Large-scale Programs Research Articles

2020 Rossi Award Lecture: The Evolving Art of Program Evaluation.

Evaluation of public programs has undergone many changes over the past four decades since Peter Rossi coined his "Iron Law" of program evaluation: "The expected value of any net impact assessment of any large-scale social program is zero." While that assessment may be somewhat overstated, the essence still holds. The failures far outnumber the successes, and the estimated favorable effects are rarely sizeable. Despite this grim assessment, much can be learned from "failed" experiments, and from ones that are successful in only some sites or subgroups. Advances in study design, statistical models, data, and how inferences are drawn from estimates have substantially improved our analyses and will continue to do so. However, the most actual learning about "what works" (and why, when, and where) is likely to come from gathering more detailed and comprehensive data on how the intervention was implemented and attempting to link that data to estimated impacts. Researchers need detailed data on the target population served, the content of the intervention, and the process by which it is delivered to participating service providers and individuals. Two examples presented here illustrate how researchers drew useful broader lessons from impact estimates for a set of related programs. Rossi posited three reasons most interventions fail-wrong question, wrong intervention, poor implementation. Speeding the accumulation of wisdom about how social programs can best help vulnerable populations will require that researchers work closely with program funders, developers, operators, and participants to gather and interpret these detailed data about program implementation.

Sleeping duration, physical activity, alcohol drinking and other risk factors as potential attributes of metabolic syndrome in adults in Ethiopia: A hospital-based cross-sectional study.

Available evidence showed that metabolic syndrome in the adult population is persistently elevated due to nutrition transition, genetic predisposition, individual-related lifestyle factors, and other environmental risks. However, in developing nations, the burden and scientific evidence on the pattern, and risk exposures for the development of the metabolic syndrome were not adequately investigated. Thus, the study aimed to measure the prevalence of metabolic syndrome and to identify specific risk factors among adult populations who visited Dessie Comprehensive Specialized Hospital, Ethiopia. A hospital-based cross-sectional study was conducted among randomly selected 419 adults attending Dessie Comprehensive Specialized Hospital from January 25 to February 29, 2020. We used the WHO STEP-wise approach for non-communicable disease surveillance to assess participants' disease condition. Metabolic syndrome was measured using the harmonized criteria recommended by the International Diabetes Federation Task Force in 2009. Data were explored for missing values, outliers and multicollinearity before presenting the summary statistics and regression results. Multivariable logistic regression was used to disentangle statistically significant predictors of metabolic syndrome expressed using an odds ratio with a 95% of uncertainty interval. All statistical tests were managed using SPSS version 26. A non-linear dose-response analysis was performed to show the relationships between metabolic syndromes with potential risk factors. The overall prevalence of metabolic syndrome among adults was 35.0% (95% CI, (30.5, 39.8)). Women were more affected than men (i.e. 40.3% vs 29.4%). After adjusting for other variables, being female [OR = 1.85; 95% CI (1.01, 3.38)], urban residence [OR = 1.94; 95% CI (1.08, 3.24)], increased age [OR = 18.23; 95% CI (6.66, 49.84)], shorter sleeping durations [OR = 4.62; 95% CI (1.02, 20.98)], sedentary behaviour [OR = 4.05; 95% CI (1.80, 9.11)], obesity [OR = 3.14; 95% CI (1.20, 8.18)] and alcohol drinking [OR = 2.85; 95% CI (1.27,6.39)] were positively associated with the adult metabolic syndrome. Whilst have no formal education [OR = 0.30; 95% CI (0.12, 0.74)] was negatively associated with metabolic syndrome. The prevalence of adult metabolic syndrome is found to be high. Metabolic syndrome has linear relationships with BMI, physical activity, sleep duration, and level of education. The demographic and behavioural factors are strongly related with the risk of metabolic syndrome. Since most of the factors are modifiable, there should be urgent large-scale community intervention programs focusing on increased physical activity, healthy sleep, weight management, minimize behavioural risk factors, and healthier food interventions targeting a lifecycle approach. The existing policy should be evaluated whether due attention has given to prevention strategies of NCDs.

