Abstract Freeze-thaw (F-T) cycles represent a major driver of concrete deterioration in cold regions, significantly compromising structural integrity. In this research, uniaxial compression tests on concrete subjected to F-T cycles at different strain rates were carried out, and an evolution model for dynamic mechanical properties was developed to clarify the associated degradation mechanisms. Results show that F-T cycles reduce compressive strength and elastic modulus while concurrently increasing residual and peak strains. The strain rate sensitivity of compressive strength, peak strain, and elastic modulus progressively increased with the number of F-T cycles, whereas the sensitivity of compressive strength and peak strain to initial F-T damage decreased at higher strain rates. The peak of the compressive stress-strain curves at various strain rates significantly decreased and shifted backward with increasing F-T cycles, indicating that F-T action reduces the energy absorption capacity. Additionally, the ductility of concrete with initial F-T damage increased, an effect more pronounced at lower strain rates.The surface fracture density, width, and quantity increased with F-T cycles, and fracture patterns transitioned from localized fracture failure to bulging failure as F-T cycles progressed. These findings provide a theoretical framework for assessing the long-term performance and predicting the service life of hydraulic concrete structures in cold regions.
WANG Zhenbang, OU Yanchen, XIE Yueying, ZHANG Xin, ZHAO Yue, CHEN Dan, ZUO Yanli
Background The "14th Five Year" Plan for National Economic and Social Development and the Long Range Obj ectives for 2035 points out the need to steadily improve the quality of contracted family doctor services. The contracted family doctor services system has been comprehensively promoted in Guangxi for six years, but there are few reports on the changes of such service. Objective To understand the changes of contracted family doctor services in Guangxi and analyze the reasons, so as to provide reference for the high-quality development of contracted services. Methods In July 2018 and October 2022, the study adopted purposive sampling method to select representative cities according to the geography, economic development level and the progress of contracted family doctor services in 14 prefecture-level cities in Guangxi as samples. The medical staff in the family doctor team and residents were selected by convenience sampling method to hand out questionnaires. In 2018, a total of 1 560 questionnaires were distributed to residents, and 1 285 valid questionnaires were returned, with an effective rate of 82.37%. A total of 627 questionnaires were distributed to family doctor team members, and 595 valid questionnaires were returned, with an effective rate of 94.90%. In 2022, a total of 1 800 questionnaires were distributed to residents, and 1 740 valid questionnaires were returned, with an effective rate of 96.67%. A total of 780 questionnaires were distributed to family doctor team members, and 775 valid questionnaires were returned, with an effective rate of 99.36%. Through literature review and expert consultation, the questionnaire of residents' cognition and satisfaction with contracted family doctor services and the questionnaire of family doctors' work situation and satisfaction were designed in combination with the actual situation in Guangxi. Multivariate Logistic regression analysis was used to analyze the influencing factors of satisfaction. Results Perspective of suppliers: there was no significant difference in the proportion of medical staff who thought that their work content had increased, working methods had changed, and working hours had increased in 2022 compared with 2018 (P>0.05). Among them, the proportion of medical staff who increased their working hours by more than 2 hours per working day and by more than 4 hours on weekends increased from 30.5% to 40.0% and 25.2% to 32.0%, respectively. The increase in working hours is mainly for essential public health services. The proportion of medical staff with an average monthly income of less than 4 000 yuan in 2022 was lower than that in 2018, and the proportion of medical staff with an average monthly income of 4 000-6 000 yuan and more than 6 000 yuan was higher than that in 2018, and the difference was statistically significant (P<0.05). The job satisfaction of medical staff in the family doctor team in 2022 and 2018 was "average". Perspective of the demand side: The proportion of community health service centers/township health centers as the first choice of medical institutions for residents in 2022 was higher than that in 2018 (P<0.05), from 69.3% to 78.3%. There was no significant difference in the proportion of residents who knew contracted family doctor services in 2022 compared with 2018 (P>0.05). In 2022, the proportions of residents who understood the relevant policies of contracted family doctor services, basic service packages and their free service items, and personalized service packages and their corresponding charging rates were higher than those in 2018 (P<0.05), from 35.3%, 35.6% and 26.9% to 54.0%, 53.6% and 49.2%, respectively. At present, the channels for learning about contracted family doctor services are mainly offline activities, with few online forms. The proportion of residents willing to sign contracted family doctor services and personalized service packages in 2022 was higher than that in 2018 (P<0.05), from 80.5% to 91.0% and 67.4% to 73.0%, respectively. Among them, about 70% of residents are willing to sign up for personalized service packages under 100 yuan in 2022 and 2018. In 2022, more residents enjoyed health consultation, home visits, and personalized health management services. And 94.7% of the contracted residents had a positive change in health management awareness. The overall satisfaction, trust, satisfaction with technical ability, and satisfaction with diagnosis and treatment process and results of residents in 2022 were all higher than those in 2018 (P<0.05), reaching the "satisfied" state. The results of multivariate Logistic regression analysis showed that the influencing factors of residents' satisfaction with contracted family doctor services included whether they preferred primary medical institutions for treatment, whether they understood the personalized service package and its corresponding charging standard, and whether they trusted family doctors (P<0.05) . Conclusion The family doctor team members have a heavy workload. It is necessary to accelerate the construction of information technology and gradually expand the team. Performance appraisal and incentives should be improved to enhance the enthusiasm of medical staff. Residents' willingness to seek medical treatment in primary care has increased, and their trust and cognition of contracted services have been improved. In the future, we should increase the publicity and improve the service capacity of contracted family doctor services. Residents' willingness to sign personalized services has increased. It is necessary to improve the supporting mechanism according to local conditions.
