Making academic freedom and institutional autonomy real in boundary conditions: some issues from African higher education

"In this presentation on the occasion of the 20th Anniversary of the Magna Charta Universitatum in Bologna, I will make six points. Some of these are general observations on the Magna Charta and others are issues from African higher education which may help to illuminate our understanding of the value, limits and potential of the Magna Charta.

La gobernanza de la acreditación

El artículo explora temas relacionados con la gobernanza de la acreditación en relación con el incremento en la demanda de garantía de calidad (GC) por parte de los diferentes grupos de interés y la acreditación se ha convertido en une mecanismo efectivo y de rendición de cuentas. Las agencias de acreditación para la garantía de la calidad no sólo usan estándares para evaluar las instituciones de educación superior, sino que ellas mismas están sujetas a estándares y normas de operación a nivel nacional, regional e internacional. Este artículo identifica los principales descriptores para la rendición de cuentas y su efectividad bajos los fundamentos de la rendición de cuentas y la transparencia, la legitimación y credibilidad, la participación y representación, la honestidad, la eficiencia y efectividad, el comportamiento ético y la integridad, la toma de decisiones estratégica, la transformación y el cambio social, la respuesta a los cambios y la innovación. El autor hace también una revisión de ejemplos de gobernanza como criterio de la acreditación y el impacto que esto podría tener sobre los otros criterios dentro de un sistema de acreditación. El artículo termina presentando algunos de los retos a los que tendrá que hacer frente la gobernanza en la acreditación, por ejemplo, el suministro transnacional de educación superior, el balance de fuerzas entre los consejos de administración como un resultado del incremento de poder de los grupos de interés, y las posibilidades de la gobernza estratégica de la acreditación para orientar la regulación de la educación superior hacia la transformación social como imperativo de la educación superior.Peer Reviewe

Skills training and disability : a life history study of adults with intellectual disabilities at protected workshops.

Thesis (M.Ed.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2009.According to Statistics South Africa (2005, p.1) approximately 5 percent of the total South African population are affected with different types of disabilities. People with disabilities experience marginalization and despite legislation and advocacy their employment opportunities are limited. Due to lack of social and physical infrastructure they are excluded from places of employment. This study aimed to document the perceptions and experiences of mildly intellectually disabled adults with regard to skills training at two protected workshops in the Durban region. The medical, social and biopsychosocial models of disability have influenced policy design and legislation over the years. In recent years due to a paradigm shift disability is viewed within the biopsychosocial model of disability. Thus the theoretical and conceptual framework underpinning my study is the biopsychosocial model of disability which focuses on functioning at the level of the whole person in a social context. The second conceptual lens of my study focuses on the concept of self-determination. Self-determined individuals are those that bring about a change in their own lives. Gardner’s theory of multiple intelligences forms the third conceptual lens of my study. This new concept of intelligence includes areas such as music, spatial relations and interpersonal knowledge in addition to mathematical and linguistic ability. The study was conducted within the interpretivist paradigm. It was a qualitative study that adopted a life history approach. Interviews and observation were the two methods of data collection as this enabled me to gain an in-depth understanding of the participants’ perceptions and experiences. The data is presented in the form of life history narratives. Content analysis was used to analyse the data and coding was used to categorise the data into themes. The conclusions reached in the study are included with recommendations for areas of further research with the aim of skills training leading to an income generating activity as well as improving the employment opportunities of mildly intellectually disabled people

Maternal and fetal outcomes in pregnant women with Takayasu aortoarteritis: Does optimally timed intervention in women with renal artery involvement improve pregnancy outcome?

