IDRC Challenge Fund / Fonds d’encouragement du CRDI
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Many global issues can only be addressed through collaboration. IDRC’s Challenge Fund joins with Canada’s science granting councils to support joint research by Canadian and Southern scientists in areas of shared interest, such as climate change and infectious disease. Our partnerships allow us to support large-scale competitions that target global challenges.
Established in 2005, IDRC’s Challenge Fund responds to the growing interest of researchers and research funding organizations to conduct and support collaborative and comparative international research. We support research in:
- agriculture and the environment
- health and health systems
- social and economic policy
- science, technology, and innovation
The projects we fund facilitate the generation and sharing of knowledge across borders and sectors.
Seule la collaboration permet d’aborder nombre d’enjeux mondiaux. Par le truchement de son Fonds d’encouragement, le CRDI s’associe aux conseils subventionnaires de la recherche scientifique du Canada afin de soutenir des travaux de recherche que des scientifiques d’ici et de pays du Sud réalisent ensemble sur des sujets revêtant un intérêt commun, comme les changements climatiques et les maladies infectieuses. Ces partenariats permettent de financer des concours d’envergure visant à relever des défis d’envergure mondiale.
Le Fonds d’encouragement du CRDI a été créé en 2005 en raison de l’intérêt croissant que des chercheurs et des organismes de financement portaient à la recherche internationale concertée et comparative. Le Fonds soutient la recherche dans les domaines suivants :
- l’agriculture et l’environnement
- la santé et les systèmes de santé
- la politique sociale et économique
- la science, la technologie et l’innovation
Les projets financés facilitent la production de connaissances et leur diffusion d’un pays à l’autre et d’un secteur à l’autre.
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Item Ingrédients magiques de la relation d'aide : une exploration des facteurs à l'origine du succès de l'intervention dans le champ de la santé mentale(Érudit, 2009) Bergeron-Leclerc, Christiane; Cormier, CécileCet article propose une exploration des facteurs contribuant au succès de l’intervention dans le champ de la santé mentale. Dans un premier temps, est proposé un survol de différentes stratégies utilisées par les travailleuses sociales afin de favoriser l’intégration sociale des personnes ayant des troubles mentaux graves. De façon plus spécifique, il est question de quatre courants théoriques ayant influencé la pratique du travail social des années 1960 jusqu’à nos jours : réinsertion sociale, réadaptation psychosociale ou psychiatrique, rétablissement et résilience. Dans un deuxième temps, sont présentés les résultats d’une démarche de consultation entreprise auprès des informateurs et informatrices clés du champ de la réadaptation en santé mentale, consultation qui a permis de dégager certains ingrédients sous-tendant les effets positifs de l’intervention, notamment la contribution de l’espoir à ce processus.Item Dynamics of spreading and immune strategies of sexually transmitted diseases on scale-free network(2009) Lou, Jie; Ruggen, TommasoWe examine epidemic threshold and dynamics for sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) spread using a multiple susceptible-infected–removed-susceptible ODE model on scale-free networks. We derive the threshold for the epidemic to be zero in infinite scale-free network. For a hard cut off scale-free network, we also prove the stability of disease-free equilibrium and the persistence of STDs infection. The effects of two immunization schemes, including proportional scheme and targeted vaccination, are studied and compared. We find that targeted strategy compare favorably to a proportional scheme in terms of effectiveness. Theory and simulations both prove that an appropriate condom using has prominent effect to control STDs spread on scale-free networks.Item Oficinas de construção de indicadores e dispositivos de avaliação: uma nova técnica de consenso(2009) Onocko Campos, Rosana Teresa; Miranda, Lilian; Pegolo da Gama, Carlos Alberto; Ferrer, Ana Luiza; Diaz, Alberto REste artigo discute o trabalho com Oficinas de construção de indicadores e dispositivos de avaliação enquanto uma nova técnica de consensos, especialmente no contexto de uma pesquisa participativa e avaliativa. Para tanto, apresenta as tradicionais técnicas de consenso, bem como o método de Oficinas, trabalhado pelo Grupo de Pesquisa Saúde