scholarly journals From Patañjali to the “Gospel of Sweat”: Yoga’s Remarkable Transformation from a Sacred Movement into a Thriving Global Market

2021 ◽  
pp. 000183922199347
Author(s):  
Kamal Munir ◽  
Shahzad (Shaz) Ansari ◽  
Deborah Brown

Movements seeking to infuse markets with moral values often end up utilizing the market mechanism and support from mainstream actors to scale up, even if it comes at the cost of diluting their founding ethos. But this process can be particularly challenging for movements that are explicitly opposed to using a market mechanism as a means of scaling up. Our analysis of yoga between 1975 and 2016 reveals how a countercultural movement fundamentally opposed to a capitalist market economy but seeking to grow can paradoxically become syncretic with or infiltrated by concepts and beliefs that are core to the market system but incompatible with the movement’s original ethos. We show how, before such a movement can be commodified, it must be de-essentialized, a process that requires stripping away key aspects of its history, context, and religious commitments and transforming collective goals into individual ones. This process involves not only external entrepreneurs looking to mine the movement but also movement leaders seeking wider enrollment of resource-rich actors to scale the movement up. We show how codes borrowed from parallel movements and templates borrowed from markets can be instrumental in driving such a movement’s transformation. Through this extreme case of the yoga movement, we advance understandings of how movements can become syncretic with values and practices they fundamentally oppose.

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maria Olsen ◽  
Ole F. Norheim ◽  
Solomon Tessema Memirie

Abstract Background Scaling up coverage of community-based treatment of childhood pneumonia (CCM) is part of the strategy to promote equity and reduce under-five mortality rate (U5MR) in Ethiopia. However, urban children with symptoms of pneumonia are still more than twice as likely to receive treatment compared with rural children having similar symptoms. There are no sub-national cost-effectiveness analyses available to inform decision makers on the most equitable scale-up strategy. Objectives To model sub-national cost-effectiveness and inequality impacts of scaling up coverage of CCM in each of the 11 Ethiopian regions. We also explore three different scale-up strategies: reducing geographical inequalities, health maximization and universal scale-up. Methods For each region, we developed a Markov model and estimated the cost-effectiveness of scaling up coverage to 90 percent. Data inputs were collected through literature review. Effects were modeled as life years gained and under-five deaths averted. Inputs on unit costs were adjusted to the proportions of rural and urban population in each region. In scenario analysis, we estimated costs, health effects and, by the use of the Gini measure applied to health, the inequality impacts of three different scale-up strategies: 1) maximizing health by prioritizing the regions where the intervention was the most cost-effective, 2) reducing geographical inequality by prioritizing the regions with the highest baseline U5MR and 3) universally scaling up to 90% coverage in all the regions. Results Universal scale-up of CCM would cost about 1.3 billion USD and prevent about 90,000 under-five deaths. This is less than 15,000 USD per life saved and translates to an increase in life expectancy at birth of 1.6 years across Ethiopia. The regional incremental-cost effectiveness ratio (ICER) of scaling up the intervention coverage varied from 26 USD per life year gained in Addis to 199 USD per life year gained in the SNNP region. In scenario analysis, we found that prioritizing regions with high U5MR is effective in reducing geographical inequalities, although at the cost of some fewer lives saved. Conclusions Our model results illustrate a trade-off between maximizing health and reducing health inequalities, two common policy-aims in low-income settings.


2021 ◽  
Vol 15 (2) ◽  
pp. e0009129
Author(s):  
Natalie J. Dial ◽  
Graham F. Medley ◽  
Simon L. Croft ◽  
Tanmay Mahapatra ◽  
Khushbu Priyamvada ◽  
...  

