The Indoor Air Quality Trilemma: Improving Air Quality, Using Less Energy, and Meeting Stakeholder Requirements

Good indoor air quality (IAQ) is critically important for many aspects of our lives, including as we've found recently in reducing the transmission of airborne diseases such as COVID-19. Delivering good IAQ poses several challenges to organisations: it can require changes in working practices, be bounded by infrastructure capabilities such as buildings and their heating and ventilation systems, and result in substantial energy usage. In this study we have conducted a preliminary investigation measuring IAQ in a typical 'science lab' classroom, and engaging with stakeholders to jointly explore these data. Our mixed methods approach uncovers an indoor air quality 'trilemma', which relates air quality, energy usage, and stakeholder practices that can be mediated by, and understood as, a site for potentially impactful future HCI designs. © 2023 Owner/Author.

Lessons from ArriveCAN: Access to Information and Justice During a Glitch

L'application ArriveCAN des services frontaliers du Canada, mandatee durant la pandemie de Covid-19 pour les voyageurs entrant au pays, a commence a envoyer des notifications de mise en quarantaine erronees ¿i certains utilisateurs dans le courant de l'été 2022. Le gouvernement federal a depiste une defaillance a l'origine de l'envoi de ces notifications erronees le 14 juillet 2022, et l'a remediee six jours plus tard. Neanmoins la reconnaissance publique de la defaillance par le gouvernement federal n'a eu lieu que quatre jours plus tard, soit 10 jours entiers apres en avoir pris connaissance. Durant cette periode, 10,200 personnes ont repu l'ordre errone de mise en quarantaine. Ces ordres ne constituaient pas des inconvenients mineurs. Au contraire, ces ordres etaient des restrictions physiques contraignant la mobilite et etaient assujettis aux pénalités maximales de la Loi sur la mise en quarantaine. L'emission d'ordres de quarantaine par une application qui depend de decisions automatisees et l'intelligence artificielle a suscite des soucis majeurs quant a l'utilisation obligatoire de cette technologie par le gouvernement federal. Cet article discute de cet episode du point de vue d'une partie a la recherche de la transparence et responsabilite du processus de decision d'ArriveCAN, et met en relief l'acces a l'information et les questions de justice decoulant de la defaillance, ainsi que la reponse du gouvernement federal. On discute de recommandations pour avancer dans le contexte de l'insistance gouvernementale sur l'utilisation de collecte de donnees obligatoire, la retention, et l'utilisation dans la prise de decisions automatisees et les systemes d'intelligence artificielle.Alternate :In summer 2022, ArriveCAN, Canada's border app mandated during the COVID-19 pandemic for travelers entering the country, began sending certain users erroneous notifications to quarantine. On July 14, 2022, the federal government identified a glitch that was responsible for sending these erroneous notifications and patched it six days later. However, the federal government only publicly acknowledged a glitch was responsible for sending the erroneous orders four days after that - a full 10 days after it had become aware of the problem. During that time, 10,200 people received erroneous quarantine orders. These orders were not minor inconveniences. They were physical restraints on mobility enforced through the maximum penalties of the Quarantine Act. The issuance of mandatory quarantine orders by an app reliant on automated decision-making and artificial intelligence raised elevated concerns about the mandatory use of such technologies by the federal government. This article describes this episode from the perspective of a party seeking transparency and accountability of ArriveCAN's decision-making and highlights the interrelated access to information and justice concerns generated by the glitch and the federal government's response to it. Recommendations are discussed for moving forward in the context of governmental insistence on the use of mandatory data collection, retention, and use in automated decision-making and artificial intelligence systems.

The Impact of ICT on the Profitability of Indian Banks: The Moderating Role of NPA

The role of Information and Communications Technology (ICT) cannot be ignored in today's era of working. Its effects are studied in several sectors by various researchers. This study covers the impact of ICT on the profitability of banks. Thirty-three banks are operating in India. A sample period of 10 years (2010 to 2019) was studied. The study also provides insight into how ICT helps the banks' profitability during and post-COVID-19. A panel data analysis is performed to estimate the results. This study found that ICT adversely impacts banks' profitability (NIM) in India in a linear association. However, the quadratic association indicates a positive U-curved relationship between ICT and profitability. In addition, the Net of Non-Performing Assets significantly but negatively impacts the connectivity of ICT and profitability. The findings imply that banks should invest in ICT to maximize the long run. The findings have no significant implication on all stakeholders, including policymakers, shareholders, and managers, to consider implementing ICT tools as an essential factor in enhancing a bank's profitability in the long run. In addition, the level of otherwise lowered investments in ICT cannot be a fruitful step. The current study augments the existing literature on banking by providing novel evidence on the association of ICT with profitability under the influence of NPA. This study argues for the application of ICT in banks in order to increase their profitability. ICT helps the bank maintain transparency, accountability, and even the reach of financial services increases. This situation again leads to the enhancement of the country's economy.