Coletiva e Saúde Mental: interfaces. Conclui-se que as Oficinas apresentam vantagens frente às tradicionais técnicas de consenso na medida em que aumentam a diversidade dos atores e as inserções sócio-políticas dos participantes, não se restringindo apenas àqueles reconhecidos como especialistas no objeto estudado. A inclusão desses diferentes atores na construção do conhecimento alinha-se à aposta no protagonismo como fator decisivo na incorporação dos resultados do processo avaliativo no cotidiano do trabalho. No entanto, exige infra-estrutura para o encontro presencial entre os participantes e habilidade para lidar democraticamente com as diferentes posições de poder nelas incluídas.Item Saúde Mental na Atenção Básica – Uma pesquisa bibliográfica exploratória em periódicos de saúde coletiva (1997-2007)(2009) Pegolo da Gama, Carlos Alberto; Onocko Campos, RosanaEste estudo realiza uma pesquisa bibliográfica exploratória em periódicos da área de Saúde Coletiva – Revista de Saúde Pública; Revista Ciência e Saúde Coletiva; Cadernos de Saúde Pública; Revista Brasileira de Epidemiologia; Physis - Revista de Saúde Coletiva; Interface - Comunicação, Saúde e Educação – no período de 10 anos (1997-2007). Os artigos foram selecionados por tratarem do tema Saúde Mental na Atenção Básica. Foram encontrados 45 artigos, sendo 15 na Revista de Saúde Pública, 15 nos Cadernos de Saúde Pública, 11 na Revista Ciência e Saúde Coletiva, 2 na Interface - Comunicação, Saúde e Educação, 1 na Physis - Revista de Saúde Coletiva e 1 na Revista Brasileira de Epidemiologia. A produção está concentrada na região sudeste com 68% dos artigos. Constatou-se que 38% dos artigos utilizaram metodologia quantitativa, 34% qualitativa, 10% quanti-quali e 18% são revisões bibliográficas. Os artigos foram divididos em 4 categorias: Perfil Epidemiológico, Concepção dos Atores , Modelos de Atenção e Formação. Os artigos apontam para a existência de uma demanda expressiva e uma política pública incipiente, revelando uma distância muito grande entre as propostas da política pública e a realidade cotidiana dos serviços. Percebe-se a existência de alguns dispositivos de trabalho e algumas mudanças nas concepções tradicionais que podem ser potencializadoras de transformaçõesItem Multi-document Summarization by Information Distance(2009) Long, C; Huang, M L; Zhu, X Y; Li, MFast changing knowledge on the Internet can be acquired more efficiently with the help of automatic document summarization and updating techniques. This paper described a novel approach for multi-document update summarization. The best summary is defined to be the one which has the minimum information distance to the entire document set. The best update summary has the minimum conditional information distance to a document cluster given that a prior document cluster has already been read. Experiments on the DUC 2007 dataset and the TAC 2008 dataset have proved that our method closely correlates with the human summaries and outperforms other programs such as LexRank in many categories under the ROUGE evaluation criterion.Item A intersubjetividade no cuidado à Saúde Mental: narrativas de técnicos e auxiliares de enfermagem de um Centro de Atenção Psicossocial(2009) Onocko Campos, Rosana; Preto Baccari, IvanaPsychosocial Care Centers (Caps) were established as a result of the demand for Mental Health care and were an attempt to update psychiatric treatment for those afflicted with severe mental disorders. This article seeks to analyze subjective repercussions of work conducted in Caps on mid-level professionals and to contribute to healthcare planning. Two focal groups were conducted with workers of a Caps III. The methodology applied to the analysis was based on the critical hermeneutical approach proposed by Ricoeur and espoused by Gadamerian philosophy. Lack of appreciation in the workplace was revealed as being the main cause of suffering. Several themes stood out including the difficulty of obtaining the cooperation of users’ relatives, the tenuous interconnection between Caps and the health network, the attribution of responsibility for the night shift, controversies regarding overnight-stay patients and an excessive workload. Adequate structural planning and institutional organization is proposed when opening new Caps in order to reduce the workload of technicians and improve the clinical performance of the team.Item Ecologia de Pescadores Artesanais da Baía de Ilha Grande(2009) Begossi, Alpina; Lopes, Priscila F; de Oliveira, Luiz Eduardo CItem Sex-role-preference model for HIV transmission among men who have sex with men in China(BioMed Central, United