Going virtual for research training during the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond: e-SORT IT

The Structured Operational Research and Training Initiative (SORT IT) model has contributed to building research capacity and has produced evidence for improving public health program performance in countries with limited research capacity. The model involves hands-on mentorship and consists of three modules/weeks. It is recognized to be an innovative research capacity building model. In a world changed by COVID-19, where bringing people together is not viable, an innovative, interactive, web-based, knowledge-transfer platform (e-SORT IT) for virtual implementation of SORT IT modules was created. The platform design imitated the residential course as closely as possible with the same lectures, plenary sessions, and breakout rooms. Despite the challenges, the platform performed well and even though participants and mentors were located in eight different time zones, the course was successful; 90% of participants achieved their milestones and 10 manuscripts were successfully completed. Participant evaluation revealed a satisfaction level that was nearly equivalent to the residential module. However, mentor evaluation indicated a number of shortcomings including capacity building, professional networking, communication, engagement, and contribution by participants, as well as overall module success. In conclusion, COVID-19 stimulated the creation of the e-SORT IT platform that provided a functional alternative to the residential version. Despite the limitations of reduced capacity building and networking, the e-SORT IT platform should be considered a success – it delivered the goods. This is an example of innovation and flexibility, two attributes that are sorely needed to maintain activities during the pandemic and beyond.

FEATURES OF HANDLING SOLID DOMESTIC WASTE IN RURAL AREA (ON THE MATERIALS OF THE BAYKIVTSI UNITED TERRITORIAL COMMUNITY OF TERNOPIL REGION)

The volume and structure of solid domestic waste in Ternopil region are analyzed. Our research in the Baikivtsi Utc proves that community residents dump less organic waste in containers (about 20%, which is twice less than in the regional center) because they can compost food waste using it as fertilizer for personal use plots (gardens). The volumes of organic waste fluctuate significantly throughout the year: the largest amount of them ends up in containers from May to September. The community residents throw out the least of organic waste in winter. One of the reasons is that there is a gradual replacement of last year's harvest with a new one. The habitants of the Baikivtsi Utc throw more paper away during the warmer months. The following types of paper prevail: offset - 33%, newsprint - 29%, coated - 4%, cardboard - 12%, designer - 5%, packaging - 16%, self-adhesive - 1%. In winter, most of the paper is burned to heat buildings. Among the scrap are mostly cans and metal lids (from bottles and cans). Ferrous metal almost never gets into containers due to the fact that it is profitable to sort it out and there are no problems to hand over scrap metal, since scrap collectors often come to the villages and offer quite decent price for it (therefore, there is no need to waste time transporting the metal). The plastic waste of the community includes plastic bottles from water, oil, household chemicals, canisters, plastic bags and ets. Among the various types of plastic: Polyethylene terephthalate or PET - 17%; high-density polyethylene (HDPE) - 29%; polyvinyl chloride or PVC - 4%; low density polyethylene (LDPE) - 34%; polypropylene, PP or PE - 8%; polystyrene, PS - 6% and other - 2%. The research showed that the following types of glass prevail in the structure of the cullet of the Baikivtsi community: window glass - 8%, technical glass - 3%, Plexiglas - 5%, triplex - 3%, glass from chemicals - 1%, ceramics - 10%, bottles - 70 % The survey showed that only 3% of the community's residents completely sort garbage, about 80% of them sort it partially, and almost 20% do not sort waste at all (and 12% of them plan to do it in the future). The reasons for the low level of waste sorting are not surprising, since, in addition to the low level of environmental awareness of the residents, there no proper conditions for sorting solid waste. The environmental advantages of sorting and recycling solid domestic waste were evaluated. In particular, the volumes of biogas that can be formed from the annual volumes of solid waste accumulation in the Baikivtsi united territorial community of Ternopil region, as well as the assessment of the environmental efficiency of recycling waste paper, plastic, glass were calculated. The cost of the Baikivtsi Utc solid waste as a secondary material resource will amount to UAH 2,051,943 per year, which can be a significant profit for the community. Key words: solid domestic waste, united territorial community, sorting, utilization, recycling ecological culture.

Research capacity training for surveillance and response in the Indo-Pacific: a case study of implementation

SETTING: Surveillance and response workforce in the Indo-Pacific region, including Papua New Guinea (PNG), Solomon Islands, Fiji, Eastern Indonesia and Timor-Leste.OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the implementation of a modified WHO SORT IT research training programme which included a workplace-based research project. The training was designed for surveillance and response frontline workforce in the Indo-Pacific region.DESIGN: This was a programme evaluation using mixed methods. Fifty-three health and biosecurity workers from Fiji, Indonesia, PNG, Solomon Islands and Timor-Leste participated in the research training programme.RESULTS: Implementation of the programme was modified to reflect the context of participant countries. Work-place research projects focused on priority issues identified by local policy makers and in-country stakeholders. Self-reported research skills showed a significant increase (P < 0.01) after the completion of training. Participants reported high scores for satisfaction with training.CONCLUSIONS: This case study provides lessons learnt for future research training, and demonstrates that the SORT IT model can be modified to reflect the context of implementation without compromising purpose or outcomes.