Cervical cancer screening in high-altitude areas in China: A large cross-section study of 25,173 women in northern Tibet.

BackgroundCervical cancer has become a worldwide concern owing to its high incidence and mortality rates. To date, high-altitude areas of Tibet have not benefited from any large-scale cervical cancer screening programs. Therefore, we initiated a screening program to investigate the prevalence of human papilloma virus (HPV) and HPV genotype distribution to reveal cervical cancer and its precursor which lead to morbidity among women in the city of Nagqu in northern Tib3et.MethodsA total of 25,173 women were recruited to undergo HPV genotype tests between June and December 2019. Women infected with HPV 16 and/or 18 underwent colposcopy and histological examination. Women with other high-risk HPV type (hr-HPV) underwent cytological tests to determine whether to conduct further colposcopy and histological examination for diagnosis. HPV prevalence was calculated in the total population and further stratified according to various parameters, such as age group, area location (altitude level), and single or mixed infection status. The HPV genotype distribution was also investigated accordingly. Cervical lesions revealed by further colposcopic findings were also analyzed; high-grade and malignant lesion morbidities were calculated in total and in each county. Most data were collected and analyzed using descriptive and consistency check statistical methods, and a risk factor investigation for HPV infection was performed using logistic regression models.ResultsThe total HPV infection rate among women in Nagqu was 13.42%. Of the 25,173 women in the study, 999 (3.97%) were HPV 16/18 positive, 2,379 (9.45%) were other hr-HPV-positive, and 21,795 (86.58%) were HPV-negative. The five most common HPV genotypes, accounting for more than 60% of all HPV infections in Nagqu people, were HPV 16, 58, 31, 18, and 52. Tibetan women younger than 20 years and older than 60 years were the two age groups with the highest rates of HPV infection, 26.7% and 19.8%, respectively. Among the HPV-positive women, 2,656 (78.33%) were infected with a single strain and 732 (21.67%) were infected with multiple strains (more than two genotypes). HPV prevalence increased in high-altitude areas (positive rate highest in Nyima with an altitude of 5,000 m, 23.9%) and decreased in relatively low-altitude areas (positive rate lowest in Lhari with an altitude of 4,000 m, 6.6%). Multiple analyses showed that age, parity, age at first delivery, and altitude of residence were independent factors facilitating HPV infection in Tibetan women. High-grade and malignant cervical lesions revealed by histological findings were different among living locations, with the highest rates in Xainza, Baingoin, and Nyainrong, these being 2.019%, 1.820%, and 1.116%, respectively, among women in these areas.ConclusionOur survey provides an overall perspective on HPV genotype infection and cervical lesions in women in northern Tibet. The data not only provide useful information for the treatment of cervical lesions but also has great value in terms of the primary and secondary prevention measures that can be taken for women living in these regions.Clinical Trial Registration www.chictr.org.cn, indentifier ChiCTR2000035061.

Identifying and understanding benefits associated with return-on-investment from large-scale healthcare Quality Improvement programmes: an integrative systematic literature review

BackgroundWe previously developed a Quality Improvement (QI) Return-on-Investment (ROI) conceptual framework for large-scale healthcare QI programmes. We defined ROI as any monetary or non-monetary value or benefit derived from QI. We called the framework the QI-ROI conceptual framework. The current study describes the different categories of benefits covered by this framework and explores the relationships between these benefits.MethodsWe searched Medline, Embase, Global health, PsycInfo, EconLit, NHS EED, Web of Science, Google Scholar, organisational journals, and citations, using ROI or returns-on-investment concepts (e.g., cost–benefit, cost-effectiveness, value) combined with healthcare and QI. Our analysis was informed by Complexity Theory in view of the complexity of large QI programmes. We used Framework analysis to analyse the data using a preliminary ROI conceptual framework that was based on organisational obligations towards its stakeholders. Included articles discussed at least three organisational benefits towards these obligations, with at least one financial or patient benefit. We synthesized the different QI benefits discussed.ResultsWe retrieved 10 428 articles. One hundred and two (102) articles were selected for full text screening. Of these 34 were excluded and 68 included. Included articles were QI economic, effectiveness, process, and impact evaluations as well as conceptual literature. Based on these literatures, we reviewed and updated our QI-ROI conceptual framework from our first study. Our QI-ROI conceptual framework consists of four categories: 1) organisational performance, 2) organisational development, 3) external outcomes, and 4) unintended outcomes (positive and negative). We found that QI benefits are interlinked, and that ROI in large-scale QI is not merely an end-outcome; there are earlier benefits that matter to organisations that contribute to overall ROI. Organisations also found positive aspects of negative unintended consequences, such as learning from failed QI.Discussion and conclusionOur analysis indicated that the QI-ROI conceptual framework is made-up of multi-faceted and interconnected benefits from large-scale QI programmes. One or more of these may be desirable depending on each organisation’s goals and objectives, as well as stage of development. As such, it is possible for organisations to deduce incremental benefits or returns-on-investments throughout a programme lifecycle that are relevant and legitimate.