Kingdom, 2009) Lou, Jie; Wu, Jianhong; Chen, Li; Ruan, Yuhua; Shao, YimingBackground: Men who have sex with men (MSM) are much more likely to be infected with HIV than the general population. China has a sizable population of MSM, including gay, bisexual men, money boys and some rural workers. So reducing HIV infection in this population is an important component of the national HIV/AIDS prevention and control program. Methods: We develop a mathematical model using a sex-role-preference framework to predict HIV infection in the MSM population and to evaluate different intervention strategies. Results: An analytic formula for the basic reproduction ratio R0 was obtained; this yields R0 = 3.9296 in the current situation, so HIV will spread very fast in the MSM population if no intervention measure is implemented in a timely fashion. The persistence of HIV infection and the existence of disease equilibrium (or equilibria) are also shown. We utilized our model to simulate possible outcomes of antiretroviral therapy and vaccination for the MSM population. We compared the effects of these intervention measures under different assumptions about MSM behaviour. We also found that R0 is a decreasing function of the death rate of HIV-infected individuals, following a power law at least asymptotically. Conclusion: HIV will spread very fast in the MSM population unless intervention measures are implemented urgently. Antiretroviral therapy can have substantial impact on the reduction of HIV among the MSM population, even if disinhibition is considered. The effect of protected sexual behaviour on controlling the epidemic in the MSM population largely depends on the sex-ratio preference of different sub-populations.Item Dynamics of an interactional model of rabies transmitted between human and dogs(2009) Yang, Wei; Lou, JieAssuming that the population of dogs is constant and the population of human satisfies the Logistical model, an interactional model of rabies transmitted between human and dogs is formulated. Two thresholds R0 and R1 which determine the outcome of the disease are identified. Utilizing the method of Lyapunov function and the property of the cooperative systems, we get the global asymptotic stability for bath the disease-free equilibrium and the endemic equilibrium. A critical vaccination rate is obtained, which determines whether the dog rabies dies out or becomes endemic. Some suggestions are provided to the prevention and control of rabies according to the results of analysis and simulations.Item Avaliação da rede de centros de atenção psicossocial: entre a saúde coletiva e a saúde mental(2009-05) Onocko Campos, Rosana Teresa; Furtado, Juarez Pereira; Passos, Eduardo; Ferrer, Ana Luiza; Miranda, LilianOBJETIVO: Avaliar os modelos assistenciais, de gestão e de formação de trabalhadores de uma rede centros de atenção psicossocial (CAPS). MÉTODOS: Pesquisa avaliativa qualitativa, sustentada pela hermenêutica gadameriana, realizada na cidade de Campinas (SP), em 2006-2007. Os dados foram coletados por meio de 20 grupos focais, em CAPS III, realizados com diferentes grupos de interesse (trabalhadores, gestores municipais, usuários, familiares e gestores locais). Após a transcrição do material gravado de cada grupo, foram construídas narrativas, seguindo o referencial teórico de Ricoeur. Na segunda etapa de grupos focais essas narrativas foram apresentadas aos participantes para contestá-las, corrigi-las e validá-las. Os resultados preliminares foram discutidos em ofi cinas para elaboração de um guia de boas práticas em CAPS III. RESULTADOS: Foram identifi cados pontos fortes e fragilidades no que concerne à atenção à crise, articulação com a rede básica, formulação de projetos terapêuticos, gestão e organização em equipes de referência, formação educacional e sofrimento psíquico. CONCLUSÕES: A rede de centros de atenção psicossocial em Campinas destaca-se pela sua originalidade na implantação de seis CAPS III , e pela sua efi cácia na continência com usuários e familiares no momento da crise e na reabilitação. A organização por técnico e/ou equipe de referência prevalece, assim como a construção de projetos terapêuticos. A redução das equipes noturnas desponta como principal problema e fonte de estresse para os trabalhadores. A formação dos profi ssionais se mostrou insufi ciente para os desafi os enfrentados por esses serviços.Item Laboratory Evaluation of the Use of Alkaline Phosphate Wastes for the Control of Acidic Mine Drainage(2009-07) Hakkou, R; Benzaazoua, M; Bussière, BPyrrhotite tailings at the abandoned Kettara mine site in Morocco are producing acid mine drainage (AMD). We