Past Achievements Research Articles

Adolescent Health Series: The status of adolescent mental health research, practice and policy in sub-Saharan Africa: A narrative review.

Sub‐Saharan Africa (SSA) has the fastest growing adolescent population in the world. In addition to developmental changes, adolescents in SSA face health and socioeconomic challenges that increase their vulnerability to mental ill‐health. This paper is a narrative review of adolescent mental health (AMH) in SSA with a focus on past achievements, current developments, and future directions in the areas of research, practice and policy in the region. We describe the status of AMH in the region, critical factors that negatively impact AMH, and the ways in which research, practice and policy have responded to this need. Depression, anxiety and post‐traumatic stress disorders are the most common mental health problems among adolescents in SSA. Intervention development has largely been focused on HIV/AIDS service delivery in school or community programs by non‐specialist health workers. There is a severe shortage of specialised AMH services, poor integration of services into primary health care, lack of a coordinated inter‐sectoral collaboration, and the absence of clear referral pathways. Policies for the promotion of AMH have been given less attention by policymakers, due to stigma attached to mental health problems, and an insufficient understanding of the link between mental health and social determinants, such as poverty. Given these gaps, traditional healers are the most accessible care available to help‐seeking adolescents. Sustained AMH research with a focus on the socioeconomic benefits of implementing evidence‐based, contextually adapted psychosocial interventions might prove useful in advocating for much needed policies to improve AMH in SSA.

Universal financing and coverage of vaccines

Each year, 20 million infants do not receive a full course of even basic vaccines, and many more miss out on newer vaccines.1–4 13 million infants receive no vaccines at all. In some countries, progress has stalled or even reversed over the past decade. This complacency undermines past achievements and leads to a lack of service compliance, vaccine hesitancy, and scepticism.5 In turn, this leads to insufficient funding and difficulties in reaching vulnerable populations.1–4,6

A Tradition of Invention: The Paradox of Glorifying Past Technological Breakthroughs

This article examines how the notion of a tradition of invention, which took shape in China in the nineteenth century, became entrenched there by the 1920s. It begins by looking at how invention received heightened attention from Chinese elites in the May Fourth era, when many of them upheld the primacy of science for national salvation while science’s very rectitude was being contested. It then explores how these elites took up and contributed to narratives of a past inventiveness as a way of imagining possibilities of a better future, the most notable expression of which was the idea of the “four great inventions.” Finally, it delves into a particular paradox that underlay this glorification of prior scientific and technological achievements. While staking claim to a tradition of invention may have been ultimately for the purpose of charting a course toward a technoscientific tomorrow, the fixation on those past accomplishments led many Chinese across China’s long twentieth century to either ignore or downplay domestic developments in science and technology that were actually taking place. Ironically, then, the nagging sense of inferiority that underlay the lauding of ancient inventions came to be reinforced rather than alleviated by that very act.

A review on design and implementation of type‐2 fuzzy controllers

Nowadays, advances in different fields of technology have increased demands for reliable controllers. Uncertainty and disturbances, which are inevitable in most real‐world systems, as well as increasing complexity in the dynamics of many systems, are requiring the design and application of intelligent controllers. Fuzzy controllers, and specifically type‐2 fuzzy control techniques, could play a beneficial role in a variety of control purposes, since they are robust against uncertainties. Therefore, an immense body of research is devoted to these fuzzy control techniques. This paper introduces a comprehensive review about the most recent advances in the design and implementation of type‐2 fuzzy control schemes both for integer‐ and fractional‐order systems. Thus, in addition to the past and present achievements in this context, future trends are also delineated. Moreover, most important works dealing with type‐2 fuzzy controller are discussed, and their advantages and drawbacks are outlined. Consequently, we firmly believe the present paper will pave the way for future research in this area.

ACHIEVING SDG 4.6 IN GHANA: COULD A CLOSER MONITORING AND FACILITATION OF THE 5 KEY PERFORMANCE INDICATORS FOR NFE BRING SUCCESS?

Purpose –– This paper examines the 5 key performance indicators outlined for the NFE sector in Ghana against the possibility of achieving SDG4.6 in Ghana. The paper argues based on a study conducted by the author in 2017, that a key input into quality non-formal education, especially adult literacy delivery, is the quality of facilitation. Methods –– A qualitative study approach was adopted using documentary analysis to examine past achievements of the Agency and how it prepares its critical functionaries; the facilitators, to effectively deliver in line with the 5 performance indicators. Findings –– Findings reveal, among others, that lack of funding has affected training, curriculum, and class inputs, whilst irregular supervision, monitoring, and evaluation by the MOE and managers have left facilitators with many challenges. Conclusion/Recommendation –– The paper recommends, among others, that the reform by the MOE should focus on facilitation-related issues and institutional training for facilitators in the Colleges of Education.

