Years Of Project Implementation Research Articles

The economic rationale for the production of edible eggs in family farms in Ukraine

The article presents the results of research on the economic and investment effectiveness of creating a family farm to produce organic chicken eggs to ensure the population's food needs and promote fair competition in the domestic market of Ukraine. The planning of the leading indicators of the efficiency of egg production takes into account the technological features of the free-range system of keeping poultry, as well as the features of the economy of poultry farming in the egg sector in the market conditions of Ukraine. The planning of fixed and working capital, which is necessary for the organization of production of organic eggs in newly created family farms on the resource base of households in Ukraine, has been carried out. The main technological parameters of egg production, which will ensure the profitability of this type of business, have been determined. According to the study's results, it was established that the organization of organic egg production in family-type farms is one of the economically efficient types of agricultural business in Ukraine. It was established that for the organization of egg production in family farms with 600 laying hens, it is necessary to invest about 36,000 euros, including 30,000 euros of fixed capital. Planned capital costs can be significantly reduced if the necessary material and technical resources are available, or part of them in households, based on which it is planned to create a family farm, which belongs to more efficient commercial forms of business in agriculture. It is estimated that over three years of project implementation, the farm will receive a total of 45,000 euros of net cash flow from net profit, depreciation, and fixed wages of family farm members. The projected net return on capital in the first year of project implementation will reach 29.4 %. It will gradually decrease due to a reduction in production and sales volume due to a decrease in chickens' productivity level. It was determined that the ratio of net cash flow for the year to the value of the farm's capital would be 50% at the end of the first year and about 40 % at the end of the project implementation period. The projected payback of the project will be 2.5 years with a return on investment of 126 %.

A Socio-Ecological Approach to A Community-Based Health Promotion Intervention on the U.S.-Mexico Border: Insights and Lessons Learned During the COVID-19 Pandemic

The Healthy Families Healthy Kids Initiative (HFHKI) is a community-based initiative developed based on the socio-ecological model to address preventive health care needs in El Paso County, Texas, one of the most economically and health-challenged border communities in the United States. HFHKI’s three main goals are to increase access to experiential learning and health education, service delivery, and sustainable systems/linkages of care. These were accomplished through seven critical activities. We present the rationale, background, setting, and conceptual framework for the initiative, followed by the methods used to develop and assess the success of the activities and results of our project outcomes. We end with a discussion of lessons learned and future directions. We also share insights gained from our community health promotion intervention during the COVID-19 pandemic, which will enrich current conversations among applied social scientists. Overall, our project served 2,347 participants of all age ranges during our first year of project implementation across all 7 activities. We recommend the use of the socio-ecological model in designing, implementing, and improving health interventions aimed at enhancing family and community health, with each intervention tailored to the needs of different segments of the community. While the need to contain the COVID-19 virus amid the pandemic has created challenges in health promotion efforts, the need to help affected communities regain control of their health cannot be stressed enough. Our project can serve as an implementation framework for community-based projects on the U.S.-Mexico border.

An integrated ecological approach to countering targeted violence on the U.S.-Mexico border: Insights and lessons learned

Well-integrated and productive communities are an asset to the development and advancement of our nation, and they have an important role to play in planning, learning, and enforcing safety to enhance national and border security. REACH (Resilience, Education, Action, Commitment, and Humanity) is a community-based project housed at The University of Texas at El Paso that aims to prevent targeted violence and domestic terrorism in El Paso County. We integrated three frameworks (i.e., Whole Community Preparedness, Socio-Ecological Model, and Global Citizen Education) to involve local residents in efforts to combat and mitigate targeted violence. REACH had two goals: to (1) prevent targeted violence and domestic terrorism through education, outreach, and community capacity-building aimed at identifying and deterring radicalization (primary prevention) and (2) reduce the short-term and long-term impact and prevent re-occurrence of targeted violence and domestic terrorism (secondary and tertiary prevention). Overall, our project served 8,934 participants directly and reached many more through our media cavmpaigns and outreach efforts during our 2 years of project implementation (2021–2023). Our project design may serve as an implementation model for other community-based projects on the U.S.-Mexico border and can be replicated with other target populations in the U.S. Insights and lessons learned from this project are discussed.

