Community perspectives on the effectiveness of watershed management institutions in the Himalayas

The sustainability of environmental management initiatives,such as watershed management programs,relies on the presence of effective institutions at the watershed level.However,there needs to be more empirical evidence from evaluating the effectiveness of watershed-level institutions.Therefore,this study presents a pioneering effort to evaluate the effectiveness of Nepal’s first watershed conservation committee at the watershed scale,focusing on the case of the Khageri Khola watershed in Central Nepal.The study involved conducting a household survey,key informant interviews,focus group discussions,and field observations to collect and analyze the data.Descriptive analysis,index value calculation,and chi-square statistics were then employed to summarize the results regarding local respondents’perceptions of twelve institutional characteristics,their rationalities,and their association with socio-demographic variables.The results reveal that the watershed conservation committee was perceived as performing well in managing the watershed.Specifically,good interaction,appropriate scale,technical,environmental,social,organizational,and government rationality were perceived as highly effective,with an average index value of less than 0.36.In contrast,clarity of objectives and economic rationality showed moderate effectiveness,with an average index value ranging from 0.36 to 0.65.However,the results suggested that adaptiveness,compliance capacity,and financial rationality merit increased attention,intending to improve their performance.Further,the results showed the association of socio-demographics with respondents’perceptions of various indicators of institutional characteristics and their rationalities.Therefore,the study provides valuable insights for policymakers,researchers,and development practitioners charged with designing sustainable and effective programs and institutions.To enhance the effectiveness and sustainability of watershed management programs,we recommend establishing a policy-guided institutional mechanism at the watershed scale.This mechanism should be based on various institutional characteristics and rationalities and should consider the extant variability in the socio-demographic and topographic characteristics of the watershed.

Ranking academic institutions based on the productivity,impact,and quality of institutional scholars

Purpose:The quantitative rankings of over 55,000 institutions and their institutional programs are based on the individual rankings of approximately 30 million scholars determined by their productivity,impact,and quality.Design/methodology/approach:The institutional ranking process developed here considers all institutions in all countries and regions,thereby including those that are established,as well as those that are emerging in scholarly prowess.Rankings of individual scholars worldwide are first generated using the recently introduced,fully indexed ScholarGPS database.The rankings of individual scholars are extended here to determine the lifetime and last-five-year Top 20 rankings of academic institutions over all Fields of scholarly endeavor,in 14 individual Fields,in 177 Disciplines,and in approximately 350,000 unique Specialties.Rankings associated with five specific Fields(Medicine,Engineering&Computer Science,Life Sciences,Physical Sciences&Mathematics,and Social Sciences),and in two Disciplines(Chemistry,and Electrical&Computer Engineering)are presented as examples,and changes in the rankings over time are discussed.Findings:For the Fields considered here,the Top 20 institutional rankings in Medicine have undergone the least change(lifetime versus last five years),while the rankings in Engineering&Computer Science have exhibited significant change.The evolution of institutional rankings over time is largely attributed to the recent emergence of Chinese academic institutions,although this emergence is shown to be highly Field-and Discipline-dependent.Practical implementations:Existing rankings of academic institutions have:(i)often been restricted to pre-selected institutions,clouding the potential discovery of scholarly activity in emerging institutions and countries;(ii)considered only broad areas of research,limiting the ability of university leadership to act on the assessments in a concrete manner,or in contrast;(iii)have considered only a narrow area of research for comparison,diminishing the broader applicability and impact of the assessment.In general,existing institutional rankings depend on which institutions are included in the ranking process,which areas of research are considered,the breadth(or granularity)of the research areas of interest,and the methodologies used to define and quantify research performance.In contrast,the methods presented here can provide important data over a broad range of granularity to allow responsible individuals to gauge the performance of any institution from the Overall(all Fields)level,to the level of the Specialty.The methods may also assist identification of the root causes of shifts in institution rankings,and how these shifts vary across hundreds of thousands of Fields,Disciplines,and Specialties of scholarly endeavor.Originality/value:This study provides the first ranking of all academic institutions worldwide over Fields,Disciplines,and Specialties based on a unique methodology that quantifies the productivity,impact,and quality of individual scholars.

