network to facilitate access of operators to settlements. © The Author(s) 2016.

Measuring the environmental sustainability performance of global supply chains: A multi-regional input-output analysis for carbon, sulphur oxide and water footprints.

PubMed

Acquaye, Adolf; Feng, Kuishuang; Oppon, Eunice; Salhi, Said; Ibn-Mohammed, Taofeeq; Genovese, Andrea; Hubacek, Klaus

2017-02-01

Measuring the performance of environmentally sustainable supply chains instead of chain constitute has become a challenge despite the convergence of the underlining principles of sustainable supply chain management. This challenge is exacerbated by the fact that supply chains are inherently dynamic and complex and also because multiple measures can be used to characterize performances. By identifying some of the critical issues in the literature regarding performance measurements, this paper contributes to the existing body of literature by adopting an environmental performance measurement approach for economic sectors. It uses economic sectors and evaluates them on a sectoral level in specific countries as well as part of the Global Value Chain based on the established multi-regional input-output (MRIO) modeling framework. The MRIO model has been used to calculate direct and indirect (that is supply chain or upstream) environmental effects such as CO 2 , SO 2 , biodiversity, water consumption and pollution to name just a few of the applications. In this paper we use MRIO analysis to calculate emissions and resource consumption intensities and footprints, direct and indirect impacts, and net emission flows between countries. These are exemplified by using carbon emissions, sulphur oxide emissions and water use in two highly polluting industries; Electricity production and Chemical industry in 33 countries, including the EU-27, Brazil, India and China, the USA, Canada and Japan from 1995 to 2009. Some of the highlights include: On average, direct carbon emissions in the electricity sector across all 27 member states of the EU was estimated to be 1368 million tons and indirect carbon emissions to be 470.7 million tons per year representing 25.6% of the EU-27 total carbon emissions related to this sector. It was also observed that from 2004, sulphur oxide emissions intensities in electricity production in India and China have remained relatively constant at about 62.8 gSO x /, respectively, $ and 84.4 gSO x /$ although being higher than in other countries. In terms of water use, the high water use intensity in China (1040.27 L/$) and India (961.63 L/$), which are among the highest in the sector in the electricity sector is exacerbated by both countries being ranked as High Water Stress Risk countries. The paper also highlights many advantages of the MRIO approach including: a 15-year time series study (which provides a measurement of environmental performance of key industries and an opportunity to assess technical and technological change during the investigated time period), a supply chain approach that provides a consistent methodological framework and accounts for all upstream supply chain environmental impacts throughout entire global supply chains. The paper also discusses the implications of the study to environmental sustainability performance measurement in terms of the level of analysis from a value chain hierarchy perspective, methodological issues, performance indicators, environmental exchanges and policy relevance. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Analysis of Different Cost Functions in the Geosect Airspace Partitioning Tool

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Wong, Gregory L.

2010-01-01

A new cost function representing air traffic controller workload is implemented in the Geosect airspace partitioning tool. Geosect currently uses a combination of aircraft count and dwell time to select optimal airspace partitions that balance controller workload. This is referred to as the aircraft count/dwell time hybrid cost function. The new cost function is based on Simplified Dynamic Density, a measure of different aspects of air traffic controller workload. Three sectorizations are compared. These are the current sectorization, Geosect's sectorization based on the aircraft count/dwell time hybrid cost function, and Geosect s sectorization based on the Simplified Dynamic Density cost function. Each sectorization is evaluated for maximum and average workload along with workload balance using the Simplified Dynamic Density as the workload measure. In addition, the Airspace Concept Evaluation System, a nationwide air traffic simulator, is used to determine the capacity and delay incurred by each sectorization. The sectorization resulting from the Simplified Dynamic Density cost function had a lower maximum workload measure than the other sectorizations, and the sectorization based on the combination of aircraft count and dwell time did a better job of balancing workload and balancing capacity. However, the current sectorization had the lowest average workload, highest sector capacity, and the least system delay.

50 CFR 648.143 - Minimum sizes.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-10-01

... black sea bass fishery adopted by the ASMFC. (1) Commercial ACL overage evaluation. The commercial sector ACL will be evaluated based on a single-year examination of total catch (landings and dead discards). Both landings and dead discards will be evaluated in determining if the commercial sector ACL...

Defense responses in plants of Eucalyptus elicited by Streptomyces and challenged with Botrytis cinerea.

PubMed

Salla, Tamiris D; Astarita, Leandro V; Santarém, Eliane R

2016-04-01

Elicitation of E. grandis plants with Streptomyces PM9 reduced the gray-mold disease, through increasing the levels of enzymes directly related to the induction of plant defense responses, and accumulation of specific phenolic compounds. Members of Eucalyptus are economically important woody species, especially as a raw material in many industrial sectors. Species of this genus are susceptible to pathogens such as Botrytis cinerea (gray mold). Biological control of plant diseases using rhizobacteria is one alternative to reduce the use of pesticides and pathogen attack. This study evaluated the metabolic and phenotypic responses of Eucalyptus grandis and E. globulus plants treated with Streptomyces sp. PM9 and challenged with the pathogenic fungus B. cinerea. Metabolic responses were evaluated by assessing the activities of the enzymes polyphenol oxidase and peroxidase as well as the levels of phenolic compounds and flavonoids. The incidence and progression of the fungal disease in PM9-treated plants and challenged with B. cinerea were evaluated. Treatment with Streptomyces sp. PM9 and challenge with B. cinerea led to changes in the activities of polyphenol oxidase and peroxidase as well as in the levels of phenolic compounds in the plants at different time points. Alterations in enzymes of PM9-treated plants were related to early defense responses in E. grandis. Gallic and chlorogenic acids were on average more abundant, although caffeic acid, benzoic acid and catechin were induced at specific time points during the culture period. Treatment with Streptomyces sp. PM9 significantly delayed the establishment of gray mold in E. grandis plants. These results demonstrate the action of Streptomyces sp. PM9 in inducing plant responses against B. cinerea, making this organism a potential candidate for biological control in Eucalyptus.

Energy Requirements by the Water Sector in the Southwestern US: Past, Present, and Future

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Averyt, K.; Yates, D. N.; Meldrum, J.

2014-12-01

Climate, energy, and water are fundamentally linked such that shifts in one sector have cascading impacts on the others. Consideration of the integrated system is necessary to fully understand the individual risk profile of each sector. In defining vulnerabilities and potential adaptations, the policy and regulatory environment must be considered alongside the biological and physical systems. Take, for example, the Southwestern U.S., a naturally arid system, where water availability is declining as a consequence of climate change and population growth. Adaptations by the water sector to convey, store, and develop new water sources (e.g. desalination, groundwater pumping, water-reuse) are strategies designed to enhance sustainability of the sector. But, the energy requirements embedded in these management techniques pose challenges to electric utilities. West wide, approximately 20% of total electricity generation goes toward supplying and heating water. If future investments made by the water sector to deal with changing supply and demand regimes continue to follow current trends, the dependence of water on energy availability will grow, meaning that the water supply will be increasingly reliant on the electricity system. Here, we use the example of long-term aridity and the recent drought in the Western US to illustrate the tradeoffs and challenges inherent at the nexus between energy and water. We present long-term trends in the energy intensity of water supplies in the Southwestern US, with a specific focus on groundwater systems. Projected energy requirements for proposed and future conveyance systems are discussed. The potential impacts of reduced flows on the Colorado River on the energy demands for groundwater pumping in the Lower Colorado River Basin are highlighted.

Some Issues of Micro and Small Enterprises in Wolaita Soddo Town of SNNPR, Ethiopia and Implication for Technical and Vocational Education and Skills Training: Leather Sector in Extra Emphasis

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ginja, Tamirat Gibon

2016-01-01

Technical and Vocational Education & skills Training (TVET) and Micro & Small Enterprises (MSEs) are so significant sectors in socio-economic development journey of a country. This Article was aimed at investigating empirically the challenges that Micro and Small Enterprises facing and the extent of business development services provided…

The United States and AfricaLooking Toward the Next Decade: Symposium Report

DTIC Science & Technology

2016-07-01

improve urban infrastructures and to tackle the unemployment issue. One factor complicating efforts to deal with the challenges of urbanization is...resources. They are producing many underqualified graduates. As a result, unemployment , and thereby frustration, among recent secondary school and...outside investment in Africa’s resource sectors , there has been a surge in both direct and portfolio investment in the consumer and services sectors of

Finding the Right Prescription: In Stiff Competition with the Private Sector for Pharmacy Faculty, Academia Often Finds Itself on the Losing Side

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Powell, Tracie

2004-01-01

An aging population, the changing role of pharmacists as health systems rely more heavily on newer, sophisticated drug therapies to cure ills, and a proliferation of corner drug stores is driving a growing demand for pharmacists in this country, a challenge the higher education sector is having a tough time meeting. There are more students…

Comparing Diverse Southeast Asian Reactions to the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP)

DTIC Science & Technology

2017-09-01

The ambitious TPP comes with its own set of challenges. Especially in the agricultural sector and in the area of intellectual property, domestic...favor of high-quality comprehensive FTAs, save for stalled negotiations in provisions on the agricultural sector due to the domestic political...strength and influence of the Ministry of Agriculture , Forestry and Fisheries.16 Capling and Ravenhill note that although the United States succeeded in

Policy and ethical concerns in nanotechnology safety: case of Indian health sector.

PubMed

Anand, Manish; Srivastava, Nidhi; Sarma, Shilpanjali

2011-02-01

The governance of nanotechnology in the health sector in India poses certain challenges on the front of capability and innovation, risks and regulation. Devising and adhering to the voluntary standards at a stage of regulatory uncertainty, collation and provision of knowledge on impacts, occupational hazards, waste disposal etc. for further risk research and policy design are the issues industry can address in shaping the nanotechnology governance framework.

United States-Canada Trade and Economic Relationship: Prospects and Challenges

DTIC Science & Technology

2006-10-13

to Canadian policymakers as it raises questions about Canadian productivity and competitiveness (see box). In terms of sectoral components of GDP...Coordinated automotive production has raised living standards in both the United States and Canada, and has strengthened the global competitiveness of producers...problems in other sectors of its economy, its automotive plants are among the most competitive in North America. Part of the cost advantage

A two particle hidden sector and the oscillations with photons

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Alvarez, Pedro D.; Arias, Paola; Maldonado, Carlos

2018-01-01

We present a detailed study of the oscillations and optical properties for vacuum, in a model for the dark sector that contains axion-like particles and hidden photons. We provide bounds for the couplings versus the mass, using current results from ALPS-I and PVLAS. We also discuss the challenges for the detection of models with more than one hidden particle in light shining trough wall-like experiments.

50 CFR 648.123 - Gear restrictions.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-10-01

... available for landing scup for the remainder of the period. (1) Commercial ACL overage evaluation. The commercial sector ACL will be evaluated based on a single-year examination of total catch (landings and dead discards). Both landings and dead discards will be evaluated in determining if the commercial sector ACL...

Social media campaigns that make a difference: what can public health learn from the corporate sector and other social change marketers?

PubMed

Freeman, Becky; Potente, Sofia; Rock, Vanessa; McIver, Jacqueline

2015-03-30

A great deal of enthusiasm and interest exists in using social media for public health communications, but few research studies have examined its success in promoting and adopting protective health behaviours. To begin to understand how best to develop effective online social marketing campaigns, this paper provides a summary of success factors and key lessons learnt from selected social media campaign case studies. Case study review Methods: A selection of case studies was reviewed for lessons in campaign development, delivery and evaluation from both the corporate and public health sectors. Information about the objective of the campaign, the tactics used and the lessons learnt was extracted from each case study. Lessons learnt from across the case studies were then sorted according to themes. Lessons from the nine case studies selected were categorised into eight themes: planning, use of social media tools, community, content, personal benefits, promotion, costs and challenges. Outcome evaluation data were lacking in the case studies. Overall, the nine case studies show that social media hold promise in changing user behaviours and that social media are highly effective in recruiting participants and motivating them to take small, concrete actions. The case studies also demonstrate that there is room in social media for targeted, inexpensive, small-scale projects, as well as large, well-funded, mass-reach marketing blitzes. Social media campaign process and impact evaluation measures are readily available. Outcome evaluation models and measures are needed to better assess the effectiveness of social media campaigns in changing health behaviours.

Safety Training Evaluation: The Case of Construction Induction Training and the Impact on Work-Related Injuries in the Western Australian Construction Sector

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bahn, Susanne; Barratt-Pugh, Llandis

2014-01-01

This paper presents the findings of an evaluation of the mandatory Construction Induction Training initiative (CIT). The paper details a pilot study conducted in 2010 with the commercial construction sector and a subsequent study in 2011 of the housing and civil sectors conducting business in the metropolitan area of Perth and in regional Western…

Assessing Organizational Readiness for a Participatory Occupational Health/Health Promotion Intervention in Skilled Nursing Facilities

PubMed Central

Zhang, Yuan; Flum, Marian; West, Cheryl; Punnett, Laura

2018-01-01

The long-term care sector is characterized by high morbidity and employee turnover, along with associated costs. Effective health protection and health promotion are important to improve physical and psychosocial well-being of caregivers. Assessment of organizational readiness for change is an essential precursor to the successful implementation of workplace programs addressing work climate, structure of tasks and relationships, and other issues that may be perceived as challenging by some within the institution. This study qualitatively assessed readiness of five skilled nursing facilities for a participatory occupational health/health promotion intervention. Selection criteria were developed to screen for program feasibility and ability to conduct prospective evaluations, and information was collected from managers and employees (interviews and focus groups). Three centers were selected for the program, and the first year of formative evaluation and intervention experience was then reviewed to evaluate and modify our selection criteria after the fact. Lessons learned include adding assessment of communication and the structure of problem solving to our selection criteria, improving methods to assess management support in a concrete (potentially nonverbal) form, and obtaining a stated financial commitment and resources to enable the team to function. Assessment of organizational readiness for change is challenging, although necessary to implement effective and sustainable health promotion programs in specific organizations. PMID:25715335

Enhancing forest value productivity through fiber quality

Treesearch

D. Briggs

2010-01-01

Developing markets for carbon storage and bioenergy, shifting of the pulp and paper industry to biorefineries, and the potential of new technologies present the forest sector with exciting transformative opportunities and challenges. One of these challenges will be to understand the implications for fiber (wood) quality. This article provides a definitional context for...

Transnational Approaches to Teaching and Learning in Higher Education: Challenges and Possible Guiding Principles

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bovill, C.; Jordan, L.; Watters, N.

2015-01-01

The higher education sector has become increasingly internationalised over recent decades. This paper examines a range of challenges that can arise where teaching staff in one context support and implement learning and teaching initiatives in another international context--transnational teaching. We use examples and experiences from our own…

Conflicting Purposes of Higher Education in Federal Language: Defining a Liminal Discourse

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Krawczyk, Josh

2013-01-01

Colleges and universities currently face challenges in the form of calls for increased accountability, clear economic outcomes and return on investments in education. These challenges emanate from many sectors, including students and families, employers in industry, and state and federal governments. The language of these calls for accountability…

Addressing Quality Challenges in the Private University Sector in Bangladesh: From Policy Formulation to Institutional Implementation

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Blanco Ramírez, Gerardo; Jahirul Haque, H. M.

2016-01-01

Private higher education is growing, especially in developing and transitioning countries. Rapid growth frequently comes with concerns about quality. This article explores challenges and opportunities for higher education quality among private universities in Bangladesh. By presenting a vertical case study that explores interactions among actors…

Falling into LINE: School Strategies for Overcoming Challenges Associated with Learning in Natural Environments (LINE)

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Edwards-Jones, Andrew; Waite, Sue; Passy, Rowena

2018-01-01

As the benefits of outdoor learning have become of increasing interest to the education sector, so the importance of understanding and overcoming challenges associated with this pedagogy has gained greater significance. The Natural Connections Demonstration Project recruited primary, secondary, and special schools across south-west England with a…

How does decentralisation affect health sector planning and financial management? a case study of early effects of devolution in Kilifi County, Kenya.

PubMed

Tsofa, Benjamin; Molyneux, Sassy; Gilson, Lucy; Goodman, Catherine

2017-09-15

A common challenge for health sector planning and budgeting has been the misalignment between policies, technical planning and budgetary allocation; and inadequate community involvement in priority setting. Health system decentralisation has often been promoted to address health sector planning and budgeting challenges through promoting community participation, accountability, and technical efficiency in resource management. In 2010, Kenya passed a new constitution that introduced 47 semi-autonomous devolved county governments, and a substantial transfer of responsibility for healthcare from the central government to these counties. This study analysed the effects of this major political decentralization on health sector planning, budgeting and overall financial management at county level. We used a qualitative, case study design focusing on Kilifi County, and were guided by a conceptual framework which drew on decentralisation and policy analysis theories. Qualitative data were collected through document reviews, key informant interviews, and participant and non-participant observations conducted over an eighteen months' period. We found that the implementation of devolution created an opportunity for local level prioritisation and community involvement in health sector planning and budgeting hence increasing opportunities for equity in local level resource allocation. However, this opportunity was not harnessed due to accelerated transfer of functions to counties before county level capacity had been established to undertake the decentralised functions. We also observed some indication of re-centralisation of financial management from health facility to county level. We conclude by arguing that, to enhance the benefits of decentralised health systems, resource allocation, priority setting and financial management functions between central and decentralised units are guided by considerations around decision space, organisational structure and capacity, and accountability. In acknowledging the political nature of decentralisation polices, we recommend that health sector policy actors develop a broad understanding of the countries' political context when designing and implementing technical strategies for health sector decentralisation.

Country ownership and capacity building: the next buzzwords in health systems strengthening or a truly new approach to development?

PubMed Central

2012-01-01

Background During the last decade, donor governments and international agencies have increasingly emphasized the importance of building the capacity of indigenous health care organizations as part of strengthening health systems and ensuring sustainability. In 2009, the U.S. Global Health Initiative made country ownership and capacity building keystones of U.S. health development assistance, and yet there is still a lack of consensus on how to define either of these terms, or how to implement “country owned capacity building”. Discussion Concepts around capacity building have been well developed in the for-profit business sector, but remain less well defined in the non-profit and social sectors in low and middle-income countries. Historically, capacity building in developing countries has been externally driven, related to project implementation, and often resulted in disempowerment of local organizations rather than local ownership. Despite the expenditure of millions of dollars, there is no consensus on how to conduct capacity building, nor have there been rigorous evaluations of capacity building efforts. To shift to a new paradigm of country owned capacity building, donor assistance needs to be inclusive in the planning process and create true partnerships to conduct organizational assessments, analyze challenges to organizational success, prioritize addressing challenges, and implement appropriate activities to build new capacity in overcoming challenges. Before further investments are made, a solid evidence base should be established concerning what works and what doesn’t work to build capacity. Summary Country-owned capacity building is a relatively new concept that requires further theoretical exploration. Documents such as The Paris Declaration on Aid Effectiveness detail the principles of country ownership to which partner and donor countries should commit, but do not identify the specific mechanisms to carry out these principles. More evidence as to how country-owned capacity building plays out in practice is needed to guide future interventions. The Global Health Initiative funding that is currently underway is an opportunity to collect evaluative data and establish a centralized and comprehensive evidence base that could be made available to guide future country-owned capacity building efforts. PMID:22818046

Country ownership and capacity building: the next buzzwords in health systems strengthening or a truly new approach to development?

PubMed

Goldberg, Jessica; Bryant, Malcolm

2012-07-20

During the last decade, donor governments and international agencies have increasingly emphasized the importance of building the capacity of indigenous health care organizations as part of strengthening health systems and ensuring sustainability. In 2009, the U.S. Global Health Initiative made country ownership and capacity building keystones of U.S. health development assistance, and yet there is still a lack of consensus on how to define either of these terms, or how to implement "country owned capacity building". Concepts around capacity building have been well developed in the for-profit business sector, but remain less well defined in the non-profit and social sectors in low and middle-income countries. Historically, capacity building in developing countries has been externally driven, related to project implementation, and often resulted in disempowerment of local organizations rather than local ownership. Despite the expenditure of millions of dollars, there is no consensus on how to conduct capacity building, nor have there been rigorous evaluations of capacity building efforts. To shift to a new paradigm of country owned capacity building, donor assistance needs to be inclusive in the planning process and create true partnerships to conduct organizational assessments, analyze challenges to organizational success, prioritize addressing challenges, and implement appropriate activities to build new capacity in overcoming challenges. Before further investments are made, a solid evidence base should be established concerning what works and what doesn't work to build capacity. Country-owned capacity building is a relatively new concept that requires further theoretical exploration. Documents such as The Paris Declaration on Aid Effectiveness detail the principles of country ownership to which partner and donor countries should commit, but do not identify the specific mechanisms to carry out these principles. More evidence as to how country-owned capacity building plays out in practice is needed to guide future interventions. The Global Health Initiative funding that is currently underway is an opportunity to collect evaluative data and establish a centralized and comprehensive evidence base that could be made available to guide future country-owned capacity building efforts.

Development and Implementation of a Telecommuting Evaluation Framework, and Modeling the Executive Telecommuting Adoption Process

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Vora, V. P.; Mahmassani, H. S.

2002-02-01

This work proposes and implements a comprehensive evaluation framework to document the telecommuter, organizational, and societal impacts of telecommuting through telecommuting programs. Evaluation processes and materials within the outlined framework are also proposed and implemented. As the first component of the evaluation process, the executive survey is administered within a public sector agency. The survey data is examined through exploratory analysis and is compared to a previous survey of private sector executives. The ordinal probit, dynamic probit, and dynamic generalized ordinal probit (DGOP) models of telecommuting adoption are calibrated to identify factors which significantly influence executive adoption preferences and to test the robustness of such factors. The public sector DGOP model of executive willingness to support telecommuting under different program scenarios is compared with an equivalent private sector DGOP model. Through the telecommuting program, a case study of telecommuting travel impacts is performed to further substantiate research.

Triple Aim in Canada: developing capacity to lead to better health, care and cost.

PubMed

Farmanova, Elina; Kirvan, Christine; Verma, Jennifer; Mukerji, Geetha; Akunov, Nurdin; Phillips, Kaye; Samis, Stephen

2016-12-01

Many modern health systems strive for 'Triple Aim' (TA)-better health for populations, improved experience of care for patients and lower costs of the system, but note challenges in implementation. Outcomes of applying TA as a quality improvement framework (QI) have started to be realized with early lessons as to why some systems make progress while others do not. Limited evidence is available as to how organizations create the capacity and infrastructure required to design, implement, evaluate and sustain TA systems. To support embedding TA across Canada, the Canadian Foundation for Healthcare Improvement supported enrolment of nine Canadian teams to participate in the Institute for Healthcare Improvement's TA Improvement Community. Structured support for TA design, implementation, evaluation and sustainability was addressed in a collaborative programme of webinars and action periods. Teams were coached to undertake and test small-scale improvements before attempting to scale. A summative evaluation of the Canadian cohort was undertaken to assess site progress in building TA infrastructure across various healthcare settings. The evaluation explored the process of change, experiences and challenges and strategies for continuous QI. Delivering TA requires a sustained and coordinated effort supported by strong leadership and governance, continuous QI, engaged interdisciplinary teams and partnering within and beyond the healthcare sector. © The Author 2016. Published by Oxford University Press in association with the International Society for Quality in Health Care.

Analysis of a voluntary initiative to reduce sodium in processed and ultra-processed food products in Argentina: the views of public and private sector representatives.

PubMed

Castronuovo, Luciana; Allemandi, Lorena; Tiscornia, Victoria; Champagne, Beatriz; Campbell, Norm; Schoj, Verónica

2017-07-03

The Less Salt, More Life program was the first voluntary salt reduction initiative in Argentina. This article analyzes the perspectives of the stakeholders involved in this voluntary agreement between the Ministry of Health and the food industry to gradually reduce sodium content in processed foods. This exploratory case study used a qualitative approach including 29 in-depth interviews with stakeholders from the public and private sectors and identified the role of the different stakeholders and their perceptions regarding the challenges encountered in the policy process that contribute to the debate on public-private partnerships in health policies. The article also discusses the initiative's main challenges and controversies.

Digital health and the challenge of health systems transformation

PubMed Central

Gagnon, Marie-Pierre; Fortin, Jean-Paul

2017-01-01

Information and communication technologies have transformed all sectors of society. The health sector is no exception to this trend. In light of “digital health”, we see multiplying numbers of web platforms and mobile health applications, often brought by new unconventional players who produce and offer services in non-linear and non-hierarchal ways, this by multiplying access points to services for people. Some speak of a “uberization” of healthcare. New realities and challenges have emerged from this paradigm, which question the abilities of health systems to cope with new business and economic models, governance of data and regulation. Countries must provide adequate responses so that digital health, based increasingly on disruptive technologies, can benefit for all. PMID:28894741

Development activities, challenges and prospects for the hydropower sector in Austria

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wagner, Beatrice; Hauer, Christoph; Habersack, Helmut

2017-04-01

This contribution intends to give an overview of hydropower development activities in Austria and deepen the knowledge on actual strategies and planning documents. Thereby, the focus is on a climate and energy policy based perspective, also analyzing economic trends at the hydropower sector due to energy market changes in the last years. This includes a comparison with other political strategies and programs dealing with hydropower exploitation based on selected countries. With respect to technology developments, a concise review on technological innovations, such as hydrokinetic energy conversion systems, and new constructive designs of conventional hydropower plants in Austria will be given. Moreover, potential impacts on environment and aquatic ecosystems are described. Finally, key challenges and prospects will be identified and discussed.

[Philanthropic hospitals and the operation of provider-owned health plans in Brazil].

PubMed

Lima, Sheyla Maria Lemos; Portela, Margareth C; Ugá, Maria Alicia Dominguez; Barbosa, Pedro Ribeiro; Gerschman, Silvia; Vasconcellos, Miguel Murat

2007-02-01

To describe the management performance of philanthropic hospitals that operate their own health plans, in comparison with philanthropic hospitals as a whole in Brazil. The managerial structures of philanthropic hospitals that operated their own health plans were compared with those seen in a representative group from the philanthropic hospital sector, in six dimensions: management and planning, economics and finance, human resources, technical services, logistics services and information technology. Data from a random sample of 69 hospitals within the philanthropic hospital sector and 94 philanthropic hospitals that operate their own health plans were evaluated. In both cases, only the hospitals with less than 599 beds were included. The results identified for the hospitals that operate their own health plans were more positive in all the managerial dimensions compared. In particular, the economics and finance and information technology dimensions were highlighted, for which more than 50% of the hospitals that operated their own health plans presented almost all the conditions considered. The philanthropic hospital sector is important in providing services to the Brazilian Health System (SUS). The challenges in maintaining and developing these hospitals impose the need to find alternatives. Stimulation of a public-private partnership in this segment, by means of operating provider-owned health plans or providing services to other health plans that work together with SUS, is a field that deserves more in-depth analysis.

