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How and why has the formal policy development on PPPs in Denmark evolved? How and why do PPP projects develop in Danish healthcare sector? Despite limited policy guidelines and no PPP Act, a regional approach to PPPs has occurred in the healthcare sector. There are active projects in five hospital cases that use the PPP model. PPP projects in the Danish healthcare sector develop from a mixture of reasons, which include strategic interventions from finance institutions, change in specific formal rules on financing, and necessity for regional governments to find alternatives to public financing.

PurposeIn today’s corporate world, effective management of diversity is a critical business and social imperative. This paper aims to identify relevant issues connected to diversity training and suggest course content that can be useful in corporate and academia while offering diversity training.Design/methodology/approachThe authors have conducted a literature review on primary aspects connected to diversity training. Specifically, papers published in recent times are given focus to come up with relevant diversity training content and other connected concerns.FindingsIn this paper, the authors focus on how academicians and practitioners can develop an effective diversity training initiative, based on some of the critical nuances discussed in the literature. Suggested training content includes sensitivity, awareness, behavioral approach, policy guidelines and diversity impact analysis. This training content can further be customized based on the corporate context where the training is to be delivered.Originality/valueBased on the literature review, the paper suggests a holistic diversity training program that is hopefully going to be useful for both practitioners and academicians.

The implementation of the National Special Needs Education Policy Guidelines in Malawi began in 2009. There is limited literature on how the guidelines are implemented in secondary schools, particularly in private secondary schools of Malawi. Therefore, the study aimed at exploring the implementation of the guidelines in private secondary schools. The study used a phenomenological design and qualitative methodology. Data were generated through a triangulation of methods including semi-structured interviews, observation and document analysis. The data generated were analysed thematically. The findings revealed that there was a lack of thorough knowledge of the guidelines, resources for implementing the guidelines in private secondary schools were not available, and support for learners with special education needs was not sufficient. The results of this study indicate that communication with key school stakeholders is key for the effective implementation of the National Special Needs Education Policy Guidelines.

Policy guidelines against sexual harassment in institutions of Higher Learning were introduced in 128 public sector universities across Pakistan in January 2011. However, there has been an increase in the number of reported cases of sexual harassment that became prominent in mainstream media, so the institutional mechanism and the official definition of sexual harassment still needs a lot of clarity. The study aims to investigate the perception, prevalence and awareness of sexual harassment among university students along with possible causes of underreporting of the incidents of sexual harassment. Stratified random sampling and purposive sampling were used for data collection from students and members of sexual harassment committees respectively. The research findings revealed that sexual harassment at campus is a common phenomenon although majority of the cases go unreported owing to different institutional and cultural constraints. Instead of reporting to university administration, students adopt self adjustment mechanism by reducing the stay at campus or reducing the possibility of contact with males. There is dire need of more awareness sessions about what is sexual harassment and what students can do to deal with it.

The purpose of this study is to investigate factors that influence bankers’ intention to adopt green banking in Pakistan. Green banking refers to providing environment-friendly banking services and financial products through environment-friendly banking operations and infrastructure. It can be referred to as sustainable lending and depository products and bank’s services through sustainable banking operations and infrastructure. The data for this study was collected from 250 respondents through a structured questionnaire. Data analysis was performed using the partial least squares (PLS) approach. The study’s findings indicate that Policy Guidelines, Attitude towards usage, Central Bank Regulations, and Management commitment and support influence bankers’ intention to adopt green banking in Pakistan. This research will help the State bank of Pakistan and the bank’s senior management to identify the key factors influencing the adoption of green banking in Pakistan.

Rental Car services were introduced in 2013 in India. Enfolding the benefits of automobile without owning it, it is essential to understand major factors contributing to the satisfaction of rental car services. A surge in the growth of this service is estimated by 2020; however, studies’ exploring the impact of this service in India is very limited. This paper explores the relationship between input factors such as socio-demographic characteristics and individuals’ overall satisfaction level of the service. Ordered logit model and neural network model were developed to identify the factors impacting overall satisfaction level using the data collected in a survey conducted through online and offline platform. The results indicate that individuals influenced by the availability of car and ease in hiring are satisfied with the rental car service, while price has a negative effect on the satisfaction level. Car ownership also has a positive impact on the model, depicting that even though individuals own a car, they are satisfied with the service. Further, the study observes that individuals are in general satisfied with the service, and certain policy guidelines can be formulated to increase the awareness of rental car services as one of ways to curb rising car ownership among the car aspirants.

The study examines the corporate governance practices and analyzes the role of the board characteristics (size of the board, the composition of the board, and functioning of the board) on the performance and asset quality of banks. We use a sample of 34 commercial banks consisting of 19 public sector banks and 15 private sector banks from 2009 to 2018 accounting for 93 percent of the total banking industry in India. The study finds that busy directors and the number of meetings have a positive significance on bank performance. The percentage of independent directors and the percentage of busy directors influence a significant negative relationship on the net non-performing assets ratio. The board size and number of meetings are associated negatively with Tobin's Q significantly and the percentage of busy directors is a significantly positive impact on Tobin's Q. The board size has a significantly negative impact on bank performance. The research findings provide some insights into corporate governance to the RBI for considering appropriate policy guidelines on corporate governance in the banking industry in India. The paper adds to the existing literature on corporate governance mechanisms and banking industry performance.

The COVID-19 pandemic has led to a significant increase in the immunosuppressed population worldwide due to the disease pathology and extensive use of corticosteroids. This has subsequently increased the risk of opportunistic parasitic infections such as Toxoplasma gondii, Strongyloides stercoralis and other parasites in these patients. The reactivation of such parasites may remain unnoticed due to overlapping symptoms, the difficulty of diagnosis and lack of guidelines for opportunistic parasitic infections in COVID-19 management. Therefore, recommendations for systematic screening of high-risk patients in endemic regions and active research and surveillance to estimate the impact of these infections are required in COVID-19 policy guidelines.

