International Idea Research Articles

Unraveling the Role of Molecular Profiling in Predicting Treatment Response in Stage III Colorectal Cancer Patients: Insights from the IDEA International Study.

This study aimed to investigate the molecular profiles of 237 stage III CRC patients from the international IDEA study. It also sought to correlate these profiles with Toll-like and vitamin D receptor polymorphisms, clinicopathological and epidemiological characteristics, and patient outcomes. Whole Exome Sequencing and PCR-RFLP on surgical specimens and blood samples, respectively, were performed to identify molecular profiling and the presence of Toll-like and vitamin D polymorphisms. Bioinformatic analysis revealed mutational status. Among the enrolled patients, 63.7% were male, 66.7% had left-sided tumors, and 55.7% received CAPOX as adjuvant chemotherapy. Whole exome sequencing identified 59 mutated genes in 11 different signaling pathways from the Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) CRC panel. On average, patients had 8 mutated genes (range, 2-21 genes). Mutations in ARAF and MAPK10 emerged as independent prognostic factors for reduced DFS (p = 0.027 and p < 0.001, respectively), while RAC3 and RHOA genes emerged as independent prognostic factors for reduced OS (p = 0.029 and p = 0.006, respectively). Right-sided tumors were also identified as independent prognostic factors for reduced DFS (p = 0.019) and OS (p = 0.043). Additionally, patients with tumors in the transverse colon had mutations in genes related to apoptosis, PIK3-Akt, Wnt, and MAPK signaling pathways. Molecular characterization of tumor cells can enhance our understanding of the disease course. Mutations may serve as promising prognostic biomarkers, offering improved treatment options. Confirming these findings will require larger patient cohorts and international collaborations to establish correlations between molecular profiling, clinicopathological and epidemiological characteristics and clinical outcomes.

Migration and the Democratisation of Sovereignty

Migration in relation to democracy and sovereignty is considered one of the great challenges of this century. At the local, national, and global levels, migration is causing tensions in the development of democracy and security, which often calls the sovereignty of a given state into question (International IDEA, 2017). The challenges about migration in relation to democracy and sovereignty will increase even further since, according to relevant data, it has been warned that the next exodus is likely to occur as a result of climate change. In accordance with the assertion of the UN Climate Panel, it is said that this coming exodus will occur in the distant future as it is calculated that somewhere around the year 2100 there will be a climate-related warming of the planet of 2 to 3 degrees. The emergence of violent conflicts, climate change, persecution based on ethnic and religious affiliations, and various forms of violence are also en-dangering state sovereignty. These reasons why migrants leave their own countries, along with migrant perspectives, are topics that need to be addressed. It is important to examine migration as the main topic, especially migration in relation to democracy and state sovereignty. Seen in its totality, migration is taking on global dimensions and will be the hottest point of political topics with regard to finding the formula for its management in accordance with democratic values and their compatibility with state borders. Therefore, a debate should be subject to the following questions: how are we to preserve democratic values and the stability of sovereignty, and, should sovereignty be democratised?

All Politics Is Local: Studying Women’s Representation in Local Politics in Authoritarian Regimes

The past decade has witnessed a significant increase in women’s presence in local politics. According to the newly published United Nations (UN) Women in Local Government data set, women constitute 36% of local deliberative bodies worldwide compared to merely 25% in national parliaments.1Much of this increase is the result of gender quotas: the Gender Quotas Database (International IDEA 2022) shows that as of 2021, 75 countries had some form of gender quota on the local level, 24 of which were authoritarian regimes. Yet, extant work on gender politics in authoritarian regimes tends to focus on the national level, given the highly centralized decision-making processes in such contexts. We contend that the study of women’s engagement and representation in local politics can help scholars better understand not only gender and politics, but also authoritarian politics more generally.