State-Owned Capital Participation in Private Enterprises:A Perspective of Debt Financing

This study takes debt financing as the entry point and explores the impact of state-owned capital participation in private enterprises from the perspectives of“unarticulated rules”and“articulated rules”.The study finds that state-owned capital participation significantly reduces the debt financing costs of private enterprises and expands the scale of their debt financing.This conclusion remains valid after a series of endogeneity and robustness tests.Further analysis of the mechanism reveals that state-owned capital participation improves the debt financing of private enterprises through multiple channels:Enhancing their social reputation,mitigating the“statistical bias”they face,optimizing their information quality,and reducing the“shareholder-creditor”agency problems.This paper conceptualizes these benefits as the“complementary advantages of heterogeneous shareholders”.This not only constructs a theoretical framework for“reverse mixed-ownership reform”but also better narrates the Chinese story of“mixed-ownership reform”by adopting a more universally applicable theory of equity structure.Additionally,the paper supplements existing research on the macro-and meso-level relationship between the government and the market by exploring the government’s positive role at the micro-level.

System Assimilation of E-Skills in Tertiary Institutions to Empower Graduates in South Africa

The value of system assimilation is to improve working relationships between tutors and learners while increasing workflow efficiency among tertiary institutions with low operational costs. E-skills could be described as electronic education development, to assist ICT professionals to reach their future career goals and aim to help users boost their ICT skills. In a society that is expanding, it is also a crucial issue to take into account. Researchers have turned their attention to this topic because of its significance and contribution to the empowerment of graduates in digital education. Many scholars have proposed many methods for integrating e-skills into society with impressive results, but the rising rate of graduate unemployment in South Africa is gradually becoming a big worry in our society. A model based on Activity Theory (AT) and e-skills will be developed in our tertiary institution to equip graduates with skills that will increase their employability and provide more individualized work opportunities as part of this study’s effort to solve this issue. With the use of the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) and Cronbach’s Alpha for validity and reliability testing, the study will create an experimental performance to assess the approach taken to measure e-skills in tertiary institutions to empower graduates in South Africa. The study established that system development and e-skilled models for tertiary institutions are growing gradually, especially in South African institutions, that empower graduates with profitable employability with experiences to improve work operation in the industries. In conclusion, system development and e-skills are very demanding but important to empower graduate employability to determine competency in the professional workforce.

Research on Mixed Ownership Reform of State-Owned Enterprises from the Perspective of Marxist Political Economy

Under China’s socialist system,state-owned enterprises are key forces driving the economic trajectory and providing strong momentum.These enterprises not only bear the crucial responsibility of advancing the process of national modernization but also serve as the core of the national economic lifeline through their irreplaceable status and function amidst changing times.In the new era,with the advent of the technological revolution and the wave of globalization,state-owned enterprises face unprecedented opportunities and challenges.As a significant aspect of state-owned enterprise reform,the mixed ownership reform is not only a transformation in the structure of enterprise ownership but also a reflection of China’s broader,comprehensive reform efforts.By deeply advancing this reform,it will help optimize the allocation of state-owned assets and significantly boost technological and management innovation within state-owned enterprises,ensuring their competitiveness in the intense market environment.Therefore,this paper will conduct an in-depth analysis of the mixed ownership reform of state-owned enterprises from the perspective of Marxist political economy.

Internal Control Management and Risk Prevention Measures of State-Owned Enterprises

As an important pillar of national economic development,state-owned enterprises,their operational efficiency,and risk management ability are directly related to the stability and security of the national economy.As an important part of enterprise management,internal control management plays an irreplaceable role.Especially in the current domestic and international economic situation is complex and changeable,market competition is increasingly fierce environment,to strengthen the internal control management of state-owned enterprises and risk prevention measures is particularly important.This paper starts with the importance of internal control management and risk prevention for state-owned enterprises,and analyzes the problems and strategies in the internal control management and risk prevention of state-owned enterprises,in order to build a more comprehensive and efficient risk management system for state-owned enterprises to adapt to the ever-changing market environment and realize sustainable development.

Digital Transformation:The Impact of e-CNY on Securities Institutions and Financial Systems in China

In recent years,the rapid advancement of emerging technologies such as big data,blockchain,and artificial intelligence has accelerated the transformation of currencies,shifting from materialization towards digitization and electronization.The e-CNY stands out as a prime example of China’s pioneering digital financial innovation globally.Governed by the central bank,it embodies the national agenda.As the e-CNY’s application field and reach expand,its relationship with the financial market grows increasingly intimate.As a significant participant in China’s financial landscape and a proactive responder to national policies,the securities industry is profoundly influenced by the e-CNY across various domains.Therefore,this paper undertakes a theoretical analysis of the e-CNY’s implementation within securities institutions,concluding that it will usher in a new paradigm for the entire financial system.

