Panel discussion: Evil in politics

This is the archive of a panel discussion given by Krzysztof Michalski, Professor of Philosophy, Boston University; Rector, IWM; Lilia Shevtsova, Senior Associate, Carnegie Moscow Center; Aleksander Smolar, President, Stefan Batory Foundation, Warsaw; Fareed Zakaria, Editor-in-Chief, Newsweek International

Viral hepatitis - The road traveled and the journey remaining

Hepatitis is defined as inflammation of the liver and is commonly due to infection with The hepatotropic viruses - hepatitis A, B, C, D and E. Hepatitis carries one of the highest disease burdens globally and has caused significant morbidity and mortality among different patient populations. Clinical presentation varies from asymptomatic or acute flu-like illness to acute liver failure or chronic liver disease, characterized by jaundice, hepatomegaly and ascites among many other signs. Eventually, this can lead to fibrosis (cirrhosis) of the liver parenchyma and carries a risk of development into hepatocellular carcinoma. Hepatitis B and C are most notorious for causing liver cirrhosis; in 2019, an estimated 296 million people worldwide had chronic hepatitis B infection and 58 million are currently estimated to have chronic hepatitis C, with 1.5 million new infections of both hepatitis B and C, occurring annually. With the help of latest serological biomarkers and viral nucleic acid amplification tests, it has become rather simple to efficiently screen, diagnose and monitor patients with hepatitis, and to commence with appropriate antiviral treatment. More importantly, the development of vaccinations against some of these viruses has greatly helped to curb the infection rates. Whilst there has been exceptional progress over the years in the management of viral hepatitis, many hurdles still remain which must be addressed in order to proceed towards a hepatitis-free world. This review will shed light on the origin and discovery of the hepatitis viruses, the global epidemiology and clinical symptoms, diagnostic modalities, currently available treatment options, the importance of prevention, and the journey needed to move forward towards the eradication of its global disease burden

Cabaran, Impak dan Strategi Pelaksanaan Pembelajaran dan Pengajaran dalam Talian Terhadap Kesihatan Mental Pelajar dan Pensyarah Kolej Komuniti: Challenges, Impacts, and Strategies of Online Learning on Mental Health of Community College Students and Lecturers

The COVID-19 pandemic has made a significant impact on almost all sectors of the economy including the education sector. In addition, the drastic closure of educational institutions and transition from conventional learning to online have affected students and educators, especially in terms of mental health. The purpose of this study was to explore the challenges, impacts, and strategies of online learning on the mental health of students and Community College lecturers. This study was conducted using the case study method. The data collection was conducted by interviewing five students and five community college lecturers. Partially structured interview instruments adapted from recent studies are used for data collection purposes. The findings show that the internet, environment, competence, and workload are among the challenges faced by students and lecturers that impact on mind, psychology, physical, and behavior. Following that, informants also outlined various strategies taken to ensure that mental health is at an optimum level during pandemics. In conclusion, online learning has an impact on the mental health of students and lecturers, but this impact is not significant and can be kept controlled by spiritual approaches, doing favourite activities, sports, and leisure

Changing and unchanging values in the world of the future, November 8, 9, and 10, 2001

This repository item contains a single issue of the Pardee Conference Series, a publication series that began publishing in 2006 by the Boston University Frederick S. Pardee Center for the Study of the Longer-Range Future. This was the Center's Inaugural Conference that took place during November 8, 9, and 10, 2001. Organized by David Fromkin, Director Frederick S. Pardee Center for the Study of the Longer-Range Future. Co-Sponsored by Boston University and Carnegie Council on Ethics and International Affairs.This conference brought together a discussion of different perspectives on what future paradigm shifts will look like – in government, in foreign policy, in what constitutes “classics,” in economic and religious modes, and changes in the interaction between these values. The conference agreed that today’s Western society values democracy, constitutionalism, liberalism, rule of law, open society, and market economy. These are not contingent upon one another and may change. But the “needs and aspirations” of humanity will at their most essential core remain the same. The amount and type of power given to governments is not a fixed thing, and developments in the meaning of democracy and how it is achieved may illustrate this

Strategies for successful blended learning— a bibliometric analysis and reviews

Recently, the term blended learning (BL) emerged as a new trend in teaching models and learning styles with the digital advantages support. This article presents a systematic review of literature that explores the strategies for successful BL in multi-sides to enhance student learning and development outcomes. To reach the objectives, the literature accessed of Scopus and web of science databases covering research published between 2011 and 2021 and 39 items were analysed. The bibliometric analysis identifies the cluster themes based on texting frequency. The vital steps of data classification follow thoughtfully and carefully in the platform of concept, findings, author’s reputation, and years published. In the last conclusions of the study, reports explain the past literature and recent outbreak. The results cover three main themes: digital support for student engagement, personalization learning, and instructors of management courses. These findings are expected to benefit stakeholders involved in employing BLin which instructors use integrated technology and online learning materials with traditional face-to-face classroom activities

