Human resources for control of tuberculosis and HIV-associated tuberculosis.

The global targets for tuberculosis (TB) control were postponed from 2000 to 2005, but on current evidence a further postponement may be necessary. Of the constraints preventing these targets being met, the primary one appears to be the lack of adequately trained and qualified staff. This paper outlines: 1) the human resources and skills for global TB and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) TB control, including the human resources for implementing the DOTS strategy, the additional human resources for implementing joint HIV-TB control strategies and what is known about human resource gaps at global level; 2) the attempts to quantify human resource gaps by focusing on a small country in sub-Saharan Africa, Malawi; and 3) the main constraints to human resources and their possible solutions, under six main headings: human resource planning; production of human resources; distribution of the work-force; motivation and staff retention; quality of existing staff; and the effect of HIV/AIDS. We recommend an urgent shift in thinking about the human resource paradigm, and exhort international policy makers and the donor community to make a concerted effort to bridge the current gaps by investing for real change

Eating for a Lifetime: Filling the Policy Gaps in Philippine Fisheries

The fishery sector has become a large and dynamic contributor to Philippine agriculture. However, the sector confronts the problem of high poverty and alarming threats to its resource base. Policy responses to these problems have been implemented in recent years, but serious gaps remain. Addressing these policy gaps requires reforms that would lead to aquaculture development, bureaucratic rationalization and decentralization, the protection of aquatic habitats, the implementation of a science-based regime of fisheries management, and the promotion of diversified livelihoods among poor fishing communities. A concerted effort to address poverty and resource degradation may incur considerable short-run costs, but would likely yield larger long-term social payoffs.fishery, productivity, resource management, policy

Intervention designs for perceived improved access to farm productivity- enhancing resources in the drylands : case study of Kenya

In Kenya's dryland districts, gaps in access to productivity-enhancing resources are disconcertingly wide despite the growing number of external interventions. This research paper evaluates five past interventions to identify resource access gaps and effective designs replicable in the region. The study used cross-sectional data collected from sampled participants in each of the interventions. A two-stage regression model was used to assess the perceived effectiveness of the interventions. Results of the analysis showed that access to productivity-enhancing resources particularly irrigation, quality seeds, fertilizers and markets was patchy and low. Furthermore, access was significantly high where complementary resources could be found in a single intervention. Conclusively, resource planning should be an integral part of every intervention. Towards this end, irrigation and markets for credit and produce are critical. Moreover, use of the participatory intervention design is recommended in order to foster identification of complementary resources, which are relevant for specific socio-economic and natural contexts

Output gaps: uses and limitation

The concept of resource slack is central to understanding the dynamics between employment, output, and inflation. But what amount of slack is consistent with price stability? To answer this question, economists define baseline values for unemployment and output known as the natural rate of unemployment and potential output. The concepts of output and employment gaps can be useful to economists in several ways. First, they often guide the inflation forecasts of Federal Reserve staff and other researchers and market participants. Second, some economists argue that employment gaps are a useful guide for policy aimed at achieving maximum sustainable employment and price stability. In “Output Gaps: Uses and Limitation,” Roc Armenter briefly discusses two important examples of sophisticated measures of resource slack that are grounded in economic theory: the nonaccelerating inflation rate of unemployment and the output gap measure published quarterly by the Congressional Budget Office.Employment ; Industrial capacity ; Inflation (Finance)

Addressing Minority Health Disparities in Richmond: Results from a Health Needs Assessment of a Southside Community

Background: Evidence shows the effectiveness of integrating community health workers (CHWs) into care models serving high-risk patients to reduce emergency department (ED) use, increase primary care use, and address adverse social determinants of health (SDH). The Southwood Resource Center, part of a network of clinics established by Richmond City Health Department, utilizes CHWs to address disparities affecting underserved populations through primary care referrals and additional resource linkages. Local student-volunteers in partnership with CHWs conducted a community needs assessment to identify patient resource gaps, aid in design and implementation of SDH interventions, and examine the relationship between chronic disease management and ED use reductions. Methods: English and Spanish-language surveys were conducted during patient visits to the SRC, in addition to other settings to facilitate representative sampling. A total of 134 responses were received, with Blacks (34%) and Hispanic/Latinos (65%) well represented. Results: Significant social determinants identified by the needs assessment included housing stability, and transportation and food access. Respondents indicated need for support managing chronic conditions including heart disease, diabetes, mental health and asthma. 1 in 3 respondents (31%) reported using the ED for primary care, and nearly 2 in 3 (66%) reported not having a family doctor. Barriers to health care included cost (35.6%), insurance status (50.4%) and transportation access (29.6%). Conclusions: CHWs play an important role in identifying community strengths and resource gaps and linking patients to additional resources. Opportunities for service improvements include bilingual care coordination, chronic care management, health insurance navigation, food subsistence resources, and transportation support.https://scholarscompass.vcu.edu/gradposters/1104/thumbnail.jp

