On the Construction of Teachers’ Professional Quality-oriented English Practice Teaching System—Exemplified with the English Major of Sichuan University of Arts and Science

Professional quality is the core element of training talents. Developing elegant professional qualities is the thirsty demand for students and the great mission of higher education. With the main purpose to train would-be qualified English teachers, English major is supposed to build an English practice teaching system directed by teachers’ professional quality on the basis of Certification Standard of Secondary Education, so that students can gradually follow professional principles, understand teaching methodology, start educational task and seek self-improvement in practice teaching and learning activities, subsequently helping to lay a solid foundation for students’ future professional ability development.

Developing a methodology to create nutritionally balanced meals

PurposeThe purpose of the present study was to develop a methodology for the creation of nutritionally balanced (NB) recipes and meals.Design/methodology/approachNutritional criteria were set for energy, fats, saturated fats, carbohydrates, sugars and salt. A sample of 50 main courses and 29 salads was evaluated and nutritionally reformulated to meet the criteria. One sample t-test, paired sample t-test, Pearson correlation coefficient and linear regression analysis were performed.FindingsThe original main courses and salads did not meet the nutritional criteria for fats and energy. Both original and NB main courses had high mean protein content. The reformulation of recipes caused a significant change on the provided energy (−50.2%), fats (−57.6%), saturated fats (−58.8%), carbohydrates (−24.2%), proteins (−35.6%) and salt (−53.8%) for the salads (p = 0.001). Accordingly, reformulation of recipes caused a significant change on provided energy (−38.4%), fats (−55.2%), saturated fats (−58.3%), proteins (−25.9%) and salt (−50%) for the main courses (p < 0.001). Predictive models (linear regression analysis) for fats (R2 = 0.345), proteins (R2 = 0.876) and carbohydrates (R2 = 0.797) on the NB recipes were performed.Originality/valueThis is the first attempt to improve the nutritional value of cooking recipes, based on specific nutritional criteria. A methodological procedure for the creation of NB meals is proposed. This methodology could be a useful tool for the nutritionists and chefs, which, in a context of cooperation, could create databases and cooking books with NB recipes easily accessed to public and caterers. The recipes that constitute NB meals could guarantee the standardization of the recipes' reformulation, within a certification standard for restaurants.

The ambiguities of Indonesian Sustainable Palm Oil certification: internal incoherence, governance rescaling and state transformation

There are persistent tensions of both a technical and political nature between Southeast Asia’s two major palm oil producers, Indonesia and Malaysia, and the sustainability governance mechanisms shaping global environmental and trade standards emerging from Europe. The establishment of the national Indonesian Sustainable Palm Oil (ISPO) certification standard in 2011 is a sign of discontent with the transnational Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) regime, sparking debate about the legitimacy of private governance models initiated by non-governmental organizations and companies in Europe. This article questions whether the adoption of sustainability norms by Indonesia signals normative convergence or the emergence of rival governance structures that challenge the state. Evidence suggests that elements of norm adoption and rival governance coexist in Indonesia and that ISPO certification is an ambiguous policy with degrees of internal incoherence. The ambiguous nature of ISPO certification gives rise to unresolved disputes over power and authority between various actors. This article shows how these disputes came into being by framing these dynamics as part of a long historical process. Novel insights are gained by employing the state transformation framework and the concept of governance rescaling. Within this framework, we argue that the ambiguous nature of the ISPO results from complex interrelated processes of fragmentation, decentralization and the internationalization of the Indonesian state.