False Start? An Analysis of NFL Penalties With and Without Crowds

The lack of crowds at sports fixtures as a result of COVID-19 restrictions has allowed researchers a unique opportunity to examine the widely accepted convention of home advantage. This work takes a slightly different approach, by examining within game outcomes. Specifically using play-by-play data from the NFL, this paper asks whether the lack of crowds aided a Quarterback's ability to manipulate opposition defenses. Results suggest this was the case, though effects are not uniform by home and away team.

CHINA'S NEW LEGISLATION ON PERSONAL INFORMATION PROTECTION IN LIGHT OF THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC

During the COVID-19 pandemic period, China used a data-based approach to protect public health. Although this approach has supported the containment of the COVID-19 virus, it risks infringing the right to privacy. This article considers how this data-based approach, including data collection, sharing, storage and disclosure could affect the right to privacy and shows that the data collection process in China may involve the collection of irrelevant personal data from too many broad categories and sometimes without consent of the data subject. The results show that the main challenges to the right to privacy are (1) a lack of effective information control and storage safeguards, (2) the improper use and disposal of information and (3) the disclosure of non-desensitised information. This article examines PRC's newly passed legislation, including the Cybersecurity Law, Data Security Law and the Personal Information Protection Law, which constitute China's first systematic and comprehensive regulatory framework to protect personal information. This regulatory framework requires that any restrictions on the right to protect personal information and privacy rights must be in the public interest such as public health and security. This article examines whether and to what extent this regulatory framework is capable of addressing challenges of big data applications to individual rights to privacy and proposes some further improvements.

Who You Gonna Call?

MSMA has successfully spearheaded additional reforms to reduce lawsuit abuse: expert witness reforms that require testimony to be based on evidence widely accepted by the scientific community, updates to the collateral source rule so plaintiffs can only recover actual monetary damages instead of billed charges and increasing the standard of proof for punitive damage claims. There are many groups, including the state's trial attorneys, the hospitals, integrated healthcare systems, pharmacy benefit managers, pharmacy chains, health insurers, and many others that are in Jefferson City every day often pushing positions that are at odds with what is best for our patients. Select Legislation important for Physicians and Patients that MSMA Passed or Blocked 2010 * Insurance company prompt pay (signed into law) * Naturopath licensure and scope expansion (blocked) * Private Medicaid fraud lawsuits (blocked) * Statute of limitations expansion for medical malpractice cases and weakening of the collateral source rule (blocked) * Tiering of physicians (blocked) * Autism insurance coverage (signed into law) 2011 * Drug testing of surgeons (blocked) * Chiropractors Medicaid payment (blocked) * Allowing professional counselors to diagnose (blocked) * Board of Healing Arts civil penalties (blocked) * Implementation of concussion protocols for student athletes (signed into law) * Preemption of local tobacco laws (blocked) 2012 * Increased use of ignition interlock devices (signed into law) * Regulations on the creation and operation of HIEs (signed into law) * Lay midwife licensure (blocked) * CRNA scope expansion (blocked) * Co-pay equity between primary care physicians and physical therapists (blocked) 2013 * Prompt credentialing improvements (signed into law) * Telehealth reimbursement parity (signed into law) * Repeal of collaborative practice act (blocked) * Volunteer physician malpractice immunity (signed into law) * Updating of newborn screening requirements (signed into law) * Mandatory arbitration for claims over 30 days unpaid (blocked) 2014 * Non-physician clinicians scope expansion (blocked) * Tanning bed parental permission (signed into law) * Establishment of ECHO telehealth distance learning program (signed into law) * Statewide Medicaid managed care implementation (blocked) 2015 * Tort reform (signed into law) * Establishment of direct primary care services (blocked) * Expansion of APRN scope-of-practice (blocked) * Parental notification of immunization exemptions (signed into law) 2016 * Telehealth expansion (signed into law) * Prohibit MOC/MOL for licensure (signed into law) * Licensure not conditioned on participating in any health insurance plan (signed into law) * Step therapy reform (signed into law) * Insurance contracts gag clauses banned (signed into law) * APRN, athletic trainers, physical therapists, radiology technicians scope expansion (blocked) 2017 * Expert witness reform (signed into law) * Collateral source rule updated (signed into law) * Tort reform fix for hospital non-employees (signed into law) * Requirements for medical student mental health and wellbeing (signed into law) * APRN opioid prescriptive authority expansion (blocked) * Implementation of statewide naloxone protocol (signed into law) 2018 * Protection of prudent layperson standard in the ER (signed into law) * Prohibit pharmacy gag clauses (signed into law) * Non-physician clinicians, physical therapists, radiology technicians scope expansion (blocked) * Implementation of workers compensation fee schedule (blocked) * Increased Medicaid post-partum benefits (signed into law) 2019 * Prior authorization reform (signed into law) * Prohibit use of virtual credit cards by insurers (signed into law) * Establishment of pregnancy-associated mortality review board (signed into law) * Implementation of statewide MAT insurance coverage for opioid disorders (blocked) * Defeat of various anti-vaccination requirements for physicians (blocked) * Independent pharmacist prescribing (blocked) 2020 * Punitive damages only for intentional or malicious act (signed into law) * Prompt credentialing to pay from the date of application (signed into law) * Overpayment transparency (signed into law) * Vaping prohibitions (signed into law) * Criminal penalties for gender dysmorphia treatments (blocked)

