Current issues on assessing the effectiveness monitoring and efficiency of Ukraine’s cooperation with IFIs

Modern tendencies of attracting resources in Ukraine in the field of international financial cooperation are investigated. The directions of cooperation between Ukraine and international financial organizations (IFIs) are considered, which will contribute to the implementation of the potential of the Ukrainian economy. Emphasis was placed on the need to improve such cooperation through the continuation of reforms in core areas, strengthening state finance management measures; improving planning, attraction , use, monitoring and control of the use of IFIs resources in order to increase the efficiency of program implementation. The strategies of cooperation of IFIs with Ukraine in terms of priority directions on the medium-term perspective are analyzed. Strategic directions defined in the study aimed at strengthening the competitiveness of the national economy on investment principles, kraising the standard of living, well-being and equivalent opportunities of citizens, supporting structural shifts through the development of high-tech promising sectors of the economy. The strategic directions identified in the study are aimed at strengthening the competitiveness of the national economy on an investment principles, raising living standards, welfare and equal opportunities for citizens, supporting structural changes through the development of high-tech promising sectors of the economy.

Features of the Application of Instrumental Methods for Lumbosacral Muscle Groups Functional State Assessing

The use of instrumental diagnosis methods is a way to form an individual strategy of rehabilitation treatment and effectiveness monitoring. However, there is a lack of methods for objective assessment of the muscle groups’ functional state in both patients with dorsopathy and healthy individuals, as well as incorrect use of existing diagnostic tools due to the lack of the regulatory framework. The subjects had no complaints on low back pain, and there was no history of pain episodes associated with spinal pathology. All the volunteers were comparable in height and weight before being included in the study. The study was conducted in accordance with the terms of the Helsinki Declaration, all subjects signed an informed consent before the start of diagnostic activities. Aim. To determine the normative values of the strength of the flexor muscle group (FM) and extensor muscles (EM) of the lumbosacral spine and to establish the ratio of the obtained results to the automatic hardware norm. Material and methods. The present clinical study included 22 healthy volunteers aged 23 to 61 years (the average age was 38.4±12.8 years), including 14 women (63.6%) and 8 men (36.4%). Results and discussion. The results obtained demonstrate that the real normative indicators for MS and MR in healthy individuals can vary in the range from the hardware norm value calculated automatically by the device to a value of 20% lower. Exceeding this parameter is not a pathological deviation. When assessing the muscle strength, a decrease in this indicator is of physiological and clinical significance, since it reflects the dysfunction of this area and is a predictor of the pain syndrome chronicity. Conclusion. The standard values findings allow us to assess correctly the initial clinical condition and use this instrumental method with biofeedback for patients with degenerative spinal lesion and non-specific pain in the lumbosacral region and patients who have undergone spinal surgery to develop individual rehabilitation programs. As a further prospect for the use of diagnostic systems with biofeedback, it is suggested that the examination plan should include the determination of the ratio of the FM strength to the EM strength, as well as the strength of the muscles involved in the lateral slopes of the trunk.

A Framework for Monitoring Ecosystems-Based Adaptation to Climate Change: Experience from The Gambia

Implementing ecosystems-based adaptation (EbA) to climate change is challenged by the need to monitor biophysical, socio-cultural, and economic impacts which are usually context-specific. Therefore, robust frameworks are required that integrate impacts to better understand EbA effectiveness. Monitoring frameworks that are universally applicable to EbA are desirable, however their universal application is problematic as they should reflect a community-driven design that accommodates both donor reporting functions and the generation of local-level data and information to support management actions and community initiatives. Initial products from this research include a generic, five-step process for developing and testing adaptation indicators, a robust framework consisting of (i) the indicators, data and information used to design the framework, (ii) the operational EbA platform that houses and computes the adaptation indicators, and (iii) the participating institutions, and initial, community-level applications to guide water management, replenishment of the vegetation cover, and business development. Immediate benefits to rural communities include the re-orientation of performance indicators mapped to their needs as opposed to donor reporting alone. The framework contributes to the set of tools currently in use for EbA monitoring by offering an umbrella within which existing tools can be applied. Near-term future research will focus on improving the utility of the framework and its platform beyond reporting on key performance indicators (KPIs) by adapting the EbA platform to support changing management needs. Future research will be needed to understand the extent to which the environmental changes in The Gambia compared to changes across the Sahel and Sudano-Sahel regions of West Africa and whether the lessons learned from The Gambia could be extrapolated to the subregion.

Environmental scan of provincial and territorial planning for COVID-19 vaccination programs in Canada

Background: Public health departments in Canada are currently facing the challenging task of planning and implementing coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccination programs. Objective: To collect and synthesize information regarding COVID-19 vaccination program planning in each province and territory of Canada, including logistic considerations, priority groups, and vaccine safety and effectiveness monitoring. Methods: Provincial/territorial public health leaders were interviewed via teleconference during the early planning stage of COVID-19 vaccination programs (August–October 2020) to collect information on the following topics: unique factors for COVID-19 vaccination, intention to adopt National Advisory Committee on Immunization (NACI) recommendations, priority groups for early vaccination, and vaccine safety and effectiveness monitoring. Data were grouped according to common responses and descriptive analysis was performed. Results: Eighteen interviews occurred with 25 participants from 11 of 13 provinces/territories (P/Ts). Factors unique to COVID-19 vaccination included prioritizing groups for early vaccination (n=7), public perception of vaccines (n=6), and differing eligibility criteria (n=5). Almost all P/Ts (n=10) reported reliance on NACI recommendations. Long-term care residents (n=10) and healthcare workers (n=10) were most frequently prioritized for early vaccination, followed by people with chronic medical conditions (n=9) and seniors (n=8). Most P/Ts (n=9) are planning routine adverse event monitoring to assess vaccine safety. Evaluation of effectiveness was anticipated to occur within public health departments (n=3), by researchers (n=3), or based on national guidance (n=4). Conclusion: Plans for COVID-19 vaccination programs in the P/Ts exhibit some similarities and are largely consistent with NACI guidelines, with some discrepancies. Further research is needed to evaluate COVID-19 vaccination programs once implemented.

