Intelligent Strategies to Improve Food Safety Supervision Model

Intelligent supervision effectively deals with food safety problems from four aspects: concept, subject, activity and object. This paper makes a qualitative analysis on the current situation of intelligent supervision of food safety in Beijing, Tianjin and Hebei, compares and studies the intelligent supervision modes of food safety in three coastal areas in eastern China, constructs the analysis framework of intelligent supervision of food safety, and improves the intelligent supervision mode of food safety in Beijing, Tianjin and Hebei. By studying the policy path of intelligent supervision of food safety, extract the three-stage three source stream model of supervision mode from standard cultivation, informatization to standard unification and intelligence, to better promote the intelligent supervision mode in the country. For the challenges still faced by food safety supervision, it is proposed to improve the top-level design and strengthen the intelligent supervision mechanism of cross regional coordination; Promote the cooperation and sharing of data resources and optimize the cross regional risk early warning mechanism; Consolidate the rural digital foundation and realize the integration mechanism of urban and rural food safety supervision.

Boosting Africa’s health security will be challenging

Significance Although cases and mortality per capita in Africa have been low compared to Europe and the Americas, the pandemic has exposed underlying vulnerabilities in health systems globally, and especially in Africa. Compared to the developed world, Africa has received fewer vaccines, specialised therapeutics are sparse and testing has remained low, leading to limited reporting. Impacts Better regional coordination of lab information and communication infrastructure systems would help identify and address outbreaks quicker. Investments into training and development are needed to cultivate the next generation of continental scientific research talent. Governments may make lab research more attractive for non-lab researchers to close the talent gap in diagnostic and lab staff capacity.

Measurement and spatial difference of agricultural green development level in Guangxi

Green development of agriculture is the foundation of the entire green development. As a big agricultural province, promoting the green development of agriculture is conducive to promoting the high-quality development of agriculture and rural revitalization in Guangxi. This paper firstly analyzes the domestic and foreign scholars' research on the green development of agriculture, combined with the relevant policy theory, constructs the index system from the three aspects of green production, economic benefits and living standards, and then uses the entropy method to calculate the index weight and the comprehensive score of the green development of Agriculture in Guangxi, it analyzes the development trend of agricultural green development in Guangxi from 2010 to 2019 and the spatial differences of agricultural green development in 14 cities of Guangxi in 2019 afterwards. Finally, the following conclusions are drawn: the agricultural green development in Guangxi is on the rise from 2010 to 2019, but the development of green production is still in stagnancy; the overall level of Guangxi's agricultural green development in 2019 is relatively low, the best comprehensive developed cities are Guilin and Yulin, while the Hechi got the worst comprehensive score. According to the above conclusion, Guangxi should increase investment in science and technology to promote green agricultural production, focus on the overall development of the city to achieve regional coordination, give full play to the linkage effect of the city, and encourage well-developed cities to drive the development of surrounding cities.

Temporal–Spatial Evolution and Influencing Factors of Coordinated Development of the Population, Resources, Economy and Environment (PREE) System: Evidence from 31 Provinces in China

Facing the increasingly severe friction among the domains of population, resources, economy and environment (PREE) in a system, theoretical guidance for the sustainable development of a PREE system can be obtained by exploring the coordinated development of a PREE system during its temporal–spatial evolution process. Based on the PREE data of 31 provinces in China from 2010 to 2019, this study uses a spatial measurement method to analyze the temporal and spatial evolution characteristics of the PREE systems of China’s provinces. The results show that the overall coordination level of China’s provincial PREE systems fluctuated but improved from moderate imbalance to moderate coordination. However, the differences in the regional coordination level first decreased and then increased. The distribution characteristics of the system coordination level changed from “high in the east and low in the west” to “high in the west and low in the east”, resulting in the “inversion” phenomenon of the system coordination level. The spatial correlation of the coordination level of the PREE system among provinces and cities gradually increased. The coordination level of the PREE system in the eastern, central and western regions was noticeably different, accompanied by different degrees of polarization and showing different dynamic evolution trends. In the analysis of influencing factors, it was found that seven factors, such as per capita GDP, the proportion of environmental pollution control investment to GDP and per capita energy production, promoted the coordinated development of China’s PREE system to varying degrees. The coordinated and stable development of China’s PREE system should be adjusted and optimized from the perspectives of different regions, scales and systems.

Visualizing clustering characteristics of multidimensional arable land quality indexes at the county level in mainland China

The evaluation of the arable land ecosystem services capacity and arable land use intensity is important for recognizing regional key factors that impact the change of arable land attributes. A chronic lack of cooperation persists between these two fields of study, which makes providing sufficient information to support developing arable land use management and control policies difficult. In this study, the clustering characteristics of four arable land quality indexes have been assessed using the K-means algorithm to indicate the regional coordination between arable land resource protection and arable land use. The clustering results have been visualized using circular cartogram. This study can contribute to the identification of key regional challenges in China's arable land use and help to build the framework of other countries’ arable land protection policies.

A strategy for the seventies: Circular A-95 and US regional planning

In 1982, President Ronald Reagan issued Executive Order 12372, revoking a relatively obscure publication issued by the Office of Management and Budget in 1969, Circular No. A-95. One of many policy changes that were part of a broad effort to rebalance how power was shared between the federal government, the states, and municipalities, Reagan’s pen stroke ended what for many planners had been a critical piece of urban policy during the 1970s. Part of President Lyndon Johnson’s 1960s Great Society programs, an era when federal assistance to state and local governments in support of domestic policy increased significantly, A-95 had established a coordination and review process that local governments receiving federal funding for planning development projects would be required to follow. The program was designed to force local governments to engage in more comprehensive regional coordination. For the next 12 years, almost every planner across the country, at some point or another, worked within the A-95 process. But researchers who examined A-95 during its short life struggled to produce solid evidence of its effectiveness. Absent a clear metric of the program’s success or failure, the history and legacy of the A-95 program has since been largely neglected. This paper explores the history of Circular A-95, a booklet issued by the US Office of Management and Budget to guide the implementation of the Intergovernmental Cooperation Act of 1968. We argue that the rules contained in the A-95 circular should be understood as an effort to create a framework for regional planning. Using primary documents and secondary literature, we conclude that the program deserves to be re-read as an important attempt to use federal power to establish a pragmatic national planning policy in the United States in the latter half of the 20th century.