Objectives The coverage policies of many commercial insurers in the United States do not include coverage of stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS) for intractable epilepsy despite recent Level I evidence supporting its efficacy. We sought to assess the efficacy of an evidence-based methodology in obtaining coverage approval of SRS for intractable epilepsy. Patients and Methods The clinical policy guidelines from five of the largest United States commercial insurers were reviewed for their language regarding coverage of SRS for epilepsy. An evidence-based questionnaire was created for temporal lobe epilepsy and extratemporal lobe epilepsy based on recent evidence. Telephone interviewers of Insurers assessed the likelihood of SRS coverage for an epilepsy patient meeting the clinical inclusion criteria in the questionnaire. This likelihood was assessed numerically based on interviewee response (2 = yes, 1 = dependent on peer-to-peer, 0 = no). Results Of the five policy guidelines, none included literature more recent than 2017. For TLE, 3/5 insurance companies indicated likely SRS coverage; 2/5 indicated peer-to-peer discussion dependence for patients meeting questionnaire criteria for a score of 8/10. For extratemporal TLE, 2/5 companies indicated likely SRS coverage and 3/5 indicated peer-to-peer discussion dependence for a total score of 7/10. Conclusion Creation of an evidence-based methodology in approaching commercial insurers greatly increased the likelihood of SRS coverage for an indication (intractable epilepsy) widely perceived as investigational. These results should pave the way for epilepsy patients to receive coverage should they be appropriate SRS candidates.

Areas of global health policy-making are shifting from public sphere to areas that include transnational profit-making sectors. In this process, non-infectious diseases and health system development issues have been neglected. On the other hand, infectious diseases have emerged as global health priorities. Nowadays, technological solutions are taken care of in approaches to overcome health problems. As a result of this trade and industry interests became more prominent. Therefore global health policy has turned into a vertical structure. In this study, three topics were discussed: global health policy actors, global health priorities, and instruments to defined health priorities. In this study, the changing policy guidelines of international organizations, public private partnerships (PPPs) and non-government organizations in preparing health care and health policy in low and middle-income countries are analyzed bu using descriptive method.

This study aims to look at the Village Companion Program in Bengkalis Regency and this research was conducted using survey research methods, the level of exploration was descriptive and used qualitative data analysis. The researcher interviewed directly and in depth with the key informants who were considered to be most knowledgeable about the Village Companion Program by using purposive sampling technique. Practically, the results of this study are useful as information material for the Bengkalis Regency Government especially the Bengkalis District Community Empowerment Office and are expected to be a reference in making policy guidelines related to Village Facilitators in Bengkalis Regency in the future.

Public health and service delivery programmes, interventions and policies (collectively, ‘programmes’) are typically developed and implemented for the primary purpose of effecting change rather than generating knowledge. Nonetheless, evaluations of these programmes may produce valuable learning that helps determine effectiveness and costs as well as informing design and implementation of future programmes. Such studies might be termed ‘opportunistic evaluations’, since they are responsive to emergent opportunities rather than being studies of interventions that are initiated or designed by researchers. However, current ethical guidance and registration procedures make little allowance for scenarios where researchers have played no role in the development or implementation of a programme, but nevertheless plan to conduct a prospective evaluation. We explore the limitations of the guidance and procedures with respect to opportunistic evaluations, providing a number of examples. We propose that one key missing distinction in current guidance is moral responsibility: researchers can only be held accountable for those aspects of a study over which they have control. We argue that requiring researchers to justify an intervention, programme or policy that would occur regardless of their involvement prevents or hinders research in the public interest without providing any further protections to research participants. We recommend that trial consent and ethics procedures allow for a clear separation of responsibilities for the intervention and the evaluation.

The soaring housing prices in Malaysia is not a recent issue. It is a global phenomenon especially in developing and developed countries, driven by factors including land price, location, construction materials cost, demand, and speculation. This issue demands immediate attention as it affects the younger generation, most of whom could not afford to buy their own house. The government has taken many initiatives and introduced regulations to ensure that housing prices are within the affordable range. This article aims to introduce a housing price control element from the Shariah perspective, as an alternative solution for all parties involved in this issue. It adopts content analysis methodology on policy from Shariah approved sources.

Radon is widely recognized as a human carcinogen and findings from epidemiologic studies support a causal association between residential radon exposure and lung cancer risk. Our aim was to derive population attributable risks (PAR) to estimate the numbers of incident lung cancer due to residential radon exposure in Canada in 2015. Potential impact fractions for 2042 were estimated based on a series of counterfactuals. A meta-analysis was conducted to estimate the relative risk of lung cancer per 100 Becquerels (Bq)/m3 increase in residential radon exposure, with a pooled estimate of 1.16 (95% CI: 1.07–1.24). The population distribution of annual residential radon exposure was estimated based on a national survey with adjustment for changes in the population distribution over time, the proportion of Canadians living in high-rise buildings, and to reflect annual rather than winter levels. An estimated 6.9% of lung cancer cases in 2015 were attributable to exposure to residential radon, accounting for 1741 attributable cases. If mitigation efforts were to reduce all residential radon exposures that are above current Canadian policy guidelines of 200 Bq/m3 (3% of Canadians) to 50 Bq/m3, 293 cases could be prevented in 2042, and 2322 cumulative cases could be prevented between 2016 and 2042. Our results show that mitigation that exclusively targets Canadian homes with radon exposures above current Canadian guidelines may not greatly alleviate the future projected lung cancer burden. Mitigation of residential radon levels below current guidelines may be required to substantially reduce the overall lung cancer burden in the Canadian population.