With the rise of emerging risks, model uncertainty poses a fundamental challenge in the insurance industry, making robust pricing a first-order question. This paper investigates how insurers' robustness preferences shape competitive equilibrium in a dynamic insurance market. Insurers optimize their underwriting and liquidity management strategies to maximize shareholder value, leading to equilibrium outcomes that can be analytically derived and numerically solved. Compared to a benchmark without model uncertainty, robust insurance pricing results in significantly higher premiums and equity valuations. Notably, our model yields three novel insights: (1) The minimum, maximum, and admissible range of aggregate capacity all expand, indicating that insurers' liquidity management becomes more conservative. (2) The expected length of the underwriting cycle increases substantially, far exceeding the range commonly reported in earlier empirical studies. (3) While the capacity process remains ergodic in the long run, the stationary density becomes more concentrated in low-capacity states, implying that liquidity-constrained insurers require longer to recover. Together, these findings provide a potential explanation for recent skepticism regarding the empirical evidence of underwriting cycles, suggesting that such cycles may indeed exist but are considerably longer than previously assumed.
RegTech is a rapidly rising financial services sector focused on using cutting-edge technology to improve the process of regulatory compliance. RegTech solutions are characterized by numerous features and benefits that can considerably contribute to helping organizations operate effectively in the increasingly regulated environment, when it comes to compliance and risk management. This paper sheds light on why RegTech will be one of the most promising markets, driven by the rising cost of compliance and the growing reliance on technology in crisis management. Moreover, this paper will examine the advantages of using such solutions to strike a balance between compliance and operational efficiencies. This paper will deepen the understanding of regulatory compliance, introduce RegTech, and examine the benefits of using these solutions to achieve compliance.
Emily E. Chasco, Emily E. Chasco, Jennifer Van Tiem
et al.
BackgroundThe Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Office of Rural Health (ORH) supports national VA program offices' efforts to expand health care to rural Veterans through its Enterprise-Wide Initiatives (EWIs) program. In 2017, ORH selected Reach, Effectiveness, Adoption, Implementation, and Maintenance (RE-AIM), an implementation science framework, to structure the EWI evaluation and reporting process. As part of its mandate to improve EWI program evaluation, the Center for the Evaluation of Enterprise-Wide Initiatives conducted a qualitative evaluation to better understand EWI team' perceptions of, and barriers and facilitators to, the EWI evaluation process.MethodsWe conducted 43 semi-structured interviews with 48 team members (e.g., evaluators, program office leads, and field-based leads) representing 21 EWIs from April-December 2020. Questions focused on participants' experiences using strategies targeting each RE-AIM dimension. Interviews were inductively analyzed in MAXQDA. We also systematically reviewed 51 FY19-FY20 EWI annual reports to identify trends in misapplications of RE-AIM.ResultsParticipants had differing levels of experience with RE-AIM. While participants understood ORH's rationale for selecting a common framework to structure evaluations, the perceived misalignment between RE-AIM and EWIs' work emerged as an important theme. Concerns centered around 3 sub-themes: (1) (Mis)Alignment with RE-AIM Dimensions, (2) (Mis)Alignment between RE-AIM and the EWI, and (3) (Mis)Alignment with RE-AIM vs. other Theories, Models, or Frameworks. Participants described challenges differentiating between and operationalizing dimensions in unique contexts. Participants also had misconceptions about RE-AIM and its relevance to their work, e.g., that it was meant for established programs and did not capture aspects of initiative planning, adaptations, or sustainability. Less commonly, participants shared alternative models or frameworks to RE-AIM. Despite criticisms, many participants found RE-AIM useful, cited training as important to understanding its application, and identified additional training as a future need.DiscussionThe selection of a shared implementation science framework can be beneficial, but also challenging when applied to diverse initiatives or contexts. Our findings suggest that establishing a common understanding, operationalizing framework dimensions for specific programs, and assessing training needs may better equip partners to integrate a shared framework into their evaluations.