Constructing Democracy: The Underlying Factors That Create a Healthy Democracy

Objective: This paper seeks to analyze how three different factors affect the health of a democracy: voter turnout, electoral system, and election management body. Background: While extensive literature discusses voting’s impacts on policy, little literature specifically correlates it with democratic health. For years, scholars have debated the merits of various electoral systems, especially regarding the structure of new democracies in Africa and Asia. Most scholars agree that there is not one particular system that is universally advantageous over the rest; instead, the optimal system depends on the country in question and the specific goals and criteria. This paper will analyze 9 main electoral systems (Table 1) and their impacts on the health of democracy. Election Management Bodies (EMBS) manage the operations of an election. The 3 main types are Governmental, Independent, and Mixed. Methods: Various datasets from International IDEA, are used to achieve the objective of this paper. For each main question, boxplots are generated to visualize the distribution of democratic health across the categories. Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) is used to determine whether any statistically significant differences exist. Results: The first ANOVA model reveals that nations with a high health of democracy have a greater average voter turnout than those with medium health of democracy, and likewise for medium and low. Furthermore, a statistically significant difference exists between List PR and TRS regarding their impacts on a democracy’s health. Finally, Governmental EMBs are associated with high-performing democracies, while Independent EMBs are dominant in Authoritarian regimes. This is statistically significant.

Ecological Education as a Function of the International Idea of Sustainable Development

An indispensable element of the social and economic programme aimed at realising the new environmentally friendly era is environmental education. The leading principle of the National Environmental Policy is the principle of sustainable development, implemented through effective educational, informational and promotional activities. They consist in changing the environmental awareness of the society and in shaping proper human attitudes towards nature. The idea of sustainable development is understood as socio-economic development that takes into account the rights of nature and a dignified life for future generations. The functioning of this global concept is based on reconciling environmental, economic and social rationales. As a global trend, it ensures peace and a decent standard of living for all countries of the world. Education emphasises the need to respect human dignity, to respect diversity, to protect the environment and the resources of our planet.

Model based clustering of political finance regimes: Developing the regulation of political finance indicator

Political finance literature lacks a common framework for classifying regulatory systems. As these tools are influential in the identification of generalizable relationships, studies assessing political finance in areas such as corruption, competition, and electoral outcomes, often present case specific findings. Using updated International IDEA data, the application of a Multiple Correspondence Analysis and Model Based Clustering framework presents a variable to measure levels of regulation; the ‘Unregulated’, ‘Partially Regulated’ and ‘Strongly Regulated’ system types; and statistics for assessing the certainty of each country’s classification. Applying this methodology to a 180-country sample represents an improvement on previous studies which, due to data limitations, have often used reductive methods and limited sampling. In closing, the ‘Regulation of Political Finance Indicator’ is introduced via Multinomial Logistic Regression, where analyses from prior literature are revisited. Avenues for further study are provided, which may seek to identify generalizable relationships in the areas described above, while also looking to produce ongoing panel data.

Postęp w zakresie leczenia systemowego raka jelita grubego

Over the last decade in the treatment of colorectal cancer (CRC) patients, a significant improvement of systemic treatment approaches has been observed in terms of safety and efficacy. Regarding safety, a huge, international IDEA trial proved that for CRC patients with pT1–3 and N1 features, a short, 3-month adjuvant treatment with CAPOX does not negatively impact long-term prognosis compared to standard, 6-month, oxaliplatin-based regimens. Additionally, the shortened adjuvant treatment significantly diminishes chronic neuropathy risk, representing a detrimental symptom in CRC survivors. On the other hand, in a palliative setting, a significant improvement in mCRC patients’ prognosis has been achieved with the advent of novel therapies targeting critical molecular disorders. The encorafenib and cetuximab combination in BRAF V600E mutated mCRC and checkpoint inhibitors in MSI-H mCRC patients are the most impressive examples of this continuous progress.

Mongolian democracy: key challenges and opportunities in modern environment

In the last three decades, views about democracy in Mongolia have transformed from high expectations and hopes to perceived failure in performances in political and economic terms. A national and international researchers concluded that at the initial stage of democratization, Mongolians were guided by the general concepts and values of democracy such as human rights, liberty, and freedom of association and expression. Later, these values shifted to more in-depth notions that can be summarized as “democracy is a process for ensuring accountability and justice based on the active engagement of citizens”. This article explores the factors that contributed to democratic challenges and bottlenecks drawing on experts’ interviews conducted by the author and a review of various public opinion surveys assessing democratic performance in Mongolia. The article uses methodologies and tools designed by International IDEA and assesses the applicability of different democratic models to the Mongolian context. It argues that the evaluation of democracy in Mongolia should use additional criteria reflecting Mongolian characteristics. It concludes by suggesting that the enhancement of the democratic mechanism of accountability of public institutions is a key opportunity to consolidate democracy. The experts participating in the assessment viewed the frameworks of executive, pluralist and protective democracy are more suitable for democracy development in Mongolia, and communitarian democracy.

When Is It Democratic to Postpone an Election? Elections During Natural Disasters, COVID-19, and Emergency Situations

Holding regular elections is an essential feature of democratic practices. The case for postponing elections is often made during emergency situations, however. Despite the critical nature of the i...

New Urbanization paths in mineral resource abundant regions in China: A three-dimensional cube framework

The proposal of the New Urbanization strategy is not only the result of introspection of extensive urbanization practices in recent decades in China, but also the result of application of the ancient Chinese traditional philosophy “unity of man and nature”, which coincides with modern international idea of sustainable development. Mineral resource abundant regions (MRARs) in China face unique difficulties and challenges in advancing the New Urbanization. It is of great importance to construct a systematic framework of New Urbanization paths for the MRARs in China to effectively guide the New Urbanization there. According to the requirements of strong sustainability, with consideration for the characteristics of MRARs in China, and through systematic summary of the mechanisms of urbanization and regional development discovered by researchers, this paper finds the determining factors for the paths of New Urbanization in MRARs, which are environmental carrying capacity, social and economic foundations, and geographical location conditions. Based on the three determining factors, a three-dimensional cube framework of New Urbanization paths for MRARs is constructed. According to the three-dimensional cube framework, there are two types of path for New Urbanization in MRARs: simple urbanization and intensive urbanization, and each type includes four paths: resource-based, comprehensive, location-based, and central-city urbanization. As a result, there are eight paths for New Urbanization in MRARs in China. These paths differ significantly in their characteristics and advancing points. Under certain conditions, the two types and four urbanization paths are inter-transformable. When formulating advancement policy, it is vital to respect the laws of the nature and the laws of social and economic development, apply cleaner production and circular economy, and adhere to people-oriented principles.

How Does Digital Campaigning Affect the Problems of Political Finance?

This paper deals with the intersection between three sets of challenges that constitute existential threats to democracies across the world. The first is money in politics which not only poses the danger of ‘policy capture’ but also, in worse scenarios, state capture by monied interests. As the United Nations Deputy Secretary-General, Amina Jane Mohammed has said: ‘In many places the ability of private interests to influence elections is unfettered and the capture of the state by elites is warping the functions of state institutions.’ The second is the impact of digital technologies on elections. As the International IDEA’s 2019 Global State of Democracy report observed, ‘[n]ew technologies, including information and communications technologies (ICTs) and social media, are contributing to a profound transformation of the global democracy landscape’.The principal question addressed by this paper is poised at the meeting place between these challenges: How might digital campaigning affect the problems of political finance? Also integrated into the analysis is a third set of challenges. Here I refer to those arising from the COVID-19 pandemic, with the paper reflecting upon how the pandemic might shape the impact of digital campaigning on the problems of political finance.This paper is written by way of a road-mapping exercise. It seeks to draw out the key issues in determining the impact of digital campaigning on the problems of political finance with a sprinkle of examples for the purpose of illustration. All this is very much preliminary analysis with the paper aiming to be a conversation starter.

