World Institutions Research Articles

The rank-size scaling law and entropy-maximizing principle

The rank-size regularity known as Zipf’s law is one of the scaling laws and is frequently observed in the natural living world and social institutions. Many scientists have tried to derive the rank-size scaling relation through entropy-maximizing methods, but they have not been entirely successful. By introducing a pivotal constraint condition, I present here a set of new derivations based on the self-similar hierarchy of cities. First, I derive a pair of exponent laws by postulating local entropy maximizing. From the two exponential laws follows a general hierarchical scaling law, which implies the general form of Zipf’s law. Second, I derive a special hierarchical scaling law with the exponent equal to 1 by postulating global entropy maximizing, and this implies the pure form of Zipf’s law. The rank-size scaling law has proven to be one of the special cases of the hierarchical scaling law, and the derivation suggests a certain scaling range with the first or the last data point as an outlier. The entropy maximization of social systems differs from the notion of entropy increase in thermodynamics. For urban systems, entropy maximizing suggests the greatest equilibrium between equity for parts/individuals and efficiency of the whole.

Študij andragogike in izobraževanje andragogov

Več je bilo vzrokov za to, da je v povojnem obdobju primanjkovalo izobraženih ljudi. Država je načrtno in pospešeno razvijala industrijo, zato je primanjkovalo kvalificiranih delavcev. Vojno obdobje je marsikomu preprečilo dokončanje šolanja. Poleg tega so bili izobraženci pogostejše žrtve vojne kot preostalo prebivalstvo. Zato je bilo na zavodih za zaposlovanje povpraševanje po usposobljenih delavcih večje kot ponudba. Posledično se je izobraževanje odraslih v praksi hitro razvijalo. Praktiki so iskali strokovno podporo in ustrezno literaturo. Leta 1956 so v Zagrebu na Filozofski fakulteti uvedli v okviru študija pedagogike prva predavanja andragogike v takratni Jugoslaviji. Profesor Mihajlo Ogrizović kot nosilec predmeta je študij v naslednjih letih podprl z objavo prvih knjig s področja andragogike: Metode obrazovanja odraslih in Problemi andragogije. Leta 1960 je nastala katedra za andragogiko na Filozofski fakulteti v Beogradu (profesorja Dušan Savičević in Borivoj Samolovčev). Za raziskovanje na področju izobraževanja odraslih sem se odločila med službovanjem na Inštitutu za sociologijo (1967), ko sem se pridružila takrat pri nas prvi mednarodni komparativni raziskavi Izobraževanje odraslih, socialna mobilnost in družbena participacija. S predavanji obče andragogike in andragoške didaktike smo v Ljubljani začeli leta 1972 na Oddelku za pedagogiko Filozofske fakultete. Leta 1976 je študij andragogike postal ena od študijskih smeri na oddelku. V študijskem letu 1993/94 smo uvedli samostojni enopredmetni študij andragogike. Ministrstvo za šolstvo in šport je novi študijski program potrdilo v okviru evropskega projekta Tempus. Na oblikovanje študijskih programov so vplivali najbolj znani inštituti in oddelki za izobraževanje odraslih v razvitem svetu (Oddelek za andragogiko Univerze v Montrealu, Evropski Bureau for Adult education v Londonu, Wellington College v Oxfordu, Institute for Andragology v Amsterdamu, Oddelek za andragogiko Karlove univerze v Pragi itd.). To nam je zagotavljalo, da je študij na mednarodni ravni. Enoletna postdoktorska specializacija na Inštitutu v Torontu (1971) je priprave na predavanja dokončno zaokrožila. Strokovna in znanstvena literatura iz andragogike se je pomnožila. Andragogika je dobila svoje mesto v nacionalnem raziskovalnem programu. Vzporedno smo raziskovali v mednarodnih raziskavah prek UNESCA, ICAE (International Council for Adult Education) in projektov EU. Študij andragogike se je ponovno preoblikoval v okviru bolonjske reforme visokega šolstva v zadnjih letih.

