scholarly journals Re-purposing Universities: The Path to Purpose

2022 ◽  
Vol 2 ◽  
Author(s):  
Victoria Hurth ◽  
Iain S. Stewart
Keyword(s):  
Ad Hoc ◽  
Social Institutions ◽  
Best Interest ◽  
Business World ◽  
Sustainable Future ◽  
Sustainability Initiatives ◽  
Core Questions ◽  
Extent Of Damage ◽  
University Leaders

As the extent of damage to environmental systems from our business-as-usual activity becomes ever more alarming, Universities as core social institutions are under pressure to help society lead the transition to a sustainable future. Their response to the issues, that they themselves have helped reveal, has, however, been widely criticised for being wholly inadequate. Universities can be observed to engage with sustainability issues in ad-hoc ways, with the scale of attention and commitment dependant mainly on the level of pressure exerted by stakeholders that works to overcome aspects of inherent inertia. Sustainability initiatives can therefore be regarded mainly as bolt-ons. This mirrors how other sectors, including businesses, have tended to respond. As the environmental and social crisis mounts and the window for adaptive change to ensure long-term wellbeing for all narrows, the pressure for deeper systemic change builds. It is in this context that transformation to a “purpose-driven organisation” has emerged as a systemic approach to change, enabling an organisation to align deeply and rapidly with society's long-term best interest and hence a sustainable future. Nowhere has this concept been taken forward more obviously than in the business sector. As business leadership towards purpose becomes more apparent, so the lack of action in this area by universities appears starker. In this paper we clarify what it means to be a purpose-driven organisation, why and how it represents a deep holistic response to unsustainability, and what core questions emerging from the business world university leaders can ask themselves to begin the practical journey to transform their institutions into purpose-driven universities.

scholarly journals Myopic Savings Behaviour of Future Polish Pensioners

Risks ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 36
Author(s):  
Sonia Buchholtz ◽  
Jan Gąska ◽  
Marek Góra
Keyword(s):  
Logistic Models ◽  
Principal Component ◽  
Social Institutions ◽  
Health Seeking ◽  
Future Health ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
Second Best ◽  
External Assistance ◽  
Old Age Poverty

Low saving rates combined with low effective retirement age herald old-age poverty. This paper examines the preferred strategies of future Polish pensioners in order to sustain the standard of living in the future. A two-step approach is used: as a first-best strategy, we explore determinants of supplementary saving with binary logistic models; as a second-best strategy, we examine alternative options with principal component analysis. Future retirees rarely accumulate long-term savings, do not use dedicated instruments, and they start to save additionally far too late. Savings are concentrated in wealthier and better educated groups. Such myopia is governed by their political stance and not by awareness of dire prospects. Second-best strategies are based on optimistic assumptions about future health (seeking for additional jobs), on the assumed generosity of acquaintances or social institutions (relying on external assistance), or on rebelling. Given the increasing political power of elder generations, balancing the interests of workers and retirees will be an increasingly difficult task for policy makers.

Bildungsgerechtigkeit in der Krise: Welche potenziellen Auswirkungen hat die Corona-Pandemie auf die frühe Bildung?

2021 ◽  
Vol 70 (7-8) ◽  
pp. 419-435
Author(s):  
Susanne Lochner ◽  
Katharina Kopp
Keyword(s):  
Early Childhood ◽  
Ad Hoc ◽  
Educational Inequality ◽  
Educational Equality ◽  
Long Term Effects ◽  
Childhood Education ◽  
Care Facilities ◽  
Frühe Bildung ◽  
The One

