Federal Monitoring Research Articles

Stakeholder's Perceptions of Mexico's Federal Corn Flour Fortification Program: A Qualitative Study.

Background: In Mexico, the fortification of corn and wheat flours with iron, zinc, and folic acid and the restoration of B-vitamins is a mandatory program. However, the monitoring and evaluation (M&E) of this fortification process is not well understood. Thus, the purpose of the study was to understand the M&E of the food fortification program in Mexico, with an emphasis on technology research and development. Methods: Open-ended exploratory interviews were conducted with food technology representatives (n = 9), food science academic faculty (n = 1), president of a private tortilla-making federation (n = 1), and representatives of the federal monitoring agency (n = 2). Interviews were transcribed and themes were identified using the content analysis methodology. Inter-rater reliability was assessed by calculating an intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) between the raters (n = 3). Results: A total of 49 codes were identified that resulted in three overarching themes, manufacturing/processing, monitoring logistics, and nutrition. Overall, there is a need for more robust internal and external M&E with Mexico’s fortification program to improve the manufacturing/processing of fortifying the tortillas, the monitoring of this fortification program, and the impact the fortified tortillas have on the nutritional status of the Mexican population. The overall ICC was 0.87. Conclusions: The present study can be used to gain insight into Mexico’s fortification program and to inform food fortification policymakers of best practices.

National Projects and Improvement of Monitoring of their Implementation in the Sphere of Lifelong Vocational Training

This is a concept article proposing trends and methods to improve monitoring of national projects in terms of training personnel for professional development programs at all levels. The paper is based on analysing Russian and international methodologies and practices of education development monitoring. The problem of precise defining personnel development quantitative indicators within national projects implementation is significant both for universities as a part of management decision planning and for government structures, with an information database (correctly representing the process and results of implementing national projects) to be relied upon by the latter. The analysis of Russian federal statistic monitoring forms of personnel development has revealed a number of weaknesses which complicate regular monitoring of national projects implementation. The research has also shown examples of incorrect key indicators setting. The article mainly aims at proposing directions for personnel development methods in ongoing professional development education system according to national project purposes in this part. The article compares EU’s, OECD’s, USA’s, and Russian methodologies and basic monitoring techniques for personnel development. There are revealed their significant differences, advantages and disadvantages, including those used within cross-country comparisons. The analysis shows that foreign models of projects framework cannot be applied to operational monitoring of national projects implementation. The Russian system of federal statistical monitoring requires a certain modification, which can be implemented quite easily and can provide monitoring of national projects implementation in terms of professional development. The article proposes suggestions on improving the monitoring system of national projects implementation according to monitoring purposes. Besides, it can be a basis for future harmonization research for Russian and foreign methodologies of education monitoring. Universities may use the suggestions expressed in the paper for improving national projects implementation monitoring as a part of their management practice. It will allow them to estimate a status and efficiency of their contribution to national projects implementation. The newly proposed methods of national projects realization monitoring can be used by educational bodies and universities within personnel training and improving the system of lifelong vocational training. These methods may be of help when developing control national projects implementation monitoring and vocational training system monitoring in general or in its parts.

Legal aspects in development of transport infrastructure in the city of Tyumen

The authors of the article seek to determine the nature, characteristics and main directions of development of transport infrastructure in the municipality of Tyumen; to describe the management system for development of transport infrastructure; to develop a model for improving the management of transport infrastructure in the city of Tyumen, to identify measures for improving regional and municipal legislation; to make recommendations for the system of municipal authorities. The study is based on the basic principles and methods of development of transport systems of municipalities. The authors conclude that only implementation of a complex integrated policy at the state level based on the synthesis of transport management systems, urban planning, land use and traffic management is able to resolve current problems in the transport infrastructure of Russian cities. Federal monitoring and control of compliance of public transport services with the quality standards along with responsibility of heads of municipalities will become the main incentives for the priority development of public transport in Russian cities.

The comparative analysis of training of paramedical personnel on the territory of the subjects of the Russian Federation of the Siberian Federal Okrug

The comparative analysis of training of nursing staff in the territories of subjects of the Russian Federation, included in the Siberian Federal Okrug was implemented, based on data of the federal statistical monitoring of corresponding educational organizations in 2018. The analysis of calculated indices permitted to identify uncoordinated nature of provision of nursing staff and volumes of its training at the level of number of subjects of the RF on the territory of the Siberian Federal Okrug, and group them according to combination of level of the given indicators. The assessment was implemented concerning validity of manpower policy in the case of nursing staff in territories of mentioned regions. The study results permitted to determine role and place of the analyzed regions in training of nursing personnel considering groups of criteria characterizing training activities, infrastructure of educational organizations, financial economic aspects of implementation of educational process and employment of graduates with nursing education. The mentioned results are the basis for further research on issues of education of nursing staff at the level of particular subjects of the Russian Federation, analysis of indices in dynamics, factors determining level of development of manpower potential of medical organizations and other elements of scientifically grounded manpower policy in health care sector.

