Expert Community Research Articles

IMPLEMENTATION OF THE NATIONAL HYDROGEN STRATEGY OF GERMANY – MAIN RESULTS OF 2022. Part 1

This two-part article examines the results of the implementation during 2022 of the German National Hydrogen Strategy. It was adopted by the German state after long discussions at the beginning of June 2020. A month later, it became the basis of a similar strategy for the European Union. Both strategies were unexpected for the expert community. The European Green Deal barely mentions hydrogen. In the first part of the article, the author analyzes the tasks set by the new government of Germany (started in December 2021) and their correlation with the goals of Brussels. In this context, special attention is paid to updating the EU hydrogen goals, enshrined in the REPowerEU program, to important projects of common European interest (IPCEI). In 2021, Berlin selected 62 projects in the field of hydrogen production and transportation within the framework of the competition. But only four of them were approved by the European Commission in 2022. An assessment is made of the prospects for improving the German National Hydrogen Strategy in the context of the prospects for creating a full-fledged clean hydrogen market in Germany and the European Union.

Activity of creative unions as impulse of the systemic development of the culture of Pridnestrov'e

The activities of the creative unions of Pridnestrovie are viewed through the prism of historical and political events: from the Soviet era to the present day. It is noted that professional associations that emerged in the 1990s, in addition to influencing the cultural policy of the state, perform ideological functions, protect the interests of their members, and are expert communities. Of more than a dozen creative unions (out of 600 public associations registered in Pridnestrovie), the most active at present are the Union of Designers, the Union of Writers, the Union of Artists. The author analyzes: the semantic content of the activity and the degree of influence on the cultural policy of Pridnestrovie; legislative framework (to what extent it allows creative unions to function as expert communities); the activities of state and public structures empowered to form trends in the cultural development of the republic. The main conclusions made by the author should be considered that the productivity of creative unions depends on the leadership qualities of the leaders of professional associations themselves, their vision of development trends and influence on the cultural field of the republic, the authority of recognized luminaries in the field of culture and art, their opinion on key positions. For a more active work of creative unions, it is proposed to intensify the dialogue with state authorities, and revise the previously “frozen” laws on preferential taxation, activate the grant system of financing, and through social and creative orders, the acquisition of works of fiction and art, by providing the appropriate infrastructure, to support these public professional associations.

Pixel-level classification for bridge deck rebar detection and localization using multi-stage deep encoder-decoder network

Structural Health Monitoring (SHM) and Nondestructive Evaluation (NDE) of civil infrastructure have been active areas of research for the past few decades. The traditional inspection methods for civil infrastructure, mostly relying on the visual inspection are time-consuming, labor-intensive, error-prone, and often provide subjective results. In the wake of rising costs for infrastructural maintenance, the time factor, safety issues, and the error-prone nature of human inspection methods, there is an increased need for the development of automated methods for bridge inspection and maintenance. The purpose of this research is to provide a novel Deep Learning-based approach for rebar detection and localization within bridge decks. The proposed system is trained using Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) data from 8 real bridges in the United States. The results have been discussed in terms of qualitative and quantitative aspects with considerable potential and various issues that need to be explored in future works. Due to the similarity in the type of parabolic signatures present in other GPR-related applications, this technique can be generalizable to other applications. The proposed approach for rebar detection and localization has considerable implications for the civil experts in general and GPR community in particular.

What is needed to reduce the risk of anterior cruciate ligament injuries in children? – Hearing from experts

ObjectiveAnterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injuries are an emerging health problem in children. Acknowledging considerable gaps in knowledge, the aim of this study was to examine the current knowledge on childhood ACL injury, and to explore risk assessment and reduction strategies, with experts in the research community. DesignQualitative study; semi-structured expert interviews. MethodsInterviews with seven international, multidisciplinary academic experts were conducted from February until June 2022. A thematic analysis approach organized verbatim quotes into themes using Nvivo Software. ResultsGaps in knowledge on the actual injury mechanism, and influence of physical activity behaviours, constrain targeted risk assessment and reduction strategies in childhood ACL injuries. Strategies to examine and reduce the risk of ACL injury included: examining an athletes' whole-body performance, moving from constraint (e.g., squat) to less constraint (e.g., single-leg) tasks, making assessments into children's context, building a movement repertoire at young age, performing risk reduction programs, multiple sports, and prioritising rest. ConclusionResearch is urgently warranted on the actual injury mechanism, reasons for ACL injuries in children, and potential risk factors to update risk assessment and reduction strategies. Further, educating stakeholders on risk reduction strategies could be essential to address the increasing occurrence of childhood ACL injuries.

Improve how science advice is provided to governments by learning from "experts in expert advice".

During the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, science advisory mechanisms did not always live up to expectations. What practical steps can the expert community take to improve advisory mechanisms in an emergency?

Risk-based Regulation of Russian Universities: Risk Indicators and Their Use for State Control Purposes

The article is devoted to the identification and analysis of indicators of the risk of low-quality education in Russian universities. In 2021-2022, the approach to higher education inspections has changed significantly: accreditation monitoring has been introduced, it includes eight indicators. However, this monitoring was formed by the expert community, so the results of its testing in practice have yet to be analyzed. The purpose of this work is to identify risk factors for estimation the likelihood of violations of mandatory requirements by universities, and to develop recommendations for expanding the set of risk indicators included in accreditation monitoring. The main methods used in the work are methods of quantitative analysis, including econometric modeling. The novelty of the work is determined by the approach used: risk indicators are identified using a quantitative econometric analysis of data on the observed characteristics and results of inspections of Russian universities in 2015-2019. The results of the study indicate the possibility of supplementing the set of accreditation monitoring indicators. As additional indicators, first of all, various characteristics of research activities of universities can be used. Such a change in accreditation monitoring will increase its effectiveness as a preliminary assessment tool used in the implementation of a risk-based approach to state control. In cases where the assessment of even extended monitoring is ambiguous, the quantitative model proposed by the authors can be used.

Collaborative design approach to identify research and innovation needs within the European smart building community

Background Upgrading the level of smartness in buildings can significantly contribute to improve our quality and sustainability of living, through increased energy efficiency, optimised resource management, and improved air quality and comfort. However, the fragmented nature of the sector makes it challenging to identify what is technically, socially and economically achieved today in Europe in terms of building smartness, and what should be developed and financially supported tomorrow to accelerate the roll-out of smart and energy efficient buildings. Methods This paper introduces the collaborative process developed to involve a large community of experts in detecting and formalising research and innovation gaps related to smart buildings. This process is composed of four successive steps: 1) a communication phase to invite volunteer experts to join the proposed task forces; 2) The organisation and facilitation of online brainstorming workshops to identify research & innovation (R&I) gaps; 3) the collective drafting of a white paper synthesising the brainstorming outcomes; and 4) an open consultation to collect additional external feedback before finalising the white paper. Results The collaborative process developed was tested over 18 months and implemented on 12 different topics relying on 27 brainstorming workshops. Building on the collective knowledge of 135 participants, it enabled identification a significant series of R&I gaps related to smart buildings. Conclusions The collective sessions as well as the open consultation phases showed overall some clear convergence on the gaps identified. It can therefore be concluded the outcome of the collaborative process reached a consensus among the targeted innovation community. The feedback collected on the process, shows that the frequency, duration and attendance of the brainstorming workshops proposed were very relevant, while the selection of online participatory tools could still be improved. This process could be replicated in other frameworks where research and innovation gaps are sought for.

