Africa's Platform and the Shared Economy

2021 ◽  
pp. 231-251
Author(s):  
Immanuel Ovemeso Umukoro
Keyword(s):  
Growth Trajectory ◽  
Inclusive Development ◽  
Technological Innovations ◽  
Evidence Based ◽  
African Countries ◽  
Enabling Environment ◽  
New Research ◽  
Research Frontiers ◽  
Platform Economy ◽  
Insight Into

As African economies make efforts to compete with the rest of the world's economies, technological innovations are critical towards attaining inclusive development. Platforms remain one of the innovations that are shaping the growth trajectory of many African countries, and while they seem to offer diverse benefits and opportunities to leapfrog development, there are also attendant challenges that need to be addressed if African economies seek to maximize the opportunities of the platform and shared economy. This chapter provides insight into some of the benefits of the platform and shared economy and further argues that to address the challenges of the platform economy, there is need for evidence-based research. The chapter further proposes new research frontiers in the platform and shared economy that require immediate attention as first step to providing the required evidence for building a market enabling environment for Africa's platform and shared economy.

scholarly journals Evaluating Sub-Saharan Africa’s COVID-19 Research Contribution: A Preliminary bibliometric Analysis

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Toluwase Asubiaro ◽  
Hafsah Shaik
Keyword(s):  
Research Collaboration ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Evidence Based ◽  
Regional Government ◽  
African Countries ◽  
Healthcare Needs ◽  
Pan African ◽  
Sub Saharan ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Insight Into

The response to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic in the science community is unprecedented as indicated by the high number of research publications. Deeper insight into COVID-19 research at regional, and national levels through bibliometric research has revealed different levels of research evolution, depth, contribution, and collaboration patterns. Such reliable and evidence-based information is important for health research planning and policy making. This study aims at providing some evidence-based insight into Sub-Saharan Africa’s preliminary COVID-19 research by evaluating its research contributions, patterns of collaboration, and funding sources. COVID-19 publication data from all the 41 Sub-Saharan African countries was collected from Scopus for analysis. Results show that Sub-Saharan Africa contributed about two percent to global COVID-19 research. South Africa contributed 50.95% of all the COVID-19 publications from Sub-Saharan Africa while USA (28.48%) and the UK (24.47%), the top two external contributors, collaborated with Sub-Saharan African countries three times more than other countries. Collaborative papers between Sub-Saharan African countries - without contributions from outside the region- made up less than five percent of the sample, whereas over 50% of the papers were written in collaboration with researchers from outside the region. Organizations based in USA, UK, and EU funded more than 60% of all the COVID-19 research from Sub-Saharan Africa. More than 60% of all the funding from Sub-Saharan African countries came from South African organizations. This study provides evidence that pan-African COVID-19 research collaboration is low, perhaps due to poor funding and institutional support within Africa. There is a need to forge stronger pan-African research collaboration networks, through funding from Africa’s national and regional government organizations, with the specific objective of meeting COVID-19 healthcare needs of Africans.

The Role of Industry-Academia Collaborative Research in Mineral Exploration

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
James Marlatt
Keyword(s):  
Collaborative Research ◽  
New Technologies ◽  
Mineral Exploration ◽  
Board Members ◽  
Technological Innovations ◽  
Development Programs ◽  
The University ◽  
Insight Into ◽  
Economic Mineral

ABSTRACT Many people may not be aware of the extent of Kurt Kyser's collaboration with mineral exploration companies through applied research and the development of innovative exploration technologies, starting at the University of Saskatchewan and continuing through the Queen's Facility for Isotope Research. Applied collaborative, geoscientific, industry-academia research and development programs can yield technological innovations that can improve the mineral exploration discovery rates of economic mineral deposits. Alliances between exploration geoscientists and geoscientific researchers can benefit both parties, contributing to the pure and applied geoscientific knowledge base and the development of innovations in mineral exploration technology. Through a collaboration that spanned over three decades, we gained insight into the potential for economic uranium deposits around the world in Canada, Australia, USA, Finland, Russia, Gabon, Namibia, Botswana, South Africa, and Guyana. Kurt, his research team, postdoctoral fellows, and students developed technological innovations related to holistic basin analysis for economic mineral potential, isotopes in mineral exploration, and biogeochemical exploration, among others. In this paper, the business of mineral exploration is briefly described, and some examples of industry-academic collaboration innovations brought forward through Kurt's research are identified. Kurt was a masterful and capable knowledge broker, which is a key criterion for bringing new technologies to application—a grand, curious, credible, patient, and attentive communicator—whether talking about science, business, or life and with first ministers, senior technocrats, peers, board members, first nation peoples, exploration geologists, investors, students, citizens, or friends.