Study question What are the available preconception care policies, guidelines, recommendations and services as well as infertility care in South America ? Summary answer Preconception recommendations offered by both governament and medical societies in South America were fragmented and inconsistent and public fertility care is available in seven countries. What is known already Promoting preconception health can potentially improve women’s health and pregnancy outcomes. Evidence-based interventions exist to reduce many maternal behaviors and chronic conditions that are associated with adverse pregnancy outcomes such as tobacco use, alcohol use, inadequate folic acid intake, obesity, hypertension, and diabetes. Paternal factors are also influence pregnancy outcomes but male preconcepction health has received little attention so far and he focus remains on women. Study design, size, duration Cross-sectional evaluation including ann electronic search and investigation of preconception policy, guidelines, recommendations and services available to healthcare professionals and the general public in south America (N = 11 countries): Argentina, Bolívia, Brasil, Chile, Colômbia, Ecuador, , Paraguay, Peru, Suriname, Uruguay and Venezuela) that took place in June 2020. No ethical approval was obtained as we used only public avalialble online information. Participants/materials, setting, methods Eleven South American countries) were included Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, , Paraguay, Peru, Suriname, Uruguay and Venezuela.we searched Google using advanced search setup for each country with the following words: Preconception care; Pre-pregnancy care; Before pregnancy; Conception; Pregnancy planning; Preconceptual and variations and Policy; Guidelines, Recommendations and services. Data from the Latin American Registry (REDLARA, 2017) and the Latin American Federation of Societies of Obstetrics and Gynecology (FLASOG) was also obtained . Main results and the role of chance Government preconcepction care recommendations were available in 10 countries and 11 had family planning guidelines. Seven countries offered either public clinics or financial aid for infertile couples. According to REDLARA 2017 report there are 122 registered centers in South America but the region host much more. The Brazilian registry shows 154 IVF clinics in 2018. Although most countries offered guidance on major issues including folic acid supplementation (n = 10), nutrition (n = 10), Vaccination (n = 11), alcohol consumption (n = 11), smoking (n = 10), relevant health topics such physical activity (n = 7) and obesity (n = 7) were left out in 58,3% of the countries. Medical societies provided guidelines on preconcpection care in 7 countries and for other health issues: folic acid supplementation (n = 5), nutrition (n = 5), Vaccination (n = 6), alcohol consumption (n = 4), smoking (n = 4), physical activity (n = 4)and obesity (n = 2). When male preconception care was considered, only two countries have public guidelines whereas no medical society provided specific recommendations for men. Sexually transmitted diseases (STD) was another topic of interest for both public (n = 10) and medical societies (n = 4). STD guidelines were heterogenous and focused more on treatment rather than prevention. FLASOG however displayed guidelines for peconception care and STD prevention. Limitations, reasons for caution The search was performed only in Google as it is the most opular search engine. We did not include other search pages asuch as Yahoo and limited our search to the first 3 pages for each search term as people rarely examine more thatn the first there pages. Wider implications of the findings: Current reccomendations are heterogeneous, fragmented and inconsitent and there is a lack of interest on male reproductive health y. Public fertility care is only available in 7 countries. Collaborative research among countries is necessary so as to develop evidence-based guidelines for preconcepction and fertility care for both men and women. Trial registration number not-applicable

It is evident that there is an increase in the enrolment of students with disability in Higher Education, particularly Students with Visual Impairments (SVI). However, it is also sad to note that, this group of students remain excluded and thus are less visible in Open and Distance Learning (ODL). The current pandemic (COVID-19) has put to test, the preparedness and pro-activeness of most higher education institutions to include students with disabilities in different modes of teaching and learning. This paper observed, reviewed, and analysed various legislatives to determine the preparedness of different ODL Centres of selected HEIs in Namibia. Amongst others, some national and institutional legislatives revealed lack of obliging guidelines to compel HEIs to commit to the inclusion of students with disabilities particularly the SVI. The paper concludes that there is lack of policy guidelines in HEIs toward inclusive education and consequently most institutions remain reluctant to prepare and be proactive to include SVI in the ODL programme. The paper calls for policy transformation at national, ministerial, and institutional, to move toward inclusive education through all modes of learning.

Food safety of staple crops such as rice is of global concern and has recently risen to the top of the policy agenda in Vietnam. Policy makers have introduced food safety certification, but little is known about the inclusiveness of consumer access to certified safe food. To address this evidence gap, we survey rice purchase behavior of urban Vietnamese consumers. We find that income largely conditions psychological determinants of certified rice purchase. Compared with the upper-middle income class, low-income consumers are 16% less likely to afford certified rice, which reveals Vietnam's challenge to render food safety inclusive for staple crops such as rice. We conclude by proposing policy guidelines for fostering inclusiveness of food safety as a basic consumer right.

Although corporate social responsibility (CSR) is an extensively studied topic, its determinants in the field of Islamic banking are scarce. In Bangladesh, CSR plays a vital role in gaining customer loyalty and confidence. Therefore, this research aims to identify and analyze the influence of the Shariah Supervisory Board (SSB) and the Shariah Audit Committee (SAC) on CSR adoption in Islamic banks in Bangladesh. The study population is managers and second managers of 160 Islamic bank branches of different commercial banks in Dhaka, Bangladesh. The sampling technique used is convenience sampling where the first available primary data source was used for the research without additional requirements. The study developed a survey questionnaire from examining previous related studies in Islamic banking and CSR context. The final sample size in this research was n = 309, indicating the survey response rate was about 97%. The study used SPSS 23.0 software to interpret the statistical findings, and the findings revealed that support from the SSB and the presence of a strong and effective SAC has a strong correlation with CSR adoption and significantly influence CSR adoption in Islamic banks in Bangladesh. Finally, the study proposes several significant and crucial policy guidelines for Islamic bank branches to adopt CSR activities.

This chapter introduces the challenges women face in their efforts to participate in key decision-making in time and space. The chapter presents the legal and policy tools that could be utilized to enable women contribute significantly to peace negotiations, dialogs, mediations and agreements. Tools used in the evaluation or setting of policy guidelines for such peace-making processes are illustrated. The chapter observes that, while some of the barriers to women’s inclusion in peace negotiations remain the same as the barriers to their inclusion in high-level political positions, including norms and customs that have kept women subordinate to men, there are other more mundane reasons, such as: lack of information about the timing and location of formal and informal negotiations, particularly closed door negotiations that excluded women; difficulties in obtaining visas to attend negotiations; national laws or traditions that restrict women’s movements; and a lack of access to communication technologies and networks.