Semi-Supervised Graph Pattern Matching and Rematching for Expert Community Location

Graph pattern matching (GPM) is widely used in social network analysis, such as expert finding, social group query, and social position detection. Technically, GPM is to find matched subgraphs that meet the requirements of pattern graphs in big social networks. In the application of expert community location, the nodes in the pattern graph and data graph represent expert entities, and the edges represent previous cooperations between them. However, the existing GPM methods focus on shortening the matching time and without considering the preference of the decision maker (DM), which makes it difficult for the DM to find ideal teams from numerous matches to complete the assigned task. In this article, as for the process of graph pattern matching and rematching, with a preferred expert set, i.e., the DM hopes that one or more experts in this set will appear in matched subgraphs, we propose a Dual Simulation-based Edge Sequencing-oriented Semi-Supervised GPM method (DsEs-ssGPM). In addition, considering a preferred expert set and a dispreferred expert set together, the DM hopes that experts in the dispreferred expert set will not appear in final matches, so we have the DsEs-ssGPM+ method. Technically, these DsEs-ssGPM methods conduct the matching process from the preferred expert set during dual simulation-based edge sequencing, and based on the edge sequence, these edges are searched recursively. Especially, as for the rematching process, when the preferred and/or the dispreferred expert sets change continuously, to process the GPM again is unnecessary and it is possible to revise the previous matched results partially with DsEs-ssGPM methods. Experiments on four large datasets demonstrate the effectiveness, efficiency and stability of our proposed DsEs-ssGPM methods, and the necessity of introducing an edge sequencing mechanism.

Results of a Peer Navigator Program to Address Chronic Illness Among Persons Experiencing Homelessness.

People who are homeless disproportionately experience the burdens of chronic disease, have limited access to preventive care, and may be less trusting of healthcare agencies. The Collective Impact Project created and evaluated an innovative model designed to increase chronic disease screening and referral to healthcare and public health services. Trained Peer Navigators (PNs), who were paid staff with lived experiences similar to the clients served, were embedded in five agencies serving people experiencing homelessness or at risk for homelessness. Over two years, PNs engaged 1071 individuals. Of those, 823 were screened for chronic diseases and 429 were referred to healthcare services. Alongside screening and referrals, the project demonstrated the value of convening a coalition of community stakeholders, experts, and resources to identify service gaps and how PN functions might complement existing staffing roles. Project findings add to a growing literature documenting unique PN roles that potentially reduce health inequities.

The Challenge of Integrating Behavioral Health Care in Assisted Living Facilities

Residents of Assisted Living Facilities (ALFs) often experience a range of psychiatric disorders and behavioral symptoms, the usual care for which is marked by fragmentation from medical care, overreliance on Emergency Department visits and psychiatric hospitalizations, and variable collaboration between clinical and facility staff. Given the high and increasing burden of mental illness and cognitive disorders among ALF residents and the growth of Assisted Living industry, there is a considerable need for the integration of high-quality behavioral health care into Assisted Living and Memory Care facility settings. Geriatric mental health workforce shortages demand innovative solutions in order to embed and scale this clinical expertise in communities whose design may lack clinical infrastructure. Existing attempts to address these challenges are marked by heterogeneity and a lack of high-quality evidence.This presentation will describe two different models of the integration of behavioral health care into Assisted Living Facilities and the strategic planning approaches to their development. First, we will present the development and implementation of a Behavioral Health program for ALF-residing patients of ConcertoCare, an innovative risk-bearing in-home and virtual healthcare provider offering interdisciplinary care to geriatric patients across the US. Next, we will discuss a model of embedding a geriatric psychiatrist and neuropsychologist from an academic medical center into a for-profit memory care facility, including the process of forming the business and care models. Both presentations will address challenges and strategies of approaches to clinical care, management of staff, patients, and families, and implementation of behavioral assessments and interventions. Also discussed will be future opportunities including scalability and need for further research into best practices.

