Assessment Of Compliance Research Articles

Colon adjuvant chemotherapy based on evaluation of residual disease (CIRCULATE-US): NRG-GI008.

TPS3634 Background: Currently, there are no biomarkers validated prospectively in randomized studies for resected colon cancer (CC) to determine need for adjuvant chemotherapy (AC). However, circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) represents a highly specific and sensitive approach (especially with serial monitoring) for identifying minimal/molecular residual disease (MRD) post-surgery in CC patients (pts), and may outperform traditional clinical and pathological features in prognosticating risk for recurrence. CC pts who do not have detectable ctDNA (ctDNA-) are at a much lower risk of recurrence and may be spared the toxicities associated with AC. Furthermore, for CC pts with detectable ctDNA (ctDNA+) who are at a very high risk of recurrence, the optimal AC regimen has not been established. We hypothesize that for pts whose CC has been resected, ctDNA status may be used to risk-stratify for making decisions about AC. Methods: In this prospective phase II/III trial, up to 1,912 pts with resected stage III A, B (all pts) and stage II, IIIC (ctDNA+ only) CC will be enrolled. Based on the post-operative ctDNA status using personalized and tumor-informed assay (SignateraTM, bespoke assay), those who are ctDNA- (Cohort A) will be randomized to immediate AC with fluoropyrimidine (FP) + oxaliplatin (Ox) for 3-6 mos per established guidelines vs. serial ctDNA monitoring. Patients who are ctDNA+ post-operatively or with serial monitoring (Cohort B) will be randomized to FP+Ox vs. more intensive AC with addition of irinotecan (I) for 6 mos. The primary endpoints for Cohort A are time to ctDNA+ status (phase II) and disease-free survival (DFS) (phase III) in the immediate vs. delayed AC arms. The primary endpoint for Cohort B is DFS in the FP+Ox vs FP+Ox+I arms for both phase II and phase III portions of the trial. Secondary endpoints include prevalence of detectable ctDNA post-operatively, time-to-event outcomes (overall survival and time to recurrence) by ctDNA status, and the assessment of compliance to adjuvant therapy. Biospecimens including archival tumor tissue, as well as post-operative plus serial matched/normal blood samples, will be collected for exploratory correlative research. Active enrollment across the NCTN started in June 2022. NCT#: NCT05174169. Support: U10-CA-180868, -180822; UG1CA-189867; Natera, Inc. Clinical trial information: NCT05174169 .

QUALITY OF TREATMENT OF ARTERIAL HYPERTENSION IN COMBATANTS TAKING INTO ACCOUNT THE PRESENT COMORBID PATHOLOGY

Objective: Assessment of compliance of treatment of arterial hypertension (AH) in participants of modern armed conflicts with the requirements of evidence-based medicine, taking into account their comorbid pathology. Design and method: The design of the study was passive retrospective one-time (cross-sectional). The medical charts of inpatient patients of 213 male combatants, aged 27-59 years, average age 45.0 ± 6.8 years, who underwent treatment during 2018-2021, were analyzed by the method of random sampling. Results: It was established that all combatants with hypertension were prescribed antihypertensive drugs: angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors (54% of patients), calcium channel blockers (26%), angiotensin receptor blockers (25%) (that is, not all patients used angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors or angiotensin receptor blockers), beta blockers (24%) and diuretics (16%). In combatants suffering from hypertension with comorbid coronary heart disease (CHD), beta blockers were prescribed in 26%, calcium channel blockers in 28%, statins in only 45% of patients, without monitoring the achievement of target levels of low-density lipoprotein cholesterol density; antiplatelet therapy was prescribed for 70% of patients, which does not meet the requirements of modern medical and technological documents and needs correction. An insufficient prescription of antihypertensive drugs from the groups of beta blockers (26% of patients) and calcium channel blockers (28%) was established in military personnel with hypertension - participants in modern armed conflicts with comorbid coronary artery disease. Inadequate prescribing of statins (only in 45% of patients) and antiplatelet therapy (70%) to patients with hypertension with comorbid coronary heart disease and lack of strict control of low-density lipoprotein cholesterol levels were revealed. Conclusions: It is necessary to increase the awareness of military doctors about the need for cardiovascular risk stratification in all patients with hypertension and patients with hypertension with comorbid coronary heart disease of combatants, regarding modern requirements for the treatment of patients with hypertension with concomitant pathology, on issues of safety and feasibility of prescribing statins and antiplatelet therapy to combatants with hypertension and concomitant coronary heart disease to reduce the risk of developing cardiovascular complications and improve the prognosis with this comorbidity.