Micro Financing of NGOs and Government: Collaborative Impact on Poverty Eradication

Poverty reduction has been declared as the most important millennium development goal not only by the world level organizations and institutions, but also by the government of Pakistan. Micro-credit is considered as a prime tool to fight back poverty. After the success of Grameen Bank of Bangladesh multiple other banks and micro finance institutions (MFI’s) like Banko Soladerio of Latin America, Indonesia’s BRI-UD, BAAC in Thailand, BRAC in Bangladesh and VBSP in Vietnam have been working on almost the similar pattern. In Pakistan different NGOs like AKRSP, Orangi pilot project, Kashf foundation and others have started working for the past few years basically to eradicate poverty and for women empowerment. The government institutions are also seriously making an effort to eradicate poverty through micro financing schemes. Government of Pakistan has selected the RSP (rural support program) model for micro-financing. The success of both government institutions and NGOs is not very outstanding to meet the basic objective of poverty eradication. The aim of this paper is to see the possibility of collaboration between the NGOs and the government to achieve the desired common goal. It is hypothesized that if government and NGOs work together and collaborate each other, the effectiveness of micro financing schemes could be strengthened.

Zadovoljstvo korisnika u primarnoj zdravstvenoj zaštiti u Pomoravskom okrugu

Introduction. Consumer satisfaction is the core element of the quality health care service. If the patient is unsatisfied with health care service, the main aim of the health care system is not achieved. The Aim. The aim of this paper is to show the level of patient satisfaction in primary health care settings in the district Pomoravlje from 2004 to 2009. Method. For the measurement of patient satisfaction the questionnaire of the World Health Organization and Institute of Public Health Serbia was used. The representative sample of 3567 patient in primary health care was used. Descriptive statistic was applied. Results. The average figures of consumer satisfaction with general practitioners (GP) and nurses in the primary health care from 2004 to 2009 were balanced and with continual rise. Patients satisfaction is the highest with general practitioners (86,8%) but the level of the consumer satisfaction is the lowest in the gynecology (9,5%). In the dental health care the consumer satisfaction was 84%. Conclusion. This research shows that over 80% of the patients were satisfied in primary health care settings and indicate the importance of improvement of consumer satisfaction for amelioration of the health care.

Colorectal anastomosis dehiscence following radical surgical operation for rectal carcinoma

BACKGROUND/AIM. Colorectal cancer (CRC) is one of the biggest health problems of modern humanity, especially in highly developed countries. In Serbia about 3,200 patients suffer from CRC, out of whom about 1,100 patients suffer from rectal cancer (RC), while about 2,100 patients suffer from other colon segments cancer. The aim of the study was to show the incidence genesis of one of the possible early postoperative complications regarding dehiscence of the colorectal anastomosis (CRA) with a group of patients suffering from RC and operated by using sphincter-saving procedures, in the period from 1993 to 2007, and then to compare the incidence genesis of these complications with those in the published series of the reporting colorectal institutions. The research included 242 patients radically operated on for RC in a 15-year period using some of sphincter-saving procedures following by a careful analysis of the symptoms of subclinical dehyscencias not solved with the reintervention as well as of the clinically evidented dehyscencias mostly solved by reoperation. With 22 (9.1%) patients in the first 10 postoperative days there were early postoperative symptoms of CRA dehiscence. In 6 (2.47%) of the patients there were subclinical signs of raised body temperature, less quantity of feces content, and after the conservative treatment they ended in spontaneous process of rehabilitation. In 16 (6.61%) patients there was clinically evidented anastomosis dehiscence followed by abundant drainage of feces content, signs of local peritonitis, pelvic sepsis, so we had to undertake surgical intervention. CONCLUSION. Comparing the results of a few tenths of published studies with our results we proved that performing and operative technique of colorectal anastomosis in the patients suffered and radically surgically treated for RC, is quite adequate with the operative technique in reporting world institutions that are engaged in surgical treatment of RC.