Academic Leadership Development: An Exploratory Study on the Impacts at the Institutional Level Based on an Erasmus+ Capacity Building Project

While demands on academic leadership in higher education have been increasing, there has been a lack of empirical studies exploring the effectiveness and impacts of leadership development interventions. In addition, recent studies suggest a model of leadership development based on an international approach. Unfortunately, the evaluation of those programs is limited in the available literature. This study thus presents the results of the impacts of a higher education (HE) academic leadership development program at the international level which consist of 12 universities in China and Europe. The project was implemented over a 4-year period, delivered through workshops, training programs, and exchanges. Following 2 years of project implementation, the mid-term impact was assessed through surveys and semi-structured interviews. Among the participants who had joined the program for more than 12 months, 51 Chinese participants and 41 European participants voluntarily took part in the online survey; of those, 21 participants were involved in the semi-structured interviews. Ultimately, the findings indicated that the program has had positive impacts on a variety of aspects, including cross-institutional networking, collaboration, partnership, and HE-related policy development and practices. Furthermore, this study has provided empirical evidence on how an academic leadership development program contributes to assisting academic institutions in broadening their connections, networking, and partnerships in order to achieve their institutional goals of development and innovation. As such, the research findings are useful for policymakers, university administrators, and related stakeholders. Lastly, the approaches taken by the academic leadership development program utilized in the current study can be applied widely in different contexts.

A decade-long study on the effect of furrow and subsurface drip irrigation using unconventional water on soil salinity and the growth of pistachio trees

Furrow irrigation is the most common method of irrigating pistachio orchards in Iran. Water use efficiency using this method of irrigation is close to 35%. Ten years ago, a subsurface drip irrigation (SDI) project was initiated with highly saline and alkaline water for the first time in Iran at the Feyzabad pistachio research station, at 34̊ 54ʹ 15ʺ N, 58̊ 45ʹ 37ʺ E, located in the northeast of Iran, at an altitude of 850 meters from the sea. The water salinity and sodium adsorption ratio were 11.5 dS m-1 and 15.5 at the beginning of the project, and they reached 16.25 dS m-1 and 17.7 in 2021. The amount of SDI water consumption in the first year of the project (2012) was 1640 m3 ha-1 yr-1, and as the trees aged, water consumption reached 3000 m3 ha-1 in 2022. The amount of water utilized for furrow irrigation was about 6912 m3 ha-1 in 2022. Salt entering the soil through irrigation water differed by about 41 t ha-1 in 2022 between the two methods. After ten years of project implementation, the root development layer was more than 100 cm and less than 50 cm, respectively, for SDI and furrow. The trend of soil salinity has changed from 2012 to 2022: it went from 34.7 dS m-1 in 2012 to 110 dS m-1 in 2018, and then decreased to 65 dS m-1 in 2022 in the surface layer of the SDI method. In contrast, salinity increased almost twofold within the root development layer (60-140 cm) in the SDI. In the last two years (2021 and 2022), the height, crown width, trunk circumference, and yield of the pistachio trees were not significantly different between the two irrigation methods. However, there was a significant difference in the irrigation treatments during the two last years (2021 and 2022) in the annual growth, the average number of flower buds in the branch, and the average number of flower buds abscised. The branch vegetative growth in 2022 had decreased by almost 50% compared to 2021 in both methods. The results showed that the lowest annual growth was achieved in the SDI in 2022. Overall, the efficiency of water consumption in the SDI and furrow was equal to 0.09 and 0.06 kg m3, respectively. SDI net income was 1284 $ higher after expenses were deducted from 2012 to 2022. Therefore, due to severe climate change and excessive salinity increase in soil and water resources, a well-managed SDI can provide a more sustainable production method for salt-affected soils for pistachio orchards by reducing water consumption and salt entry into the soil.