Bioavailability-based Environmental Quality Standards for metals under the Water Framework Directive

Metals are naturally present in surface waters. By considering the bioavailability of a metal in an aquatic environment, we can more precisely predict the effect of a selected metal on aquatic organisms. This enables us to make a more reliable assessment of the compliance of the metal's concentration in inland surface waters with the environmental quality standard for that metal. In addition to complex-forming inorganic and organic ligands, the bioavailability of metals in water is also influenced by physicochemical conditions in the water. Metals occur in different concentrations and in different forms in aquatic environments. This is referred to as metal speciation. The bioavailability of a metal in water depends mainly on its speciation. Normally, a dissolved free metal ion is more bioavailable than a metal ion bound in a complex. The risks posed by given metals to aquatic environments are addressed under EU legislation in the Water Framework Directive (Council of the European Union, 2000) (WFD). The WFD’s purpose is to direct Member States to protect and improve the status of all water bodies throughout the European Union. Directive 2013/39/EC (Council of the European Union, 2013), which refers to priority substances as regards water policy, supplements the WFD and the Directive on environmental quality standards (Council of the European Union, 2008). For nickel and lead, Directive 2013/39/EC sets the annual average environmental quality standards (AA-EQS) for inland surface waters, which refer to biologically available concentrations of metals (AA-EQSbioavailable). In this way, uniform environmental quality standards for the entire European Union are determined for metals, allowing for a compliance assessment of metals for surface waters. In the article, we have presented an analysis of inland surface water monitoring data for nickel and lead, examining how the introduction of AA-EQSbioavailable affects the consistency of monitoring data for these metals. We used monitoring data from 2018 to 2021. To calculate bioavailable concentrations for nickel and lead, we used the bioavailability assessment model bio-met bioavailability tool v.2.3 (Bio-met, 2017). Additionally, for lead, we used equations (1), (2), and (3) to calculate the bioavailable concentration (European Commission, 2019). Based on the analysis conducted, we recommend the utilization of the bio-met model instead of the equations for calculating the concentration of bioavailable lead in the context of the annual compliance assessment of inland surface water monitoring data carried out by ARSO. Using the mentioned bioavailability assessment model, we have provided an upgrade in the methods used to assess metal’s concentration compliance with the EQS for that metal for surface waters. As a result, the requirements of Directive 2013/39/EC relating to biologically available concentrations of metals could be transferred to the Slovenian legal system.

Assessment of coverage and compliance of mass drug administration for lymphatic filariasis in Medak District-2021

Abstract In India Mass Drug Administration (MDA) drive is undertaken every year. In mass drug administration DEC and Albendazole combination is used. For the strategy to be effective, more than 85% of those living in endemic areas must be covered by MDA. Methods: This is a cross-sectional study in which family clusters were selected from rural and urban areas. Information about coverage, compliance with MDA and knowledge of filariasis was obtained using a questionnaire. Data were analysed using percentages and proportions. Results: In this study, about 92.51% of the study participants received DEC and ABZ tablets during MDA, of which 95.14 % of participants consumed the drugs. The most common cause of noncompliance was fear of side effects. Conclusion: Coverage of the population with DEC and albendazole combination was good but compliance needs to be improved. IEC activities should be intensified. Local leaders should be involved in the programme to increase compliance.