Spatial variability in the abundance and prey selection of the corallivorous snail Drupella spp. in the southeastern Hainan Island, China

Global climate change has caused extensive loss of biodiversity and ecosystem function globally, particularly in coral reefs in shallow tropical waters. As the corallivorous snails represent considerable disturbances to coral reefs across Indo-Pacific region, it is becoming a threat to coral health and recovery in the Hainan Island, South China Sea, but current-knowledge gap remains on the spatial distribution, prey preferences, and the influence factors related. Thus, we investigated the abundance distribution of Drupella spp. in relation to coral-prey selectivity, availability, and nutritional value. The snail density was heterogeneously distributed in the study area with an average of 0.72 ± 0.32 ind m−2 (varying from 0.09 ± 0.03 to 1.78 ± 0.39 ind m−2), and the snail density was found generally higher in locations with higher coral cover, which resulted in much lower density where their preferred corals became scarce. Despite the snails showing a positive preference for Acroporidae corals, they displayed dietary plasticity by changing with prey abundance and availability. Further, we found the electivity index of the coral prey related to the substrate types, and the nutritional value of prey was an additional important determinant in the prey preference, suggesting that the specific reef habitat and environmental context may alter the prey preference of Drupella spp. Combined, these results provide preliminary evidence that Drupella spp. is among the common corallivories in the reef regions of Hainan Island, and we recommend that large-scale monitoring programs assess the spatial-temporal trends to better understand the dynamics of predation linked to both anthropogenic and natural impacts.

Innovation in Large-Scale Research Programs: Elevating Research Participants to Governance Roles Through the All of Us Research Program Engagement Core.

Despite the successes of community-engaged research in advancing research relevance and health equity for diverse communities, the impact of this research has been limited to local and regional programs. Engaging diverse community voices in large-scale, national research programs represents a paradigm shift in biomedical research. Still, disconnects remain between research decision makers and the communities they serve, impeding richer, bidirectional engagement. An engagement core team was established within National Institutes of Health All of Us Research Program (AoURP) in 2018 to synthesize community-engaged research practices and establish infrastructure that operationalizes diverse research participant engagement. The authors integrated research participants as "participant partners" within the AoURP governance, an approach that is embedded into the engagement core's 3 aims: (1) integrate a diverse pool of participants into the program, (2) identify and meaningfully engage a cadre of diverse participants into program governance, and (3) assess the impact of such engagement on research. Participant partners are compensated as consultants at approximately $50/hour. As of August 2022, more than 515,000 individuals consented to participate in the AoURP, with more than 49% representing racial/ethnic minorities. The authors invited participants to self-nominate if interested in engaging in research working groups, decision making, and governance. Also, consortium partners nominated individuals on AoURP community advisory and/or participant advisory boards to serve as participant ambassadors. Ten individuals were selected as participant partners for the 2022-2025 term. Eight serve on the steering committee; of those, 4 serve on the executive committee; 2 more serve on the advisory panel. An additional 23 serve as participant ambassadors. The authors continue to increase the number of research participants serving as engaged partners in the program. Engagement approaches will be systematically evaluated with the goal of adoption by other large-scale research programs.

