ACTION FOR BETTER GOVERNMENT: A ROLE FOR DONORS

Summary This article describes calls for more participation and accountability to bring better government in countries receiving aid and suggests how donors could help. These calls are made because people are more educated, better informed, disillusioned with bad government, and moved by news of changes elsewhere and by the concerns of donors. Better government requires a balance between economic, social and political goals, and the political determination to act against corruption. Aid programmes need participatory and accountable management with project appraisals that value social and political, as well as economic, benefits. The article concludes with a portfolio of project proposals to help political leaders, give people voice, transfer resources from public to private sectors, act against corruption, support law and order, strengthen civil society, and provide training to develop attitudes as well as skills. Résumé Cet article décrit les appels pour une augmentation de la participation et de la responsabilité financière afin d'instaurer de meilleures pratiques de gouvernement dans les pays donataires d'aide, et suggère certains moyens par lesquels les donateurs pourraient faciliter à ce processus. Ces demandes se font entendre parce que les peuples sont plus éduqués, mieux informés, désillusionnés par le mauvais gouvernement, et poussés à la fois par les nouvelles des changements intervenus ailleurs et par les inquitétudes des pays donateurs. L'amélioration de la pratique gouvernamentale exige un équilibre entre les aspirations économiques, sociales et politiques, et la volonté politique d'intervenir contre la corruption. Les programmes d'aide exigent la mise en place de moyens de gestion à la fois participatifs et capables de répondre d'eux mêmes, offrant en particulier des moyens d'évaluation des projets qui tiendraient compte des avantages sociaux et politiques en plus des bénéfices économiques. L'article présente en conclusion un portefeuille de projets proposés afin d'aider les dirigeants politiques; de faire entendre la voix des peuples; de transférer les ressources du secteur public au secteur privé; d'intervenir contre la corruption; d'appuyer l'ordre public; de renforcer la société civile; et de mettre en place des programmes de formation susceptibles de développer à la fois les attitudes et les aptitudes. Resumen Este artículo describe los llamamientos a más participación y responsabilidad para alcanzar mejor gobierno en los países que reciben ayuda, y sugiere cómo los donantes pueden ayudar. Se hacen estos llamamientos porque la gente está hoy más educada, mejor informada, y desilusionada con los malos gobiernos, y conmovida con las noticias de cambios en otros sitios, así como por el interés de los donantes. Un mejor gobierno requiere un equilibrio entre los objetivos económicos, sociales y políticos, y la determinación de actuar contra la corrupción. Los programas de ayuda necesitan una administración participatoria y responsable con evaluaciones que midan no sólo los beneficios económicos, sino también los sociales y los políticos. El artículo concluye con un paquete de propuestas para ayudar a los líderes políticos, dar voz al pueblo, transferir recursos del sector público al privado, apoyar la lucha contra la corrupción, asegurar el respeto a las leyes, fortalecer la sociedad civil, y proveer entrenamiento para desarrollar tanto actitudes como habilidades

Organisational culture of further education colleges delivering higher education business programmes: developing a culture of ‘HEness’ – what next?

This paper draws on the views of lecturers working in and delivering college-based higher education (CBHE) in the UK. There have been numerous works on the culture of higher education in further education (HE in FE). However, as noted by some literati, the culture of further education (FE) is not easy to define, and does not readily lend itself to the incorporation of a higher education (HE) culture. This could be due to the large number of changes FE has had to adopt owing to various government policies. The study comprises 26 in-depth individual interviews conducted at various further education colleges throughout the Yorkshire and Humber region of the UK. Via the use of an interpretivist approach, common themes and word use were extracted from the narratives for analysis. The organisational culture of these further education colleges was relatively easy to define, the word ‘blame’ being one of the common themes. However, when identifying if the individual colleges had a HE culture; this proved more difficult

Migration patterns of Greenland halibut in the North Atlantic revealed by a compiled mark-recapture dataset

Marine fisheries are often allocated to stocks that reflect pragmatic considerations and may not represent the species’ spatial population structure, increasing the risk of mismanagement and unsustainable harvesting. Here we compile mark–recapture data collected across the North Atlantic to gain insight into the spatial population structure of Greenland halibut (Reinhardtius hippoglossoides), an issue that has been unresolved for decades. The dataset contains 168130 fish tagged from 1952 to 2021, with 5466 (3.3%) recaptured individuals. Our results indicate that fish tagged at <50 cm body length migrate at higher rates, suggesting that mark–recapture studies on adult individuals underestimate population-level migration rates. We find evidence for migrations across management units in the North Atlantic indicating two regional offshore populations: one in the Northeast Atlantic, where the West Nordic and Northeast Arctic stocks, currently managed separately, likely belong to a single population that spans from the Kara Sea to Southeast Greenland; and one in the Northwest Atlantic where migration was observed between the Newfoundland and Labrador stock and the Northwest Arctic stock in Davis Strait and Baffin Bay. Our findings indicate complex population structure with implications for international and domestic fisheries management of this long-lived species.publishedVersio

The Changing Landscape for Stroke\ua0Prevention in AF: Findings From the GLORIA-AF Registry Phase 2