Current research on alexithymia in elderly people in nursing institutions: a scoping review

To describe and analyze the research status of alexithymia in elderly people in nursing institutions,and summarizes the existing research results and shortcomings.The literature in PubMed,CochraneLibrary,Web of Science,EBSCO,Proquest,Scopus,Sinomed,CNKI,WanFang,VIP was computer searched,and the time frame was build to October 30,2023.A total of 15 articles were included,comprising 10 in Chinese and 5 in English.Among them,14 articles were cross-sectional studies reporting the prevalence and influencing factors of communication disorders in elderly people residing in nursing homes.A total of three assessment tools were used.Additionally,three articles described preventive or intervention measures targeting alexithymia.Alexithymia has a high incidence and severity among elderly individuals in nursing institutions.Currently,there are only a few assessment tools available,and experimental studies are notably scarce.Future research should focus on enhancing the understanding of alexithymia in this population by developing and validating more comprehensive assessment tools,diversifying research methodologies,and conducting intervention studies that consider the various influencing factors.

Research on the Internal Talent Training Path and Performance Evaluation Mechanism of New R&D Institutions in Zhejiang Province

New research and development(R&D)institutions are an important part of the national innovation system,playing an important role in promoting the transformation of scientific and technological achievements.In recent years,new R&D institutions have gradually become the driving force of innovation-driven development in China.Taking new R&D institutions in Zhejiang Province as the research object,this paper studies the internal talent training path and performance evaluation mechanism of new R&D institutions in Zhejiang Province by using the literature research method,comparison method,case verification method,and other methods.The investigation results show that there are problems such as lack of material and spiritual support and neglect of the absorption of local talents in the internal talent training,and there are problems such as unclear standards,insufficient data,and opaque processes in the performance evaluation mechanism,which greatly affect the establishment and improvement of the performance evaluation mechanism.Given the above problems,this paper puts forward a forward-looking,oriented,flexible,and compatible talent training path and performance evaluation mechanism,hoping to optimize the effective internal talent training path of new R&D institutions,improve the evaluation performance,and promote healthy development of new R&D institutions in Zhejiang Province.

Analysis of the Current Situation of Drug Clinical Trial Institutions in Shaanxi Province

To understand the current situation of institutional registration in Shaanxi Province after the implementation ofregistration system management in drug clinical trial institutions.Relevant information was collected on the“Announcement on the Accreditation of Drug Clinical Trial Institutions”issued by the National Medical Products Administration from 2005 to August 2022,the record management information system of drug and medical device clinical trial institutions,and the drug clinical trial registration and information publicity platform.A retrospective analysis was carried out in terms of institutional development,regional distribution,registered majors,principal investigators,and the number of drug clinical trials.After the implementation of institution registration,the number of drug clinical trial institutions in Shaanxi Province increased by 47.4%,884 principal investigators were registered,the number of registered majors expanded from 58 qualified to 117,and the professional scope increased by 50.4%.The policy of institution registration is conducive to promoting the rational use of medical resources and the development of drug clinical trial institutions and improving the healthy development of the pharmaceutical industry in Shaanxi Province.

STUDY OF REENGINEERING THE STOCK EQUITY STRUCTURE IN CHINESE STATE-OWNED ENTERPRISE REFORM

In this paper,it is first briefly described the basic situation and current policies of state owned enterprise reform in China.Then the major issues in the reform process are identified,the possible solutions in terms of reengineering stock equity structure and state share circulation are discussed,and finally some suggestions are made for the further state owned enterprise reform.Basing on the theory on the modern corporation system,relevant experiences of market economy nations and the practice of Chinese enterprise system reform.The approaches to determine the proportion of state share in the future corporations are proposed.Since the public ownership is not ideologically appropriate,the establishment of social security fund and mutual fund investment companies are suggested as new and acceptable pattern of public ownership.It is believed that these companies will be the major institutional shareholders in the future corporations.Their stock equity structure would mainly consist of institutional shareholders,which will be both consistent with international norms of modern corporations and with socialist public ownership with Chinese characteristics.

