OPTIMALISASI PENGAWASAN INSPEKTORAT DAERAH DALAM PELAKSANAAN ANGGARAN DI MASA PANDEMIK COVID-19 DI SULAWESI TENGGARA

This study aims to find out the form of optimizing the supervision of the Southeast Sulawesi regional inspectorate on budget implementation during the Covid-19 pandemic and to find out the results of the Southeast Sulawesi Regional Inspectorate's supervision of budget implementation during the Covid-19 pandemic. The method used in this study used a qualitative descriptive method. The results of this study indicate that the optimization of the supervision of the Southeast Sulawesi Province Inspectorate on the implementation of the use of the Covid-19 budget, shows that the Inspectorate's supervision on the management of the Covid-19 budget is going quite well. This can be seen from the development of the results of the supervision carried out during the evaluation period until the follow-up, there was an increase in findings from 3 recommendations to 10 administrative compliances. The results of the Supervision of Refocussing and Reallocating the Regional Budget to the Southeast Sulawesi Provincial Government showed that at the evaluation stage carried out by the Inspectorate, there were still many administrative and material negligence carried out by the Southeast Sulawesi government. The results of the Supervision of the Implementation and Designation of Handling in the Health Sector, Social Sector, and the Handling Economic Impact Sector from the Aspects of Timeliness, Quantity, and Quality, still found negligence in the implementation, this resulted in several recommendations that needed to be followed up immediately.AbstrakPenelitian ini bertujuan untuk mengetahui bentuk optimalisasi pengawasan inspektorat daerah Sulawesi Tenggara terhadap pelaksanaan anggaran dimasa Pendemik Covid-19 dan untuk mengetahui hasil pengawasan Inspektorat Daerah Sulawesi Tenggara terhadap pelaksanaan anggaran dimasa Pendemik Covid -19. Metode yang digunakan dalam penelitian ini menggunakan metode deskriptif kualitatif. Hasil penelitian ini menunjukan bahwa Optimalisasi pengawasan Inpektorat Provinsi Sulawesi Tenggara terhadap pelaksanaan penggunaan anggaran Covid-19, menunjukan bahwa pengawasan Inspektorat pada pengelolaan anggaran Covid-19 berjalan cukup baik. Hal ini, terlihatan dari pengembangan hasil pengawasan yang dilakukan pada masa evaluasi sampai pada tindak lanjut terjadi penambahan temuan dari 3 rekemndasi menjadi 10 kelalayan admnistrasi. Hasil Pengawasan Refocussing dan Realokasi APBD pada Pemerintah Provinsi Sultra menunjukan bahwa pada tahapan evaluasi yang dilakukan Inspektorat masih banyak menemukan kelalaian secara administrasi dan materil yang dilakukan oleh pemerintah Sulawesi Tenggara. Hasil Pengawasan terhadap Pelaksanaan dan Peruntukan Penanganan Bidang Kesehatan, Bidang Sosial, dan Bidang Penanganan Dampak Ekonomi dari Aspek Ketepatan Waktu, Jumlah, dan Kualitas, masih ditemukan kelalaian dalam pelaksanaannya hal ini mengakibatkan beberapa rekomendasi yang perlu segera ditindak lanjuti.

Assessment of environmental pollution level caused by shipbuilding industry

The purpose of the paper was to create databases that would allow a proper assessment of the degree of marine pollution generated by the shipyard industrial sector. The study was conducted over a period of three years, between 2015 and 2017. The parameters determined for the waters collected from the shipyard were within the maximum allowed limits according to the norms in force. However, values very close to the maximum allowable limit were observed in the case of groundwater for nickel, determined from the drilling located near the fuel depot in 2015 and chlorides determined from the drilling located near the galvanizing workshop, both in 2016 and in 2017. The analyzed parameters for the soil samples, collected from various sampling points and different depths, were below the value of the alert thresholds for less sensitive soils, according to Order 756/97. The databases created for this study can contribute as an incipient basis for the development of larger studies that include other industrial sectors as well as a longer evaluation period.

