Building Global Capacity for COVID-19 Vaccination Through Interactive Virtual Learning

Background To support the introduction of the COVID-19 vaccine, the World Health Organization and its partners developed an interactive virtual learning initiative through which vaccination stakeholders could receive the latest guidance, ask questions, and share their experiences. This initiative, implemented between 9 February 2021 and 15 June 2021, included virtual engagement between technical experts and participants during a 15-session interactive webinar series as well as web and SMS-messaging discussions in English and French. Methods This article uses a mixed-methods approach to analyze survey data collected following each webinar and a post-series survey conducted after the series had concluded. Participant data was tracked for each session and feedback surveys were conducted after each session to gauge experience quality and content usability. Chi-square tests were used to compare results across professions (health workers, public health practitioners, and other). Results The COVID-19 Vaccination: Building Global Capacity webinar series reached participants in 181 countries or 93% of the WHO Member States; 78% of participants were from low-and middle-income countries (LMICs). More than 60% of participants reported using the resources provided during the sessions and 47% reported sharing these resources with colleagues. More than 79% of participants stated that this initiative significantly improved their confidence in preparing for and rolling out COVID-19 vaccinations; an additional 20.3% stated that the initiative “somewhat” improved their confidence. In the post-series survey, 70% of participants reported that they will “definitely use” the knowledge derived from this learning series in their work; an additional 19.7% will “probably use” and 8.6% would “possibly use” this knowledge in their work. Conclusion The COVID-19 Vaccination: Building Global Capacity learning initiative used a digital model of dynamic, interactive learning at scale. The initiative enhanced the WHO’s ability to disseminate knowledge, normative guidance, and best practices to COVID-19 vaccination stakeholders in real-time. This approach allowed the WHO to hear the information needs of stakeholders and respond by developing guidance, tools, and trainings to support COVID-19 vaccine introduction. The WHO and its partners can learn from this capacity-building experience and apply best practices for digital interactive learning to other health programmes moving forward.

China crackdown reshapes cryptocurrency landscape

Significance Chinese provinces have banned cryptocurrency 'mining' (the creation of new units of cryptocurrency using complex computer calculations), affecting over 90% of global capacity. Impacts Falling demand for bitcoin mining equipment may help relieve the global shortage of semiconductors. Relocation of mining to other countries will reduce or increase bitcoin's environmental footprint depending on the country's energy mix. While cracking down on private cryptocurrency activity, China's government will enhance its own blockchain and digital currency programmes.

Research Progress on Degradation and Market Dynamics of PBAT

At present, the massive use of traditional plastics which are very hard to degrade and hereinafter referred to as non-degradable plastics has caused serious pollution problems, which has a harmful effect on the environment and human health. Up to now, many countries have enacted strict policies and regulations to limit the use of non-degradable plastics, polyadipate/butanediol terephthalate (PBAT), as a kind of degradable plastic, has drawn more and more attention. In this paper, research progress on the degradation of PBAT is reviewed and the market dynamics of PBAT are introduced. In the next few years, the global capacity of PBAT is surging and is mainly concentrated in China. The prospect of PBAT is discussed which may provide a reference for PBAT producers.

Characterization of local and global capacity criteria for collapse assessment of code-conforming RC buildings

The paper investigates both local and global capacity criteria for collapse assessment of RC frame buildings. Both literature and regulations criteria are considered, also including the formulation recommended in the draft of the new Eurocode 8 (part 3) and other collapse criteria never investigated. The case studies consist of low-rise bare and infilled frame buildings, which are designed according to the Italian code provisions considering low-to-high seismicity sites in Italy. The seismic demand is estimated by performing multiple-stripe analysis based on inelastic modeling, also including the presence of the infills. The capacity assessment and the performance evaluation associated with the (building) collapse are carried out according to the latest approaches and methodologies of performance-based earthquake engineering. The investigated capacity criteria are characterized as a result of the collapse assessment in terms of (a) collapse demand to capacity ratios, (b) collapse fragility curves, (c) collapse margin ratios and probabilities, and (d) inter-capacity margin ratios. The findings provide novel information and technical insights into the influence of the collapse capacity criteria selection on the collapse features of the investigated buildings. In particular, the capacity criteria are quantitatively correlated to the building collapse performance, also outlining safety and economic considerations.