Highest International Standards Research Articles

Application of Saudi’s National qualifying Framework in System Analysis & Design Course

In higher education, research on quality assurance is one of the prominent fields at present. The National Qualifications Framework (NQF) is an important element in accreditation and quality assurance system in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. It is designed by National Commission for Academic Accreditation and Assessment (NCAAA) to ensure that the quality of higher education is equivalent to high international standards. In Saudi Arabia, quality assurance is still a relatively new concept and the Saudi universities seem not to effectively implement it because of certain obstacles. Curriculum development using NQF is one of the core and challenging contexts in quality assurance. This paper presents an application of Qualification Framework in curriculum development for system analysis and design course at Jazan University in Saudi Arabia. The objective of the research shall be to present a model course after applying NQF standards. The research shall begin with identification of the problems, finding out the reasons and to present a model curriculum. The research shall include a literature review. The method of research shall be descriptive, empirical and qualitative approach. Document analysis – mainly NCAAA guides and brainstorming interactions with the educators shall be used as a research instrument. The paper is expected to help educators in better planning of their course learning outcomes and most importantly helps in mapping the assessment methods and questions. This will also help to assess and ensure that the graduates’ knowledge level and skills acquired are as defined in the learning outcomes in the curriculum. The educators can use this paper as a model to apply NQF for the curriculum development of other courses at higher education level.

Fit to Perform: An Investigation of Higher Education Music Students' Perceptions, Attitudes, and Behaviors toward Health.

Making music at the highest international standards can be rewarding, but it is also challenging, with research highlighting pernicious ways in which practicing and performing can affect performers’ health and wellbeing. Several studies indicate that music students’ perceptions, attitudes, and behaviors toward health and healthy living are less than optimal, especially considering the multiple physical and psychological demands of their day-to-day work. This article presents the results of a comprehensive screening protocol that investigated lifestyle and health-related attitudes and behaviors among 483 undergraduate and postgraduate students (mean age = 21.29 years ± 3.64; 59% women) from ten conservatoires. The protocol included questionnaires measuring wellbeing, general health, health-promoting behaviors, perfectionism, coping, sleep quality, and fatigue. On each measure, the data were compared with existing published data from similar age groups. The results indicate that music students have higher levels of wellbeing and lower fatigue than comparable samples outside of music. However, they also reveal potentially harmful perceptions, attitudes, and behaviors toward health. Specifically, engagement in health responsibility and stress management was low, which along with high perfectionistic strivings, limited use of coping strategies, poor sleep quality, and low self-rated health, paints a troubling picture both for the music students and for those who support their training. The findings point to the need for more (and more effective) health education and promotion initiatives within music education; in particular, musicians should be better equipped with mental skills to cope with constant pressure to excel and high stress levels. In part, this calls for musicians themselves to engage in healthier lifestyles, take greater responsibility for their own health, and be aware of and act upon health information in order to achieve and sustain successful practice and performance. For that to happen, however, music educators, administrators, and policy makers must play an active role in providing supportive environments where health and wellbeing is considered integral to expert music training.

Automation makes growth automatic

With ever increasing demands for higher standards, gaining a competitive market edge by offering high quality pumps is a tough proposition. However, one company in the Netherlands has transformed itself from a largely domestic supplier of pumps and boosters into an organisation that is a highly efficient manufacturer of quality pumps that comply with the highest international standards.

Model of corporate governance of a modern enterprise in the 21st century

Efficient and quality system of corporate governance built on high set international standards and principles allows setting goals that are consistent with the interests of all stakeholders. The definition of corporate governance made by the OECD, which today is one of the most widely accepted and comprehensive definition confirms the importance of all constituents and care for their interests when setting objectives. Quality corporate governance is reflected in the mechanisms that establish a balance between the different interests of stakeholders. Each constituency is part of the mosaic should not be marginalized and ignored.

Accounting and financial reports in the function of corporate governance

Market economy development is highly dependent upon accounting data reliability and financial report quality because the investors decide more easily on investments in the market which had earned trust and safety in the previous period. Big financial scandals from the beginning of the 21st century and still actual financial crisis at the global level have especially contributed to that. The information prepared on the basis of high quality, transparent and comparable international standards considerably reduce investment risks as well as the cost of raising capital. On the other hand, the management of a large number of companies is focused on the creation of short-term personal benefits as opposed to the investors primarily interested in company survival and growth, that is, long-term goals. Information asymmetry is often present in the financial markets, and its damaging results, as a rule, are borne by shareholders and other stakeholders of the company. Corporate governance depends on legal, regulative and institutional environment, and it should balance the interests of the shareholders, capital owners, managers as well as company business managers.