COMMENTS ON THE REPORT OF THE INTERNATIONAL PANEL ON SOCIAL PROGRESS, CHAPTERS 9 AND 14: INEQUALITY, DEMOCRACY AND THE RULE OF LAW

Over the past 30 years, the world has experienced a profound transformation, becoming both more open and more prosperous. Whereas in 1985 more than half of the countries worldwide were under authoritarian rule, most countries today are considered electoral democracies (Economist Intelligence Unit 2017). Since 1990, more than a billion people have been lifted out of extreme poverty (World Bank 2016), while well-being indicators have improved dramatically on a global level, especially in terms of health and education (International Idea 2017).

How Does an International Idea Play Out in National Policy and Local Implementation? The Case of Intersectoral Coordination for Nutrition in Zambia

BACKGROUNDThe UNICEF nutrition framework identifies key underlying determinants of child malnutrition as food, health and care. The public goods and services relating to these are normally tackled separately by different sectors, but international agencies have drawn attention to the potential of coordinating action to improve outcomes. This research traced the concept of ‘intersectoral coordination’ for nutrition from international discourse, through Zambian national policy and local implementation, to community experiences, in order to understand the impact of the idea.METHODSThis qualitative research employs an explicit theory of change, and is informed by established social science frameworks. We use several sources of qualitative data, collected at different levels (international, national, district and community), and at different time points over five years. Analysis included detailed description of the contextual, policy and programmatic situation in Zambia; thematic coding that sheds light on the views of key actors and communities; and testing the theory of change by tracing the transmission of a concept through the different levels over time.FINDINGS‘Intersectoral coordination’ has occurred as a paradigm twice in the history of international nutrition: once in largely unsuccessful attempts in the 1970s, and again more recently. This time around, the nutrition community is framing coordination differently‐ as ‘nutrition‐sensitivity’ of different sectors‐ and it appears to be finding some traction. In Zambian policy circles, a small technical elite has grasped the concept. Nevertheless, although written policies in key sectors include nutrition‐sensitive elements, broader sectoral actors still struggle to see benefits to their core interests. At local level, attempts have been made at operationalizing multi‐sectoral plans, and an externally‐facilitated pilot of coordination in one district has been successful: sectoral actors are clear on their roles and have formed strong networks around the issue of malnutrition, transmitting learning back to policy makers. This model has relied on external support in its initial stages, however, and on strong local leadership; while there has been an attempt to replicate elements of this pilot, it will take intensive effort to be effectively scaled up. At community level, coordination of activities in the field is rarely reported, but there is a sense that some interventions are complementary to one another, whether by chance or by design.CONCLUSIONSIn the Zambian context, there are clear national and local manifestations of the concept of ‘intersectoral coordination’ for nutrition, but transmission of action is not as linear or streamlined as is often assumed: adaptation to context is necessary, and learning goes both ways. This work provides insight into how ideas are adopted and adapted throughout the policy cycle, and can inform how intersectoral processes might be fostered in different contexts in which malnutrition remains a persistent problem.Support or Funding InformationThis research is part of the Stories of Change initiative, funded by the Child Investment Fund Foundation and the Transform Nutrition consortium.

Reform and Exploration on Electric Circuit Course Teaching Based on CDIO

In light of the current problems about Electric Circuit course teaching in universities, the problems in the current teaching of the course are presented and analyzed. The international idea of CDIO is put forward and introduced, and this educational mode is applied in Electric Circuit course teaching. Reform is made to change the current situation that students are weak in experiments and practice links, and concrete measures are proposed. It is shown that this teaching mode can help students not only to promote the understanding and grasp the knowledge points but also it can improve the innovation ability, engineering ability and cooperation ability, communication ability effectively. It will be helpful both to the graduates and society. This teaching mode proposed is effective and feasible.