A Taxonomy for Management and Optimization of Multiple Resources in Edge Computing

Edge computing is promoted to meet increasing performance needs of data-driven services using computational and storage resources close to the end devices, at the edge of the current network. To achieve higher performance in this new paradigm one has to consider how to combine the efficiency of resource usage at all three layers of architecture: end devices, edge devices, and the cloud. While cloud capacity is elastically extendable, end devices and edge devices are to various degrees resource-constrained. Hence, an efficient resource management is essential to make edge computing a reality. In this work, we first present terminology and architectures to characterize current works within the field of edge computing. Then, we review a wide range of recent articles and categorize relevant aspects in terms of 4 perspectives: resource type, resource management objective, resource location, and resource use. This taxonomy and the ensuing analysis is used to identify some gaps in the existing research. Among several research gaps, we found that research is less prevalent on data, storage, and energy as a resource, and less extensive towards the estimation, discovery and sharing objectives. As for resource types, the most well-studied resources are computation and communication resources. Our analysis shows that resource management at the edge requires a deeper understanding of how methods applied at different levels and geared towards different resource types interact. Specifically, the impact of mobility and collaboration schemes requiring incentives are expected to be different in edge architectures compared to the classic cloud solutions. Finally, we find that fewer works are dedicated to the study of non-functional properties or to quantifying the footprint of resource management techniques, including edge-specific means of migrating data and services.Comment: Accepted in the Special Issue Mobile Edge Computing of the Wireless Communications and Mobile Computing journa

TRAININGS AND MANAGEMENT DEVELOPMENT AT TESCO IN SZEGED

One of the most important function of human resource management is doing the human resource planning (HRP). It means that effective HRP should result the right people doing the right things in the right place at precisely the right time. If HR-experts do not able to handle precisely this function a gap arises. The exact name of it is training gap. The essence of training gap that there is a difference between employee’s actual performance and employee’s desire performance. The main aim of training is to eliminate this kind of gap. In this paper I examine one of the multinational firms – this is TESCO in Szeged – how to eliminate the training gaps and how to do human resource development. I survey what kind of trainings and manager development does TESCO have.evaluation of employee performance, retail industry

Lithium and the Foreseeable Future

This paper aims to clarify the uncertainties regarding worldwide lithium resource availability in the years to come. Previous studies made on the subject are presented with some ambiguity and this work intends to fill the gaps. The information and data presented throughout this script with respect to global lithium resources and reserves are mostly based on data released by the United States Geological Survey (USGS). Lithium resource availability in the future is a point of paramount significance primarily for the automotive, portable electronics, and the power generation industry. Since, a change of supply would ultimately affect the price of lithium, which would then affect the industries mentioned. Theoretical scenarios and predictions about future lithium supply and demand are presented at the latter part of this paper intended to give the reader a better understanding of the actual size of the total global lithium resources

Addressing Resource Gaps in the U.S. Health Care Safety Net: An Assessment of the Free Clinic Network

Based on a survey of free clinics serving uninsured low-income patients, examines the resource constraints limiting the expansion of healthcare services provided, including the high costs of labs, equipment, and medication. Makes recommendations

How Gaussian competition leads to lumpy or uniform species distributions

A central model in theoretical ecology considers the competition of a range of species for a broad spectrum of resources. Recent studies have shown that essentially two different outcomes are possible. Either the species surviving competition are more or less uniformly distributed over the resource spectrum, or their distribution is 'lumped' (or 'clumped'), consisting of clusters of species with similar resource use that are separated by gaps in resource space. Which of these outcomes will occur crucially depends on the competition kernel, which reflects the shape of the resource utilization pattern of the competing species. Most models considered in the literature assume a Gaussian competition kernel. This is unfortunate, since predictions based on such a Gaussian assumption are not robust. In fact, Gaussian kernels are a border case scenario, and slight deviations from this function can lead to either uniform or lumped species distributions. Here we illustrate the non-robustness of the Gaussian assumption by simulating different implementations of the standard competition model with constant carrying capacity. In this scenario, lumped species distributions can come about by secondary ecological or evolutionary mechanisms or by details of the numerical implementation of the model. We analyze the origin of this sensitivity and discuss it in the context of recent applications of the model.Comment: 11 pages, 3 figures, revised versio