scholarly journals Functional Food—Consumer Motivations and Expectations

2021 ◽  
Vol 18 (10) ◽  
pp. 5327
Author(s):  
Kinga Topolska ◽  
Adam Florkiewicz ◽  
Agnieszka Filipiak-Florkiewicz
Keyword(s):  
Functional Food ◽  
Consumer Attitudes ◽  
Evidence Based ◽  
Nutritional Knowledge ◽  
Future Perspectives ◽  
Research Papers ◽  
Adequate Knowledge ◽  
Food Market ◽  
And Behavior ◽  
Insight Into

This review provides insight into consumer attitudes toward functional food (FF), with the purpose of better understanding the needs and behavior regarding this kind of product. A total of 47 articles were selected for this paper. The available studies from last 20 years differ according to the focus (awareness, attitudes, motivations, willingness, acceptance by consumers) and methodologies used. Several factors, including socio-demographic, cognitive and attitudinal ones, seem to be serve as the basis for the acceptance of functional products. The research papers showed that nutritional knowledge is the most important of these. Older people are more interested in functional products than younger consumers, because of their stronger belief in the health benefits of FF. Moreover, women are more open to compromise between taste and health properties. Claims concerning the disease preventative properties of FF are the most attractive for consumers. This review focuses also on future perspectives for the functional food market. Adequate knowledge and evidence-based communication seem to be the most promising ways to increase consumers’ interest in these kinds of products.

scholarly journals Medicinal Plants and Mushrooms with Immunomodulatory and Anticancer Properties—A Review on Hong Kong’s Experience

Molecules ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 26 (8) ◽  
pp. 2173
Author(s):  
Grace Gar-Lee Yue ◽  
Clara Bik-San Lau ◽  
Ping-Chung Leung
Keyword(s):  
Clinical Trials ◽  
Medicinal Plants ◽  
Infection Control ◽  
Immune Modulation ◽  
Evidence Based ◽  
Medicinal Mushroom ◽  
Immunomodulatory Effects ◽  
Anticancer Properties ◽  
Further Development ◽  
Insight Into

The immune modulating effects of selected herbs deserve careful studies to gain evidence-based support for their further development. We have been working hard on many items of medicinal herbs to gain insight into their immunomodulatory effects relevant to cancer treatment in particular, while infection control is not excluded. Nine of them have been selected to give the results of our exploration on their biological, particularly immunomodulatory activities. Since Hong Kong people especially favor one medicinal mushroom, viz. Coriolus versicolor, a number of clinical trials using Coriolus for cancer-related studies are included in this review. While immune modulation platforms are being built for relevant studies, a brief account on the research targets and related procedures are given.

scholarly journals The Implementation of Visual Comfort Evaluation in the Evidence-Based Design Process Using Lighting Simulation

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (11) ◽  
pp. 4982
Author(s):  
Anahita Davoodi ◽  
Peter Johansson ◽  
Myriam Aries
Keyword(s):  
Performance Metrics ◽  
Analysis Data ◽  
Evidence Based ◽  
Visual Comfort ◽  
Simulation Tools ◽  
Post Occupancy Evaluation ◽  
Lighting Simulation ◽  
Insight Into

Validation of the EBD-SIM (evidence-based design-simulation) framework, a conceptual framework developed to integrate the use of lighting simulation in the EBD process, suggested that EBD’s post-occupancy evaluation (POE) should be conducted more frequently. A follow-up field study was designed for subjective–objective results implementation in the EBD process using lighting simulation tools. In this real-time case study, the visual comfort of the occupants was evaluated. The visual comfort analysis data were collected via simulations and questionnaires for subjective visual comfort perceptions. The follow-up study, conducted in June, confirmed the results of the original study, conducted in October, but additionally found correlations with annual performance metrics. This study shows that, at least for the variables related to daylight, a POE needs to be conducted at different times of the year to obtain a more comprehensive insight into the users’ perception of the lit environment.