Management of the education quality at NUOS for the «2+2» joint educational program with the Zhejiang international maritime college

With increasing competition in the global education sphere, the only way to a decent functioning of higher educational institutions of Ukraine is to match the high international standards. This cannot be achieved without active international activities aimed at development of international educational programs. The key factor to success of their implementation is the high-quality and well-timed fulfillment of obligations to the partners. Within the framework of the developed methodology of the project management for providing educational services to a foreign customer, a quantitative assessment of the quality of teaching has been conducted by the Admiral Makarov National University of Shipbuilding by the «2 + 2» joint educational program with the Zhejiang International Maritime College. The obtained results allow for making adjustments to the educational process in order to improve the quality of the educational services provided.

Development of project management methodology to provide educational services to the foreign customer

With increasing competition in the global education sphere, the only way to a decent functioning of higher educational institutions of Ukraine is to match the high international standards. This cannot be achieved without active international activities aimed at development of international educational programs. The Admiral Makarov National University of Shipbuilding (Mykolaiv) has successfully implemented a number of joint educational programs with foreign partners. This experience was the basis for developing a project management methodology for provision of educational services to the foreign customer.

Short Review of Child Health Care in Former Czechoslovakia and Czech Republic since 1993

We provide an overview on child health care in Czech Republic, including a historical background. Child health care has substantially improved in Czech hospitals during the past 20years. Eight pediatric departments are located in university hospitals. The technical background of pediatric services meets high international standards. Inpatient and outpatient care is offered on a 24-hour service, and all pediatric subspecialties are usually provided. The different pediatric subspecialties are organized in the frame of the Czech Pediatric Society, and all of them have developed dynamic international scientific collaborations. From the organizational point of view, the formation of specialized centers of competence at university departments of pediatrics followed a mixture of a "bottom-up and top-down strategy" of all opinion and decision makers.

Similarities and differences of graduate entry-level competencies of chiropractic councils on education: a systematic review.

BackgroundCouncils of Chiropractic Education (CCE) indirectly influence patient care and safety through their role of ensuring the standards of training delivered by chiropractic educational institutions. This is achieved by CCEs defining competence and creating lists of descriptive statements to establish the necessary standards for students to attain before graduating. A preliminary review suggested that these definitions and descriptive lists lacked consensus. This creates the potential for variations in standards between the CCE jurisdictions and may compromise patient care and safety and also inter-jurisdictional mutual recognition. The purposes of this study were 1) to investigate similarities and differences between the CCEs in their definitions of competence, domains of educational competencies, components of the domains of competencies, as represented by assessment and diagnosis, ethics, intellectual development, and 2) to make recommendations, if significant deficiencies were found.MethodWe undertook a systematic review of the similarities and differences between various CCEs definitions of competence and the descriptive lists of educational competencies they have adopted. CCEs were selected on the basis of WHO recommendations. Blinded investigators selected the data from CCE websites and direct contact with CCEs. This information was tabulated for a comparative analysis.ResultsAll CCEs’ definitions of competence included the elements of “knowledge”, “skills” and “attitudes” whereas only one CCE included the expected “abilities” element. The educational application of the definition of competency among CCEs varied. A high level of similarity when comparing the domains of competence adopted by CCEs was found despite variations in the structure.Differences between CCEs became increasingly apparent when the three selected representative domains were compared. CCEs were found to stipulate varying levels of prescriptiveness for graduate entry level standards.ConclusionsA series of recommendations are proposed to create uniform and high quality international standards of care. Future research should compare the levels of CCEs enforcement of standards to see if similarities and differences exist.

SCIENTIFIC POLICY OF SAUDI ARABIA: INTERNATIONAL SCIENCE AS A BASIS FOR DEVELOPMENT

In less than a century of its existence Saudi Arabia has developed from mass illiteracy and lack of education of its population into the current state of complex structure of educational and research institutions and organizations equipped with most modern and advanced technologies and top world specialists in accordance with the highest international standards. It is especially important that the Kingdom has managed to achieve such success in no time. Until lately scientifi c development in Saudi Arabia was mostly concentrated on applied research, especially in the Kingdom’s key economic sphere – energy. Despite the country’s abundant financial resources, science was considerably underfunded and lacked any development strategy. Meanwhile, in the last 15 years the Saudi Kingdom has made a huge leap in scientifi c development with a clear action plan worked out, a solid structure of scientifi c institutes formed and the world experience effi ciently used. The success came with the Saudi authorities’ realization of the importance of scientifi c and technical progress both for the national economy and political positions of the state in the region and in the world. The article aims to analyze the scientifi c policy of Saudi Arabia on the stage of its birth and in the current state by means of studying offi cial documents, statistics and the existing institutes in the scientifi c system of the Kingdom. The author concludes that the key features of the Saudi scientifi c policy are prevailing role of the state, priority of applied over fundamental research and internalization with serious dependency on foreign support in the absence of a national scientifi c tradition.