Die Maßnahmen zur Eindämmung der Covid-19-Pandemie trafen Familien mit kleinen Kindern besonders hart: Ausgangsbeschränkungen, die Abriegelung von Spielplätzen und allem voran die Schließungen von Kinderbetreuungseinrichtungen stellten nicht nur den familiären Alltag auf den Kopf, sondern haben möglicherweise auch langfristige Folgen für die altersgerechte Entwicklung und den Kompetenzerwerb von Kindern. Dieser Beitrag widmet sich der Frage, welche Auswirkungen sich aus den Einschränkungen des Kita-­Betriebs in der Corona-Pandemie auf die Bildungsgerechtigkeit in der frühen Kindheit ergeben können. Da keine vergleichbaren historischen Ereignisse zur Prognose von potenziellen Auswirkungen herangezogen werden können, werden zum einen die Ergebnisse von Wirksamkeitsstudien zu institutionalisierter früher Bildung aufbereitet und zum anderen erste Befunde aus ad-hoc Erhebungen des ersten Lockdowns im Frühjahr 2020 analysiert. Bilanzierend werden aus den Befunden mögliche kurz-, mittel- und langfristige Auswirkungen abgeleitet, die Bildungsungerechtigkeit bereits in der frühen Kindheit verstärken können. Abstract: Educational Equality in the Crisis: What Impact does the Corona Pandemic have on Early Childhood Education? The actions taken to contain the Covid-19 pandemic hit families with young children particularly hard. Social restrictions, the closure of playgrounds and, above all, the lockdown of day-care facilities did not only turn everyday family life upside down, but could also have long-term consequences for child development and acquisition of skills. This article is devoted to the question of what effects the measures to contain the coronavirus pandemic can have on educational equality in early childhood. Since no comparable historical events can be used to forecast potential impacts, the results of efficacy studies on institutionalized early education are reported on the one hand and initial findings from ad-hoc surveys conducted during the first lockdown in spring 2020 are ana­lyzed on the other. The findings suggest short, middle and long-term effects of the corona measures taken that can intensify educational inequality in early childhood.

Evolutionary morphology: beyond the analogous, the anecdotal, and the ad hoc

Paleobiology ◽  
1985 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 120-138 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel C. Fisher
Keyword(s):  
Natural Selection ◽  
Ad Hoc ◽  
Reproductive Potential ◽  
Context Dependency ◽  
Evolutionary Morphology ◽  
Structured Design ◽  
Behavioral System ◽  
Essential Components ◽  
History Of

Many questions have emerged recently regarding the importance and methodology of analysis of adaptation. Divergent views reflect both problems of definition and more substantive issues of interpretation. Defining the state of adaptation in terms of its contribution to current fitness, rather than origin by natural selection, is essential if natural selection is to be considered anexplanationof adaptation. The context dependency and relativity of fitness apply also to adaptation. Design criteria are essential components of adaptation, but only to the extent that they are subsumed as elements of the causal interactions determining relative reproductive potential. The local, relational, contingent character of adaptation supports only limited reference to improvement. Most long-term patterns of change can be better described as diffusion within a structured design-space than as progressive improvement of design. The analysis of adaptation is part of a broader inquiry into the processes and constraints that control form and the history of changing form. It offers one perspective on how organisms operate on ecological time scales and how their configurations might be maintained or transformed over evolutionary time. Hypotheses concerning adaptation are sometimes tested by reference to predictions concerning the central tendency or trend of some aspect of an anatomical-behavioral system. These can be interpreted with minimal reference to assumptions of optimality if the analysis is viewed in terms of Bayesian inference. However, an alternative and frequently preferable approach to testing relies on limit-oriented predictions. Analysis of adaptation can be visualized as inferring the pattern and nature of interactions comprising the causal plexus that determines fitness. A comprehensive understanding of form and form-change requires that this be integrated with the perspective offered by studies of development, genetics, phylogenetic history, and external perturbations acting on the system.

scholarly journals Establishing an ad hoc COVID-19 mortality surveillance during the first epidemic wave in Belgium, 1 March to 21 June 2020

2021 ◽  
Vol 26 (48) ◽  
Author(s):  
Françoise Renard ◽  
Aline Scohy ◽  
Johan Van der Heyden ◽  
Ilse Peeters ◽  
Sara Dequeker ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Ad Hoc ◽  
Participation Rate ◽  
Term Care ◽  
Data Flows ◽  
Care Facilities ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
High Level ◽  
Mortality Surveillance ◽  
Related Mortality