РЕЗУЛЬТАТИВНОСТЬ СИСТЕМЫ ГОСУДАРСТВЕННОЙ ПОДДЕРЖКИ МАЛОГО ПРЕДПРИНИМАТЕЛЬСТВА В ГОРОДЕ МОСКВЕ

The article researches the main provisions of the state support system for small and medium-sized en-terprises, which has developed at the national level and at the level of constituent entities of the Russian Federation. The target indicators and the degree of achievement of their values in three-year comprehensive programs for the development of small business in Moscow in the 2000s are considered, the first five-year subprogram for the development of small business for 2010–2016 is analyzed. Based on the results of con-tinuous federal statistical monitoring of small enterprises for 2010 and for 2015, an assessment is given of the main indicators of small business development in Moscow and the Russian Federation.

The Political Origins of the 'Tragedy of the Commons' Deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon, 2000-2012

The politics behind common-pool resource management are not well-understood. Using detailed satellite imagery data, I examine the effects of local political competition on deforestation across municipalities in the Brazilian Amazon, 2000-2012. I use the competitive of elections at higher levels of government to construct a shift-share instrument for causally estimating municipal politics competition. The results show that although the median voter in the Amazon has a strong preference for environmental conservation, local political competition causally increases deforestation. Drawing on qualitative interviews with bureaucrats and activists, I illustrate the ways in which activist fatigue and bureaucratic turnover explain this effect. Political turnover induces accompanying turnover in local bureaucratic structures, discouraging activists from mobilizing for conservation. To further test this mechanism, I code an original database of local protests and show that the findings cannot be explained by prominent alternative mechanisms related to partisanship, federal monitoring of local governments, nor local agricultural development. The analysis provides systematic and causal evidence of the political origins of the tragedy of the commons.''

PREDOMINANT CAUSES OF INCREASING OF HIV INFECTION MORBIDITY RATE, NEW WAVE AMONG DRUG USERS IN THE VOLOGDA REGION

To determine the possible causes of an increase in the of HIV infection rate in the Vologda Region. HIV cases within the Vologda Region, 169 maps of epidemiological survey of the HIV nidus, state federal statistical monitoring forms № 4 «Data on the results of test on antibodies to HIV», annual reports of Budgetary Institution of Health Care «Center for Prevention of Infectious Diseases», Vologda were used as a data for study. The most probable cause of the increase of HIV infection rate in the Vologda Region is activation of narcotic channels of HIV infection the share of which increased from 30,2% to 48,2% for the period of 2015 through 2017. The highest HIV infection detection rates were observed in people surveyed by the code «102» which in 2017was 5,0 per 100 surveyed, exceeding the rates for 2014 and 2015 in 2,7 and 3,6 times, correspondingly. The data of laboratory examination of patients for immune status at registration indicated a recent HIV infection of a part of patients, probably, in the last 2 years (CD4 was over 500 c/ml in 22% of examined). At the same time, there is a factor of accumulation of sources of HIV infection among IDUs who have long-standing infection and have been living with HIV for many years (CD4 is less than 500 c/ml in 22% of examined) without knowing about it. The authors regard the activation of injection channels of HIV infection as a dangerous relapse in the evolution of epidemic previously observed in the NWFD.

Do government audits reduce dengue? Estimating the impact of federal monitoring lotteries program on dengue incidence.

The paper examines the relationship between the supervision carried out in the municipalities by the main Brazilan supervisory institution (Controladoria Geral da União-CGU, in portuguese) and the incidence of dengue cases in them. Since the audited municipalities were randomized, this allows the identification of a control group that adequately represents the counterfactual of the treated group. The sample was composed of all municipalities that could be selected for that CGU inspection cycle, that is, 1520 municipalities, of which 70 were drawn and therefore belong to the study treatment group. We identified a negative effect of the policy on the incidence of the disease. However, when we consider a model with lags, we note that this initial impact from the drawing did not persist throughout the year of the inspection. Our analysis suggests that when federal resources are monitored, municipalities reduce irregularities, which may contribute to a decrease in the number of dengue cases.