Modeling Hydrological Processes in New Mexico-Texas-Mexico Border Region

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Samimi, M.; Jahan, N. T.; Mirchi, A.

2017-12-01

Efficient allocation of limited water resources to competing use sectors is becoming increasingly critical for water-scarce regions. Understanding natural and anthropogenic processes affecting hydrological processes is key for efficient water management. We used Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) to model governing hydrologic processes in New Mexico-Texas-Mexico border region. Our study area includes the Elephant Butte Irrigation District (EBID), which manages water resources to support irrigated agriculture. The region is facing water resources challenges associated with chronic water scarcity, over-allocation, diminishing water supply, and growing water demand. Agricultural activities rely on conjunctive use of Rio Grande River water supply and groundwater withdrawal. The model is calibrated and validated under baseline conditions in the arid and semi-arid climate in order to evaluate potential impacts of climate change on the agricultural sector and regional water availability. We highlight the importance of calibrating the crop growth parameters, evapotranspiration, and groundwater recharge to provide a realistic representation of the hydrological processes and water availability in the region. Furthermore, limitations of the model and its utility to inform stakeholders will be discussed.

The economic case for low carbon waste management in rapidly growing cities in the developing world: The case of Palembang, Indonesia.

PubMed

Papargyropoulou, Effie; Colenbrander, Sarah; Sudmant, Andrew Heshedahl; Gouldson, Andy; Tin, Lee Chew

2015-11-01

The provision of appropriate waste management is not only an indicator of development but also of broader sustainability. This is particularly relevant to expanding cities in developing countries faced with rising waste generation and associated environmental health problems. Despite these urgent issues, city authorities often lack the evidence required to make well-informed decisions. This study evaluates the carbon and economic performance of low-carbon measures in the waste sector at a city level, within the context of a developing country. Palembang in Indonesia is used as a case of a medium-sized city in a newly industrialized country, with relevance to other similar cities in the developing world. Evidence suggests that the waste sector can achieve substantial carbon emission reductions, and become a carbon sink, in a cost effective way. Hence there is an economic case for a low carbon development path for Palembang, and possibly for other cities in developing and developed countries facing similar challenges. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Evaluating Partnerships to Enhance Disaster Risk Management using Multi-Criteria Analysis: An Application at the Pan-European Level

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hochrainer-Stigler, Stefan; Lorant, Anna

2018-01-01

Disaster risk is increasingly recognized as a major development challenge. Recent calls emphasize the need to proactively engage in disaster risk reduction, as well as to establish new partnerships between private and public sector entities in order to decrease current and future risks. Very often such potential partnerships have to meet different objectives reflecting on the priorities of stakeholders involved. Consequently, potential partnerships need to be assessed on multiple criteria to determine weakest links and greatest threats in collaboration. This paper takes a supranational multi-sector partnership perspective, and considers possible ways to enhance disaster risk management in the European Union by better coordination between the European Union Solidarity Fund, risk reduction efforts, and insurance mechanisms. Based on flood risk estimates we employ a risk-layer approach to determine set of options for new partnerships and test them in a high-level workshop via a novel cardinal ranking based multi-criteria approach. Whilst transformative changes receive good overall scores, we also find that the incorporation of risk into budget planning is an essential condition for successful partnerships.

Mainstreaming in the Philippines programme.

PubMed

Smith, S

1998-07-01

In the Philippines, where the Oxfam team has worked on gender issues since 1990, the group recently conducted an in-house workshop to identify achievements and areas for improvement in gender mainstreaming. Gender activities began with a needs assessment of the fisheries in 1990 and have included gender-sensitivity training for Oxfam partner groups, support of women's issues, and gender research into such areas as disaster management. Successes include the appointment of women to key positions in the community, which was a direct result of advocacy work. Major challenges include 1) determining the best models to develop sectoral networking and advocacy on gender and 2) overcoming gender-resistance in some partners. The team concluded that it is still learning how to mainstream gender issues and is still searching for a framework to integrate gender into other approaches to planning, monitoring, and evaluation. In the future, Oxfam will 1) undertake small-scale and simple gender reviews with selected partners and then pilot gender-mainstreaming contracts with them, 2) build gender-learning teams within sectoral programs, 3) continue supporting networking and capability-building in feminist organizations, and 4) focus on gender at the next partners' meeting.

Mental health system reform: a multi country comparison.

PubMed

Shera, Wes; Aviram, Uri; Healy, Bill; Ramon, Shula

2002-01-01

In recent years many countries have embarked on various types of health and mental health reform. These reforms have in large part been driven by governments' concerns for cost containment which has, in turn, been driven by an increasing process of global marketization and the need to control national deficits. A critical issue in these reforms is the increased emphasis on the use of "market mechanisms" in the delivery of health and mental health services. This paper uses a policy analysis framework to compare recent developments in the mental health sector in Canada, the United States, Britain and Australia. The common framework to be used for this will focus on: the defining characteristics of the society; legislative mandate; sectorial location (within or separate from health sector); funding streams; organising values of the system; locus of service delivery; service technologies; the role of social work; interprofessional dynamics; the role of consumers; and evaluation of outcomes at multiple levels. This analysis provides an opportunity to explore similarities and differences in mental system reform and in particular identify the challenges for social work in the field of mental health in the 21st century.

Understanding business intelligence in the context of healthcare.

PubMed

Mettler, Tobias; Vimarlund, Vivian

2009-09-01

In today's fast changing healthcare sector, decision makers are facing a growing demand for both clinical and administrative information in order to comply with legal and customer-specific requirements. The use of business intelligence (BI) is seen as a possible solution to this actual challenge. As the existing research about BI is primarily focused on the industrial sector, it is the aim of this contribution to translate and adapt the current findings for the healthcare context. For this purpose, different definitions of BI are examined and condensed in a framework. Furthermore, the sector-specific preconditions for the effective use and future role of BI are discussed.

Evaluation of Large-Scale Public-Sector Reforms: A Comparative Analysis

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Breidahl, Karen N.; Gjelstrup, Gunnar; Hansen, Hanne Foss; Hansen, Morten Balle

2017-01-01

Research on the evaluation of large-scale public-sector reforms is rare. This article sets out to fill that gap in the evaluation literature and argues that it is of vital importance since the impact of such reforms is considerable and they change the context in which evaluations of other and more delimited policy areas take place. In our…

Facilitating the Evaluation of Complexity in the Public Sector: Learning from the NHS in Scotland

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Connolly, John; Reid, Garth; Mooney, Allan

2015-01-01

It is necessary for public managers to be able to evaluate programmes in the context of complexity. This article offers key learning and reflections based on the experience of facilitating the evaluation of complexity with a range of public sector partners in Scotland. There have been several articles that consider evaluating complexity and…

Notification: Evaluation of EPA Actions to Reduce Methane Distribution Sector Leaks

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

Project #OPE-FY13-0016, June 3, 2013. The OIG plans to begin the preliminary research phase of an evaluation of the EPA's efforts to reduce methane leaks from pipelines in the natural gas distribution sector.

Constraints, challenges and prospects of public-private partnership in health-care delivery in a developing economy.

PubMed

Anyaehie, Usb; Nwakoby, Ban; Chikwendu, C; Dim, Cc; Uguru, N; Oluka, Cpi; Ogugua, C

2014-01-01

In Nigeria, concerns on the quality and financing of health-care delivery especially in the public sector have initiated reforms including support for public-private partnerships (PPP) at the Federal Ministry of Health. Likewise, Enugu State has developed a draft policy on PPP since 2005. However, non-validation and non-implementation of this policy might have led to loss of interest in the partnership. The aim of this study was to provide evidence for planning the implementation of PPP in Enugu State health system via a multi-sectoral identification of challenges, constraints and prospects. Pre-tested questionnaires were administered to 466 respondents (251 health workers and 215 community members), selected by multi-stage sampling method from nine Local Government Areas of Enugu State, Nigeria, over a study period of April 2011 to September 2011. Data from the questionnaires were collated manually and quantitative data analyzed using SPSS version 15 (Chicago, IL, USA). Only 159 (34.1%, 159/466) of all respondents actually understood the meaning of PPP though 251 (53.9%) of them had claimed knowledge of the concept. This actual understanding was higher among health workers (57.8%, 145/251) when compared with the community members (6.5%, 14/215) (P < 0.001). Post-PPP enlightenment reviews showed a more desire for PPP implementation among private health-care workers (89.4%, 101/113) and community leaders/members (55.4%, 119/215). PPP in health-care delivery in Enugu State is feasible with massive awareness, elaborate stakeholder's engagements and well-structured policy before implementation. A critical challenge will be to convince the public sector workers who are the anticipated partners to accept and support private sector participation.

Establishing and Scaling-Up Clinical Social Franchise Networks: Lessons Learned From Marie Stopes International and Population Services International

PubMed Central

Thurston, Sarah; Chakraborty, Nirali M; Hayes, Brendan; Mackay, Anna; Moon, Pierre

2015-01-01

In many low- and middle-income countries, a majority of people seek health care from the private sector. However, fragmentation, poor economies of scale, inadequate financing, political opposition, a bias toward curative services, and weak regulatory and quality control systems pose serious challenges for the private sector. Social franchising addresses a number of these challenges by organizing small, independent health care businesses into quality-assured networks. Global franchisors Marie Stopes International (MSI) and Population Services International (PSI) have rapidly scaled their family planning social franchising programs in recent years, jointly delivering over 10.8 million couple-years of protection (CYPs) in 2014—up 26% from 8.6 million CYPs just 1 year prior. Drawing on experience across MSI’s 17 and PSI’s 25 social franchise networks across Africa, Asia, and Latin America and the Caribbean, this article documents the organizations’ operational approaches, challenges faced, and solutions implemented. The organizations provide intensive capacity building and support for private-sector providers, including clinical training, branding, monitoring quality of franchised services, and commodity support. In addition, franchising programs engage providers and clients through behavior change communication (BCC) and demand generation activities to raise awareness and to attract clients, and they implement initiatives to ensure services are affordable for the lowest-income clients. Social franchise programs offer the private sector a collective platform to better engage government in health policy advocacy and for integrating into new public health care financing and procurement mechanisms. The future of social franchising will require developing approaches to scale-up and sustain the model cost-effectively, selectively integrating other health services into the franchise package, and being responsive to evolving health care financing approaches with the potential to contribute to universal health coverage. PMID:26085017

Conceptual and institutional gaps: understanding how the WHO can become a more effective cross-sectoral collaborator.

PubMed

Gopinathan, Unni; Watts, Nicholas; Hougendobler, Daniel; Lefebvre, Alex; Cheung, Arthur; Hoffman, Steven J; Røttingen, John-Arne

2015-11-24

Two themes consistently emerge from the broad range of academics, policymakers and opinion leaders who have proposed changes to the World Health Organization (WHO): that reform efforts are too slow, and that they do too little to strengthen WHO's capacity to facilitate cross-sectoral collaboration. This study seeks to identify possible explanations for the challenges WHO faces in addressing the broader determinants of health, and the potential opportunities for working across sectors. This qualitative study used a mixed methods approach of semi-structured interviews and document review. Five interviewees were selected by stratified purposive sampling within a sampling frame of approximately 45 potential interviewees, and a targeted document review was conducted. All interviewees were senior WHO staff at the department director level or above. Thematic analysis was used to analyze data from interview transcripts, field notes, and the document review, and data coded during the analysis was analyzed against three central research questions. First, how does WHO conceptualize its mandate in global health? Second, what are the barriers and enablers to enhancing cross-sectoral collaboration between WHO and other intergovernmental organizations? Third, how do the dominant conceptual frames and the identified barriers and enablers to cross-sectoral collaboration interact? Analysis of the interviews and documents revealed three main themes: 1) WHO's role must evolve to meet the global challenges and societal changes of the 21st century; 2) WHO's cross-sectoral engagement is hampered internally by a dominant biomedical view of health, and the prevailing institutions and incentives that entrench this view; and 3) WHO's cross-sectoral engagement is hampered externally by siloed areas of focus for each intergovernmental organization, and the lack of adequate conceptual frameworks and institutional mechanisms to facilitate engagement across siloes. There are a number of external and internal pressures on WHO which have created an organizational culture and operational structure that focuses on a narrow, technical approach to global health, prioritizing disease-based, siloed interventions over more complex approaches that span sectors. The broader approach to promoting human health and wellbeing, which is conceptualized in WHO's constitution, requires cultural and institutional changes for it to be fully implemented.

Evaluating digital libraries in the health sector. Part 2: measuring impacts and outcomes.

PubMed

Cullen, Rowena

2004-03-01

This is the second part of a two-part paper which explores methods that can be used to evaluate digital libraries in the health sector. Part 1 focuses on approaches to evaluation that have been proposed for mainstream digital information services. This paper investigates evaluative models developed for some innovative digital library projects, and some major national and international electronic health information projects. The value of ethnographic methods to provide qualitative data to explore outcomes, adding to quantitative approaches based on inputs and outputs is discussed. The paper concludes that new 'post-positivist' models of evaluation are needed to cover all the dimensions of the digital library in the health sector, and some ways of doing this are outlined.

Mental health service delivery: a profile of mental health non-government organisations in south-east Queensland, Australia.

PubMed

Byrne, Louise; Wilson, Michael; Burke, Karena J; Gaskin, Cadeyrn J; Happell, Brenda

2014-05-01

Non-government organisations make a substantial contribution to the provision of mental health services; despite this, there has been little research and evaluation targeted at understanding the role played by these services within the community mental health sector. The aim of the present study was to examine the depth and breadth of services offered by these organisations in south-east Queensland, Australia, across five key aspects of reach and delivery. Representatives from 52 purposively targeted non-government organisations providing mental health services to individuals with significant mental health challenges were interviewed regarding their approach to mental health service provision. The findings indicated a diverse pattern of service frameworks across the sector. The results also suggested a positive approach to the inclusion of consumer participation within the organisations, with most services reporting, at the very least, some form of consumer advocacy within their processes and as part of their services. This paper offers an important first look at the nature of non-government service provision within the mental health sector and highlights the importance of these organisations within the community sector. What is known about the topic? Non-government organisations make a substantial contribution to the multisectorial provision of services to mental health consumers in community settings. Non-government organisations in Australia are well established, with 79.9% of them being in operation for over 10 years. There is an increasing expectation that consumers influence the development, delivery and evaluation of mental health services, especially in the community sector. What does this paper add? This paper provides a profile of non-government organisations in one state in Australia with respect to the services they provide, the consumers they target, the practice frameworks they use, the use of peer workers and consumer participation, the success they have had with obtaining funding and the extent to which they collaborate with other services. What are the implications for practitioners? This paper provides readers with an understanding of the non-government organisations and the services they provide to people with mental health conditions. In addition, the findings provide an opportunity to learn from the experience of non-government organisations in implementing consumer participation initiatives.

Using a service sector segmented approach to identify community stakeholders who can improve access to suicide prevention services for veterans.

PubMed

Matthieu, Monica M; Gardiner, Giovanina; Ziegemeier, Ellen; Buxton, Miranda

2014-04-01

Veterans in need of social services may access many different community agencies within the public and private sectors. Each of these settings has the potential to be a pipeline for attaining needed health, mental health, and benefits services; however, many service providers lack information on how to conceptualize where Veterans go for services within their local community. This article describes a conceptual framework for outreach that uses a service sector segmented approach. This framework was developed to aid recruitment of a provider-based sample of stakeholders (N = 70) for a study on improving access to the Department of Veterans Affairs and community-based suicide prevention services. Results indicate that although there are statistically significant differences in the percent of Veterans served by the different service sectors (F(9, 55) = 2.71, p = 0.04), exposure to suicidal Veterans and providers' referral behavior is consistent across the sectors. Challenges to using this framework include isolating the appropriate sectors for targeted outreach efforts. The service sector segmented approach holds promise for identifying and referring at-risk Veterans in need of services. Reprint & Copyright © 2014 Association of Military Surgeons of the U.S.

Performance and non-destructive evaluation methods of airborne radome and stealth structures

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Panwar, Ravi; Ryul Lee, Jung

2018-06-01

In the past few years, great effort has been devoted to the fabrication of highly efficient, broadband radome and stealth (R&S) structures for distinct control, guidance, surveillance and communication applications for airborne platforms. The evaluation of non-planar aircraft R&S structures in terms of their electromagnetic performance and structural damage is still a very challenging task. In this article, distinct measurement techniques are discussed for the electromagnetic performance and non-destructive evaluation (NDE) of R&S structures. This paper deals with an overview of the transmission line method and free space measurement based microwave measurement techniques for the electromagnetic performance evaluation of R&S structures. In addition, various conventional as well as advanced methods, such as millimetre and terahertz wave based imaging techniques with great potential for NDE of load bearing R&S structures, are also discussed in detail. A glimpse of in situ NDE techniques with corresponding experimental setup for R&S structures is also presented. The basic concepts, measurement ranges and their instrumentation, measurement method of different R&S structures and some miscellaneous topics are discussed in detail. Some of the challenges and issues pertaining to the measurement of curved R&S structures are also presented. This study also lists various mathematical models and analytical techniques for the electromagnetic performance evaluation and NDE of R&S structures. The research directions described in this study may be of interest to the scientific community in the aerospace sectors.

Design of Economic Evaluations of Mindfulness-Based Interventions: Ten Methodological Questions of Which to Be Mindful.

PubMed

Edwards, Rhiannon Tudor; Bryning, Lucy; Crane, Rebecca

Mindfulness-based interventions (MBIs) are being increasingly applied in a variety of settings. A growing body of evidence to support the effectiveness of these interventions exists and there are a few published cost-effectiveness studies. With limited resources available within public sectors (health care, social care, and education), it is necessary to build in concurrent economic evaluations alongside trials in order to inform service commissioning and policy. If future research studies are well-designed, they have strong potential to investigate the economic impact of MBIs. The particular challenge to the health economist is how best to capture the ways that MBIs help people adjust to or build resilience to difficult life circumstances, and to disseminate effectively to enable policy makers to judge the value of the contribution that MBIs can make within the context of the limited resourcing of public services. In anticipation of more research worldwide evaluating MBIs in various settings, this article suggests ten health economics methodological design questions that researchers may want to consider prior to conducting MBI research. These questions draw on both published standards of good methodological practice in economic evaluation of medical interventions, and on the authors' knowledge and experience of mindfulness-based practice. We argue that it is helpful to view MBIs as both complex interventions and as public health prevention initiatives. Our suggestions for well-designed economic evaluations of MBIs in health and other settings, mirror current thinking on the challenges and opportunities of public health economics.

Contractor Past Performance Information (PPI) in Source Selection: A Comparison Study of Public and Private Sector

DTIC Science & Technology

2005-05-01

efficiencies similar to those in the private sector . However, along the way, Government and private sector industry have begun to disagree about how PPI is...double that of the private sector due to an evaluation process that is cumbersome, time-consuming, and lacking the efficiencies enjoyed by private

Lessons Learned from the Private Sector

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Robichaud, Robert J

This session is focused on lessons learned from private sector energy projects that could be applied to the federal sector. This presentation tees up the subsequent presentations by outlining the differences between private and federal sectors in objectives, metrics for determining success, funding resources/mechanisms, payback and ROI evaluation, risk tolerance/aversion, new technology adoption perspectives, and contracting mechanisms.

PRIVATE SECTOR IN HEALTH CARE DELIVERY: A REALITY AND A CHALLENGE IN PAKISTAN.

PubMed

Shaikh, Babar Tasneem

2015-01-01

Under performance of the public sector health care system in Pakistan has created a room for private sector to grow and become popular in health service delivery, despite its questionable quality, high cost and dubious ethics of medical practice. Private sector is no doubt a reality; and is functioning to plug many weaknesses and gaps in health care delivery to the poor people of Pakistan. Yet, it is largely unregulated and unchecked due to the absence of writ of the state. In spite of its inherent trait of profit making, the private sector has played a significant and innovative role both in preventive and curative service provision. Private sector has demonstrated great deal of responsiveness, hence creating a relation of trust with the consumers of health in Pakistan, majority of who spend out of their pocket to buy 'health'. There is definitely a potential to engage and involve private and non-state entities in the health care system building their capacities and instituting regulatory frameworks, to protect the poor's access to health care system.

Developing a Strategic Program for Chilean Health Information Technology: Environmental Scan and Key Informant Interviews.

PubMed

Taylor, Erin Audrey; Fischer, Shira H; Gracner, Tadeja; Tejeda, Ivo; Kim, Alice; Chavez-Herrerias, Emilio; de la Guardia, Fernando Hoces

2016-06-20

As part of an effort to assist Chile in developing a strategic program to foster the development of the health information technology (health IT) sector over the next five to ten years, this study assesses the current state of health IT adoption and implementation in Chile, as well as the challenges and opportunities facing the sector over the coming years. The authors conducted an environmental scan and ten key informant interviews and found that there are a number of successful health IT projects and strategies for further development currently underway in Chile, but that the successful projects are generally localized within specific health care providers and lack integration. These and other challenges suggest significant potential for the Ministry of Economy and other stakeholders to take specific actions designed to encourage further development of the health IT sector in Chile over the coming years. The next phase of this effort will use the results from this study to develop a roadmap for the Ministry of Economy to encourage health IT development in Chile over the short, medium, and long terms.

The prospects of the domestic water equity indicators in Indonesia: a review

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nastiti, A.; Komarulzaman, A.; Sudradjat, A.

2018-01-01

Despite the major progress achieved by the domestic water supply sector since the commencement of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), there is still a concern that access towards water does not distribute evenly among citizens in different geographical areas or diverse economic groups. The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) strive for a universal water target that highlights the sustainable access to safe and affordable water supply for all. Hence, the ensuing challenge is how to comprehensively report the progress of achieving water equity in relation to the SDGs target. This paper reviews the current research and policy papers on equity metrics in the water supply sector. This study has identified that water inequity may manifest in the variations of the level of access, the dimensions of access, and the impacts of poor water supply—spatially, socially, economically, or the combination thereof. This paper also presents challenges related to the application of equity measurements in the context of Indonesia. The results will be useful in designing appropriate tool to inform decision making in water sector policy.

Accelerating the Integration of Distributed Water Solutions: A Conceptual Financing Model from the Electricity Sector

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Quesnel, Kimberly J.; Ajami, Newsha K.; Wyss, Noemi

2017-11-01

Modern challenges require new approaches to urban water management. One solution in the portfolio of potential strategies is the integration of distributed water infrastructure, practices, and technologies into existing systems. However, many practical barriers have prevented the widespread adoption of these systems in the US. The objective of this paper is to address these challenges by developing a conceptual model encompassing regulatory, financial, and governance components that can be used to incorporate new distributed water solutions into our current network. To construct the model, case studies of successfully implemented distributed electricity systems, specifically energy efficiency and renewable energy technologies, were examined to determine how these solutions have become prominent in recent years and what lessons can be applied to the water sector in a similar pursuit. The proposed model includes four action-oriented elements: catalyzing change, establishing funding sources, using resource pathways, and creating innovative governance structures. As illustrated in the model, the water sector should use suite of coordinated policies to promote change, engage end users through fiscal incentives, and encourage research, development and dissemination of new technologies over time.

Accelerating the Integration of Distributed Water Solutions: A Conceptual Financing Model from the Electricity Sector.

PubMed

Quesnel, Kimberly J; Ajami, Newsha K; Wyss, Noemi

2017-11-01

Modern challenges require new approaches to urban water management. One solution in the portfolio of potential strategies is the integration of distributed water infrastructure, practices, and technologies into existing systems. However, many practical barriers have prevented the widespread adoption of these systems in the US. The objective of this paper is to address these challenges by developing a conceptual model encompassing regulatory, financial, and governance components that can be used to incorporate new distributed water solutions into our current network. To construct the model, case studies of successfully implemented distributed electricity systems, specifically energy efficiency and renewable energy technologies, were examined to determine how these solutions have become prominent in recent years and what lessons can be applied to the water sector in a similar pursuit. The proposed model includes four action-oriented elements: catalyzing change, establishing funding sources, using resource pathways, and creating innovative governance structures. As illustrated in the model, the water sector should use suite of coordinated policies to promote change, engage end users through fiscal incentives, and encourage research, development and dissemination of new technologies over time.

The Collaboration Challenge: Global Partnerships to Achieve Global Goals.

PubMed

Bzdak, Michael

2017-01-01

As capitalism is being re-invented and the voices of multiple stakeholders are becoming more prevalent and demanding, it is the perfect time for the private sector to embrace large-scale collaboration and a shared sense of purpose. Since the explosive growth of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) in the 1990s, a new era of responsibility, purpose and a re-envisioned capitalism are dramatically apparent. Beyond financial support, business leaders have the opportunity to galvanize networks, advocate for regulation and policy change, and form supporting consortia to support global development. The role of the private sector in development has changed significantly from a model of benevolent contributor to a model of collaborator, investor, business partner and exponential value creator. The new era of collaboration should move beyond a shared value mindset to new models of partnership where each contributor plays an equal role in defining challenges and designing solutions with the greater goal of sustainable value creation. Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) have the unprecedented opportunity to take leadership roles in engaging the private sector in more game-changing collaborations.

Knowledge translation in tri-sectoral collaborations: An exploration of perceptions of academia, industry and healthcare collaborations in innovation adoption.

PubMed

Ii, Suzanne Sayuri; Fitzgerald, Louise; Morys-Carter, Megan M; Davie, Natasha L; Barker, Richard

2018-02-01

With the aging population and increase in chronic disease conditions, innovation to transform treatment pathways and service delivery will be necessary. The innovation adoption process however, can take 15 years before widespread adoption occurs in most healthcare systems. Current UK government policies to increase the facilitation of innovation adoption are under way. The aim of this study is to explore perceptions of tri-sectoral collaborations in the healthcare sector. The data in the study are drawn from a cross-sectional survey conducted in 2015 of professionals in academia, industry and the healthcare sectors in England, focusing on Diabetes care. Academia and healthcare respondents had the least work experience outside of their sectors compared to the industry respondents. Healthcare and academia respondents rated the industry sector less trustworthy, unethical, having different goals and less understanding of the other sectors. Industry respondents had a more positive perspective towards potential collaborators. The results from the study demonstrate greater potential challenges to tri-sectoral collaborations and the government's knowledge translation policy, due to pre-conceived notions and lack of understanding of other sectors. The purely structural approach of establishing government mandated translational networks may be insufficient without active attempts to improve collaborative relationships. Mechanisms to facilitate trust building and collaboration are proposed. Crown Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Literacy and Numeracy Needs and Priorities: A Case Study of Regional TAFE Courses in Western Australia.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Chapman, Anne; Pyvis, David

Rural Technical and Further Education (TAFE) students making the transition from rural and remote areas of Australia to urban university environments are likely to face educational challenges. Different understandings of literacy and numeracy held by the TAFE and tertiary sectors intensify these challenges. Case studies of four Western Australia…

Chicanas in IR: Data-Driven Advocacy for Latinx Students from Institutional Research Contexts in the Community College

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Abrica, Elvira J.; Rivas, Martha

2017-01-01

Various inequities and challenges facing Latinx students in community colleges continue to be documented. Yet, less documented are the challenges associated with "advocacy efforts" to support Latinx and other underrepresented Students of Color within the community college sector. There is not often pause to consider: "who advocates…

Health Service Inpatient Units for People with Intellectual Disabilities and Challenging Behaviour or Mental Health Problems

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mansell, Jim; Ritchie, Fiona; Dyer, Ricinda

2010-01-01

Background: As institutions for people with intellectual disabilities have been replaced with community services, health care provision has developed to provide assessment and treatment, low and medium secure units for people with challenging behaviour or mental health problems. These include both public and private sector provision. Little is…

Enhancing Large-Class Teaching: A Systematic Comparison of Rich-Media Materials

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Saunders, F. C.; Hutt, I.

