Reviews: The Quality of the Urban Environment, Industrial Britain: The North West, Papers, Regional Science Association, People and Planning, the Minnesota Experimental City Progress Report

Orientation: School principals have an important role to play in the quality of service delivery in schools. Evidence suggests that school principals are generally poorly compensated, which has an adverse impact on their well-being and subsequent service quality orientation.Research purpose: This study investigated whether rewards are a predictor of well-being and service orientation of school principals in the North-West province.Motivation for the study: Effective school principals are fundamental to the success of any school, which necessitates the establishment of an effective reward and remuneration system.Research design, approach and method: Quantitative research was carried out among school principals (N = 155) in four districts of the North-West province. The Total Rewards Scale, Maslach’s Burnout Inventory – General Survey, the Utrecht Work Engagement Scale and the SERVQUAL measure were administered among the principals.Main findings: The results showed that rewards are a significant predictor of the well-being and service quality of school principals. The results further showed that burnout significantly reduces the service quality of school principals. No significant relationships were found between work engagement and the service quality of school principals.Practical/managerial implications: An effective total rewards system enhances the well-being of school principals and, subsequently, their willingness and commitment to delivering quality services.Contribution: The results of this study point out some key elements that need to be considered by the Department of Education to enable quality service delivery in South African schools.

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Systemic School Improvement Interventions in South Africa

10.47622/9781920677374 ◽

2014 ◽

Keyword(s):

School Improvement ◽

South African ◽

Rural Areas ◽

Eastern Cape ◽

North West ◽

Household Level ◽

The North ◽

Improvement Interventions ◽

Academic Review

Looking at two smaller-scale systemic school improvement projects implemented in selected district circuits in the North West and Eastern Cape by partnerships between government, JET Education Services, and private sector organisations, this book captures and reflects on the experiences of the practitioners involved. The Systemic School Improvement Model developed by JET to address an identified range of interconnected challenges at district, school, classroom and household level, is made up of seven components. In reflecting on what worked and what did not in the implementation of these different components, the different chapters set out some of the practical lessons learnt, which could be used to improve the design and implementation of similar education improvement projects. Many of the lessons in this field that remain under-recorded to date relate to the step-by-step processes followed, the relationship dynamics encountered at different levels of the education system, and the local realities confronting schools and districts in South Africa's rural areas. Drawing on field data that is often not available to researchers, the book endeavours to address this gap and record these lessons. It is not intended to provide an academic review of the systemic school improvement projects. It is presented rather to offer other development practitioners working to improve the quality of education in South African schools, an understanding of some of the real practical and logistical challenges that arise and how these may be resolved to take further school improvement projects forward at a wider district, provincial and national scale.

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Surgical complications of peritoneal dialysis in children with acute kidney failure

Pediatrician (St Petersburg) ◽

10.17816/ped11357-63 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 11 (3) ◽

pp. 57-63

Author(s):

Dmitrii A. Dobroserdov ◽

Mikhail V. Shchebenkov ◽

Alexey L. Shavkin

Keyword(s):

Renal Failure ◽

Acute Renal Failure ◽

Peritoneal Dialysis ◽

North West ◽

The North ◽

Specialized Center ◽

Uremic Syndrome ◽

Specialized Department ◽

Dialysis Complications

The dialysis department of the Childrens City Multidisciplinary Clinical Specialized Center for High Medical Technologies has been operating since 1977 and is the only specialized department in the North-West Region of the Russian Federation that provides assistance to children with both acute and chronic renal failure. Peritoneal dialysis is the treatment of choice for children with acute renal failure, the most common cause of which is hemolytic-uremic syndrome. Despite widely used measures to improve the results of peritoneal dialysis, complications are extremely common. The article analyzes the complications of peritoneal dialysis in children with acute renal failure who were treated in a hospital from 2008 to 2018. The emphasis in the study is on the analysis of complications of peritoneal dialysis, in the treatment of which the surgeon actively participated or should have taken part in. If the problem of acute renal failure is multidisciplinary in the sense that it requires the participation of nephrologists, resuscitators, infectious disease specialists, then if necessary, renal replacement therapy requires the surgeon to become not only a specialist providing access, but also a full-fledged participant in the treatment process. As follows from the foregoing, the surgeons actions depend not only on the quality of dialysis, but also the timeliness and adequacy of treatment of complications, which ultimately improves or worsens the quality of medical care in general.