ГОСУДАРСТВО-ПРЕДПРИНИМАТЕЛЬ: ВТОРОЕ ДЫХАНИЕ?

The article analyzes the evolution of the state-owned enterprises’ (SOEs) role in the economy in the period from 1998 to 2013. The attention to this subject is determined by the growing influence of SOEs at the national and international levels, in particular by the internationalization of their activities in both developed and developing (emerging) economies. Within the category of enterprises that are recognized as state-owned, two groups are distinguished in accordance to the share of state’s participation in the equity (types A and B). Type A includes majority-owned enterprises where the state owns more than 50 per cent of the shares or holds effective control by other means. Type B includes minority-owned enterprises in which the state holds between 10 and 50 per cent of the ordinary share capital or voting rights (partly state-owned enterprises, PSOEs). The international investment activities of SOEs dramatically increased after the global financial crisis of 2008–2009. This is a relatively new phenomenon which is likely to develop further in the near future. The key models and spheres of SOEs dissemination are presented (petroleum and infrastructure, financial services, utilities). The performance of SOEs and private enterprises is compared in several sectors (oil exploration, extracting industries, supply of electricity and heating, communication, aviation). The author analyzes the OECD-led efforts to reform the guidelines of the governance and accountability of SOEs with the aim to increase efficiency and transparency of SOEs functioning in accordance with high international standards of responsible business conduct. An overview of the main changes to the OECD Guidelines on Corporate Governance of State-Owned Enterprises (2005) is presented. The document stresses that SOEs should not be used to finance political activities; that the governments should be able to identify and disclose the public policy rationales that justify the maintenance of enterprises under state ownership. At last, the OECD indexes that characterize the state’s role in the economy (direct government control over enterprises and governance of SOEs) are analyzed. The author expects an increase of the SOEs role in the national and global economy in the short and long term for managing the challenges of the currently very turbulent economic environment.

An empirical examination of factors contributing to the adoption of IFRS in developing countries

This research aims to analyze factors that influence the likelihood of IFRS adoption in developing countries. Research that focuses on the IFRS adoption in developing countries is limited. Developing countries are supposed to get many benefits from the adoption of IFRS as it is a cheap shortcut to improve the quality of financial reporting to attract foreign capital and to finance its development. In addition to macroeconomic factors, this research also examines the influence of institutional factors and the development of local accounting standards. Using the binomial logit regression, the result shows that the regulatory quality of a country positively af-fects the possibility of IFRS adoption in developing countries. It means that the better quality of the regulator in those countries, the higher possibility to fully adopt the IFRS. Furthermore, there is a tendency that the countries will fully adopt the IFRS when they already have local accounting standards that previously referred to international standards. The results imply that the IASB strategy should focus more on cooperation with local regulators or groups of regional cooperation to reach its objective to develop single set of high quality international standard.

Medical students' perceptions of international accreditation.

ObjectivesThis study aimed to explore the perceptions of medical students in a developing medical education system towards international accreditation. MethodsApplicants to an Internal Medicine residency program in an academic medical center in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) accredited by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education-International (ACGME-I) were surveyed between May and June 2014. The authors analysed responses using inductive qualitative thematic analysis to identify emergent themes. Results Seventy-eight of 96 applicants (81%) completed the survey. The vast majority of respondents 74 (95%) reported that ACGME-I accreditation was an important factor in selecting a residency program. Five major themes were identified, namely improving the quality of education, increasing opportunities, meeting high international standards, improving program structure, and improving patient care. Seven (10%) of respondents felt they would be in a position to pursue fellowship training or future employment in the United States upon graduation from an ACGME-I program. ConclusionsUAE trainees have an overwhelmingly positive perception of international accreditation, with an emphasis on improving the quality of training provided. Misperceptions, however, exist about potential opportunities available to graduates of ACGME-I programs. As more countries adopt the standards of the ACGME-I or other international accrediting bodies, it is important to recognize and foster trainee “buy-in” of educational reform initiatives.