GOVERNMENT DISMISSAL AUTHORITY OF FALSE CLAIMS ACT QUI TAM CLAIMS: AN ANALYSIS OF THE CURRENT POLITICAL AND JUDICIAL DEBATE

Dating back to the Civil War, the False Claims Act (FCA) is a powerful weapon that the U.S. government (government) wields to combat fraud. In particular, the FCA contains "qui tam" provisions wherein a whistleblower, known as a "relator," may bring claims in the government's name and retain a portion of any resultant recoveries. While the FCA allows the government to dismiss a qui tam claim notwithstanding the objections of relator, there is a four-way circuit split on the appropriate standard of review for such motions to dismiss. From 2003 through 2020, the split was only between the Ninth Circuit's Sequoia standard, which requires the government to demonstrate the dismissal is rationally related to a valid governmental objective, and the D.C. Circuit's Swift standard, which confers nearly unfettered deference to the government. The year 2020 ushered in a new era of judicial debate with the Seventh Circuit creating a third standard based on the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure and the First Circuit promulgating an entirely different standard-one that requires the government to provide reasons for dismissal. The First Circuit standard also requires dismissal to be granted unless there is a constitutional infirmity or evidence of fraud. This circuit split was thrust into the spotlight in 2018 when Michael Granston, Director of the Department of Justice (DoJ) Commercial Litigation Branch, Fraud Section, promulgated guidance instructing DoJ attorneys to consider dismissing qui tam cases to curb meritless qui tam cases, conserve government resources, and prevent unfavorable precedents. Senator Charles "Chuck" Grassley (R-Iowa), a life-long whistleblower champion, has publicly criticized these dismissals as pretextual and antithetical to the spirit of the FCA. In October 2021, Senator Grassley proposed an FCA amendment that essentially codifies the Sequoia standard. Shortly before this article was sent to the publisher, the Supreme Court granted certiorari to address this question. This article examines the historical context of the qui tam provisions that ultimately gave rise to the circuit split as well as the DOJ's recent use of its dismissal authority. It further evaluates Senator Grassley's proposed FCA amendment and argues that it does not substantively settle key nuanced issues that continue to drive judicial disagreement. In light of the evolution to a four-way circuit split and the recent increase in judicial divergence, this article argues that the government's dismissal authority is well-suited for Supreme Court intervention. Finally, this article examines why the dismissal authority particularly matters now. With a newly emerging circuit split on whether a denied government motion to dismiss can be appealed and the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act) introducing significant opportunities to commit fraud against the government, it is imperative that all FCA litigants have clarity on the contours of the government's dismissal authority.

COVID-19 Vaccine Hesitancy in a Medically-Challenged Context: A Cross-Sectional Study of Drivers, Dangers and Corrective Measures for Vaccine Hesitancy and Potential Penalties for Declining Vaccination among Adults in South-Eastern Nigeria.

BACKGROUND: COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy is a global public health problem. It is a complex and context-specific phenomenon that varies within and across nations. Despite COVID-19 vaccine programmes in Nigeria, there are possibilities that vaccine uptake and coverage among adult citizens will suffer setbacks amidst various interventions by the Federal Government of Nigeria. AIM: The study aimed to determine the drivers, dangers, and corrective measures for COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy and potential penalties for declining vaccination among adults in South-eastern Nigeria. METHODS: A descriptive study was carried out from March to April, 2021 on a cross section of 400 adults in South-eastern Nigeria. Data collection was done using a structured, pretested, and interviewer administered questionnaire. The questionnaire elicited information on drivers, dangers and corrective measures for COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy and potential penalties for declining vaccination. RESULTS: The study participants were aged 18-86 (51±14.2) years. There were 227(56.8%) females. The most common driver of refusal of COVID-19 vaccination was the safety of COVID-19 vaccines(100.0%). The most perceived dangers of refusing the COVID-19 vaccine were the risks of contracting COVID-19 infection(100.0%) and dying from its complications(100.0%). The most common corrective measure for refusal of the COVID-19 vaccine was public health information and education on vaccine safety(100.0%). The predominant potential penalty for declining the COVID-19 vaccine was restricting access to air travel (100.0%). CONCLUSION: This study has shown that the most common driver of vaccine hesitancy was vaccine safety while the most commonly perceived dangers were risks of contracting COVID-19 infection and dying from its complications. The most common corrective measure for refusal of the COVID-19 vaccine was public health information and education on vaccine safety. The most preeminent penalty for declining the COVID-19 vaccine was restricting access to air travel. There is a need to address these context-specific drivers and dangers that promote vaccine hesitancy. Public health information and education strategies to reduce vaccine hesitancy should be the focus of intervention to improve uptake of COVID-19 vaccination and safeguard the health of Nigerians.

