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  • Need a Quran teacher? There's an AI for that

    An AI app is potentially eliminating the need for Quran teachers by offering precise feedback to those who are learning to recite or memorize the holy book of Islam. Tarteel uses machine learning technology to enable speech recognition, allowing it to test users' knowledge of the Quran and to receive feedback on recitation without a teacher. The tool can identify mistakes and has a memorization mode, only revealing words as they are recited. Building such an accurate tool "requires a vast data set to train a deep neural network" so users who opt in are crowdsourcing the data set needed to power Tarteel.

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  • Just a click away: Apps bring doctors to your home

    Since 2015, telemedicine has been helping connect doctors with people in rural parts of Kenya, which has proven to be crucial during the coronavirus pandemic. Although not all insurance companies have made the process easy and some residents don't trust the use of technology to keep their data safe, the practice has seen a significant increase in people with chronic diseases utilizing the system as a means of limiting their exposure to situations where they could be exposed to the virus.

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  • After April's election difficulties, would a vote-at-home system make more sense for Wisconsin?

    States that use universal voting by mail can be models for all states to protect voters amid the Covid-19 pandemic. Voting by mail can also increase voter turnout. After sending 2020 primary ballots to all registered voters, two Wisconsin districts had voter turnout about twice that of the statewide turnout. States also report that, after high startup costs, voting by mail is cheaper over the long term. Colorado successfully uses intelligent bar codes to track ballots and avoid fraud. Setting up the system before the November 2020 election would be difficult, as is reaching those without a permanent address.

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  • New York City Pilots Mobile Methadone Program to Help Treat Addiction Audio icon

    New York City is piloting a methadone distribution system for residents struggling with opioid addiction during the COVID-19 pandemic. Initially intended to avoid unnecessary visits to medical centers, the model is now championed by policy experts as a permanent solution for reaching more patients. “It’s amazing, unprecedented, ground-breaking, and will be something that we’ll continue to fight to make sure that it stays in place after COVID has passed,” one proponent said.

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  • Tackling Rape Culture and Sexual Violence Amid Societal and Systemic Limitations in Nigeria

    Stand To End Rape (STER) is a youth-led Nigerian NGO that works with sexual and gender abuse survivors by providing services, including psychosocial support and advocacy to address cultural norms of victim-blaming, shaming, and skepticism that keep sexual assault survivors from getting help. 173 cases were reported to STER in 2019 and they provided legal support to 55 individuals from those cases. STER also works with the Women at Risk International Foundation for medical care and a 24-hour confidential helpline that took 230 calls in the last 2 years, an important but small fraction of national cases.

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  • More Productive from Home: Governments Learn to Love Remote Work

    Many local government employees have shifted to remote work as a response to the Covid-19 pandemic. Despite previous resistance to remote work, employers are finding that workers are more efficient at home and even working longer hours. Managers needed to develop new measures of productivity for remote work. While there may not be a widespread or permanent shift to remote work, some of the adaptations might persist and the success of the quick response will make it easier for governments to alter their operations for social distancing moving forward.

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  • The doctor is online: Telehealth may become big part of new normal

    The move to telemedicine was made necessary due to the coronavirus outbreak, but in Vermont, many health clinics are planning to continue incorporating the practice even after the pandemic dissipates. Although there are limitations to telehealth such as connectivity issues, many health care providers in the state are reporting that the elimination of barriers for their patients are still significant successes.

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  • In an Attempt to Help Struggling Restaurants, Cities Regulate Food Delivery Apps

    To provide financial relief to restaurants during Covid-19 related closures, officials in several cities have capped the commission food delivery apps can take from restaurants. Some apps normally take as much as 40% from restaurants but in order to remain viable while in-store dinning is shut down some cities have capped commissions between 10-15%. Although the apps claim that mandated caps are damaging their business and will force them to alter operations, local restaurants have expressed enthusiasm that the caps will allow them to use third-party delivery apps and stay open.

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  • PA should follow California's lead and mail ballots to every registered voter in the state

    Governor Gavin Newsome in California ordered vote-from-home ballots be sent to all registered voters for the November 2020 election due to the Covid-19 pandemic. While some states allow people to vote by mail for any reason, a ballot is usually obtained only by request, which evidence shows does not lead to the same increased voter turnout as automatically receiving a ballot. Absentee voters do tend to be white and upper-middle class, but some voter-rights organizations such as Committee of Seventy have shifted priorities to getting everyone who is eligible to request a vote-from-home ballot.

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  • Can Vote by Mail Work in Low Income Minority Neighborhoods?

    Maryland and Ohio recently held elections almost entirely by mail and their different approaches provide insight into the impact on low-income voters, particularly those without permanent addresses. All registered voters in Maryland were sent mail-from-home ballots whereas Ohio voters had to request a ballot. Despite some reports of issues, turnout in Maryland increased 10 percentage points overall and 6 points in Baltimore City, indicating no widespread disenfranchisement in poorer counties. In Ohio, the extra step created a barrier for many voters and turnout decreased from 43.6% in 2016 to just 22.6%.

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