The situation of primary care institutions under the background of new medical reform in China

[目的] 分析新医改背景下我国基层医疗卫生机构的发展现状,探讨存在的问题,为进-步完善基层 卫生事业改革发展提供参考.[方法]利用2008 - 2 0 1 2年中国卫生统计年鉴数据,对基层医疗卫生机构基础设 施、人才配置和卫生服务利用状况进行分析.[结果] 2008 - 2 0 1 2年我国基层医疗卫生机构总数量年平均增速 为 1.55%,其中西部地区的机构数量最少、但年平均增速最快,中部地区的数量比西部多比东部少;在三大基 层医疗卫生机构当中,社区卫生服务中心（ 站）、乡镇卫生院和村卫生室机构数量年平均增长率分别为8 . 4 4 %、 -1.3%和 1.6%; 三大基层机构卫生技术人员数量年平均增长率分别为2 0 . 2 5 %、3% 和 5 . 0 2 % ; 三大基层机构 诊疗人次数年平均增长率分别为2 3 . 6 8 %、3. 96% 和 8. 92 %.截至2 0 1 2年 ,社区卫生服务中心卫生技术人员的 学历以大专为主（占40. 9%）,职称以师级/助理为主 （占32. 8%）; 乡镇卫生院卫生技术人员的学历以中专为 主 （占51. 3%）,职称以士级为主（占40. 2%）.[结论]新医改后我国基层医疗卫生机构发展迅速,但资源分 布仍不均衡;基层卫生技术人员数量不断增加,但学历职称层次仍偏低;基层医疗卫生机构卫生服务利用增 加 ,但患者就医仍缺乏有效引导.

The Establishment of the Innovative and Practical Teaching Mode for Architecture Majors with the Help of “Schools-Enterprises-Governments-Research Institutions”

This paper focuses on the establishment of the teaching mode of innovative and practical architectural professionals, which is assisted by colleges and universities, enterprises, governments and research institutions. This paper believes that through the reform of the teaching mode, we can solve the problems such as the ivory-towered teaching of architecture in colleges and universities, the superficial teaching contents, inadequate teaching staff, students' poor innovation practice ability and tight professional funds. It is expected that this paper can provide assistance for architecture majors in the guidance of innovative ideas, the building of practical ability, and the establishment of knowledge system.

The Vision of Agri-Environmental Sustainability in Bangladesh: How the Policies, Strategies and Institutions Delivered?

Agriculture and environmental change are tightly interconnected in ways that require active roles of policy, strategy, and institution for the promotion of sustainable agriculture development. To explore this issue, this study addresses two questions 1) to what extent is environmental integration reflected in policies, strategies, and institutions? And 2) how do these policies, strategies, and institutions turn ambitions into actions? By adopting two frameworks developed by the OECD and the European Environment Agency as well as critically reviewing policy documents and conducting the key informant interviews, the results revealed that most of the policies and strategies integrated the environmental issue and had stipulated action plans and governance structure for implementation. The results also found that institutions marginally integrated the environmental concerns and faced several problems that hindered turning ambitions into actions. Overall, although policy instruments were good, the vision of sustainability was in difficulty to actualizing into action due to weak institutional setup. This study highlights the interdependence between the dimensions of policy implement tation process. Policy implications should emphasize enhancing institutional capacity, revamping agricultural advisory services, and empowering Bangladesh Agricultural Research Council (BARC) to translate the vision of agri-environmental sustainability into action.

Current Situation and Mode of Talent Training in Marine Cultural Industry Based on Collaborative Innovation of Governments,Enterprises,Colleges,Scientific Institutions and Users

Based on the present situation of talent training in marine cultural industry,the collaborative innovation mechanism of governments,enterprises,colleges,scientific institutions and users was used to construct the mode of talent training in marine cultural industry. It is needed to give full play to the active roles of governments,enterprises,colleges,scientific institutions and users in the training of marine cultural talents,develop training mode of innovative scientific and technological talents,speed up the construction of collaborative innovation ability of marine cultural talents,and improve the efficiency of talent training.