Aiming at the problems of siltation promotion and siltation return in the beach area of Hangzhou Bay, a numerical calculation model of hydrodynamic and scour and siltation in the south bank of Ningbo Bay was constructed, and the reliability of the short-term scour and siltation numerical calculation model was verified by combining with the field measured scour and siltation data, so as to obtain the natural siltation situation in this area under a longer time scale in the future. Meanwhile, the siltation promotion scheme was selected by comparing with artificial embankment construction. The research results show that the restoration effect of natural silt beach under the action of excavation diversion is remarkable, and the construction of barrier has a significant effect on the retention and sedimentation of sediment in the trench. After the construction of the barrier with a height of -2.22m, the average thickness of sediment promotion in the low-lying area reaches 0.22m, and the elevation of seabed in the low-lying area can reach about 2.5m. Therefore, it is particularly effective for the sediment deposition in low-lying areas in the high sediment content sea area to adopt the method of natural diversion and separation embankment.
Governments, organizations, and schools around the world are committed to creating a safe and friendly campus environment to ensure students’ high-quality comprehensive development and to cultivate positive mental and physical health states [...]
Yideg Melkamu, Mulusew Andualem Asemahagn, Ayinengida Adamu Walle
et al.
BackgroundEvidence-based practice (EBP) is the integration of current best evidence with clinical expertise by considering patient preferences and values. Evidence based practice has not been well studied in Ethiopia. Therefore, this study aimed to assess EBP and its determinants among health professionals working at primary public hospitals in the Central Gondar zone, Northwest Ethiopia.MethodsA facility-based cross-sectional study was conducted on 422 health professionals. A simple random sampling technique was used to select the study participants. The data were entered into EpiData version 4.6 and exported to SPSS version 25 for analysis. The descriptive, bivariable, and multivariable logistic regression analysis were conducted. Adjusted Odds Ratio (AOR) with 95% confidence intervals and p-value <0.05 were used to assess association of explanatory variables with EBP and declare statistical significance, respectively.ResultAbout 44.1% (95%CI: 39, 50%) of healthcare professionals had good evidence-based practice. Educational status (AOR: 3.05, CI: 1.07–8.66), spare time (AOR: 1.90, CI: 1.09, 3.31), good knowledge (AOR: 7.95, CI: 4.83, 13.08), good skill (AOR: 2.39: CI: 1.27, 4.53), training (AOR: 2.13, CI: 1.26, 3.58), and internet access (AOR = 2.02: 95% CI: 1.25–3.27) were found to be significant predictors of evidence-based practice.ConclusionThis study revealed that EBP was low compared to national standards. Moreover, having good knowledge and skill about evidence-based practice, being trained, having spare time and internet access and upgrading educational status of health care professionals would enhance good evidence-based practice.
This article focuses on studying the spatial distribution and evolution of the aquaculture industry in Jiangsu, a significant coastal province in China, within the context of the blue transformation. By collecting spatial data on the aquaculture industry and using ArcGIS software, this article analyses the characteristics of spatial changes and the driving forces behind them in Jiangsu’s aquaculture industry while providing predictions for future pattern evolution. The findings reveal that the overall distribution of the aquaculture industry in Jiangsu Province exhibits strong directionality but weak density, primarily oriented in the northwest–southeast direction. There is an evident trend of the industry shifting from the northern to the western regions and from the central to the northwest areas of the province. This indicates that initially, the aquaculture industry was primarily concentrated in the inland regions, while marine aquaculture gradually influenced the industry structure after 2010. Although the aquaculture industry shows signs of diversification, industry agglomeration is only observed in approximately 30.8% of the cities that exhibit a positive spatial correlation, which is a relatively small proportion compared to the total number of cities. However, despite the overall negative correlation in spatial distribution, the absolute difference between Moran’s I of all cities and zero is less than 0.4. This suggests that the spatial differences are not significant, regardless of the spatial autocorrelation characteristics of the overall distribution of a city. Based on the findings, this article recommends the urgent need for the development of policies that promote industry agglomeration in order to achieve effective regulation and pollution control in aquaculture.