Background COVID-19-related mortality in Belgium has drawn attention for two reasons: its high level, and a good completeness in reporting of deaths. An ad hoc surveillance was established to register COVID-19 death numbers in hospitals, long-term care facilities (LTCF) and the community. Belgium adopted broad inclusion criteria for the COVID-19 death notifications, also including possible cases, resulting in a robust correlation between COVID-19 and all-cause mortality. Aim To document and assess the COVID-19 mortality surveillance in Belgium. Methods We described the content and data flows of the registration and we assessed the situation as of 21 June 2020, 103 days after the first death attributable to COVID-19 in Belgium. We calculated the participation rate, the notification delay, the percentage of error detected, and the results of additional investigations. Results The participation rate was 100% for hospitals and 83% for nursing homes. Of all deaths, 85% were recorded within 2 calendar days: 11% within the same day, 41% after 1 day and 33% after 2 days, with a quicker notification in hospitals than in LTCF. Corrections of detected errors reduced the death toll by 5%. Conclusion Belgium implemented a rather complete surveillance of COVID-19 mortality, on account of a rapid investment of the hospitals and LTCF. LTCF could build on past experience of previous surveys and surveillance activities. The adoption of an extended definition of ‘COVID-19-related deaths’ in a context of limited testing capacity has provided timely information about the severity of the epidemic.

scholarly journals In dogs weighing under 15 Kg with unilateral cranial cruciate ligament disease, does tibial tuberosity advancement lead to better long-term functional outcomes than lateral fabellar suture?

2020 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Tafara Mapuvire
Keyword(s):  
Functional Outcomes ◽  
Cruciate Ligament ◽  
Research Question ◽  
Tibial Tuberosity ◽  
Clinical Expertise ◽  
Best Interest ◽  
Bottom Line ◽  
Cranial Cruciate Ligament ◽  
Cranial Cruciate Ligament Disease

PICO question In dogs weighing under 15 kg with unilateral cranial cruciate ligament disease, does tibial tuberosity advancement lead to better long-term functional outcomes than lateral fabellar suture?   Clinical bottom line Category of research question Treatment The number and type of study designs reviewed There were no papers that answered the PICO question Strength of evidence Zero Outcomes reported Between TTA and LFS none of the techniques was shown to provide better long-term functional outcomes than the other in dogs weighing less than 15 kg Conclusion Given the absence of evidence answering the PICO question, choice and recommendation of procedure between TTA and LFS in dogs weighing under 15 kg should be guided by what the surgeon deems to be in the best interest of the patient   How to apply this evidence in practice The application of evidence into practice should take into account multiple factors, not limited to: individual clinical expertise, patient’s circumstances and owners’ values, country, location or clinic where you work, the individual case in front of you, the availability of therapies and resources. Knowledge Summaries are a resource to help reinforce or inform decision making. They do not override the responsibility or judgement of the practitioner to do what is best for the animal in their care.  

scholarly journals 885 Telephone Consultations During the Covid-19 Pandemic; from the Perspective of One Oral and Maxillofacial Unit

2021 ◽  
Vol 108 (Supplement_2) ◽  
Author(s):  
H Chaudhry ◽  
J Abiola
Keyword(s):  
Emergency Treatment ◽  
Electronic Patient Record ◽  
Ad Hoc ◽  
Healthcare Provision ◽  
Face To Face ◽  
Global Impact ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Benign Biopsy

Abstract Introduction The Covid-19 pandemic has had a global impact on healthcare. As a result, changes have been made to healthcare provision. In the UK, the focus was changed to urgent and emergency treatment only, and therefore a shift from face-to-face consultations to video and telephone consultations was implemented. Our aim was to look at the telephone consultations in our oral and maxillofacial (OMF) department to identify their effectiveness. Method A search was carried out using the electronic patient record for patients booked for consultations in the OMF clinics from the 23rd of March to the 1st of May 2020. Trauma clinics and ad-hoc clinics were excluded. Results 21 clinic codes were found as suitable for inclusion. 185 consultations were booked during the 6-week period. Of these, 165 were via telephone and 20 face-to-face. A total of 75 consultations resulted in discharge and 110 required further follow up or further investigation. Of the 75 patients discharged, 73 of these were via telephone. The main reason for discharge was delivery of benign biopsy results. Conclusions Covid-19 will have long term impacts on healthcare provision. If implemented correctly, virtual consultations carry the potential in making healthcare more accessible.