Institutions and FDI:evidence from developed and developing countries

This study investigates the impact of institutional quality on Foreign Direct Investment(FDI)inflows using panel data for low,lower-middle,upper-middle and high-income countries for the sample period of 1996-2016 using the system Generalized Method of Moments(GMM).The empirical results confirm that institutional quality has a positive impact on FDI in all group of countries.The magnitude of the coefficients of control of corruption,government effectiveness,political stability,regulatory quality,rule of law,and voice and accountability for FDI inflows are greater in developed countries than in developing countries.We conclude that institutional quality is a more important determinant of FDI in developed countries than in developed countries.However,GDP per capita,agriculture value-added as a percentage of GDP,and inflation influence FDI inflows negatively in developed countries,while GDP per capita,trade openness,agriculture value-added as a percentage of GDP,and infrastructure have positive and statistically significant impacts on FDI inflows in developing countries.Trade openness as a percentage of GDP and infrastructure positively affect FDI in developed countries.From our analysis,we infer that institutional quality is a more important determinant of FDI in developed countries than in developing countries.

The Role and Effectiveness of Local Institutions in the Management of Forest Biodiversity in New Dabaga-Ulongambi Forest Reserve,Iringa Region-Tanzania

This paper examines the role and effectiveness of locacal institutions in the management of forest biodiversity in New Dabaga-Ulongambi Forest Reserve, Tanzania. Data were obtained through questionnaires, interviews, focus group discussions, participatory rural appraisal and field observations. The study revealed that the most remarkable local institutions connected to forest biodiversity management include： Village Natural Resources Man- agement Committee （92%）, tree nursery group （79.4%）, beekeep- ing groups （61.1%）, fish fanning （43.3%）, livestock rearing group （33.9%）. Main activities carried out by local institutions which directly contribute to the sustainability Of forest reserve include： forest patrols, fire extinguish, preparation of fire breaks, plant- ing of trees along the forest boundaries, creation of awareness, arresting of forest defaulters, participation in income generation activities. For the purpose of realization that local communities are capable of managing forest biodiversity through their traditional institutions, the policy should provide tangible opportunity for local communities to meet their needs as they manage the forests.

Research on Financial Performance of State-owned Enterprise Mixed Ownership Reform

Mixed ownership is an important form of realization of China＇s economic system reform and development, and it is also the main direction of state-owned enterprise reform. In order to further promote the deepening of the reform of mixed ownership, this paper randomly selects 200 listed state-owned enterprises as research objects, and studies the trends of the financial performance of these enterprises from the mixed state-owned enterprises and non-mixed-modification enterprises in the five years from 2013 to 2017, and compares their various trends. Financial indicators, a comprehensive evaluation of the problems and causes in the reform of the mixed ownership system, and then propose countermeasures to further deepen the reform of mixed ownership based on the research conclusions.

Impact of global financial crunch on financially innovative microfinance institutions in South Asia

The wave of global financial crises(2008-2009)caused a surge in the capital flows of developed countries particularly,between developed and developing countries.The crunch hit all financial sectors with unanticipated severity.The study evaluates the role of a country’s political practices in moderating the impact of global financial crunch on microfinance performance.Using the fixed effect panel regression method on the dataset comprising of 95 MFIs operating in South Asia from 2003 to 2012,we determine that microfinance operational capability shares a positive relationship with the institutional attributes of a country and our output reveals that impact of country’s political practices is pervasive on the financial output of MFIs,liable to different levels of implementation.The findings further reveals that MFIs situated in countries having vigorous political practices are less severely affected by the economic crunch.

Factors Influencing Students Decisions to Enrollment in Sudanese Higher Education Institutions

There is a growing body of literature that recognizes the importance of data mining in educational systems. This recognition makes educational data mining a new growing research community. One way to achieve the highest level of quality in a higher education system is by discovering knowledge from educational data such as students’ enrollment data. Many mining tools that aim to discover exciting correlations, frequent patterns, associations, or casual structures among sets of items in educational data sets have been proposed. One of the widely used tools is association rules. In this paper, the Apriori algorithm is used to generate association rules to discover the importance and correlation between factors that influence student’s decision to enroll in higher education institutions in Sudan. The algorithm is applied using a student’s enrollment data set that was created using a questionnaire and 800 students enrolled in governmental and private sector universities as a sample. This paper classifies factors that influence enrollment into: student’s demographic factors and four categories of enrollment related factors (Student and Society, Educational Institution, Admission, and Employment related factors), and determines the most influential factors in determining student’s decision to enroll in Sudanese universities. The analysis result shows that the Educational Institution related factors (50%) and Admission related factors (40%) are strongly influencing students’ enrollment decision, while the Employment related factors (10%) and Student and Society related factors (0%) have weak influence. The factors out of the 14 Educational Institution related factors that have a high impact are: reputation, diversity of study, quality of education, education facilities, and feasibility.