Разработка интегрированной пространственно-временной базы данных, характеризующей последствия изменения климата

Currently, at the global and regional (national) levels, the expert community, as well as statesmen, have prioritized the task of practical implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals (characterizing the dynamics of a development of various parameters of socio-ecological and economic systems). Achieving these goals requires serious analytical work based on a deep and comprehensive analysis of a processes taking place in various spheres, as well as the formation of an appropriate information platform, including a set of databases that adequately describe changes taking place in various spheres of state activity. However, today, in Russian practice, this tool is practically absent, which significantly complicates the qualitative and quantitative analysis, assessment and forecasting of the processes of adaptation of Russian regions (including the population living in them) to consequences of global climate change. The purpose of this study is to form a database of indicators characterizing process of adaptation of socio-ecological and economic systems of a northern regions of Western Siberia (The Khanty-Mansiysk Autonomous Okrug and Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug) to global climate change. The projected database should become the basis for creating an open information resource for a wide range of users when they solve analytical and predictive tasks related to a socio-economic assessment of an impact of global climate warming on permafrost. To achieve the objectives of the study, a set of methods was used: theoretical generalization and comparison, formalization, algorithmization, structuring and grouping, economic and statistical methods (including correlation and regression analysis), cartographic method, graphical modeling method. As a result, we have formed a database representing a single, periodically updated repository containing spatio-temporal data sets characterizing processes and phenomena, on the one hand, socio-ecological and economic systems, on the other – climate change. Further work with the database assumes, on the basis of available quantitative data and methods of mathematical statistics, the identification of elements of the ecological, socio-economic systems of the KhMAO and YaNAO vulnerable to global climate change, as well as forecasting the dynamics of their (systems) transformation.

Non-decision decisions in the Huawei 5G dilemma: Policy in Japan, the UK, and Germany

AbstractHuawei, the telecommunications company based in the People's Republic of China (PRC), has presented the governments of several middle powers with a policy dilemma. On the one hand, Huawei's affordable 5G network technology is attractive to telecommunications operators in these countries, which do not have domestic producers of this equipment. On the other hand, the U.S. government and intelligence agencies in other countries maintain that Huawei gear presents intolerable network security risks, a charge that the PRC government and Huawei forcefully reject as they insist Huawei merits access to foreign markets. Facing the question of whether and how to allow the installation of Huawei's 5G equipment in their domestic networks, the governments of Japan, the United Kingdom, and Germany have been caught between the competing demands of the two rivalrous superpowers and faced internal divisions among communities of government experts. At first glance, Japan, the UK, and Germany each appear to have responded to the Huawei dilemma in a different way. The Japanese government moved quickly and without formal announcement to exclude Huawei from its market, while publicly denying a ban. The UK government initially allowed Huawei to supply some of its national 5G infrastructure, but then reversed itself to ban the company's equipment outright after a U.S. regulatory change. The German government has yet to officially ban Huawei, but has taken successive steps to curtail the PRC company's continued involvement in its domestic networks. In spite of their apparent differences, the three national responses to the Huawei dilemma share a fundamental commonality: all amount to ‘non-decision decisions’ on the question of whether and how to allow Huawei to supply domestic 5G networks. In one way or another, each government avoided making policy decisions that were either explicit, definitive, or singular on the issue, but nonetheless reduced the likelihood of Huawei's participation in its domestic 5G infrastructure. After developing the concept of a ‘non-decision decision,’ we explain why these maneuvers are not isolated responses to a specific policy conundrum, but may presage a mode of middle power coping with competing demands from two increasingly rivalrous superpowers.

‘Invested’ partnerships as key to high quality apprenticeship programmes as evidenced in on and off the job training

ABSTRACT In England, a new model of apprenticeship was initiated in whose stated intention was to ‘put employers in the driving seat’. Regulation of the new model was focused on the mandatory 20% of apprentices’ work time allocated to off-the-job training offered by colleges and other training providers. Based on case studies of employers and training providers across a range of industry sectors, this paper brings together data from two projects researching the on-the-job and off-the-job training elements of the new model. Three contrasting modes of apprenticeship emerged: developing apprentices to become experts in an industry-wide community of practice; apprenticeship as staff development; and apprenticeship as income stream. These resulted from different forms of employer-provider collaboration, enabled through a marketized landscape of training providers, and flexibility in regulations that requires very little of employers. Utilising Fuller and Unwin’s work on expansive and restrictive environments, we found that that the new model supports a range of apprenticeships some being excellent but also others that are not worthy of the me. The paper concludes that quality apprenticeships tended to be in traditional industries and relied on strong partnerships between employers and training providers that worked against the grain of competitive market relations.