An observational survey of Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products Act (COTPA), 2003 Violation in Puducherry, South India

BackgroundOne of the commonly abused drug substances in both rural and urban communities of the developing countries is tobacco. The slow poison is still present even though anti-tobacco laws has been implemented to eliminate this threat. ObjectiveTo measure the violation of Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products Act (COTPA), 2003 under sections 4, 5, 7, 8, 9 & 10 in Puducherry. MethodologyAn observational cross-sectional survey was conducted over three months (June to August 2022) in 194 public places and 126 tobacco points-of-sale at Puducherry district. A multi-stage cluster sampling was employed. An observational checklist was used to record the violation of COTPA sections. The data were analyzed using SPSS-v16. ResultsSection 4 and 5 violations were 67% and 47% respectively, while other sections (7,8,9,10) were compliant with the law in >85% of the parameters observed exception being display of “Warning” in specified font and colour (10%). The COTPA compliance rate was quite low in the observed public places. “No smoking area” and “Smoking Here Is an Offense” signage was seldom displayed in most public places. ConclusionDespite the fact that the law has been carefully drafted, it has been implemented to a limited extent. For guaranteeing adherence and rigorous implementation of the act's provisions, the concerned authorities shall perform timely and routine compliance assessments.

When does the EU commission listen to experts? Analysing the effect of external compliance assessments on supranational enforcement in the EU

ABSTRACT How does the European Commission respond to external expert reports about member states’ non-compliance? We theorise that expert compliance assessments affect the Commission’s monitoring costs and information about governments’ probability of compliance. More precisely, the Commission is likely to launch infringements, when information is provided by institutions with extensive expertise that reveals practical non-compliance. However, reports about severe non-conformity indicate that governments will not reform their policies. Therefore, the Commission is expected to initiate infringements if the domestic conditions are favourable for compliance (government and societal EU support and active civil society). Analysing 63 EU directives and 27 countries, we find that enforcement depends on external expertise and practical non-compliance. Moreover, the Commission launches infringements against severe non-conformity when it is supported by civil society. Thus, the Commission utilises expert assessments strategically and it does not necessarily prioritise high levels of non-conformity.

Crack tunneling effects on the elastic unloading compliance of C(T), SE(B) and clamped SE(T) specimens and correction methodology

This paper covers the effects of crack tunneling on SE(B), C(T), and clamped SE(T) specimens and presents a correction methodology for this effect and is divided in two parts. Part one presents an investigation of how crack front curvature affects instantaneous crack size predictions based on the elastic unloading compliance technique. Relative crack depths (a/W) of 0.2, 0.5, and 0.7, were considered alongside five levels of crack curvature. Refined finite element models provided load-CMOD records in order to support compliance assessment. The crack front was modeled as a semi-ellipse, and the compliance results agreed with experimental data from the literature. It was shown that for the same equivalent physical straight crack standardized by ASTM, compliance generally decreases as tunneling increases. Since the maximum crack curvature allowed by the aforementioned standards is very restrictive, compliance did not meaningfully change within that limit, however, if violated, this paper shows that higher deviations may occur, leading to inaccurate crack depth estimations and invalid test results. These limits and deviations were clearly determined and, as a step to improve the techniques, this paper also presents – in part two – an exploration of a possible approach to mitigate this problem, which is based on the modification of how the equivalent straight crack of a curved crack front is determined. This new approach presents reduced errors in compliance-based crack size estimation as crack curvature increases when compared to current standardized protocols, and it can support further investigations in order to validate and standardize improved measuring techniques. Finally, it is important to state that even though the ASTM E1820 is used for the determination of crack driving forces, this study is based only on the study of the crack front curvature, the limit imposed by this standard and the deviations on crack size estimation when those limits are violated, while not focusing on determining errors directly on the J-integral. This paper is a further development on the studies published before by the research group.