Interest Groups in International Intellectual Property Negotiations

This paper parts with the assumption that a perspective that takes interest group dynamics into account has great explanatory power for the interpretation of international intellectual property (IP) negotiation outcomes like TRIPS and ACTA. The research questions will consequently revolve around contextual conditions that affect the generation of different interest group systems, which in turn heavily influence the negotiation outcomes: Who exactly are today’s relevant interest groups in comparison to the TRIPS era and what are their stakes and interests? Why did they gain influence in the area of international IP policymaking and what are their strategies to exercise their influence? What implications does the changed interest group system have for international IP policy-making? What insights can be gained from the analysis of the TRIPS and ACTA negotiations about the role of interest groups in international IP negotiations?In order to allow a profound analysis of these research questions, the scope of this paper will be narrowed down to the case study of the European Union (EU) concerning two international IP negotiations: The TRIPS agreement, currently providing the status quo on minimum standards of IP rights and the ACTA negotiations. The EU has been chosen as the object of analysis, because the recent rejection of the ACTA agreement by the European Parliament seems contradictory to the pro-TRIPS standpoint and support for high international IPR standards that usually constituted the EU interest in international IP negotiations since the TRIPS negotiations 18 years ago. The hypothesis that will be tested with this paper is that certain contextual factors altered the EU interest group system concerning international IP politics in the time period between TRIPS and ACTA, which in turn considerably contributed to the transformation of the EU standpoint in international IP negotiations.

International Standards: Past Free Trade Agreements and the Prospects in the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership

Abstract The Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership represents a strategic vision of transatlantic relations, including job creation, global leadership, and establishing high international standards. This paper discusses how three recent bi-lateral and regional agreements, along with positions adopted in transatlantic negotiations, convey respective side's acceptable parameters, and how international standards are emerging from and disseminated through agreements involving the European Union and the United States

Legitimacy, Transparency and Fairness: Prosecuting Terrorism and the Special Tribunal for Lebanon

This dissertation examines the conception of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon, a hybrid court of international character created in the wake of the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri on 14 February 2005. It is considered that the method of conception, the incorporation of the highest international standards of human rights and due process, and the unique manner of defining and prosecuting terrorism serve in combination to meet the Tribunal’s mandate, while also fulfilling the Security Council’s mandate of restoring and maintaining international peace and security.

Message From the New Editor-in-Chief

It is a great honor to assume the role of Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Epidemiology from Dr. Tomotaka Sobue. Under Dr. Sobue’s outstanding leadership, the average impact factor reached 2.113 in 2012, and the expansion of the Journal beyond its original base has continued to accelerate. Indeed, the Journal is now recognized as an international rather than a domestic journal, and manuscripts from abroad account for two-thirds of the total. On behalf of the Board, I wish to thank Dr. Sobue for his inspiring dedication and service. Like many journals, the Journal of Epidemiology has recently faced major challenges in the global publishing environment. One broad-reaching change has been the introduction of open access licensing. Our adoption of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY v3.0) for all papers allows authors to retain ownership of the copyright of their papers, but also allows anyone to download, reuse, copy, reprint, distribute, or modify the paper, provided they cite the original authors and source. The global change in policy towards open access for papers supported by research grants is unstoppable, and our decision to adopt this model is critical to the future of the journal. Second, the Editorial Board warmly welcomes the participation of five new associate editors from abroad, starting from 2014. We believe these new colleagues will contribute to the continuing globalization of the Journal. The editorial team seeks to maintain the Journal’s high international standards and will continue to publish original and review articles on a wide range of topics. Looking to the future, our goal is to establish the Journal as one of the leading journals in epidemiology. I warmly welcome the participation and support of every reader in attaining this goal. Manami Inoue, MD, PhD Editor-in-Chief Journal of Epidemiology Project Professor AXA Department of Health and Human Security Graduate School of Medicine The University of Tokyo

Classification Societies within Marine Regulatory Environment of the European Union and National Perspective of the Republic of Croatia

Classification societies, as organisations which develop and apply technical standards to the design, construction and assessments of ships and other facilities, are important for compliance with international conventions on safety at sea and prevention of marine pollution. The paper deals with provisions of Council Directive 94/57/EC of 22 November 1994 on common standards for ship inspection and survey organizations and for relevant activities of marine administrations and Commission Decision 2002/221/EC of 14 March 2002 amending Decision 96/587/EC on publication of recognized organizations which have been notified by Member States in accordance with Council Directive 94/57/EC. An analysis is made on the Act on Croatian Register of Shipping OG 81/96 the mission of which in the field of classification and statutory certification is to promote the highest international standards adopted concerning the safety of life and property at sea and inland waterways, as well as protection of the sea and inland waterways environment. In author’s opinion present non-recognition by the European Union of the Croatian Register of Shipping is a challenge for the Croatian Register of Shipping to get prepared for a new assessment cycle as an independent, non profit but common welfare oriented Croatian public entity.

