Estimating the Benefits of Beach Recreation: An Application of the Contingent Valuation Method

This study presents an application of the dichotomous choice contingent valuation method to estimate the benefits of beach recreation in Port Dickson. The logit and probit models were used to analyse the data and the willingness-to-pay values were computed from the maximum likelihood estimates. The median willingnessto- pay value for beach recreation in Port Dickson ranged from RM55.01 to RM534.80 for mean income of RM404.56 to RM3933.30, respectively. These values can be used by policy-makers to compute the annual total benefits obtainable from this multiple-use resource

UPM Pemacu Pertania Lestari - Pertukaran nama universiti selaras perkembangan disiplin pengajian

Daripada Universiti Petanian Malaysia kepada Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM), UPM sudah mengambil langkah berani menukar nama dan identitinya pada 1997. Namun, hampir sedekad UPM menukar nama, masih ada desas-desus kekesalan terhadap langkah berani ini - kononnyaa ia mengalih arah dan mengeluarkan UPM daripada tonggak disiplin utamanya iaitu pertanian

Welfare Impacts of Fisheries Co-management System at Oxbow Lakes in Bangladesh

Fisheries co-management starts with the premise that stakeholders have the innate capacity to improve resource condition as well as the welfare of the society. If this is true, there is a need for rapid and substantial devolution of fisheries management institutions. The main purpose of this study was to examine net welfare change to society as a result of the co-management system at Oxbow Lakes in Bangladesh. The simultaneous equation model consisting of supply, demand and identity equations were estimated and Marshallian surplus measurement was used to estimate the welfare change before and after the co-management system. The pooling technique proposed by Kmenta (1971; 1986) was utilized for the estimation. The analysis showed that the co-management program had caused a welfare gain to society.Key words: Fisheries co-management, Oxbow Lake, Producer Surplus, Consumer Surplu

Institusi pengajian tinggi penjana pembangunan modal insan kelas pertama.

Kerajaan Malaysia menerusi Teras Kedua Misi Nasional, 2006-2020 telah menggariskan iltizam untuk meningkatkan keupayaan pengetahuan, kreativiti dan inovasi serta memupuk minda kelas pertama. Kejayaan masa hadapan negara bergantung kepada kualiti modal insan yang dimiliki, bukan sahaja dari segi intelek tetapi juga keperibadian warganya. Saluran utama penjanaan modal insan, Institut Pengajian Tinggi (lPT) di negara ini perlu memberikan perhatian khusus kerana melaluinya akan lahir generasi muda yang berpendidikan, berkemahiran, kreatif, inovatif, bersikap progresif dan berfikiran kritis. Kini IPT tempatan sedang giat mefaksanakan pelbagai inisiatif dan usaha penambahbaikan secara komprehensif ke atas sistem penyampaian sistem pendidikan dan latihan. Penambahbaikan ini bertujuan meningkatan kualiti sistem pengajaran dan pembelajaran di peringkat Universiti untuk melahirkan graduan yang berkualiti dan berdaya saing. Kerajaan juga berhasrat mewujudkan universiti bertaraf antarabangsa dan memastikan pendidikan dan latihan di peringkat tertiari memenuhi keperluan majikan, di samping menyediakan lebih banyak peluang dan akses kepada pendidikan, latihan dan pembelajaran sepanjang hayat yang berkualiti di semua peringkat pendidikan. Inisiatif Hasil Pembelajaran merupakan langkah awal yang diambil bagi menyediakan pelajar kepada pengalaman pendidikan yang lengkap yang dapat dimanfaatkan setelah mereka ini bergelar graduan khususnya ketika menempuh alam pekerjaan. Melalui inisiatif ini hasil pembelajaran yang kritikal akan ditentukan dalam membentuk program dan kursus. Dengan cara tersebut IPT mampu menghasilkan pelajar yang mempunyai kemahiran dan pengetahuan yang mantap di samping membolehkan keberkesanan proses pengajaran dan pembelajaran diukur melalui pemantauan terhadap kualiti produk atau graduan yang dilahirkan. Selain itu, IPT turut berhasrat untuk menjana graduan yang memiliki kemahiran yang menyeluruh dan seimbang bukan sah'aja dari sudut kualiti intelektual bahkan juga dari segi kemahiran insaniah yang merangkumi pelbagai aspek insani seperti sikap dan akhlak. Kertas ini akan mengupas senario terkini pendidikan global dan tempatan, faktor-faktor keperluan dan kepenlingan pembangunan modal insan minda kelas pertama. Tanggung jawab dan peranan IPT dalam pembangunan modal insan kelas pertama turut dihuraikan

Social capital, community based management, and fishers’ livelihood in Bangladesh

This paper examines the impact of Community Based Fisheries Management (CBFM) on fishing households’ welfare in Bangladesh. It analyses how the various types of livelihood assets contribute to fishers’ household incomes. The study found that fishers in CBFM project areas have improved their access to different assets including social, human, physical, financial and natural capitals. The regression results show that social capital contributed significantly to household income, indicating that social factors play very important roles in poverty alleviation in Bangladesh. Future poverty alleviation policy options need to give priority to investments in human, physical and natural capital assets

Evaluation of a quality improvement intervention to reduce anastomotic leak following right colectomy (EAGLE): pragmatic, batched stepped-wedge, cluster-randomized trial in 64 countries