ASSESSMENT OF SOIL POLLUTION IN KHABAROVSK BENZ(A)PYRENE

Introduction. In cities with developed industry and infrastructure, the problem of pollution with supertoxicants, including benz(a)pyrene (BP), is relevant. In most of the analyzed works, there is an excess of regulatory requirements for the content of BP in the soils of urban areas. There is no information in the literature about BP contamination of soils in the cities of the Khabarovsk Territory.
 Background. Assessment of the level of contamination of benz(a)pyrene functional zones of Khabarovsk.
 Objects and methods. The content of benz(a)pyrene in the surface layer of the soil of industrial, agricultural and residential zones of Khabarovsk was studied using a liquid chromatograph "Waters HPLC 2475". 78 samples were examined, a significant part of which was taken in residential (38 samples) and industrial (34 samples) zones. Assessment of compliance with permissible standards and determination of the degree of contamination of the studied soils were carried out in accordance with SanPiN 2.1.3684-21 and SanPiN 1.2.3685-21.
 Results. It was found that 62.8% of all the samples studied have the category "clean", while 35.9% of the samples were not contaminated. The share of samples with the category: acceptable was 12.8%, dangerous - 11.5%, extremely dangerous - 9%. The most polluted functional zone is residential buildings, since it is located along the perimeter of production zones and, directly, the largest stationary sources of emissions falling into their dispersion zones. Almost all soil sampling points in which the content of benz(a)pyrene exceeds 5 MPC (maximum permissible concentrations) are located in the zones of influence of Khabarovsk CHP No. 2 and Khabarovsk Oil Refinery.
 Conclusions. The current situation is due to the imperfection of urban planning solutions that do not take into account the aerogenic introduction of pollutants and their accumulation in the soils of the residential area.

Risk-Based Cybersecurity Compliance Assessment System (RC2AS)

Cybersecurity attacks are still causing significant threats to individuals and organizations, affecting almost all aspects of life. Therefore, many countries worldwide try to overcome this by introducing and applying cybersecurity regularity frameworks to maintain organizations’ information and digital resources. Saudi Arabia has taken practical steps in this direction by developing the essential cybersecurity control (ECC) as a national cybersecurity regulation reference. Generally, the compliance assessment processes of different international cybersecurity standards and controls (ISO2700x, PCI, and NIST) are generic for all organizations with different scopes, business functionality, and criticality level, where the overall compliance score is absent with no consideration of the security control risk. Therefore, to address all of these shortcomings, this research takes the ECC as a baseline to build a comprehensive and customized risk-based cybersecurity compliance assessment system (RC2AS). ECC has been chosen because it is well-defined and inspired by many international standards. Another motive for this choice is the limited related works that have deeply studied ECC. RC2AS is developed to be compatible with the current ECC tool. It offers an offline self-assessment tool that helps the organization expedite the assessment process, identify current weaknesses, and provide better planning to enhance its level based on its priorities. Additionally, RC2AS proposes four methods to calculate the overall compliance score with ECC. Several scenarios are conducted to assess these methods and compare their performance. The goal is to reflect the accurate compliance score of an organization while considering its domain, needs, resources, and risk level of its security controls. Finally, the outputs of the assessment process are displayed through rich dashboards that comprehensively present the organization’s cybersecurity maturity and suggest an improvement plan for its level of compliance.

Klasifikasi Risiko Penyebaran Virus SARS Cov2 Selama Kegiatan Belajar Tatap Muka Di Politeknik Penerbangan Indonesia Curug

The spread of the SARS COV2 virus has made many changes to the education system. Vocational tertiary institutions such as PPI Curug require face-to-face practical teaching and learning activities (KBM). Face-to-face teaching and learning activities during this pandemic require special handling so that they do not become clusters of spreading new viruses. Based on the above and supported by the appointment of PPI Curug as one of the Pilot Campuses in face-to-face KBM at schools within the Ministry of Transportation, it is deemed necessary to conduct research related to risk assessment of the spread of the Covid-19 virus in the PPI Curug. This study aims to assess the risk of spreading the SARS COV2 virus during face-to-face learning activities at the Indonesian Aviation Polytechnic Curug. This research begins by identifying the activities of the academic community, identifying hazards and evaluating risks related to the severity and likelihood of events. This research on the risk assessment of preventing and controlling the spread of the Covid-19 virus in the PPI Curug Campus refers to the existing Risk Assessment instrument in accordance with KP 622 of 2015 and KP 62 of 2020. Then, instrument validation was carried out using the CIPP method to adjust the indicators for compliance and risk assessment performance in accordance with the Risk Assessment for the prevention and control of the spread of the Covid-19 virus in the PPI Curug Campus. In this study.