Background Effective case identification strategies are fundamental to capturing the remaining visceral leishmaniasis (VL) cases in India. To inform government strategies to reach and sustain elimination benchmarks, this study presents costs of active- and passive- case detection (ACD and PCD) strategies used in India’s most VL-endemic state, Bihar, with a focus on programme outcomes stratified by district-level incidence. Methods Expenditure analysis was complemented by onsite micro-costing to compare the cost of PCD in hospitals alongside index case-based ACD and a combination of blanket (house-to-house) and camp ACD from January to December 2018. From the provider’s perspective, a cost analysis evaluated the overall programme cost of each activity, the cost per case detected, and the cost of scaling up ACD. Results During 2018, index case-based ACD, blanket and camp ACD, and PCD reported 1,497, 131, and 1,983 VL-positive cases at a unit cost of $522.81, $4,186.81, and $246.79, respectively. In high endemic districts, more VL cases were identified through PCD while in meso- and low-endemic districts more cases were identified through ACD. The cost of scaling up ACD to identify 3,000 additional cases ranged from $1.6–4 million, depending on the extent to which blanket and camp ACD was relied upon. Conclusion Cost per VL test conducted (rather than VL-positive case identified) may be a better metric estimating unit costs to scale up ACD in Bihar. As more VL cases were identified in meso-and low-endemic districts through ACD than PCD, health authorities in India should consider bolstering ACD in these areas. Blanket and camp ACD identified fewer cases at a higher unit cost than index case-based ACD. However, the value of detecting additional VL cases early outweighs long-term costs for reaching and sustaining VL elimination benchmarks in India.


2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Milind Watve

Peer reviewed scientific publishing is critical for communicating important findings, interpretations and theories in any branch of science. While the value of peer review is rarely doubted, much concern is being raised about the possible biases in the process. I argue here that most of the biases originate in the evolved innate tendency of every player to optimize one’s own cost benefits. Different players in the scientific publishing game have different cost-benefit optima. There are multiple conflicts between individual optima and collective goals. An analysis of the cost-benefit optima of every player in the scientific publishing game shows how and why biases originate. In the current system of publishing, by optimization considerations, the probability of publishing a ‘bad’ manuscript is relatively small but the probability of rejecting a ‘good’ manuscript is very high. By continuing with the current publishing structure, the global distribution of the scientific community would be increasingly clustered. Publication biases by gender, ethnicity, reputation, conformation and conformity will be increasingly common and revolutionary concepts increasingly difficult to publish. Ultimately, I explore the possibility of designing a peer review publishing system in which the conflicts between individual optimization and collective goal can be minimized. In such a system, if everyone behaves with maximum selfishness, biases would be minimized and the progress towards the collective goal would be faster and smoother. Changing towards such a system might prove difficult unless a critical mass of authors take an active role to revolutionize scientific publishing.


GIS Business ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 14 (3) ◽  
pp. 114-120
Author(s):  
Kholbutayeva Shakhnoza Abduvaliyevna

This article discusses aspects of the development of the global market of consulting services. The features of the formation of the consulting industry in Uzbekistan in the conditions of transition to a market economy are evaluated. A number of services in the field of innovative consulting, influencing the development of the services market in the context of global challenges, are considered


2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ali Ben Charif ◽  
◽  
Karine V. Plourde ◽  
Sabrina Guay-Bélanger ◽  
Hervé Tchala Vignon Zomahoun ◽  
...  