Programa de certificação sustentável do município de Salvador: análise dos critérios e benefícios do "IPTU verde" em sua perspectiva ecológica / Sustainable certification program of the city of Salvador: analysis of the green IPTU criteria and benefits on its ecological perspective

ResumoO objetivo desta pesquisa foi analisar os critérios e benefícios do Programa de Certificação Sustentável denominado “IPTU VERDE”. Como estratégia de condução da pesquisa, recorreu-se ao estudo de caso, suportado por pesquisa bibliográfica, pesquisa documental e análise de conteúdo. Os resultados da investigação apontaram que o modelo aplicado no munícipio de Salvador foi inspirado no padrão internacional de certificação denominado Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED™). Conclui-se que embora seja uma iniciativa válida para os padrões brasileiros de benefícios tributários, em Salvador há limitações para o contribuinte ter acesso ao mesmo, pois tende a priorizar segmentos específicos ou determinadas categorias de negócios.Palavras-chave: Certificação sustentável. Extrafiscalidade. Incentivo fiscal verde. Política urbana.Tributação ecológica. AbstractThe objective of this research was to analyze the conditions and benefits of the Sustainable Certification Program called GREEN IPTU. As a strategy for conducting the research, we used the case study, supported by bibliographic research, documentary research and content analysis Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED™). The results of the investigation showed that the model applied in the municipality of Salvador was inspired by the international certification standard called.Keywords: sustainable certification. Extrafiscality. Green tax incentive. Urban policy. Ecological taxation

MAPPinfo, mapping quality of health information: study protocol for a validation study of an assessment instrument

IntroductionHealth information is a prerequisite of informed decision-making. Criteria for development, content and presentation have recently been published in a corresponding guideline. Within a systematic search, 27 relevant checklists were identified, none of them, however, complying with the guideline or providing reasonably operationalised measurement items. Therefore, a draft of a checklist with 19 criteria was drafted. The current study aims at developing and validating this measure of quality.Methods and analysisThe validation design consists of five single studies to be conducted at the University of Halle-Wittenberg/Germany and Graz/Austria. (1) Achieving content validity through expert reviews of the first draft, (2) achieving feasibility using ‘think aloud’ in piloting with untrained users, (3) pretesting the instrument applied to health information materials without use of secondary sources: determining inter-rater reliability and criterion validity, (4) determining construct validity using information on proceedings and methods in the development process provided by the developers and (5) determining divergent validity in comparison with the Ensuring Quality Information for Patients (EQUIP) (expanded) Scale. The substudies will use varying samples of experts, students and developers and will apply the instrument to materials of various domains. Sample sizes will be adjusted to the particular research designs and questions. Analyses will employ qualitative methods, such as content analyses and discourse within the expert panel, and correlation-based methods both for determining inter-rater reliability and validity.Ethics and disseminationThe project is approved by the ethics committee of the Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg (approval number: 2019 115). Results will be published, and the instrument made accessible on public health platforms. It is meant to become a certification standard. MAPPinfo can be used as a screening instrument without training or secondary sources. Although developed in the German language, the instrument will be applicable also in other languages.Trial registration numberAsPredected22546; date of registration: 24 July 2019.Protocol versionJuly 2020.

Voluntary Sustainability Certification and State Regulations: Paths to Promote the Conservation of Ecosystem Services? Experiences in Indonesia

The Forest Stewardship Council initiated a Forest Certification for Ecosystem Services (ForCES) project from 2011 to 2017 to improve and promote sustainable forest management addressing a range of ecosystem services. Three sites in Indonesia were included in the pilot. Whilst the development of the certification standard was largely the result of a partnership between the certification standard organization, civil society and research organizations, implementation and monitoring of the impact of this sustainability standard will entail interactions with state regulations. This study examined how voluntary certification, other market-based approaches and state regulations concerning ecosystem services in Indonesia interplay, particularly in the agenda setting and negotiation stage. Using the conceptual lenses of transition theory and state and non-state market-based governance, interrelationships between ecosystem services certification and regulations were found to be complementary and antagonistic. The majority of interrelations were complementary and supporting. However, antagonism exists where regulations do not address multiple land uses and when there are contradictions in how state regulations define ecosystem services. There was limited state involvement in developing the ecosystem services certification standard, with no substitution between the voluntary standard and regulations occurring. To scale and transition this innovatory standard from a niche to a sociotechnical regime level, it is recommended that market-driven governance arrangements at farm, forest concession and landscape level are developed in collaboration with national and local governments. Collaboration can create synergies to incentivize the acceptance, adoption and effectiveness of non-state market driven instruments to positively enhance the conservation of ecosystem services.