Classifying Disorders of Consciousness: Past, Present, and Future.

With the advent of advanced analytical methods applied to functional neuroimaging and neurophysiological data, cerebral conditions have been defined that challenge the established classification of disorders of consciousness. A subset of brain-damaged patients has been identified who cannot carry out motor commands, but who exhibit patterns of cerebral activation during mental imagery tasks that are indistinguishable from those in healthy controls. This condition, termed "cognitive motor dissociation," has overturned many assumptions regarding the detection, diagnosis, prognosis, and care of patients with brain injury. Three factors are likely to influence efforts to improve the classification of disorders of consciousness in the near future: the types of data that will become available to characterize brain states, the modeling paradigms utilized for data analysis, and the ability to implement classification schemes in the clinical setting. Here we review past achievements, present states, and future projections for the classification of impaired consciousness and responsiveness.

Design and Planning of Retirement Knowledge Exchange Center

The pensioners' center is generally defined as a center designed specifically for the gathering of retirees from various fields, providing services for them, including places to spend their leisure time in a pleasant way, workshops, consulting and public services. The center aims to improve the culture, awareness and knowledge of the affairs of retirees, their status and abilities, and the importance of respecting and maintaining their rights. This study proposed four main zones for the project, namely administration, entertainment, cultural, and services. The site evaluation was conducted and the most appropriate site is located on King Abdulaziz road, one of the major streets in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. In addition to this, the center also promoted their responsibilities, corrected the stereotypes of retirees and emphasized the importance of their past achievements and their expectations of the present and the future. Their contributions may be inexhaustible experience that can be used for future development.

Creative approaches to perform an inclusive faculty search

Names are powerful cues that can trigger unintended bias including ingroup favoritism, a cognitive bias that leads people to overvalue the past accomplishments and future potential of individuals who seem similar to themselves. Research shows that anonymous job searches can significantly increase the chance for applicants from underrepresented (UR) backgrounds to be invited for an interview. This result strongly suggests that in traditional (non‐anonymous) job searches, well‐qualified applicants are overlooked due to bias. I will present the design and results from an unusual tenure‐track Assistant Professor search in the department of Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry at Yale University. Applicants submitted anonymized research statements—no names of people, places, funding agencies or journals—and a short list of diverse candidates was created based solely on de‐identified documents. Our experiment suggests that anonymous application procedures are one potentially useful tool to combat persistent racial hiring discrimination which could explain the very slow increase of UR scientists among research faculty compared to the growth of UR PhDs.

In memory of a wonderful colleague.

This Memoriam celebrates the past accomplishments of Dr. W.J. Lennarz.

Past and Future of Permafrost Monitoring: Stability of Russian Energetic Infrastructure

This study is an attempt to suggest a new state system of permafrost monitoring, primarily for energetic infrastructure, based on past approaches and achievements in Russia for over a hundred years of Arctic studies. The methodology of this study is based on general theoretical methods of scientific research. Historical (retrospective analysis of the development of the monitoring system of long-term permafrost in Russia) and logical (inductive generalization) methods were applied. The structure and methods of permafrost monitoring in the Soviet Union and new technologies used nowadays to establish permafrost monitoring systems, taking into account modern Arctic energetic development, have been analyzed.

Linking circular economy and digitalisation technologies: A systematic literature review of past achievements and future promises

• The review and synthesises the extant literature streams on the circular economy (CE) and digitalisation technologies. • A plethora of research is organised around the barriers and enablers to digitalisation-led CE. • The review organises literature around four key themes where artificial intelligence (AI) and the internet of things (IoT) are increasing prominence for CE transition. • A viable systems-based framework is developed to depict the complex system involved in realising circularity benefits. • Product-service systems (PSS) is identified as a dominant theme for circular business model studies. The circular economy (CE) has the potential to capitalise upon emerging digital technologies, such as big data, artificial intelligence (AI), blockchain and the Internet of things (IoT), amongst others. These digital technologies combined with business model innovation are deemed to provide solutions to myriad problems in the world, including those related to circular economy transformation. Given the societal and practical importance of CE and digitalisation, last decade has witnessed a significant increase in academic publication on these topics. Therefore, this study aims to capture the essence of the scholarly work at the intersection of the CE and digital technologies. A detailed analysis of the literature based on emerging themes was conducted with a focus on illuminating the path of CE implementation. The results reveal that IoT and AI play a key role in the transition towards the CE. A multitude of studies focus on barriers to digitalisation-led CE transition and highlight policy-related issues, the lack of predictability, psychological issues and information vulnerability as some important barriers. In addition, product-service system (PSS) has been acknowledged as an important business model innovation for achieving the digitalisation enabled CE. Through a detailed assessment of the existing literature, a viable systems-based framework for digitalisation enabled CE has been developed which show the literature linkages amongst the emerging research streams and provide novel insights regarding the realisation of CE benefits.