2015-01-01

Large cohorts (>200 students) are an ever-increasing presence in the UK higher education (HE) sector. Providing excellent teaching and learning to these large classes is an ongoing challenge for teaching faculty, a challenge intensified when the cohort comprises 85% non-native English speakers. This paper presents the findings of a project to…

From Resistance to Resolution: The Journey towards a Sustainable Vision of Continuing Education in Japan

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mulvey, Bern

2012-01-01

Even before 2011's 9.1-magnitude earthquake and the devastating 15-meter tsunami that followed, Japan had been struggling with tremendous economic and demographic challenges that had forced significant changes to its tertiary education sector. In particular, these challenges had played a crucial role in the development of Japanese continuing…

Indigenous Child Health in Brazil

PubMed Central

del Pino Marchito, Sandra; Vitoy, Bernardino

2016-01-01

Abstract Improving the health status of indigenous children is a long-standing challenge. Several United Nations committees have identified the health of indigenous peoples as a human rights concern. Addressing the health of indigenous children cannot be separated from their social, cultural, and historic contexts, and any related health program must offer culturally appropriate services and a community perspective broad enough to address the needs of children and the local worlds in which they live. Evaluations of programs must, therefore, address process as well as impacts. This paper assesses interventions addressing indigenous children’s health in Brazil, ranging from those explicitly targeting indigenous children’s health, such as the targeted immunization program for indigenous peoples, as well as more generalized programs, including a focus upon indigenous children, such as the Integrated Management of Childhood Illness. The paper discusses the tensions and complexities of ethnically targeted health interventions as well as the conceptual and methodological challenge of measuring the processes employed and their impact. The lessons learned, especially the need for countries to more systematically collect data and evaluate impacts using ethnicity as an analytical category, are drawn out with respect to ensuring human rights for all within health sector responses. PMID:27781012

In-depth interviews with state public health practitioners on the United States National Physical Activity Plan

PubMed Central

2013-01-01

Background The United States National Physical Activity Plan (NPAP; 2010), the country’s first national plan for physical activity, provides strategies to increase population-level physical activity to complement the 2008 physical activity guidelines. This study examined state public health practitioner awareness, dissemination, use, challenges, and recommendations for the NPAP. Methods In 2011–2012, we interviewed 27 state practitioners from 25 states. Interviews were recorded and transcribed verbatim. Transcripts were coded using a standard protocol, verified and reconciled by an independent coder, and input into qualitative software to facilitate development of common themes. Results NPAP awareness was high among state practitioners; dissemination to local constituents varied. Development of state-level strategies and goals was the most frequently reported use of the NPAP. Some respondents noted the usefulness of the NPAP for coalitions and local practitioners. Challenges to the plan included implementation cost, complexity, and consistency with other policies. The most frequent recommendation made was to directly link examples of implementation activities to the plan. Conclusions These results provide early evidence of NPAP dissemination and use, along with challenges encountered and suggestions for future iterations. Public health is one of eight sectors in the NPAP. Further efforts are needed to understand uptake and use by other sectors, as well as to monitor long-term relevance, progress, and collaboration across sectors. PMID:23731829

The direction of cloud computing for Malaysian education sector in 21st century

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jaafar, Jazurainifariza; Rahman, M. Nordin A.; Kadir, M. Fadzil A.; Shamsudin, Syadiah Nor; Saany, Syarilla Iryani A.

2017-08-01

In 21st century, technology has turned learning environment into a new way of education to make learning systems more effective and systematic. Nowadays, education institutions are faced many challenges to ensure the teaching and learning process is running smoothly and manageable. Some of challenges in the current education management are lack of integrated systems, high cost of maintenance, difficulty of configuration and deployment as well as complexity of storage provision. Digital learning is an instructional practice that use technology to make learning experience more effective, provides education process more systematic and attractive. Digital learning can be considered as one of the prominent application that implemented under cloud computing environment. Cloud computing is a type of network resources that provides on-demands services where the users can access applications inside it at any location and no time border. It also promises for minimizing the cost of maintenance and provides a flexible of data storage capacity. The aim of this article is to review the definition and types of cloud computing for improving digital learning management as required in the 21st century education. The analysis of digital learning context focused on primary school in Malaysia. Types of cloud applications and services in education sector are also discussed in the article. Finally, gap analysis and direction of cloud computing in education sector for facing the 21st century challenges are suggested.

Social Work Grand Challenges: Leaders' Perceptions of the Potential for Partnering with Business.

PubMed

Long, Ashley

2018-04-23

Social work's ability to address complex societal problems such as those identified in the American Academy of Social Work and Social Welfare's Grand Challenges for Social Work is reliant on being innovative in how we prepare social workers and how we collaborate with others, including business. This research seeks to understand how leaders of major social work organizations perceive potential partnership with the business sector-including both possible threats and opportunities. Interviews were conducted with those serving on the Council on Social Work Education's Leadership Roundtable. The research explores how emerging partnership models can be helpful and ways in which the profession can prepare practitioners for better partnering with the business sector. Qualitative findings identify four key strategies to address the grand challenges and enhance partnerships: (1) more interdisciplinary work is needed, (2) social work students need to be adequately equipped for collaborative work, (3) a cohesive message is needed from the field, and (4) the potential benefits for partnering with business outweigh the risks.

Institutions and the implementation of tobacco control in Brazil.

PubMed

Lencucha, Raphael; Drope, Jeffrey; Bialous, Stella Aguinaga; Richter, Ana Paula; Silva, Vera Luiza da Costa E

2017-10-19

This research examines the institutional features of Brazil's National Commission for the Implementation of the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (CONICQ) and how these institutional features have facilitated and hindered its ability to foster intersectoral tobacco control. In particular, we evaluate the key institutional features of CONICQ starting from when it was one of the key drivers of change and improvements in early tobacco control policies, which helped to make Brazil a world leader in this area. We also examine how the committee has evolved, as tobacco control has improved and particularly elucidate some of the major challenges that it faces to bring together often disparate government sectors to generate public health policies.

Empirically evaluating the impact of adjudicative tribunals in the health sector: context, challenges and opportunities.

PubMed

Hoffman, Steven J; Sossin, Lorne

2012-04-01

Adjudicative tribunals are an integral part of health system governance, yet their real-world impact remains largely unknown. Most assessments focus on internal accountability and use anecdotal methodologies; few, studies if any, empirically evaluate their external impact and use these data to test effectiveness, track performance, inform service improvements and ultimately strengthen health systems. Given that such assessments would yield important benefits and have been conducted successfully in similar settings (e.g. specialist courts), their absence is likely attributable to complexity in the health system, methodological difficulties and the legal environment within which tribunals operate. We suggest practical steps for potential evaluators to conduct empirical impact evaluations along with an evaluation matrix template featuring possible target outcomes and corresponding surrogate endpoints, performance indicators and empirical methodologies. Several system-level strategies for supporting such assessments have also been suggested for academics, health system institutions, health planners and research funders. Action is necessary to ensure that policymakers do not continue operating without evidence but can rather pursue data-driven strategies that are more likely to achieve their health system goals in a cost-effective way.

Stability of the sectored morphology of polymer crystallites

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Alageshan, Jaya Kumar; Hatwalne, Yashodhan; Muthukumar, Murugappan

2016-09-01

When an entangled interpenetrating collection of long flexible polymer chains dispersed in a suitable solvent is cooled to low enough temperatures, thin lamellar crystals form. Remarkably, these lamellae are sectored, with several growth sectors that have differing melting temperatures and growth kinetics, eluding so far an understanding of their origins. We present a theoretical model to explain this six-decade-old challenge by addressing the elasticity of fold surfaces of finite-sized lamella in the presence of disclination-type topological defects arising from anisotropic line tension. Entrapment of a disclination defect in a lamella results in sectors separated by walls, which are soliton solutions of a two-dimensional elliptic sine-Gordon equation. For flat square morphologies, exact results show that sectored squares are more stable than plain squares if the dimensionless anisotropic line tension parameter α =γa n/√{h4Kϕ } (γa n = anisotropic line tension, h4 = fold energy parameter, Kϕ = elastic constant for two-dimensional orientational deformation) is above a critical value, which depends on the size of the square.

Estimating Energy Consumption of Mobile Fluid Power in the United States

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Lynch, Lauren; Zigler, Bradley T.

This report estimates the market size and energy consumption of mobile off-road applications utilizing hydraulic fluid power, and summarizes technology gaps and implementation barriers. Mobile fluid power is the use of hydraulic fluids under pressure to transmit power in mobile equipment applications. The mobile off-road fluid power sector includes various uses of hydraulic fluid power equipment with fundamentally diverse end-use application and operational requirements, such as a skid steer loader, a wheel loader or an agriculture tractor. The agriculture and construction segments dominate the mobile off-road fluid power market in component unit sales volume. An estimated range of energy consumedmore » by the mobile off-road fluid power sector is 0.36 - 1.8 quads per year, which was 1.3 percent - 6.5 percent of the total energy consumed in 2016 by the transportation sector. Opportunities for efficiency improvements within the fluid power system result from needs to level and reduce the peak system load requirements and develop new technologies to reduce fluid power system level losses, both of which may be facilitated by characterizing duty cycles to define standardized performance test methods. There are currently no commonly accepted standardized test methods for evaluating equipment level efficiency over a duty cycle. The off-road transportation sector currently meets criteria emissions requirements, and there are no efficiency regulations requiring original equipment manufacturers (OEM) to invest in new architecture development to improve the fuel economy of mobile off-road fluid power systems. In addition, the end-user efficiency interests are outweighed by low equipment purchase or lease price concerns, required payback periods, and reliability and durability requirements of new architecture. Current economics, low market volumes with high product diversity, and regulation compliance challenge OEM investment in commercialization of new architecture development.« less

Climate and Water Vulnerability of the US Electricity Grid Under High Penetrations of Renewable Energy

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Macknick, J.; Miara, A.; O'Connell, M.; Vorosmarty, C. J.; Newmark, R. L.

2017-12-01

The US power sector is highly dependent upon water resources for reliable operations, primarily for thermoelectric cooling and hydropower technologies. Changes in the availability and temperature of water resources can limit electricity generation and cause outages at power plants, which substantially affect grid-level operational decisions. While the effects of water variability and climate changes on individual power plants are well documented, prior studies have not identified the significance of these impacts at the regional systems-level at which the grid operates, including whether there are risks for large-scale blackouts, brownouts, or increases in production costs. Adequately assessing electric grid system-level impacts requires detailed power sector modeling tools that can incorporate electric transmission infrastructure, capacity reserves, and other grid characteristics. Here, we present for the first time, a study of how climate and water variability affect operations of the power sector, considering different electricity sector configurations (low vs. high renewable) and environmental regulations. We use a case study of the US Eastern Interconnection, building off the Eastern Renewable Generation Integration Study (ERGIS) that explored operational challenges of high penetrations of renewable energy on the grid. We evaluate climate-water constraints on individual power plants, using the Thermoelectric Power and Thermal Pollution (TP2M) model coupled with the PLEXOS electricity production cost model, in the context of broader electricity grid operations. Using a five minute time step for future years, we analyze scenarios of 10% to 30% renewable energy penetration along with considerations of river temperature regulations to compare the cost, performance, and reliability tradeoffs of water-dependent thermoelectric generation and variable renewable energy technologies under climate stresses. This work provides novel insights into the resilience and reliability of different configurations of the US electric grid subject to changing climate conditions.

Post-crisis Zimbabwe's innovative financing mechanisms in the social sectors: a practical approach to implementing the new deal for engagement in fragile states.

PubMed

Salama, Peter; Ha, Wei; Negin, Joel; Muradzikwa, Samson

2014-12-14

Donor engagement in transitional settings, complex emergencies and fragile states is increasing. Neither short-term humanitarian aid nor traditional development financing are well adapted for such environments. Multi-donor trust funds, in their current form, can be unwieldy and subject to long delays in initiation and work best when national governments are already strong. We reviewed the aid modalities used in Zimbabwe through the period of crisis, 2008-2012 and their results and implications. Literature review and case experience was utilised. By focusing on working with line ministries in non-contested sectors to determine local priorities rather than following global prescriptions, pooling funds to achieve scale rather than delivering through fragmented projects, and building on national systems and capacities rather than setting up parallel mechanisms, the Transition Fund Model employed in Zimbabwe by UNICEF and partners in partnership with the Inclusive Government was able to achieve important results in health, education, social support and water services in a challenging setting. In addition, forums for collaboration were developed that provided a platform for further action. The initial emphasis on service delivery diffused much of the political delicateness that impeded progress in other sectors. The Zimbabwean experience may provide a model of innovative financing for countries facing similar circumstances. Such models may represent a new practical application of the Paris Principles, consistent with the major tenets of the 2011 New Deal for Engagement in Fragile States agreed in Busan. As we approach the Millennium Development Goal deadline, an over-arching, mutli-sectoral and independent evaluation of this approach is recommended in order to validate findings and assess broader replicability of this approach.

Important challenges for coordination and inter-municipal cooperation in health care services: a Delphi study

PubMed Central

2013-01-01

Background Demographical changes have stimulated a coordination reform in the Norwegian health care sector, creating new working practices and extending coordination within and between primary and hospital care, increasing the need for inter-municipal cooperation (IMC). This study aimed to identify challenges to coordination and IMC in the Norwegian health care sector as a basis for further theorizing and managerial advice in this growing area of research and practice. Methods A Delphi study of consensus development was used. Experts in coordination and IMC in health care services were selected by the healthcare manager or the councillor in their respective municipalities. In the first round, an expert panel received open-ended questions addressing possible challenges, and their answers were categorized and consolidated as the basis for further validation in the second round. The expert panel members were then asked to point out important statements in the third round, before the most important statements ranked by a majority of the members were rated again in the fourth round, including the option to explain the ratings. The same procedure was used in round five, with the exception that the expert panel members could view the consolidated results of their previous rankings as the basis for a new and final rating. The statements reaching consensus in round five were abstracted and themed. Results Nineteen experts consented to participate. Nine experts (47%) completed all of the five rounds. Eight statements concerning coordination reached consensus, resulting in four themes covering these challenges: different culture, uneven balance of power, lack of the possibility to communicate electronically, and demanding tasks in relation to resources. Three statements regarding challenges to IMC reached consensus, resulting in following themes: coopetition, complex leadership, and resistance to change. Conclusions This study identified several important challenges for coordination and it supports previous research. IMC in health care services deals with challenges other than coordination, and these must be addressed specifically. Our study contributes to extended knowledge of theoretical and practical implications in the field of coordination and IMC in health care sector. PMID:24171839

Public health evaluation in the twenty-first century: time to see the wood as well as the trees.

PubMed

Smith, Richard D; Petticrew, Mark

2010-03-01

This paper argues that concepts, methodologies and practices within public health need further development if they are to be sufficient to allow us to develop, undertake and evaluate interventions in the twenty-first century. The public health profession, and the disciplines that contribute to it, maintains the historical focus upon detailed micro analysis (individual and health sector) and not broader macro analysis (societal and system). This brief paper suggests why this is and outlines three challenges it poses: specifying and evaluating outcomes; specifying and understanding complex causal pathways in social interventions and the development of multisector evaluation, to meet information demands from multiple stakeholders. While there is general agreement that public health evaluation needs development, this paper argues that the focus needs to be more upon a broader evaluative space than is currently practiced. There is a need to move beyond primary and secondary health-related effects upon individuals, and focus more on evaluation of the wider range and distribution of direct and indirect effects upon individuals, communities and populations. That is, those involved in public health evaluation need to step back and first consider the wood before focusing in on specific trees.

Challenges in the quality assurance of elemental and isotopic analyses in the nuclear domain benefitting from high resolution ICP-OES and sector field ICP-MS.

PubMed

Krachler, Michael; Alvarez-Sarandes, Rafael; Van Winckel, Stefaan

Accurate analytical data reinforces fundamentally the meaningfulness of nuclear fuel performance assessments and nuclear waste characterization. Regularly lacking matrix-matched certified reference materials, quality assurance of elemental and isotopic analysis of nuclear materials remains a challenging endeavour. In this context, this review highlights various dedicated experimental approaches envisaged at the European Commission-Joint Research Centre-Institute for Transuranium Elements to overcome this limitation, mainly focussing on the use of high resolution-inductively coupled plasma-optical emission spectrometry (HR-ICP-OES) and sector field-inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (SF-ICP-MS). However, also α- and γ-spectrometry are included here to help characterise extensively the investigated actinide solutions for their actual concentration, potential impurities and isotopic purity.

Data warehousing in molecular biology.

PubMed

Schönbach, C; Kowalski-Saunders, P; Brusic, V

2000-05-01

In the business and healthcare sectors data warehousing has provided effective solutions for information usage and knowledge discovery from databases. However, data warehousing applications in the biological research and development (R&D) sector are lagging far behind. The fuzziness and complexity of biological data represent a major challenge in data warehousing for molecular biology. By combining experiences in other domains with our findings from building a model database, we have defined the requirements for data warehousing in molecular biology.

Health Sector Reform and Social Determinants of Health: building up theoretical and methodological interconnections to approach complex global challenges.

PubMed

Junior, Garibaldi Dantas Gurgel

2014-01-01

Health Sector Reform and Social Determinants of Health are central issues for the current international policy debate, considering the turbulent scenario and the threat of economic recession in a global scale. Although these themes have been discussed for a long time, three major issues still calls the attention of the scientific community and health policymakers. The first one is the matter of how to approach scientifically the intricate connections between them in order to understand the consequences of policies for healthcare services, once this debate will become much more tensioned in the coming years. The second one is the lack of explanatory frameworks to investigate the policies of reform strategies, simultaneously observed in a variety of countries within distinct health services, which aim to achieve multiple and contradictory goals vis-à-vis the so-called social determinants of health. The third one is the challenge that governments face in developing and sustaining equitable health services, bearing in mind the intense political dispute behind the health sector reform processes. This article discusses an all-embracing theoretical and methodological scheme to address these questions. The aim is to connect macro- and middle-range theories to examine Social Determinants and Health Sector Reform interdependent issues, with view to developing new knowledge and attaining scientific understanding upon the role of universal and equitable healthcare systems, in order to avoid deepening economic crises.

Access to artesunate-amodiaquine, quinine and other anti-malarials: policy and markets in Burundi.

PubMed

Amuasi, John H; Diap, Graciela; Blay-Nguah, Samuel; Boakye, Isaac; Karikari, Patrick E; Dismas, Baza; Karenzo, Jeanne; Nsabiyumva, Lievin; Louie, Karly S; Kiechel, Jean-René

2011-02-10

Malaria is the leading cause of morbidity and mortality in post-conflict Burundi. To counter the increasing challenge of anti-malarial drug resistance and improve highly effective treatment Burundi adopted artesunate-amodiaquine (AS-AQ) as first-line treatment for uncomplicated Plasmodium falciparum malaria and oral quinine as second-line treatment in its national treatment policy in 2003. Uptake of this policy in the public, private and non-governmental (NGO) retail market sectors of Burundi is relatively unknown. This study was conducted to evaluate access to national policy recommended anti-malarials. Adapting a standardized methodology developed by Health Action International/World Health Organization (HAI/WHO), a cross-sectional survey of 70 (24 public, 36 private, and 10 NGO) medicine outlets was conducted in three regions of Burundi, representing different levels of transmission of malaria. The availability on day of the survey, the median prices, and affordability (in terms of number of days' wages to purchase treatment) of AS-AQ, quinine and other anti-malarials were calculated. Anti-malarials were stocked in all outlets surveyed. AS-AQ was available in 87.5%, 33.3%, and 90% of public, private, and NGO retail outlets, respectively. Quinine was the most common anti-malarial found in all outlet types. Non-policy recommended anti-malarials were mainly found in the private outlets (38.9%) compared to public (4.2%) and NGO (0%) outlets. The median price of a course of AS-AQ was US$0.16 (200 Burundi Francs, FBu) for the public and NGO markets, and 3.5-fold higher in the private sector (US$0.56 or 700 FBu). Quinine tablets were similarly priced in the public (US$1.53 or 1,892.50 FBu), private and NGO sectors (both US$1.61 or 2,000 FBu). Non-policy anti-malarials were priced 50-fold higher than the price of AS-AQ in the public sector. A course of AS-AQ was affordable at 0.4 of a day's wage in the public and NGO sectors, whereas, it was equivalent to 1.5 days worth of wages in the private sector. AS-AQ was widely available and affordable in the public and NGO markets of hard-to-reach post-conflict communities in Burundi. However greater accessibility and affordability of policy recommended anti-malarials in the private market sector is needed to improve country-wide policy uptake.

Strengthening health disaster risk management in Africa: multi-sectoral and people-centred approaches are required in the post-Hyogo Framework of Action era.

PubMed

Olu, Olushayo; Usman, Abdulmumini; Manga, Lucien; Anyangwe, Stella; Kalambay, Kalula; Nsenga, Ngoy; Woldetsadik, Solomon; Hampton, Craig; Nguessan, Francois; Benson, Angela

2016-08-02

In November 2012, the 62nd session of the Regional Committee for Africa adopted a comprehensive 10-year regional strategy for health disaster risk management (DRM). This was intended to operationalize the World Health Organization's core commitments to health DRM and the Hyogo Framework for Action 2005-2015 in the health sectors of the 47 African member states. This study reported the formative evaluation of the strategy, including evaluation of the progress in achieving nine targets (expected to be achieved incrementally by 2014, 2017, and 2022). We proposed recommendations for accelerating the strategy's implementation within the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction. This study used a mixed methods design. A cross-sectional quantitative survey was conducted along with a review of available reports and information on the implementation of the strategy. A review meeting to discuss and finalize the study findings was also conducted. In total, 58 % of the countries assessed had established DRM coordination units within their Ministry of Health (MOH). Most had dedicated MOH DRM staff (88 %) and national-level DRM committees (71 %). Only 14 (58 %) of the countries had health DRM subcommittees using a multi-sectoral disaster risk reduction platform. Less than 40 % had conducted surveys such as disaster risk analysis, hospital safety index, and mapping of health resources availability. Key challenges in implementing the strategy were inadequate political will and commitment resulting in poor funding for health DRM, weak health systems, and a dearth of scientific evidence on mainstreaming DRM and disaster risk reduction in longer-term health system development programs. Implementation of the strategy was behind anticipated targets despite some positive outcomes, such as an increase in the number of countries with health DRM incorporated in their national health legislation, MOH DRM units, and functional health sub-committees within national DRM committees. Health system-based, multi-sectoral, and people-centred approaches are proposed to accelerate implementation of the strategy in the post-Hyogo Framework of Action era.

Panel 2.17: private commercial sector partnerships for health action in crises.

PubMed

Sundnes, Knut Ole; Sannerkvist, Milan; Hedger, Philip; Woodworth, Brent; Hyre, Anne; Cuddyre, Terrence; Waldman, Ronald

2005-01-01

This is a summary of the presentations and discussion of Panel 2.17, Private Commercial Sector Partnerships for Health Action in Crises of the Conference, Health Aspects of the Tsunami Disaster in Asia, convened by the World Health Organization (WHO) in Phuket, Thailand, 04-06 May 2005. The topics discussed included issues related to private sector partnerships for health action in crises as pertain to the responses to the damage created by the Tsunami. It is presented in the following sections: (1) key questions; (2) issues and challenges; (3) lessons learned; (4) what was done well?; (5) what could have been done better?; and (6) conclusions and recommendations.

H2Otel Challenge Support Documents

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

Today’s travelers are increasingly looking for eco-friendly accommodations and a hotel’s commitment to sustainability. WaterSense developed series of tools to support water efficiency in the hospitality sector.

Evaluation on the efficiency of the construction sector companies in Malaysia with data envelopment analysis model

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Weng Hoe, Lam; Jinn, Lim Shun; Weng Siew, Lam; Hai, Tey Kim

2018-04-01

In Malaysia, construction sector is essential parts in driving the development of the Malaysian economy. Construction industry is an economic investment and its relationship with economic development is well posited. However, the evaluation on the efficiency of the construction sectors companies listed in Kuala Lumpur Stock Exchange (KLSE) with Data Analysis Envelopment (DEA) model have not been actively studied by the past researchers. Hence the purpose of this study is to examine the financial performance the listed construction sectors companies in Malaysia in the year of 2015. The results of this study show that the efficiency of construction sectors companies can be obtained by using DEA model through ratio analysis which defined as the ratio of total outputs to total inputs. This study is significant because the inefficient companies are identified for potential improvement.

The creation of the health consumer: challenges on health sector regulation after managed care era.

PubMed

Iriart, Celia; Franco, Tulio; Merhy, Emerson E

2011-02-24

We utilized our previous studies analyzing the reforms affecting the health sector developed in the 1990s by financial groups to frame the strategies implemented by the pharmaceutical industry to regain market positions and to understand the challenges that regulatory agencies are confronting. We followed an analytical approach for analyzing the process generated by the disputes between the financial groups and the pharmaceutical corporations and the challenges created to governmental regulation. We analyzed primary and secondary sources using situational and discourse analyses. We introduced the concepts of biomedicalization and biopedagogy, which allowed us to analyze how medicalization was radicalized. In the 1990s, structural adjustment policies facilitated health reforms that allowed the entrance of multinational financial capital into publicly-financed and employer-based insurance. This model operated in contraposition to the interests of the medical industrial complex, which since the middle of the 1990s had developed silent reforms to regain authority in defining the health-ill-care model. These silent reforms radicalized the medicalization. Some reforms took place through deregulatory processes, such as allowing direct-to-consumer advertisements of prescription drugs in the United States. In other countries different strategies were facilitated by the lack of regulation of other media such as the internet. The pharmaceutical industry also has had a role in changing disease definitions, rebranding others, creating new ones, and pressuring for approval of treatments to be paid by public, employer, and private plans. In recent years in Brazil there has been a substantial increase in the number of judicial claims demanding that public administrations pay for new treatments. We found that the dispute for the hegemony of the health sector between financial and pharmaceutical companies has deeply transformed the sector. Patients converted into consumers are exposed to the biomedicalization of their lives helped by the biopedagogies, which using subtle mechanisms present discourses as if they are objective and created to empower consumers. The analysis of judicialization of health policies in Brazil could help to understand the complexity of the problem and to develop democratic mechanisms to improve the regulation of the health sector.