Abstract Background The scale-up of evidence-based innovations is required to reduce waste and inequities in health and social services (HSS). However, it often tends to be a top-down process initiated by policy makers, and the values of the intended beneficiaries are forgotten. Involving multiple stakeholders including patients and the public in the scaling-up process is thus essential but highly complex. We propose to identify relevant strategies for meaningfully and equitably involving patients and the public in the science and practice of scaling up in HSS. Methods We will adapt our overall method from the RAND/UCLA Appropriateness Method. Following this, we will perform a two-prong study design (knowledge synthesis and Delphi study) grounded in an integrated knowledge translation approach. This approach involves extensive participation of a network of stakeholders interested in patient and public involvement (PPI) in scaling up and a multidisciplinary steering committee. We will conduct a systematic scoping review following the methodology recommended in the Joanna Briggs Institute Reviewers Manual. We will use the following eligibility criteria: (1) participants—any stakeholder involved in creating or testing a strategy for PPI; (2) intervention—any PPI strategy proposed for scaling-up initiatives; (3) comparator—no restriction; (4) outcomes: any process or outcome metrics related to PPI; and (5) setting—HSS. We will search electronic databases (e.g., Medline, Web of Science, Sociological Abstract) from inception onwards, hand search relevant websites, screen the reference lists of included records, and consult experts in the field. Two reviewers will independently select and extract eligible studies. We will summarize data quantitatively and qualitatively and report results using the PRISMA extension for Scoping Reviews (PRISMA-ScR) checklist. We will conduct an online Delphi survey to achieve consensus on the relevant strategies for PPI in scaling-up initiatives in HSS. Participants will include stakeholders from low-, middle-, and high-income countries. We anticipate that three rounds will allow an acceptable degree of agreement on research priorities. Discussion Our findings will advance understanding of how to meaningfully and equitably involve patients and the public in scaling-up initiatives for sustainable HSS. Systematic review registration We registered this protocol with the Open Science Framework on August 19, 2020 (https://osf.io/zqpx7/).


Author(s):  
Laura Ghiron ◽  
Eric Ramirez-Ferrero ◽  
Rita Badiani ◽  
Regina Benevides ◽  
Alexis Ntabona ◽  
...  

AbstractThe USAID-funded flagship family planning service delivery project named Evidence to Action (E2A) worked from 2011 to 2021 to improve family planning and reproductive health for women and girls across seventeen nations in sub-Saharan Africa using a “scaling-up mindset.” The paper discusses three key lessons emerging from the project’s experience with applying ExpandNet’s systematic approach to scale up. The methodology uses ExpandNet/WHO’s scaling-up framework and guidance tools to design and implement pilot or demonstration projects in ways that look ahead to their future scale-up; develop a scaling-up strategy with local stakeholders; and then strategically manage the scaling-up process. The paper describes how a scaling-up mindset was engendered, first within the project’s technical team in Washington and then how they subsequently sought to build capacity at the country level to support scale-up work throughout E2A’s portfolio of activities. The project worked with local multi-stakeholder resource teams, often led by government officials, to equip them to lead the scale-up of family planning and health system strengthening interventions. Examples from project experience in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Kenya, Nigeria, and Uganda illustrating key concepts are discussed. E2A also established a community of practice on systematic approaches to scale up as a platform for sharing learning across a variety of technical agencies engaged in scale-up work and to create learning opportunities for interacting with thought leaders around critical scale-up issues.


2021 ◽  
Vol 7 (7) ◽  
pp. 541
Author(s):  
Lúcia P. S. Pimenta ◽  
Dhionne C. Gomes ◽  
Patrícia G. Cardoso ◽  
Jacqueline A. Takahashi

Filamentous fungi are known to biosynthesize an extraordinary range of azaphilones pigments with structural diversity and advantages over vegetal-derived colored natural products such agile and simple cultivation in the lab, acceptance of low-cost substrates, speed yield improvement, and ease of downstream processing. Modern genetic engineering allows industrial production, providing pigments with higher thermostability, water-solubility, and promising bioactivities combined with ecological functions. This review, covering the literature from 2020 onwards, focuses on the state-of-the-art of azaphilone dyes, the global market scenario, new compounds isolated in the period with respective biological activities, and biosynthetic pathways. Furthermore, we discussed the innovations of azaphilone cultivation and extraction techniques, as well as in yield improvement and scale-up. Potential applications in the food, cosmetic, pharmaceutical, and textile industries were also explored.