Globalization, Emerging Powers, and the Future of Capitalism

Central capitalism and its supporting institutions have lost their dynamism and are no longer capable of regulating the world economy without a substantial change in the world order including cooperation with regional powers in a much broader geopolitical paradigm. What is needed is a change from U.S. hegemony to joint hegemony (with the United States still at the center), a revised conception of development in more social, sustainable, and human terms, a stronger role for the state in the organization of the local, national, and world economies, and a stronger system of South-South relations based on a rebirth of Third World institutions and a civilizational, philosophical, and political framework that transcends the Eurocentric view of the world. The emergence of Brazil, Russia, India, and China in the international structure of power is very important for this change. The economic crisis of 2008—2010 is driving international developments in this direction.

Harnessing biodiversity: the Malagasy Institute of Applied Research (IMRA)

BackgroundBiopiracy – the use of a people’s long-established medical knowledge without acknowledgement or compensation – has been a disturbing historical reality and exacerbates the global rich-poor divide. Bioprospecting, however, describes the commercialization of indigenous medicines in a manner acceptable to the local populace. Challenges facing bioprospectors seeking to develop traditional medicines in a quality-controlled manner include a lack of skilled labor and high-tech infrastructure, adapting Northern R&D protocols to Southern settings, keeping products affordable for the local population, and managing the threat of biopiracy. The Malagasy Institute of Applied Research (IMRA) has employed bioprospecting to develop new health treatments for conditions such as diabetes and burns. Because of its integration of Western science and Malagasy cultural traditions, IMRA may provide a useful example for African and other organizations interested in bioprospecting.DiscussionIMRA’s approach to drug development and commercialization was adapted from the outset to Malagasy culture and Southern economic landscapes. It achieved a balance between employing Northern R&D practices and following local cultural norms through four guiding principles. First, IMRA’s researchers understood and respected local practices, and sought to use rather than resist them. Second, IMRA engaged the local community early in the drug development process, and ensured that local people had a stake in its success. Third, IMRA actively collaborated with local and international partners to increase its credibility and research capacity. Fourth, IMRA obtained foreign research funds targeting the “diseases of civilization” to cross-fund the development of drugs for conditions that affect the Malagasy population. These principles are illustrated in the development of IMRA products like Madeglucyl, a treatment for diabetes management that was developed from a traditional remedy.SummaryBy combining local and international research interests, IMRA has been able to keep its treatments affordable for the Malagasy population. Our analysis of IMRA’s history, strategy, and challenges suggests that other developing world institutions seeking to use bioprospecting to address issues of local access to medicines would be well-advised to treat traditional medical knowledge with respect and humility, share its benefits with the local community, and pursue strategic partnerships.