The creation of the health consumer: challenges on health sector regulation after managed care era

PubMed Central

2011-01-01

Background We utilized our previous studies analyzing the reforms affecting the health sector developed in the 1990s by financial groups to frame the strategies implemented by the pharmaceutical industry to regain market positions and to understand the challenges that regulatory agencies are confronting. Methods We followed an analytical approach for analyzing the process generated by the disputes between the financial groups and the pharmaceutical corporations and the challenges created to governmental regulation. We analyzed primary and secondary sources using situational and discourse analyses. We introduced the concepts of biomedicalization and biopedagogy, which allowed us to analyze how medicalization was radicalized. Results In the 1990s, structural adjustment policies facilitated health reforms that allowed the entrance of multinational financial capital into publicly-financed and employer-based insurance. This model operated in contraposition to the interests of the medical industrial complex, which since the middle of the 1990s had developed silent reforms to regain authority in defining the health-ill-care model. These silent reforms radicalized the medicalization. Some reforms took place through deregulatory processes, such as allowing direct-to-consumer advertisements of prescription drugs in the United States. In other countries different strategies were facilitated by the lack of regulation of other media such as the internet. The pharmaceutical industry also has had a role in changing disease definitions, rebranding others, creating new ones, and pressuring for approval of treatments to be paid by public, employer, and private plans. In recent years in Brazil there has been a substantial increase in the number of judicial claims demanding that public administrations pay for new treatments. Conclusions We found that the dispute for the hegemony of the health sector between financial and pharmaceutical companies has deeply transformed the sector. Patients converted into consumers are exposed to the biomedicalization of their lives helped by the biopedagogies, which using subtle mechanisms present discourses as if they are objective and created to empower consumers. The analysis of judicialization of health policies in Brazil could help to understand the complexity of the problem and to develop democratic mechanisms to improve the regulation of the health sector. PMID:21349181

[Trends in hospital care].

PubMed

Vecina Neto, Gonzalo; Malik, Ana Maria

2007-01-01

This paper analyses trends in the delivery of hospital services in Brazil, considering the setting, the current situation and its challenges, examining what still remains to be done. The variables studied for the analysis of the setting are: demography, epidemiological profile, human resources, technology, medicalization, costs, review of the role of the citizen, legislation, equity, hospital-centricity and regionalization, care fractioning and bed availability. The Brazilian setting was studied through the supplementary healthcare model, financing and the healthcare area production chain. The observations of the current situation present external evaluation models, outsourcing, public-private relationships, de-hospitalization and financing. The analysis of the challenges examines the need for long range planning, the quest for new legal models for the 'business', the use of information and information systems, cost controls and the need for enhanced efficiency and compliance with legal directives, guaranteed universal access to full healthcare facilities, the inclusion of primary prevention in healthcare procedures, integrating the public and private sectors and engaging physicians in solving problems.

Educational Connoisseurship and Criticism: Evaluation of a Cooperation Model between University and the Sector on Vocational Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kaysi, Feyzi; Bavli, Bunyamin; Gurol, Aysun

2017-01-01

Vocational schools which were opened to raise intermediate staff for the sector must update their functions to fulfill the intermediate staff need emerging as a result of the developments and changes in the sector through the time. Considering the needs of the sector, updating content of the courses and opening new lessons or programs will fulfill…

Government Funding on Access to Secondary Education in Kenya: Challenges and Prospects

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ndiku, J. Mualuko; Muhavi, S. Lucy

2013-01-01

One of the major challenges facing secondary education sub-sector in Kenya over the years is low transition rate from primary to secondary level of education. This has contributed to low enrolment at secondary schools with a wide gap existing between primary and secondary enrolment. With the introduction of Free Primary Education in 2003, the gap…

Up to Par: The Challenge of Demonstrating Quality in Canadian Post-Secondary Education. Challenges in Canadian Post-Secondary Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Canadian Council on Learning, 2009

2009-01-01

When viewed holistically, Canada lacks a clear and common understanding of the future directions and top priorities of its post-secondary education (PSE) sector. Perhaps as a result, Canada has not yet comprehensively addressed a fundamental question: How does it demonstrate quality in PSE? To answer this question requires clarification of many…

Meeting the Challenges of Higher Education in India through Open Educational Resources: Policies, Practices, and Implications

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Thakran, Archana; Sharma, Ramesh C.

2016-01-01

Over the past two decades, the education sector in India has undergone a substantial transformation. Recent advances in technology have provided access to high quality educational resources and information on the Internet. This article examines the role of open educational resources (OER) in addressing the challenges of higher education in India,…

If the Shoe Doesn't Fit: A Case and a Place for Collaborative Learning for Music Practice in Higher Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Forbes, Melissa

2016-01-01

This article reviews relevant literature to provide a rationale for the use of collaborative learning for first year music practice courses at an Australian regional university. Higher music education is still grappling with the challenges posed by the Dawkins Review and ongoing reforms in the sector. These challenges include increased public…

Pre-School Education: Unpacking Dilemmas and Challenges Experienced by Caregivers--A Case of Private Sectors in Mutare Urban-Zimbabwe

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Chiparange, Getrude Vongai; Saruchera, Kenneth

2016-01-01

Despite the remarkable awareness in Zimbabwe of the importance of Early Childhood Development and Education (ECD), there is insufficient motivation for communities, local authorities and central government to make strategic plans for universal position. The study was to unpack dilemmas and challenges related to the implementation of the ECD…

Teacher as a Key Role Player to Induce Quality Education: Challenges and Prospects of Primary Schools in Addis Ababa

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Shishigu, Aweke

2016-01-01

There is no question that Ethiopia registered an extraordinary achievement in terms of increasing student enrolment, but quality education still remains a challenge and is becoming a bottleneck for the country. The efforts made to improve quality through Education Sector Development Plan (ESDP) are promising. But those changes are worse doing if…

Of taps and toilets: quasi-experimental protocol for evaluating community-demand-driven projects.

PubMed

Pattanayak, Subhrendu K; Poulos, Christine; Yang, Jui-Chen; Patil, Sumeet R; Wendland, Kelly J

2009-09-01

Sustainable and equitable access to safe water and adequate sanitation are widely acknowledged as vital, yet neglected, development goals. Water supply and sanitation (WSS) policies are justified because of the usual efficiency criteria, but also major equity concerns. Yet, to date there are few scientific impact evaluations showing that WSS policies are effective in delivering social welfare outcomes. This lack of an evaluation culture is partly because WSS policies are characterized by diverse mechanisms, broad goals and the increasing importance of decentralized delivery, and partly because programme administrators are unaware of appropriate methods. We describe a protocol for a quasi-experimental evaluation of a community-demand-driven programme for water and sanitation in rural India, which addresses several evaluation challenges. After briefly reviewing policy and implementation issues in the sector, we describe key features of our protocol, including control group identification, pre-post measurement, programme theory, sample sufficiency and robust indicators. At its core, our protocol proposes to combine propensity score matching and difference-in-difference estimation. We conclude by briefly summarizing how quasi-experimental impact evaluations can address key issues in WSS policy design and when such evaluations are needed.

Implementing quality initiatives in healthcare organizations: drivers and challenges.

PubMed

Abdallah, Abdallah

2014-01-01

Various quality initiatives seem to have successful implementation in some healthcare organizations yet fail in others. This paper sets out to study the literature trying to understand drivers and challenges facing quality initiatives implementation in healthcare organizations then compare findings from literature with those of a structured questionnaire answered by 60 representatives from 18 hospitals. Finally it proposes a framework that mitigates challenges and utilizes drivers to ensure best implementation results. Literature regarding implementing various quality initiatives in the healthcare sector was reviewed. Representatives from several healthcare organizations were surveyed. Results from both approaches are compared to highlight the key challenges and drivers facing implementers. This research reveals that internal factors related to leadership and employees greatly affect quality initiative success or failure. Design and relevance play a major role in successful implementation. PRACTICAL IMPLICATIONs: This research offers healthcare professionals greater success when implementing certain quality initiatives by taking success/failure factors into consideration. A general framework for successful implementation in the healthcare sector is provided. This article uncovers reasons behind success or failure in a comprehensive and practical way. It also explores how most popular quality initiatives are applied in hospitals.

Managing Demand and Capacity Using Multi-Sector Planning and Flexible Airspace: Human-in-the-Loop Evaluation of NextGen

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Lee, Paul U.; Smith, Nancy M.; Prevot, Thomas; Homola, Jeffrey R.

2010-01-01

When demand for an airspace sector exceeds capacity, the balance can be re-established by reducing the demand, increasing the capacity, or both. The Multi-Sector Planner (MSP) concept has been proposed to better manage traffic demand by modifying trajectories across multiple sectors. A complementary approach to MSP, called Flexible Airspace Management (FAM), reconfigures the airspace such that capacity can be reallocated dynamically to balance the traffic demand across multiple sectors, resulting in fewer traffic management initiatives. The two concepts have been evaluated with a series of human-in-the-loop simulations at the Airspace Operations Laboratory to examine and refine the roles of the human operators in these concepts, as well as their tools and procedural requirements. So far MSP and FAM functions have been evaluated individually but the integration of the two functions is desirable since there are significant overlaps in their goals, geographic/temporal scope of the problem space, and the implementation timeframe. Ongoing research is planned to refine the humans roles in the integrated concept.

Analysis of the Evaluation of a New Glucose Meter with Integrated Self-Management Software and USB Connectivity

PubMed Central

Crowe, Daniel J

2011-01-01

Glucose meter technology has not kept up with the advances that have occurred in other sectors in mobile and health care technology. A new device that combines strip-based capillary blood glucose monitoring and USB flash drive technology is evaluated in an industry-funded study in a cohort of patients and health care professionals. The expanded memory capacity of flash drives allows the software program to be stored on the device for analyzing the blood glucose readings in memory. The study analyzes the device for precision and accuracy as well as for ease of adaptability and usage. This analysis focuses on shortcomings in the design of the study and methodology in addition to features of the hardware device itself. Although the device has distinct advantages over many devices on the market, a challenge is made to device manufacturers to encourage further innovation. PMID:22027309

[Evaluation of financial performance of health services: reflections of operational policies in the hospital sector].

PubMed

Bonacim, Carlos Alberto Grespan; de Araujo, Adriana Maria Procópio

2011-01-01

Discussions about management manners and procedures has been relevant among organization managers in the health services. The health services economic evaluation approaches this theme and is taking an important role around the world, demanding the manager new challenges concerning the continuous search of activities efficiency and efficacy. The objective is to describe the consequences of operational changes in the economic-financial indicators of a Public Hospital. The methodology applied included besides the literature research, a case study in the "Hospital das Clínicas da Faculdade de Medicina de Ribeirão Preto--USP". The values found confirm the context of the hospital. One concludes that the average costs present similar behaviors with trend to stabilization, thus confirming improvements in efficiency. The importance of the rendering of accounts for the society related to the use of public resources and how this study can help in this way.

On the evaluation of social innovations and social enterprises: Recognizing and integrating two solitudes in the empirical knowledge base.

PubMed

Szijarto, Barbara; Milley, Peter; Svensson, Kate; Cousins, J Bradley

2018-02-01

Social innovation (SI) is billed as a new way to address complex social problems. Interest in SI has intensified rapidly in the last decade, making it an important area of practice for evaluators, but a difficult one to navigate. Learning from developments in SI and evaluation approaches applied in SI contexts is challenging because of 'fuzzy' concepts and silos of activity and knowledge within SI communities. This study presents findings from a systematic review and integration of 41 empirical studies on evaluation in SI contexts. We identify two isolated conversations: one about 'social enterprises' (SEs) and the other about non-SE 'social innovations'. These conversations diverge in key areas, including engagement with evaluation scholarship, and in the reported purposes, approaches and use of evaluation. We identified striking differences with respect to degree of interest in collaborative approaches and facilitation of evaluation use. The findings speak to trends and debates in our field, for example how evaluation might reconcile divergent information needs in multilevel, cross-sectoral collaborations and respond to fluidity and change in innovative settings. Implications for practitioners and commissioners of evaluation include how evaluation is used in different contexts and the voice of evaluators (and the evaluation profession) in these conversations. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Engaging research with policy and action: what are the challenges of responding to zoonotic disease in Africa?

PubMed

Bardosh, Kevin Louis; Scoones, Jake Cornwall; Grace, Delia; Kalema-Zikusoka, Gladys; Jones, Kate E; de Balogh, Katinka; Waltner-Toews, David; Bett, Bernard; Welburn, Susan C; Mumford, Elizabeth; Dzingirai, Vupenyu

2017-07-19

Zoonotic diseases will maintain a high level of public policy attention in the coming decades. From the spectre of a global pandemic to anxieties over agricultural change, urbanization, social inequality and threats to natural ecosystems, effectively preparing and responding to endemic and emerging diseases will require technological, institutional and social innovation. Much current discussion emphasizes the need for a 'One Health' approach: bridging disciplines and sectors to tackle these complex dynamics. However, as attention has increased, so too has an appreciation of the practical challenges in linking multi-disciplinary, multi-sectoral research with policy, action and impact. In this commentary paper, we reflect on these issues with particular reference to the African sub-continent. We structure the themes of our analysis on the existing literature, expert opinion and 11 interviews with leading One Health scholars and practitioners, conducted at an international symposium in 2016. We highlight a variety of challenges in research and knowledge production, in the difficult terrain of implementation and outreach, and in the politicized nature of decision-making and priority setting. We then turn our attention to a number of strategies that might help reconfigure current pathways and accepted norms of practice. These include: (i) challenging scientific expertise; (ii) strengthening national multi-sectoral coordination; (iii) building on what works; and (iv) re-framing policy narratives. We argue that bridging the research-policy-action interface in Africa, and better connecting zoonoses, ecosystems and well-being in the twenty-first century, will ultimately require greater attention to the democratization of science and public policy.This article is part of the themed issue 'One Health for a changing world: zoonoses, ecosystems and human well-being'. © 2017 The Authors.

Engaging research with policy and action: what are the challenges of responding to zoonotic disease in Africa?

PubMed Central

Scoones, Jake Cornwall; Kalema-Zikusoka, Gladys; de Balogh, Katinka; Bett, Bernard; Welburn, Susan C.; Mumford, Elizabeth

2017-01-01

Zoonotic diseases will maintain a high level of public policy attention in the coming decades. From the spectre of a global pandemic to anxieties over agricultural change, urbanization, social inequality and threats to natural ecosystems, effectively preparing and responding to endemic and emerging diseases will require technological, institutional and social innovation. Much current discussion emphasizes the need for a ‘One Health’ approach: bridging disciplines and sectors to tackle these complex dynamics. However, as attention has increased, so too has an appreciation of the practical challenges in linking multi-disciplinary, multi-sectoral research with policy, action and impact. In this commentary paper, we reflect on these issues with particular reference to the African sub-continent. We structure the themes of our analysis on the existing literature, expert opinion and 11 interviews with leading One Health scholars and practitioners, conducted at an international symposium in 2016. We highlight a variety of challenges in research and knowledge production, in the difficult terrain of implementation and outreach, and in the politicized nature of decision-making and priority setting. We then turn our attention to a number of strategies that might help reconfigure current pathways and accepted norms of practice. These include: (i) challenging scientific expertise; (ii) strengthening national multi-sectoral coordination; (iii) building on what works; and (iv) re-framing policy narratives. We argue that bridging the research-policy-action interface in Africa, and better connecting zoonoses, ecosystems and well-being in the twenty-first century, will ultimately require greater attention to the democratization of science and public policy. This article is part of the themed issue ‘One Health for a changing world: zoonoses, ecosystems and human well-being’. PMID:28584180

48 CFR 52.207-2 - Notice of Streamlined Competition.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-10-01

... under contract or by Government performance. (b) The Government will evaluate the cost of private sector... accordance with the Circular. If the performance decision favors private sector performance, the Contracting Officer shall either award a contract or issue a competitive solicitation for private sector offers. If...

UNIVERSAL INDUSTRIAL SECTORS INTEGRATED SOLUTIONS MODEL FOR PULP AND PAPER MANUFACTURING INDUSTRY – UISIS-PNP

EPA Science Inventory

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has developed a model for the pulp and paper sector that provides an integrated approach for investigating, developing, and evaluating strategies for reducing the emissions of interest. The Universal Industrial Sectors Integrated Sol...

Factors influencing implementation of the Ministry of Health-led private medicine retailer programmes on malaria in Kenya

PubMed Central

2010-01-01

Background Kenya has experienced a number of retail sector initiatives aimed at improving access to antimalarial medicines. This study explored stakeholders' perceptions of the role of private medicine retailers (PMRs), the value and feasibility of programme goals, perceived programme impact, factors influencing implementation and recommendations in three districts of Kenya. Methods This study was part of a larger evaluation of PMR programmes, including quantitative and qualitative components. The qualitative research was conducted to assess implementation processes and actors' experiences in the programmes, through focus group discussions with trained PMRs and mothers of children under five years, and in-depth interviews with programme managers, trainers and co-trainers. Results PMRs were perceived to provide rapid cheap treatment for non-serious conditions and used as a deliberate and continuously evaluated choice between different treatment sources. All stakeholders supported programme goals and most PMRs described increased customer satisfaction, more rational purchasing of medicine stock and increased medicine sales after participation. Factors undermining programme implementation included a lack of MoH resources to train and monitor large numbers of PMRs, the relative instability of outlets, medicines stocked and retail personnel, the large number of proprietary brands and financial challenges to retailers in stocking antimalarial medicines, and their customers in buying them. Unambiguous national support and a broad range of strategies are important to strengthen the feasibility of change in OTC antimalarial use. Conclusions Understanding the context and implementation processes of PMR programmes and the perspectives of key actors are critical to identifying measures to support their effective implementation. Financial barriers underlie many described challenges, with important implications for policies on subsidies in this sector. In spite of barriers to implementation, increased exposure to programme activities promoted trust and improved relationships between PMRs and their clients and trainers, strengthening feasibility of such interventions. Public information can strengthen PMR training programmes by engaging local communities and may facilitate performance monitoring of PMRs by their clients. PMID:20181234

Factors influencing implementation of the Ministry of Health-led private medicine retailer programmes on malaria in Kenya.

PubMed

Rowa, Yvonne; Abuya, Timothy O; Mutemi, Wilfred K; Ochola, Sam; Molyneux, Sassy; Marsh, Vicki

2010-02-24

Kenya has experienced a number of retail sector initiatives aimed at improving access to antimalarial medicines. This study explored stakeholders' perceptions of the role of private medicine retailers (PMRs), the value and feasibility of programme goals, perceived programme impact, factors influencing implementation and recommendations in three districts of Kenya. This study was part of a larger evaluation of PMR programmes, including quantitative and qualitative components. The qualitative research was conducted to assess implementation processes and actors' experiences in the programmes, through focus group discussions with trained PMRs and mothers of children under five years, and in-depth interviews with programme managers, trainers and co-trainers. PMRs were perceived to provide rapid cheap treatment for non-serious conditions and used as a deliberate and continuously evaluated choice between different treatment sources. All stakeholders supported programme goals and most PMRs described increased customer satisfaction, more rational purchasing of medicine stock and increased medicine sales after participation. Factors undermining programme implementation included a lack of MoH resources to train and monitor large numbers of PMRs, the relative instability of outlets, medicines stocked and retail personnel, the large number of proprietary brands and financial challenges to retailers in stocking antimalarial medicines, and their customers in buying them. Unambiguous national support and a broad range of strategies are important to strengthen the feasibility of change in OTC antimalarial use. Understanding the context and implementation processes of PMR programmes and the perspectives of key actors are critical to identifying measures to support their effective implementation. Financial barriers underlie many described challenges, with important implications for policies on subsidies in this sector. In spite of barriers to implementation, increased exposure to programme activities promoted trust and improved relationships between PMRs and their clients and trainers, strengthening feasibility of such interventions. Public information can strengthen PMR training programmes by engaging local communities and may facilitate performance monitoring of PMRs by their clients.

An Update on Analyzing Differences Between Public and Private Sector Information Resource Management: Strategic Information Challenges and Critical Technologies

DTIC Science & Technology

2004-06-01

ecommerce architecture is the business—it is the company’s competitive advantage. (Morgan, 1998:40) Morgan goes on to illustrate this point by...396 JONES APPAREL GROUP INC 896 NATIONAL RURAL UTILITIES COOPERATIVE 397 COX COMMUNICATIONS INC 897 TRANS WORLD ENTERTAINMENT 398 MELLON FINANCIAL...It Can Work in the Public Sector,” MIS Quarterly, Dec:435-448, 1990. Morgan, T.P. “ Ecommerce Options,” Global Technology Business, Sept:40-42

Wireless Monitoring for Patients with Cardiovascular Diseases and Parkinson's Disease.

PubMed

Kefaliakos, Antonios; Pliakos, Ioannis; Charalampidou, Martha; Diomidous, Marianna

2016-01-01

The use of applications for mobile devices and wireless sensors is common for the sector of telemedicine. Recently various studies and systems were developed in order to help patients suffering from severe diseases such as cardiovascular diseases and Parkinson's disease. They present a challenge for the sector because such systems demand the flow of accurate data in real time and the use of specialized sensors. In this review will be presented some very interesting applications developed for patients with cardiovascular diseases and Parkinson's disease.

Community resiliency through recovery resource supply chain planning.

PubMed

Franklin, Charlotte; Todt, Kiersten

2014-01-01

Information in this paper is the result of recommendations and remedies developed at 'Local Supply Chain Capacity in a Crisis Summit Exercise' held in Arlington, VA on 30th-31st January,2013. At the event, which was funded through the Regional Catastrophic Preparedness Grant Program, national private sector and not-for-profit essential resource provider experts in sectors such as transportation, communication systems, energy/power, financial resources, medical supplies and other vital supplies, together with emergency managers, discussed best practices, major challenges and exchanged remedy recommendations.

U.S. commercial space activities - Returning the U.S. to preeminence in space

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Stone, Barbara A.

1987-01-01

The current status of NASA's activities related to the commercial development of space is reviewed with particular reference to the emerging new commercial space activities and the post-Challenger policy developments affecting space commerce. The discussion covers the development of U.S. private sector launching capabilities, cooperative agreements with the private sector, the NASA technology utilization program, the technology applications activities of the Office of Commercial Programs, and the activities of the Centers for the Commercial Development of Space program.

Privatized managed care and forensic mental health services.

PubMed

Packer, I K

1998-01-01

Managed care for mental health services, which began in the private, commercial sector, has spread over the past few years to the public mental health sector as well. Recently, states have begun considering whether to include the forensic population within their privatized managed care systems. This article explores some of the complexities and special challenges unique to forensic services and notes some of the problems that might be incurred if the forensic population were included in a managed care system.

Primary health care nurses implement and evaluate a community outreach approach to health care in the South African agricultural sector.

PubMed

Dick, J; Clarke, M; van Zyl, H; Daniels, K

2007-12-01

Early detection and effective case management of tuberculosis (TB) among a high-risk group of materially poor farm workers in an area of the Cape Winelands, South Africa, presents special challenges to the health community, where resource constraints lead to service reduction. In order to address this problem, local nurses established a collaborative partnership between permanent farm workers and their families, their employers, selected non-governmental organizations and the public health sector. In consultation with stakeholders, they developed an intervention primarily focusing on having peer selected trained lay health workers (LHWs) on farms, mentored and managed by nurses. To describe the complex process of implementation and evaluation of the LHW project, and provide a summary of a number of discrete studies evaluating the effectiveness, cost implications, and the perceptions and experiences of key stakeholders of the intervention. Quantitative and qualitative research methods conducted within the context of a pragmatic unblinded community cluster randomized control trial were used. Emphasis was placed on an iterative participatory interaction between the researchers and key stakeholders. The intervention contributed to significantly better successful treatment completion rates among adult new smear-positive TB cases. The process implemented proved cost-effective and was pivotal in initiating a community-based social development programme. The use of peer-selected LHWs within a wider programme of integrated care designed to merge technical biomedical approaches to disease management with more holistic social development activities, appears essential to meet the complex health needs in conjunction with public health of the rural poor.

Survey Says: Using Teacher Feedback to Bolster Evaluation

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wiener, Ross; Lundy, Kasia

2014-01-01

Many of the leading private sector organizations have for years embraced a survey approach to improving products, services, and internal policies and processes. Like these successful private sector businesses, school systems can utilize a similar survey-based approach to improving teacher evaluation. Here, the authors provide and outline some…

Government stewardship of the for-profit private health sector in Afghanistan

PubMed Central

Sayedi, Omarzaman; Irani, Laili; Archer, Lauren C.; Sears, Kathleen; Sharma, Suneeta

2017-01-01

Abstract Background: Since 2003, Afghanistan's largely unregulated for-profit private health sector has grown at a rapid pace. In 2008, the Ministry of Public Health (MoPH) launched a long-term stewardship initiative to oversee and regulate private providers and align the sector with national health goals. Aim: We examine the progress the MoPH has made towards more effective stewardship, consider the challenges and assess the early impacts on for-profit performance. Methods: We reviewed publicly available documents, publications and the grey literature to analyse the development, adoption and implementation of strategies, policies and regulations. We carried out a series of key informant/participant interviews, organizational capacity assessments and analyses of hospital standards checklists. Using a literature review of health systems strengthening, we proposed an Afghan-specific definition of six key stewardship functions to assess progress towards MoPH stewardship objectives. Results: The MoPH and its partners have achieved positive results in strengthening its private sector stewardship functions especially in generating actionable intelligence and establishing strategic policy directions, administrative structures and a legal and regulatory framework. Progress has also been made on improving accountability and transparency, building partnerships and applying minimum required standards to private hospitals. Procedural and operational issues still need resolution and the MoPH is establishing mechanisms for resolving them. Conclusions: The MoPH stewardship initiative is notable for its achievements to date under challenging circumstances. Its success is due to the focus on developing a solid policy framework and building institutions and systems aimed at ensuring higher quality private services, and a rational long-term and sustainable role for the private sector. Although the MoPH stewardship initiative is still at an early stage, the evidence suggests that enhanced stewardship functions in the MoPH are leading to a more efficient and effective for-profit private sector. These successful early efforts offer high-leverage potential to rapidly scale up going forward. PMID:27683341

Factors influencing the adoption of a healthy eating campaign by federal cross-sector partners: a qualitative study.