Bridging a Gap in Metabarcoding Research: The ASV Table Registry

Metabarcoding is a tool to routinely identify species in environmental mass-samples and thereby analyze their species composition. Using metabarcoding techniques outperforms the traditional species identification by human experts in amount, speed and quality when well curated reference data are available. Therefore, metabarcoding can be seen as the future standard method for all biological research areas where species occurrence and distribution is in question, e.g., ecological research or monitoring projects (Porter and Hajibabaei 2018). A common outcome of metabarcoding research are Amplicon Sequence Variant tables (ASV, Callahan et al. 2017). These tables combine the extracted sequences of all sampling plots with the occurrences of each sequence within a single plot. To identify the species, each sequence is searched in one or more reference databases that hold sequences and their known taxon identifications (e.g., Barcode Of Life Data system (BOLD) or the German Barcode of Life library (GBOL)). The sequence searches utilise tools like BLAST, BOLD identification engine, or vsearch. Found taxa and their taxonomy are added to the ASV tables as taxon assignments. The number and precision of taxon assignments will increase with the growth of available sequences and quality of identifications in reference databases over time (Weigand et al. 2019). The introduction of new marker sequences and improvements in search tools will further enhance the taxon assignments. Thus, the taxon assignments in ASV tables are subject to change. Projects with the aim of building up species inventories on a large scale (GBOL) or monitoring programs, like the Automated Multisensor Stations for Monitoring of BioDiversity (Wägele et al. 2022), quickly produce data sets with thousands of sequences at numerous locations. Currently, most ASV tables are stored as supplements to publications or in private repositories. This makes analysis across multiple research projects difficult and error prone as sequences and their taxon assignments are often not accessible. Efforts, like the European Bioinformatics Institute metagenomics with Mgnify serve the needs for uploading and annotating environmental DNA samples (Mitchell et al. 2017), but a registry for ASV tables with complete data life cycles is lacking. To fill this gap, we develop an ASV Table Registry as part of the German Barcode of Life III - Dark Taxa project. This allows users to: register ASV tables and sequences upload and manage ASV tables with versioning publish ASV tables with DOIs search by sequences, taxa, and occurrence data retrieve API-based data assign taxonomic names with various tools and reference databases keep track of the applied search methods and parameters register ASV tables and sequences upload and manage ASV tables with versioning publish ASV tables with DOIs search by sequences, taxa, and occurrence data retrieve API-based data assign taxonomic names with various tools and reference databases keep track of the applied search methods and parameters The data life cycle of the uploaded ASV tables consists of several draft versions (each re-annotation with the identification pipeline creates a new draft version) and eventually a published version with a DOI. New draft versions can be created from the published version, then re-annotated and published again. The tracking of former taxon assignments allows researchers to re-evaluate data of former studies, compare them, and add new results. The ASV Table Registry developed here aims to make ASV tables FAIR (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, and Reusable) and to foster the shared use in research projects. Future development focuses on the incorporation of the MIxS standard (Yilmaz et al. 2011) and on submission of the published data to International Nucleotide Sequence Database Collaboration (INSDC) using established dataflows from the German Federation for Biological Data (GFBio) and NFDI4biodiversity. The ASV data portal is accessible at: https://bolgermany.de/metabarcoding; the source code at: https://gitlab.leibniz-lib.de/GBOL/asv-table-registry.

Indicator-activities to apply primary health care principles in national or large-scale community health worker programs in low-and middle-income countries: a Delphi exercise