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Disparities in the quality of and access to services in children with autism spectrum disorders: a structural equation modeling

Archives of Public Health ◽

10.1186/s13690-021-00577-5 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 79 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Mohammad Asghari Jafarabadi ◽

Kamal Gholipour ◽

Hassan Shahrokhi ◽

Ayyoub Malek ◽

Akbar Ghiasi ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Structural Equation ◽

Autism Spectrum ◽

Socioeconomic Disparities ◽

Equation Modeling ◽

Quality Of Services ◽

Access To Services ◽

North West ◽

The North ◽

Children With Asd

Abstract Background Socioeconomic disparities in health and healthcare are global issues that affect both adults as well as children. Children with exceptional healthcare needs, especially those with developmental impairments, including Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD), encounter major disparities in access to and quality of health services. However, disparities in the population of children are rarely studied. The main aim of this paper is to study the socioeconomic disparities in children with ASD by examining the association between their Social Determinants of Health (SDH) status and access to and the quality of services. Methods This is a cross-sectional study on 202 children with ASD conducted in 2019 in two provinces including Ardabil and East-Azerbaijan, in the North-West of Iran. A structured, valid questionnaire was used to collect data on demographic, SDH status, quality of services, and access to services in a population of children with ASD aged 2–16-year-old. Around 77% participants were male and the mean age of children was 2 years and 6 months. Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) were used to assess the relationship. Results Based on the results of this study, the overall mean scores of the quality of services, access to services, and SDH status were 61.23 (30.01), 65.91 (21.89), and 29.50 (22.32) out of 100, respectively. All the associations between the quality and access dimensions and quality (B: 0.464–0.704) and access (B: 0.265–0.726) scales were statistically significant (P < 0.001). By adjusting to covariates, the access was also significantly related to service quality (P = 0.004). Finally, the associations between SDH score with service quality (P = 0.039) and access (P < 0.001) were positively significant. Conclusions There are socioeconomic disparities in the quality of and access to services among children with ASD, who use ASD services, in the North-West of Iran. We recommend health/medical centers, where children are diagnosed with ASD, conducting SDH screening and providing families of low-SDH status with specific information about the quality of and access to services for children with ASD. Additionally, medical universities must have a plan to routinely monitor the quality of and access to services provided for the children with low SDH.

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The Evolution of the Designations: Regional Science, Regional Science Association and the Field of Regional Science

History of Regional Science and the Regional Science Association International ◽

10.1007/978-3-540-24751-7_3 ◽

2003 ◽

pp. 71-72

Author(s):

Walter Isard

Keyword(s):

Regional Science ◽

Regional Science Association ◽

Science Association

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A REPORT ON THE 45TH ERSA (EUROPEAN REGIONAL SCIENCE ASSOCIATION) CONGRESS

Doboku Gakkai Ronbunshuu D ◽

10.2208/jscejd.62.84 ◽

2006 ◽

Vol 62 (1) ◽

pp. 84-86

Author(s):

Makoto TSUKAI

Keyword(s):

Regional Science ◽

Regional Science Association ◽

European Regional ◽

Science Association

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Walkabove VSP with seismic-while-drilling technology: flawless operation in a highly deviated well

The APPEA Journal ◽

10.1071/aj12065 ◽

2013 ◽

Vol 53 (2) ◽

pp. 454

Author(s):

Adrian Cristian Sanchez Rodriguez ◽

Leon Dahlhaus ◽

Konstantin Galybin ◽

Andrew Vigor ◽

Grant Skinner ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Seismic Profile ◽

Geological Structure ◽

Surface Source ◽

North West ◽

The North ◽

Bottom Hole ◽

Surface Time ◽

Drilling Technology ◽

Bottom Hole Assembly

SWD was recently used in the North West Shelf of Australia to acquire time-depth measurements and to obtain a vertical seismic profile (VSP) while pulling out of hole. The use of SWD technology greatly enhanced the understanding of geology by acquiring a more precise geophysical picture of the subsurface, leading to better understanding of the subsurface and placement of wells in the future. A vertical incidence VSP was acquired in an offshore deviated well for a client on the Australian North West Shelf. The data was acquired using a moving-surface source, suspended from a boat, and a four-component downhole sensor in the bottom hole assembly (BHA). The downhole data was acquired using three orthogonal geophones and a single hydrophone measurement at each VSP level. This was recorded while pulling out of hole, and processed once the tool was on surface. Time picking accuracy of the downhole data is ±0.5 ms with the frequency range 6–90Hz, both comparable to Wireline. The repeatability of the hydrophone and geophone time picks was also excellent with the average difference being 0.2 ms and maximum 0.8 ms. High resolution VSP images beneath the well in addition to corridor stacks were derived from the geophone and hydrophone data, showing the geological structure of the reservoir. The quality of the data acquired allowed the client to remove the need for a wireline VSP run; it, therefore, saved significant rig time and costs associated with it, reduced the chances of getting stuck, and significantly reduced the seismic uncertainty.

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