CONTEXTE: L'hésitation à se faire vacciner contre le COVID-19 est un problème de santé publique mondial. Il s'agit d'un phénomène complexe et spécifique au contexte qui varie au sein d'une même nation et d'une nation à l'autre. Malgré les programmes de vaccination contre le COVID-19 au Nigeria, il est possible que l'adoption et la couverture vaccinale chez les adultes subissent des revers malgré les diverses interventions du gouvernement fédéral du Nigeria. OBJECTIF: L'étude visait à déterminer les moteurs, les dangers et les mesures correctives de l'hésitation à se faire vacciner contre le COVID- 19 et les sanctions potentielles en cas de refus de vaccination chez les adultes du sud-est du Nigeria. MÉTHODES: Une étude descriptive a été menée de mars à avril 2021 sur un échantillon de 400 adultes du sud-est du Nigeria. La collecte des données a été effectuée à l'aide d'un questionnaire structuré, testé au préalable et administré par un enquêteur. Le questionnaire a permis d'obtenir des informations sur les facteurs, les dangers et les mesures correctives de l'hésitation à se faire vacciner par le COVID-19 et les sanctions potentielles en cas de refus de la vaccination. RÉSULTATS: Les participants à l'étude étaient âgés de 18 à 86 ans (51±14,2). Il y avait 227 (56,8 %) femmes. Le motif le plus courant de refus de la vaccination par le COVID-19 était l'innocuité des vaccins COVID-19 (100,0 %). Les dangers les plus perçus du refus du vaccin COVID-19 étaient les risques de contracter une infection au COVID-19 (100,0%) et de mourir de ses complications (100,0%). La mesure corrective la plus courante pour le refus du vaccin COVID-19 était l'information et l'éducation en matière de santé publique sur la sécurité du vaccin (100,0%). La pénalité potentielle prédominante pour le refus du vaccin COVID-19 était la restriction de l'accès aux voyages aériens (100,0 %). CONCLUSION: Cette étude a montré que le facteur le plus courant de l'hésitation à se faire vacciner était la sécurité du vaccin, tandis que les dangers les plus couramment perçus étaient les risques de contracter l'infection au COVID-19 et de mourir de ses complications. La mesure corrective la plus courante pour le refus du vaccin COVID-19 était l'information et l'éducation de la santé publique sur la sécurité du vaccin. La sanction la plus prééminente pour le refus du vaccin COVID-19 était la restriction de l'accès aux voyages aériens. Il est nécessaire de s'attaquer à ces facteurs et dangers spécifiques au contexte qui favorisent l'hésitation à se faire vacciner. Les stratégies d'information et d'éducation en matière de santé publique visant à réduire l'hésitation à se faire vacciner devraient être au centre de l'intervention afin d'améliorer l'adoption de la vaccination par le COVID-19 et de préserver la santé des Nigérians. Mots clés: Vaccin COVID-19, Dangers, Facteurs d'incitation, Hésitation, Nigeria, Pénalités.

Monetary penalties for refusal of mandatory Covid-19 vaccination: state’s right to regulate vs people’s rights and freedom in health care

Purpose The Covid-19 pandemic has persisted for almost three years. States have since then enforced laws, policies and measures believed to be the most effective to handle the global pandemic. Along this line, the Indonesian Government opted to implement mandatory vaccination and refusal of which entails monetary penalties. Hence, this study aims to analyze two legal issues that touch upon the realm of International Human Rights Law: first, whether state has the authority to implement the said mandatory vaccine program to those who refuse to be vaccinated, and second, how is the more appropriate legal policy to obligate vaccination but without coercive sanction. Design/methodology/approach This is a normative legal research that uses a qualitative method with case studies, conceptual, historical and comparative approaches. A descriptive-analytical deduction process was used in analyzing the issue. Findings The results present, as part of state's right to regulate, it has the authority to enact mandatory vaccination with monetary penalties to fulfil its obligation to protect public health in times of emergency;this is legal and constitutional but only if it satisfies the requirements under the International Human Rights Law: public health necessity, reasonableness, proportionality and harm avoidance. Alternatively, herd immunity is achievable without deploying unnecessary coercive sanctions, such as improving public channels of communication and information, adopting legal policies that incentivize people's compliance like exclusion from public services, subsidies revocation, employment restrictions, higher health insurance premiums, etc. Research limitations/implications This study analyzes in depth the following issues: of whether the government has the authority to apply mandatory vaccination laws enforced through monetary penalties for those who refused to be vaccinated and how does the government implement the appropriate legal policy to enforce mandatory vaccination without imposing penalties for non-compliance while maintaining a balance between the interests of protecting public health and the human rights of individuals to choose medical treatment for themselves, including whether they are willing to be vaccinated. Hence, the political affairs, economic matters and other non-legal related issues are excluded from this study. Originality/value This paper hence offers a suggestive insight for state in formulating a policy relating to the mandatory vaccination program. Although the monetary penalties do not directly violate the rule of law, a more non-coercive approach to the society would be more favorable.