IntroductionPrimary Health Care (PHC) gained considerable momentum in the past four decades and led to improved health outcomes across a wide variety of settings. In low-and middle-income countries (LMICs), national or large-scale Community Health Worker Programs (CHWPs) are considered as vehicles to incorporate PHC principles into healthcare provision and are an essential aspect of the PHC approach to achieve health for all and sustainable development goals. The success of CHWPs is rooted in the application of PHC principles. However, there is evidence that shows patchy implementation of PHC principles across national CHWPs in LMICs. This may reflect the lack of information on what activities would illustrate the application of these principles in CHWPs. This study aimed to identify a set of core/indicator-activities that reflect the application of PHC principles by CHWPs in LMICs.MethodsA two-round modified Delphi study was undertaken with participants who have extensive experience in planning, implementation and evaluation of CHWPs. Survey design and analysis was guided by the four PHC principles namely Universal Health Coverage, Community Participation, Intersectoral Coordination and Appropriateness. Responses were collected using a secure online survey program (survey monkey). In round one, participants were asked to list ‘core activities’ that would reflect the application of each PHC principle and its sub-attributes and challenges to apply these principles in CHWPs. In round two, participants were asked to select whether they agree or disagree with each of the activities and challenges. Consensus was set a priori at 70% agreement of participants for each question.ResultsSeventeen participants from 15 countries participated in the study. Consensus was reached on 59 activities reflecting the application of PHC principles by CHWPs. Based on participants’ responses, a set of 29 indicator-activities for the four PHC principles was developed with examples for each indicator-activity.ConclusionThese indicator-activities may provide guidance on how PHC principles can be implemented in CHWPs. They can be used in the development and evaluation of CHWPs, particularly in their application of PHC principles. Future research may focus on testing the utility of indicator-activities on CHWPs in LMICs.

Liquidity constraints, cash transfers and the demand for health care in the Covid-19 pandemic.

This paper proposes the hypothesis that liquidity constraints may delay or even prevent sick individuals from seeking medical help. If this is the case, a cash transfer can directly increase the demand for medical care. We evaluated this hypothesis empirically in the context of the implementation of Emergency Aid (EA), a large‐scale cash transfer program in Brazil, during the Covid‐19 pandemic. We used the program's implementation calendar along with a Regression Discontinuity in Time to assess the causal effects of EA on the search for the health system. Consistent with our hypothesis, we estimate that the transfer immediately decreased the time to search for the health system by 14% and increased COVID‐19 hospitalizations by 0.015%.

Digital artifacts reveal development and diffusion of climate research

Research for development organizations generate tremendous amount of accessible knowledge, but given their scale, time and resource constraints, the impact of outputs is not systematically analyzed. This is because traditional bibliometric analyses present limitations to synthesize accumulated knowledge and retrofitting indicators to historical outputs. To address these shortcomings, this study proposes an integrated, web-based approach to systematically analyze the production and diffusion of knowledge from large-scale research programs, using climate research of the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) as a case study. Our analytical framework employs text mining, social network analysis and hyperlink analysis to an unstructured mass of publicly available digital artifacts such as institutional repositories, citation databases, and social media to uncover narratives, dynamics, and relationships. Findings show CIMMYT’s climate research is strongly incorporated into a holistic systems approach and that the institution is actively engaged in knowledge exchanges with key actors from the scientific, development and public policy communities. The proposed analytical framework establishes an effective approach for research for development organizations to leverage existing online data sources to assess the extent of their knowledge production, dissemination, and reach.

Scaling Up Citizen Workshops in Public Libraries to Disseminate and Discuss Primary Care Research Results: Quasi-Experimental Study.

BackgroundLittle is known about engaging patients and stakeholders in the process of scaling up effective knowledge translation interventions targeting the public.ObjectiveUsing an integrated knowledge translation approach, we aimed to scale up and evaluate an effective pilot program to disseminate research results in public libraries.MethodsWe conducted a scaling-up study targeting the public. On the basis of our successful pilot project, we codeveloped and implemented a large-scale program of free citizen workshops in public libraries, in a close research partnership with stakeholders and patient representatives. Citizen workshops, each facilitated by 1 participating physician and 1 science communicator, consisted of a 45-minute computer-assisted presentation and a 45-minute open exchange. The intervention outcome was knowledge gained. The scale-up outcomes were satisfaction, appropriateness, coverage, and costs. An evaluation questionnaire was used to collect data of interest. Both quantitative and qualitative analyses were performed.ResultsThe workshop theme chosen by the patient and stakeholder representatives was the high prevalence of medication overuse among people aged ≥65 years. From April to May 2019, 26 workshops were conducted in 25 public libraries reaching 362 people. The mean age of participants was 64.8 (SD 12.5) years. In total, 18 participating physicians and 6 science communicators facilitated the workshops. Participants reported significant knowledge gain (mean difference 2.1, 95% CI 2.0-2.2; P<.001). The median score for overall public satisfaction was 9 out of 10 (IQR 8-10). The public participants globally rated the workshops as having a high level of appropriateness. Coverage was 92% (25/27) of the total number of public libraries targeted. Costs were CAD $6051.84 (US $4519.69) for workshop design and CAD $22,935.41 (US $17,128.85) for scaling them up.ConclusionsThis project successfully established a large-scale and successful implementation science or knowledge translation bridge among researchers, clinicians, and citizens via public libraries. This study provides a model for a dissemination practice that benefits the public by both engaging them in the dissemination process and targeting them directly.