Energies ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (15) ◽  
pp. 4517
Author(s):  
Saheli Biswas ◽  
Shambhu Singh Rathore ◽  
Aniruddha Pramod Kulkarni ◽  
Sarbjit Giddey ◽  
Sankar Bhattacharya

Reversible solid oxide cells (rSOC) enable the efficient cyclic conversion between electrical and chemical energy in the form of fuels and chemicals, thereby providing a pathway for long-term and high-capacity energy storage. Amongst the different fuels under investigation, hydrogen, methane, and ammonia have gained immense attention as carbon-neutral energy vectors. Here we have compared the energy efficiency and the energy demand of rSOC based on these three fuels. In the fuel cell mode of operation (energy generation), two different routes have been considered for both methane and ammonia; Routes 1 and 2 involve internal reforming (in the case of methane) or cracking (in the case of ammonia) and external reforming or cracking, respectively. The use of hydrogen as fuel provides the highest round-trip efficiency (62.1%) followed by methane by Route 1 (43.4%), ammonia by Route 2 (41.1%), methane by Route 2 (40.4%), and ammonia by Route 1 (39.2%). The lower efficiency of internal ammonia cracking as opposed to its external counterpart can be attributed to the insufficient catalytic activity and stability of the state-of-the-art fuel electrode materials, which is a major hindrance to the scale-up of this technology. A preliminary cost estimate showed that the price of hydrogen, methane and ammonia produced in SOEC mode would be ~1.91, 3.63, and 0.48 $/kg, respectively. In SOFC mode, the cost of electricity generation using hydrogen, internally reformed methane, and internally cracked ammonia would be ~52.34, 46.30, and 47.11 $/MWh, respectively.


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (4) ◽  
pp. 317-333
Author(s):  
S.P. GRUBTSOVA

The review presents the book by E.A. Ivanova “Agreements in the Field of Civil Jurisdiction: Procedural and Legal Aspect”. According to the reviewer, in modern conditions there is a tendency towards strengthening of private law principles and the development of dispositiveness in the context of civil procedural law, which is associated, in particular, with the implementation of the ideas of economic freedom and market economy within the framework of civil circulation and the transformation of legal institutions of substantive branches of law. Proceeding from this, there is a need for new doctrinal, lawmaking and law enforcement approaches on the issue of empowering legal participants in the independent choice of forms and methods of protecting violated rights, as well as in order to influence the dynamics of procedural legal relations. This is possible through the use in legislation of the full potential of procedural agreements, the theoretical development of which was carried out in the book under review, meaningfully revealing the key aspects of the indicated problem.


1998 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 65-104 ◽  
Author(s):  
V. Adlakha ◽  
H. Arsham

In a fast changing global market, a manager is concerned with cost uncertainties of the cost matrix in transportation problems (TP) and assignment problems (AP).A time lag between the development and application of the model could cause cost parameters to assume different values when an optimal assignment is implemented. The manager might wish to determine the responsiveness of the current optimal solution to such uncertainties. A desirable tool is to construct a perturbation set (PS) of cost coeffcients which ensures the stability of an optimal solution under such uncertainties.The widely-used methods of solving the TP and AP are the stepping-stone (SS) method and the Hungarian method, respectively. Both methods fail to provide direct information to construct the needed PS. An added difficulty is that these problems might be highly pivotal degenerate. Therefore, the sensitivity results obtained via the available linear programming (LP) software might be misleading.We propose a unified pivotal solution algorithm for both TP and AP. The algorithm is free of pivotal degeneracy, which may cause cycling, and does not require any extra variables such as slack, surplus, or artificial variables used in dual and primal simplex. The algorithm permits higher-order assignment problems and side-constraints. Computational results comparing the proposed algorithm to the closely-related pivotal solution algorithm, the simplex, via the widely-used pack-age Lindo, are provided. The proposed algorithm has the advantage of being computationally practical, being easy to understand, and providing useful information for managers. The results empower the manager to assess and monitor various types of cost uncertainties encountered in real-life situations. Some illustrative numerical examples are also presented.


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