In a Country Boasting a Welfare State, Do Black Lives Matter Less?

The chapter traces how British politicians and institutions used and abused visibly distinguishable ‘strangers’ to fill labour shortages and maintain a low labour cost welfare state while simultaneously tolerating or encouraging racialising ideologies that justified their subordination. The result was a two-tone class-divided society in which xenophobia constitutes common sense for around half the population and led to a nationalistic majority voting for Brexit while ethnic minorities and other identifiable foreigners experience direct and indirect discriminatory penalties the ultimate of which, higher levels of mortality, has been exposed by the COVID-19 pandemic. © 2022, The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG.

Perceived Greenwashing and Sustainable Business Strategies: Understanding Organizational Roles in Addressing Environmental Issues

In their efforts to stay ahead of rivals, companies are trying to create sustainable competitive advantages in terms of building climate action leadership, protecting biodiversity, and shepherding sustainability. In general, this may involve actions like pretending to be a green company to boost the social image or using cheap and substandard raw materials to lower costs and increase profits. Some of these actionable methods are very radical, with some real potential to influence climate change in a negative way. Therefore, governments and organizations need to step up to stop the negative and harmful environmental issues and push for a better climate and healthier earth. The current study focuses on the effects and roles of organizations, corporations and governments in the circularization of the global economy and circular business models. The study suggests that without mutual cooperation, it will not be possible to achieve sustainable development goals and, therefore, perceived greenwashing will continue to a large extent. Hence, businesses worldwide should firmly and logically watch all their sustainable business strategies.

Measures for providing financial support for small and medium enterprises from non-reimbursable external funds within the Competitiveness Operational Program 2014-2020, in the context of the crisis caused by the Sars Cov-2 virus in Romania

Emergency Ordinance no. 130 / 31.07.2020provides for 3 main forms of financial support from non-reimbursable external funds, related to the Competitiveness Operational Program 2014 - 2020, in the context of the COVID-19 crisis, for SMEs whose activity has been affected by the spread of the virus or whose activity has been prohibited by military ordinances during the state of emergency and / or during the state of alert: 1. Micro-grants granted from non-reimbursable external funds in the form of a lump sum;2. Grants for working capital granted to beneficiaries in the form of a lump sum and as a percentage of turnover;3. Grants for productive investments granted to SMEs, necessary for the expansion / rehabilitation / modernization of existing production capacities, the realization of new production capacities, the purchase of equipment, machinery and installations, as well as for the modernization, rehabilitation, expansion existing buildings or the purchase of buildings for new production activities, including for the purchase of land necessary for investments up to 10% of the value of projects subject to financing applications.

Importancia de las estrategias en las Obligaciones Tributarias frente a la Emergencia Sanitaria Covid-19 en Pymes de Cuenca, Ecuador