Trichoderma technologies: a complete toolkit for sustainability, resilience, and environmental rehabilitation in Cu-contaminated lowland rice and vegetable areas in Mogpog, Marinduque, Philippines

The farming community of Mogpog, Marinduque has been beset by problems caused by soil contamination from mine tailings since two mining disasters happened in 1993 and 1996 alongside current fall-out from a mined-out site undergoing rehabilitation. Crop productivity declined due to copper toxicity and farmer incomes have diminished as a result, thus contributing to the poverty in the area. This is on top of the problems with pests, diseases, and climate-related phenomena even while the farmers are continuously impoverished by the effects caused by mine tailings spill that occurred >24 years ago. A project funded by DA-BAR (2017-2021) was conducted to help alleviate the constraints to crop productivity due to heavy metal toxicity, mitigate the effects of pests, diseases and other abiotic stressors, and increase crop yields and farmer incomes through the use of ecological management practices involving the use of two Trichoderma technologies (TT) namely, Trichoderma compost activator (TCA) and Trichoderma Microbial Inoculant (TMI). During the three years of project implementation, the farmers experienced the effects of El Niño and the pandemic. Through it all, Trichoderma technologies have helped increase their harvests by 12-81%, promoted resilience of crops to drought and pest pressure as attested by the farmers in interviews and surveys, saved money through reduced inputs of fertilizers and pesticides, and helped to manage crop residues through in situ composting that added organic matter in the field thus promoting sustainable use of natural resources. A field study conducted in 2020 showed that the technologies aided in the partial remediation of soil copper through the combined action of compost and TMI. The research project showed that Trichoderma technologies are instrumental in promoting sustainability, resilience, and environmental rehabilitation in copper-contaminated agricultural areas. These technologies help address concerns related to poverty, food security, health, economic growth, and responsible production.

Reducing inequities in maternal and child health in rural Guatemala through the CBIO+ approach of Curamericas: 2. Study site, design, and methods

BackgroundThe Curamericas/Guatemala Maternal and Child Health Project, 2011–2015, included implementation research designed to assess the effectiveness of an approach referred to as CBIO+ , composed of: (1) the Census-Based, Impact-Oriented (CBIO) Approach, (2) the Care Group Approach, and (3) the Community Birthing Center Approach. This is the second paper in a supplement of 10 articles describing the implementation research and its findings. Paper 1 describes CBIO+ , the Project Area, and how the Project was implemented.ObjectiveThis paper describes the implementation research design and details of how it was carried out.MethodsWe reviewed the original implementation research protocol and the methods used for all data collection related to this Project. The protocol and methods used for the implementation research related to this Project were all standard approaches to the monitoring and evaluation of child survival projects as developed by the United States Agency for International Development Child Survival and Health Grants Program (CSHGP) and the CORE Group. They underwent independent peer review supervised by the CSHGP before the implementation research began.ResultsThe study area was divided into two sets of communities with a total population of 98,000 people. Project interventions were implemented in Area A from 2011 until the end of the project in 2015 (44 months) and in Area B from late 2013 until 2015 (20 months). Thus, Area B served as a quasi-comparison area during the first two years of Project implementation. The overarching study question was whether the CBIO+ Approach improved the health and well-being of children and mothers. The outcome indicators included (1) changes in population coverage of evidence-based interventions, (2) changes in childhood nutritional status, (3) changes in the mortality of children and mothers, (4) quality of care provided at Community Birthing Centers, (5) the impact of the Project on women’s empowerment and social capital, (6) stakeholder assessment of the effectiveness of the CBIO+ Approach, and (7) the potential of wider adoption of the CBIO+ Approach.ConclusionThe implementation research protocol guided the assessment of the effectiveness of the CBIO+ Approach in improving the health and well-being of children, mothers, and their communities.