English Web-Based Teaching Supervision Based on Intelligent Face Image Perception and Processing for IoT

In this paper, the Internet of Things (IoT) with intelligent face perception and processing function is used to supervise online English teaching. In the intelligent learning environment, learners mainly learn by watching the information presentation screen of the learning content, i.e., the learning screen, which is the main environment for learners to learn and is the main channel for information interaction between learners and the learning content. The color matching, layout, graphic decoration, and background texture of the learning screen have a significant impact on learners’ emotions, interests, motivation, and effect in the learning process. On the contrary, the accurate identification of learners’ emotions is the basis for building a harmonious emotional interaction in the wisdom learning environment and is an important means to judge learners’ learning status, which is of great significance to promote learners’ wisdom learning. In addition to providing learners with personalized learning contents and learning paths, the learning images presented by the intelligent learning environment should also be compatible with learners’ emotional states and visual emotional preferences and can play a role in regulating and stimulating learners’ learning emotions. The system works well in the testing process, which verifies the feasibility, rationality, and effectiveness of our application of face perception to online teaching effectiveness monitoring, and can be combined with the old result-oriented effectiveness monitoring method for online teaching, with certain theoretical research significance and practical application value.

Environmental scan of provincial and territorial planning for COVID-19 vaccination programs

BackgroundPublic health departments in Canada are currently facing the challenging task of planning and implementing COVID-19 vaccination programs.ObjectiveTo collect and synthesize information regarding COVID-19 vaccination programs in each of the provinces and territories (P/Ts).MethodsProvincial/territorial public health leaders were interviewed via teleconference between August-October 2020 to collect information on the following topics, drawn from scientific literature and media: unique factors for COVID-19 vaccination, adoption of National Advisory Committee on Immunization (NACI) recommendations, priority groups for early vaccination, and vaccine safety and effectiveness monitoring. Data were grouped according to common responses and descriptive analysis was performed.ResultsEighteen interviews occurred with 25 participants from 11 of 13 P/Ts. Factors unique to COVID-19 vaccination included prioritizing groups for early vaccination (n=7), public perception of vaccines (n=6), and differing eligibility criteria (n=5). Almost all P/Ts (n=10) reported reliance on NACI recommendations. Long-term care residents (n=10) and health care workers (n=10) were most frequently prioritized for early vaccination, followed by people with chronic medical conditions (n=9) and seniors (n=8). Most P/Ts (n=9) are planning routine adverse event monitoring to assess vaccine safety. Evaluation of effectiveness was anticipated to occur within public health departments (n=3), by researchers (n=3), or based on national guidance (n=4).ConclusionPlans for COVID-19 vaccination programs in the P/Ts exhibit some similarities and are largely consistent with NACI guidelines, with some discrepancies. Further research is needed to evaluate the success of COVID-19 vaccination programs once implemented.

University Structural Units Rankings: Models and Solutions

Formation of strategic management tools in Russian universities, including mechanisms for ranking the activities of structural units is an important task of the innovative development of universities.The article discusses the rating models of structural units operating in Russian universities. Based on the analysis of real practices, the university-wide models for ranking educational and scientific units are distinguished. A complex-structured rating model of all structural divisions of the university is characterized by the example of one of the leading universities. The article highlights the general characteristics of ranking models used by domestic universities. To a large extent, they concentrate around the methods of assessing the activities of organizational units that have developed in the strategic management system. They consider the achievement of indicators of the Universities Effectiveness Monitoring as the target goals to increase their competitiveness.

A Monitoring Policy Framework for the United States Endangered Species Act

Biodiversity is deteriorating at a global level as human actions like development, overexploitation, climate change, pollution, and other factors have led to a dramatic increase in the rate of extinction. The U.S. Endangered Species Act is considered one of the strongest laws in the world for protecting wildlife, but its effectiveness depends on proper implementation. Despite the importance of ensuring such proper implementation, the agencies that implement the Act, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) and the National Marine Fisheries Service (FWS and NMFS; Collectively, the Services) have no systematic monitoring policy to allow such evaluation. This lack of monitoring means the Services cannot accurately evaluate the success of recovery actions, make effective listing, delisting, and downlisting decisions, which can not only put species at risk for further decline, but also result in the misallocation of oftentimes scarce conservation funding. We posit that the absence of a monitoring policy has led to the lack of comprehensive systems to monitor and report on: a) compliance with the law, b) the effectiveness of conservation actions, or c) the state of listed species populations or the status of their threats. To help address this gap, we drafted a monitoring policy that covers (1) biological monitoring; (2) threats monitoring; (3) compliance monitoring; (4) effectiveness monitoring; and (5) investment analysis. The need for increased transparency within and outside the Services; accommodating emerging technologies; and addressing the need for detailed qualitative and quantitative data are considered in this proposal. This blueprint provides a starting point for more detailed monitoring policy and guidance that can help ensure efficient and effective implementation of the ESA and lead to better conservation outcomes for imperiled species.