AbstractObjectiveTakayasu aortoarteritis (TA) is common in the Southeast Asian and Indian subcontinent regions with a female-to-male ratio of 8:1. Age at diagnosis is < 30 years in 90% of the cases. Because the disease is common in women of child-bearing age, management of pregnancy in these patients becomes an important issue. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the maternal and fetal outcomes in pregnancies with TA and also to evaluate whether early intervention for renal artery involvement is associated with improved outcomes.Materials and methodsWe collected data of 12 patients with 18 pregnancies prospectively from 2006 to 2012. The patients were divided into three groups and their outcomes were noted: (1) without renal artery involvement; (2) with renal artery involvement without intervention; and (3) with renal artery involvement for which intervention has been done.ResultsBody mass index of patients was between 18.5 kg/m2 and 23.2 kg/m2. Renal artery involvement and hypertension were seen in four patients. One patient had percutaneous transluminal balloon angioplasty and another had renal artery stenting. In patients without renal artery involvement, gestational hypertension was seen in 50%, pre-eclampsia in 10%, abortion in 10%, and intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR) in 40% of pregnancies. In patients with renal artery involvement without intervention, gestational hypertension was seen in 90%, pre-eclampsia in 20%, abortion in 60%, preterm in 20%, IUGR in 20%, fetal demise in 20%, and neonatal death in 20% of pregnancies. In patients with renal artery involvement for which intervention has been carried out, gestational hypertension was seen in 66%, and abortion and IUGR were seen in 33% of pregnancies.ConclusionPatients with renovascular involvement without intervention are at high risk of having maternal and fetal complications. Early intervention prior to conception in these women is recommended to prevent pregnancy complications

An Update on JE Vaccine Development and Use

Japanese encephalitis (JE) is an emerging and re- emerging arboviral infection of global significance. Its causative agent Japanese encephalitis virus (JEV) is the leading cause of viral encephalitis in Asia, Southeast Asia and Pacific. Nearly 3 billion people living in JE endemic areas account for 10000- 15000 deaths annually. The disease has high fatality rate (~30%) and nearly 50% survivors develop permanent neuropsychiatric sequelae. There is no specific treatment for JE. Vaccination is the only effective strategy available for prevention and control of JE. The wider availability and inclusion of JE vaccination in the national immunization programme in many of the affected countries have resulted in better prospects for control of JE. This review is an update on vaccines currently available, their development, recommended immunization schedule for them as well as the upcoming challenges related with cross- protectivity against hetrologous genotypes

Congenital tuberculosis with multisystem involvement

Congenital tuberculosis is an uncommon condition, but in a country like India, where largest tuberculosis burden is found, there&nbsp;should be an eye on early diagnosis and management of this condition so as to prevent the devastating consequences of this disease&nbsp;considering the absence of specific pathogenic signs and symptoms. Here, we present a case of congenital tuberculosis in a newborn&nbsp;who was admitted on the 17th day after birth with the complaint of difficulty in breathing and lethargy for 3 days. On observing&nbsp;the antenatal history, it was found that mother after conception was diagnosed with pulmonary tuberculosis and was inadequately&nbsp;treated. The clinical indexes included no increase in body weight, hepatosplenomegaly, lethargy, and emaciated appearance. The&nbsp;treatment was initiated with antibiotics in intravenous form along with 4-drug antitubercular treatment (ATT). The 4-drug ATT was&nbsp;stopped after 1 week due to negative outcome in the tubercular screening, which leads to respiratory complications. The 4-drug&nbsp;ATT regimen was started again after a week on clinical basis which resulted in significant improvement within a few days. Hence,&nbsp;the present case presents a perspective that congenital tuberculosis can be considered in a newborn when mother has a history of&nbsp;tuberculosis before or during pregnancy

Higher Education and Society: A research report

This report draws on a substantial body of research undertaken by the Open University's Centre for Higher Education Research and Information (CHERI) on the changing relationships between higher education and society. Higher education currently faces many changes, some externally driven by government policies and changing patterns of social and economic demand and some internally driven by changes in the way knowledge is produced and organised within universities and other 'knowledge organisations'. CHERI examines these changes through empirical research which is policy relevant though not policy dictated, frequently international, and broadly focused on the social impacts of higher education. Does higher education make a difference and to whom? In their different ways, the articles in this report seek to provide answers to this important but difficult question