Operational research capacity building through the Structured Operational Research Training Initiative (SORT-IT) in China: implementation, outcomes and challenges

Background Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention (China CDC) introduced the Structured Operational Research Training Initiative (SORT IT) into China to build a special capacity and equip public health professionals with an effective tool to support developing countries in strengthening their operational research. The paper aims to investigate and analyze the implementation, outcomes and challenges of the first cycle of SORT IT in China. Main text As a result of the successful implementation, SORT IT China, Cycle 1 has demonstrated fruitful outputs as exemplified by the 18-month follow-up to the post-training initiatives of the twelve participants, who all achieved the four milestones required by SORT IT. Eleven of twelve (92%) manuscripts generated that focused on the prevention and control of malaria, influenza, HIV/AIDS, hepatitis B, schistosomiasis, tuberculosis and Japanese encephalitis were published by peer-reviewed international journals with the impact factor ranging from 2.6 to 4.8. The most up-to-date citation count on February 19, 2021 was 53 times out of which 31 times were cited by Science Citation Index papers with 94.827 impact factor in total. Six senior professionals from China CDC also facilitated the whole SORT IT training scheme as co-mentors under the guidance of SORT IT mentors. The twelve participants who gained familiarity with the SORT IT courses and training principles are likely become potential mentors for future SORT IT, but they as the non-first language speakers/users of English also faced the challenge in thoroughly understanding the modules delivered in English and writing English academically to draft the manuscripts. Conclusion The outcomes from the first cycle of SORT IT in China have led to studies contributing to narrowing the knowledge gap among numerous public health challenges nationally and internationally. It is believed the researchers who participated will continue to apply the skills learned within their domain and help build the training capacity for future operational research courses both in China and in developing countries with similar needs. Graphic Abstract

Agreement

Principals delegate in order to resolve disagreements. We would be unwilling to invest energy in any sort of enterprise or activity, without a method to resolve the disputes that may arise. We grant someone the authority to interpret rules. Whether disciplining players in the NFL, deciding which country will host the soccer World Cup or settling disputes between governments in the World Trade Organization, principals turn to a dispute-resolving agent to sort it out. This chapter discusses the use of delegation to solve disagreements. Some scholars depart from principal-agent theory to use the term trustee to describe the autonomy in this type of delegation relationship, but this is an unnecessary departure. The key to controlling this agent lies in the initial selection process.

If you see it, say it, and we’ll sort it…

ZusammenfassungDas Zusammenspiel menschlicher und künstlicher Intelligenz wird am Beispiel der Überwachung des öffentlichen Raumes in England exemplarisch und essayistisch erläutert. Ausgangspunkt ist hierbei die kontinuierliche Ausstrahlung der Botschaft „If you see it, say it, and we’ll sort it“ an häufig frequentierten öffentlichen Orten wie Bahnhöfen oder Flugplätzen. Ausgehend von diesem Fallbeispiel wird in fünf Schritten eine idealtypische Prozesskette entwickelt, die das Ineinandergreifen sozialer Interaktion und technischer Assistenzsystem bis hin zu künstlicher Intelligenz erläutert. Zusammenfassend wird die Wirkung dieses Prozesses als rationale Diskriminierung beschrieben. Dabei geht es im Kern um die These der Durchsetzung eines defizitorientierten Menschenbildes, das auf gesteigerter Abweichungssensibilität basiert und trotz oder gerade wegen seiner Orientierung an Effizienzkriterien zu neuen Diskriminierungsformen und digitalen Vulnerabilitäten führen kann. Bei der zukünftigen Gestaltung künstlicher Intelligenz sind diese sozial transformierenden (Neben-)Wirkungen zu beachten, damit das Zusammenspiel aller Intelligenzformen konvivial bleibt.

Bridging Arrays and ADTs in Recursive Proofs

We present an approach to synthesize relational invariants to prove equivalences between object-oriented programs. The approach bridges the gap between recursive data types and arrays that serve to represent internal states. Our relational invariants are recursively-defined, and thus are valid for data structures of unbounded size. Based on introducing recursion into the proofs by observing and lifting the constraints from joint methods of the two objects, our approach is fully automatic and can be seen as an algorithm for solving Constrained Horn Clauses (CHC) of a specific sort. It has been implemented on top of the SMT-based CHC solver AdtChc and evaluated on a range of benchmarks.

Signs of Fabrication in Hadith; An analytical study of Mawlānā Muhammad Anwār Ullāh Fārūqī’s opinions

Fabrication is strictly prohibited in Islam .For The Holy Prophet (Peace be upon him) mentioned the Hell fire as penalty for those who fabricate .Molana Anwaar ullah Farooqi is renowned scholar for his distinguished research regarding fabrication .He differed his former scholar regarding presumptions to declare a narration as fabricated .He does not consider odd words of a narration only reason to declare it fabricated .Whereas ,he also considers the spiritual revelations a source to authenticate a Hadith .Moreover ,he also differs his formers regarding exaggeratedly mentioned penalty or reward for some deed. In short, he just turned the other side of coin .In his research he just emphasized the possibilities that may sort it to Sahih hadith.