In the United States, amid the COVID-19 pandemic, schools and testing centers were forced to close on-site locations With teacher candidates no longer able to complete clinical teaching or take certification exams in person, states created new recommendations for facilitating a pathway to teacher certification Specifically, 19 states provided guidelines that allowed educator preparation programs (EPPs) flexibility in how teacher candidates completed existing certification requirements By analyzing summaries of these states’ guidelines, themes of time, technology, flexibility/non-flexibility, and EPPs emerged Using a comprehensive lens, this brief examines the role and implications of each of these themes in teacher certification during these unprecedented times © Copyright © 2020 Slay, Riley and Miller

City administration has given prime importance to public transport services in Lahore. But still desired level of convenience and efficiency has not been achieved because of the absence of any integrated public transport system. Metrobus, LTC operated buses and Qingqi Rickshaws are all operating through their independent schedules with least consideration to that of others. Travellers using more than one modes of transport for their complete trip do not find whole system well harmonized. There is a need to find whether integration of currently independently operating transport systems can bring any improvements in services. This research work significantly points out short comings in city’s existing transport system; quantifies the impact of related factors through chi-square, co-relation and other statistical analyses; and provides some policy guidelines for pragmatic improvements in the system.

The internationalization of higher education has been incorporated into the policy guidelines of Brazilian universities, and internships abroad are good examples of this behavior. During recent years, undergraduate internships have received more attention about the number of approved applications. However, the literature lacks studies that have measured the contributions of this policy. We evaluated the engagement of undergraduate students from the Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Sao Paulo, in internships abroad and the impact of such experiences abroad on students’ personal, professional, and academic life. Data were collected through a multiple-choice questionnaire that was administered to alumni who engaged in internships abroad between 2007-2016. The most frequent destinations for internships were Canada, England, Australia, and the United States. The Science without Borders (Ciencia sem Fronteiras) mobility program funded 89% of all scholarships. The students’ main motivations for submitting internship applications included improving foreign languages, experiencing life abroad, and bolstering their professional career. Only 19% of the students were able to receive equivalent course credit for mandatory disciplines abroad. Nonetheless, 91% validated elective classes. According to the students, support for students, infrastructure, library access, and information technology, and learning strategies need to be improved at Brazilian universities.

Recently there has been national media attention focusing on the number of deaths and injuries associated with the use of physical restraint and seclusion procedures in schools. Research shows these procedures are most frequently applied to students with disabilities, and that lack of staff training in de-escalation procedures, as well as the use of these interventions, is commonly viewed as a contributing factor to student injuries and death. This study compares and contrasts crisis intervention training from 17 commercial training programs as a way to assist administrators in finding the crisis training program that best matches their program goals and policy guidelines. Choosing an appropriate training program can be a difficult administrative decision given the legal and financial obligations that can be associated with such trainings. This study compares course content, and provides descriptive information about specific features of each program to allow stakeholders to make adequate comparisons. Similarities in these training programs, as well as some of the relatively wide variations in the way the training content is emphasized, are also noted.

PurposeIslamic banking (IB) has been globally embraced by over 76 countries, with over $2tn in assets. Despite this remarkable progress, there are countries that are yet to fully embrace IB (Uganda inclusive). All the ongoing initiatives in Uganda (at policy level) to establish IB require supporting study of public awareness and attitudes toward IB. This will stimulate a down-top approach to the feasibility of IB and policymaking, thus providing a fertile ground for wider consideration of the majority stakeholders’ views in formulating standards and policy guidelines regulating IB. This study aims to explore the perception of Ugandans towards IB. Design/methodology/approachThe study is exploratory in nature and uses a quantitative method. Out of the 400 questionnaires distributed, only 354 were usable for further analysis. SPSS 21 was used to analyze data using descriptive statistics and factor analysis. FindingsMajor findings indicate that unlike non-Muslims, Muslims are more knowledgeable about the IB culture, although both groups have low awareness about IB terminologies. There were inconsistences in Muslim and non-Muslim attitudes toward IB, for instance; while non-Muslims are motivated by “profitability”, Muslims’ inclination to IB is mainly due to “religious and profitability combined”. Both groups demonstrated some uniformity in their selection criteria of banks such as “third party influence”, although they are inconsistent in other factors. Originality/valueThe novelty of this study rests in its down-top approach to feasibility of IB by gauging the perception of majority stakeholders before IB is established. The study is conducted in a heterogeneous society unlike many of similar studies that have focused on Muslim majority countries. As most studies (with similar background) are at least 18 years old, this study remains outstanding in gauging the dynamics of stakeholders in Muslim minority countries which have yet established IB.

As Diretrizes da Política Nacional de Saúde Bucal destacam a visita domiciliar (VD) como uma das principais formas de ampliação do acesso aos serviços e criação de vínculo com a população, caracterizando-a como um desafio para as Equipe de Saúde Bucal. A adequação dos cursos de Odontologia às Diretrizes Curriculares Nacionais (DCN) implica em preparar o egresso para essa abordagem, utilizando a VD como estratégia pedagógica. Esse estudo investigou as contribuições da VD na formação odontológica, por meio de uma revisão integrativa da produção científica nacional, no período entre 2004 a 2017, compondo uma síntese qualitativa da literatura. Foram pesquisadas quatro bases de dados por meio dos descritores (“home care” OR “home visits”) AND (“dentistry” OR “oral health”). Nove estudos compuseram o corpo de análise desta revisão. Dos resultados emergiram quatro categorias: 1- Formação do cirurgião-dentista no Sistema Único de Saúde; 2- Compreensão ampliada do processo saúde-doença; 3- O trabalho interdisciplinar; 4- Humanização do Cuidado. Como contribuições à formação evidenciou-se que a VD propiciou ao estudante de Odontologia a vivência no território e a interação com usuários e profissionais da equipe de saúde. O contato do estudante com a VD possibilita o aprendizado do cuidado à saúde do usuário em seu contexto de vida, bem como a vivência do trabalho interdisciplinar, valorizando os diferentes saberes profissionais. O domicílio demonstrou-se como espaço singular para o aprendizado de vínculo, acolhimento e humanização, o que favorece a formação odontológica na perspectiva da clínica ampliada.