NEBULIZED GLYCOPYRRONIUM AND FORMOTEROL, BUDESONIDE AEROSOL AERODYNAMIC ASSESSMENT WITH VIBRATING MESH AND COMPRESSOR AIR NEBULIZER: ANDERSON CASCADE IMPACTOR STUDY

Vibrating mesh nebulizers (VMN) demonstrate improved efficiency for delivery of inhaled aerosol solutions or suspensions as compared to compressor devices. The added advantages of compactness, portability and functioning as noise-free device makes them of incremental value in Home or Ambulatory settings while managing Severe Obstructive airway disease or delivery of maintenance medications in these cases. This further circumvents the need for multiple devices thereby further improving patient compliance and convenience while delivering acute or maintenance formulations including Glycopyrronium (GLY) and Formoterol (FRM)/Budesonide(BUD) nebulizing solution formulations. To further assess the clinical role and feasibility of FRM-BUD formulation delivery kinetics&nbsp; with or without GLY nebulizing solution through VMN and jet&nbsp; nebulizers for In- &amp; outpatient settings, 2 comparative in-vitro lung deposition studies were carried out utilizing Anderson Cascade impactor at 30 L/min; deposited drug concentrations in different stages were suitably collected and estimated by HPLC. Post-hoc analyses with p&lt;0.05 was considered statistically significant for intergroup differences on FRM/BUD and GLY delivered through VMN or Compressor devices.&nbsp; The calculated mean fine particle dose for FRM &amp; BUD delivered by VMN or jet nebulizer showed no statistical difference. However the mean fine particle fraction for BUD delivered by VMN was significantly better compared to jet nebulizer than that for FRM. The Residual volume at 10 mins was significantly higher with jet nebulizer. The optimal APSD for GLY nebulizing solution admixture with FRM/BUD suspension delivered through VMN and Jet nebulizer offers a clinically relevant strategy for High risk COPD cases in Acute or Home settings

Selenium levels in hospitalized preterm very low birth weight neonates in North India

Background: Most of the morbidity and mortality of very low birth weight (VLBW) neonates are due to oxidative stress and infection. Selenium can address these issues due to its antioxidant role and synthesis of glutathione peroxidase for scavenging free radicals. Objective: The objective of the study was to find the serum selenium levels in hospitalized preterm VLBW neonates. Materials and Methods: This was a prospective observational study conducted in the Neonatal Unit of Department of Paediatrics in a tertiary care hospital, Lucknow, for the duration of 1 year. A total of 126 preterm VLBW neonates admitted within 72 h of birth and having a venepuncture for any reason were enrolled, and those with major congenital abnormality, prior supplementation, and necrotizing enterocolitis on admission were excluded. Blood sample was collected after enrollment in plain vacutainer under aseptic precautions and after ½ h serum was separated by centrifugation. Selenium levels were estimated in serum by inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry method (Perkin Elmer Optima 8000). Results: Mean birth weight was 1150±210 g and mean gestational age was 30.21±3.76 weeks in our study population. Mean levels of selenium were 9.49±3.49 μg/dl. Mean selenium levels in neonates with gestational age &lt;30 weeks, 30–32, and &gt;32 weeks were 8.90±3.32, 9.32±3.74, and 10.57±3.15 μg/dl (p=0.107), respectively. Thus, the selenium levels were seen increasing with an increase in the gestational age. Furthermore, serum selenium level of neonates with birth weight &gt;1 kg (10.08±3.55 μg/dl) was found to be significantly higher than those with birth weight ≤1 kg (8.40±3.12 μg/dl) (p=0.009). No significant association was seen with birth centiles or gender. Conclusion: Serum selenium levels were significantly lower in preterm neonates with lesser gestational age and lower birth weight although the baseline levels were within normal limits. Thus, the significant difference in levels can be linked with most of the morbidities and mortality in preterm neonates