Solar Energy in Argentina

There is a large gap between the vast solar resources and the magnitude of solar energy deployment in Argentina. In the case of photovoltaics, the country only reached the 1000 GWh electricity generated yearly landmark in 2020. Solar thermal technology is even less developed, in part due to the low natural gas prices resulting from political strategies that aim to soften the impact of an unstable economy on family budgets. This review describes this gap by summarizing the current state of Argentine solar energy. We summarize the fundamental legal and strategic tools which are available for solar energy deployment, survey the penetration of solar energy into the country’s energy landscape, identify national contributions to the local value chain, and review past and present research and development achievements. Both photovoltaic and solar thermal technologies show a historical fluctuation between local technology development and imported technology and know-how. Finally, a discussion on the main ingredients required to abridge Argentina’s solar gap indicates that stronger, consistent long-term strategies are required in Argentina in order to take advantage of the present window of opportunity, and to play a considerable role in the global energy transition.

Past accomplishments and future challenges of the multi-omics characterization of leaf growth.

The advent of omics technologies has revolutionized biology and advanced our understanding of all biological processes, including major developmental transitions in plants and animals. Here, we review the vast knowledge accumulated concerning leaf growth in terms of transcriptional regulation before turning our attention to the historically less well-characterized alterations at the protein and metabolite level. We will then discuss how the advent of biochemical methods coupled with metabolomics and proteomics can provide insight into the protein–protein and protein–metabolite interactome of the growing leaves. We finally highlight the substantial challenges in detection, spatial resolution, integration, and functional validation of the omics results, focusing on metabolomics as a prerequisite for a comprehensive understanding of small-molecule regulation of plant growth.

THE IMPACT OF SOCIAL NETWORKING SITES ON EMPLOYEE JOB RECRUITMENT

Job recruitment is a very important process in the building of an organisation. Recruitment is tough in the current pandemic environment. But many companies are looking into online recruitment portals to improve job recruitment. Potential Employees can apply to a vast array of these recruitment portals to improve their chances of landing a job. These Websites allow people searching for a job to display their Curriculum Vitae and past experience and achievements. With the advent of these sites, the entire job recruitment process is streamlined. Social Networking Plays a major role in the recruitment process of modern organisations and has become more widespread due to the pandemic. Keywords: Recruitment in IT Sector, Social networking sites, Recruitment through social sites, Talent acquisition, Recruitment through Linkedin, Recruitment through Face book, Recruitment through twitter.

THE IMPACT OF SOCIAL NETWORKING SITES ON EMPLOYEE JOB RECRUITMENT

Job recruitment is a very important process in the building of an organisation. Recruitment is tough in the current pandemic environment. But many companies are looking into online recruitment portals to improve job recruitment. Potential Employees can apply to a vast array of these recruitment portals to improve their chances of landing a job. These Websites allow people searching for a job to display their Curriculum Vitae and past experience and achievements. With the advent of these sites, the entire job recruitment process is streamlined. Social Networking Plays a major role in the recruitment process of modern organisations and has become more widespread due to the pandemic. Keywords: Recruitment in IT Sector, Social networking sites, Recruitment through social sites, Talent acquisition, Recruitment through Linkedin, Recruitment through Face book, Recruitment through twitter

Relating to the Whole Community in Akan and East Asian Ancestral Traditions

Ancestors play crucial roles in the cultural consciousness of diverse traditions, many maintaining ritualistic practices related to commemorating the dead. Ancestor commemoration reinforces cohesion within traditional as well as modern societies, directing a group’s focus to past accomplishments of its cultural heritage whilst providing a unifying narrative of the values that bring and hold a community together. The West African Akan tradition values those who honor their ancestors and, by leading a moral life, seek to become ancestors themselves: persons whose lives enjoy standing in the community beyond their own death. This short paper explores ideas about the role of ancestors as (symbolic) constituents of enduring moral communities by comparing traditional Akan belief to traditional East Asian conceptions of ancestors. The aim is to consider the metaphysical, social, and moral dimensions related to ancestors, highlighting continuity and communal concerns.