ORGANIZING WITHIN THE DIASPORA: CLAUDE H. A. DENBOW, HOWARD UNIVERSITY, AND THE LEAGUE OF COLOURED PEOPLES

For centuries, social and cultural organizations that were formed to empower their constituents have occupied unique positions within communities throughout the African Diaspora. Historical narratives about early organizing among communities of African peoples in Newport and Providence, Rhode Island; Buenos Aires, Argentina; and Valencia and Cadiz, Spain, describe these activities. (1) Africans and their descendents in the Americas constructed cultural and social institutions to fulfill their economic, educational, social, cultural, political, and even psychological needs, usually under very oppressive conditions. Historical antecedents for New World institutions are often rooted in an African past and on that basis forge linkages throughout the hemisphere. In examining the enduring and important roles of international and transnational linkages that contributed to the development of local institutions and organizations, the social and intellectual networks within the African Diaspora are revealed. This essay examines how an elite segment of the African Guyanese population, committed to improving the social welfare and educational conditions for the working class, was supported by and linked to individuals and groups in other parts of the African Diaspora in the Americas and in Europe. The branch of the League of Coloured Peoples (LCP) located in Georgetown, British Guiana, later the Republic of Guyana, was headed by Claude Denbow through World War II and the postwar years, and he used his connections to U.S. African Americans at Howard University, as well as Afro-Caribbean intellectuals in the United Kingdom, to prepare the colonized African Guyanese working class for economic advancement and independence. Anticolonial activities and labor strife moved from intermittent to the immediate in the English-speaking Caribbean with the coming of the Great Depression in the 1930s. The increasing unemployment spawned labor militancy, protests, and general strikes in Trinidad and Tobago, St. Kitts, St. Lucia, St. Vincent, and Barbados. In Jamaica in 1938, when dockworkers went on strike, British soldiers were brought in and violence erupted, triggering rioting that left twenty-nine dead, and over a hundred wounded. Following investigations, some labor reforms were introduced in 1939 when World War II erupted. (2) Labor protests and strikes hit British Guiana in the late 1930s, and in 1941 among the graduates of Howard University's School of Dentistry was Claude H. A. Denbow. A brilliant undergraduate student, Denbow had several remarkable achievements in chemistry, and upon earning the bachelor of science degree in 1937 from Howard University, he was awarded a scholarship to attend the School of Dentistry. Returning to British Guiana in 1942, now Dr. Denbow, he joined the League of Coloured Peoples (LCP), which had been formed in the United Kingdom in 1931, and was dedicated to ensuring the empowerment of Africans and African-descended peoples throughout the British Empire. Joining the LCP afforded Denbow the opportunity to become a leader and to prepare working-class Guyanese to pursue schooling and education, economic empowerment, and political independence. Denbow believed that focusing on these programmatic objectives would enable colonized Guyanese people to challenge the racial status quo and eventually colonialism itself. He believed that acquiring those assets would be crucial for their self-improvement and preparation for independent political development. Moreover, Denbow understood the value of diplomacy in international relations. At Denbow's urgings, he and his colleagues employed conflict resolution techniques to enable LCP members to confront challenges they faced and to pursue social justice issues without having to mount militant public protests. (3) In many ways Denbow's education and professional training at Howard University facilitated his accomplishments and contributions to his native Guyana. …

Adult Science Learning in the Internet Era

Abstract This article outlines a different view of the changing nature of adult learning in the Internet era. The old model of learning—the warehouse—is being replaced by a “just‐in‐time” system of information acquisition. The NRC report focuses too heavily on finding missions for existing institutions and pays too little attention to the pervasive changes in information acquisition and adult learning in all areas. An analysis of existing data demonstrates the relative impact of formal and informal learning and points to opportunities for enhanced adult science learning in the future. In a just‐in‐time world, museums and similar informal learning institutions will need to be less dependent on their physical setting and more focused on learning as the end product. It will also be necessary to find a viable revenue model to support this emerging mission.

World Images, Authority, and Institutions

Max Weber famously wrote that world images determine the tracks along which societies move. This article examines the relation between world images and the so-called tracks of society, which in this metaphor resemble the current concept of institution. This concept is now associated with the ‘new institutionalisms’ in social science and has no connection to the civilizational level of analysis that Weber used. This article reexamines Weber’s usage of the terms and employs the terms to analyze differences in the principles of legitimacy between those emerging in the West and those in China, differences that Weber himself did not recognize.

Rethinking Global Economic and Social Governance

This paper presents a new typology of global cooperation for development, based on three objectives: managing interdependence, furthering the development of societies, and gradually overcoming the asymmetries that characterize the world economic system. It then explores the nature of these asymmetries and proposes that the concept of but differentiated responsibilities offers the best framework for handing the special issues of developing countries in the global order. Finally, it develops a five point agenda for improving global economic and social governance structures: creating a dense network of world, regional and national institutions; ensuring the equitable participation of developing countries in global governance; creating a Global Council of the broad UN system, based on representation by constituencies; guaranteeing a better coherence of the decentralized system that characterizes global arrangements in the economic and social field; and effective accountability for international commitments.