A Novel Framework for Constructing Sport-Based Rating Systems

<p>This doctoral thesis examines the multivariate nature of sporting performances, expressed as performance on context specific tasks, to develop a novel framework for constructing sport-based rating systems, also referred to as scoring models. The intent of this framework is to produce reliable, robust, intuitive, and transparent ratings, regarded as meaningful, for performance prevalent in the sport player and team evaluation environment. In this thesis, Bracewell’s (2003) definition of a rating as an elegant form of dimension reduction is extended. Specifically, ratings are an elegant and excessive form of dimension reduction whereby a single numerical value provides an objective interpretation of performance. The data, provided by numerous vendors, is a summary of actions and performances completed by an individual during the evaluation period. A literature review of rating systems to measure performance, revealed a set of common methodologies, which were applied to produce a set of rating systems that were used as pilot studies to garner a set of learnings and limitations surrounding the current literature. By reviewing rating methodologies and developing rating systems a set of limitations and communalities surrounding the current literature were identified and used to develop a novel framework for constructing sport-based rating systems which output measures of both team and player-level performance. The proposed framework adopts a multi-objective ensembling strategy and implements five key communalities present within many rating methodologies. These communalities are the application of 1) dimension reduction and feature selection techniques, 2) feature engineering tasks, 3) a multi-objective framework, 4) time-based variables and 5) an ensembling procedure to produce an overall rating. An ensemble approach is adopted because it assumed that sporting performances are a function of the significant traits affecting performance. Therefore, performance is defined as performance=f(〖trait〗_1,…,〖trait〗_n). Moreover, the framework is a form of model stacking where information from multiple models is combined to generate a more informative model. Rating systems built using this approach provide a meaningful quantitative interpretation performance during an evaluation period. These ratings measure the quality of performance during a specific time-interval, known as the evaluation period. The framework introduces a methodical approach for constructing rating systems within the sporting domain, which produce meaningful ratings. Meaningful ratings must 1) yield good performance when data is drawn from a wide range of probability distributions that are largely unaffected by outliers, small departures from model assumptions and small sample sizes (robust), 2) be accurate and produce highly informative predictions which are well-calibrated and sharp (reliable), 3) be interpretable and easy to communicate and (transparent), and 4) relate to real-world observable outcomes (intuitive). The framework is developed to construct meaningful rating systems within the sporting industry to evaluate team and player performances. The approach was tested and validated by constructing both team and individual player-based rating systems within the cricketing context. The results of these systems were found to be meaningful, in that, they produced reliable, robust, transparent, and intuitive ratings. This ratings framework is not restricted within the sport of cricket to evaluate players and teams’ performances and is applicable in any sporting code where a summary of multivariate data is necessary to understand performance. Common model evaluation metrics were found to be limited and lacked applicability when evaluating the effectiveness of meaningful ratings, therefore a novel evaluation metric was developed. The constructed metric applies a distance and magnitude-based metrics derived from the spherical scoring rule methodology. The distance and magnitude-based spherical (DMS) metric applies an analytical hierarchy process to assess the effectiveness of meaningful sport-based ratings and accounts for forecasting difficulty on a time basis. The DMS performance metric quantifies elements of the decision-making process by 1) evaluating the distance between ratings reported by the modeller and the actual outcome or the modellers ‘true’ beliefs, 2) providing an indication of “good” ratings, 3) accounting for the context and the forecasting difficulty to which the ratings are being applied, and 4) capturing the introduction of any subjective human bias within sport-based rating systems. The DMS metric is shown to outperform conventional model evaluation metrics such as the log-loss, in specific sporting scenarios of varying difficulty.</p>