scholarly journals Uneven Humanitarianism: Abandoned Refugees along the Thai-Myanmar Border

2016 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 65-86
Author(s):  
Tani Sebro
Keyword(s):  
Ad Hoc ◽  
Minority Groups ◽  
Humanitarian Aid ◽  
Vulnerable Groups ◽  
Refugee Camps ◽  
Ethnic Minority Groups ◽  
Authoritarian Rule ◽  
Humanitarian Organizations ◽  
British Colonial

This essay considers the case of uneven humanitarian aid distribution along the Thai-Myanmar border, where forcibly displaced migrants from Myanmar have been abandoned by the UNHCR and international humanitarian organizations. Based upon long-term ethnographic fieldwork along the Thai-Myanmar border amongst Tai migrants from the Shan State in Myanmar, I attend to the effects of the inequitable distribution of rights and privileges in an international humanitarian system that is predicated on the neoliberal logic of uneven development. After two centuries of British colonial occupation and later Burman authoritarian rule, the ethnic minority groups along the Thai-Myanmar border are now facing another crisis – that of abandonment as NGOs search for new and more pressing humanitarian disasters elsewhere. The essay addresses a concept I call uneven humanitarianism as a neocolonial condition for peoples living in the Thai-Myanmar borderlands by specifically focusing on Tai peoples who are living in unofficial refugee camps that lost foreign funding in 2017. I argue that the ad hoc treatment and eventual abandonment of these vulnerable groups – that are currently in the midst of the world’s most protracted civil war and displacement situation – constitutes a failure of the “responsibility to protect” humanitarian project.

scholarly journals Privatizing war and security in Afghanistan: Future or dead end?

2007 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Antonio Giustozzi
Keyword(s):  
Ad Hoc ◽  
Armed Forces ◽  
Private Security ◽  
Security Forces ◽  
Abusive Behavior ◽  
Private Security Companies ◽  
Dead End ◽  
Military Discipline ◽  
Security Companies

An assessment of the employment of mercenaries in Afghanistan gives mixed results. U.S. armed forces appear to have been happy with the Afghan Security Forces and ad hoc militias and only replaced them because of political reasons or because they felt that they were no longer needed. By contrast, the work of private security companies seems to have satisfied few. While in the short term no practical alternative to their use existed, it is not obvious that this option saves any money to the governments involved in the medium and long-term. Moreover, private security contractors are not subject to the control of military authorities, nor to military discipline. Their record of abusive behavior is indisputable and probably played a significant role in alienating the Afghan public. Unless much changes, the potential of private security companies in peacekeeping does not appear to be a bright one.

scholarly journals Financing Long-term Care: Lessons From Japan

2019 ◽  
Vol 8 (8) ◽  
pp. 462-466 ◽  
Author(s):  
Naoki Ikegami
Keyword(s):  
Social Services ◽  
Social Insurance ◽  
Ad Hoc ◽  
Long Term Care ◽  
Early Stage ◽  
Functional Decline ◽  
Eligibility Criteria ◽  
Term Care ◽  
Service Levels

Long-term care (LTC) must be carefully delineated when expenditures are compared across countries because how LTC services are defined and delivered differ in each country. LTC’s objectives are to compensate for functional decline and mitigate the care burden of the family. Governments have tended to focus on the poor but Germany opted to make LTC universally available in 1995/1996. The applicant’s level of dependence is assessed by the medical team of the social insurance plan. Japan basically followed this model but, unlike Germany where those eligible may opt for cash benefits, they are limited to services. Benefits are set more generously in Japan because, prior to its implementation in 2000, health insurance had covered long-stays in hospitals and there had been major expansions of social services. These service levels had to be maintained and be made universally available for all those meeting the eligibility criteria. As a result, efforts to contain costs after the implementation of the LTC Insurance have had only marginal effects. This indicates it would be more efficient and equitable to introduce public LTC Insurance at an early stage before benefits have expanded as a result of ad hoc policy decisions.

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