BACKGROUND: Intimate partner violence (IPV) includes any violence (physical, sexual or psychological/emotional) by a current or former partner. This review reflects the current understanding of IPV as a profoundly gendered issue, perpetrated most often by men against women. IPV may result in substantial physical and mental health impacts for survivors. Women affected by IPV are more likely to have contact with healthcare providers (HCPs) (e.g. nurses, doctors, midwives), even though women often do not disclose the violence. Training HCPs on IPV, including how to respond to survivors of IPV, is an important intervention to improve HCPs' knowledge, attitudes and practice, and subsequently the care and health outcomes for IPV survivors. OBJECTIVES: To assess the effectiveness of training programmes that seek to improve HCPs' identification of and response to IPV against women, compared to no intervention, wait‐list, placebo or training as usual. SEARCH METHODS: We searched CENTRAL, MEDLINE, Embase and seven other databases up to June 2020. We also searched two clinical trials registries and relevant websites. In addition, we contacted primary authors of included studies to ask if they knew of any relevant studies not identified in the search. We evaluated the reference lists of all included studies and systematic reviews for inclusion. We applied no restrictions by search dates or language. SELECTION CRITERIA: All randomised and quasi‐randomised controlled trials comparing IPV training or educational programmes for HCPs compared with no training, wait‐list, training as usual, placebo, or a sub‐component of the intervention. DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS: We used standard methodological procedures outlined by Cochrane. Two review authors independently assessed studies for eligibility, undertook data extraction and assessed risks of bias. Where possible, we synthesised the effects of IPV training in a meta‐analysis. Other analyses were synthesised in a narrative manner. We assessed evidence certainty using the GRADE approach. MAIN RESULTS: We included 19 trials involving 1662 participants. Three‐quarters of all studies were conducted in the USA, with single studies from Australia, Iran, Mexico, Turkey and the Netherlands. Twelve trials compared IPV training versus no training, and seven trials compared the effects of IPV training to training as usual or a sub‐component of the intervention in the comparison group, or both. Study participants included 618 medical staff/students, 460 nurses/students, 348 dentists/students, 161 counsellors or psychologists/students, 70 midwives and 5 social workers. Studies were heterogeneous and varied across training content delivered, pedagogy and time to follow‐up (immediately post training to 24 months). The risk of bias assessment highlighted unclear reporting across many areas of bias. The GRADE assessment of the studies found that the certainty of the evidence for the primary outcomes was low to very low, with studies often reporting on perceived or self‐reported outcomes rather than actual HCPs' practices or outcomes for women. Eleven of the 19 included studies received some form of research grant funding to complete the research. Within 12 months post‐intervention, the evidence suggests that compared to no intervention, wait‐list or placebo, IPV training: · may improve HCPs' attitudes towards IPV survivors (standardised mean difference (SMD) 0.71, 95% CI 0.39 to 1.03; 8 studies, 641 participants; low‐certainty evidence); · may have a large effect on HCPs' self‐perceived readiness to respond to IPV survivors, although the evidence was uncertain (SMD 2.44, 95% CI 1.51 to 3.37; 6 studies, 487 participants; very low‐certainty evidence); · may have a large effect on HCPs' knowledge of IPV, although the evidence was uncertain (SMD 6.56, 95% CI 2.49 to 10.63; 3 studies, 239 participants; very low‐certainty evidence); · may make little to no difference to HCPs' referral practices of women to support agencies, although this is based on only one study (with 49 clinics) assessed to be very low certainty; · has an uncertain effect on HCPs' response behaviours (based on two studies of very low certainty), with one trial (with 27 participants) reporting that trained HCPs were more likely to successfully provide advice on safety planning during their interactions with standardised patients, and the other study (with 49 clinics) reporting no clear impact on safety planning practices; · may improve identification of IPV at six months post‐training (RR 4.54, 95% CI 2.5 to 8.09) as in one study (with 54 participants), although three studies (with 48 participants) reported little to no effects of training on identification or documentation of IPV, or both. No studies assessed the impact of training HCPs on the mental health of women survivors of IPV compared to no intervention, wait‐list or placebo. When IPV training was compared to training as usual or a sub‐component of the intervention, or both, no clear effects were seen on HCPs' attitudes/beliefs, safety planning, and referral to services or mental health outcomes for women. Inconsistent results were seen for HCPs' readiness to respond (improvements in two out of three studies) and HCPs' IPV knowledge (improved in two out of four studies). One study found that IPV training improved HCPs' validation responses. No adverse IPV‐related events were reported in any of the studies identified in this review. AUTHORS' CONCLUSIONS: Overall, IPV training for HCPs may be effective for outcomes that are precursors to behaviour change. There is some, albeit weak evidence that IPV training may improve HCPs' attitudes towards IPV. Training may also improve IPV knowledge and HCPs' self‐perceived readiness to respond to those affected by IPV, although we are not certain about this evidence. Although supportive evidence is weak and inconsistent, training may improve HCPs' actual responses, including the use of safety planning, identification and documentation of IPV in women's case histories. The sustained effect of training on these outcomes beyond 12 months is undetermined. Our confidence in these findings is reduced by the substantial level of heterogeneity across studies and the unclear risk of bias around randomisation and blinding of participants, as well as high risk of bias from attrition in many studies. Further research is needed that overcomes these limitations, as well as assesses the impacts of IPV training on HCPs' behavioral outcomes and the well‐being of women survivors of IPV.

In January 2013, the United States Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights issued policy guidelines to ensure that students with disabilities have equal opportunities to participate in extracurricular athletic activities in public elementary, secondary and postsecondary schools. To date, few educational institutions, particularly within higher education, have met this national need. This paper describes a pilot course offered at a large public university on the west coast of the United States that combines learning about disability studies while participating in goalball, a sport designed for individuals with visual impairments. The implementation of this pilot program highlights the challenges and opportunities for educational institutions to offer students with disabilities, particularly students with visual impairments, equal opportunities to participate in athletics. The paper envisions innovation at the intersection of sport and disability and offers a possible blueprint for other colleges and universities that seek to create similar extra or co-curricular opportunities in line with the OCR’s policy guidelines.