Social housing and accessibility in Brazil's unequal cities

Ensuring equal access to opportunities while assessing the housing needs of low-income populations has been a significant challenge in many global south countries. Social housing programs have been recurrently criticized for reinforcing inequalities by ignoring the poor conditions of urban access. This study evaluates the urban access of a national social housing program, My House My Life (Minha Casa Minha Vida, MCMV), in Brazil, one of the most unequal countries in the world. This program is renowned for building many of its housing projects in urban outskirts. We use job accessibility metrics to identify differences and similarities in MCMV housing production in six large Brazilian cities through a comparative lens. We find that although MCMV beneficiaries have less access to job opportunities than average-income citizens, the program may improve their conditions compared to individuals with similar income levels within central cities. We hope that future studies may expand this work to include the surrounding metropolitan areas, which were not considered due to data restrictions. We also expect to encourage other efforts in the investigation of social housing impacts through spatial data science, especially in evaluating accessibility in large-scale social housing programs.

Public administration and politics meet turbulence: The search for robust governance responses

Public administration and politics meet turbulence: The search for robust governance responses

Development and validation of a route planning methodology for vehicle-based remote measurements of methane and other emissions from oil and gas wells and facilities

ABSTRACT Multi-sensor vehicle systems have been implemented in large-scale field programs to detect, attribute, and estimate emissions rates of methane (CH4) and other compounds from oil and gas wells and facilities. Most vehicle systems use passive sensing; they must be positioned downwind of sources to detect emissions. A major deployment challenge is predicting the best measurement locations and driving routes to sample infrastructure. Here, we present and validate a methodology that incorporates high-resolution weather forecast and geospatial data to predict measurement locations and optimize driving routes. The methodology estimates the downwind road intersection point (DRIP) of theoretical CH4 plumes emitted from each well or facility. DRIPs serve as waypoints for Dijkstra’s shortest path algorithm to determine the optimal driving route. We present a case study to demonstrate the methodology for planning and executing a vehicle-based concentration mapping survey of 50 oil and gas wells near Pecos, Texas. Validation was performed by comparing DRIPs with 174 CH4 plumes measured by vehicle surveys of oil and gas wells and facilities in Alberta, Canada. Results indicate median Manhattan distances of 145.8 m between DRIPs and plume midpoints and 160.3 m between DRIPs and peak plume enhancements. A total of 46 (26%) of the plume segments overlapped DRIPs. Locational errors of DRIPs are related to misattributions of emissions sources and discrepancies between modeled and instantaneous wind direction measured when the vehicle intersects plumes. Although the development of the methodology was motivated by CH4 emissions from oil and gas facilities, it should be applicable to other types of point source air emissions from known facilities. Implications: This paper presents and validates a method that addresses the challenge of measuring industrial emissions from public roads. The method can increase the effectiveness and efficiency of targeted vehicle-based emissions surveys where the locations of potential sources are known. We believe the method has broad application in addition to the upstream oil and gas context it was designed for.