Statistical Recording of Malignant Neoplasms in Russian Federation: Current Situation and Main Areas for Improvement

Taking into consideration growing attention to oncological problems in Russia concerns about statistical recording of malignant neoplasms are becoming important. The main sources of information on prevalence and morbidity of malignant neoplasms are discussed in the article. They are cancer registries, forms of federal statistical monitoring and registers of medical bills of medical care provided. The exhaustiveness of the data collection for specified sources are evaluated. Assessment is done to estimate the compliance of the data collected in Russia with recommendations of the International Agency for Research on Cancer. Improvements in statistical recording of malignant neoplasms were proposed including use of modern information technologies.

Using Measurements of Nitrogen Oxides from a Fixed Site and a Mobile Platform to Develop Spatially- and Temporally-Resolved Land Use Regression Models

Background: Land use regression models can have limited temporal representativeness or spatial resolution if mobile monitoring or fixed site data are used exclusively. Our objective was to build hourly spatial and temporal nitrogen oxides (NOx) models for 2003-2015 in Boston and Chelsea (MA, USA) by combining measurements from a mobile platform and a fixed reference site.Methods: NOx measurements were made with a chemiluminescence analyzer mounted in a mobile platform. Monitoring sessions (3-6 hours long) occurred on 49 days in Boston and 46 days in Chelsea between 2011 and 2015. Sessions occurred on all days of the week and in all seasons. We obtained hourly NOx measurements from a federal monitoring site in Boston. We calculated spatial factors, defined as the location-specific ratio between each 10-second mobile NOx value and the corresponding hourly mean fixed site NOx value. To model the spatial factors, we tested 43 covariates including transportation network and land use variables with data obtained from public sources. We prioritized covariates that most increased the adjusted-R2 and made physical sense. We multiplied the modeled spatial factors by the fixed site hourly mean to estimate NOx at <200-m and 1-h resolution.Results: The models were stable with two cross validation methods. The most important predictors were distance from major roads, open space, and residential areas; presence of bus/train stops; and an interaction term for wind speed and being downwind of an airport. The models over-predicted at three validation sites, especially when concentrations were low and in places farther from major roads; however, the adjusted-R2 values for hourly predictions were high (0.53-0.62) and the model captured seasonal and diurnal trends well for both study areas for 2003-2015.Conclusion: Our modeling approach is an efficient way to develop spatially and temporally resolved exposure estimates for use in concurrent and retrospective epidemiology studies.

Spillovers from State and Local Pensions to Social Security: Do Benefits for Uncovered Workers Meet Federal Standards?

Federal law allows certain state and local government employees to be excluded from Social Security coverage if they are covered by an employer pension of sufficient generosity. Public sector retirement systems have grown less generous in recent years, and a couple of plans could exhaust their assets in the next decade, putting benefits at risk. If pension sponsors are inattentive to federal generosity requirements when cutting benefits, current and future initiatives to curb costs may conflict with their obligations to the U.S. Social Security Administration (SSA). This project combines data from a variety of sources to assess whether state and local governments are currently satisfying the federal standards and whether the standards continue to provide benefits of equal generosity to Social Security. The paper found that: -Although public plans satisfy the regulations, uncovered state and local government employees do not always receive Social Security-equivalent resources in retirement because the law regulates benefits only at age 67 (rather than lifetime benefits) and allows for long vesting periods. -State and local pensions often set very long vesting periods and are increasingly unlikely to grant full cost-of-living adjustments (COLA) after retirement. Yet, they also allow members to collect full benefits at much younger ages than Social Security. Incorporating vesting, the COLA, and the normal retirement age into a generosity test based on lifetime pension wealth shows that some plans fall short, but this finding is very sensitive to the employment patterns of the uncovered employees. -Additionally, a couple of plans that exclude their members from Social Security could soon exhaust the assets in their trust funds and revert to pay-as-you-go systems, endangering future benefits and putting them in violation of federal generosity standards. The policy implications of the findings are: -Federal generosity standards for state and local pensions could be updated to ensure Social Security-equivalent protections. -Over time, mandatory enrollment of state and local government employees in Social Security would obviate the need for federal monitoring of their pensions.

Federal Monitoring of Dietary Supplement Use in the Resident, Civilian, Noninstitutionalized US Population: National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey

This review summarizes the current and previous data on dietary supplement (DS) use collected from participants in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES), describes the NHANES dietary supplement database used to compute nutrient intakes from DSs, discussed recent developments and future direction, and describes many examples to demonstrate the utility of these data in informing nutrition research and policy. Since 1971, NHANES, has been collecting information on the use of DSs from participants. These data are critical to national nutrition surveillance and have been used to characterize usage patterns, examine trends over time, assess the percentage of the population meeting or exceeding nutrient recommendations, and to help elucidate the sources contributing nutrients to the diet of the US population. Over half of adults and about one-third of children in the United States use at least one dietary supplement in the past 30 days. Dietary supplements contribute to the dietary intake of nutrients and bioactive compounds in the US and therefore need to be assessed when monitoring nutritional status of the population and when studying diet-health associations. With the recent development and availability of the Dietary Supplement Label Database (DSLD), a comprehensive DS database that will eventually contain labels for all products marketed in the US, NHANES DS data will be more easily linked to product information to estimate nutrient intake from DS. Over time, NHANES has both expanded and improved collection methods. The continued understanding of sources of error in collection methods will continue to be explored and is critical to improved accuracy. NHANES provides a rich source of nationally representative data on the usage of dietary supplements in the US.