О ПРОЕКТИРОВАНИИ И ОРГАНИЗАЦИИ ПРОИЗВОДСТВА БПЛА ГРАЖДАНСКОГО НАЗНАЧЕНИЯ В КНИТУ-КАИ

The article is devoted to the study of issues of organization of research in the field of design and organization of production of civil UAVs. The authors note that the use of UAVs significantly reduces the cost of complex and labor-intensive work. With the development of technologies in this area, it becomes necessary to systematically study and analyze the results of ongoing research. The article focuses on the key problems and factors that determine the success of projects in this area. The authors emphasize that the UAV sector is competitive and dynamic, so the approaches and methods for evaluating the effectiveness of R&D should be adaptable and flexible. Understanding the peculiarities of evaluating the effectiveness of R&D in the field of designing and organizing the production of UAVs is important for making decisions on the allocation of resources and investments. The importance of the scientific school of KNRTU-KAI in the creation of modern Russian UAVs is noted. So, a scientific group consisting of Gainutdinov V.G., Abdullin I.N., Golovina E.S. A.V. a patent for a utility model "Modular design of a vertical takeoff and landing unmanned aerial vehicle with a combined power plant" was obtained. The authors reflected the advantages and disadvantages of existing VTOL UAVs, as well as the problem of lack of piloting skills among potential users. As part of the article, the authors developed a sales plan, a calendar plan, and also calculated the effectiveness of full investment costs over 5 years of project implementation.

Ec-Funded Projects’ Lessons Learned In Earth Friendly Freight Transportation

Abstract The paper is based on the research project ePIcenter (www.ePIcenterproject.eu) supported by the EU HORIZON 2020 Programme. ePIcenter connects thirty-six partners: port authorities, logistic service providers, manufacturers, academic institutions, and technology partners. The main goal is to develop and test AI driven logistic software solutions, apply new technologies and methodologies to increase the efficiency of global supply chains and reduce their environmental impact. One of the significant aspect the project focusses on is optimisation, using AI, digitalisation, automation and innovations in freight transport and handling technologies. Finally, modelling powerful solutions to enable resilient, efficient and environment friendly supply chains. Knowledge sharing is one of powerful tool for researchers, policymakers, service providers and other stakeholders to develop a holistic and comprehensive common knowledge base. First, a theoretical framework had been developed through identification and review knowledge available from previous projects funded through the European Commission as well as other international funding projects. Second, lessons learned and success stories from previous EC-funded projects and other international research programmes were reviewed and provided in the first year of project implementation.

СИСТЕМА УПРАВЛЕНИЯ ЭКСПЕРИМЕНТАЛЬНОЙ УСТАНОВКОЙ ЭЛЕКТРОФИЗИЧЕСКОГО ВОЗДЕЙСТВИЯ НА ЗЕРНО

Currently, the development of effective control systems for technological equipment is still actual problem. This project aims to develop and manufacture a learning control system that can implement control according to specified drying criteria and operating on the basis of changes in the moisture content of the processed material. This article presents the results of the development of a control system for a laboratory setup of electrophysical effects on grain. During this work elements of experimental planning, elements of statistical processing, computer modeling by using applied software for electrodynamic modeling, development of SCADA systems and programming of control equipment were used. The experiments were carried out using certified measuring equipment. The value of the research results lies in determining energy-efficient operating modes of grain processing equipment using a microwave field. The scientific novelty of the research consists in determining the grain wetness by the relative decrease voltage of the electromagnetic field in the layer of processed grain. Main provisions: the application of the developed humidity level control system allows you to determine the wetness content of the grain layer during processing by a microwave field; the implementation of one setup of combined microwave-convective drying of grain with a capacity of 5 tons per hour, operating under the control of the developed system and designed for productivity, allows you to get an income of 5231.2 thousand rubles for eight years of project implementation, while the simple payback period of capital investments will be 3.6 years. Conclusions: the using of the developed system by the experimental installation of microwave effecting on grain makes it possible to implement control according to relevant control criteria, while the average energy consumption of wheat drying from 20 to 14% stands at 3.7 MJ per kg of evaporated moisture; the implementation of the control system for the technological process of electrophysical exposure with further improvement allows for the accumulation of statistical information and the developing of operating modes of equipment according to more complete data.

