Search

This paper presents the results of a company survey focused on the role of technical and vocational education and training (TVET) in industrial transformation and growth in three manufacturing sectors in South Africa. We find two main patterns from our data: Those companies that take training seriously do this in a comprehensive way and reflect on this training as a combination of formal, informal, and on-the-job training. Second, the industries in which the majority of companies report use of TVET qualifications for hiring and in-house training are those in which training is integral to industrial strategy pertaining to new technologies, work-organisation, and products rather than as an adjunct to these core industry imperatives. These patterns have implications for policy, which tends in South Africa, like many countries, to be strongly focused on formal TVET provision, with little consideration of the broader picture of training, and with little sectoral specificity and little integration into economic development strategies. This also has implications for research into TVET, which, especially in the African context, has tended to look at formal provision on its own rather than as one component of a broader set of vocational skills development interventions.

Nowadays, the world is experiencing an intense and prolonged socio-economic crisis, which has been enhanced by the health crisis due to coronavirus. These crises had also a huge effect on the educational system. The academic world had to adjust rapidly and shift its teaching methods and tools to the demands of remote learning. These new circumstances are even more challenging in educational programs and courses that promote pluralism and include students from all over the world. In this paper, we study the opinions of the students at the Master Degree Program with the title "Olympic Studies, Olympic Education, Organization and Management of Olympic Events" offered by The Department of Sports Organization and Management of the Faculty of Human Movement and Quality of Life Sciences of the University of Peloponnese with the support of the International Olympic Academy for the academic year of 2021-2022. Our study aims to draw conclusions about students' feelings about distance education, participation and how they understand leadership and the relationship between sports and active social participation. Furthermore, we attempt to correlate the participation in sports with the active social participation and the contribution of sports to create a more transparent framework to the social integration of weak social groups. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of the study is to compare the performance of the two classification methods based on the atmospheric circulation types over the Pannonian basin in Central Europe. Relationships including seasonal occurrences and correlation coefficients, as well as comparative diagrams of the seasonal occurrences of the circulation types of the two classification systems are presented. When comparing the automated (objective) and empirical (subjective) classification methods, it was found that the frequency of the empirical anticyclonic (or cyclonic) types is much higher (or lower) than that of the automated anticyclonic (cyclonic) types both on an annual and seasonal basis. The highest and statistically significant correlations between the circulation types of the two classification systems, as well as those between the cumulated seasonal anticyclonic and cyclonic types, occur in winter for both classifications, since the weather-influencing effect of the atmospheric circulation in this season is the most prevalent. Precipitation levels in Budapest display a decreasing trend in accordance with the decrease in the occurrence of the automated cyclonic types. In contrast, the occurrence of the empirical cyclonic types displays an increasing trend. There occur types in a given classification that are usually accompanied by high ratios of certain types in the other classification. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, three different Typical Weather Years (TWYs) generated in Meteonorm using different techniques are compared with each other and with an actual hourly climate dataset of a calendar year. The impact of different hourly weather files on building's annual energy needs is then assessed via dynamic simulations of a typical building. The analysis revealed that Typical Meteorological Months and the corresponding TWYs may vary significantly as different statistical processes have been followed for their development. Comparing the actual monthly average values with the corresponding values of the TWYs revealed peakdifferences up to 45% during the heating period. Regarding the performance of the three stochastically generated TWYs, differences on annual energy use for heating and cooling purposes were found up to 9.3% and 13%, while the mild actual winter conditions resulted in lower heating energy needs, varying by 42%-47%, depending on the TWY. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We examined changes in extreme temperature over the Greek area in relation to the geopotential thickness field (1000 to 500 hPa). Daily maximum and minimum temperature series from 20 Greek stations evenly distributed over Greece were used for the period 1958-2000. The atmospheric circulation over the Greek area was classified with the aid of a calendar of daily circulation types based on the geopotential thickness field of 1000 to 500 hPa for the same period using daily NCEP and HadAM3P datasets. There was a general increase in frequency of anticyclonic circulation types and a decrease in frequency of cyclonic types. In addition, there was an overall interannual increase (decrease) in maximum (minimum) extreme temperatures over the Greek area, with spatial and seasonal variations. The investigation of the temperature anomalies corresponding to each circulation type, along with the trends of the former, revealed that the increase in frequency of the anticyclonic types, which form positive anomalies, and their positive trends in the majority of the stations, can explain the upward trend of maximum temperature in summer. In contrast, the trend of decreasing minimum temperatures in the central and SW Greek area cannot only be interpreted by changes in frequency of circulation types. A statistical downscaling model for simulating temperature changes over Greece (both for NCEP and HadAM3P datasets) was developed following a circulation-type approach. This demonstrated high correspondence with the observed extreme temperature values in all seasons, with only slightly lower year-to-year variability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim: To compare anemia prevalence between matched chronic kidney disease (CKD) patients with and without diabetes mellitus (DM) and to assess factors associated with anemia development., Methods: This is a nested case-control study of 184 type-2 diabetic and 184 non-diabetic CKD patients from a prospectively assembled database of a Nephrology outpatient clinic, matched for gender, age and estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR). Prevalence of anemia (hemoglobin: Men: < 13 g/dL, women: < 12 g/dL and/or use of recombinant erythropoietin) was examined in comparison, in the total population and by CKD Stage. Univariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses were conducted to identify factors associated with anemia., Results: The total prevalence of anemia was higher in diabetics (47.8% vs 33.2%, P = 0.004). Accordingly, prevalence was higher in diabetics in CKD Stage 3 (53.5% vs 33.1%, P < 0.001) and particularly in Stage 3a (60.4% vs 26.4%, P < 0.001), whereas it was non-significantly higher in Stage 4 (61.3% vs 48.4%; P = 0.307). Serum ferritin was higher in diabetics in total and in CKD stages, while serum iron was similar between groups. In multivariate analyses, DM (OR = 2.206, 95%CI: 1.196-4.069), CKD Stages 3a, 3b, 4 (Stage 4: OR = 12.169, 95%CI: 3.783-39.147) and serum iron (OR = 0.976, 95%CI: 0.968-0.985 per mg/dL increase) were independently associated with anemia., Conclusion: Prevalence of anemia progressively increases with advancing stages of CKD and is higher in diabetic than matched non-diabetic CKD patients and diabetes is independently associated with anemia occurrence. Detection and treatment of anemia in diabetic CKD patients should be performed earlier than non-diabetic counterparts.