A system divided: the state of neurosurgical training in modern-day Vietnam

The current report is the first of its kind in describing the neurosurgical training in modern-day Vietnam. Starting with in-depth face-to-face interviews, followed by electronically distributed questionnaires, a detailed picture of the training systems emerged.Neurosurgical training in Vietnam is multifaceted and dichotomous. The country of nearly 100 million people currently has only one neurosurgery-specific residency program, at the University of Medicine and Pharmacy at Ho Chi Minh City (UMPHCMC). This program lasts for 3 years, and Westerners might recognize many similarities to programs native to their countries. A similar training program exists in the north, at the Hanoi Medical University, but at this institution, trainees focus on neurosurgery only in the final year of their 3-year training. Neurosurgical training that resembles the program in Hanoi permeates the rest of the country, and the goal for all of the programs is to rapidly produce surgeons who can be dispersed throughout the country to treat patients requiring urgent neurosurgical procedures who are medically unsuitable for transfer to large urban centers and multispecialty hospitals. For the privilege of practicing elective neurosurgery, trainees around the country are required to acquire further training in Ho Chi Minh City or Hanoi or during fellowships abroad.A clear description of the neurosurgical training systems in Vietnam is hard to achieve, as there exist many diverse pathways and no standard definition of the endpoint for training. Unification and a clearer certification standard will likely help to elevate the standards of training and the state of neurosurgical practice in Vietnam.

Voluntary Sustainability Certification and State Regulations: Paths to Promote the Conservation of Ecosystem Services? Experiences in Indonesia

The Forest Stewardship Council initiated a pilot Forest Certification for Ecosystem Services (ForCES) project from 2011 to 2017 to improve and promote sustainable forest management addressing a range of ecosystem services. Three sites in Indonesia were studied in the pilot. Whilst the development of the certification standard was largely by a partnership between the certification standard organization, civil society and research organisations, implementation and monitoring of the impact of this voluntary sustainability standard will entail interaction with state regulations. This study sought to understand how certification and state regulations concerning ecosystem services in Indonesia interplay, particularly in the agenda setting and negotiation stage. Using the conceptual lenses of transition theory and state and non-state market-based governance, the interrelationships between ecosystem services certification and regulations were found to be both complementary, supporting and antagonistic. The majority were complementary. Antagonism occurred where regulations do not accommodate land use issues and due to different contradictory state regulations. The voluntary instruments were developed largely in the absence of state involvement and without any substitution with regulatory standards. Given the increasing proliferation of voluntary market-driven initiatives at farm, forest concession and landscape level, stakeholders developing and managing voluntary standards need to collaborate with national and local governments to create synergy to enable their acceptance, adoption and effectiveness to positively enhance the conservation of ecosystem services through incentivizing market-based instruments.

Respeaking certification Bringing together training, research and practice

Research and training in respeaking are still lagging behind professional practice. One of the consequences of this lack of training opportunities is the UK government’s refusal, in 2016, to use the Disabled Students’ Allowances (DSA) to provide for respoken subtitles, arguing that respeaking was not a qualified profession. In order to tackle this issue, the Galician Observatory for Media Accessibility set up LiRICS, the Live Respeaking International Certification Standard, which aims to set and maintain high international standards in the respeaking profession. In 2019, after assessing the online certification process proposed by LiRICS, the Department of Education in the UK concluded that it meets their requirements and that LiRICS-certified respeakers are eligible for Disabled Students’ Allowances funding. This article outlines, first, the current provision of respeaking training around the world and the assessments of live subtitling quality carried out to date, both of which inform the LiRICS online certification process presented here. The focus is then placed on the actual certification process, including a description of the tests, the platform used and the quality assurance process. This is followed by an analysis of the respeakers’ performance, which has been shown to be in line with current professional standards.