The Arctic Council working group, the Conservation of Arctic Flora and Fauna (CAFF) established the Circumpolar Biodiversity Monitoring Programme (CBMP), an international network of scientists, governments, Indigenous organizations, and conservation groups working to harmonize and integrate efforts to extend and develop monitoring and assessment of the Arctic’s biodiversity. Its relevance stretches beyond the Arctic to a broad range of regional and global initiatives and agreements. This paper describes the process and approach taken in the last two decades to develop and implement the CBMP. It documents challenges encountered, lessons learnt, and solutions, and considers how it has been a model for national, regional, and global monitoring programmes; explores how it has impacted Arctic biodiversity monitoring, assessment, and policy and concludes with observations on key issues and next steps. The following are overarching prerequisites identified in the implementation of the CBMP: effective coordination, sufficient and sustained funding, improved standards and protocols, co-production of knowledge and equitable involvement of IK approaches, data management to facilitating regional analysis and comparisons, communication and outreach to raising awareness and engagement in the programme, ensuring resources to engage in international fora to ensuring programme implementation.
General. Including nature conservation, geographical distribution
Release management is one of the most important software processes and is a set of processes that includes the compilation, configuration, and management of software versions in different environments. In recent years, changes in processes, technologies, and tools and changes in practices and understanding have paved the way for more effective, efficient, sustainable, reusable models and methods in this field. The purpose of this study is to examine the DevOps idea to produce a flow, highlight their benefits, and investigate with a model how these philosophies, which are two of the most important processes and methods in software development today, can reveal an effective release management process. What has been learned from the research is how the agile and DevOps practices, which have become widespread in recent years, can be positioned in a general flow in the release management process, although there are different practices, flows, disciplines, and technology. Sharing a case study on these issues in future studies and an experience sharing research where the flow is applied as a case study will reveal positive feedback on the real-life application and results of the flow and the model. Further, a literature review studies in which deficiencies in the literature are identified will be useful in determining the gaps in the process.
Eduardo C. Garrido-Merchán, Sol Mora-Figueroa-Cruz-Guzmán, María Coronado-Vaca
This paper investigates the application of Deep Reinforcement Learning (DRL) for Environment, Social, and Governance (ESG) financial portfolio management, with a specific focus on the potential benefits of ESG score-based market regulation. We leveraged an Advantage Actor-Critic (A2C) agent and conducted our experiments using environments encoded within the OpenAI Gym, adapted from the FinRL platform. The study includes a comparative analysis of DRL agent performance under standard Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) market conditions and a scenario where returns are regulated in line with company ESG scores. In the ESG-regulated market, grants were proportionally allotted to portfolios based on their returns and ESG scores, while taxes were assigned to portfolios below the mean ESG score of the index. The results intriguingly reveal that the DRL agent within the ESG-regulated market outperforms the standard DJIA market setup. Furthermore, we considered the inclusion of ESG variables in the agent state space, and compared this with scenarios where such data were excluded. This comparison adds to the understanding of the role of ESG factors in portfolio management decision-making. We also analyze the behaviour of the DRL agent in IBEX 35 and NASDAQ-100 indexes. Both the A2C and Proximal Policy Optimization (PPO) algorithms were applied to these additional markets, providing a broader perspective on the generalization of our findings. This work contributes to the evolving field of ESG investing, suggesting that market regulation based on ESG scoring can potentially improve DRL-based portfolio management, with significant implications for sustainable investing strategies.