When Guardians Matter Most: Exploring the Conditions Under Which Electoral Management Body Institutional Design Affects Election Integrity

Problems with election fraud and election integrity are of increasing interest in both established and transitional democracies. In many transitional democracies, independent electoral management bodies (EMBs) have been championed as a key institutional reform measure to successfully strengthen election integrity. However, empirical findings regarding the impact of EMB institutional design on election integrity are mixed. While regional studies have found a positive impact of independent EMBs on election integrity in Latin America and Africa, global comparative studies appear to show that EMB institutional design is either negatively, or only very weakly related to election integrity. In this paper, we examine the effects of EMB institutional design on election integrity using the new Varieties of Democracy dataset and data from the International IDEA. We find that the mixed findings on EMB institutional design are due to the differences between transitional and established democracies on the one hand, and regimes with low and high quality of government on the other. The paper concludes with a reflection on results and a discussion of implications of these findings for the debate on electoral reform in Ireland.

BOOK TRANSLATIONS AS IDEA FLOWS: THE EFFECTS OF THE COLLAPSE OF COMMUNISM ON THE DIFFUSION OF KNOWLEDGE

We use book translations as a new measure of international idea flows and study the effects of Communism's collapse in Eastern Europe on these flows. Using novel data on 800,000 translations and difference-in-differences approaches, we show that while translations between Communist languages decreased by two thirds with the collapse, Western-to-Communist translations increased by a factor of 4 and quickly converged to Western levels. Convergence was more pronounced in the fields of applied and social sciences, and was more complete in Satellite and Baltic than in Soviet countries. We discuss how these patterns help us understand how repressive institutions and preferences towards Western European ideas shaped the international diffusion of knowledge.

A History of the International Conference of Animal Health Information Specialists (ICAHIS) and its Partnership in One Health

This article chronicles the International Conference of Animal Health Information Specialists’ (ICAHIS) beginning in 1992 to the present and describes other groups and conferences formed from the international animal health information conference idea. Throughout its history, ICAHIS has been a forum for colleagues worldwide to discuss, share, and promote animal health information access. This article is a brief history of ICAHIS's origins and the movement it fostered. The 7th ICAHIS, the first in the United States, will occur in Boston, May 3–8, 2013. Previous conferences were held on three continents: Europe, Africa, and Australia.

‘A small world’: ethnography of a natural disaster simulation in Lima, Peru

An international idea is that the world must be ‘prepared’ for any disaster situation. Among the many tools and practices that contribute to this frame, the paper focuses on exercises intended to prepare for natural disasters: real‐scale simulation exercises. The object of this paper, based on several studies conducted at sites overseen by the UN natural disaster reduction agency (ISDR) and on a field study of a simulation in Peru in November 2010, is these exercises and their purposes and outcomes. It also explores the conditions of possibility for their ethnography.

Book Translations as Idea Flows: The Effects of the Collapse of Communism on the Diffusion of Knowledge

We use book translations as a new measure of international idea flows and study the effects of Communism’s collapse in Eastern Europe on these flows. Using novel data on 800,000 translations and difference-in-differences approaches, we show that while translations between Communist languages decreased by two thirds with the collapse, Western-to-Communist translations increased by a factor of five and quickly converged to Western levels. Convergence was more complete in more economically-useful fields such as the sciences, and was more complete in Satellite than in Soviet countries. These findings help us understand how institutions shape the international diffusion of knowledge.

Regional Culture and Modern Campus Landscape — Hainan Normal University, South Campus Landscape Transformation Analysis

The Landscape transformation of Hainan Normal University regarding South Campus as a starting point was analyzed. Through the evaluation of the status of the location conditions, natural resources, and cultural background; the problems of the geographical features in the building of the campus landscape culture and the fusion of geographical elements and modern campus environment were explored. It provided an idea for the landscape transformation between the old campus and new campus landscape planning. Continuity, regional, international and ecological idea was considered to design and explore the major cultural landscape and node plan.