Un goût nouveau pour le premier aliment industriel, la sardine à l’huile

Why are some industry and food innovations successful while so many others fail ? As regards tinned sardines in oil, their success was probably certain because they had been luxury goods for decades, since their invention around 1820. It was not until the eve of the First World War that they became more common. What was that success due to? It was due to three factors: the product, the manufacturers and the market. The product was innovative in many aspects: it was a ready-made meal, for any place and circumstance, it kept without problems, and its taste had nothing to do with salted and pressed sardines which were the poor man’s sardines. As far as the manufacturers were concerned, the situation was as favourable. The end of the slave trade provided the port areas of Nantes and Bordeaux with their manufacturing and trade traditions, with the opportunity to launch into new economic activity. As for the market, it offered two potential outlets: wealthy fringe groups throughout the world and French government institutions, particularly the Navy. Very quickly, the share of canned sardines for export came up to more than three quarters of the production, while the technical progress of the business, the increasing number of factories and the prospect of enticing profits allowed a tremendous increase in tonnage. A genuine industry was set up on the French Atlantic coast.

Acute pain and availability of analgesia in the prehospital emergency setting in Italy: A problem to be solved

Objectives: The treatment of acute pain in the prehospital emergency setting remains a significant problem. We evaluated the incidence, site, and possible cause of acute pain in the prehospital period and also the current state of prehospital pain management by evaluating analgesic availability in emergency vehicles in Italy. Methods: First aid volunteers documented the presence, intensity, and site of acute pain by questionnaire for over 3 months. Emergency service operations completed a questionnaire on analgesic availability in ambulances and helicopters. Results: Pain symptoms were present in two-thirds of the patients (n = 383) and ranked as moderate to unbearable in 41.75%. Results of the analgesic availability survey indicate that 10.6% of the ambulance services carry no pain killers (including non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs [NSAIDs]and/or paracetamol) and 11.5% are without an opioid. The emergency helicopter survey showed a significant difference in analgesic availability compared with ambulances, with 97.6% having at least one opioid agent available (weak or strong). A wide geographical variation in the availability of analgesic agents in ambulance and helicopter services was seen. Conclusions: There is a high prevalence of pain among patients receiving prehospital emergency treatment in Italy and treatment for acute pain during emergency treatment of trauma patients is inadequate. All emergency vehicles, without distinction, should carry opioids and other analgesic drugs (NSAIDs and paracetamol) and there should be no geographic differences in the availability of pain medications. © Journal compilation © 2009 World Institute of Pain.

On the (Mis)Measurement of Transport Costs in Econometric Modelling

Several world institutions and researchers use import cif/fob ratios to measure a country’s international transport costs. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the (mis)measurement of transport costs in econometric modelling. The paper discusses the econometric assumptions that are used to justify the (mis)use of country cif/fob ratios to measure international transport costs. Several econometric studies use a country’s cif/fob ratios as exogenous explanatory variables, whereas this study shows that the ratio may indeed be an endogenous variable, hence generating spurious empirical results. In this paper, the relationship between annual cif/fob ratios and compositions of imports are examined via correlation analysis. The findings show that where the quality of the data is reliable, a country’s composition of imports has a significant effect on that country’s cif/fob ratios; hence researchers cannot use the ratio as a dependable measure of direct shipping costs. Researchers should be wary of substituting country cif/fob ratios for direct measures of transport costs. JEL Code: F10

The World Institute for Nuclear Security: Filling a Gap in the Global Nuclear Security Regime

for Nuclear Security (WINS). Mohammed ElBaradei, then the director-general of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), said that “WINS fills an urgent gap in our need to strengthen the nuclear security system.” But the key question is, what is that gap? Cast your mind back to April 26, 1986, and the accident at Chernobyl that shocked the world and all but stopped further expansion of and investment in nuclear power. After that accident, “nuclear operators world-wide realized that the consequences had an effect on every nuclear power plant and international cooperation was needed to ensure that such an accident can never happen again.” That statement is from the World Association of Nuclear Operators (WANO), which was formed in May 1989 by nuclear operators worldwide to exchange operating experience and peer review so members could learn from one another’s experiences, challenges, and best practices, the ultimate goal being to improve plant safety, reliability, and performance. But WANO only handles nuclear safety. WINS was established to pursue similar objectives in improving nuclear security. In a world facing a global terrorist threat, we cannot afford to wait for a “security Chernobyl” before we take collaborative action to improve security. WINS is designed to complement, not compete with, existing efforts to improve nuclear security around the world.