Farming shellfish is one of the most effective ways of biological carbon sequestration, whose carbon-sink function was one part of marine ecological system function, with both ecological and economic properties. Carbon price accounting can provide reference data for seawater shellfish aquaculture industry subsidies, increase carbon sink aquaculture industry production enthusiasm, and provide certain reference to marine GEP accounting. However, there is a lack of research on carbon sink prices at present, and carbon sink prices of cultured shellfish are limited by imperfect carbon sink measurement methods. Therefore, based on the principle of carbon storage changes, this paper improved the basic formula for carbon sequestration in farming shellfish aquaculture environment, and two calculation parameters of attached shellfish carbon sequestration and biological deposits were added as a starting point to select and improve the pricing method of carbon sequestration in marine ranch, the selection of the Dongfang Yunxi sea ranch was calculated as a case study, the result was: The carbon sink prices of bay scallop, Chlamys farreri and wrinkled oyster were 165 yuan/t, 185 yuan/t and 272 yuan/t, respectively. The carbon sequestration per unit of cultured shellfish obtained by the improved carbon sink measurement method was relatively high. Among them, the effect of bio-sediment carbon sequestration on increasing the carbon sequestration per unit was the most prominent, accounting for about 91% of the shellfish′s own carbon sequestration. It was related to the hydrological conditions of aquaculture sea areas; higher carbon sequestration results in lower carbon sequestration prices, and carbon sequestration and cost-benefit factors together affected the carbon sequestration price of cultured shellfish. In the long run, carbon sequestration prices will decrease as carbon sequestration metering becomes more perfect.
Life in today's urban communities most of them follow trends and have proper channels in tolerating all that comes from outside. Adolescence, as the period of preparing mental self-portraits begins to occur, turns into a significant period for individual development before entering adulthood. Now, children later, this study uses a descriptive type of research with a qualitative approach. This research was conducted at 10 Coffee Shops in the city of Medan. The research was conducted in the period December 2021 – February 2022. The resource persons in this study were the owners/managers of a Coffee Shop in the city of Medan. Data collection techniques are observation, interview, literature study. The types of data sources are primary and secondary data. using the SWOT analysis technique Focus on developing a Coffee Shop business according to the visible trend is a strategy that prioritizes the wishes of consumers in the community, currently the trend is influencing consumers in choosing a food or drink they want to consume, due to lifestyle factors and references from friends. This strategy allows for more precise targeting of the entire consumer in order to create a product that can be seen and accepted by the public. Based on the results of interviews conducted by the author, the strategies adopted by 10 Coffee Shops are different, ranging from promotion on social media, building relationships with customers, improving quality and giving privileges to customers.
Introduction: Until the end of 2021, the legal issue having been an actual trending topic and hot issue which attracts the attention of scholars and researchers, is the phenomenon of the emergence of criminal acts of corruption committed in congregation by the management of the Village Credit Institution in Bali. Generally, the resolution of these cases is carried out in a traditional manner with the spirit of local wisdom and kinship through the Paruman Krama of Traditional Villages to attain an agreement or consensus. The prosecutor’s office, however, enters into this customary realm, then participates in conducting preliminary investigations and investigations. The involvement of prosecutor is only on the basis of a document issued in 1988 regarding the Bali Governor’s Assistance amounting to two million rupiah as the initial capital for the establishment of the Village Credit Institution.
Purposes of the Research: The present study aims at identifying whether or not the results of the regency inspectorate’s audit can be used as a basis for prosecuting suspects in the cases of abuse of Village Credit Institution finance as well as alternative solutions that necessarily need to be taken to resolve the cases.
Methods of the Research: The first problem is examined using the Theory of Penalty and the second one is examined using the Theory of the Welfare State Law. The research method used is a mixed legal research method. Data are presented using a systematic description technique.
Results of the Research: The solution that is expected is this study sheds light on whether or not the results of the regency inspectorate’s audit can be used as a basis for prosecuting suspects in cases of abuse of the Village Credit Institution finance, what factors are the causes of the liquidity crisis and wether the present study results can be applied as an alternative solution that should be taken in resolving cases at the regency level. The target to be achieved in the research is publication on the electronic media Bali TV in the regional seminar on “Menghitung Kerugian Negara dalam Kasus Korupsi Pada Lembaga Perkreditan Desa di Bali”. The expected output from the study is the results will be published in the Sinta I indexed journal.
Decentralized Finance (DeFi) is a new financial industry built on blockchain technologies. Decentralized financial services have consequently increased the ability to lend, borrow, and invest in decentralized investment vehicles, allowing investors to bypass third party intermediaries. DeFi's promise is to reduce the cost of transaction and management fees whilst increasing trust between agents of the Financial Industry 3.0. This paper provides an overview of the different components of DeFi, as well as the risks involved in investing through these new vehicles. We will also propose an allocation methodology which will integrate and quantify these risks.
Among all cybersecurity and privacy workers, the Data Protection Officer (DPO) stands between those auditing a company's compliance and those acting as management advisors. A person that must be somehow versed in legal, management, and cybersecurity technical skills. We describe how this role tackles socio-technical risks in everyday scenarios.