investigated the use of alkaline phosphate waste (APW) rock from a nearby operating open-pit phosphate mine to control the AMD. The neutralizing potential of the APW, using the Paktunc method, was estimated between 500 and 680 kg CaCO3/t. In laboratory column tests, the addition of 15 wt% APW to the coarse Kettara tailings produced leachates with significantly lower acidities and metal concentrations than unamended controls. The high calcium concentration in the flushed solutions indicates that calcite was responsible for the neutralization. Dolomite dissolution seems to be negligible and fluorapatite was stable under the testing conditions. It was also observed that when the treated solution comes in contact with unweathered Kettara coarse tailings, the pH becomes acidic, although the metal concentrations remain low.Item Answering Opinion Questions with Random Walks on Graphs(2009-08) Li, Fangtao; Tang, Yang; Huang, Minlie; Zhu, XiaoyanOpinion Question Answering (Opinion QA), which aims to find the authors’ sentimental opinions on a specific target, is more challenging than traditional fact-based question answering problems. To extract the opinion oriented answers, we need to consider both topic relevance and opinion sentiment issues. Current solutions to this problem are mostly ad-hoc combinations of question topic information and opinion information. In this paper, we propose an Opinion PageRank model and an Opinion HITS model to fully explore the information from different relations among questions and answers, answers and answers, and topics and opinions. By fully exploiting these relations, the experiment results show that our proposed algorithms outperform several state of the art baselines on benchmark data set. A gain of over 10% in F scores is achieved as compared to many other systems.Item Specialized Review Selection for Feature Rating Estimation(IEEE, 2009-09) Long, Chong; Zhang, Lei; Huang, Minlie; Zhu, Xiaoyan; Li, MingOn participatory Websites, users provide opinions about products, with both overall ratings and textual reviews. In this paper, we propose an approach to accurately estimate feature ratings of the products. This approach selects user reviews that extensively discuss specific features of the products (called specialized reviews), using information distance of reviews on the features. Experiments on real data show that overall ratings of the specialized reviews can be used to represent their feature ratings. The average of these overall ratings can be used by recommender systems to provide feature specific recommendations that better help users make purchasing decisions.Item Supporting efforts to link research to action in health systems(2009-10) Lavis, John NItem Tsinghua University at TAC 2009: Summarizing Multi-documents by Information Distance(2009-11) Long, Chong; Huang, Minlie; Zhu, XiaoyanThis paper presents our extractive summarization systems at the update summarization track of TAC 2009. This system is based on our newly developed document summarization framework under the theory of conditional information distance among many objects. The best summary is defined in this paper to be the one which has the minimum information distance to the entire document set. The best update summary has the minimum conditional information distance to a document cluster given that a prior document cluster has already been read. Experiments on the TAC dataset have proved that our method has got a good performance in many categories.Item THU QUANTA at TAC 2009 KBP and RTE Track(2009-11) Li, Fan; Zheng, Zhicheng; Bu, Fan; Tang, Yang; Zhu, XiaoyanThis paper describes the systems of THU QUANTA in Text Analysis Conference (TAC) 2009. We participated in the Knowledge Base Population (KBP) track, and the Recognizing Textual Entailment (RTE) track. For the KBP track, we investigate two ranking strategies for Entity Linking task. We employ a Listwise “Learning to Rank” model and Augmenting Naïve Bayes model to rank the candidate. We try to use learned patterns to solve the Slot Filling task. For the RTE track, we propose an interesting method, SEGraph (Semantic Elements based Graph). This method divides the Hypothesis and Text into two types of semantic elements: Entity Semantic Element and Relation Semantic Element. The SEGraph is then constructed, with Entity Elements as nodes, and Relation Elements as edges for both Text and Hypothesis. Finally we recognize the textual entailment based on the SEGraph of Text and SEGraph of Hypothesis. The evaluation results show that our proposed two frame-works are very effective for KBP and RTE tasks, respectively.Item Traditional