Formative Evaluation of a Student Symptom Decision Tree for COVID-19.

In support of schools restarting during the COVID-19 pandemic, some schools partnered with local experts in academia, education, community, and public health to provide decision-support tools for determining what actions to take when presented with students at risk for spreading infection at school. The Student Symptom Decision Tree, developed in Orange County, California, is a flow chart consisting of branching logic and definitions to assist school personnel in making decisions regarding possible COVID-19 cases in schools which was repeatedly updated to reflect evolving evidence-based guidelines. A survey of 56 school personnel evaluated the frequency of use, acceptability, feasibility, appropriateness, usability, and helpfulness of the Decision Tree. The tool was used at least 6 times a week by 66% of respondents. The Decision Tree was generally perceived as acceptable (91%), feasible (70%), appropriate (89%), usable (71%) and helpful (95%). Suggestions for improvement included reducing the complexity in content and formatting of the tool. The data suggest that school personnel found value in the Decision Tree, which was intended to assist them with making decisions in a challenging and rapidly evolving pandemic.

Grounding the Work of Grassroots MCH Leaders in Storytelling.

Our Grassroots Maternal and Child Health (MCH) Initiative works to build the capacity of individuals and organizations in zip codes with persistently high infant mortality rates to bring about systems change that will improve maternal and child health (MCH) outcomes. Foundational to the Initiative is the training and mentoring of local women to become Grassroots MCH Leaders. We greatly honor that these women possess community expertise, essential to the Initiative's success. Our training equips them with strategies they can use to bring about changes in social, economic, political, and/or cultural systems that underlie poor birth outcomes. One impactful strategy they learn is the use of critical narrative intervention (CNI). This approach, grounded in the crafting and sharing of stories, complements statistical, behavioral, and medical approaches to improve MCH outcomes. This article describes the impact of CNI within the Grassroots MCH Initiative. Drawing from 14 Grassroots MCH Leaders' narratives, we present five significant maternal traumas and influential supports in their surrounding contexts. We explore the leaders' reflections on the impact of story development and dissemination. Our findings reveal that situating CNI within the context of a grassroots initiative provides opportunities for leaders to use their stories to advocate for systems change. Personal MCH narratives provide a powerful and respectful approach to public health promotion, as they highlight important systems-level failures that need to be addressed to sustainability improve MCH outcomes.

Представления российских специалистов сферы детства о доказательном подходе и их ожидания от взаимодействия с научным сообществом

<p>The article presents the results of the qualitative study of Russian child welfare service professionals’ attitudes towards evidence-based practice. Based on a reflexive thematic analysis of interviews with the professionals from 12 social service organizations several themes have been developed and discussed: 1) evidence-based practice as an important current trend, the connection to which gives several advantages (greater attraction for donor organizations and clients, peer recognition); 2) evidence-based practice as an opportunity to master a new culture of justification and communication; 3) evidence-based practice as a search and organization of new forms of interaction with the scientific community. Russian social service professionals tend to accept the instrumental understanding of the evidence-based practice that is transmitted to them by foundations, donor organizations and the expert community, however, their image of practice as a complex activity that requires taking into account many factors and referring to various sources of knowledge can potentially become the basis for more advanced multifaceted and critical understanding of the evidence-based practice – provided the support of such an understanding, including from the scientific community.</p>

Features of the Model of Control and Supervisory Activities in the Context of Public Administration Development Mechanisms in Russia: Constitutional Law Context