In India, a few studies have been conducted for analyzing the generation rates and composition of medical waste (MW). Inadequate information about the amount and composition of MW results in ineffective management practices. The present study seeks to evaluate healthcare waste (HCW) generation rates by healthcare facilities (HCFs) available in Uttarakhand, a northern state of India. Study also focuses on modeling the quantity of different types of MW generated at various HCFs and determining significant factors contributing towards MW generation. Seasonal variation in amount of MW generated from various HCFs has also been considered. To achieve these objectives, cross-sectional as well as longitudinal data have been collected from various HCFs in Uttarakhand, India. The survey revealed that around 36% of the total HCFs did not segregate their MW as per policy guidelines. Cross-sectional data for May 2015 were collected from 75 HCFs to analyze and model the composition and quantity of HCW generated. Multiple Linear Regression and Artificial Neural Network techniques were applied to model cross-sectional data. In the composition of the overall MW, ‘yellow waste’ carries the maximum share, followed by ‘red waste’ and then the ‘blue waste’. In addition, the ‘type of HCF’ and ‘bed occupancy’ have been modeled as the important factors, contributing towards the MW generations rates. Longitudinal data for 2 years (2013 and 2014) were collected to examine seasonal variation in HCW generation rates using polynomial regression analysis. Result shows that MW quantity also varies with the change in the season. Findings of the study will help hospitals and waste treatment facilities to predict amount of waste that may be generated, and plan resources towards efficient handling and disposal of MW.

The dispute Argentina-Measures Affecting the Importation of Goods concerns a series of measures imposed by Argentine authorities on economic operators as a condition for obtaining import licenses. These measures were introduced with the goal of advancing the Argentine government's stated policies of re-industrialization, import substitution, and elimination of trade balance deficits. From a legal point of view, the least interesting feature of the dispute was the substantive compatibility of these measures with Article XI:1 GATT as they clearly constituted import restrictions. Identifying and classifying the measures involved, however, proved more challenging: based on vague policy guidelines, devoid of any legal basis, and consisting largely of wholly discretionary ad hoc action by the authorities, clouded in confidential obscurity, the measures escaped familiar categories and distinctions of WTO law. From an economic perspective, although Argentina's measures appear to have had no impact on its overall imports, they imposed large costs on foreign companies, as well as on Argentine importers and consumers.

Between 50 and 80% of patients in mental health or addiction services have a history of violence. Yet, many providers fail to ask patients about violence, and most cases remain unidentified. The aims of this study are to describe providers’ opinions and practices related to asking about sexual violence, and to analyze the links between gender, profession, opinions, and practices. Providers (N=411, RR 68%) working in 20 mental health or substance abuse services filled an anonymous questionnaire. Questions included: asking or not about sexual violence and reasons for not asking; opinions about the negative impact of not asking; knowledge about frequency of violence. Only 3% of the providers always ask patients about sexual violence; 33% think that "not asking" may have a negative impact: men are less likely to anticipate negative consequences than women, also controlling for profession and training. Providers tend to underestimate the likely frequency of abuse among their patients. Open-ended responses reveal providers’ uneasiness and resistance to dealing with this issue. The results are discussed in the light of the WHO policy guidelines on the response of health services to violence against women.

Bangladesh has enacted policies in favour of technology-enabled learning (TEL), and accordingly deployment of technology in education is going on. Deployment of technology does not mean the TEL will be implemented. Teachers need to learn TEL. Therefore, TEL-based teacher education is important to develop TEL in the schools. In line with the National Education Policy 2010 (NEP2010), the Bangladesh Government has developed the TEL through project activities and plans for implementation. Teaching Quality Improvement in Secondary Education Project (TQI-SEP) has been implemented in the country over the last 7 years. The study was mainly supported by policy documents and guidelines. A systematic review approach was used to understand the notion of TEL and its specific implementation pattern. Results suggest that TEL policies towards technology-enabled teacher education in Bangladesh are predominantly practiced by Bangladesh Open University (BOU). The findings imply the policy guidelines in relation to the context of TEL for teacher education in Bangladesh

Preparedness for the ongoing coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) and its spread in India calls for setting up of adequately equipped and dedicated health facilities to manage sick patients while protecting healthcare workers and the environment. In the wake of other emerging dangerous pathogens in recent times, such as Ebola, Nipah and Zika, it is important that such facilities are kept ready during the inter-epidemic period for training of health professionals and for managing cases of multi-drug resistant and difficult-to-treat pathogens. While endemic potential of such critically ill patients is not yet known, the health system should have surge capacity for such critical care units and preferably each tertiary government hospital should have at least one such facility. This article describes elements of design of such unit (e.g., space, infection control, waste disposal, safety of healthcare workers, partners to be involved in design and plan) which can be adapted to the context of either a new construction or makeshift construction on top of an existing structure. In view of a potential epidemic of COVID-19, specific requirements to handle it are also given.

The purpose of this paper is to identify the major institutional trust mechanisms that facilitate the adoption of cloud services among South African SMEs. By drawing from Giddens’ (1990) institutional trust theory and the existing IT trust literature, we developed a conceptual model to improve our understanding of the role of institutional trust between SMEs and cloud service providers. The model was also deployed as a sensitizing framework to deepen our understanding of how institutional trust factors influence SME cloud service adoption decisions. A qualitative field study based on 12 semi-structured interviews of SMEs and cloud service providers in South Africa suggests that the insights gleaned from concepts, such as design faults and operator failure, can be translated into useful policy guidelines for cloud service providers, state institutions and regulatory bodies that are working to improve the trustworthiness of the cloud ecosystem. Despite the belief held by experts that there is a need to strengthen institutional mechanisms in the cloud ecosystem, the relative advantage of cloud over alternative technology remains the primary motivational factor of SME adoption. The SMEs in this study were unaware of the risks involved in cloud adoption and are content to mimic the behavior of their peers when adopting cloud services. Other social actors in society will have to play a prominent role in evaluating and strengthening institutional trust in the cloud ecosystem.