PubMed

Fernandez, Melissa Anne; Desroches, Sophie; Turcotte, Mylène; Marquis, Marie; Dufour, Joëlle; Provencher, Véronique

2016-08-30

The Eat Well Campaign (EWC) was a social marketing campaign developed by Health Canada and disseminated to the public with the help of cross-sector partners. The purpose of this study was to describe factors that influenced cross-sector partners' decision to adopt the EWC. Thematic content analysis, based primarily on an a priori codebook of constructs from Roger's diffusion of innovations decision process model, was conducted on hour-long semi-structured telephone interviews with Health Canada's cross-sector partners (n = 18). Dominant themes influencing cross-sector partners' decision to adopt the EWC were: high compatibility with the organization's values; being associated with Health Canada; and low perceived complexity of activities. Several adopters indicated that social norms (e.g., knowing that other organizations in their network were involved in the collaboration) played a strong role in their decision to participate, particularly for food retailers and small organizations. The opportunity itself to work in partnership with Health Canada and other organizations was seen as a prominent relative advantage by many organizations. Adopters were characterized as having high social participation and positive attitudes towards health, new ideas and Health Canada. The lack of exposure to the mass media channels used to diffuse the campaign and reserved attitudes towards Health Canada were prominent obstacles identified by a minority of health organizations, which challenged the decision to adopt the EWC. Most other barriers were considered as minor challenges and did not appear to impede the adoption process. Understanding factors that influence cross-sector adoption of nutrition initiatives can help decision makers target the most appropriate partners to advance public health objectives. Government health agencies are likely to find strong partners in organizations that share the same values as the initiative, have positive attitudes towards health, are extremely implicated in social causes and value the notion of partnership.

Government stewardship of the for-profit private health sector in Afghanistan.

PubMed

Cross, Harry E; Sayedi, Omarzaman; Irani, Laili; Archer, Lauren C; Sears, Kathleen; Sharma, Suneeta

2017-04-01

Since 2003, Afghanistan's largely unregulated for-profit private health sector has grown at a rapid pace. In 2008, the Ministry of Public Health (MoPH) launched a long-term stewardship initiative to oversee and regulate private providers and align the sector with national health goals. We examine the progress the MoPH has made towards more effective stewardship, consider the challenges and assess the early impacts on for-profit performance. We reviewed publicly available documents, publications and the grey literature to analyse the development, adoption and implementation of strategies, policies and regulations. We carried out a series of key informant/participant interviews, organizational capacity assessments and analyses of hospital standards checklists. Using a literature review of health systems strengthening, we proposed an Afghan-specific definition of six key stewardship functions to assess progress towards MoPH stewardship objectives. The MoPH and its partners have achieved positive results in strengthening its private sector stewardship functions especially in generating actionable intelligence and establishing strategic policy directions, administrative structures and a legal and regulatory framework. Progress has also been made on improving accountability and transparency, building partnerships and applying minimum required standards to private hospitals. Procedural and operational issues still need resolution and the MoPH is establishing mechanisms for resolving them. The MoPH stewardship initiative is notable for its achievements to date under challenging circumstances. Its success is due to the focus on developing a solid policy framework and building institutions and systems aimed at ensuring higher quality private services, and a rational long-term and sustainable role for the private sector. Although the MoPH stewardship initiative is still at an early stage, the evidence suggests that enhanced stewardship functions in the MoPH are leading to a more efficient and effective for-profit private sector. These successful early efforts offer high-leverage potential to rapidly scale up going forward. © VC The Author 2016. Published by Oxford University Press in association with The London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.

Qualitative analysis of national documents on health care services and pharmaceuticals` purchasing challenges: evidence from Iran.

PubMed

Bastani, Peivand; Samadbeik, Mahnaz; Dinarvand, Rassoul; Kashefian-Naeeini, Sara; Vatankhah, Soudabeh

2018-06-05

Iranian health sector encountered many challenges in resource allocation and health service purchasing during the past decades, the aim of this study was to determine the main challenges of the present process of health service purchasing for national policymakers and other developing countries with the same setting. It was a qualitative study carried out via the complete content analysis of all relevant national documents from 2007 to 2014. In order to retrieve the related documents, we searched the official websites related to the Ministry of Health and Medical Education, four main Iranian insurance organizations, the Health Committee of the Parliament Profile, strategic vice president's site and Supreme Insurance Council. After recognition of documents, their credibility and authenticity were evaluated in terms of their publication or adjustment. For the analysis of documents, the four step-Scott method was used applying MAXQDA version 10. Findings illustrated that health service purchase challenges in the country can be classified in 6 main themes of policy-making, executive, intersectional, natural, legal and informational challenges with 26 subthemes. Furthermore, 5 themes of Basic Benefit Package, Reimbursement,Decision making, Technology and Contract are considered as the main Challenges in pharmaceutical purchasing area containing 13 relevant subthemes. It seems that according to documents, Iran has faced many structural and procedural problems with the purchase of the best health interventions. So it is highly recommended to consider consequences derived from the present challenges and try to use these evidences in their policy making process to decrease the existed problems and move to better procurement of health interventions.

Assessing Organizational Readiness for a Participatory Occupational Health/Health Promotion Intervention in Skilled Nursing Facilities.

PubMed

Zhang, Yuan; Flum, Marian; West, Cheryl; Punnett, Laura

2015-09-01

The long-term care sector is characterized by high morbidity and employee turnover, along with associated costs. Effective health protection and health promotion are important to improve physical and psychosocial well-being of caregivers. Assessment of organizational readiness for change is an essential precursor to the successful implementation of workplace programs addressing work climate, structure of tasks and relationships, and other issues that may be perceived as challenging by some within the institution. This study qualitatively assessed readiness of five skilled nursing facilities for a participatory occupational health/health promotion intervention. Selection criteria were developed to screen for program feasibility and ability to conduct prospective evaluations, and information was collected from managers and employees (interviews and focus groups). Three centers were selected for the program, and the first year of formative evaluation and intervention experience was then reviewed to evaluate and modify our selection criteria after the fact. Lessons learned include adding assessment of communication and the structure of problem solving to our selection criteria, improving methods to assess management support in a concrete (potentially nonverbal) form, and obtaining a stated financial commitment and resources to enable the team to function. Assessment of organizational readiness for change is challenging, although necessary to implement effective and sustainable health promotion programs in specific organizations. © 2015 Society for Public Health Education.

Achieving universal health care coverage: Current debates in Ghana on covering those outside the formal sector

PubMed Central

2012-01-01

Background Globally, extending financial protection and equitable access to health services to those outside the formal sector employment is a major challenge for achieving universal coverage. While some favour contributory schemes, others have embraced tax-funded health service cover for those outside the formal sector. This paper critically examines the issue of how to cover those outside the formal sector through the lens of stakeholder views on the proposed one-time premium payment (OTPP) policy in Ghana. Discussion Ghana in 2004 implemented a National Health Insurance Scheme, based on a contributory model where service benefits are restricted to those who contribute (with some groups exempted from contributing), as the policy direction for moving towards universal coverage. In 2008, the OTPP system was proposed as an alternative way of ensuring coverage for those outside formal sector employment. There are divergent stakeholder views with regard to the meaning of the one-time premium and how it will be financed and sustained. Our stakeholder interviews indicate that the underlying issue being debated is whether the current contributory NHIS model for those outside the formal employment sector should be maintained or whether services for this group should be tax funded. However, the advantages and disadvantages of these alternatives are not being explored in an explicit or systematic way and are obscured by the considerable confusion about the likely design of the OTPP policy. We attempt to contribute to the broader debate about how best to fund coverage for those outside the formal sector by unpacking some of these issues and pointing to the empirical evidence needed to shed even further light on appropriate funding mechanisms for universal health systems. Summary The Ghanaian debate on OTPP is related to one of the most important challenges facing low- and middle-income countries seeking to achieve a universal health care system. It is critical that there is more extensive debate on the advantages and disadvantages of alternative funding mechanisms, supported by a solid evidence base, and with the policy objective of universal coverage providing the guiding light. PMID:23102454

An Overview of Total Quality Management (TQM) practice in Construction Sector

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Likita, A. J.; Zainun, N. Y.; Rahman, I. Abdul; Awal, A. S. M. Abdul; Alias, A. R.; Rahman, M. Q. Abdul; Ghazali, F. E. Mohamed

2018-04-01

In construction sector TQM can be termed as a philosophy which guides construction professionals on the proper execution of construction projects in terms of quality. The aim of this paper is to discuss on quality management practice in construction sector. This paper evaluated five previous researches and the findings were discussed to find a conclusion of TQM practise in construction sector. The study found that TQM had been successfully practice in construction sector at Saudi Arabia, India, US and South Africa. Application of Artificial Neural Network (ANN) help to improve the implementation of TQM in construction sector. In conclusion, quality management practices will give better control of processes in construction sector.

e-Human Grid Ecology - understanding and approaching the inverse tragedy of the commons in the e-Grid society.

PubMed

Knoch, Tobias A; Baumgärtner, Volkmar; de Zeeuw, Luc V; Grosveld, Frank G; Egger, Kurt

2009-01-01

With ever-new technologies emerging also the amount of information to be stored and processed is growing exponentially and is believed to be always at the limit. In contrast, however, huge resources are available in the IT sector alike e.g. the renewable energy sector, which are often even not at all used. This under-usage bares any rational especially in the IT sector where e.g. virtualisation and grid approaches could be fast implemented due to the great technical and fast turnover opportunities. Here, we describe this obvious paradox for the first time as the Inverse Tragedy of the Commons, in contrast to the Classical Tragedy of the Commons where resources are overexploited. From this perspective the grid IT sector attempting to share resources for better efficiency, reveals two challenges leading to the heart of the paradox: i) From a macro perspective all grid infrastructures involve not only mere technical solutions but also dominantly all of the autopoietic social sub-systems ranging from religion to policy. ii) On the micro level the individual players and their psychology and risk behaviour are of major importance for acting within the macro autopoietic framework. Thus, the challenges of grid implementation are similar to those of e.g. climate protection. This is well described by the classic Human Ecology triangle and our extension to a rectangle: invironment-individual-society-environment. Extension of this classical interdisciplinary field of basic and applied research to an e-Human Grid Ecology rational, allows the Inverse Tragedy of the Commons of the grid sector to be understood and approached better and implies obvious guidelines in the day-to-day management for grid and other (networked) resources, which is of importance for many fields with similar paradoxes as in (e-)society.

Strengthening institutional and organizational capacity for social health protection of the informal sector in lesser-developed countries: a study of policy barriers and opportunities in Cambodia.

PubMed

Annear, Peter Leslie; Ahmed, Shakil; Ros, Chhun Eang; Ir, Por

2013-11-01

Reaching out to the poor and the informal sector is a major challenge for achieving universal coverage in lesser-developed countries. In Cambodia, extensive coverage by health equity funds for the poor has created the opportunity to consolidate various non-government health financing schemes under the government's proposed social health protection structure. This paper identifies the main policy and operational challenges to strengthening existing arrangements for the poor and the informal sector, and considers policy options to address these barriers. Conducted in conjunction with the Cambodian Ministry of Health in 2011-12, the study reviewed policy documents and collected qualitative data through 18 semi-structured key informant interviews with government, non-government and donor officials. Data were analysed using the Organizational Assessment for Improving and Strengthening Health Financing conceptual framework. We found that a significant shortfall related to institutional, organisational and health financing issues resulted in fragmentation and constrained the implementation of social health protection schemes, including health equity funds, community-based health insurance, vouchers and others. Key documents proposed the establishment of a national structure for the unification of the informal-sector schemes but left unresolved issues related to structure, institutional capacity and the third-party status of the national agency. This study adds to the evidence base on appropriate and effective institutional and organizational arrangements for social health protection in the informal sector in developing countries. Among the key lessons are: the need to expand the fiscal space for health care; a commitment to equity; specific measures to protect the poor; building national capacity for administration of universal coverage; and working within the specific national context. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Agent-based model with multi-level herding for complex financial systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chen, Jun-Jie; Tan, Lei; Zheng, Bo

2015-02-01

In complex financial systems, the sector structure and volatility clustering are respectively important features of the spatial and temporal correlations. However, the microscopic generation mechanism of the sector structure is not yet understood. Especially, how to produce these two features in one model remains challenging. We introduce a novel interaction mechanism, i.e., the multi-level herding, in constructing an agent-based model to investigate the sector structure combined with volatility clustering. According to the previous market performance, agents trade in groups, and their herding behavior comprises the herding at stock, sector and market levels. Further, we propose methods to determine the key model parameters from historical market data, rather than from statistical fitting of the results. From the simulation, we obtain the sector structure and volatility clustering, as well as the eigenvalue distribution of the cross-correlation matrix, for the New York and Hong Kong stock exchanges. These properties are in agreement with the empirical ones. Our results quantitatively reveal that the multi-level herding is the microscopic generation mechanism of the sector structure, and provide new insight into the spatio-temporal interactions in financial systems at the microscopic level.

Agent-based model with multi-level herding for complex financial systems

PubMed Central

Chen, Jun-Jie; Tan, Lei; Zheng, Bo

2015-01-01

In complex financial systems, the sector structure and volatility clustering are respectively important features of the spatial and temporal correlations. However, the microscopic generation mechanism of the sector structure is not yet understood. Especially, how to produce these two features in one model remains challenging. We introduce a novel interaction mechanism, i.e., the multi-level herding, in constructing an agent-based model to investigate the sector structure combined with volatility clustering. According to the previous market performance, agents trade in groups, and their herding behavior comprises the herding at stock, sector and market levels. Further, we propose methods to determine the key model parameters from historical market data, rather than from statistical fitting of the results. From the simulation, we obtain the sector structure and volatility clustering, as well as the eigenvalue distribution of the cross-correlation matrix, for the New York and Hong Kong stock exchanges. These properties are in agreement with the empirical ones. Our results quantitatively reveal that the multi-level herding is the microscopic generation mechanism of the sector structure, and provide new insight into the spatio-temporal interactions in financial systems at the microscopic level. PMID:25669427

Achieving the Sustainable Development Goal 06 in Brazil: the universal access to sanitation as a possible mission.

PubMed

Dias, Cintia M M; Rosa, Luiz P; Gomez, Jose M A; D'Avignon, Alexandre

2018-04-16

Sanitation (which includes national public policies for drinking water, sewage services and waste management) is precarious in Brazil and therefore poses a challenge to a range of actors. Poor sanitation impacts public health, education, the environment, and daily life. Globally, it emits increasing greenhouse gases. Universalization of any major public service appears difficult, if not impossible; however, Brazil's program to universalize access to electricity proves the opposite, as will be shown in this paper. By describing the successful implementation of electricity for everyone, we show that planned public efforts, coordinated with private initiatives and local communities, have worked, and the same can be achieved for the sanitation sector. An overview of all sectors that touch on sanitation and emissions is also provided, highlighting the challenges and possibilities for infrastructure projects.

Harnessing Private-Sector Innovation to Improve Health Insurance Exchanges

PubMed Central

Gresenz, Carole Roan; Hoch, Emily; Eibner, Christine; Rudin, Robert S.; Mattke, Soeren

2016-01-01

Abstract Overhauling the individual health insurance market—including through the creation of health insurance exchanges—was a key component of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act's multidimensional approach to addressing the long-standing problem of the uninsured in the United States. Despite succeeding in enrolling millions of Americans, the exchanges still face several challenges, including poor consumer experience, high operational and development costs, and incomplete market penetration. In light of these challenges, analysts considered a different model for the exchanges—privately facilitated exchanges—which could address these challenges and deepen the Affordable Care Act's impact. In this model, the government retains control over sovereign exchange functions but allows the private sector to assume responsibility for more-peripheral exchange functions, such as developing and sustaining exchange websites. Although private-sector entities have already undertaken exchange-related functions on a limited basis, privately facilitated exchanges could conceivably relieve the government of its responsibility for front-end website operations and consumer decision-support functions entirely. A shift to privately facilitated exchanges could improve the consumer experience, increase enrollment, and lower costs for state and federal governments. A move to such a model requires, nonetheless, managing its risks, such as reduced consumer protection, increased consumer confusion, and the possible lack of a viable revenue base for privately facilitated exchanges, especially in less populous states. On net, the benefits are large enough and the risks sufficiently manageable to seriously consider such a shift. This paper provides background information and more detail on the analysts' assessment. PMID:28083414

Global Adoption of Genetically Modified (GM) Crops: Challenges for the Public Sector.

PubMed

Huesing, Joseph E; Andres, David; Braverman, Michael P; Burns, Andrea; Felsot, Allan S; Harrigan, George G; Hellmich, Richard L; Reynolds, Alan; Shelton, Anthony M; Jansen van Rijssen, Wilna; Morris, E Jane; Eloff, Jacobus N

2016-01-20

Advances in biotechnology continue to drive the development of a wide range of insect-protected, herbicide-tolerant, stress-tolerant, and nutritionally enhanced genetically modified (GM) crops, yet societal and public policy considerations may slow their commercialization. Such restrictions may disproportionately affect developing countries, as well as smaller entrepreneurial and public sector initiatives. The 2014 IUPAC International Congress of Pesticide Chemistry (San Francisco, CA, USA; August 2014) included a symposium on "Challenges Associated with Global Adoption of Agricultural Biotechnology" to review current obstacles in promoting GM crops. Challenges identified by symposium presenters included (i) poor public understanding of GM technology and the need for enhanced communication strategies, (ii) nonharmonized and prescriptive regulatory requirements, and (iii) limited experience with regulations and product development within some public sector programs. The need for holistic resistance management programs to enable the most effective use of insect-protected crops was also a point of emphasis. This paper provides details on the symposium discussion and provides background information that can be used in support of further adoption of beneficial GM crops. Overall, it emphasizes that global adoption of modern agricultural biotechnology has not only provided benefits to growers and consumers but has great potential to provide solutions to an increasing global population and diminishing agricultural land. This potential will be realized by continued scientific innovation, harmonized regulatory systems, and broader communication of the benefits of the high-yielding, disease-resistant, and nutritionally enhanced crops attainable through modern biotechnology.

Harnessing Private-Sector Innovation to Improve Health Insurance Exchanges.

PubMed

Gresenz, Carole Roan; Hoch, Emily; Eibner, Christine; Rudin, Robert S; Mattke, Soeren

2016-05-09

Overhauling the individual health insurance market-including through the creation of health insurance exchanges-was a key component of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act's multidimensional approach to addressing the long-standing problem of the uninsured in the United States. Despite succeeding in enrolling millions of Americans, the exchanges still face several challenges, including poor consumer experience, high operational and development costs, and incomplete market penetration. In light of these challenges, analysts considered a different model for the exchanges-privately facilitated exchanges-which could address these challenges and deepen the Affordable Care Act's impact. In this model, the government retains control over sovereign exchange functions but allows the private sector to assume responsibility for more-peripheral exchange functions, such as developing and sustaining exchange websites. Although private-sector entities have already undertaken exchange-related functions on a limited basis, privately facilitated exchanges could conceivably relieve the government of its responsibility for front-end website operations and consumer decision-support functions entirely. A shift to privately facilitated exchanges could improve the consumer experience, increase enrollment, and lower costs for state and federal governments. A move to such a model requires, nonetheless, managing its risks, such as reduced consumer protection, increased consumer confusion, and the possible lack of a viable revenue base for privately facilitated exchanges, especially in less populous states. On net, the benefits are large enough and the risks sufficiently manageable to seriously consider such a shift. This paper provides background information and more detail on the analysts' assessment.

Postgraduate Emergency Medicine Training in India: An Educational Partnership with the Private Sector.

PubMed

Douglass, Katherine; Pousson, Amelia; Gidwani, Shweta; Smith, Jeffrey

2015-11-01

Emergency medicine (EM) is a recently recognized specialty in India, still in its infancy. Local training programs are developing, but remain very limited. Private, for-profit hospitals are an important provider of graduate medical education (GME) in India, and are partnering with United States (US) universities in EM to expand training opportunities. Our aim was to describe current private-sector programs affiliated with a US university providing postgraduate EM training in India, the evolution and structure of these programs, and successes and challenges of program implementation. Programs have been established in seven cities in India in partnership with a US academic institution. Full-time trainees have required didactics, clinical rotations, research, and annual examinations. Faculty members affiliated with the US institution visit each program monthly. Regular evaluations have informed program modifications, and a local faculty development program has been implemented. Currently, 240 trainees are enrolled in the EM postgraduate program, and 141 physicians have graduated. A pilot survey conducted in 2012 revealed that 93% of graduates are currently practicing EM, 82% of those in India; 71% are involved in teaching, and 32% in research. Further investigation into programmatic impacts is necessary. Challenges include issues of formal program recognition both in India and abroad. This unique partnership is playing a major early role in EM GME in India. Future steps include official program recognition, expanded numbers of training sites, and a gradual transition of training and education to local faculty. Similar partnership programs may be effective in other settings outside of India. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Lean healthcare in developing countries: evidence from Brazilian hospitals.

PubMed

Costa, Luana Bonome Message; Filho, Moacir Godinho; Rentes, Antonio Freitas; Bertani, Thiago Moreno; Mardegan, Ronaldo

2017-01-01

The present study evaluates how five sectors of two Brazilian hospitals have implemented lean healthcare concepts in their operations. The main characteristics of the implementation process are analyzed in the present study: the motivational factor for implementation, implementation time, form (consultancy or internal), team (hospital and consultants), lean implementation continuity/sustainability, lean healthcare tools and methods implemented, problems/improvement opportunities, lean healthcare barriers faced during the implementation process, and critical factors that affected the implementation and the results obtained in each case. The case studies indicate that reducing patient lead times and costs and making financial improvements were the primary factors that motivated lean healthcare implementation in the hospitals studied. Several tools and methods were used in the cases studied, especially value stream mapping and DMAIC. The barriers found in both hospitals are primarily associated with the human factor. Additionally, the results obtained after implementation were analyzed and improvements in financial aspects, productivity and capacity, and lead time reduction of the analyzed sectors were observed. Further, this study also exhibited four propositions elaborated from the results obtained from the cases that highlighted barriers and challenges to lean healthcare implementation in developing countries. Two of these barriers are hospital organizational structure (and, consequently, how the senior management works with medical staff), and outsourcing hospital activities. This study also concluded that the initialization and maintenance of lean healthcare implementation rely heavily on external support because lean healthcare subject knowledge is not yet available in the healthcare organization, which represents a challenge. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Can developing countries achieve adequate improvements in child health outcomes without engaging the private sector?

PubMed

Bustreo, Flavia; Harding, April; Axelsson, Henrik

2003-01-01

The private sector exerts a significant and critical influence on child health outcomes in developing countries, including the health of poor children. This article reviews the available evidence on private sector utilization and quality of care. It provides a framework for analysing the private sector's influence on child health outcomes. This influence goes beyond service provision by private providers and nongovernmental organizations (NGOs). Pharmacies, drug sellers, private suppliers, and food producers also have an impact on the health of children. Many governments are experimenting with strategies to engage the private sector to improve child health. The article analyses some of the most promising strategies, and suggests that a number of constraints make it hard for policy-makers to emulate these approaches. Few experiences are clearly described, monitored, and evaluated. The article suggests that improving the impact of child health programmes in developing countries requires a more systematic analysis of how to engage the private sector most effectively. The starting point should include the evaluation of the presence and potential of the private sector, including actors such as professional associations, producer organizations, community groups, and patients' organizations.

Can developing countries achieve adequate improvements in child health outcomes without engaging the private sector?

PubMed Central

Bustreo, Flavia; Harding, April; Axelsson, Henrik

2003-01-01

The private sector exerts a significant and critical influence on child health outcomes in developing countries, including the health of poor children. This article reviews the available evidence on private sector utilization and quality of care. It provides a framework for analysing the private sector's influence on child health outcomes. This influence goes beyond service provision by private providers and nongovernmental organizations (NGOs). Pharmacies, drug sellers, private suppliers, and food producers also have an impact on the health of children. Many governments are experimenting with strategies to engage the private sector to improve child health. The article analyses some of the most promising strategies, and suggests that a number of constraints make it hard for policy-makers to emulate these approaches. Few experiences are clearly described, monitored, and evaluated. The article suggests that improving the impact of child health programmes in developing countries requires a more systematic analysis of how to engage the private sector most effectively. The starting point should include the evaluation of the presence and potential of the private sector, including actors such as professional associations, producer organizations, community groups, and patients' organizations. PMID:14997241

Deming meets Braverman: toward a progressive analysis of the continuous quality improvement paradigm.

PubMed

Schiff, G D; Goldfield, N I

1994-01-01

The continuous quality improvement (CQI) model has rapidly become the dominant management paradigm in U.S. industrial and health care leadership circles. Despite its widespread corporate acceptance and its relevance to public sector policy issues, there has been a paucity of progressive analysis of CQI. The authors begin by noting remarkable similarities between CQI critiques of Taylorism (so-called scientific management of work) with those made by Braverman, a leading Marxist analyst of the work process. Each of the 14 principles of CQI pioneer W. E. Deming are explained and analyzed for their progressive content. These pluses are then contrasted with 18 problematic issues in an attempt to challenge and go beyond the constraints of CQI as it is currently being applied in health care and other sectors. These issues include (1) mismatch between rhetoric and reality, (2) public sector issues, and (3) broader contradictions. The authors emphasize the genuine need for improving health care quality and the relevance of CQI for addressing this need. They challenge progressives to grapple with the profound contradictions by the CQI paradigm inviting a broader dialogue on CQI's meaning for improving the public's health.

Place integration through efforts to support healthy aging in resource frontier communities: the role of voluntary sector leadership.

PubMed

Hanlon, Neil; Skinner, Mark W; Joseph, Alun E; Ryser, Laura; Halseth, Greg

2014-09-01

Resource-dependent communities in hinterland regions of Australia, Canada and elsewhere are rapidly aging, yet many features that distinguish them (e.g., geographic remoteness, small populations, infrastructure built with younger persons in mind) also pose significant challenges for healthy aging. These challenges can lead to substantial gaps in access to formal health and social services, with negative implications for older residents aging-in-place and the development aspirations of resource frontier communities. In this paper, we explore the efforts of voluntary sector leaders to transform resource communities into more livable and supportive places for older adults. We offer a case study of two small towns in Canada׳s aging resource frontier; one forestry-dependent and the other dependent on coal mining. Our findings suggest that place integration develops through volunteer work and explains how voluntarism works as both a process and outcome of 'placemaking'. We argue that greater attention to place integration is needed to bring into focus the transformative potential of the voluntary sector in creating supportive and sustainable environments for healthy aging. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Linked sustainability challenges and trade-offs among fisheries, aquaculture and agriculture.