Middle East Studies for the New Millennium: Infrastructures for Knowledge

Middle East Studies for the New Millennium: Infrastructures for Knowledge

Middle East Studies for the New Millennium: Infrastructures for Knowledge

Middle East Studies for the New Millennium: Infrastructures for Knowledge

Civil science profile according to the data of the federal monitoring system of effectiveness of scientific organizations

Civil science profile according to the data of the federal monitoring system of effectiveness of scientific organizations

Association of ambient pollution with inhaler use among patients with COPD: a panel study

BackgroundStudies have linked ambient air pollution to chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) healthcare encounters. However, the association between air quality and rescue medication use is unknown.ObjectivesWe assessed the role of...

Groundwater contamination by sewage causes benthic algal outbreaks in the littoral zone of Lake Baikal (East Siberia)

Abstract Lake Baikal, an ancient lake in Siberia, contains more endemic species than any other lake in the world with most of them residing in the benthic littoral zone. Explosive growth of benthic Spirogyra, a filamentous green alga, began approximately in 2011 in localized coastal areas, with the most severe examples occurring near coastal towns that lack a wastewater treatment facility or have a malfunctioning system. At other sites (small settlements, harbors), however, the cause of its excess growth is less obvious. Multiple hypotheses have been offered including lake level fluctuations, climate warming, a relaxation of grazing pressure, and coastal eutrophication. We assessed these hypotheses using data on historical lake levels, water temperature, the spatial-temporal distribution of Spirogyra along inhabited and non-inhabited shorelines, and measurements of fecal coliform bacteria and nutrients in ground water, interstitial water, and lake water. These data suggest that groundwater contamination is the primary cause of coastal eutrophication. Most houses and buildings in small settlements around Lake Baikal lack septic tanks but use unlined cesspools to collect human waste. This untreated human waste enters groundwater via passive filtration through permeable soils and flows to the coastal zone where it drives excess growth of Spirogyra. Remediation — including installation of septic systems, modernization of existing sewage treatment plants in coastal towns, and the adoption of non-phosphate containing detergents — as well as a reconsideration of the federal monitoring system regarding the coastal zone is urgently needed to protect this extraordinary lake.

A REVIEW OF NATURAL RADIONUCLIDES IN CANADIAN DRINKING WATER (1975-16).

Historical results of natural radioactivity in drinking water were reviewed for a total of 21 communities across Canada from 1975 to 2016. Analyses for 226Ra, 210Pb and total uranium were carried out on monthly composite samples of drinking water from selected Canadian municipalities. Generally speaking, levels of 226Ra, 210Pb and total uranium were found to be low compared to national and international standards for drinking water quality. Because levels were low, federal monitoring programs were discontinued in most communities in 1986 except for Regina, Elliot Lake and Port Hope. The population-weighted average levels for these three communities, using data from the most recent 5 years, are <1 mBq/L for 226Ra, <5 mBq/L for 210Pb and <0.4 μg/L for total uranium. The average effective dose resulting from drinking water intake at these levels would be <4.3 μSv per year.

Education Policy's Critical Role in Improving the Futures of Individuals With Disabilities

Abstract The author, former director of the Office of Special Education Programs in the U.S. Department of Education, describes policy changes that are needed to move the nation toward the positive life outcomes Congress articulated in the Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act of 2004. Five policy recommendations are each supported by experiences spanning over thirty years of service in special education at the local, state, and federal levels. The recommendations reflect fundamental changes in determining eligibility for special education, the continuum of alternative placements, responsibility for enforcement, teacher preparation, and federal monitoring.

A Transdisciplinary Approach to Managing Emerging and Resurging Mosquito-Borne Diseases in the Western Pacific Region.

Mosquitoes transmit a number of harmful diseases that have an impact on local communities and visitors, and many pose a threat to neighboring countries. As federal monitoring budgets shrink across the world, the increasing importance of citizen scientists in monitoring and identifying invasive species, as well as acting to prevent these diseases, are discussed. Examples of past mosquito management programs are provided, and future directions are discussed with an emphasis on the Western Pacific Region.