Ecuador has among its main revenue taxes;however, tax compliance represents a divergence between the state objective of collecting taxes for public investment and people’s willingness to avoid paying taxes. Due to the health crisis caused by Covid-19, tax collection decreased, public debt rose and GDP declined, during this crisis the government decreed, in March 2020, several measures that prevented companies from carrying out their activities normally, facing a weak economy in the process of reactivation. The objective was to analyze the importance of tax compliance for the country and the panorama of SMEs in the city of Cuenca in the context of the Covid-19 global pandemic, considering their income, sources of employment, and income tax caused from the periods 2016 to 2020. For the study, a methodology with a mixed approach was used, descriptive scope from a non-experimental and longitudinal design of group evolution in the SMEs of the canton Cuenca-Ecuador, whose result shows the impact of the pandemic in the first year leading to confinement and strong restrictions such as free movement were imposed, which brought about the socioeconomic effect that affected a third of the population. Therefore, a proposal of generic strategies was established to support tax obligations in order to avoid penalties and strengthen the contribution to the country.Alternate :Ecuador tiene entre sus principales ingresos los impuestos, sin embargo, el cumplimiento tributario representa divergencia entre el objetivo estatal de recaudar impuestos para la inversión pública y la disposición de las personas de obviar el pago de impuestos. Debido a la crisis sanitaria provocada por el Covid-19 la recaudación tributaria decreció, la deuda pública se elevó y el PIB declinó, durante esta situación el gobierno decretó, en marzo del 2020 varias medidas que impidieron a las empresas realizar sus actividades con normalidad, enfrentándose a una economía débil y en proceso de reactivación. El objetivo del presente estudio es analizar la importancia del cumplimiento tributario para el país y el panorama de las Pymes cuencanas en contexto de la pandemia mundial Covid-19, considerando sus ingresos, fuentes de empleo e impuesto a la renta causado de los periodos 2016 al 2020. Para el estudio se empleó una metodología con enfoque mixto, alcance descriptivo desde un diseño no experimental y longitudinal de evolución de grupo en las Pymes del cantón Cuenca (Ecuador), cuyo resultado se desprende el impacto de la pandemia en el primer año llevando al confinamiento y se impusieron fuertes restricciones como la libre circulación, lo que trajo consigo el efecto socioeconómico que afectó a un tercio de la población. Por lo cual, se estableció una propuesta de estrategias genéricas que apoyen a las obligaciones tributarias a fin de que su cumplimiento sea de manera apropiada evitando sanciones y a su vez se fortalezca la contribución al país.Alternate :O Equador tem entre seus principais impostos de renda, no entanto, o cumprimento fiscal representa uma divergência entre o objetivo do Estado de cobrar impostos para investimentos públicos e a vontade das pessoas de evitar o pagamento de impostos. Devido à crise de saúde causada pelo Covid-19, a arrecadação de impostos diminuiu, a dívida pública aumentou e o PIB diminuiu. Durante esta situação, o governo decretou, em março de 2020, várias medidas que impediram as empresas de realizar suas atividades normalmente, enfrentando uma economia fraca no processo de reativação. O objetivo deste estudo é analisar a importância do cumprimento fiscal para o país e as perspectivas para as PMEs em cuenca no contexto da pandemia global Covid-19, considerando sua renda, fontes de emprego e imposto de renda para os períodos de 2016 a 2020. Para o estudo foi utilizada uma metodologia com abordagem mista, de escopo descritivo a partir de um desenho não experimental e longitudinal da evolução do grupo nas PMEs do cantão Cuenca (Equador), cujo resultado mostra o imp cto da pandemia no primeiro ano que levou ao confinamento e foram impostas fortes restrições como a livre circulação, o que trouxe consigo o efeito socioeconômico que afetou um terço da população. Portanto, foi estabelecida uma proposta de estratégias genéricas para apoiar as obrigações fiscais a fim de garantir o cumprimento adequado, evitar penalidades e reforçar a contribuição para o país. Traduzido com a versão gratuita do tradutor - www.DeepL.com/Translator O Equador tem entre seus principais impostos de renda, no entanto, o cumprimento fiscal representa uma divergência entre o objetivo do Estado de cobrar impostos para investimentos públicos e a vontade das pessoas de evitar o pagamento de impostos. Devido à crise de saúde causada pelo Covid-19, a arrecadação de impostos diminuiu, a dívida pública aumentou e o PIB diminuiu. Durante esta situação, o governo decretou, em março de 2020, várias medidas que impediram as empresas de realizar suas atividades normalmente, enfrentando uma economia fraca no processo de reativação. O objetivo deste estudo é analisar a importância do cumprimento fiscal para o país e as perspectivas para as PMEs em cuenca no contexto da pandemia global Covid-19, considerando sua renda, fontes de emprego e imposto de renda para os períodos de 2016 a 2020. Para o estudo foi utilizada uma metodologia com abordagem mista, de escopo descritivo a partir de um desenho não experimental e longitudinal da evolução do grupo nas PMEs do cantão Cuenca (Equador), cujo resultado mostra o impacto da pandemia no primeiro ano que levou ao confinamento e foram impostas fortes restrições como a livre circulação, o que trouxe consigo o efeito socioeconômico que afetou um terço da população. Portanto, foi estabelecida uma proposta de estratégias genéricas para apoiar as obrigações fiscais a fim de garantir o cumprimento adequado, evitar penalidades e reforçar a contribuição para o país.