The role of government in Mergers and Acquisitions (M&A) and governance with respect to the same need to be re-defined as M&A gains cutting edge phenomena. The paper intends to review, summarize and discuss various institutional laws regarding mergers and acquisitions (M&A) in India and thereby recommend fruitful policy guidelines for institutions and managers participating in merger and acquisition deals. This paper provides a review of the Report of the expert committee on company law on M&A published by Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA). The paper on M&A by MCA has summed up thirty-four points which can be classified under five broad aspects 1. Structure and Objective, 2. Implementation, 3. Potential Benefits, 4. Potential Constraints and 5. Proposed Remedies. These are further analyzed in the light of Structure, Conduct and Performance (SCP) paradigm.

Objective The objective of this commentary is to summarize the few findings from the scientific literature pertaining to humane mental health transfer practices in the province of Ontario as well as the broader Canadian and international context. These findings are juxtaposed with a policing policy scan concerning the Ontario and Canadian contexts. The practice of default restraint use during transfers is surprisingly widespread practice, despite advocacy to the contrary, and is presented as the consequence of stigma and the lack of codified restriction of restraint use by police in their policy guidelines. Methods (1) Literature search to discover relevant articles which were summarized using narrative review due to the lack of high-quality studies available in this area, and (2) Scan of publicly available policy documents in use by Ontario police agencies in March and April of 2018, as well as contacting several police agencies and community resources to review policies and procedures. Results We review the available evidence on the use and impact of restraints in patient transfer to emergency departments from police settings, highlight police practices in four Ontario jurisdictions, and summarize recommendations from police and mental health advocates regarding mental health transfers. Discussion Synthesizing the available evidence, policies, and procedures, we illustrate that the Ontario-wide variability in both who transfers PMI on a Form 1 to hospital and whether restraints are utilized reflect systemic failures to utilize least restrictive means of transfer. We offer a look at future areas of research and advocacy to improve practices in Canada.

The primary aim of this review is to: (1) adequately define Match violations, (2) thoroughly examine the nature and scope of Match violations in the American Urologic Association (AUA) Urology Match, and (3) propose and recommend policy guidelines, including consequences for applicants and programs, as it pertains to Match violations. These recommendations are intended to affect change at the level of the AUA and Society of Academic Urology (SAU) that more effectively mitigates future violations, intentional or not. There is a paucity of specific guidelines published by the AUA on what constitutes a Match violation. Furthermore, in contrast to the National Resident Matching Program (NRMP), the AUA is surprisingly lenient in their existing guidelines. The Match violations most frequently reported were programs asking applicants illegal and restricted questions as well as inappropriate post-interview communication between applicants and programs. Review of current Match policies and violations suggest several areas for improvement, particularly regarding the specificity of AUA guidelines to define Match violations, the asking of illegal interview questions, and post-interview communication. The obligation to uphold a fair and equitable Match is an ethical imperative for the urologic community.

Periprosthetic joint infection (PJI) can be protracted, incapacitating, needing multiple interventions and could even lead to mortality. Early post-operative PJI has been ascribed to peri-operative introduction of highly virulent bacteria, while delayed post-operative to low-virulence bacteria. Non-tuberculous mycobacteria (NTM) do not figure in the usual list of etiological agents. We report a case of difficult diagnosis of bilateral PJI caused by Mycobacterium abscessus, following bilateral total knee arthroplasty in an elderly male, but treated successfully despite prolonged infection. M. abscessus complex comprises a group of rapidly growing, multidrug-resistant NTM, capable of forming biofilms on prostheses, responsible for wide spectrum of hospital acquired infections. M. abscessus as a cause of PJI is not reported widely. There are a few cases described in literature worldwide. There are no policy guidelines available for treating such cases. High clinical suspicion, with a concerted effort to grow and identify the causal pathogen is important. Standard anti-tubercular therapy is not recommended for treatment due to inherent resistance. Complete excision of infected tissues and removal of prosthesis along with prolonged combination antimicrobial regimen is the treatment of choice. Keywords: Periprosthetic joint infection, Mycobacterium abscessus, Total knee replacement

International audience; Climate Projection shows the impacts of climate change on agricultural sustainability and relevant livelihood sustainability is vulnerable in Malaysia. Here mitigation is necessary but adapting to future risk is more important for immediate and long term action relating to the larger number of stakeholders in local scale. Generally adaptation policy has different levels and approaches that related with different challenges. Several countries have already prepared their adaptation approaches in their own way. Malaysia is on the way to develop its adaptation policy for last couple of years. This paper focuses on few guidelines that need to examine carefully while determining the climatic change adaptation approach for agricultural sector in Malaysia.

From the perspective of green credit, this paper makes a theoretical analysis of the impact of green credit on the financial performance of commercial banks. Based on the panel data of 15 commercial banks from 2012 to 2018, this paper makes an empirical analysis on the impact mechanism is empirically analyzed. The results show that in the short-term, green credit has a negative impact on the financial performance of commercial banks, and the adverse impact faced by small and medium-sized commercial banks is significantly higher than that of large commercial banks, showing a heterogeneous effect. This also reveals the effect of commercial banks in implementing green credit in commercial banks and reasons for low initiative and enthusiasm. In view of this, it puts forward specific policy recommendations for different types of commercial banks, and believes that they should effectively promote green credit business in terms of differentiated policy guidelines and increasing the training of interdisciplinary talents.

COVID-19 is a major pandemic facing the world today, which has implications on current microbiome-based treatments such as fecal microbiota transplantation (FMT) used for recurrent Clostridioides difficile infections. The bidirectional relationship between the inhabitants of our gut, the gut microbiota, and COVID-19 pathogenesis, as well as the underlying mechanism involved, must be elucidated in order to increase FMT safety and efficacy. In this perspective, we discuss the crucial cross-talk between the gut microbiota and the lungs, known as the gut–lung axis, during COVID-19 infection, as well as the putative effect of these microorganisms and their functional activity (i.e., short chain fatty acids and bile acids) on FMT treatment. In addition, we highlight the urgent need to investigate the possible impact of COVID-19 on FMT safety and efficacy, as well as instilling stringent screening protocols of donors and recipients during COVID-19 and post-COVID-19 pandemic to produce a cohesive and optimized FMT treatment plan across all centers and in all countries across the globe.