A Novel Framework for Constructing Sport-Based Rating Systems

<p>This doctoral thesis examines the multivariate nature of sporting performances, expressed as performance on context specific tasks, to develop a novel framework for constructing sport-based rating systems, also referred to as scoring models. The intent of this framework is to produce reliable, robust, intuitive, and transparent ratings, regarded as meaningful, for performance prevalent in the sport player and team evaluation environment. In this thesis, Bracewell’s (2003) definition of a rating as an elegant form of dimension reduction is extended. Specifically, ratings are an elegant and excessive form of dimension reduction whereby a single numerical value provides an objective interpretation of performance. The data, provided by numerous vendors, is a summary of actions and performances completed by an individual during the evaluation period. A literature review of rating systems to measure performance, revealed a set of common methodologies, which were applied to produce a set of rating systems that were used as pilot studies to garner a set of learnings and limitations surrounding the current literature. By reviewing rating methodologies and developing rating systems a set of limitations and communalities surrounding the current literature were identified and used to develop a novel framework for constructing sport-based rating systems which output measures of both team and player-level performance. The proposed framework adopts a multi-objective ensembling strategy and implements five key communalities present within many rating methodologies. These communalities are the application of 1) dimension reduction and feature selection techniques, 2) feature engineering tasks, 3) a multi-objective framework, 4) time-based variables and 5) an ensembling procedure to produce an overall rating. An ensemble approach is adopted because it assumed that sporting performances are a function of the significant traits affecting performance. Therefore, performance is defined as performance=f(〖trait〗_1,…,〖trait〗_n). Moreover, the framework is a form of model stacking where information from multiple models is combined to generate a more informative model. Rating systems built using this approach provide a meaningful quantitative interpretation performance during an evaluation period. These ratings measure the quality of performance during a specific time-interval, known as the evaluation period. The framework introduces a methodical approach for constructing rating systems within the sporting domain, which produce meaningful ratings. Meaningful ratings must 1) yield good performance when data is drawn from a wide range of probability distributions that are largely unaffected by outliers, small departures from model assumptions and small sample sizes (robust), 2) be accurate and produce highly informative predictions which are well-calibrated and sharp (reliable), 3) be interpretable and easy to communicate and (transparent), and 4) relate to real-world observable outcomes (intuitive). The framework is developed to construct meaningful rating systems within the sporting industry to evaluate team and player performances. The approach was tested and validated by constructing both team and individual player-based rating systems within the cricketing context. The results of these systems were found to be meaningful, in that, they produced reliable, robust, transparent, and intuitive ratings. This ratings framework is not restricted within the sport of cricket to evaluate players and teams’ performances and is applicable in any sporting code where a summary of multivariate data is necessary to understand performance. Common model evaluation metrics were found to be limited and lacked applicability when evaluating the effectiveness of meaningful ratings, therefore a novel evaluation metric was developed. The constructed metric applies a distance and magnitude-based metrics derived from the spherical scoring rule methodology. The distance and magnitude-based spherical (DMS) metric applies an analytical hierarchy process to assess the effectiveness of meaningful sport-based ratings and accounts for forecasting difficulty on a time basis. The DMS performance metric quantifies elements of the decision-making process by 1) evaluating the distance between ratings reported by the modeller and the actual outcome or the modellers ‘true’ beliefs, 2) providing an indication of “good” ratings, 3) accounting for the context and the forecasting difficulty to which the ratings are being applied, and 4) capturing the introduction of any subjective human bias within sport-based rating systems. The DMS metric is shown to outperform conventional model evaluation metrics such as the log-loss, in specific sporting scenarios of varying difficulty.</p>

The Efficacy, Safety and Satisfaction Associated with Switching from Brinzolamide 1% and Brimonidine 0.1% to a Fixed Combination of Brinzolamide 1% and Brimonidine 0.1% in Glaucoma Patients

We evaluated glaucoma patients for the efficacy, safety and satisfaction associated with switching from brinzolamide 1% and brimonidine 0.1% to a fixed combination of brinzolamide 1% and brimonidine 0.1%. A total of 22 glaucoma patients were enrolled and completed this prospective, nonrandomized study that evaluated patients who underwent treatment with at least brinzolamide 1% and brimonidine 0.1%. Patients on brinzolamide 1% and brimonidine 0.1% were switched to a brinzolamide/brimonidine fixed-combination ophthalmic suspension (BBFC). Evaluations of intraocular pressure (IOP), superficial punctate keratopathy (SPK) and conjunctival hyperemia were conducted at baseline and at 4 and 12 weeks. The Treatment Satisfaction Questionnaire for Medication-9 (TSQM-9) was utilized to assess the change in treatment satisfaction. At baseline and at 4 and 12 weeks, the IOP was 15.0 ± 4.1, 14.8 ± 4.1 and 14.8 ± 4.1 mmHg, respectively. There were no significant differences observed at any of the time points. However, the SPK score significantly decreased at 12 weeks, even though no significant differences were observed for the conjunctival hyperemia incidence at any of the time points. After switching from brinzolamide 1% and brimonidine 0.1% to BBFC, there was a significant increase in the TSQM-9 score for convenience and global satisfaction. Both an improvement in the degree of SPK and an increase in treatment satisfaction occurred after switching from brinzolamide 1% and brimonidine 0.1% to BBFC, even though there were sustained IOP values throughout the 12-week evaluation period.