Psychoanalytic Therapy

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Helmut Thomä ◽  
Horst Kächele
Keyword(s):  
Outcome Research ◽  
Evidence Based Medicine ◽  
Salient Feature ◽  
Evidence Based ◽  
Conversational Analysis ◽  
Significant Aspect ◽  
Process And Outcome ◽  
Case Presentations ◽  
Based Medicine ◽  
Insight Into

Conversational analysis has turned out to be the salient feature to understand what promotes change in the psychoanalytic situation. This significant aspect of the first edition of this textbook is expanded in the second edition presenting prominent examples of contemporary process and outcome research fulfilling the criteria of evidence-based medicine. The case presentations included in this volume provide insight into thinking and acting in psychoanalysis and relate directly to the theories taught in.

scholarly journals In the Wake of TICAD V: Japan-Africa Relations Today

2014 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 153-173
Author(s):  
István Tarrósy
Keyword(s):  
International Relations ◽  
Reference Point ◽  
Inclusive Development ◽  
Development Projects ◽  
African Continent ◽  
African Countries ◽  
Bilateral Aid ◽  
African Development ◽  
Business Opportunities ◽  
Major Donors

Abstract The paper looks at how Japan, one of the major donors of African countries, has been redefining its positions on the African continent in terms of bilateral aid and business opportunities, triangular collaboration and multilateral development projects in an increasingly ‘interpolar’ world of international relations. The discussion includes China's expanding presence all over Africa as an important ‘reference point’ for the Japanese public at large and how that may influence Japanese pragmatic foreign policy towards the continent and Japan's involvement in African development. What are Japan's priorities in the wake of hosting the fifth Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD V) early in June 2013 in Yokohama? How does Japan go along with its confident manner of inclusive development and ownership in African societies when at the same time it is challenged by China and other emerging actors? What are the items on Japan's agenda for a re-intensified Africa policy?

scholarly journals Non-credit Nonprofit Management Education: Beyond Mapping and Towards Critical Qualitative Inquiry

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Michele Fugiel Gartner
Keyword(s):  
Curriculum And Instruction ◽  
Management Education ◽  
Nonprofit Management ◽  
Qualitative Inquiry ◽  
Social Goals ◽  
The Past ◽  
University Courses ◽  
English Speaking ◽  
New Research ◽  
Insight Into

Nonprofit management education (NME) has received attention from scholars and practitioners over the past thirty years. Much of the research on NME focuses on credit-based university courses, primarily reflecting a U.S. context. Left out of analyses are non-credit NME offerings. This article relocates to an English-speaking Canadian landscape where a substantial number of non-credit NME courses are found. Mapping methodologies, favoured to showcase the breadth of NME, cannot offer deeper insight into questions and critiques of non-credit NME curriculum and instruction. This article shows how syllabi review and critical qualitative inquiry can deepen knowledge of non-credit offerings. A new research agenda for non-credit NME is required to support nonprofit managers to achieve their social goals. RÉSUMÉDepuis une trentaine d’années, la formation en gestion des organismes sans but lucratif (OSBL) a retenu l’attention d’universitaires et de praticiens. Cependant, une grande partie de leurs recherches sur la gestion des OSBL se concentre sur des cours universitaires offrant des crédits, et reflète un contexte principalement américain. Les cours sans crédit sur la gestion des OSBL sont omis des analyses. Cet article se focalise sur un paysage canadien anglophone où l’on retrouve un nombre important de cours sans crédit sur la gestion des OSBL. Certaines méthodologies de schématisation, privilégiées pour mettre en valeur la portée de tels cours, sont inefficaces pour offrir un aperçu plus approfondi des questions et critiques concernant le curriculum et l’enseignement de cours sans crédit sur la gestion des OSBL. Cet article montre comment la revue de plans de cours et l’enquête qualitative critique peuvent en revanche servir à approfondir la connaissance de ces cours sans crédit. Ainsi, un nouveau programme de recherche pour les cours sans crédit sur la gestion des OSBL s’avère nécessaire pour aider les gestionnaires d’OSBL à atteindre leurs objectifs sociaux.

scholarly journals Catching the wandering mind: Meditation as a window into spontaneous thought

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wendy Hasenkamp
Keyword(s):  
Mind Wandering ◽  
Neural Correlates ◽  
Physiological Measures ◽  
Great Utility ◽  
Spontaneous Thought ◽  
New Research ◽  
The Mind ◽  
Subjective Reports ◽  
Insight Into ◽  
Research Recommendations

This chapter considers a form of attention-based meditation as a novel means to gain insight into the mechanisms and phenomenology of spontaneous thought. Focused attention (FA) meditation involves keeping one’s attention on a chosen object, and repeatedly catching the mind when it strays from the object into spontaneous thought. This practice can thus be viewed as a kind of self-caught mind wandering paradigm, which suggests it may have great utility for research on spontaneous thought. Current findings about the effects of meditation on mind wandering and meta-awareness are reviewed, and implications for new research paradigms that leverage first-person reporting during FA meditation are discussed. Specifically, research recommendations are made that may enable customized analysis of individual episodes of mind wandering and their neural correlates. It is hoped that by combining detailed subjective reports from experienced meditators with rigorous objective physiological measures, we can advance our understanding of human consciousness.

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