This is an Accepted Manuscript of an article published by Taylor & Francis in Biofuels on 23 January 2017, available online: http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/17597269.2017.1278930.

The article provides an overview of the development of national drought management policies (NDMP). It explores collaborative efforts that were started at the High-level Meeting on National Drought Policy – whose declaration provides the backdrop to this article – and are implemented through the World Meteorological Organization (WMO)/Global Water Partnership (GWP) Integrated Drought Management Programme (IDMP) and related initiatives. Early outputs, e.g., the National Drought Management Policy Guidelines – A template for action and the Handbook on Drought Indices and Indicators, provide an indication of how expert-reviewed guidance is brought together and applied by drought practitioners for developing NDMP and applying drought indices/indicators. Regional examples from Central and Eastern Europe and the Horn of Africa, including a brief country example from Kenya, highlight how these guidelines and collaborative efforts and outputs are applied. The role of IDMP is to provide a framework and commensurate technical support to countries but the actual development and implementation of national drought plans and policies still needs to be done by governmental ministries and national stakeholders. The article emphasizes how information from different sources is used to support countries to shift from only reacting to droughts when they occur to adopt proactive national drought policies that focus on improved collaboration and the mitigation of drought impacts.

The World Health Organization (WHO) serves as a key organization to bring together experts along the continuum of vaccine development and regulatory approval, among its other functions. Using the revision of WHO's guidelines on prophylactic human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine as an example, we describe the process by which (1) a need to revise the guidelines was identified; (2) a group of stakeholders with complementary expertise and key questions were identified; (3) a scientific review was conducted; (4) consensus on revisions was achieved; (5) guidelines were updated, reviewed widely, and approved. This multi-year process resulted in the consensus that regulatory agencies could consider additional endpoints, such as persistent HPV infection or immune equivalence, depending on the design of the HPV vaccine trials. Updating the guidelines will now accelerate vaccine development, reduce costs of clinical trials, and lead to faster regulatory approval. Keywords: HPV vaccine, WHO, Policy guidelines

This article addresses certain issues concerning mining investments in the context of the industry's development in the Peruvian national economy. It presents two cases and identifies the effects of the investments of these mining companies on several economic and social variables, the companies’ community-relationship policies, and related socio-environmental conflicts. A preliminary effort is made to compare and systematize the viewpoints of the companies and other more-critical approaches. Finally, we present some conclusions and implications that may be of use in preparing policy guidelines.

This paper explores the intricate issues that prompt water pricing reform in China and India. China adopts a comprehensive pricing framework of cost of resources, treatment and distribution, and environmental requirements, which has been gradually developed part by part since 1980 based on the perception and change of water issues in the country. India follows a simple approach of cost recovery, though its recent policy guidelines talk about more systematic pricing. The results present that both countries fail to realize water pricing policy targets regardless of different pricing structures. But China and India are on the same road and direction of water pricing and China goes a little farther. The treatment of water resources and its services, and property rights have a significant impact on pricing, and costs, including service, resources and environment, are difficult to recover.

The integration of informatization and industrialization (IOII) is a policy guidelines proposed by the Chinese Government to promote the production upgrade and the transformation of economic development mode, which is given increasingly attention by academic circles. In this paper, a brief introduction to IOII is presented. The research collections of IOII required to study the concept, development and process are surveyed as well as the application evaluation. By summarizing the development, relationship and the existing concept of IOII, a new concept of IOII is put forward. Then by studying comparatively the process and the application evaluation of IOII, suggestions for future empirical investigation is offered.

Sexual harassment (SH) has been defined asa non-consensual and unwelcome sexual behaviour that affects lives of the victims.Approximately 50% of all women in the United States at some time or other experiencesome type of sexual harassment, either in the workplace or in academic environments. SH has been identified as the most frequent form of “sexual victimization” and as a category of violence against women. SH has also been described as a form of social control exerted by men to “keep women in their place.” The Fourth World Conference on Women (FWCW) Beijing Declaration (UN documents, 2004) included SH in its category of “physical, sexual, and psychological” violence against women. This study which adopted a purposive descriptive research design involving 100 University of Eldoretstudents whose data was collected using questionnaires and interview schedules revealed that about half of the interviewed students had experienced various forms of sexual harassment without their consent. The harassments included rude sexual jokes, showing/passing pornographic materials, indecent gestures, attitudes, behaviours, insults and touches resulting in discrimination against the victims by violating their rights physiologically, sexually and physically. Like many other institutions of Higher Learning, University of Eldoret has no policy guidelines to assist institution managers in handling sexual harassment issues. ABBREVIATIONS andACRONYMS UoE University of Eldoret SH Sexual Harassment EOCEducational Opportunity Centre AAUW American Association of University Women UGC Uasin Gishu County HOD Head of Department SG Secretary-General FWCW Fourth World Conference on Women

Tropical and subtropical homegardens often show variation in floristic and structure depending on household characteristics. This research investigated how the household characteristics could influence homegarden vegetation characteristics for 50 randomly selected households in Kalaroa Upazila of Satkhira District, Bangladesh. The central analytical tool to test the relationships between household and homegarden characteristics was multiple linear regression. The results revealed that household landholdings, income, homestead size, and time spent for homegardening were strong predictors of homegarden vegetation characteristics. Economic conditions of the household, experience of the household head, and homegarden investment explained 48 % of the total plant diversity. The combined effects of all significant variables explained about 57 % of the variability in species richness. If homegarden species composition and structure receive attention by concerned authorities, the development of economically viable and ecologically sustainable homegardens can be one aim of the policy guidelines with regard to natural resource conservation and sustainable management basis in Bangladesh could act as a principal source for employment of women in rural Bangladesh.