Combining ex-ante and ex-post assessments to support the sustainable transformation of agriculture: The case of Swiss pesticide-free wheat production

Abstract Sustainable intensification of agriculture requires the adoption of new production techniques, tools, and programmes on a large scale. This implies substantial shifts in established ways of farming under uncertain information about potential economic and environmental outcomes. Research can support stakeholders such as farmers, industry, and policy in this transformation by providing evidence-based information. The provision of such information can be improved by combining ex-ante and ex-post assessment tools at different stages of policy cycles and projects. We here present a unique combination of ex-ante bio-economic modelling analysis and ex-post econometric analyses based on survey data using the example of a novel pesticide-free wheat production programme in Switzerland. We exemplify how ex-ante and ex-post evaluation can be combined to increase the robustness of results for stakeholders, e.g. on yield losses from pesticide-free production or farmer typologies important for adoption. Further, we show how their alignment can improve future assessments in project and policy cycles, e.g. through the choice of suitable variables explaining farmer decision-making and priors on the distribution of their characteristics. Despite the identified synergies between assessments, we also find that their integration is limited by the timing and information requirements of stakeholders at different stages in the project. Finally, potential synergies in our case study strongly depended on the type of ex-ante models chosen for evaluation and their alignment with ex-post methods. Especially integrating farmer behaviour in ex-ante assessments seems to be crucial to arriving at holistic evaluations of large-scale programmes for sustainable agricultural practices and providing useful information to stakeholders.

Effective emissions reduction of high-mileage fleets through a catalytic converter and oxygen sensor replacement program

High-mileage vehicles such as taxis make disproportionately large contributions to urban air pollution due to their accelerated engine deterioration rates and high operation intensities despite their small proportions of the total fleet. Controlling emissions from these high-mileage fleets is thus important for improving urban air quality. This study evaluates the effectiveness of a pilot repair program in reducing emissions from taxis in Hong Kong which account for about 2 % of the total licensed vehicles. The emission factors of a large sample of 684 in-service taxis (including 121 for an emission survey program and 563 for a pilot repair program) were measured on transient chassis dynamometers. The results showed that 63 % of the sampled taxis failed the driving cycle test before the pilot repair program. Most of failed taxis were NO related and 91 % of failed taxis exceeded the emission limits of at least two regulated pollutants simultaneously. After the pilot repair program by replacing catalytic converters and oxygen sensors, the failure rate was significantly reduced to only 7 %. In addition, the fleet average NO, HC and CO emission factors were reduced by 85 %, 82 % and 56 %, respectively. In addition, on-road remote sensing measurements confirmed the real-world emission reductions from the taxis that participated in the pilot repair program. These findings led to the implementation of a large-scale replacement program for all taxis in Hong Kong during 2013–2014, which was estimated to have reduced the total HC, CO and NO emissions by about 420, 2570 and 1000 t per year, respectively (equivalent to 5–8 % emission reductions from the whole road transport sector). Therefore, reducing emissions from the small high-mileage fleets is a highly cost-effective measure to improve urban air quality.

OER Textbooks: A Helpful Tool for DEI Initiatives in Higher Education

This is a policy paper that discusses the contributions of open educational resource (OER) textbooks to the success of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives in institutions of higher education. DEI is often identified by universities as an institutional goal; however, it is usually addressed at the institutional level by large scale university initiatives and programs. The question addressed herein is how can faculty contribute on an individual level to the success of higher education DEI goals? One very practical tool that can help is the use of (OER) textbooks at the individual course level. Expanding student access to educational resources has the potential to make a significant contribution to the success of diversity, equity, and inclusion goals.

Rater characteristics, response content, and scoring contexts: Decomposing the determinates of scoring accuracy.

Raters may introduce construct-irrelevant variance when evaluating written responses to performance assessments, threatening the validity of students’ scores. Numerous factors in the rating process, including the content of students’ responses, the characteristics of raters, and the context in which the scoring occurs, are thought to influence the quality of raters’ scores. Despite considerable study of rater effects, little research has examined the relative impacts of the factors that influence rater accuracy. In practice, such integrated examinations are needed to afford evidence-based decisions of rater selection, training, and feedback. This study provides the first naturalistic, integrated examination of rater accuracy in a large-scale assessment program. Leveraging rater monitoring data from an English language arts (ELA) summative assessment program, I specified cross-classified, multilevel models via Bayesian (i.e., Markov chain Monte Carlo) estimation to decompose the impact of response content, rater characteristics, and scoring contexts on rater accuracy. Results showed relatively little variation in accuracy attributable to teams, items, and raters. Raters did not collectively exhibit differential accuracy over time, though there was significant variation in individual rater’s scoring accuracy from response to response and day to day. I found considerable variation in accuracy across responses, which was in part explained by text features and other measures of response content that influenced scoring difficulty. Some text features differentially influenced the difficulty of scoring research and writing content. Multiple measures of raters’ qualification performance predicted their scoring accuracy, but general rater background characteristics including experience and education did not. Site-based and remote raters demonstrated comparable accuracy, while evening-shift raters were slightly less accurate, on average, than day-shift raters. This naturalistic, integrated examination of rater accuracy extends previous research and provides implications for rater recruitment, training, monitoring, and feedback to improve human evaluation of written responses.