PubMed

Blanchard, Julia L; Watson, Reg A; Fulton, Elizabeth A; Cottrell, Richard S; Nash, Kirsty L; Bryndum-Buchholz, Andrea; Büchner, Matthias; Carozza, David A; Cheung, William W L; Elliott, Joshua; Davidson, Lindsay N K; Dulvy, Nicholas K; Dunne, John P; Eddy, Tyler D; Galbraith, Eric; Lotze, Heike K; Maury, Olivier; Müller, Christoph; Tittensor, Derek P; Jennings, Simon

2017-09-01

Fisheries and aquaculture make a crucial contribution to global food security, nutrition and livelihoods. However, the UN Sustainable Development Goals separate marine and terrestrial food production sectors and ecosystems. To sustainably meet increasing global demands for fish, the interlinkages among goals within and across fisheries, aquaculture and agriculture sectors must be recognized and addressed along with their changing nature. Here, we assess and highlight development challenges for fisheries-dependent countries based on analyses of interactions and trade-offs between goals focusing on food, biodiversity and climate change. We demonstrate that some countries are likely to face double jeopardies in both fisheries and agriculture sectors under climate change. The strategies to mitigate these risks will be context-dependent, and will need to directly address the trade-offs among Sustainable Development Goals, such as halting biodiversity loss and reducing poverty. Countries with low adaptive capacity but increasing demand for food require greater support and capacity building to transition towards reconciling trade-offs. Necessary actions are context-dependent and include effective governance, improved management and conservation, maximizing societal and environmental benefits from trade, increased equitability of distribution and innovation in food production, including continued development of low input and low impact aquaculture.

Systematic literature review of integrated community case management and the private sector in Africa: Relevant experiences and potential next steps.

PubMed

Awor, Phyllis; Miller, Jane; Peterson, Stefan

2014-12-01

Despite substantial investments made over the past 40 years in low income countries, governments cannot be viewed as the principal health care provider in many countries. Evidence on the role of the private sector in the delivery of health services is becoming increasingly available. In this study, we set out to determine the extent to which the private sector has been utilized in providing integrated care for sick children under 5 years of age with community-acquired malaria, pneumonia or diarrhoea. We reviewed the published literature for integrated community case management (iCCM) related experiences within both the public and private sector. We searched PubMed and Google/Google Scholar for all relevant literature until July 2014. The search terms used were "malaria", "pneumonia", "diarrhoea", "private sector" and "community case management". A total of 383 articles referred to malaria, pneumonia or diarrhoea in the private sector. The large majority of these studies (290) were only malaria related. Most of the iCCM-related studies evaluated introduction of only malaria drugs and/or diagnostics into the private sector. Only one study evaluated the introduction of drugs and diagnostics for malaria, pneumonia and diarrhoea in the private sector. In contrast, most iCCM-related studies in the public sector directly reported on community case management of 2 or more of the illnesses. While the private sector is an important source of care for children in low income countries, little has been done to harness the potential of this sector in improving access to care for non-malaria-associated fever in children within the community. It would be logical for iCCM programs to expand their activities to include the private sector to achieve higher population coverage. An implementation research agenda for private sector integrated care of febrile childhood illness needs to be developed and implemented in conjunction with private sector intervention programs.

Effectiveness of surgical masks against influenza bioaerosols.

PubMed

Makison Booth, C; Clayton, M; Crook, B; Gawn, J M

2013-05-01

Most surgical masks are not certified for use as respiratory protective devices (RPDs). In the event of an influenza pandemic, logistical and practical implications such as storage and fit testing will restrict the use of RPDs to certain high-risk procedures that are likely to generate large amounts of infectious bioaerosols. Studies have shown that in such circumstances increased numbers of surgical masks are worn, but the protection afforded to the wearer by a surgical mask against infectious aerosols is not well understood. To develop and apply a method for assessing the protection afforded by surgical masks against a bioaerosol challenge. A dummy test head attached to a breathing simulator was used to test the performance of surgical masks against a viral challenge. Several designs of surgical masks commonly used in the UK healthcare sector were evaluated by measuring levels of inert particles and live aerosolised influenza virus in the air, from in front of and behind each mask. Live influenza virus was measurable from the air behind all surgical masks tested. The data indicate that a surgical mask will reduce exposure to aerosolised infectious influenza virus; reductions ranged from 1.1- to 55-fold (average 6-fold), depending on the design of the mask. We describe a workable method to evaluate the protective efficacy of surgical masks and RPDs against a relevant aerosolised biological challenge. The results demonstrated limitations of surgical masks in this context, although they are to some extent protective. Crown Copyright © 2013. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Mental health system governance in Nigeria: challenges, opportunities and strategies for improvement.

PubMed

Abdulmalik, J; Kola, L; Gureje, O

2016-01-01

A health systems approach to understanding efforts for improving health care services is gaining traction globally. A component of this approach focuses on health system governance (HSG), which can make or mar the successful implementation of health care interventions. Very few studies have explored HSG in low- and middle-income countries, including Nigeria. Studies focusing on mental health system governance, are even more of a rarity. This study evaluates the mental HSG of Nigeria with a view to understanding the challenges, opportunities and strategies for strengthening it. This study was conducted as part of the project, Emerging Mental Health Systems in Low and Middle Income Countries (Emerald). A multi-method study design was utilized to evaluate the mental HSG status of Nigeria. A situational analysis of the health policy and legal environment in the country was performed. Subsequently, 30 key informant interviews were conducted at national, state and district levels to explore the country's mental HSG. The existing policy, legislative and institutional framework for HSG in Nigeria reveals a complete exclusion of mental health in key health sector documents. The revised mental health policy is however promising. Using the Siddiqi framework categories, we identified pragmatic strategies for mental health system strengthening that include a consideration of existing challenges and opportunities within the system. The identified strategies provide a template for the subsequent activities of the Emerald Programme (and other interventions), towards strengthening the mental health system of Nigeria.

Responding to the Challenges of KM Education in the LIS Sector: Some Academic and Professional Perspectives

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hazeri, Afsaneh; Martin, Bill

2009-01-01

As a newly emerging field of study, KM education is faced with significant challenges which continue to evolve. Informed by wider organisational perspectives, this paper presents the findings of recent research into this field. The first part of the research was in the form of an online survey canvassing the views of the wider LIS community on the…

Accelerating Innovation that Enhances Resource Recovery in the Wastewater Sector: Advancing a National Testbed Network.

PubMed

Mihelcic, James R; Ren, Zhiyong Jason; Cornejo, Pablo K; Fisher, Aaron; Simon, A J; Snyder, Seth W; Zhang, Qiong; Rosso, Diego; Huggins, Tyler M; Cooper, William; Moeller, Jeff; Rose, Bob; Schottel, Brandi L; Turgeon, Jason

2017-07-18

This Feature examines significant challenges and opportunities to spur innovation and accelerate adoption of reliable technologies that enhance integrated resource recovery in the wastewater sector through the creation of a national testbed network. The network is a virtual entity that connects appropriate physical testing facilities, and other components needed for a testbed network, with researchers, investors, technology providers, utilities, regulators, and other stakeholders to accelerate the adoption of innovative technologies and processes that are needed for the water resource recovery facility of the future. Here we summarize and extract key issues and developments, to provide a strategy for the wastewater sector to accelerate a path forward that leads to new sustainable water infrastructures.

Subjective Performance Evaluation in the Public Sector: Evidence from School Inspections. CEE DP 135

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hussain, Iftikhar

2012-01-01

Performance measurement in the public sector is largely based on objective metrics, which may be subject to gaming behaviour. This paper investigates a novel subjective performance evaluation system where independent inspectors visit schools at very short notice, publicly disclose their findings and sanction schools rated fail. First, I…

Removing the Veil of Ignorance in Assessing the Distributional Impacts of Social Policies.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Carneiro, Pedro; Hansen, Karsten T.; Heckman, James J.

This paper summarizes research on evaluating the distributional consequences of social programs, presenting the evaluation problem for an economy with two sectors (e.g., schooled and unschooled) where agents select or are selected into treatment (one of the two sectors). It considers policies affecting choices of treatment but not potential…

The Practice of Evaluation in Public Sector Contexts: A Response

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Chouinard, Jill Anne

2013-01-01

In the original paper, it was argued that while there is an array of methods and methodologies available, their use is delimited by the culture of accountability that prevails in public sector institutions, a fact that is particularly problematic given the complexity and diversity of evaluation contexts today. This short rejoinder, to responses…

Benchmarking and Its Relevance to the Library and Information Sector. Interim Findings of "Best Practice Benchmarking in the Library and Information Sector," a British Library Research and Development Department Project.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kinnell, Margaret; Garrod, Penny

This British Library Research and Development Department study assesses current activities and attitudes toward quality management in library and information services (LIS) in the academic sector as well as the commercial/industrial sector. Definitions and types of benchmarking are described, and the relevance of benchmarking to LIS is evaluated.…

Research Frontiers in Public Sector Performance Measurement

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhonghua, Cai; Ye, Wang

In "New Public Management" era, performance measurement has been widely used in managerial practices of public sectors. From the content and features of performance measurement, this paper aims to explore inspirations on Chinese public sector performance measurement, which based on a review of prior literatures including influencial factors, methods and indicators of public sector performance evaluation. In the end, arguments are presented in this paper pointed out the direction of future researches in this field.

Inter-Sectoral Bisphenol A (BPA) Flows in the 2012 Chinese Economy.

PubMed

Jiang, Daqian; Chen, Wei-Qiang; Liu, Wei; Chertow, Marian

2017-08-01

Bisphenol A (BPA), a widely used petrochemical compound, has become an emerging global environmental management challenge because its leakage is associated with potential environmental and human health impacts. Until now, available BPA statistics have been limited to the products that directly use BPA. In this study, we delineate direct and indirect BPA flows for the 2012 Chinese economy. We find that construction, production of educational and recreational products, and automobile manufacturing are the most BPA-intensive sectors in terms of total BPA flows (300, 157, and 130 Gg total BPA flows, respectively). The public management and health sectors, however, incur significant indirect BPA flows, defined as embedded and inter-sectoral BPA placed into use, even though direct BPA use by these sectors is limited. By revealing the currently overlooked indirect BPA flows, this study reveals data gaps that are highly relevant to improving the accuracy of estimated BPA flows and losses. The method used herein is transferrable to other emerging and environmentally relevant materials, thereby providing the holistic understanding needed for cities, regions, or nations to design effective policy interventions.

Estimating work-related amputations in the Norwegian manufacturing sector: a 10-year retrospective study based on two-source capture-recapture method.

PubMed

Samant, Yogindra; Parker, David; Wergeland, Ebba; Lund, Johan; Westin, Steinar

2012-01-01

Work-related amputations are serious yet preventable injuries. Workers in the manufacturing sector in particular are vulnerable to amputation injuries compared to workers in other sectors. In this study, we used a two-source capture recapture method to estimate the true number of annual work-related amputations in the Norwegian manufacturing sector for a 10-year study period (1998-2007). The two-sources utilized in this study were the Norwegian Labor Inspection Authorities Registry of Work-Related Injuries (RWI) and the Association of Norwegian Private Insurance Companies registry for occupational injuries (ANPIC). We estimated an annual incidence rate that ranged from 21/100 000 to 62/100 000 workers during the study period. Our findings indicate an undercount of amputations reported to the Norwegian Labour Inspection Authority's registry ranging from 16% to 58% during the study period. Work-related amputations remain a challenge in the Norwegian manufacturing sector. This study underscores the need of robust epidemiological surveillance infrastructure and effective interventions to prevent amputations at work.

Diagnosing Geospatial Uncertainty Visualization Challenges in Seasonal Temperature and Precipitation Forecasts

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Speciale, A.; Kenney, M. A.; Gerst, M.; Baer, A. E.; DeWitt, D.; Gottschalk, J.; Handel, S.

2017-12-01

The uncertainty of future weather and climate conditions is important for many decisions made in communities and economic sectors. One tool that decision-makers use in gauging this uncertainty is forecasts, especially maps (or visualizations) of probabilistic forecast results. However, visualizing geospatial uncertainty is challenging because including probability introduces an extra variable to represent and probability is often poorly understood by users. Using focus group and survey methods, this study seeks to understand the barriers to using probabilistic temperature and precipitation visualizations for specific decisions in the agriculture, energy, emergency management, and water resource sectors. Preliminary results shown here focus on findings of emergency manager needs. Our experimental design uses National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA's) Climate Prediction Center (CPC) climate outlooks, which produce probabilistic temperature and precipitation forecast visualizations at the 6-10 day, 8-14 day, 3-4 week, and 1 and 3 month timeframes. Users were asked to complete questions related to how they use weather information, how uncertainty is represented, and design elements (e.g., color, contour lines) of the visualizations. Preliminary results from the emergency management sector indicate there is significant confusion on how "normal" weather is defined, boundaries between probability ranges, and meaning of the contour lines. After a complete understandability diagnosis is made using results from all sectors, we will collaborate with CPC to suggest modifications to the climate outlook visualizations. These modifications will then be retested in similar focus groups and web-based surveys to confirm they better meet the needs of users.

Knowledge, expertise and enthusiasm. Governments need the collaboration of the private sector including NGOs in effectively and timely tackling the global issues.

PubMed

Taniguchi, H

1998-01-01

This article describes the US and Japan's "Common Agenda for Cooperation in Global Perspective." This agenda was launched in July 1993. The aim was to use a bilateral partnership to address critical global challenges in 1) Promotion of Health and Human Development; 2) Protection of the Environment; 3) Responses to Challenges to Global Stability; and 4) Advancement of Science and Technology. The bilateral effort has resulted in 18 initiatives worldwide. Six major accomplishments have occurred in coping with natural disasters in Kobe, Japan, and Los Angeles, US; coral reefs; assistance for women in developing countries; AIDS, children's health; and population problems. The bilateral effort has been successful due to the active involvement of the private sector, including businesses and nongovernmental organizations (NGOs). Many initiatives are developed and implemented in cooperation with local NGOs. The government needs the private sector's technical and managerial fields of expertise. Early investment in NGO efforts ensures the development of self-sustaining programs and public support. An Open Forum was held in March 12-13, 1998, as a commemoration of the 5-year cooperative bilateral effort. Over 300 people attended the Forum. Plenary sessions were devoted to the partnership between public and private sectors under the US-Japan Agenda. Working sessions focused on health and conservation. Participants suggested improved legal systems and social structures for facilitating activities of NGOs, further development by NGOs of their capacities, and support to NGOs from corporations.

Power Watch - A global, open database of power plants that supports research on climate, water and air pollution impact of the global power sector.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Friedrich, J.; Kressig, A.; Van Groenou, S.; McCormick, C.

2017-12-01

Challenge The lack of transparent, accessible, and centralized power sector data inhibits the ability to research the impact of the global power sector. information gaps for citizens, analysts, and decision makers worldwide create barriers to sustainable development efforts. The need for transparent, accessible, and centralized information is especially important to enhance the commitments outlined in the recently adopted Paris Agreement and Sustainable Development Goals. Offer Power Watch will address this challenge by creating a comprehensive, open-source platform on the world's power systems. The platform hosts data on 85% of global installed electrical capacity and for each power plant will include data points on installed capacity, fuel type, annual generation, commissioning year, with more characteristics like emissions, particulate matter, annual water demand and more added over time. Most of the data is reported from national level sources, but annual generation and other operational characteristiscs are estimated via Machine Learning modeling and remotely sensed data when not officially reported. In addition, Power Watch plans to provide a suite of tools that address specific decision maker needs, such as water risk assessments and air pollution modeling. Impact Through open data, the platform and its tools will allow reserachers to do more analysis of power sector impacts and perform energy modeling. It will help catalyze accountability for policy makers, businesses, and investors and will inform and drive the transition to a clean energy future while reaching development targets.

Diabetes prevention: global health policy and perspectives from the ground

PubMed Central

Bergman, Michael; Buysschaert, Martin; Schwarz, Peter EH; Albright, Ann; Narayan, KM Venkat; Yach, Derek

2015-01-01

SUMMARY Type 2 diabetes and other noncommunicable diseases are a growing public health challenge globally. An estimated 285 million people, corresponding to 6.4% of the world’s adult population, has diabetes, which is expected to reach 552 million by the International Diabetes Federation in 2030. A much larger segment of the world’s population, approximating 79 million individuals in the USA alone, has prediabetes. Globally, a relatively small percentage of those with diabetes or prediabetes are diagnosed with the potential for developing chronic complications. To address this epidemic, governments, in concert with the private sector, need to set policies that promote healthy nutritional and agricultural policies, favor modifications in the environment that encourage greater physical activity and make prevention affordable for all citizens at high risk. The public health sector has the charge of translating evidence-based findings into practical, accessible and cost-effective programs and monitoring the process to continuously improve prevention initiatives. The clinical sector has the formidable challenge of screening and identifying those at high risk and referring them to accredited intervention programs. There is a need to explore additional cost-effective interventions that are customized to meet individual needs that can be offered at the community and clinical levels. Thus, all three sectors, government, public health and clinical, each have a critical role in this process and by working in a partnership, ought to create the necessary synergies essential for making substantial forays in the prevention of Type 2 diabetes. PMID:26339296

Non-smoking worksites in the residential construction sector: using an online forum to study perspectives and practices.

PubMed

Bondy, Susan J; Bercovitz, Kim L

2011-05-01

Blue-collar workers are a recognised priority for tobacco control. Construction workers have very high smoking rates and are difficult to study and reach with interventions promoting smoke-free workplaces and cessation. The objectives of this study were to explore the smoking-related social climate in the North American residential construction sector and to identify potential barriers and facilitators to creating smoke-free worksites. The data source used was a popular internet forum on home building. Participants included a broad and unselected population of employers, employees and freelance tradespersons working in residential construction. The forum archive contained 10 years of discourse on the subjects of smoking, workplace secondhand smoke and smoking restrictions on construction sites. Qualitative data analysis methods were used to describe major and minor discussion themes relevant to workplace smoking culture and policies in this sector. Participants described considerable tension between smoking and non-smoking tradespersons, but there was also much interpersonal support for cessation and support for non-smokers' rights. Employers and employees described efforts to make construction sites smoke free, and a movement towards preferential hiring of non-smoking tradespersons was discussed. Board participants wanted detailed scientific evidence on secondhand smoke exposure levels and risk thresholds, particularly in open-air workplaces. Experience with success of smoking bans in other challenging workplaces can be applied to the construction sector. Potential movement of smokers out of the workforce represents a challenge for public health systems to ensure equitable access to cessation supports and services.

Organic livestock production in Uganda: potentials, challenges and prospects.

PubMed

Nalubwama, Sylvia Muwanga; Mugisha, Anthony; Vaarst, Mette

2011-04-01

Development in organic farming has been stimulated by farmers and consumers becoming interested in healthy food products and sustainable environment. Organic agriculture is a holistic production management system which is based on the principles of health, ecology, care, and fairness. Organic development in Uganda has focused more on the crop sector than livestock sector and has primarily involved the private sector, like organic products export companies and non-governmental organizations. Agriculture in Uganda and many African countries is predominantly traditional, less mechanized, and is usually associated with minimum use of chemical fertilizers, pesticides, and drugs. This low external input agriculture also referred to as "organic by default" can create basis for organic farming where agroecological methods are introduced and present an alternative in terms of intensification to the current low-input/low-output systems. Traditional farming should not be confused with organic farming because in some cases, the existing traditional practices have consequences like overstocking and less attention to soil improvement as well as to animal health and welfare, which is contrary to organic principles of ecology, fairness, health, and care. Challenges of implementing sustainable organic practices in the Ugandan livestock sector threaten its future development, such as vectors and vector-borne diseases, organic feed insufficiency, limited education, research, and support to organic livestock production. The prospects of organic livestock development in Uganda can be enhanced with more scientific research in organic livestock production under local conditions and strengthening institutional support.

Evaluation of partnership working in cities in phase IV of the WHO Healthy Cities Network.

PubMed

Lipp, Alistair; Winters, Tim; de Leeuw, Evelyne

2013-10-01

An intersectoral partnership for health improvement is a requirement of the WHO European Healthy Cities Network of municipalities. A review was undertaken in 59 cities based on responses to a structured questionnaire covering phase IV of the network (2003-2008). Cities usually combined formal and informal working partnerships in a pattern seen in previous phases. However, these encompassed more sectors than previously and achieved greater degrees of collaborative planning and implementation. Additional WHO technical support and networking in phase IV significantly enhanced collaboration with the urban planning sector. Critical success factors were high-level political commitment and a well-organized Healthy City office. Partnerships remain a successful component of Healthy City working. The core principles, purpose and intellectual rationale for intersectoral partnerships remain valid and fit for purpose. This applied to long-established phase III cities as well as newcomers to phase IV. The network, and in particular the WHO brand, is well regarded and encourages political and organizational engagement and is a source of support and technical expertise. A key challenge is to apply a more rigorous analytical framework and theory-informed approach to reviewing partnership and collaboration parameters.

Challenges and barriers for implementation of the World Health Organization Global Disability Action Plan in low- and middle- income countries.

PubMed

Khan, Fary; Owolabi, Mayowa Ojo; Amatya, Bhasker; Hamzat, Talhatu Kolapo; Ogunniyi, Adesola; Oshinowo, Helen; Elmalik, Alaeldin; Galea, Mary P

2018-04-18

To identify potential barriers and facilitators for implementation of the World Health Organization Global Disability Action Plan (GDAP) in Nigeria and compare these with other low- and middle-income countries. A rehabilitation team from the Royal Melbourne Hospital, Parkville, Australia, conducted intensive workshops at medical/academic institutions in Nigeria for healthcare professionals from various local Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation facilities. A modified Delphi method identified challenges for person with disability, using 3 GDAP objectives. Findings were compared with similar exercises in Madagascar, Pakistan and Mongolia. Despite differences in the healthcare system and practice, the challenges reported in Nigeria were similar to those in other 3 low- and middle-income countries, at both macro (governmental/policymakers) and micro levels (community/social/individual). Common challenges identified were: limited knowledge of disability services, limited Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation workforce, guidelines and accreditation standards; coordination amongst healthcare sectors; social issues; data and research; legislation and political commitment. Common potential facilitators included: need for strong leadership; advocacy of disability-inclusive development; investment in infrastructure/human resources; coordination/partnerships in healthcare sector; and research. Disability care is an emerging priority in low- and middle-income countries to address the needs of people with disability. The challenges identified in Nigeria are common to most low- and middle-income countries. The GDAP framework can facilitate access and strengthen Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation services.

From a "perfect storm" to "smooth sailing": policymaker perspectives on implementation and sustainment of an evidence-based practice in two states.

PubMed

Willging, Cathleen E; Green, Amy E; Gunderson, Lara; Chaffin, Mark; Aarons, Gregory A

2015-02-01

Policymakers shape implementation and sustainment of evidence-based practices (EBPs), whether they are developing or responding to legislation and policies or negotiating public sector resource constraints. As part of a large mixed-method study, we conducted qualitative interviews with 24 policymakers involved in delivery of the same EBP in two U.S. states. We analyzed transcripts via open and focused coding techniques to identify the commonality, diversity, and complexity of implementation challenges; approaches to overcoming those challenges; and the importance of system-level contextual factors in ensuring successful implementation. Key findings centered on building support and leadership for EBPs; funding and contractual strategies; partnering with stakeholders; tackling challenges via proactive planning and problem solving; and the political, legal, and systemic pressures affecting EBP longevity. The policymaker perspectives offer guidance on nurturing system and organizational practice environments to achieve positive outcomes and for optimally addressing macro-level influences that bear upon the instantiation of EBPs in public sector child welfare systems. © The Author(s) 2014.

From a “Perfect Storm” to “Smooth Sailing”: Policymaker Perspectives on Implementation and Sustainment of an Evidence-Based Practice in Two States

PubMed Central

Willging, Cathleen E.; Green, Amy E.; Gunderson, Lara; Chaffin, Mark; Aarons, Gregory A.

2015-01-01

Policymakers shape implementation and sustainment of evidence-based practices (EBPs), whether they are developing or responding to legislation and policies or negotiating public sector resource constraints. As part of a large mixed-method study, we conducted qualitative interviews with 24 policymakers involved in delivery of the same EBP in two U.S. states. We analyzed transcripts via open and focused coding techniques to identify the commonality, diversity, and complexity of implementation challenges; approaches to overcoming those challenges; and the importance of system-level contextual factors in ensuring successful implementation. Key findings centered on building support and leadership for EBPs; funding and contractual strategies; partnering with stakeholders; tackling challenges via proactive planning and problem solving; and the political, legal, and systemic pressures affecting EBP longevity. The policymaker perspectives offer guidance on nurturing system and organizational practice environments to achieve positive outcomes and for optimally addressing macro-level influences that bear upon the instantiation of EBPs in public sector child welfare systems. PMID:25125232

Bootstrapping disaster: The challenge of growing and maintaining a cross-sector collaborative network.

PubMed

Wachhaus, Aaron

This article examines the interaction of nonprofit and private actors with the traditional bureaucratic structures of government in central Pennsylvania&s recovery from hurricane Irene and tropical storm Lee. That effort relied heavily on private and nonprofit organizations as drivers of the response and recovery. The author maps the organizations involved in the recovery effort and explores the impact of the recovery effort on those organizations. A social network analysis was conducted and complemented with follow-up interviews with key actors. The network analysis reveals weak communication between sectors and a reliance on nonprofits to deliver services; interviews uncover the challenges of intersectoral collaboration. The author addresses the successes and limitations of the means by which a network of nonprofit efforts were coordinated with federal and state relief efforts and draw lessons for improving future practices. The author finds that this case deviates from theory in several ways that complicated community response and recovery. In particular, the challenges of developing and maintaining a recovery network while simultaneously delivering services placed great strain on several organizations, as well as on the fledgling network as a whole.

The ILO towards the Twenty-First Century.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Labour Education, 1993

1993-01-01

This position statement outlines the major challenges facing labor education (human rights, employment, structural transition, poverty, marginalization, globalization) and areas for International Labour Organisation action (standards, technical cooperation, sectoral activities, research, publications, and communications). (SK)

The challenges of climate for energy markets

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2009-09-01

Among the many complex issues of technology, governance, and market design affecting the : electricity sector, climate policy has become dominant. From the perspective of a nonspecialist looking at this changing dominance, a quiz illuminates some of ...

The impact of public employment on health and health inequalities: evidence from China.