Clinical and Experimental Vaccine Research is now registered in PubMed Central, PubMed, KoreaMed, and KoreaMed Synapse

The official journal of The Korean Vaccine Society, Clinical and Experimental Vaccine Research (Clin Exp Vaccine Res) is now registered in PubMed Central and PubMed by the date of April 19, 2013, and KoreaMed, and KoreaMed Synapse by date of July 30, 2013. The registry on to the most prestigious databases within 1 year after launching is a very impressive achievement. We believe that the publication standard, e-journal supplementation process in the homepage and quality of the articles have been acknowledged at high international standards. We express deep gratitude to all those who helped with the foundation and processing of Clin Exp Vaccine Res and especially for those who submitted high standard manuscripts to Clin Exp Vaccine Res. The registry in PubMed Central and PubMed gives us the great opportunity to inform internationally both Clin Exp Vaccine Res and The Korean Vaccine Society. Since April 19, 2013, all abstracts are available for search on PubMed (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/) and the full version of all articles are available through link to the Clin Exp Vaccine Res web-site (http://www.ecevr.org). All articles are also available at PubMed Central (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/) and the Clin Exp Vaccine Res web-site is available for access at this site. Moreover, through the CrossRef system, all Clin Exp Vaccine Res articles in citation in another journal are directly linked and available at the Clin Exp Vaccine Res web-site. Through these processes, we hope that Clin Exp Vaccine Res expands and develops into an internationally acknowledged and highly accredited journal. During the past year after publication of the first edition, Clin Exp Vaccine Res has been registered many databases including NLM catalog, CAS, ICMJE, EBSCO, and DOAJ, etc. Registry in PubMed Central, and PubMed is a great achievement and reflects the robust development Clin Exp Vaccine Res has gone through within such a short time. Clin Exp Vaccine Res has been accepted in March, 2013 for membership in the Korean Association of Medical Journal Editors and now registered in KoreaMed, and KoreaMed Synapse. Through this, Clin Exp Vaccine Res will also be enrolled in the important domestic databases and this will lead to further connections to international databases. Also, 2 years after publication of the first edition, application for SCOPUS and EMBASE is feasible and we are working in strengthening all needs for Clin Exp Vaccine Res, including inviting prestigious reviewers from throughout the world. The next goal is qualification for SCI and SCIE. This will take time. For this, the following two strategies are essential, many high quality articles must be published in Clin Exp Vaccine Res and the impact factor of Clin Exp Vaccine Res must be high. This will take at least more than 2-3 years. Therefore, for the following 2-3 years, we ask for your support for submission of many high quality articles (especially by authors from other countries) and citation of articles in Clin Exp Vaccine Res in other articles published in SCI(E) journals. A high standard journal is a reflection of the quality and standards of an academic society. The registry of Clin Exp Vaccine Res into PubMed Central and PubMed is an important opportunity for expanding acknowledgement of Clin Exp Vaccine Res and The Korean Vaccine Society. We kindly ask for your warm hearted interest in the growth and development of Clin Exp Vaccine Res. The members of Clin Exp Vaccine Res will endeavor to make up to your expectations. We thank those who worked so hard and supported us through the many processes in publication and establishment of the web-site, especially Jung Soo Kim, the President of The Korean Vaccine Society and other committee members, the authors of the articles published in Clin Exp Vaccine Res, the Editors and Reviewers of Clin Exp Vaccine Res, Director Yong-Hoon Joo and faculty members at Academya Co., Director Hye-Suk Chang and all members at XMLink Co., Director Hye Min Cho and faculty at Infolumi Co., Director In-Kwon Hwang of Inkwon & Partners Co., Oh-Hoon Kwon, Director of Committee on Information, Korean Association of Medical Journal Editors, Prof. Choon Shil Lee, Department of Library and Information Science, Sookmyung Women's University and all who participated in the launching and publication of Clin Exp Vaccine Res. Thank you so much for your generous interest and support which made this all possible.

The Nascent Residential Investment Market in Ghana

Globalization of all forms of real estate investment has increasingly demanded that performance benchmarks of high quality and international standards be made accessible to investors and fund managers. For the first time in Ghana, residential price and rent series are developed from hedonic models. These time series are used to generate other performance indicators—measures of investment yields and total returns (nominal and real)—in a rapidly growing residential real estate market, using transaction-based data from Accra and Tema. Overall, residential total returns have run at annualized rate made up of a relatively stable income return and highly volatile capital growth between 1992 and 2007. Across investment markets, the differences in long-run returns have been in large part driven by variation in rates of rental value growth.