CRIMINALIZATION OF ANIMAL CRUELTY IN CONTEXT: AN ALBANIAN PERSPECTIVE

Albansko je zakonodavstvo sporo pristupilo sveobuhvatnom ured strok signenju i kaznenom sankcioniranju okrutnosti prema životinjama. Tijekom drugog desetljeća izgradnje demokratskog pravnog sustava, prihvaćeno je zakonodavstvo prvotno odredilo samo prekršajne kazne za ograničen broj djela okrutnosti prema životinjama, počinjenih komisivno ili omisivno. Med strok signutim, peticija 37.257 glasača iz studenog 2017. obvezala je Odbor za zakonodavstvo Parlamenta Albanije da se raspravi i o kriminalizaciji takvih djela. Dvije godine kasnije, 18. srpnja 2019., usvojene su dopune albanskog Kaznenog zakona kojima je dodano 6 članaka kojima je predvid strok signena kaznena sankcija za djela okrutnosti prema životinjama. Pitanje koje se postavlja u radu jest kako su društveni kontekst i drugi faktori oblikovali pravo kojim su regulirana ova kaznena djela. Cilj autora je odgovoriti na to pitanje funkcionalnom metodom te pristupom koji se temelji na kontekstualnoj analizi rješenja problema, poduzimajući dubinsku pravnu procjenu albanskog zakonodavstva te poredbenih pravnih rješenja. Rad se u velikoj mjeri temelji na zapisnicima osam sastanaka Odbora za zakonodavstvo te razgovorima sa 19 članova Parlamenta, službenicima u odgovornim ustanovama te predstavnicima civilnog društva, kako bi se rasvijetlilo kako su napori društva oblikovali proces i krajnji rezultat kriminalizacije okrutnosti prema životinjama u Albaniji. Rasprava se nastavlja s poredbenopravnom analizom predloženih rješenja i usvojene regulacije u Kaznenom zakonu u odnosu prema zakonodavstvima izabranih zemalja Europske unije i EU acquisem. Iznose se sumnje i zabrinutost je li kriminalizacija okrutnosti prema životinjama odgovarajući način kako bi se smanjio broj takvih postupanja.Alternate :The Albanian legislature has been slow to comprehensively regulate and suitably penalize cruelty towards animals. During the second decade of building a democratic legal system, adopted legislation mandated administrative penalties for only a small number of acts of commission or omission that constituted cruelty to animals. A petition from 37,527 electors obliged the Committee of Laws at the Albanian Parliament to deliberate on the criminalization of animal cruelty for the first time in November of 2017. Two years later, on 18 July 2019, the Albanian Criminal Code was amended with six provisions criminalizing animal cruelty. How has context and other factors shaped the law in Albania with regards to animal cruelty?Authors aim to respond to this question through afunctional method with a problem-solving contextual approach, engaging in an in-depth legal evaluation of the Albanian legislation and comparative analysis on the topic. This work draws on deliberations from eight meetings of the Committee of Laws and consultation with nineteen Members of the Parliament, civil servants in responsible institutions, and representatives from civil society, to clarify how society's effort shaped the criminalization of cruelty towards animals in Albania. The discussion proceeds with a comparative legal analysis between proposed legislation and adopted changes in the Criminal Code with legislation in certain EU Member States and EU acquis. Concerns linger about whether criminalizing a behavior such as animal cruelty is the appropriate way to reduce the occurrence of this offence.

Los objetivos de déficit en las Comunidades Autónomas: una propuesta basada en la deuda *

La ausencia de un proceso coherente y transparente en la definición de objetivos fiscales es una debilidad endémica de nuestro marco de gobernanza fiscal. Este artículo presenta una propuesta para el establecimiento de los objetivos de déficit y deuda pública de las CCAA españolas. Partiendo de un esquema ya utilizado en la gobernanza fiscal europea, se vincula el saldo presupuestario de las haciendas autonómicas al esfuerzo necesario para reducir el nivel de deuda pública hasta un valor normativo de referencia. Se ofrecen en este sentido varias simulaciones numéricas para distintas parametrizaciones de este valor de referencia de la deuda pública y de la velocidad de aproximación al mismo. También se propone un mecanismo de penalización que considera el momento del ciclo económico y el esfuerzo estructural realizado. La situación de la Comunidad Valenciana, altamente endeudada y con una financiación por habitante ajustado por debajo de la media, también es abordada a modo de ejemplo.Alternate :One of the most significant weaknesses of the Spanish fiscal governance framework is the lack of a coherent and transparent process for setting out the fiscal objectives. This paper proposes a simple methodology for the definition of such as objectives in terms of public debt and deficit in the Spanish regions. Based on the existing framework of the European Stability and Growth Pact, the fiscal efforts needed to decrease the regional public debt up to a benchmark value are computed. Some scenarios are shown regarding different parametrizations of such benchmark and the speed of convergence towards it. A mechanism of penalties is also proposed taking structural adjustments and the business cycle into consideration. The particular case of Valencian Community is used to show how to apply this methodology when the levels of public debt are far above from the average.

Window-Based Multi-Objective Optimization for Dynamic Patient Scheduling with Problem-Specific Operators

The problem of patient admission scheduling (PAS) is a nondeterministic polynomial time (NP)-hard combinatorial optimization problem with numerous constraints. Researchers have divided the constraints of this problem into hard (i.e., feasible solution) and soft constraints (i.e., quality solution). The majority of research has dealt with PAS using integer linear programming (ILP) and single objective meta-heuristic searching-based approaches. ILP-based approaches carry high computational demand and the risk of non-feasibility for a large dataset. In a single objective optimization, there is a risk of local minima due to the non-convexity of the problem. In this article, we present the first pareto front-based optimization for PAS using set of meta-heuristic approaches. We selected four multi-objective optimization methods. Problem-specific operators were developed for each of them. Next, we compared them with single objective optimization approaches, namely, simulated annealing and particle swarm optimization. In addition, this article also deals with the dynamical aspect of this problem by comparing historical window-based decomposition with day decomposition, as has previously been proposed in the literature. An evaluation of the models proposed in the article and comparison with traditional models reveals the superiority of our proposed multi-objective optimization with window incorporation in terms of optimality.