Background GLORIA-AF (Global Registry on Long-Term Oral Antithrombotic Treatment in Patients with Atrial Fibrillation) is a prospective, global registry program describing antithrombotic treatment patterns in patients with newly diagnosed nonvalvular atrial fibrillation at risk of stroke. Phase 2 began when dabigatran, the first non\u2013vitamin K antagonist oral anticoagulant (NOAC), became available. Objectives This study sought to describe phase 2 baseline data and compare these with the pre-NOAC era collected during phase&nbsp;1. Methods During phase 2, 15,641 consenting patients were enrolled (November 2011 to December 2014); 15,092 were eligible. This pre-specified cross-sectional analysis describes eligible patients\u2019 baseline characteristics. Atrial fibrillation&nbsp;disease characteristics, medical outcomes, and concomitant diseases and medications were collected. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics. Results Of the total patients, 45.5% were female; median age was 71 (interquartile range: 64, 78) years. Patients were from Europe (47.1%), North America (22.5%), Asia (20.3%), Latin America (6.0%), and the Middle East/Africa (4.0%). Most had high stroke risk (CHA2DS2-VASc [Congestive heart failure, Hypertension, Age&nbsp; 6575 years, Diabetes mellitus, previous Stroke, Vascular disease, Age 65 to 74 years, Sex category] score&nbsp; 652; 86.1%); 13.9% had moderate risk (CHA2DS2-VASc&nbsp;= 1). Overall, 79.9% received oral anticoagulants, of whom 47.6% received NOAC and 32.3% vitamin K antagonists (VKA); 12.1% received antiplatelet agents; 7.8% received no antithrombotic treatment. For comparison, the proportion of phase 1 patients (of N&nbsp;= 1,063 all eligible) prescribed VKA was 32.8%, acetylsalicylic acid 41.7%, and no therapy 20.2%. In Europe in phase 2, treatment with NOAC was more common than VKA (52.3% and 37.8%, respectively); 6.0% of patients received antiplatelet treatment; and 3.8% received no antithrombotic treatment. In North America, 52.1%, 26.2%, and 14.0% of patients received NOAC, VKA, and antiplatelet drugs, respectively; 7.5% received no antithrombotic treatment. NOAC use was less common in Asia (27.7%), where 27.5% of patients received VKA, 25.0% antiplatelet drugs, and 19.8% no antithrombotic treatment. Conclusions The baseline data from GLORIA-AF phase 2 demonstrate that in newly diagnosed nonvalvular atrial fibrillation patients, NOAC have been highly adopted into practice, becoming more frequently prescribed than VKA in&nbsp;Europe and North America. Worldwide, however, a large proportion of patients remain undertreated, particularly in&nbsp;Asia&nbsp;and North America. (Global Registry on Long-Term Oral Antithrombotic Treatment in Patients With Atrial Fibrillation [GLORIA-AF]; NCT01468701

A review of the practical relevance of IS strategy scholarly research

While studies suggest that IS strategy is an important topic for practitioners, in-depth explorations of the potential practical relevance of this research area are lacking. In this paper, we develop a multidimensional framework of potential practical relevance and use it to conduct a multimethod descriptive review of 109 IS strategy papers published over the past 10 years in top IS journals. The framework contributes to the IS literature by synthesizing various characteristics that make a research project conducive to being practically relevant. The review highlights how IS strategy research has offered the potential for practical relevance in the past and recommends opportunities to increase this, especially in the digitalization era

Effect of angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitor and angiotensin receptor blocker initiation on organ support-free days in patients hospitalized with COVID-19

IMPORTANCE Overactivation of the renin-angiotensin system (RAS) may contribute to poor clinical outcomes in patients with COVID-19. Objective To determine whether angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitor or angiotensin receptor blocker (ARB) initiation improves outcomes in patients hospitalized for COVID-19. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS In an ongoing, adaptive platform randomized clinical trial, 721 critically ill and 58 non–critically ill hospitalized adults were randomized to receive an RAS inhibitor or control between March 16, 2021, and February 25, 2022, at 69 sites in 7 countries (final follow-up on June 1, 2022). INTERVENTIONS Patients were randomized to receive open-label initiation of an ACE inhibitor (n = 257), ARB (n = 248), ARB in combination with DMX-200 (a chemokine receptor-2 inhibitor; n = 10), or no RAS inhibitor (control; n = 264) for up to 10 days. MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES The primary outcome was organ support–free days, a composite of hospital survival and days alive without cardiovascular or respiratory organ support through 21 days. The primary analysis was a bayesian cumulative logistic model. Odds ratios (ORs) greater than 1 represent improved outcomes. RESULTS On February 25, 2022, enrollment was discontinued due to safety concerns. Among 679 critically ill patients with available primary outcome data, the median age was 56 years and 239 participants (35.2%) were women. Median (IQR) organ support–free days among critically ill patients was 10 (–1 to 16) in the ACE inhibitor group (n = 231), 8 (–1 to 17) in the ARB group (n = 217), and 12 (0 to 17) in the control group (n = 231) (median adjusted odds ratios of 0.77 [95% bayesian credible interval, 0.58-1.06] for improvement for ACE inhibitor and 0.76 [95% credible interval, 0.56-1.05] for ARB compared with control). The posterior probabilities that ACE inhibitors and ARBs worsened organ support–free days compared with control were 94.9% and 95.4%, respectively. Hospital survival occurred in 166 of 231 critically ill participants (71.9%) in the ACE inhibitor group, 152 of 217 (70.0%) in the ARB group, and 182 of 231 (78.8%) in the control group (posterior probabilities that ACE inhibitor and ARB worsened hospital survival compared with control were 95.3% and 98.1%, respectively). CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE In this trial, among critically ill adults with COVID-19, initiation of an ACE inhibitor or ARB did not improve, and likely worsened, clinical outcomes. TRIAL REGISTRATION ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT0273570

The time of my life

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