The Relationship of Ketogenic Diet with Neurodegenerative and Psychiatric Diseases: A Scoping Review from Basic Research to Clinical Practice.

The ketogenic diet (KD) has become widespread for the therapy of epileptic pathology in childhood and adulthood. In the last few decades, the current re-emergence of its popularity has focused on the treatment of obesity and diabetes mellitus. KD also exerts anti-inflammatory and neuroprotective properties, which could be utilized for the therapy of neurodegenerative and psychiatric disorders. This is a thorough, scoping review that aims to summarize and scrutinize the currently available basic research performed in in vitro and in vivo settings, as well as the clinical evidence of the potential beneficial effects of KD against neurodegenerative and psychiatric diseases. This review was conducted to systematically map the research performed in this area as well as identify gaps in knowledge. We thoroughly explored the most accurate scientific web databases, e.g., PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, and Google Scholar, to obtain the most recent in vitro and in vivo data from animal studies as well as clinical human surveys from the last twenty years, applying effective and characteristic keywords. Basic research has revealed multiple molecular mechanisms through which KD can exert neuroprotective effects, such as neuroinflammation inhibition, decreased reactive oxygen species (ROS) production, decreased amyloid plaque deposition and microglial activation, protection in dopaminergic neurons, tau hyper-phosphorylation suppression, stimulating mitochondrial biogenesis, enhancing gut microbial diversity, restoration of histone acetylation, and neuron repair promotion. On the other hand, clinical evidence remains scarce. Most existing clinical studies are modest, frequently uncontrolled, and merely assess the short-term impacts of KD. Moreover, several clinical studies had large dropout rates and a considerable lack of compliance assessment, as well as an increased level of heterogeneity in the study design and methodology. KD can exert substantial neuroprotective effects via multiple molecular mechanisms in various neurodegenerative and psychiatric pathological states. Large, long-term, randomized, double-blind, controlled clinical trials with a prospective design are strongly recommended to delineate whether KD may attenuate or even treat neurodegenerative and psychiatric disease development, progression, and symptomatology.

Assessment of Tax Compliance in Selected Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in Kigali City, Rwanda

The objective of the study was to assess the level of tax compliance among SMEs in Kigali city in terms of Taxpayers ’registration, keeping books and records, Fulfilling tax obligation on time and attitude to tax evasion. Taxpayers ’registration is at a moderate level (Mean=2.31). Keeping books and records is done at a moderate level (Mean= 2.91). In general, the level of fulfilling tax obligations on time is moderate (Mean= 3.04). In general, negative attitude to tax evasion is at a high level (Mean= 3.42). These findings were in line with the study conducted by Isbell (2017) where he showed that on average across 36 countries, 63% of Africans say taxes are necessary for development. Large majorities say paying taxes is a civic duty (72%) and not paying taxes is wrong (87%) though many describe non-compliance as wrong but understandable. About recommendations, RRA must increase the effort in the enforcement, like organizing more training and mobilization to SMEs taxpayers because many of them do not comply because of ignorance. Taxpayers should participate in training organized by RRA. They should inform themselves from different sources about the tax law as applicable in Rwanda. This will help them to comply and hence avoid penalties. They should understand that the purpose and benefits of paying taxes.

Global assessment of FSC forest management certification auditing through analysis of accreditation reports

