Survey of public data sources on the Internet usage and other Internet statistics

The Internet research is mainly driven by data. Obtaining such data by planning and launching measurement campaigns is rather time consuming and costly. Much more efficient, and in many cases, sufficient data acquisition strategy is to exploit the existing datasets available in public databases, repositories, and documents. Hence, the public data sources related to the Internet usage and other Internet statistics are systematically surveyed and categorized to make the search for the Internet data much easier and faster. Extensive online searches and exploring websites of the key organizations were used to identify the data sources. Each data source was then carefully explored to describe its characteristics and contents. The data are usually aggregated over certain time periods and regions, and often indexed by age, gender, application, website, activity and other attributes. Some data sources also support various data visualization options, and offer data export in multiple formats

Reluctant Donors? The Europeanization of International Development Policies in the New Members

The EU played an instrumental role re-starting the international development policies in Central and Eastern European member states, but questions remain about how far this policy area has been Europeanized since accession. Focusing on the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia, the paper investigates why the new donors have been reluctant to adopt the EU’s development acquis more fully. The paper traces the process of the EU’s development policy rulemaking and subsequent national rule implementation to understand the socialization opportunities these processes offer. The conclusions reveal thrre reasons why socialization has been weak: (1) perceptions among the new member states on the development acquis’ procedural legitimacy; (2) low domestic resonance with the development acquis; and (3) inconsistencies in the activities of norm entrepreneurs. The paper contributes to our understanding of development policy in the EU, in particular how decision making takes place within the Council and its Working Groups post enlargement

Towards an Economy of Higher Education

This paper draws a distinction between ways thinking and acting, and hence of policy and practice in higher education, in terms of different kinds of economy: economies of exchange and economies of excess. Crucial features of economies of exchange are outlined and their presence in prevailing conceptions of teaching and learning is illustrated. These are contrasted with other possible forms of practice, which in turn bring to light the nature of an economy of excess. In more philosophical terms, and to expand on the picture, economies of excess are elaborated with reference, first, to the understanding of alterity in the work of Emmanuel Levinas and, second, to the idea of Dionysian intensity that is to be found in Nietzsche. In the light of critical comment on some current directions in policy and practice, the implications of these ways of thinking for the administrator, the teacher and the student in higher education are explored

A systematic review of the association between nursing staff and nursing-sensitive outcomes in long-term institutional care

Aims To examine the association between type of nursing staff and nursing-sensitive outcomes in long-term institutional care. Design This systematic review included studies published in English, German, and Dutch between January 1997 and January 2020. Data sources The databases Medline (PubMed), CINAHL, PsycINFO, Embase, and the Cochrane Library were searched. Original quantitative studies were included. Review methods The Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis (PRISMA) guidelines were followed. The Strengthening the Reporting of Observational Studies in Epidemiology (STROBE) checklist was used to critically appraise the reporting of the studies. Results Fifteen articles were included. Of 33 quality of care outcomes, 21 were identified as nursing-sensitive outcomes of which 13 showed a significant association with nursing staff, specifically: Activities of daily living, aggressive behavior, bladder/bowel incontinence, contractures, expressive language skills, falls, infection (including vaccination), range of motion, pain, pressure ulcers, and weight loss. However, studies reported inconsistent results regarding the association among RNs, LPNs, CNAs, and HCAs and these nursing-sensitive outcomes, evidence shows that more RNs have a positive impact on nursing-sensitive outcomes. As to the evidence regarding the other type of nursing staff, especially HCA, findings regularly showed a negative association. Conclusion Future research should be expanded with structure and process variables of which the mediating and moderating effect on nursing-sensitive outcomes is known. These may explain variances in quality of care and guide quality improvement initiatives. Researchers should consider fully applying Donabedian's structure-process-outcomes framework as it is a coherent entirety for quality assessment. Impact This review provides an overview of quality of care outcomes that are responsive to nursing interventions in long-term institutional care. As the effects can be monitored and documented, quality assessment should focus on these nursing-sensitive outcomes. The inconclusive results make it difficult to provide recommendations on who should best perform which care

Out-of-pocket health care expenditure in Turkey: Analysis of the 2003-2008 Household Budget Surveys

This paper analyses the prevalence of ‘catastrophic’ out-of-pocket health expenditure in Turkey and identifies the factors which are associated with its risk using the Turkish Household Budget Surveys from 2003 to 2008. A sample selection approach based on Sartori (2003) is adopted to allow for the potential selection problem which may arise if poor households choose not to seek health care due to concerns regarding its affordability. The results suggest that poor households are less likely to seek health care as compared to non-poor households and that a negative relationship between poverty and experiencing catastrophic health expenditure remains even after allowing for such selection bias. Our findings, which may assist policy-makers concerned with health care system reforms, also highlight factors such as insurance coverage, which may protect households from the risk of incurring catastrophic health expenditure

the challenge of energy access in africa

There are multiple dimensions to the problem of energy access in Sub-Saharan Africa, where large shares of population lack a reliable supply of electricity and affordable modern cooking fuels: from insufficient power generation capacity, to difficulties in managing energy infrastructure and attract investments in the sector, to challenges in serving low-income users. Booming populations, urbanization, and ambitions of economic development will all demand more energy. This chapter illustrates the main challenges ahead towards the sustainable development objective of achieving universal access to electricity and clean cooking in the region

Economic crisis and regional resilience: detecting the ‘geographical footprint’ of economic crisis in Greece

Taking stock from the research on regional resilience and by constructing a composite regional resilience indicator this paper sets out to detect the resistance/vulnerability of Greek regions and prefectures to economic crisis. Analysis is based on a newly elaborated dataset with socio-demographic, economic and welfare variables for Greek regions enabling to pre and after-crisis comparisons. Results highlight the multiplicity of ways in which crisis impacts on regions. Metropolitan areas and regions that are based on manufacturing activities seem to have been more vulnerable to crisis while places that are based on tourism such as islands are usually more resistant. Regional policy seems to be pro-cyclical to economic downturn