Background Anastomotic leak affects 8 per cent of patients after right colectomy with a 10-fold increased risk of postoperative death. The EAGLE study aimed to develop and test whether an international, standardized quality improvement intervention could reduce anastomotic leaks. Methods The internationally intended protocol, iteratively co-developed by a multistage Delphi process, comprised an online educational module introducing risk stratification, an intraoperative checklist, and harmonized surgical techniques. Clusters (hospital teams) were randomized to one of three arms with varied sequences of intervention/data collection by a derived stepped-wedge batch design (at least 18 hospital teams per batch). Patients were blinded to the study allocation. Low- and middle-income country enrolment was encouraged. The primary outcome (assessed by intention to treat) was anastomotic leak rate, and subgroup analyses by module completion (at least 80 per cent of surgeons, high engagement; less than 50 per cent, low engagement) were preplanned. Results A total 355 hospital teams registered, with 332 from 64 countries (39.2 per cent low and middle income) included in the final analysis. The online modules were completed by half of the surgeons (2143 of 4411). The primary analysis included 3039 of the 3268 patients recruited (206 patients had no anastomosis and 23 were lost to follow-up), with anastomotic leaks arising before and after the intervention in 10.1 and 9.6 per cent respectively (adjusted OR 0.87, 95 per cent c.i. 0.59 to 1.30; P = 0.498). The proportion of surgeons completing the educational modules was an influence: the leak rate decreased from 12.2 per cent (61 of 500) before intervention to 5.1 per cent (24 of 473) after intervention in high-engagement centres (adjusted OR 0.36, 0.20 to 0.64; P < 0.001), but this was not observed in low-engagement hospitals (8.3 per cent (59 of 714) and 13.8 per cent (61 of 443) respectively; adjusted OR 2.09, 1.31 to 3.31). Conclusion Completion of globally available digital training by engaged teams can alter anastomotic leak rates. Registration number: NCT04270721 (http://www.clinicaltrials.gov)

The surgical safety checklist and patient outcomes after surgery: a prospective observational cohort study, systematic review and meta-analysis

© 2017 British Journal of Anaesthesia Background: The surgical safety checklist is widely used to improve the quality of perioperative care. However, clinicians continue to debate the clinical effectiveness of this tool. Methods: Prospective analysis of data from the International Surgical Outcomes Study (ISOS), an international observational study of elective in-patient surgery, accompanied by a systematic review and meta-analysis of published literature. The exposure was surgical safety checklist use. The primary outcome was in-hospital mortality and the secondary outcome was postoperative complications. In the ISOS cohort, a multivariable multi-level generalized linear model was used to test associations. To further contextualise these findings, we included the results from the ISOS cohort in a meta-analysis. Results are reported as odds ratios (OR) with 95% confidence intervals. Results: We included 44 814 patients from 497 hospitals in 27 countries in the ISOS analysis. There were 40 245 (89.8%) patients exposed to the checklist, whilst 7508 (16.8%) sustained ≥1 postoperative complications and 207 (0.5%) died before hospital discharge. Checklist exposure was associated with reduced mortality [odds ratio (OR) 0.49 (0.32–0.77); P\u3c0.01], but no difference in complication rates [OR 1.02 (0.88–1.19); P=0.75]. In a systematic review, we screened 3732 records and identified 11 eligible studies of 453 292 patients including the ISOS cohort. Checklist exposure was associated with both reduced postoperative mortality [OR 0.75 (0.62–0.92); P\u3c0.01; I2=87%] and reduced complication rates [OR 0.73 (0.61–0.88); P\u3c0.01; I2=89%). Conclusions: Patients exposed to a surgical safety checklist experience better postoperative outcomes, but this could simply reflect wider quality of care in hospitals where checklist use is routine

Prospective observational cohort study on grading the severity of postoperative complications in global surgery research

Background The Clavien–Dindo classification is perhaps the most widely used approach for reporting postoperative complications in clinical trials. This system classifies complication severity by the treatment provided. However, it is unclear whether the Clavien–Dindo system can be used internationally in studies across differing healthcare systems in high- (HICs) and low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). Methods This was a secondary analysis of the International Surgical Outcomes Study (ISOS), a prospective observational cohort study of elective surgery in adults. Data collection occurred over a 7-day period. Severity of complications was graded using Clavien–Dindo and the simpler ISOS grading (mild, moderate or severe, based on guided investigator judgement). Severity grading was compared using the intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC). Data are presented as frequencies and ICC values (with 95 per cent c.i.). The analysis was stratified by income status of the country, comparing HICs with LMICs. Results A total of 44 814 patients were recruited from 474 hospitals in 27 countries (19 HICs and 8 LMICs). Some 7508 patients (16·8 per cent) experienced at least one postoperative complication, equivalent to 11 664 complications in total. Using the ISOS classification, 5504 of 11 664 complications (47·2 per cent) were graded as mild, 4244 (36·4 per cent) as moderate and 1916 (16·4 per cent) as severe. Using Clavien–Dindo, 6781 of 11 664 complications (58·1 per cent) were graded as I or II, 1740 (14·9 per cent) as III, 2408 (20·6 per cent) as IV and 735 (6·3 per cent) as V. Agreement between classification systems was poor overall (ICC 0·41, 95 per cent c.i. 0·20 to 0·55), and in LMICs (ICC 0·23, 0·05 to 0·38) and HICs (ICC 0·46, 0·25 to 0·59). Conclusion Caution is recommended when using a treatment approach to grade complications in global surgery studies, as this may introduce bias unintentionally