Background: Hyperkalemia is a potentially life-threatening disorder, usually complicating chronic kidney disease (CKD). Factors superimposed to reduced renal function are further elevating hyperkalemia risk, but their contribution is not fully elucidated. This study aimed to compare the prevalence of hyperkalemia in diabetic and non-diabetic patients with CKD., Methods: This is a nested case-control study of 180 type-2 diabetic and 180 non-diabetic patients with CKD followed in a Nephrology outpatient clinic, matched for gender, age and estimated glomerular filtration rate. Type-1 diabetes or end-stage renal disease patients were excluded. Prevalence of hyperkalemia was defined as potassium >5 mEq/l or use of sodium polystyrene sulfonate, and further by potassium >5, ≥5.2 and ≥5.5 mEq/l. It was calculated in both groups in whole and CKD stages separately. Univariate and multivariate logistic regression analysis were conducted to identify factors associated with hyperkalemia., Results: The prevalence of hyperkalemia was higher in diabetic CKD patients (27.2 vs. 20%, p = 0.107) and remained around 30% higher with all secondary definitions used, but never reached statistical significance. In Stage 2, no difference was noted (8.7 vs. 17.4%, p = 0.665); in Stage 3, it was significantly higher in diabetics (28.6 vs. 17.5%, p = 0.036); and in Stage 4, it was equally high in both groups (35.5 vs. 32.3%, p = 0.788). In multivariate analysis, Stage 4 CKD (OR 4.535, 95% CI 1.561-13.173), use of angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors (ACEIs; OR 2.228, 95% CI 1.254-3.958) and smoking (OR 2.254, 95% CI 1.218-4.171) were independently associated with hyperkalemia., Conclusions: Diabetes mellitus was found to elevate the prevalence of hyperkalemia only in CKD Stage 3 patients (moderately impaired renal function). Advanced CKD at Stage 4 and ACEIs are major determinants of hyperkalemia occurrence., (© 2015 S. Karger AG, Basel.)