Effectiveness of Online Teaching from Teachers’ Perspectives

The COVID-19 pandemic has been posing substantial challenges to every aspect of human society over the last two years. In Vietnam, all educational institutions have struggled to quickly build and operate their online systems while their teachers have tried their best to adapt to the online environment. Fortunately, the EMVITET Erasmus+ capacity-building project has been punctually and effectively implemented since early 2019 to provide its six partners in Vietnam with significant support to enhance their digital competencies. Several capacity-building activities in the project have been conducted so far. This paper aims at assessing the impacts of the project by evaluating the effectiveness of online teaching at the partner institutions from the teachers’ perspectives after about 3 years of project implementation. Based on the responses from 101 teachers collected with a self-completed online questionnaire, it is found that the EMVITET project has greatly supported the partner institutions in successfully deploying an online environment for their teaching-learning activities. Especially, online teaching has proved its effectiveness in improving the diversity of educational activities, collaboration among colleagues, knowledge transmission, faster interaction among lecturers and students as well as the diverse approaches for teachers to evaluate student learning, students’ diligence, students’ engagement in their studies and research, and soft skills during their study online, among others.

The IT4 anxiety project : Improving Anxiety Prevention and Management with Innovative Digital Solutions

Technological innovations give new perspectives in many fields, including health. It was in this context that the IT4Anxiety project was born in 2019 bringing together mental health professionals and start-ups, but also universities, research centres, higher education establishments and public authorities from the North-West Region of Europe. The project is challenging our ability, as partners, to gather stakeholders from different background, medical and non-medical field, in order to support the implementation and co-conception of innovative solutions with the objective of reducing the anxiety of mental health service users. During the four years of project implementation (2019-2023), the stakeholders will have opportunities to work with the end-users, expecting to address the needs of around 3,000 mental health service users suffering from anxiety. The fifteen start-up involved in the project activities will be recruited through hackathons and calls based on identified needs. They will join the project in order to test and improve their solutions. This will create opportunities to connect the start-ups with the medical world, research codes and procedures and to give them a new perspective in the understanding of their targeted market segment. Furthermore, almost a thousand mental health professionals will be trained in e-mental health, benefiting from our training modules and an e-mental health job profile will be designed and implemented in our partner hospitals in Belgium and in Germany.DisclosureNo significant relationships.

Assessing the Quality of Care at Primary Health Care Level in Two Pilot Regions of Albania.

The quality of care (QoC) of primary health care (PHC) services in Albania faces challenges on multiple levels including governance, access, infrastructure and health care workers. In addition, there is a lack of trust in the latter. The Health for All Project (HAP) funded by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation therefore aimed at enhancing the population's health by improving PHC services and implementing health promotion activities following a multi-strategic health system strengthening approach. The objective of this article is to compare QoC before and after the 4 years of project implementation. A cross-sectional study was implemented at 38 PHC facilities in urban and rural locations in the Diber and Fier regions of Albania in 2015 and in 2018. A survey measured the infrastructure of the different facilities, provider–patient interactions through clinical observation and patient satisfaction. During clinical observations, special attention was given to diabetes and hypertensive patients. Infrastructure scores improved from base- to endline with significant changes seen on national level and for rural facilities (p < 0.01). Facility infrastructure and overall cleanliness, hygiene and basic/essential medical equipment and supplies improved at endline, while for public accountability/transparency and guidelines and materials no significant change was observed. The overall clinical observation score increased at endline overall, in both areas and in rural and urban setting. However, infection prevention and control procedures and diabetes treatment still experienced relatively low levels of performance at endline. Patient satisfaction on PHC services is generally high and higher yet at endline. The changes observed in the 38 PHC facilities in two regions in Albania between 2015 and 2018 were overall positive with improvements seen at all three levels assessed, e.g., infrastructure, service provision and patient satisfaction. However, to gain overall improvements in the QoC and move toward a more efficient and sustainable health system requires continuous investments in infrastructure alongside interventions at the provider and user level.

Economic substantiation for the creation of the seed production center for the soybeans domestic varieties

The article presents the economic substantiation of the project to create a center for selection and seed production of soybeans of the East Siberian ecotype domestic varieties. The aim of the project is the system formation and development for the selection and seed production of the East Siberian ecotype soybeans through the development and implementation of molecular genetics technologies in the selection process and industrial seed production of the crop. The enlarged investment plan of the project is given. The planned production program, pricing parameters for seed material and seed production services are calculated. The dynamics of sales volume for the years of project implementation is reflected, the tax environment of the project is described. The forecast of fixed and variable costs is made. The statement of cash flows and financial results for 5 years of the project implementation is formed. The forecast of the project investment efficiency is presented. The expected effects of the project: economic, social, budgetary, as well as the multiplicative effects are given. As a result of R & D, within the project framework, the following products will be obtained: the set of DNA markers, the germplasm of soybean samples and the seed material of two varieties.