Evaluation of specific import provisions for food products from third countries based on an analysis of RASFF notifications on pesticide residues

Maximum residue levels for pesticides in food and feed are an important part of the European pesticide policy. The Annual Reports summarising the results of official controls on pesticide residues in food indicate low rates of non-compliance and a correspondingly high level of food safety in the European Union (EU). However, products from third countries have received particular attention in recent years due to more frequent exceedances of maximum limits. To ensure high levels of consumer protection in the EU, Regulation (EC) No 396/2005 on pesticide residues in food and feed enables emergency measures for products from third countries in accordance with General Food Law. Consequently, specific import provisions for certain products from third countries were first introduced by Commission Regulation (EC) No 669/2009 and later repealed by Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2019/1793. Based on legal references to the European Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed (RASFF), an influence of the emergency measures on the notifications submitted in the RASFF has been expected. To investigate the effectiveness of the risk management measures and to identify potential need for improvement, 5211 notifications on pesticide residues in food submitted in the RASFF between 2002 and 2020 were analysed in the context of the specific import provisions. The analysis reveals clear correlations between the notifications in the RASFF and the emergency measures, which are particularly evident in the large proportion of and the trend in border rejection notifications as well as in frequently concerned products and frequently involved countries of origin. The risk management measures appear to be effective for several products from third countries; however, a need for improvement was identified for sweet peppers/bell peppers and granate apples/pomegranates from Turkey as well as for teas from China. Furthermore, the adoption of risk management measures for rice from India should be considered. Overall, the analysis highlights past achievements of the specific import provisions, provides an outlook on future trends and illustrates the contribution of import controls and border rejections of non-compliant products to food safety in the EU. • RASFF notifications and emergency measures for imported food products were analysed. • The analysis shows correlations between notifications and risk management measures. • Concerned products and countries were often subject to special import conditions. • Special import provisions are effective for several products from third countries. • Need for improvement was identified for products from Turkey, China and India.

Julie Fraser and Brianne McGonigle Leyh (eds), Intersections of Law and Culture at the International Criminal Court

Notions of culture raise important issues for a global court like the International Criminal Court (hereinafter ‘ICC’ or ‘the Court’). Since the adoption of the Rome Statute in 1998, there has been a rising awareness over questions of culture in the everyday workings of the Court. Intersections of Law and Culture at the International Criminal Court, edited by Julie Fraser and Brianne McGonigle Leyh, is a welcome contribution, examining the critical junctures of law and culture in the role of the ICC and its mandate to put an ‘end to impunity’1 globally through international criminal justice. The volume is timely, released a few months before the election of the new Prosecutor Karim Khan, who now has an opportunity to reflect on past achievements through a cultural lens and to point to ways forward. The editors, experienced practitioners of and researchers on international criminal law and transitional justice, have...

A Historical Account on Italian Mechanism Models

This illustration-based paper presents and account of Italian History on the collections mechanism models that were used and still can be used in design, teaching, and research activities not only on research and development of mechanical systems. A conceptual procedure is outlined for the development and use of mechanism models mainly at reduced scaled size. Main Italian collections of mechanism models are introduced with their historical values and current status. Those examples are reported also to show the value of Cultural Heritage that mechanism models and corresponding developments may have as worthful for preservation and understanding of past achievements in mechanism design and its application even in other frames.

“We built it” in the past, but “let's build it together” in the future: The roles of temporal framing and social justice orientation in shaping attributions for personal success

Political debates over how to address economic inequality are often rooted in rhetoric about whether or not success is self-made. Attributions for personal successes invoke self-relevant motivational processes and may pose barriers to ideological consensus on economic policy. This research examined the relationship between attributions for personal successes and social justice orientation (an ideological orientation toward providing for the economic welfare of others) as well as the impact of two contextual factors: past/future-framing and thinking about political discourse about inequality. Temporal framing was expected to shift the motivational incentives available for acknowledging the role of external factors; although it may feel good to take personal credit for past successes already achieved, there may be stronger incentives to acknowledge the situational factors that shape uncertain future successes. Studies 1–4 found that individuals low in social justice orientation were reluctant to make external attributions for their past achievements, but that thinking about poverty and successes they hoped to achieve in the future increased their external attributions to levels observed among people high in social justice orientation. The willingness to make greater external attributions for future successes appeared to be motivationally-driven: it yielded affective benefits (Study 5), was seen as desirable (Study 6), and emerged when personal financial vulnerability was primed (Study 7). Attributional shifts were in turn associated with greater support for social justice. These findings suggest that thinking about successes not yet attained may establish a sort of Rawlsian “veil of ignorance” that can encourage individuals to recognize the power of situations and the needs of others.