Ecological and environmental effects of land-use changes in the Loess Plateau of China

<p indent="0mm">The Loess Plateau (LP) is a typical ecologically fragile area in China, with severe water shortage and soil erosion. Understanding the interactions between land use structure and ecological processes is the basis for effective soil and water conservation. Since the implementation of large-scale vegetation restoration programs, changes in carbon and water services, as well as trade-offs in these services have become a new scientific challenge in this region. A comprehensive analytical paradigm of “pattern–process–service” was developed by our research group to determine the ecological and environmental effects of land-use changes and support ecological restoration practices. First, by combining landscape pattern, ecological process, and scale, we studied the effects of land-use changes on soil moisture, nutrients, and erosion at multiple spatial scales of plot, transect, catchment, and region, and illustrated the mechanisms of the interactions between land-use structure and ecological processes in the LP systematically. These works have revealed the relationships among ecosystem structure, land-use structure, vegetation functional traits, vegetation biomass, ecological processes (e.g., hydrological processes and nutrient cycling) and ecosystem services. They have also identified the key roles of soil water content and understory plant diversity in ecosystem service maintenance in dryland ecosystems. Second, by linking ecological processes and ecosystem services, we studied the formation and interaction mechanisms of ecosystem services. A sediment attribution diagnostic method focusing on soil retention services was developed to diagnose the contributions of multiple factors to changes in the sediment loads of rivers. Application of this method quantitatively revealed the drivers (climate change, vegetation restoration, and ecological engineering) and mechanisms underlying the drastic reduction in the sediment load of the Yellow River over the past <sc>60 years.</sc> The trade-off between carbon sequestration and water yield was quantitatively revealed, and its temporal and spatial variations during vegetation restoration were detected. The threshold of forest restoration potential within the limit of annual precipitation, as well as the turning point from soil carbon source to soil carbon sink following farmland abandonment, was identified. By considering water consumption for both vegetation growth and socioeconomic uses, a quantitative coupling analysis framework for the sustainable use of water resources in the natural–social–economic system of the LP was constructed, and regional water-resource carrying capacities for vegetation restoration in the region under various scenarios were determined; the results suggest that current vegetation restoration is approaching sustainable water resource limits. Third, on the basis of an understanding of the relationships between ecosystem processes and services at multiple scales, a spatially explicit assessment and optimization tool for regional ecosystem services was developed to reveal the spatiotemporal dynamics of ecosystem services on the LP, including water yield, soil retention, carbon sequestration, and grain production. By combining scenario analysis and ecosystem service quantification models with a spatial optimization algorithm, this new decision-supporting tool is capable of spatially optimizing multiple ecosystem services. This has contributed crucially to the advancement of integrated research into regional ecosystem services with the aim of quantifying, modeling, and supporting the rational planning and effective implementation of ecological projects. These findings have promoted the development of physical geography from qualitative structure description to quantitative process research. They have also led ecosystem services research into ecological processes and mechanisms and their comprehensive integration and have provided a key scientific basis for ecological restoration of the LP.

Overview of research on the digital economy: some typical studies in Vietnam

The digital economy has become the top concern of economic scientists around the world when there are global upheavals and crises that change the nature of many economic structures and forms of economic operation. In Vietnam, the digital economy is not only formed by the practical needs of the general global context but also reflected in the government's policies or action plans. In general, the digital economy is an inevitable and growing trend and is gradually being institutionalized in the state's policy system. However, there is a need for more in-depth studies on each aspect or large-scale research programs on the digital economy in Vietnam with both positive and negative aspects now and in the future.