One important initiative to incentivise improvement of forest management that could help maintain forestry as a feasible land use while realising socio-environmental and economic benefits is forest management certification. The most prominent scheme is the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) that started implementation in 1994. FSC certification relies on two mechanisms to assess conformance with its standard: auditing of management practices based on agreed-upon principles, criteria, and indicators; and accreditation to assess the quality of the audit process. Addressing the scant research on outcomes of accreditation activities, the goal of this study is to examine the findings raised against Certification Bodies (CABs) by Assurance Services International assessors during their accreditation evaluations regarding the quality of auditing FSC forest management certification around the world. The content of all 141 publicly available assessments reports elaborated between 2013 and 2019 was analysed and the 454 identified findings (i.e., non-conformities and opportunities for improvement) were categorised utilising an innovative framework based on key desirable attributes of the audit process to capture certification-related changes on-the-ground. Europe and Asia have seen the largest number of accreditation efforts through the study period, but no differences among regions were identified in terms of the mean number of findings per assessment. The results indicate a possible lesser effectiveness of the compliance assessments when compared with the witness assessments. Accreditation activities allow to capture major failures in essential audit-related activities: auditors’ decisions, ability of auditors to collect, interpret, and synthesise evidence, as well as making reports publicly accessible. Availability of information regarding accreditation processes and the analysis of the accreditation reports can assist in grounding learning processes to improve accreditation activities and the practice of forest management auditing. The accumulated experiences can have positive consequences for forests, as well as beyond forestry, due to the broad coverage of certification labels across sectors and commodities.

Transparent AI? Navigating Between Rules on Trade Secrets and Access to Information

AI systems are nowadays employed in ever-increasing areas. This new era of technological development is exciting, but AI applications are also a cause for concern. If tasks that have hitherto normally been undertaken by human beings are now to be taken care of by ever more intelligent autonomous systems, how can we be certain that such functions are performed diligently and safely? Many areas of application of AI systems have also made the tribulations of AI utilization apparent. The EU’s Artificial Intelligence Act (AIA) aims to tackle the concerns and challenges related to the utilization of AI, and to develop human-centric, secure, trustworthy, and ethical AI systems for the EU markets. The provisions of the AIA establish a system of compliance assessment that requires AI providers to disclose how high-risk AI systems have been trained and put together. This article will look at the role of disclosure obligations under the provisions of the AIA. The focus is on the tension between obligations to disclose information on the one hand and requirements to protect the trade secrets contained in the technical details of AI on the other. This article will explain how the technical details of AI contain some information that does not qualify for trade secret protection. And even when there are trade secrets, there are exceptions to trade secret protection. Rules to enable access to information form part of the Trade Secrets Directive, but other legislative instruments too enable access and make it necessary to navigate between access and confidentiality.

Управление противопожарными расстояниями от стоянки автотранспортного средства до зданий, сооружений промышленного назначения

The analysis was carried out concerning the regulatory requirements for fire safety aimed at preventing the spread of fire from the parking lot of motor vehicles to various buildings and structures located on the territory of industrial use, as well as an analysis of fires on the motor vehicles. The need is shown related to applying a calculation estimate of the possibility of ignition of a fire-hazardous irradiated material from the effect of a radiated heat flux during a fire for establishing a fire-prevention distance. To assess the fulfillment of fire safety requirements aimed at preventing the spread of fire with the subsequent establishment of a fire-prevention distance from the parking lot of motor vehicles, it is required to implement the calculated scenarios. Scenarios should consider the type (body, opening), the location of the surface (front, rear, side) and its calculated values, the number of motor vehicles, the burning and irradiated materials with their calculated values, the location of the irradiated material relative to the radiating surface (centered, perpendicular, outside zone center). They are based on the mechanism of ignition of the irradiated material from the action of a radiant heat flux during the combustion of a motor vehicle. The practical use of this technique will allow to simulate the threat of propagation of the radiated heat flux to nearby protection objects, to establish a safe distance from the parking of motor vehicles to various buildings and structures for industrial purposes, and to make decisions on the compliance of protection objects with fire safety requirements. To carry out calculations to determine the safe fire-prevention distance from the parking lots of motor vehicles, a computer program was developed for the computer “Assessment of the safe distance from the boundaries of open areas of motor vehicles”. Its practical application will significantly simplify the procedure associated with the assessment of compliance with fire safety requirements aimed at preventing the spread of fire from the parking lot of the motor vehicle to buildings and structures for industrial purposes and will allow to set the value of the safe fire distance between them.

Eliminating Central Line Associated Bloodstream Infections in Pediatric Oncology Patients: A Quality Improvement Effort.