The Sandwich Fellowship: A Subspecialty Training Model for the Developing World

Health care systems in many developing countries are rapidly evolving to respond to urbanization and shifting epidemiological profiles, creating an environment favorable for subspecialty development. The struggle for developing nations to train and retain highly skilled clinicians within academic institutions has highlighted the need for creative approaches to subspecialty education in these regions. The "Sandwich fellowship" is an educational model in which a fellow completes rotations at an academic institution in the developed world as well as in his or her home environment. An important component of the model is the expansion of institutional capacity at the fellow's home institution to create an enabling environment to practice newly acquired skills. The fellowship provides experience in diverse geographic and cultural contexts under the guidance of a preceptor from an institution in the developed world who teaches in both settings. Preceptors are given opportunities to continue professional growth and gain from exposure to pathology not commonly seen at home. Successful pilots of a Sandwich fellowship took place in ophthalmology and orthopedic surgery at the University of Ottawa in 2007-2008 and required funding from multiple sources with bilateral institutional support. Emphasis was also placed on teaching, leadership, management, and research so the fellows could return home and lead the development of their subspecialty areas. Early contact between administrations enables the model to serve as a gateway to a long-term partnership between developed world academic establishments and developing world institutions. Such a relationship yields a mutually beneficial exchange of knowledge and skills. Beneficiaries include the hospitals, their staff, and patients at both institutions.

5th World Congress: Official Congress of the World Institute of Pain

The 5th World Institute of Pain congress highlighted new developments in pain therapy related to various aspects of chronic pain syndrome, such as, neuropathic pain, and also provided new insights into processing of pain information and pain pathways in the CNS. In addition, a new strategy for combination therapy and drug delivery to the spinal cord including nanodrug delivery for better therapeutic efficacy was discussed in detail.

Food Security Indicators, Measurement, and the Impact of Trade Openness

The book is a compilation of studies in the area of food security at the micro (individual and household level) and macro (national) levels, which arise from a two-year1 project entitled ‘Hunger and Food Security’ undertaken by the United Nations University–World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER) in collaboration with the Indian Council of Social Research and the FAO. The motivation behind the book rests on the fact that food insecurity – both in terms of research and policy – receives less attention than poverty. According to the editors, this is probably due to the idea that, by eliminating the poverty problem, the hunger and malnourishment issues will also be addressed. However, as the book points out, there are three important differences between these problems and poverty: first, hunger is an immediate problem that requires solution; second, it is possible to tackle hunger problems in a prompt way since the means to do so exist and are cheaply available; and third, hunger is as much a cause as an effect of poverty.

Seeking the wider public, not 'power triangle'

Richard C. Stanton's new work is a reminder that brevity can be a virtue in academic writing. Stanton's concise book contends that a centuries-old Western apporach to news which plants all news in the local prevents the Western press from fully reporting world issues. He organises his discussion with supporting analysis from the news roles of world and regional institutions such as ASEAN and the UN as well as NGOs.

ON THE (MIS)MEASUREMENT OF INTERNATIONAL TRANSPORT COSTS

AbstractSeveral world institutions and researchers use import cif/fob ratios to measure a country's international transport costs. In this paper, the relationship between annual cif/fob ratios and compositions of imports are examined via correlation analysis. The findings show that where the quality of the data is reliable, a country's composition of imports has a significant effect on that country's cif/fob ratios; hence researchers cannot use the ratio as a reliable measure of direct shipping costs. Researchers should be wary of substituting country cif/fob ratios for direct measures of transport costs.