Making the great transformation, November 13, 14, and 15, 2003

This repository item contains a single issue of the Pardee Conference Series, a publication series that began publishing in 2006 by the Boston University Frederick S. Pardee Center for the Study of the Longer-Range Future. This Conference took place during November 13, 14, and 15, 2003. Co-organized by Cutler Cleveland and Adil Najam.The conference discussants and participants analyze why transitions happen, and why they matter. Transitions are those wide-ranging changes in human organization and well being that can be convincingly attributed to a concerted set of choices that make the world that was significantly and recognizably different from the world that becomes. Transition scholars argue that that history does not just stumble along a pre-determined path, but that human ingenuity and entrepreneurship have the ability to fundamentally alter its direction. However, our ability to ‘will’ such transitions remains in doubt. These doubts cannot be removed until we have a better understanding of how transitions work

From student’s experience: does e-learning course structure influenced by learner’s prior experience, background knowledge, autonomy, and dialogue

Background: E-learning is increasingly becoming a preference in higher education institutions worldwide; this is intended to assist educational institutions in achieving objectives to meet the proportion of individuals with their educational opportunities. Nevertheless, instructors and students frequently have concerns with their capacity to succeed in E-learning environments. Objectives: This study aimed to presents common e-Learning challenges in regard to e-learning courses structure and its relations to various factors, for instance; students’ autonomy, prior knowledge and experience, students-students dialogue, and students-instructor dialogue, and proposes solutions to these challenges based on the transactional distance theory. Moreover, this study presents evidence from Malaysian higher institutions based on theoretical models for e-learning course structure and its relations to the factors mentioned above. Methods: Data have been collected from 680 university learners all over Malaysia. Data were then examined using exploratory factor analysis, confirmatory factor analysis, and structural equation modelling employing Smart PLS 3.0 software. Results and conclusion: Research findings indicated that e-learning course structure was affected by all dimensions of overall path analysis findings: student autonomy, students background, student-instructor dialogue, and student-student dialogue. However, the e-learning course structure showed insignificant with students’ prior experience. Implications: Implications for universities are discussed accordingly. Such findings provide vital support to the integrative association among collaborative control (CC) and transactional distance theory (TDT) regarding e-learning environments experience, which might support universities administrators in the higher education industry to implement, plan and evaluate online learning platforms applications in their institutions

Strategies for successful blended learning—a bibliometric analysis and reviews

Recently, the term blended learning (BL) emerged as a new trend in teaching models and learning styles with the digital advantages support. This article presents a systematic review of literature that explores the strategies for successful BL in multi-sides to enhance student learning and development outcomes. To reach the objectives, the literature accessed of Scopus and web of science databases covering research published between 2011 and 2021 and 39 items were analysed. The bibliometric analysis identifies the cluster themes based on texting frequency. The vital steps of data classification follow thoughtfully and carefully in the platform of concept, findings, author’s reputation, and years published. In the last conclusions of the study, reports explain the past literature and recent outbreak. The results cover three main themes: digital support for student engagement, personalization learning, and instructors of management courses. These findings are expected to benefit stakeholders involved in employing BLin which instructors use integrated technology and online learning materials with traditional face-to-face classroom activities

Who Commits to the Rule of Law? Constrained Government and Foreign Direct Investment in Postcommunist States

Research linking credible commitments to the rule of law in terms of property rights and contract enforcement is a hallmark of recent efforts to explain economic growth and development. However, many postcommunist states have had difficulty making such commitments and spurring growth. Many argue political polarization prevents states from reforming laws and protecting property rights in some countries whereas single-party governance renders state promises incredible in others. I analyze pooled cross-sectional time-series data for twenty-four postcommunist countries and provide evidence effective constraints among elected officials act as democratic commitment mechanisms rendering government policies credible

Reinventing ‘Many Voices’: MacBride and a Digital New World Information and Communication Order

The MacBride Commission Report was arguably one of the most significant multilateral interventions in the history of international communication. This article charts its emergence at the time of deeply contested Cold War politics, coinciding with the rise of the southern voices in the global arena, led by the non-aligned nations. Thirty-five years after the report's publication, has the global media evolved into a more democratic system, demonstrating greater diversity of views and viewpoints? Despite the still formidable power of US-led western media, the article suggests that the globalisation and digitisation of communication has contributed to a multi-layered and more complex global media scene, demonstrating the “rise of the rest”