Cost-effectiveness of carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae (CRE) surveillance in Maryland

Objective: We analyzed the efficacy, cost, and cost-effectiveness of predictive decision-support systems based on surveillance interventions to reduce the spread of carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae (CRE). Design: We developed a computational model that included patient movement between acute-care hospitals (ACHs), long-term care facilities (LTCFs), and communities to simulate the transmission and epidemiology of CRE. A comparative cost-effectiveness analysis was conducted on several surveillance strategies to detect asymptomatic CRE colonization, which included screening in ICUs at select or all hospitals, a statewide registry, or a combination of hospital screening and a statewide registry. Setting: We investigated 51 ACHs, 222 LTCFs, and skilled nursing facilities, and 464 ZIP codes in the state of Maryland. Patients or participants: The model was informed using 2013–2016 patient-mix data from the Maryland Health Services Cost Review Commission. This model included all patients that were admitted to an ACH. Results: On average, the implementation of a statewide CRE registry reduced annual CRE infections by 6.3% (18.8 cases). Policies of screening in select or all ICUs without a statewide registry had no significant impact on the incidence of CRE infections. Predictive algorithms, which identified any high-risk patient, reduced colonization incidence by an average of 1.2% (3.7 cases) without a registry and 7.0% (20.9 cases) with a registry. Implementation of the registry was estimated to save $572,000 statewide in averted infections per year. Conclusions: Although hospital-level surveillance provided minimal reductions in CRE infections, regional coordination with a statewide registry of CRE patients reduced infections and was cost-effective.

Forming a polycentric ecosystem to bring together of Russian and foreign stakeholders to develop of Far Eastern regions

In this paper, we investigated the joint efforts of Russian and foreign stakeholders to develop the regions of the Russian Far East. The competitive advantages of Russia’s border regions have been identified. Ways of enhancing competitive advantages are considered. The shortcomings of state support for regional development due to insufficient inter-sectoral and inter-regional coordination are noted. This study proposes an ecosystem approach as a mechanism to address this shortcoming. A polycentric ecosystem is a mechanism for equitable stakeholder integration. The hypothesis of this study is that economic and non-economic stakeholder interests, that are involved in launching and implementing projects as part of a development strategy underpin economic space development. We have considered how the barrier and contact functions of borders affect regional development. It has been shown that the methodology for studying stakeholder engagement in the region’s ecosystem is based on a quantitative-qualitative approach and identifies the benefits and challenges of both regions and projects. It reveals favourable and unfavourable factors influencing the integration of stakeholders in ecosystems. The prerequisites for stakeholder integration into a unified ecosystem are identified, and the main directions of integrated transport policy of the regions are considered.

Management and Supervision of Zakat at The National Amil Zakat Agency (Baznas) of Bengkulu Province in 2019-2020

This study aims to determine the zakat collection, distribution of zakat, and supervision of BAZNAS Bengkulu Province. The research method used is a juridical empirical type by interviewing directly to the BAZNAS Bengkulu Province and the Bengkulu Provincial Government; after the data has been collected through the interview process, the data is qualitatively processed to explain and expand objective management and oversight of zakat without using the statistical formula. The results of this study (1) The collection of zakat assets is carried out in 3 stages. The planning stage is not carried out with a particular strategy. It is not fixed on a specific schedule, the coordinating stage is carried out directly and indirectly, and the implementation stage is sourced from individual zakat and business entity zakat. (2) Distribution of zakat assets is carried out in 3 stages, namely the planning stage, by forming six work programs. The coordinating stage is carried out by holding a Regional Coordination Meeting (Rakorda). The implementation stage is divided into two: distribution in the form of consumptive zakat distribution and utilization in the form of distribution zakat is productive. (3) Supervision of the BAZNAS Bengkulu Province is carried out internally by the leadership to its staff. External supervision is carried out by the Ministry of Religion, Public Accountants, and the community.

COVID-19 and Applicable Law to Transnational Personal Data: Trends and Dynamics

The recent COVID-19 outbreak has pushed the tension of protecting personal data in a transnational context to an apex. Using a real case where the personal data of an international traveller was illegally released by Chinese media, the paper identifies that three trends have emerged at the each stage of conflict-of-laws analysis for lex causae: (1) the EU, the US, and China characterize the right to personal data differently, (2) the spread-out unilateral applicable law approach comes from the fact that all three jurisdictions either consider the law for personal data protection as a mandatory law or adopt connecting factors leading to the law of the forum, and (3) the EU and China strongly advocate de-Americanisation of substantive data protection laws. The trends and their dynamics provide valuable implications for developing the choice of laws for transnational personal data. First, this finding informs parties that jurisdiction is a predominant issue in data breach cases because courts and regulators would apply the forum law. Second, currently there is no international treaty or model law on choice-of-law issues for transnational personal data. International harmonization efforts will be a long and difficult journey considering how the trends demonstrate not only the states’ irreconcilable interests, but also how states may consider these interests as their fundamental values that they do not want to trade off. Therefore, for states and international organisations, a feasible priority is to achieve regional coordination or interoperation among states with similar values on personal data protection.