pastoralist decision-making processes : lessons for reforms to water resources management in Kenya(2010) Robinson, Lance W.; Sinclair, A. John; Spaling, HarryTraditional approaches to collective decision-making among Gabra pastoralists of north central Kenya represent an egalitarian, inclusive and deliberative model that stands in contrast to some aspects of conventional approaches to participation, including those most evident in Kenya’s water sector reforms. The management of water resources is the focus of this paper. Whereas the "institutional model" of participation being pursued through the creation of Water Resource User Associations is particularly problematic for mobile pastoralists such as the Gabra, the paper suggests that an alternative strategy would focus on fostering deliberation processes. Around eighteen percent of Kenya's population are pastoralists.Item Adapting to flooding in Georgetown : an investigation of climate change, sea level rise, state policy and community practices(Department of Geomatics Engineering and Land Management, University of the West Indies, 2010) Leung, Kira Lise; Department of Geomatics Engineering and Land Management, University of the West IndiesClimate change is being accompanied by rising sea levels and shifts in precipitation patterns worldwide. This phenomenon is increasing the frequency and severity of flooding events in Georgetown, which is already vulnerable due to its low elevation and history of land reclamation. Moreover, adaptive capacity is low due to limited financial resources and poor governance. The realization of a suitable adaptation plan for Georgetown through a more geographically-specific understanding of vulnerability and adaptation options is therefore critical. Using case study wards differing by income level, land tenure, sewerage system, and garbage disposal method, the project examined how various wards were responding to the threat of flooding with the resources available to them. Sample wards were then used as an indication of how wards with similar characteristics are adapting. As flooding is imposed upon a largely pre-existent urban structure, all social classes and urban environments were found to be potentially vulnerable to the impacts of flood events. Nevertheless, household experiences of flooding and its impacts were shown to be influenced by household asset profiles (income), which were in turn, linked to location (i.e. urban or semi-urban) and dwelling construction style. Results suggest state intervention via enforcement of relevant building codes, drainage infrastructure maintenance, and secure housing programs, is likely to reduce Georgetown’s vulnerability to the threat of flooding. Increased public awareness and disaster preparedness also stands to boost adaptive capacity.Item Assessing the socioeconomic impact of sea level rise on coastal communities(Department of Geomatics Engineering and Land Management, University of the West Indies, 2010) Grant, Sade; Department of Geomatics Engineering and Land Management, University of the West IndiesThis study assesses the expected impacts of sea level rise on one of the coastal communities of Trinidad, Grande Riviere. As one of the Small Island Developing States (SIDS), Trinidad is vulnerable to the impacts of climate change and sea level rise. Tourism operations, which are the centre of many of the economic activities in the community, may be affected most by the projected sea level rise. Findings support the need to develop adaptation strategies to minimize impacts of sea level rise on coastal resources of the area in terms of social disruption, economic costs and environmental impacts.Item Modelling the effects of adherence to the HIV fusion inhibitor enfuvirtide(2010) Lou, Jie; Smith, Robert JRecently, the first drug in a new class of antiretroviral HIV drugs was approved, the fusion inhibitor enfuvirtide. We develop a mathematical model that describes the binding of the virus to T cells. We model the effect of enfuvirtide upon this process using impulsive differential equations. We find equilibria and determine stability in the case of no therapy and then when therapy is taken with perfect adherence. We determine analytical thresholds for the dosage and dosing intervals to ensure the disease-free equilibrium remains stable. We also explore the effects of partial adherence. Our theoretical results suggest that partial adherence may, at times, be worse than no therapy at all, but at other times may in fact as good as perfect adherence. It follows that patients should be counselled on the importance of adherence to this new antiretroviral drug.