Effect of Post-grazing Sward Height on Ingestive Behavior, Dry Matter Intake, and Milk Production of Holstein Dairy Cows

Sward height is strongly related to the daily dry matter intake of grazing dairy cows, which consequently determines animal performance. Despite that, few studies have explored the potential to increase milk production by managing post-grazing sward height. An experiment was carried out to evaluate the effect of three defoliation intensities on a Lolium arundinaceum-based pasture on frequency and length of grazing meals and ruminating bouts, daily grazing and ruminating time, feeding stations and patches exploration, and dry matter intake and milk production of dairy cows. The treatments imposed were three different post-grazing sward heights: control (TC), medium (TM), and lax (TL), which were managed with 6, 9, and 12 cm of post-grazing sward heights during autumn and winter, and 9, 12, and 15 cm of post-grazing sward heights during spring, respectively. Thirty-six autumn-calving Holstein cows were grouped by parity (2.6 ± 0.8), body weight (618 ± 48) kg, and body condition score (2.8 ± 0.2) and randomized to the treatments. The pasture was accessed from 08:00 to 14:00 and 17:00 to 03:00 during spring and no supplement was involved during the evaluation period. Daily grazing time averaged 508 ± 15 min and was not affected by treatment. The reduction of post-grazing sward height increased the length of the first grazing session in the morning and the afternoon. The number of grazing sessions was greater on TL than on TM, with no difference in TC. The number of feeding stations (the hypothetical semi-circle in front of an animal from which the bites were taken without moving the front forefeet) visited was less on TC than on TL, and neither of them differed from TM. Dry matter (DM) intake was lesser on TC than on TM and TL (14.7 vs. 17.8 kg DM). Milk production during the evaluation period was 13.1, 16.2, and 18.7 kg/day for TC, TM, and TL, respectively. The milk fat, protein, and lactose content did not differ between treatments. The cows on TC exhibited a lower intake rate, although they were less selective, probably as a consequence of the sward structure of TC treatment. The cows on TM adopted a compensation mechanism which allowed them to achieve the same dry matter intake as cows on TL, but lower milk production. The cows on TL were more selective than TC and TM resulting in higher digestible dry matter intake and consequently higher milk production. The intensity of defoliation impacts on the animal-plant interaction, and constitutes a valuable management tool that can be used to boost forage intake and milk production. The new developments on information technology would allow researchers to link behavioral data with response variables (e.g., milk production, health, welfare, etc.) at different spatio-temporal scales and support short and long-term management decisions.

Behavior of the Community’s Older Adults During 12 Months of COVID-19 Social Restriction.

BACKGROUND: In a short time, COVID-19 adopted the proportions of a pandemic. Consequently, measures as social distancing were adopted to try to slow down the spread of the disease. The objective of this study was to understand the behavior of the Brazilian older adults during a period of social restriction by Covid-19.METHODS: 61 healthy older adults participated in this study. A questionnaire was applied over 12 months from the beginning of the social restriction recommendations using only telephone contact. The questionnaire included the profile of falls during the evaluation period and 4 questions based on fear and risk of infection by Covid-19, the practice of physical activity and compliance with measures of social restriction. The chi-square test (X2) was used to observe the possible associations between the independent and dependent variables.RESULTS: Most participants were female (90.2%), with mean age of 67 years and secondary education level. 78.7% adopted social restriction measures in the first month while in the last six months 54.1% of the participants complied with restrictive measures. The analysis of the chi-square test showed significant association between the evaluation period and social restriction [X2 (2) = 22.072; p = 0.000] and the risk of being infected [X2 (2) = 17.561; p = 0.000].CONCLUSION: There was a reduction in the number of older adults who complied with social restriction over time and a decrease in the practice of physical exercises in the sample evaluated.

Outcome of Extended Varicocelectomy in Case of High Grade Varicocele

Background Varicocele is defined as abnormal dilation and tourtousity of the internal spermatic veins within the pampiniform plexus. It is common among adolescents and may contribute significantly to the risk of subfertility in adulthood. Objective To evaluate the outcome of extended varicocelectomy in case of high grade varicocele. Patients and methods In all, 30 varicocele cases including 12 left sided and 18 bilateral, comprising 48 spermatic cord units with clinically palpable varicocele and affected semen analysis underwent extended varicocele ligation. Testicular delivery was done in all the cases and assessment of the gubernacular veins was reported. The patients underwent clinical evaluation, scrotal doppler ultrasonography, as well as semen analysis to detect varicocele recurrence, hydrocele formation and early changes in semen parameters. The postoperative evaluation period was 3 months. Results No varicocele recurrences were clinically detectable after our surgical approach, No hydrocele formation, and There was improvement in the parameters of semen analysis in the entire patients presented with infertility associated with varicocele as regard improvement in the count, motility, and decrease in the abnormal forms 3 months after varicocelectomy. Conclusion Extended varicocele ligation with delivery of the testis achieve good surgical outcome with minimal varicocele recurrence and hydrocele formation, and offer beneficial effect on semen parameters.