Rural consumer response to a food distribution innovation that connects farmers, retailers, and buyers

AbstractThe Farm Fresh Food Box (F3B) strategy is a hybrid of direct-to-consumer (DTC) and short value chain models that aims to stimulate rural economies, creates an additional sales avenue for small farmers, provides rural grocery stores with increased foot traffic and overcomes barriers for rural consumers who are unable to access local food. The F3B project is a tri-state collaboration of extension and research partners from three states; two on the West Coast and one in the Northeast United States, involving small farmers and retailers from rural communities. This article analyzes F3B consumer surveys from 2 years of project implementation and contributes to the limited body of research on food box models by identifying benefits and barriers of the F3B strategy for consumers, comparing these findings to existing research on food box programs and other DTC market channels, and discussing implications for future model adjustment. Overall, consumers were pleased with all aspects of the F3B. However, the strategy had limited success with reaching a new demographic of local food consumers.

The path to ecosystem based science in support of sustaining the Guinea Current LME and beyond

African scientists were introduced to the ecosystem-based approach through professional interaction with scientists from NOAA's East Coast Fisheries Science Centers. In the mid-1990s, scientists from six African countries successfully implemented an ecosystem-based assessment and management project in the Gulf of Guinea that was expanded into a full scale 16 country ecosystem-based project encompassing the entire spatial domain of the Guinea Current Large Marine Ecosystem (GCLME) from Guinea-Bissau in the northwest to Angola in the southwest. Through the efforts of the project manager, the countries developed an excellent working relationship in operationalizing a five-module LME project for sustainably developing the goods and services of the Guinea Current LME. Over the five years of project implementation, a large cadre of African scientists was trained in ecosystem-based assessment and management methods based on the five-module LME approach. Both natural science and social science metrics were applied to assess changing conditions of GCLME: (i) productivity (gCm2yˉ1), (ii) fish and fisheries, (iii) pollution and ecosystem health, (iv) socioeconomics, and (v) governance in support of the sustainable development of GCLME goods and services. Through the association with senior ministerial representatives the scientists forged an interim Guinea Current Commission to oversee the sustainable development underway to mitigate effects of human and environmental stressors on the ecosystem.

Community based integrated vector management for malaria control: lessons from three years\u2019 experience (2016\u20132018) in Botor-Tolay district, southwestern Ethiopia

BackgroundIntegrated vector management (IVM) remains a key strategy in the fight against vector-borne diseases including malaria. However, impacts of the strategy should be regularly monitored based on feedback obtained through research. The objective of this study was to assess the impact of IVM for malaria control in Botor-Tolay district, southwestern Ethiopia after three years (2016–2018) of IVM implementation.MethodPrior to the implementation of IVM, a survey of socio-demographic, malaria burden, and communities’ perception towards malaria control was conducted in 200 households selected at random from 12 villages using standard questionnaire. Households were revisited after three years of project implementation for impact assessment. Compiled malaria case data was obtained from district health bureau for the three years period of the study while adult mosquito collection was conducted during each year using CDC light traps. Monthly larval mosquito collections were made each year using standard dipping method. Community education and mobilization (CEM) was made through different community-based structures.ResultsThe proportion of respondents who sought treatment in health facilities showed a significant increase from 76% in 2015 to 90% in 2018(P < 0.001). An average of 6.3 working and 2.3 school days were lost per year in a household due to parents and children falling sick with malaria. Malaria costs in a household in Botor-Tolay averaged 13.3 and 4.5 USD per episode for medical treatment and transportation respectively. Significantly fewer adult mosquitoes were collected in 2018 (0.37/house/trap-night) as compared to 2015 (0.73/house/trap-night) (P < .001). Malaria cases significantly declined in 2018 (262) when compared to the record in 2015 (1162) (P < 0.001). Despite improved human behavioral changes towards mosquito and malaria control, there were many setbacks too. These include reluctance to seek treatment in a timely manner, low user compliance of LLINs and low net repairing habit.ConclusionThe coordinated implementation of community-based education, environmental management, larviciding together with main core vector control interventions in Botor-Tolay district in Southwestern Ethiopia have contributed to significant decline in malaria cases reported from health facilities. However, commitment to seeking treatment by people with clinical symptoms of malaria and to repair of damaged mosquito nets remained low.

