The objective of this chapter is to give insight in marine governance challenges, illustrated by Arctic shipping. To do this, this chapter presents a theory of marine governance as reflexive institutionalization, in which the structural properties of marine governance arrangements are (re)produced in interactions between governmental actors, maritime sectors and civil society actors within the structural conditions of the networked polity at sea. Based on an analysis of the institutionalization of shipping governance arrangements of three (possible) Arctic shipping routes; The Northwest Passage (NWP), the Northeast Passage and Northern Sea Route (NEP/NSR), and the Transpolar Sea Route (TSR) the following question will be answered, “What are the enabling and constraining conditions of marine governance as reflexive institutionalization?” In other words, what are the possibilities for public and private actors to challenge discursive spaces and to change the rules of the game, in order to find solutions for environmental, spatial, economic, and social problems at the Arctic Ocean? The analysis shows forms of institutionalization as structural reflectiveness in which the dominant discourse ‘shipping is allowed in the Arctic’ is not challenged. However, this form of reflectiveness showed how actors, such as China and Russia, are able the use rules from different institutional settings to strengthen their position.
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ObjectivesTo assess the independent association between health-related quality of life (HRQOL) at admission and mortality, functional decline, and institutionalization 3 and 12 months after admission in acutely hospitalized older adults.DesignPost hoc analysis of data from prospective cohort study, 2006 to 2009, 12-month follow-up.SettingEleven medical wards in three hospitals in the Netherlands.ParticipantsMedical patients aged 65 and older acutely hospitalized for 48 hours or longer (N = 473).MeasurementsOutcomes: mortality, functional decline, and institutionalization, 3 and 12 months after admission. Main determinant was HRQOL (utility based on the EuroQol-5D at admission, reflecting the relative desirability of a particular health state and is measured on a scale from 0 (death) to 1 (full health). Some health states are regarded as being worse than death, resulting in negative utilities, with a minimum of −0.330). Participants were split into two groups based on median utility at admission. Unadjusted and adjusted odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were estimated using Cox and logistic regression analyses, adjusted for sociodemographic and health variables.ResultsMedian utility was 0.775 (interquartile range 0.399–0.861). Utility greater than 0.775, indicating high HRQOL, was associated with lower risk of mortality (hazard ratio = 0.38, 95% CI = 0.18–0.83) and functional decline (OR = 0.47, 95% CI = 0.28–0.79) at 3 months in the adjusted models. At 12 months, these associations were statistically significant in the crude models but not in the adjusted models. Utility was not associated with risk of institutionalization at 3 or 12 months.ConclusionHigher HRQOL at admission was associated with lower risk of mortality and functional decline 3 months after admission. In older, acutely hospitalized individuals, the EQ-5D may provide a means of risk stratification and may ultimately guide individuals, their families, and professionals in treatment decisions during hospitalization.
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In the 1940s, Iran experienced dramatic changes in urban form, as worldwide modernization movements were embodied in new ‘modern’ neighborhood units in Tehran. Proposals for these neighborhoods, like those in other countries, not only included new housing typologies, but also aimed to alter existing social structures and facilitate nation building. Discussions and proposals regarding new neighborhoods centered on creating healthy, suitable, low-cost housing for new government employees – a group emblematic of Iran's newly established, modern middle class. However, the traditional lifestyle was an undeniable fact of society. Facing the modern socio-urban policies and socially traditional way of living led to both cultural change and landscape transformation. This paper discusses: how do regional architectural traditions transform the global modernity? How are Western conventions of how to be modern transformed by regional tradition and a different lifestyle? How does the institutionalization of modern neighborhoods, based on the lifestyles of its people, create an indigenous modernity? This paper illustrates how urban and social reformation practices towards modernization in the early twentieth century were embodied by Tehran's first modern neighborhood, Chaharsad Dastgah, as well as how domestic Iranian lifestyles influenced this neighborhood and distinguished it from its contemporaries.
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Undernutrition is a common problem in Dutch older people and may cause increased length of hospitalization, early institutionalization and decreased quality of life. This cross-sectional study aimed to examine the prevalence of nutrition risk among older people living in the community of Woerden.
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Background. Quality of life is an important health outcome for older persons. It predicts the adverse outcomes of institutionalization and premature death. The aim of this cross-sectional study was to determine the influence of both disability in activities of daily living (ADL) and instrumental activities of daily living (IADL) on physical and mental dimensions of quality of life. Methods. A total of 377 Dutch people aged 75 years and older completed a web-based questionnaire. This questionnaire contained the Groningen Activity Restriction Scale (GARS) for measuring ADL and IADL and the Short-Form Health Survey (SF-12) for measuring quality of life. The SF-12 distinguishes two dimensions of quality of life, a physical and mental dimension.