Preventing Prison Staff Assaults

Doolin and Gooch discuss the need to prevent prison staff assaults. A recent survey of nearly 600 prison officers in the UK found that the Covid-19 pandemic has led to elevated levels of anxiety and 'burnout', and a deterioration of physical and mental health. The Prison Officers Association has also expressed growing concern regarding increased prison violence and disorder over the last decade. Although the increase in the maximum penalties for assaulting prison officers - and their inclusion within the legislation regarding emergency workers - might be viewed as a welcome development, the extent to which it will serve a deterrent effect and reduce the incidence of staff assault is relatively limited. Reducing and preventing staff assaults requires an environment where prisoners are safe and an investment in strong prisoner-staff relationships and staff-manager relationships.

The “Hygiene Package”: Analysis of Fraud Rates in Italy in the Period before and after Its Entry into Force

In violation of EU legislation, fraudulent activities in agri-food chains seek to make economic profits at the expense of consumers. Food frauds (FFs) often constitute a public health risk as well as a risk to animal and plant health, animal welfare and the environment. To analyze FFs in Italy during 1997–2020 with the aim of gaining observational insights into the effectiveness of the legislation in force and consequently of inspection activities, FFs were determined from official food inspections carried out by the Central Inspectorate of Quality Protection and Fraud Repression of Agri-food Products in 1997–2020. Inspected sectors were wine, oils and fats, milk and dairy products, fruit and vegetables, meat, eggs, honey, feeds and supplements, and seeds. Data show that the inspection activities have significantly improved in terms of sampling and fraud detection. However, a higher incidence of fraud involving the meat sector was observed. The obtained results demonstrate that there has not been a clear change of direction after the so-called “hygiene package” (food hygiene rules in the EU) came into force. Thus, more effective measures are needed to manage risk as well as new analytical solutions to increase the deterrence against meat adulteration and the rapid detection of fraud.

Toward a Data-Driven Culture

Under the CARES Act, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) distributed billions of dollars to eligible healthcare providers for COVID-19 response.3 Environmental agencies can use data to inform pollution prevention or improvement policies based on actual pollutant information. The City of Boston used data to re-plan school bus routes and reduced total annual mileage by 1M miles for a daily reduction of 20,000 pounds in carbon dioxide emissions.4 Nevertheless, a 2016 PwC study found only 21% of government organizations describe their decisionmaking as highly data-driven, while 64% say it is somewhat data-driven, and 15% call it rarely data-driven.5 Furthermore, while nearly all organizations have invested in the use of data to drive better decision-making in some capacity, only about a third of them have forged a "data culture. [...]agency employees will make decisions with intuition instead. According to behaviorist Alfie Kohn, "Rewards do not create a lasting commitment.

PROTECTING THE SECURITY OF DIGITAL HEALTH RECORDS

A complex web of federal laws and regulations5 protects the security of digital health data, known in legal parlance as protected health information (PHI).6 The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA)7 protects PHI held by certain entities under three primary directives: 1 Privacy Rule, which governs the disclosure of PHI. 2 Security Rule, which sets national standards for EHRs.8 3 Breach Notification Rule, which specifies notice procedures after the discovery of a breach of unsecured PHI.9 The Breach Notification Rule10 applies to the unauthorized access to or disclosure of unsecured PHI.11 Health institutions will likely need to refer to the rule at least once, since they must consult the rule with each discovered PHI breach attempt. In today's digital environment,18 news of violations reaches consumer and business audiences instantaneously and can inflict lasting damage to brand name, reputation and market share.19 Aside from public disgrace, violators may also face hefty fines, litigation by aggrieved parties, and even criminal prosecutions by the U.S. Department of Justice or their state's attorney general.20 Given OCR's trend toward higher penalties21 and increased policing of HIPAA compliance, entities must prioritize compliance issues and adopt best practices for risk assessment and breach response. In either case, the entity must report to HHS through the form on OCR's website.32 HIPAA Risk Analysis It is a practical certainty that every health care institution will be the victim of at least one cyberattack.33 Since attacks have accelerated during COVID-19, they will likely continue to rise as virtual medical care becomes the norm. [...]far, HHS has refused to prescribe a single system to insulate against all liability, due to numerous variables among entities. Consider forming a breach response team, with members responsible for aspects of response according to their areas of expertise. 10 Document how security measures, procedures and policies satisfy HIPAA. 11 Conduct secret audits and test cases of breaches to observe staff compliance with protocols and the effectiveness of the breach response team. 12 Request an assessment of security protocols from a reputable security firm specializing in HIPAA compliance. 13 Schedule periodic auditing and testing of physical and electronic security systems. 14 Train staff in security policies and protocols. 15 Keep a record of all risk assessment activities.