Relationships between Objectively Measured Sedentary Behavior during Pregnancy and Infant Birthweight

Background: Although numerous studies have assessed physical activity during pregnancy and relationships with infant outcomes, such as birthweight, few have evaluated sedentary behavior. Our objective was to evaluate sedentary behavior across pregnancy and relationships with infant birthweight in a sociodemographically diverse sample. Methods: We measured device-assessed sedentary behavior and physical activity over three days at 16–18, 24–26, and 32–34 weeks gestation and infant birthweight from medical records among 71 participants. We used linear regression to assess relationships between sedentary behavior at each evaluation period with birthweight-for-gestational age Z-scores (BW-for-GA). Results: There were no linear relationships between sedentary behavior and BW-for-GA at any evaluation period. We observed a modest curvilinear relationship between sedentary behavior at 16–18 weeks and BW-for-GA (R2 = 0.073, p = 0.021). Low and high levels of sedentary behavior predicted lower BW-for-GA. Multivariate models suggested that this relationship was independent of physical activity levels. Conclusions: Considering the high levels of sedentary behavior during pregnancy observed in many studies, even modest associations with birthweight merit further consideration. Relationships might not be evident later in pregnancy or if only linear relationships are considered. More detailed studies could help guide recommendations on sedentary behavior during pregnancy and the development of more comprehensive interventions.

Efficacy and Safety of Molidustat for Anemia in ESA-Naive Nondialysis Patients: A Randomized, Phase 3 Trial

<b><i>Introduction:</i></b> Molidustat is an oral hypoxia-inducible factor prolyl hydroxylase inhibitor that predominantly induces renal production of erythropoietin (EPO). Molidustat was evaluated for the treatment of anemia associated with chronic kidney disease (CKD) in the “Molidustat Once Daily Improves Renal Anemia by Inducing EPO” (MIYABI) program, which comprises 5 phase 3 clinical trials. The present MIYABI Non-Dialysis Correction (ND-C) study investigated the efficacy and safety of molidustat in Japanese patients with renal anemia who were not undergoing dialysis and were not receiving erythropoiesis-stimulating agent (ESA) treatment. <b><i>Methods:</i></b> This was a 52-week, randomized (1:1), open-label, active-control, parallel-group, multicenter, phase 3 study in Japanese patients with renal anemia associated with CKD (stages 3–5). Molidustat or the ESA darbepoetin alfa (hereinafter referred to as darbepoetin) were initiated at 25 mg once daily or 30 μg every 2 weeks, respectively, and doses were regularly titrated to correct and to maintain hemoglobin (Hb) levels in the target range of ≥11.0 g/dL and &#x3c;13.0 g/dL. The primary efficacy outcome was the mean Hb level and its change from baseline during the evaluation period (weeks 30–36). The safety outcomes included evaluation of all adverse events. <b><i>Results:</i></b> In total, 162 patients were randomized to receive molidustat (<i>n</i> = 82) or darbepoetin (<i>n</i> = 80). Baseline characteristics were generally well balanced between treatment groups. The mean (standard deviation) Hb levels at baseline were 9.84 (0.64) g/dL for molidustat and 10.00 (0.61) g/dL for darbepoetin. The mean (95% confidence interval [CI]) for mean Hb levels during the evaluation period for molidustat (11.28 [11.07, 11.50] g/dL) and darbepoetin (11.70 [11.50, 11.90] g/dL) was within the target range. Based on a noninferiority margin of 1.0 g/dL, molidustat was noninferior to darbepoetin in the change in mean Hb level during the evaluation period from baseline; the least-squares mean (95% CI) difference (molidustat-darbepoetin) was −0.38 (−0.67, −0.08) g/dL. The proportion of patients who reported at least 1 treatment-emergent adverse event (TEAE) was 93.9% for molidustat and 93.7% for darbepoetin. Most TEAEs were mild (54.9% for molidustat and 63.3% for darbepoetin) or moderate (22.0% for molidustat and 22.8% for darbepoetin) in intensity. There were 3 deaths in the molidustat group and 1 in the darbepoetin group. <b><i>Discussion/Conclusion:</i></b> In the MIYABI ND-C study, molidustat appeared to be an efficacious and generally well-tolerated alternative to darbepoetin for the treatment of renal anemia in Japanese patients who were not undergoing dialysis and were not receiving ESA treatment.