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Innovation is crucial for higher education to ensure high-quality curricula that address the changing needs of students, labor markets, and society as a whole. Substantial amounts of resources and enthusiasm are devoted to innovations, but often they do not yield the desired changes. This may be due to unworkable goals, too much complexity, and a lack of resources to institutionalize the innovation. In many cases, innovations end up being less sustainable than expected or hoped for. In the long term, the disappointing revenues of innovations hamper the ability of higher education to remain future proof. Against the background of this need to increase the success of educational innovations, our colleague Klaartje van Genugten has explored the literature on innovations to reveal mechanisms that contribute to the sustainability of innovations. Her findings are synthesized in this report. They are particularly meaningful for directors of education programs, curriculum committees, educational consultants, and policy makers, who are generally in charge of defining the scope and set up of innovations. Her report offers a comprehensive view and provides food for thought on how we can strive for future-proof and sustainable innovations. I therefore recommend reading this report.
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According to various authors access to financing is one of the main limitations constraining further growth for small- and medium sized enterprises (SMEs). Hence, academics and policymakers showed great interest in the topic of access to financing for SMEs. Various researchers argued the competitive advantage of large traditional banks in SME lending over smaller institutions. These institutions with more market power may charge higher financing costs and apply stricter credit policies for SME clients further affecting credit availability. In the past decade, SME financiers have entered the market as a response to the market domination of these large institutions. These new parties must gain trust as they operate in a market that is not regulated. Where traditional banks must comply with strict banking regulations, developing uniform regulations for the alternative financing sector remains a challenge. This paper examines the current challenges and solutions from a sociological and institutional perspective in developing standards for SMEs in the alternative financing sector. Our study contributes to the SME finance literature as it is the first empirical study that explicitly examines the regulatory gap in SME financing through interaction with policymakers, SME entrepreneurs, traditional banks as well as SME financiers themselves. Note: this is a confidential paper, part of a Phd-program and awaiting publication (as per August 2024)
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This article starts from the observation that popular culture resides in a contradictory space. On the one hand it seems to be thriving, in that the range of media objects that were previously studied under the rubric of popular culture has certainly expanded. Yet, cultural studies scholars rarely study these media objects as popular culture. Instead, concerns about immaterial labor, about the manipulation of voting behavior and public opinion, about filter bubbles and societal polarization, and about populist authoritarianism, determine the dominant frames with which the contemporary media environment is approached. This article aims to trace how this change has come to pass over the last 50 years. It argues that changes in the media environment are important, but also that cultural studies as an institutionalizing interdisciplinary project has changed. It identifies “the moment of popular culture” as a relatively short-lived but epoch-defining moment in cultural studies. This moment was subsequently displaced by a set of related yet different theoretical problematics that gradually moved the study of popular culture away from the popular. These displacements are: the hollowing out of the notion of the popular, as signaled early on by Meaghan Morris’ article “The Banality of Cultural Studies” in 1988; the institutionalization of cultural studies; the rise of the governmentality approach and a growing engagement with affect theory.
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Literature on the relationship between sustainability and human resource management (HRM) is just emerging. This chapter examines the role of the HRM function in advancing the sustainability agenda in the hotel industry. Drawing on 18 interviews with human resource managers (specialists), managers and employees drawn from 12 large and medium hotels in the Netherlands, this chapter reveals that HR professionals perform five different roles - of a coach, facilitator, architect, leader and custodian of sustainability conscience. These roles are based on Ulrich and Beatty’s (2001) model of HRM. It further shows that the propensity of human resource professionals to perform such roles is influenced by two major organisational contextual factors such as: a.) the sophistication of the HRM function and its relative position within the hotel’s decision-making structures; and b.) the stage of development of the hotel’s sustainability agenda. The chapter then concludes by highlighting implications for theory and practice.
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Abstract: Due to rapidly aging human populations, frailty has become an essential concept, as it identifies older people who have higher risk of adverse outcomes, such as disability, institutionalization, lower quality of life, and premature death. The Tilburg Frailty Indicator (TFI) is a user-friendly questionnaire based on a multidimensional approach to frailty, assessing physical, psychologic, and social aspects of human functioning. This review aims to explore the efficiency of the TFI in assessing frailty as a means to carry out research into the antecedents and consequences of frailty, and its use both in daily practice and for future intervention studies. Using a multidimensional approach to frailty, in contexts where health care professionals or researchers may have no time to interview or examine the client, we recommend employing the TFI because there is robust evidence of its reliability and validity and it is easy and quick to administer. More studies are needed to establish whether the TFI is suitable for intervention studies not only in the community, but also for specific groups such as patients in the hospital or admitted to an emergency department. We conclude that it is important to not only determine the deficits that frail older people may have, but also to assess their balancing strengths and resources. In order to be able to meet the individual needs of frail older persons, traditional and often fragmented elderly care should be developed toward a more proactive elderly care, in which frail older persons and their informal network are in charge.
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