PubMed

Zhang, Wei

2011-01-01

Because the public and private sectors often operate with different goals, individuals employed by the two sectors may receive different levels of welfare. This can potentially lead to different health status. As such, employment sector offers an important perspective for understanding labor market outcomes. Using micro-level data from a recent Chinese household survey, this study empirically evaluated the impact of employment sector on health and within-sector health inequalities. It found that public sector employment generated better health outcomes than private sector employment, controlling for individual characteristics. The provision of more job security explained an important part of the association between public sector employment and better health. The study also found less health inequality by social class within the public sector. These findings suggest that policymakers should think critically about the "conventional wisdom" that private ownership is almost always superior, and should adjust their labor market policies accordingly.

Effects of spatially distributed sectoral water management on the redistribution of water resources in an integrated water model

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Voisin, Nathalie; Hejazi, Mohamad I.; Leung, L. Ruby; Liu, Lu; Huang, Maoyi; Li, Hong-Yi; Tesfa, Teklu

2017-05-01

Realistic representations of sectoral water withdrawals and consumptive demands and their allocation to surface and groundwater sources are important for improving modeling of the integrated water cycle. To inform future model development, we enhance the representation of water management in a regional Earth system (ES) model with a spatially distributed allocation of sectoral water demands simulated by a regional integrated assessment (IA) model to surface and groundwater systems. The integrated modeling framework (IA-ES) is evaluated by analyzing the simulated regulated flow and sectoral supply deficit in major hydrologic regions of the conterminous U.S, which differ from ES studies looking at water storage variations. Decreases in historical supply deficit are used as metrics to evaluate IA-ES model improvement in representating the complex sectoral human activities for assessing future adaptation and mitigation strategies. We also assess the spatial changes in both regulated flow and unmet demands, for irrigation and nonirrigation sectors, resulting from the individual and combined additions of groundwater and return flow modules. Results show that groundwater use has a pronounced regional and sectoral effect by reducing water supply deficit. The effects of sectoral return flow exhibit a clear east-west contrast in the hydrologic patterns, so the return flow component combined with the IA sectoral demands is a major driver for spatial redistribution of water resources and water deficits in the US. Our analysis highlights the need for spatially distributed sectoral representation of water management to capture the regional differences in interbasin redistribution of water resources and deficits.

A systematic review of workplace ergonomic interventions with economic analyses.

PubMed

Tompa, Emile; Dolinschi, Roman; de Oliveira, Claire; Amick, Benjamin C; Irvin, Emma

2010-06-01

This article reports on a systematic review of workplace ergonomic interventions with economic evaluations. The review sought to answer the question: "what is the credible evidence that incremental investment in ergonomic interventions is worth undertaking?" Past efforts to synthesize evidence from this literature have focused on effectiveness, whereas this study synthesizes evidence on the cost-effectiveness/financial merits of such interventions. Through a structured journal database search, 35 intervention studies were identified in nine industrial sectors. A qualitative synthesis approach, known as best evidence synthesis, was used rather than a quantitative approach because of the diversity of study designs and statistical analyses found across studies. Evidence on the financial merits of interventions was synthesized by industrial sector. In the manufacturing and warehousing sector strong evidence was found in support of the financial merits of ergonomic interventions from a firm perspective. In the administrative support and health care sectors moderate evidence was found, in the transportation sector limited evidence, and in remaining sectors insufficient evidence. Most intervention studies focus on effectiveness. Few consider their financial merits. Amongst the few that do, several had exemplary economic analyses, although more than half of the studies had low quality economic analyses. This may be due to the low priority given to economic analysis in this literature. Often only a small part of the overall evaluation of many studies focused on evaluating their cost-effectiveness.

Ecosystem service tradeoff analysis reveals the value of marine spatial planning for multiple ocean uses

PubMed Central

White, Crow; Halpern, Benjamin S.; Kappel, Carrie V.

2012-01-01

Marine spatial planning (MSP) is an emerging responsibility of resource managers around the United States and elsewhere. A key proposed advantage of MSP is that it makes tradeoffs in resource use and sector (stakeholder group) values explicit, but doing so requires tools to assess tradeoffs. We extended tradeoff analyses from economics to simultaneously assess multiple ecosystem services and the values they provide to sectors using a robust, quantitative, and transparent framework. We used the framework to assess potential conflicts among offshore wind energy, commercial fishing, and whale-watching sectors in Massachusetts and identify and quantify the value from choosing optimal wind farm designs that minimize conflicts among these sectors. Most notably, we show that using MSP over conventional planning could prevent >$1 million dollars in losses to the incumbent fishery and whale-watching sectors and could generate >$10 billion in extra value to the energy sector. The value of MSP increased with the greater the number of sectors considered and the larger the area under management. Importantly, the framework can be applied even when sectors are not measured in dollars (e.g., conservation). Making tradeoffs explicit improves transparency in decision-making, helps avoid unnecessary conflicts attributable to perceived but weak tradeoffs, and focuses debate on finding the most efficient solutions to mitigate real tradeoffs and maximize sector values. Our analysis demonstrates the utility, feasibility, and value of MSP and provides timely support for the management transitions needed for society to address the challenges of an increasingly crowded ocean environment. PMID:22392996

Systematic literature review of integrated community case management and the private sector in Africa: Relevant experiences and potential next steps

PubMed Central

Awor, Phyllis; Miller, Jane; Peterson, Stefan

2014-01-01

Background Despite substantial investments made over the past 40 years in low income countries, governments cannot be viewed as the principal health care provider in many countries. Evidence on the role of the private sector in the delivery of health services is becoming increasingly available. In this study, we set out to determine the extent to which the private sector has been utilized in providing integrated care for sick children under 5 years of age with community–acquired malaria, pneumonia or diarrhoea. Methods We reviewed the published literature for integrated community case management (iCCM) related experiences within both the public and private sector. We searched PubMed and Google/Google Scholar for all relevant literature until July 2014. The search terms used were “malaria”, “pneumonia”, “diarrhoea”, “private sector” and “community case management”. Results A total of 383 articles referred to malaria, pneumonia or diarrhoea in the private sector. The large majority of these studies (290) were only malaria related. Most of the iCCM–related studies evaluated introduction of only malaria drugs and/or diagnostics into the private sector. Only one study evaluated the introduction of drugs and diagnostics for malaria, pneumonia and diarrhoea in the private sector. In contrast, most iCCM–related studies in the public sector directly reported on community case management of 2 or more of the illnesses. Conclusions While the private sector is an important source of care for children in low income countries, little has been done to harness the potential of this sector in improving access to care for non–malaria–associated fever in children within the community. It would be logical for iCCM programs to expand their activities to include the private sector to achieve higher population coverage. An implementation research agenda for private sector integrated care of febrile childhood illness needs to be developed and implemented in conjunction with private sector intervention programs. PMID:25520804

Towards effective prevention and control of helminth neglected tropical diseases in the Western Pacific Region through multi-disease and multi-sectoral interventions.

PubMed

Nakagawa, Jun; Ehrenberg, John P; Nealon, Joshua; Fürst, Thomas; Aratchige, Padmasiri; Gonzales, Glenda; Chanthavisouk, Chitsavang; Hernandez, Leda M; Fengthong, Tayphasavanh; Utzinger, Jürg; Steinmann, Peter

2015-01-01

Neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) cause serious health, social and economic burdens in the countries of the World Health Organization Western Pacific Region. Among the NTDs, helminth infections are particularly prominent with regard to the number of infected individuals and health impact. Co-endemicity is common among impoverished and marginalized populations. To achieve effective and sustainable control of helminth NTDs, a deeper understanding of the social-ecological systems governing their endemicity and strategies beyond preventive chemotherapy are required to tackle the multiple causes of infection and re-infection. We discuss the feasibility of implementing multi-disease, multi-sectoral intervention packages for helminth NTDs in the Western Pacific Region. After reviewing the main determinants for helminth NTD endemicity and current control strategies, key control activities that involve or concern other programmes within and beyond the health sector are discussed. A considerable number of activities that have an impact on more than one helminth NTD are identified in a variety of sectors, suggesting an untapped potential for synergies. We also highlight the challenges of multi-sectoral collaboration, particularly of involving non-health sectors. We conclude that multi-sectoral collaboration for helminth NTD control is feasible if the target diseases and sectors are carefully selected. To do so, an incentive analysis covering key stakeholders in the sectors is crucial, and the disease-control strategies need to be well understood. The benefits of multi-disease, multi-sectoral approaches could go beyond immediate health impacts by contributing to sustainable development, raising educational attainment, increasing productivity and reducing health inequities. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Natural disasters and the challenge of extreme events: risk management from an insurance perspective.

PubMed

Smolka, Anselm

2006-08-15

Loss statistics for natural disasters demonstrate, also after correction for inflation, a dramatic increase of the loss burden since 1950. This increase is driven by a concentration of population and values in urban areas, the development of highly exposed coastal and valley regions, the complexity of modern societies and technologies and probably, also by the beginning consequences of global warming. This process will continue unless remedial action will be taken. Managing the risk from natural disasters starts with identification of the hazards. The next step is the evaluation of the risk, where risk is a function of hazard, exposed values or human lives and the vulnerability of the exposed objects. Probabilistic computer models have been developed for the proper assessment of risks since the late 1980s. The final steps are controlling and financing future losses. Natural disaster insurance plays a key role in this context, but also private parties and governments have to share a part of the risk. A main responsibility of governments is to formulate regulations for building construction and land use. The insurance sector and the state have to act together in order to create incentives for building and business owners to take loss prevention measures. A further challenge for the insurance sector is to transfer a portion of the risk to the capital markets, and to serve better the needs of the poor. Catastrophe bonds and microinsurance are the answer to such challenges. The mechanisms described above have been developed to cope with well-known disasters like earthquakes, windstorms and floods. They can be applied, in principle, also to less well investigated and less frequent extreme disasters: submarine slides, great volcanic eruptions, meteorite impacts and tsunamis which may arise from all these hazards. But there is an urgent need to improve the state of knowledge on these more exotic hazards in order to reduce the high uncertainty in actual risk evaluation to an acceptable level. Due to the rarity of such extreme events, specific risk prevention measures are hardly justified with exception of attempts to divert earth-orbit crossing meteorites from their dangerous path. For the industry it is particularly important to achieve full transparency as regards covered and non-covered risks and to define in a systematic manner the limits of insurability for super-disasters.

Natural disasters and the challenge of extreme events: risk management from an insurance perspective

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Smolka, Anselm

2006-08-01

Loss statistics for natural disasters demonstrate, also after correction for inflation, a dramatic increase of the loss burden since 1950. This increase is driven by a concentration of population and values in urban areas, the development of highly exposed coastal and valley regions, the complexity of modern societies and technologies and probably, also by the beginning consequences of global warming. This process will continue unless remedial action will be taken. Managing the risk from natural disasters starts with identification of the hazards. The next step is the evaluation of the risk, where risk is a function of hazard, exposed values or human lives and the vulnerability of the exposed objects. Probabilistic computer models have been developed for the proper assessment of risks since the late 1980s. The final steps are controlling and financing future losses. Natural disaster insurance plays a key role in this context, but also private parties and governments have to share a part of the risk. A main responsibility of governments is to formulate regulations for building construction and land use. The insurance sector and the state have to act together in order to create incentives for building and business owners to take loss prevention measures. A further challenge for the insurance sector is to transfer a portion of the risk to the capital markets, and to serve better the needs of the poor. Catastrophe bonds and microinsurance are the answer to such challenges. The mechanisms described above have been developed to cope with well-known disasters like earthquakes, windstorms and floods. They can be applied, in principle, also to less well investigated and less frequent extreme disasters: submarine slides, great volcanic eruptions, meteorite impacts and tsunamis which may arise from all these hazards. But there is an urgent need to improve the state of knowledge on these more exotic hazards in order to reduce the high uncertainty in actual risk evaluation to an acceptable level. Due to the rarity of such extreme events, specific risk prevention measures are hardly justified with exception of attempts to divert earth-orbit crossing meteorites from their dangerous path. For the industry it is particularly important to achieve full transparency as regards covered and non-covered risks and to define in a systematic manner the limits of insurability for super-disasters.

The Impact of Robotics on Employment and Motivation of Employees in the Service Sector, with Special Reference to Health Care

PubMed Central

Qureshi, Mohammed Owais; Syed, Rumaiya Sajjad

2014-01-01

Background The economy is being lifted by the new concept of robotics, but we cannot be sure of all the possible benefits. At this early stage, it therefore becomes important to find out the possible benefits/limitations associated with robotics, so that the positives can be capitalized, established, and developed further for the employment and motivation of employees in the health care sector, for overall economic development. The negatives should also be further studied and mitigated. Methods This study is an exploratory research, based on secondary data, such as books on topics related to robotics, websites, public websites of concerned departments for data and statistics, journals, newspapers and magazines, websites of health care providers, and different printed materials (brochures, etc). Results The impact of robotics has both positive and negative impacts on the employment and motivation of employees in the retail sector. So far, there has been no substantial research done into robotics, especially in the health care sector. Conclusion Replacing employees with robots is an inevitable choice for organizations in the service sector, more so in the health care sector because of the challenging and sometimes unhealthy working environments, but, at the same time, the researchers propose that it should be done in a manner that helps in improving the employment and motivation of employees in this sector. PMID:25516812

The impact of robotics on employment and motivation of employees in the service sector, with special reference to health care.

PubMed

Qureshi, Mohammed Owais; Syed, Rumaiya Sajjad

2014-12-01

The economy is being lifted by the new concept of robotics, but we cannot be sure of all the possible benefits. At this early stage, it therefore becomes important to find out the possible benefits/limitations associated with robotics, so that the positives can be capitalized, established, and developed further for the employment and motivation of employees in the health care sector, for overall economic development. The negatives should also be further studied and mitigated. This study is an exploratory research, based on secondary data, such as books on topics related to robotics, websites, public websites of concerned departments for data and statistics, journals, newspapers and magazines, websites of health care providers, and different printed materials (brochures, etc). The impact of robotics has both positive and negative impacts on the employment and motivation of employees in the retail sector. So far, there has been no substantial research done into robotics, especially in the health care sector. Replacing employees with robots is an inevitable choice for organizations in the service sector, more so in the health care sector because of the challenging and sometimes unhealthy working environments, but, at the same time, the researchers propose that it should be done in a manner that helps in improving the employment and motivation of employees in this sector.

Evaluation of complex community-based childhood obesity prevention interventions.

PubMed

Karacabeyli, D; Allender, S; Pinkney, S; Amed, S

2018-05-16

Multi-setting, multi-component community-based interventions have shown promise in preventing childhood obesity; however, evaluation of these complex interventions remains a challenge. The objective of the study is to systematically review published methodological approaches to outcome evaluation for multi-setting community-based childhood obesity prevention interventions and synthesize a set of pragmatic recommendations. MEDLINE, CINAHL and PsycINFO were searched from inception to 6 July 2017. Papers were included if the intervention targeted children ≤18 years, engaged at least two community sectors and described their outcome evaluation methodology. A single reviewer conducted title and abstract scans, full article review and data abstraction. Directed content analysis was performed by three reviewers to identify prevailing themes. Thirty-three studies were included, and of these, 26 employed a quasi-experimental design; the remaining were randomized control trials. Body mass index was the most commonly measured outcome, followed by health behaviour change and psychosocial outcomes. Six themes emerged, highlighting advantages and disadvantages of active vs. passive consent, quasi-experimental vs. randomized control trials, longitudinal vs. repeat cross-sectional designs and the roles of process evaluation and methodological flexibility in evaluating complex interventions. Selection of study designs and outcome measures compatible with community infrastructure, accompanied by process evaluation, may facilitate successful outcome evaluation. © 2018 World Obesity Federation.

Monitoring and evaluation of strategic change programme implementation-Lessons from a case analysis.

PubMed

Neumann, Jan; Robson, Andrew; Sloan, Diane

2018-02-01

This study considered the monitoring and evaluation of a large-scale and domestic and global strategic change programme implementation. It considers the necessary prerequisites to overcome challenges and barriers that prevent systematic and effective monitoring and evaluation to take place alongside its operationalisation. The work involves a case study based on a major industrial company from the energy sector. The change programme makes particular reference to changes in business models, business processes, organisation structures as well as Enterprise Resource Planning infrastructure. The case study focussed on the summative evaluation of the programme post-implementation. This assessment involved 25 semi-structured interviews with employees across a range of managerial strata capturing more than 65 roles within the change programme at both local and global levels. Data relating to their perception of evaluation effectiveness and shortcomings were analysed by means of template analysis. The study identifies responsibilities for executing an evaluation alongside various methods and tools that are appropriate, thereby focussing on the "Who" (roles, responsibility for particular activities) and "How" (methods and tools) rather than "What" to monitor and evaluate. The findings are presented generically so they offer new insights and transferability for practitioners involved in managing strategic change and its associated evaluation. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Evaluation of Teachers' Continuing Training in the Early Childhood Education Sector in Spain

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Pineda, Pilar; Ucar, Xavier; Moreno, Victoria; Belvis, Esther

2011-01-01

Good preschool education requires professionals whose training is both solid and updated. This article presents the results of an evaluation of the continuing training received by teachers in the preschool educational sector in Spain, and discusses the level of implementation. The authors examine factors such as culture and motivation, and look…

Scaling up access to oral rehydration solution for diarrhea: Learning from historical experience in low– and high–performing countries

PubMed Central

Wilson, Shelby E.; Morris, Saul S.; Gilbert, Sarah Skye; Mosites, Emily; Hackleman, Rob; Weum, Kristoffer L.M.; Pintye, Jillian; Manhart, Lisa E.; Hawes, Stephen E.

2013-01-01

Aim This paper aims to identify factors that systematically predict why some countries that have tried to scale up oral rehydration solution (ORS) have succeeded, and others have not. Methods We examined ORS coverage over time, across countries, and through case studies. We conducted expert interviews and literature and data searches to better understand the history of ORS scale–up efforts and why they failed or succeeded in nine countries. We used qualitative, pairwise (or three–country) comparisons of geographically or otherwise similar countries that had different outcomes in terms of ORS scale–up. An algorithm was developed which scored country performance across key supply, demand and financing activities to quantitatively assess the scale–up efforts in each country. Results The vast majority of countries have neither particularly low nor encouragingly high ORS use rates. We observed three clearly identifiable contrasts between countries that achieved and sustained high ORS coverage and those that did not. Key partners across sectors have critical roles to play to effectively address supply– and demand–side barriers. Efforts must synchronize demand generation, private provider outreach and public sector work. Many donor funds are either suspended or redirected in the event of political instability, exacerbating the health challenges faced by countries in these contexts. We found little information on the cost of scale–up efforts. Conclusions We identified a number of characteristics of successful ORS scale–up programs, including involvement of a broad range of key players, addressing supply and demand generation together, and working with both public and private sectors. Dedicated efforts are needed to launch and sustain success, including monitoring and evaluation plans to track program costs and impacts. These case studies were designed to inform programmatic decision–making; thus, rigorous academic methods to qualitatively and quantitatively evaluate country ORS scale–up programs might yield additional, critical insights and confirm our conclusions. PMID:23826508

Scaling up access to oral rehydration solution for diarrhea: Learning from historical experience in low- and high-performing countries.

PubMed

Wilson, Shelby E; Morris, Saul S; Gilbert, Sarah Skye; Mosites, Emily; Hackleman, Rob; Weum, Kristoffer L M; Pintye, Jillian; Manhart, Lisa E; Hawes, Stephen E

2013-06-01

This paper aims to identify factors that systematically predict why some countries that have tried to scale up oral rehydration solution (ORS) have succeeded, and others have not. We examined ORS coverage over time, across countries, and through case studies. We conducted expert interviews and literature and data searches to better understand the history of ORS scale-up efforts and why they failed or succeeded in nine countries. We used qualitative, pairwise (or three-country) comparisons of geographically or otherwise similar countries that had different outcomes in terms of ORS scale-up. An algorithm was developed which scored country performance across key supply, demand and financing activities to quantitatively assess the scale-up efforts in each country. The vast majority of countries have neither particularly low nor encouragingly high ORS use rates. We observed three clearly identifiable contrasts between countries that achieved and sustained high ORS coverage and those that did not. Key partners across sectors have critical roles to play to effectively address supply- and demand-side barriers. Efforts must synchronize demand generation, private provider outreach and public sector work. Many donor funds are either suspended or redirected in the event of political instability, exacerbating the health challenges faced by countries in these contexts. We found little information on the cost of scale-up efforts. We identified a number of characteristics of successful ORS scale-up programs, including involvement of a broad range of key players, addressing supply and demand generation together, and working with both public and private sectors. Dedicated efforts are needed to launch and sustain success, including monitoring and evaluation plans to track program costs and impacts. These case studies were designed to inform programmatic decision-making; thus, rigorous academic methods to qualitatively and quantitatively evaluate country ORS scale-up programs might yield additional, critical insights and confirm our conclusions.

Dig Hazard Assessment Using a Stereo Pair of Cameras

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Rankin, Arturo L.; Trebi-Ollennu, Ashitey

2012-01-01

This software evaluates the terrain within reach of a lander s robotic arm for dig hazards using a stereo pair of cameras that are part of the lander s sensor system. A relative level of risk is calculated for a set of dig sectors. There are two versions of this software; one is designed to run onboard a lander as part of the flight software, and the other runs on a PC under Linux as a ground tool that produces the same results generated on the lander, given stereo images acquired by the lander and downlinked to Earth. Onboard dig hazard assessment is accomplished by executing a workspace panorama command sequence. This sequence acquires a set of stereo pairs of images of the terrain the arm can reach, generates a set of candidate dig sectors, and assesses the dig hazard of each candidate dig sector. The 3D perimeter points of candidate dig sectors are generated using configurable parameters. A 3D reconstruction of the terrain in front of the lander is generated using a set of stereo images acquired from the mast cameras. The 3D reconstruction is used to evaluate the dig goodness of each candidate dig sector based on a set of eight metrics. The eight metrics are: 1. The maximum change in elevation in each sector, 2. The elevation standard deviation in each sector, 3. The forward tilt of each sector with respect to the payload frame, 4. The side tilt of each sector with respect to the payload frame, 5. The maximum size of missing data regions in each sector, 6. The percentage of a sector that has missing data, 7. The roughness of each sector, and 8. Monochrome intensity standard deviation of each sector. Each of the eight metrics forms a goodness image layer where the goodness value of each sector ranges from 0 to 1. Goodness values of 0 and 1 correspond to high and low risk, respectively. For each dig sector, the eight goodness values are merged by selecting the lowest one. Including the merged goodness image layer, there are nine goodness image layers for each stereo pair of mast images.

Network simulation modeling of equine infectious anemia in the non-racehorse population in Japan.

PubMed

Hayama, Yoko; Kobayashi, Sota; Nishida, Takeshi; Muroga, Norihiko; Tsutsui, Toshiyuki

2012-01-01

An equine infectious anemia (EIA) transmission model was developed by constructing a network structure of horse movement patterns in a non-racehorse population. This model was then used to evaluate the effectiveness and efficiency of several EIA surveillance strategies. Because EIA had not been detected in Japan since 1993, it was appropriate to review the current surveillance strategy, which aims to eradicate EIA by intensive testing, and to consider alternative strategies suitable for the current EIA status in Japan. The non-racehorse population was divided into four sectors based on horse usage: the equestrian sector, private owner sector, exhibition sector, and fattening sector. To evaluate the risk of disease spread within and between sectors accompanied by horse movements, a stochastic individual-based network model was developed based on a previous survey of horse movement patterns. Surveillance parameters such as targeting sectors and frequency of testing were added into the model to compare surveillance strategies. The disease spread heterogeneously among sectors. Infection occurred mainly in the equestrian sector; the infection was less disseminated in other sectors. Therefore, we considered that the equestrian sector posed a higher risk of disease dissemination within and between sectors through horse movements. However, surveillance strategies targeting only the equestrian sector were not effective enough for early detection of the disease. Alternatively, targeting horses that moved permanently and those in the private owner sector in addition to the equestrian sector is recommended to achieve effectiveness equivalent to that of the current surveillance. In terms of surveillance efficacy, by increasing the testing interval (once yearly to once every 3 years), this testing scheme could reduce the number of tested horses to 44% of the current surveillance, while maintaining almost equivalent effectiveness. Intensive strategies targeting high-risk populations are considered to enhance effectiveness and efficiency of surveillance. The approach in this study may be helpful in the decision-making process that is involved in setting up strategies for risk-based surveillance. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Energy in the urban environment. Proceedings of the 22. annual Illinois energy conference

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

NONE

1994-12-31

The conference addressed the energy and environmental challenges facing large metropolitan areas. The topics included a comparison of the environmental status of cities twenty years ago with the challenges facing today`s large cities, sustainable economic development, improving the energy and environmental infrastructure, and the changing urban transportation sector. Selected papers are indexed separately for inclusion in the Energy Science and Technology Database.

Getting to 2014 (and beyond): The Choices and Challenges Ahead. A Collection of Essays to Encourage Constructive Dialogue among Policymakers, Educators, and Practitioners Engaged in School Reform

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Balfanz, Robert; Boer, Benjamin; Carey, Kevin; Cohen, Michael; Hassel, Bryan C.; Hassel, Emily Ayscue; Hyslop, Anne; Levin, Douglas A.; Fletcher, Geoffrey; Odden, Allan; Tucker, Bill; Vargas, Joel

2012-01-01

Education Sector commissioned an earlier version of this collection of essays in conjunction with a March 2012 event "Getting to 2014: The Choices and Challenges Ahead." This updated version includes new essays and a revised introduction. The aim of these essays is to present ideas, elicit feedback, and encourage productive dialogue…

Capital Budgeting: Do Private Sector Methods of Budgeting for Capital Assets Have Applicability to the Department of Defense

DTIC Science & Technology

2005-12-01

private sector and the Department of Defense. Additionally, the purpose is to evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of each capital budgeting method and conduct a comparison. The intent is to identify those capital budgeting practices that are used in the private sector , some of which have been implemented in other public sector organizations, which may have merit for implementation in the Federal sector and possibly the Department of Defense. Finally, a set of conclusions and recommendations on how to implement best practices of capital budgeting for

Evaluating health care interventions in the European Union.

PubMed

McDaid, David; Cookson, Richard

2003-02-01

This paper examines the current state of evaluations of health care interventions in the European Union, from the identification and commissioning of research through to its impact on policy and practice. Material is drawn from a survey conducted for the ASTEC project as well as a review of literature. Although the use of evaluative research has increased substantially in the last decade, both the pace of change and preferred research methodologies employed differ markedly. Much research still concentrates on issues of safety, efficacy and effectiveness, although there is evidence of an increasing emphasis on cost-effectiveness. Many countries are beginning to introduce systems linking economic evaluation to the decision-making process, while networks for the exchange of information continue to evolve. Research capacity in the public sector, although improving, is uneven, in part due to the uncertainty over long term career prospects and competition from industry. Capacity building measures should in particular ensure that dissemination expertise is strengthened, and that more emphasis is placed on developing receptor capacity within different stakeholder groups. Linking knowledge production to changes in practice remains a key challenge. Further research on implementation and impact assessment is required, to help demonstrate the value of evaluations on both policy and practice.