The analysis made it possible to identify a number of current features of the Russian model of control and supervisory activities that are significant in the context of constitutional law. The first involves building a modern domestic model of control and supervisory activities based on a fully updated legislative foundation. The second includes the focus on the full-fledged formation of the service and partner model of control and supervisory activities (in fact, it acts as generic feature defining the meaning and having value-semantic, axiological significance and explained through a whole group of interrelated features of the Russian model of regulation and development of control and supervisory activities). The third means expanding the use of a risk-based approach as one of central principles of organization of control and supervisory activities (a full-fledged interested feedback from business and the expert community constitutes an invaluable tool in determining risks). The fourth refers to the focus on the priority of a preventive approach in implementation of control and supervisory activities (non-responding to the damage caused, but a proactive position, expressed in ensuring prevention of any possible damage to protected values; it serves as a priority and deserves further development of mechanisms facilitating its broad implementation). The fifth means active digitalization of control and supervisory activities and ensuring openness (accessibility) of information. The sixth involves constant focus on the introduction of new technologies and approaches to organizing control and supervisory activities. The author demonstrates a number of important steps that are advisable to encourage positive development of the features of the domestic model. It is emphasized that at the new stage of the reform of state control (supervision) and municipal control, development of new scientifically and practically grounded approaches to the implementation of specific mechanisms and tools that will result in uncovering the potential of the partner and service model of control and supervisory activities in the Russian Federation will be in great demand.

THE ROLE OF SOCIAL AUDIT IN THE MANAGEMENT SYSTEM OF INTERNAL AFFAIRS BODIES

Social audit is a relatively new phenomenon in our country. The development of a mechanism for the involvement o f civil society institutions and the expert community in the process of forming a positive reputation of law enforcement agencies and legal support fo r this interaction is one of the promising areasof cooperation between the state and society. The subject of the social audit of law enforcement activities is objective, timely and complete information on thecompliance of the regulations governing the work of the Department of Internal Affairs with the indicators of operational and service activities received from all levels of social and legal survey. Purpose: to determinethe role of social audit in the management system of the Department of Internal Affairs, to identify areas of control within the framework of a comprehensive public audit of law enforcement activities. Methods:dialectical, system, logical, formal-legal, system-functional. Results: the features of the social audit of the Department of Internal Affairs are determined, potential directions of the social audit of the Department ofInternal Affairs are identified ana the distinctive fea tures of each of them are investigated.

Expert community in the context of managing socio-economic development: a theoretical approach to studying the problem

Expert community in the context of managing socio-economic development: a theoretical approach to studying the problem

Acetylsalicylic acid in the primary prevention of vascular complications in patients without clinically apparent atherosclerosis: how to balance risk and benefit?

Antiplatelet agents are an integral part of the treatment of patients with various presentations of atherothrombosis. Among all drugs in this group, acetylsalicylic acid has the broadest evidence base. This review is devoted to the prescription of acetylsalicylic acid for the primary prevention of vascular complications in patients without clinically apparent atherosclerosis. Current approaches to the risk stratification of ischemic events and determination of indications for such treatment are discussed. Primary prevention trials have been focused on the risk assessment scales, the prognostic value of which raises many questions. In this context, besides the traditional (classical) factors underlying these scales, it is reasonable to take into account the so-called “risk modifiers” that can affect the likelihood of CVC. The coronary artery calcium score is one of the strongest risk modifiers. The characteristics of key primary prevention trials, which included patients of different ages with various risk factors, are provided. In accordance with the current guidelines of European and Russian expert communities, the acetylsalicylic acid may be prescribed to individuals with a high risk of vascular complications, among which the best evidence base is available for patients with diabetes mellitus. The positive effects of antiplatelet treatment have been demonstrated to be maintained in the settings of modern therapy with a proven positive effect on the prognosis. A particular focus has been placed on minimizing bleeding. The correct assessment and correction of modifiable hemorrhagic risk factors, the use of drugs to protect the stomach, and the appointment of acetylsalicylic acid in the minimum effective dosage of 75 mg per day are called upon to increase the safety of treatment. A preference in favour of uncoated forms that are absorbed in the stomach for obese and diabetic patients may be discussed.