Our SMART aim was to reduce the CLABSI rate by 50% from a baseline of 1.89/1000 central line days to less than 0.9/1000 central line days by December 31, 2021. We created a multidisciplinary team being mindful to identify roles and responsibilities upfront. We developed a key driver diagram and designed and implemented interventions to influence our primary outcome. We implemented interventions and conducted Plan-Do-Study-Act cycles concurrently. We found that performing audits by directly observing tasks rather than auditing documentation resulted in more accurate compliance assessments. As a result, our CLABSI rate improved from 1.89/1000 central line days in 2020 with 11 primary CLABSI to 0.73/1000 central line days in 2021 with four primary CLABSI. Average days between events improved from 30 days in 2020 to 73 days in 2021, and we achieved an unprecedented 542 days CLABSI-free, extending into 2022. Through a multimodal approach and utilizing characteristics of high-reliability organizations, we significantly reduced primary CLABSI, approaching zero in our PHO population and doubling the average days between events. Future efforts will focus on the sustained engagement of all stakeholders and improving our safety culture.

Guarding Against Catastrophic Biological Risks: Preventing State Biological Weapon Development and Use by Shaping Intentions.

Guarding Against Catastrophic Biological Risks: Preventing State Biological Weapon Development and Use by Shaping Intentions.

Audit: Assessment of Compliance with the Principles of Sustainable Development

Audit: Assessment of Compliance with the Principles of Sustainable Development

Effectiveness of implementing of an infection control link nurse program to improve compliance with standard precautions and hand hygiene among nurses: a quasi-experimental study

BackgroundStandard precautions (SPs) including hand hygiene are considered fundamental protective measures to manage health care-associated infections (HCAIs) and to reduce occupational health hazards. The purpose of this research was to examine the effectiveness of an infection control link nurse (ICLN) program on compliance with SPs and hand hygiene among nurses.MethodsA quasi-experimental study with a pretest-post-test design was conducted with participating of 154 clinical nurses who worked in different wards of a tertiary referral teaching hospital in Iran. The intervention group (n = 77) had 16 infection control link nurses nominated. The control group (n = 77) received only the standard multimodal approach used in the hospital. Pre- and post-test assessment of compliance with standard precautions and hand hygiene compliance was performed via the Compliance with Standard Precautions Scale (CSPS) and the World Health Organization observational hand hygiene form. Two independent sample t-tests were used to examine differences between Compliance with Standard Precautions and hand hygiene Compliance among nurses in intervention and control group. Multiple linear regression analysis was used to assess the effect size.ResultsAfter developing and implementing the infection control link nurse program, no statistically significant improvement was found in the Compliance with Standard Precautions (β = 5.18; 95% CI= -0.3–10.65, p = 0.064). An improvement in hand hygiene compliance was observed among nurses in the intervention group that improved statistically significant from 18.80% before the program to 37.32% 6 months after the program (β = 20.82; 95% CI 16.40–25.25, p < 0.001).ConclusionsGiven the continuing level of interest that exists in improving health care workers’ hand hygiene practices, the findings of this study provide significant practical implications for hospitals seeking to improve compliance with hand hygiene among nurses, showing the effectiveness of using infection control link nurse program. Further research is needed to assess effectiveness of using infection control link nurse program to improve compliance with standard precautions.

Automated GDPR compliance assessment for cross-border personal data transfers in android applications

The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) aims to ensure that all personal data processing activities are fair and transparent for the European Union (EU) citizens, regardless of whether these are carried out within the EU or anywhere else. To this end, it sets strict requirements to transfer personal data outside the EU. However, checking these requirements is a daunting task for supervisory authorities, particularly in the mobile app domain due to the huge number of apps available and their dynamic nature. In this paper, we propose a fully automated method for assessing the compliance of Android apps with the GDPR requirements for cross-border personal data transfers. We have applied the method to 4593 apps from the Google Play Store discovering that nearly half of the ones sending personal data are potentially non-compliant with GDPR requirements. These results reveal that there is still a very significant gap between what app providers do in practice and what is intended by the GDPR.