A governor's guide to emergency management. Volume two : homeland security

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2002-09-19

Homeland security is a complex challenge that demands significant investment; collaboration among local, state, and federal governments; and integration with the private sector. The purpose of A Governor's Guide to Emergency Management Volume Two: Ho...

Advanced tools for irrigation scheduling

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Irrigated agriculture is needed to meet demands for agricultural products, but farmers are challenged with limited quality water supplies, environmental and regulatory policies climate variability, and competition for water from other sectors. Scientific irrigation scheduling could help allay these ...

ForGATE - A Forest Sector Greenhouse Gas Assessment Tool for Maine: Calibration and Overview

Treesearch

Chris Hennigar; Luke Amos-Binks; Ryan Cameron; John Gunn; David A. MacLean; Mark Twery

2013-01-01

This report describes the background calibration, inputs, and outputs of ForGATE, a forest sector greenhouse gas (GHG) accounting tool designed primarily to communicate information relevant to the evaluation of projected net GHG exchange in the context of Maine's forests, the Northeast forest sector, and alternative national or regional carbon (C) accounting...

Sector analysis of economic impacts from heritage centers

Treesearch

Charles H. Strauss; Bruce E. Lord

1995-01-01

The economic impact of six of America's Industrial Heritage Project visitor centers was evaluated within a nine-county region of Pennsylvania. The total sales impact of these expenditures was $29.2 million. Over 60% of the direct sales impact was in the lodging and food service sectors. The labor-intensive character of both sectors created a substantial induced...

Promoting wellbeing and improving access to mental health care through community champions in rural India: the Atmiyata intervention approach.

PubMed

Shields-Zeeman, Laura; Pathare, Soumitra; Walters, Bethany Hipple; Kapadia-Kundu, Nandita; Joag, Kaustubh

2017-01-01

There are limited accounts of community-based interventions for reducing distress or providing support for people with common mental disorders (CMDs) in low and middle-income countries. The recently implemented Atmiyata programme is one such community-based mental health intervention focused on promoting wellness and reducing distress through community volunteers in a rural area in the state of Maharashtra, India. This case study describes the content and the process of implementation of Atmiyata and how community volunteers were trained to become Atmiyata champions and mitras ( friends ). The Atmiyata programme trained Atmiyata champions to provide support and basic counselling to community members with common mental health disorders, facilitate access to mental health care and social benefits, improve community awareness of mental health issues, and to promote well-being. Challenges to implementation included logistical challenges (difficult terrain and weather conditions at the implementation site), content-related challenges (securing social welfare benefits for people with CMDs), and partnership challenges (turnover of public health workers involved in referral chain, resistance from public sector mental health specialists). The case study serves as an example for how such a model can be sustained over time at low cost. The next steps of the programme include evaluation of the impact of the Atmiyata intervention through a pre-post study and adapting the intervention for further scale-up in other settings in India.

Terrorism: The Challenge to the Private Sector,

DTIC Science & Technology

private sector , security is a line management responsibility, particularly where goals and objectives, information protection, and protection of key assets are concerned. Each company in the corporate world has a different personality. The goals are pretty much the same, but once you get below that initial goal, then you go to beliefs. Some companies are very macho. Some companies won’t let a security man interview a suspect, some companies will. Companies are very hesitant to go th extremes. Companies are both image conscious and fundamentally ethical. They truly do

Public employees' health benefits survive major threats, so far.

PubMed

Hurley, Robert E; Felland, Laurie; Gerland, Anneliese; Pickreign, Jeremy

2006-01-01

Previous studies of public employees' health benefits indicate that they have been spared many of the changes evident in the private sector. But the recession and plunging state revenues in the early 2000s presented growing challenges to trying to preserve these benefits. Findings from the Round Five site visits of the Community Tracking Study (2005) reveal that benefits have still witnessed surprisingly few major modifications. But a growing gap between public- and private-sector benefits and new accounting requirements for government entities' retirement costs raise new threats to this protected status.

Subject Matter Expert Workshop to Identify Cybersecurity ...

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

Report In recognition of the growing need to better address cyber risk and cyber management, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) National Homeland Security Research Center (NHSRC) held a Subject Matter Expert Workshop to Identify Cybersecurity Research Gaps and Needs of the Nation’s Water and Wastewater Systems Sector on March 30th and 31st, 2016, at the Ronald Reagan Building in Washington, D.C. The workshop was designed to create a forum for subject matter experts (SMEs) to exchange ideas and address important cybersecurity challenges facing the water sector.

Policy reform as creative destruction: political and administrative challenges in preserving the public-private mix.

PubMed

Brown, L D

1992-01-01

As political pressure for affordable universal coverage intensifies, various proposals have been crafted to improve the system without sacrificing the role of the private sector. Some analysts view the preservation of a mixed public-private system as an exercise in incrementalism, avoiding disquieting departures from familiar arrangements. A review of the political and administrative challenges of several main options--market innovation, tax credits, play or pay, and Medicaid expansion--suggests that the path to true reform is a slippery slope. Over time, changes in particular sectors, such as insurance, employers, government, and providers, will very likely implicate the others too. Although redefining the public-private mix may be more incremental than (say) adoption of a Canadian model, it will also entail considerable "creative destruction" of existing patterns and cannot fail to disturb the institutional status quo substantially.

Public perceptions and information gaps in solar energy in Texas

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rai, Varun; Beck, Ariane L.

2015-07-01

Studying the behavioral aspects of the individual decision-making process is important in identifying and addressing barriers in the adoption of residential solar photovoltaic (PV). However, there is little systematic research focusing on these aspects of residential PV in Texas, an important, large, populous state, with a range of challenges in the electricity sector including increasing demand, shrinking reserve margins, constrained water supply, and challenging emissions reduction targets under proposed federal regulations. This paper aims to address this gap through an empirical investigation of a new survey-based dataset collected in Texas on solar energy perceptions and behavior. The results of this analysis offer insights into the perceptions and motivations influencing intentions and behavior toward solar energy in a relatively untapped market and help identify information gaps that could be targeted to alleviate key barriers to adopting solar, thereby enabling significant emissions reductions in the residential sector in Texas.

Construction of the food and nutrition security policy in Brazil: strategies and challenges in the promotion of intersectorality at the federal government level.

PubMed

Burlandy, Luciene

2009-01-01

This article analyzes institutional strategies of the Brazilian federal government that aim at promoting intersectorality in the field of Food and Nutrition Security (FNS), based on bibliographic review and document analysis. It is assumed that, although formal institutionality in this government level is not enough to promote intersectorality, it is important in process induction. It follows that the combination of different institutional mechanisms favors intersectorality, such as: the existence and location of councils integrated by government sectors and civil society in the presidency; political support by the presidency and inclusion of the issue as being strategic in the governmental agenda; assembly of institutional spaces that articulate the highest government spheres and that integrate technical levels; programs that integrate food production, commercialization, and consumption. Challenges concern interrelation with economic policy and the construction of budget agreed among sectors, integrated to policy management and monitoring.

[Human resources for health in Chile: the reform's pending challenge].

PubMed

Méndez, Claudio A

2009-09-01

Omission of human resources from health policy development has been identified as a barrier in the health sector reform's adoption phase. Since 2002, Chile's health care system has been undergoing a transformation based on the principles of health as a human right, equity, solidarity, efficiency, and social participation. While the reform has set forth the redefinition of the medical professions, continuing education, scheduled accreditation, and the introduction of career development incentives, it has not considered management options tailored to the new setting, a human resources strategy that has the consensus of key players and sector policy, or a process for understanding the needs of health care staff and professionals. However, there is still time to undo the shortcomings, in large part because the reform's implementation phase only recently has begun. Overcoming this challenge is in the hands of the experts charged with designing public health strategies and policies.

National plan for prevention, early detection, and cancer control in Peru.

PubMed

Vallejos, Carlos

2013-01-01

Peru currently is executing an ambitious plan for cancer control: its first nationwide program of cancer prevention and cancer control, and the first such program launched in Latin America. The adequate strategies were identified from previous experience developing smaller initiatives and from knowledge of our epidemiology and priorities. The geographic landscape and sociocultural differences, in which inequalities play a significant role in access to quality education and specialized cancer care, are the main challenges to elaborate strategies to diminish our burden of advanced disease. Challenges were not only identified for the poorest people, but for other sectors of the population. With a growing Peruvian economy in a globalized market context, emerging sectors are being exposed to new risk factors for cancer and educational strategies were implemented. The development of the National Plan for Cancer Control was launched involving not only technical efforts by a multidisciplinary team, but also political concertation.

Economic evaluation of occupational health and safety programmes in health care.

PubMed

Guzman, J; Tompa, E; Koehoorn, M; de Boer, H; Macdonald, S; Alamgir, H

2015-10-01

Evidence-based resource allocation in the public health care sector requires reliable economic evaluations that are different from those needed in the commercial sector. To describe a framework for conducting economic evaluations of occupational health and safety (OHS) programmes in health care developed with sector stakeholders. To define key resources and outcomes to be considered in economic evaluations of OHS programmes and to integrate these into a comprehensive framework. Participatory action research supported by mixed qualitative and quantitative methods, including a multi-stakeholder working group, 25 key informant interviews, a 41-member Delphi panel and structured nominal group discussions. We found three resources had top priority: OHS staff time, training the workers and programme planning, promotion and evaluation. Similarly, five outcomes had top priority: number of injuries, safety climate, job satisfaction, quality of care and work days lost. The resulting framework was built around seven principles of good practice that stakeholders can use to assist them in conducting economic evaluations of OHS programmes. Use of a framework resulting from this participatory action research approach may increase the quality of economic evaluations of OHS programmes and facilitate programme comparisons for evidence-based resource allocation decisions. The principles may be applicable to other service sectors funded from general taxes and more broadly to economic evaluations of OHS programmes in general. © The Author 2015. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Society of Occupational Medicine. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Analysis of the workload imposed on the workers of the imprint and cutting/welding sectors of a flexible packaging manufacturer.

PubMed

de M Guimarães, L B; Pessa, S L R; Biguelini, C

2012-01-01

This article presents a study on the evaluation of the workload imposed to workers of two sectors of a flexible packaging manufacturer that operates in three shifts. The workers are allocated in one of the shifts (morning, evening and night shifts) without evaluation of their chronotype and/or social needs. The Imprint sector has a more dynamic work, which is done only by man due to the effort demanded by handling loads. The work in the Cutting/Welding sector is static, done mainly by women. The results showed that the overall workload was the same in the Imprint and Cutting/Welding sectors, because physical effort for load handling is higher in the former but the latter involves high static load. The levels of urinary catecholamines and salivary cortisol were consistent with the workers biological clock showing that none of the workers changed his/her biological cycle to accommodate to the time of the shift schedule.

Challenges in Preparing Veterinarians for Global Animal Health: Understanding the Public Sector.

PubMed

Hollier, Paul J; Quinn, Kaylee A; Brown, Corrie C

Understanding of global systems is essential for veterinarians seeking to work in realms outside of their national domain. In the global system, emphasis remains on the public sector, and the current curricular emphasis in developed countries is on private clinical practice for the domestic employment market. There is a resulting lack of competency at graduation for effective engagement internationally. The World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) has created standards for public sector operations in animal health, which must be functional to allow for sustainable development. This public sector, known as the Veterinary Services, or VS, serves to control public good diseases, and once effectively built and fully operational, allows for the evolution of a functional private sector, focused on private good diseases. Until the VS is fully functional, support of private good services is non-sustainable and any efforts delivered are not long lasting. As new graduates opt for careers working in the international development sector, it is essential that they understand the OIE guidelines to help support continuing improvement. Developing global veterinarians by inserting content into the veterinary curriculum on how public systems can operate effectively could markedly increase the potential of our professional contributions globally, and particularly in the areas most in need.

Advanced Methods for Incorporating Solar Energy Technologies into Electric Sector Capacity-Expansion Models: Literature Review and Analysis

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Sullivan, P.; Eurek, K.; Margolis, R.

2014-07-01

Because solar power is a rapidly growing component of the electricity system, robust representations of solar technologies should be included in capacity-expansion models. This is a challenge because modeling the electricity system--and, in particular, modeling solar integration within that system--is a complex endeavor. This report highlights the major challenges of incorporating solar technologies into capacity-expansion models and shows examples of how specific models address those challenges. These challenges include modeling non-dispatchable technologies, determining which solar technologies to model, choosing a spatial resolution, incorporating a solar resource assessment, and accounting for solar generation variability and uncertainty.

Rack 'em, pack 'em and stack 'em: challenges and opportunities in teaching large classes in higher education.

PubMed

Kumar, Saravana

2013-01-01

The higher education sector is undergoing tremendous change, driven by complex driving forces including financial, administrative, and organisational and stakeholder expectations. It is in this challenging environment, educators are required to maintain and improve the quality of teaching and learning outcomes while contending with increasing class sizes. Despite mixed evidence on the effectiveness of large classes on student outcomes, large classes continue to play an important part in higher education. While large classes pose numerous challenges, they also provide opportunities for innovative solutions. This paper provides an overview of these challenges and highlights opportunities for innovative solutions.

Challenges Achieved By Innovative Technologies Our Link to a Safer, Cleaner, Healthier Tomorrow - 12369

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Henderson, Heidi; Shoffner, Peggy; Lagos, Leonel E.

2012-07-01

The River Corridor Closure Project is the nation's largest environmental cleanup closure project where innovative technologies are being utilized to overcome DOE's environmental clean-up challenges. DOE provides a Technology Needs Statement that specifies their on-site challenges and the criteria to overcome those challenges. This allows for both the private sector and federally funded organizations to respond with solutions that meet their immediate needs. DOE selects the company based on their ability to reduce risk to human health and the environment, improve efficiency of the cleanup, and lower costs. These technologies are our link to a cleaner, safer, healthier tomorrow. (authors)

[The health system of Honduras].

PubMed

Bermúdez-Madriz, Juan Luis; Sáenz, María del Rocío; Muiser, Jorine; Acosta, Mónica

2011-01-01

This paper describes the health system of Honduras, including its challenges, structure coverage, sources of financing, resources and stewardship activities. This system counts with a public and a private sector. The public sector includes the Ministry of Health (MH) and the Honduran Social Security Institute (HSSI). The private sector is dominated by a set of providers offering services payed mostly out-of-pocket. The National Health Plan 2010-2014 includes a set of reforms oriented towards the creation of an integrated and plural system headed by the MH in its stewardship role. It also anticipates the creation of a public health insurance for the poor population and the transformation of the HSSI into a public insurance agency which contracts services for its affiliates with public and private providers under a family medicine model.

Operationalizing clean development mechanism baselines: A case study of China's electrical sector

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Steenhof, Paul A.

The global carbon market is rapidly developing as the first commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol draws closer and Parties to the Protocol with greenhouse gas (GHG) emission reduction targets seek alternative ways to reduce their emissions. The Protocol includes the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM), a tool that encourages project-based investments to be made in developing nations that will lead to an additional reduction in emissions. Due to China's economic size and rate of growth, technological characteristics, and its reliance on coal, it contains a large proportion of the global CDM potential. As China's economy modernizes, more technologies and processes are requiring electricity and demand for this energy source is accelerating rapidly. Relatively inefficient technology to generate electricity in China thereby results in the electrical sector having substantial GHG emission reduction opportunities as related to the CDM. In order to ensure the credibility of the CDM in leading to a reduction in GHG emissions, it is important that the baseline method used in the CDM approval process is scientifically sound and accessible for both others to use and for evaluation purposes. Three different methods for assessing CDM baselines and environmental additionality are investigated in the context of China's electrical sector: a method based on a historical perspective of the electrical sector (factor decomposition), a method structured upon a current perspective (operating and build margins), and a simulation of the future (dispatch analysis). Assessing future emission levels for China's electrical sector is a very challenging task given the complexity of the system, its dynamics, and that it is heavily influenced by internal and external forces, but of the different baseline methods investigated, dispatch modelling is best suited for the Chinese context as it is able to consider the important regional and temporal dimensions of its economy and its future development. For China, the most promising options for promoting sustainable development, one of the goals of the Kyoto Protocol, appear to be tied to increasing electrical end-use and generation efficiency, particularly clean coal technology for electricity generation since coal will likely continue to be a dominant primary fuel.

Source apportionment of PM2.5 across China using LOTOS-EUROS

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Timmermans, R.; Kranenburg, R.; Manders, A.; Hendriks, C.; Segers, A.; Dammers, E.; Zhang, Q.; Wang, L.; Liu, Z.; Zeng, L.; Denier van der Gon, H.; Schaap, M.

2017-09-01

China's population is exposed to high levels of particulate matter (PM) due to its strong economic growth and associated urbanization and industrialization. To support policy makers to develop cost effective mitigation strategies it is of crucial importance to understand the emission sources as well as formation routes responsible for high pollution levels. In this study we applied the LOTOS-EUROS model with its module to track the contributions of predefined source sectors to China for the year 2013 using the MEIC emission inventory. It is the first application of the model system to a region outside Europe. The source attribution was aimed to provide insight in the sector and area of origin of PM2.5 for the cities of Beijing and Shanghai. The source attribution shows that on average about half of the PM2.5 pollution in both cities originates from the municipality itself. About a quarter of the PM2.5 comes from the neighbouring provinces, whereas the remaining quarter is attributed to long range transport from anthropogenic and natural components. Residential combustion, transport, and industry are identified as the main sources with comparable contributions allocated to these sectors. The importance of the sectors varies throughout the year and differs slightly between the cities. During winter, urban contributions from residential combustion are dominant, whereas industrial and traffic contributions with a larger share of regional transport are more important during summer. The evaluation of the model results against satellite and in-situ observations shows the ability of the LOTOS-EUROS model to capture many features of the variability in particulate matter and its precursors in China. The model shows a systematic underestimation of particulate matter concentrations, especially in winter. This illustrates that modelling particulate matter remains challenging as it comes to components like secondary organic aerosol and suspended dust as well as emissions and formation of PM during winter time haze situations. All in all, the LOTOS-EUROS system proves to be a powerful tool for policy support applications outside Europe as the intermediate complexity of the model allows the assessment of the area and sector of origin over decadal time periods.

Identifying mechanisms for facilitating knowledge to action strategies targeting the built environment.

PubMed

Fazli, Ghazal S; Creatore, Maria I; Matheson, Flora I; Guilcher, Sara; Kaufman-Shriqui, Vered; Manson, Heather; Johns, Ashley; Booth, Gillian L

2017-01-03

In recent years, obesity-related diseases have been on the rise globally resulting in major challenges for health systems and society as a whole. Emerging research in population health suggests that interventions targeting the built environment may help reduce the burden of obesity and type 2 diabetes. However, translation of the evidence on the built environment into effective policy and planning changes requires engagement and collaboration between multiple sectors and government agencies for designing neighborhoods that are more conducive to healthy and active living. In this study, we identified knowledge gaps and other barriers to evidence-based decision-making and policy development related to the built environment; as well as the infrastructure, processes, and mechanisms needed to drive policy changes in this area. We conducted a qualitative thematic analysis of data collected through consultations with a broad group of stakeholders (N = 42) from Southern Ontario, Canada, within various sectors (public health, urban planning, and transportation) and levels of government (federal, provincial, and municipalities). Relevant themes were classified based on the specific phase of the knowledge-to-action cycle (research, translation, and implementation) in which they were most closely aligned. We identified 5 themes including: 1) the need for policy-informed and actionable research (e.g. health economic analyses and policy evaluations); 2) impactful messaging that targets all relevant sectors to create the political will necessary to drive policy change; 3) common measures and tools to increase capacity for monitoring and surveillance of built environment changes; (4) intersectoral collaboration and alignment within and between levels of government to enable collective actions and provide mechanisms for sharing of resources and expertise, (5) aligning public and private sector priorities to generate public demand and support for community action; and, (6) solution-focused implementation of research that will be tailored to meet the needs of policymakers and planners. Additional research priorities and key policy and planning actions were also noted. Our research highlights the necessity of involving stakeholders in identifying inter-sectoral solutions to develop and translate actionable research on the built environment into effective policy and planning initiatives.

A methodology for computing uncertainty bounds of multivariable systems based on sector stability theory concepts

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Waszak, Martin R.

1992-01-01

The application of a sector-based stability theory approach to the formulation of useful uncertainty descriptions for linear, time-invariant, multivariable systems is explored. A review of basic sector properties and sector-based approach are presented first. The sector-based approach is then applied to several general forms of parameter uncertainty to investigate its advantages and limitations. The results indicate that the sector uncertainty bound can be used effectively to evaluate the impact of parameter uncertainties on the frequency response of the design model. Inherent conservatism is a potential limitation of the sector-based approach, especially for highly dependent uncertain parameters. In addition, the representation of the system dynamics can affect the amount of conservatism reflected in the sector bound. Careful application of the model can help to reduce this conservatism, however, and the solution approach has some degrees of freedom that may be further exploited to reduce the conservatism.

Obesity and public policies: the Brazilian government's definitions and strategies.

PubMed

Dias, Patricia Camacho; Henriques, Patrícia; Anjos, Luiz Antonio Dos; Burlandy, Luciene

2017-07-27

The study analyzes national strategies for dealing with obesity in Brazil in the framework of the Brazilian Unified National Health System (SUS) and the Food and Nutritional Security System (SISAN). Based on the document analysis method, we examined government documents produced in the last 15 years in the following dimensions: definitions of obesity, proposed actions, and strategies for linkage between sectors. In the SUS, obesity is approached as both a risk factor and a disease, with individual and social/environmental approaches aimed at changing eating practices and physical activity. In the SISAN, obesity is also conceived as a social problem involving food insecurity, and new modes of producing, marketing, and consuming foods are proposed to change eating practices in an integrated way. Proposals in the SUS point to an integrated and intra-sector approach to obesity, while those in SISAN emphasize the problem's inter-sector nature from an expanded perspective that challenges the prevailing sector-based institutional structures.

Tapping the Vast Potential of the Data Deluge in Small-scale Food-Animal Production Businesses: Challenges to Near Real-time Data Analysis and Interpretation.

PubMed

Vial, Flavie; Tedder, Andrew

2017-01-01

Food-animal production businesses are part of a data-driven ecosystem shaped by stringent requirements for traceability along the value chain and the expanding capabilities of connected products. Within this sector, the generation of animal health intelligence, in particular, in terms of antimicrobial usage, is hindered by the lack of a centralized framework for data storage and usage. In this Perspective, we delimit the 11 processes required for evidence-based decisions and explore processes 3 (digital data acquisition) to 10 (communication to decision-makers) in more depth. We argue that small agribusinesses disproportionally face challenges related to economies of scale given the high price of equipment and services. There are two main areas of concern regarding the collection and usage of digital farm data. First, recording platforms must be developed with the needs and constraints of small businesses in mind and move away from local data storage, which hinders data accessibility and interoperability. Second, such data are unstructured and exhibit properties that can prove challenging to its near real-time preprocessing and analysis in a sector that is largely lagging behind others in terms of computing infrastructure and buying into digital technologies. To complete the digital transformation of this sector, investment in rural digital infrastructure is required alongside the development of new business models to empower small businesses to commit to near real-time data capture. This approach will deliver critical information to fill gaps in our understanding of emerging diseases and antimicrobial resistance in production animals, eventually leading to effective evidence-based policies.

[Evaluation of rational prescribing and dispensing of medicines in Mali].

PubMed

Maiga, D; Diawara, A; Maiga, M D

2006-12-01

Pharmaceutical policy in Mali is based on the concept of essential medicines and procurement of generic medicines. Unfortunately, increasing availability of generic medicines via different promotional programs can often be accompanied by their irrational use. This survey was thus designed to evaluate rational prescribing and dispensing of medicines in Mali. A cross-sectional survey was conducted from 1998 to 2005 in 30 primary health centers and 30 private dispensaries; in Bamako and in 6 of the 8 other regions of the country. In each of the visited facilities, 20 prescriptions dispensed at the time of the survey were collected. The average number of medicines per prescription was 3.2+/-1.3 and 2.8+/-1.2 respectively in the public and private sectors. Medicines were prescribed under generic name in 88.2% of the public sector prescriptions and in 30.9% of the private sector ones. Antibiotics were prescribed in 70.4% of the public sector prescriptions and in 50.0% of the private sector prescriptions. In the public sector 33.2% of the prescriptions had injections compared with 14.3% in the private sector (p<0.001). The median price per prescription was lower in the public sector (1575.0 CFA F, or 2.4 Euros, of which 91.3% were actually purchased by the patient) than in the private sector (5317.5 CFA F, or 8.1 Euros, of which 84.6% were purchased). Generic medicines are being used in the public sector but less frequently than in private practice. As therapeutic guidelines are already available, it would be useful to institute interactive information for practitioners through intensive visits by more experienced supervisors. The quality of the prescriptions could thus be optimized.

Occupational safety of different industrial sectors in Khartoum State, Sudan. Part 1: Safety performance evaluation.

PubMed

Zaki, Gehan R; El-Marakby, Fadia A; H Deign El-Nor, Yasser; Nofal, Faten H; Zakaria, Adel M

2012-12-01

Safety performance evaluation enables decision makers improve safety acts. In Sudan, accident records, statistics, and safety performance were not evaluated before maintenance of accident records became mandatory in 2005. This study aimed at evaluating and comparing safety performance by accident records among different cities and industrial sectors in Khartoum state, Sudan, during the period from 2005 to 2007. This was a retrospective study, the sample in which represented all industrial enterprises in Khartoum state employing 50 workers or more. All industrial accident records of the Ministry of Manpower and Health and those of different enterprises during the period from 2005 to 2007 were reviewed. The safety performance indicators used within this study were the frequency-severity index (FSI) and fatal and disabling accident frequency rates (DAFR). In Khartoum city, the FSI [0.10 (0.17)] was lower than that in Bahari [0.11 (0.21)] and Omdurman [0.84 (0.34)]. It was the maximum in the chemical sector [0.33 (0.64)] and minimum in the metallurgic sector [0.09 (0.19)]. The highest DAFR was observed in Omdurman [5.6 (3.5)] and in the chemical sector [2.5 (4.0)]. The fatal accident frequency rate in the mechanical and electrical engineering industry was the highest [0.0 (0.69)]. Male workers who were older, divorced, and had lower levels of education had the lowest safety performance indicators. The safety performance of the industrial enterprises in Khartoum city was the best. The safety performance in the chemical sector was the worst with regard to FSI and DAFR. The age, sex, and educational level of injured workers greatly affect safety performance.