Assessment of potential changes in soil erosion using remote sensing and GIS: a case study of Dacaozi Watershed, China.

Soil erosion is a major global environmental problem. Therefore, a method of calculating potential soil erosion is necessary for soil and water resource management, as well as for assessing the risk of soil erosion. This study aimed to develop a simple method for calculating potential soil erosion change (PSEC) by combining the Universal Soil Loss Equation (USLE) and a Geographic Information System (GIS). The USLE model includes a rainfall erosivity factor (R), soil erodibility factor (K), cover management factor (C), slope gradient factor (S), length factor (L), and the supporting practice factor (P). Using a measured patch of soil and water conservation as the experimental unit, weather and soil data were combined to calculate R and K. Remote sensing images were used to extract vegetation cover (VC) and calculate C, while digital elevation models were used to extract and calculate S and L; land use maps were used to determine the P of each patch. The PSEC of each patch was then calculated according to the results of the above mentioned six factors. Finally, the PSEC of the entire study area was calculated on the basis of a patch area weighting method, which was validated in the Dacaozi Watershed in China, where a 1-year soil and water conservation project was implemented, beginning in November of 2013. In this study, the PSEC of the Dacaozi Watershed in May of 2017 was calculated, accounting for approximately 3years of project implementation. The results showed that the average VC increased by 21.6% after 3years of project implementation, whereas C decreased by 46.4%. The value of P did not change significantly from before to after project implementation. The average S decreased from 22.6 ± 12.1° to 21.3 ± 10.6°, and S decreased by 6.8%. In contrast, L increased by 33.3%. On the whole, the PSEC in the Dacaozi Watershed was 0.3925 and the potential soil erosion decreased by 60.75% after 3years of conservation.

Controlling postoperative use of i.v. acetaminophen at an academic medical center.

Results of an interprofessional formulary initiative to decrease postoperative prescribing of i.v. acetaminophen are reported. After a medical center added i.v. acetaminophen to its formulary, increased prescribing of the i.v. formulation and a 3-fold price increase resulted in monthly spending of more than $40,000, prompting an organizationwide effort to curtail that cost while maintaining effective pain management. The surgery, anesthesia, and pharmacy departments applied the Institute for Healthcare Improvement's Model for Improvement to implement (1) pharmacist-led enforcement of prescribing restrictions, (2) retrospective evaluation of i.v. acetaminophen's impact on rates of opioid-related adverse effects, (3) restriction of prescribing of the drug to 1 postoperative dose on select patient care services, and (4) guideline-driven pain management according to an enhanced recovery after surgery (ERAS) protocol. Monitored metrics included the monthly i.v. acetaminophen prescribing rate, the proportion of i.v. acetaminophen orders requiring pharmacist intervention to enforce prescribing restrictions, and prescribing rates for select adjunctive analgesics. Within a year of project implementation, the mean monthly i.v. acetaminophen prescribing rate decreased by 83% from baseline to about 6 doses per 100 patient-days, with a decline in the monthly drug cost to about $4,000. Documented pharmacist interventions increased 2.7-fold, and use of oral acetaminophen, ketorolac, and gabapentin in ERAS areas increased by 18% overall. An interprofessional initiative at a large medical center reduced postoperative use of i.v. acetaminophen by more than 80% and yielded over $400,000 in annual cost savings.

Developing a Revision to the Lake Elsinore Nutrient TMDL after 15 years of Project Implementation and Continuous Watershed and Lake Water Quality Monitoring using a Reference Watershed Approach

Developing a Revision to the Lake Elsinore Nutrient TMDL after 15 years of Project Implementation and Continuous Watershed and Lake Water Quality Monitoring using a Reference Watershed Approach