Genomics and proteomics: the next generation of health care

Biotechnology research will dramatically impact health care, and the pharmaceutical industry in particular, in the coming decade. Health outcomes may be improved in a cost-effective manner through the ability to selectively prescribe medications; safer, more effective treatment may reduce long-term health care costs. As genetic testing becomes the standard of care, new challenges will surface around how genetic information will be used or misused, and how and where health care dollars are spent.     

Chest x-ray stages of sarcoidosis

The initial chest x-ray is used to classify the stage of sarcoidosis. This report shows x-rays with findings of Stages I to IV. Underwriting sarcoidosis requires information of the history, the stage and pulmonary function tests.     

FRACAS: A Computerized Aid for Reasoning in Tax

Problem solving in the tax domain requires two kinds of knowledge: of the law itself and of how the law has been applied in the past. The need for the second factor arises as a result of the ambiguity of natural language. The problem solver requires information on how the courts have adjudicated specific cases in the past. This information would then provide the basis for reasoning about the current case. In this paper we address the issue of developing a system which will retrieve relevant historical cases. The cases are stored using a frame representation scheme and the users can retrieve cases by specifying either attributes alone or attributes and values associated with them. Currently the system has been implemented in Pascal on a Cray. The case base contains 250 cases relating to Section 183 of the tax code.     

Tracing the utility of injury surveillance data in Pretoria (South Africa) and Borås (Sweden)

Our research attempted to study the factors that influenced the use of injury data in two cities, representing different injury and socio-economic profiles. In Pretoria, the South African capital city, injury data uptake was constrained by, among other factors, the transitional institutional environment, stakeholders' suspicion of research and the absence of safety promotion champions. In the Swedish city of Bor?s, injury data uptake was facilitated by well-established research agency-municipality partnerships, injury prevention champions, a receptive political and knowledge driven environment and dedicated resources. The study signified the role of a range of content issues, contextual arrangements, social actors who may or may not operate from a perspective of sufficient consensus and institutional communication processes that may either facilitate or hinder the multiple employment and rapid movement of data along the 'ladder of knowledge utilisation'. Safety promotion researchers may need to expand their roles beyond data production to improve data utility.     

EXPLORING EXPENDITURE‐BASED SEGMENTATION FOR RURAL TOURISM: OVERNIGHT STAY VISITORS VERSUS EXCURSIONISTS TO FEE‐FISHING SITES

About three fourths of new small tourism businesses fail within the first few years of operation mainly due to poor identification and lack of knowledge of their markets. While understanding visitor spending pattern is critical for the market to be economically viable and successful, research on rural tourist spending behavior is lacking in the literature. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to explore a visitor segmentation approach based on rural visitor spending behavior. Multiple regression analysis suggested accommodation attribute as the most useful predictor for visitor spending. Two subgroups were developed using accommodation type as a segmentation criterion—overnight stay visitors versus short excursionist. Comparative analyses were done using socio‐demographic variables, trip behavior, recreational motivation, and activity preferences. Overnight stay visitors and short excursion group showed significant differences on several behavioral and motivation variables. Practical suggestions are provided for attracting tourists to rural tourism destinations.     

Responses to COVID-19 in Southeast Asia: Diverse Paths and Ongoing Challenges

Due to geographical proximity and trade links with China, Southeast Asian countries were among the first to be exposed to and affected by COVID-19. However, despite shared challenges including protecting population health and economic security, policy responses by national governments have been varied and remain so a year into the pandemic. This article critically reviews Southeast Asian countries' approaches to COVID-19 with reference to individual country experiences and Association of Southeast Asian Nations. We discuss key policy responses: leadership, public risk communications, health system preparedness and resilience, economic support and social protection, aid and global health diplomacy, digital technologies, and the region's multilateral response.     

Herbal Pharma Inc.: Conducting an Effective Group Audit*

As the relative weight of global economic activity continues to shift toward non-OECD countries (OECD 2018), audit firms are more likely to encounter clients with significant business operations in foreign jurisdictions. The associated need to engage and oversee local component auditors in these jurisdictions can lead to challenges arising from different business cultures and the resulting intra-audit miscommunications. Audit deficiencies related to these challenges have been detected by regulators (PCAOB 2011, 2010; CPAB 2012, 2015). Standard setters such as the IAASB and the Auditing and Assurance Standards Board (AASB) have responded by issuing an exposure draft proposing revisions to ISA 600 (IAASB 2020) and CAS 600 (AASB 2020) to strengthen the auditor's approach and provide enhanced guidance to practitioners. In light of this evolving area of assurance, this case was developed to deepen students' understanding of both group and component audits in an international context. The case takes the perspective of the group auditor and features an audit senior in a specialized role overseeing the component audit of a client's increasingly material Chinese subsidiary. Deficiencies in the prior year component audit, along with a change in the component auditor, further underlines the importance of robust risk analysis for the upcoming engagement.