This study addresses the implementation of the International Financial Reporting Standard 9 (IFRS 9) in the European Union as of January 1, 2018, replacing the International Accounting Standard 39 (IAS 39) to introduce a new model for recognizing Loan Loss Provisions (LLP) based on Expected Credit Loss (ECL). This model responds to criticisms of the former Incurred Credit Loss (ICL) system for its inability to reflect credit losses in a timely manner, potentially exacerbating the effects of financial crises (Bushman & Williams, 2015; Gebhardt & Novotny-Farkas, 2011). The study focuses on the effects of adopting the ECL model on the level of Loan Loss Allowances (LLA) in loans, own equity, and the Common Equity Tier 1 (CET1) ratio across 13 Portuguese commercial banks. A mean comparison test is used to evaluate scenarios before and after the application of the ECL model, highlighting the importance of regulator actions and the adequacy of loss recognition policies, including the effects of Regulation (EU) 2017/2395 of December 12. The results obtained demonstrate significant negative impacts on the net values of loans, own equity, and the CET1 ratio upon adopting the IFRS 9 ECL model, due to the widespread increase in LLAs.

Food insecurity remains a significant developmental challenge, particularly in rural areas, despite ongoing efforts to mitigate it. To better understand the persistence of this issue, this study investigates the causes of household food insecurity and the coping strategies employed by households in Zorkor Goo, Zorkor Kanga, and Zorkor Kadaare communities within the Bongo District of Ghana’s Upper East Region. A descriptive cross-sectional survey was conducted, sampling 196 households systematically from these communities. Data were collected through a structured questionnaire covering socio-demographic factors, causes of food insecurity, household coping strategies, and dietary intake. The analysis was performed using SPSS (Version 21.0), with food security status and dietary intake assessed via the FANTA Household Food Insecurity Access Scale (HFIAS) and Food Consumption Score, respectively. The study identified key factors contributing to food insecurity, including soil infertility, poor rainfall patterns, food spoilage, extravagant funerals, large family size, high unemployment, and lack of education. Major coping strategies among households included meal skipping, reducing meal size and frequency, migration, asset sales, and basket weaving. The findings revealed that 96.4% of households were severely food insecure, and over two-thirds (67.3%) exhibited poor dietary consumption. Notably, household employment levels, education, and food consumption scores were significantly associated with food insecurity (P<0.001). These findings underscore the need for targeted interventions addressing the root causes of food insecurity and enhancing household resilience in these communities.

The resilience of towns and cities refers to their ability to adapt and recover when confronted with pressures or challenges. This study employs ten variables as indicators to assess the resilience of urban areas by analyzing official data and constructing a multilevel mixed-effects structural equation model. The empirical findings demonstrate that enhancing resilience significantly influ-ences urban service functions, such as strengthening healthcare systems, stabilizing the real estate market, and addressing socio-economic challenges. Specifically, factors such as healthcare re-sources, housing demand, population structure, and social security exhibit varying levels of resil-ience, which profoundly impact the spatial distribution of these factors and socio-economic de-velopment. Disparities in healthcare resource allocation, demographic aging trends, and shifts in the housing market closely correlate with resilience levels in different regions. Additionally, the study emphasizes that improving resilience not only boosts the reliability and security of urban services but also ensures that communities receive necessary support and protection during times of adversity. Consequently, policymakers should recognize the pivotal role of urban resilience in resource allocation and social equity, devising corresponding strategies to enhance the resilience of these areas.

Automated Machine Learning (AutoML) is revolutionizing how businesses utilize data, making advanced analytics accessible to a broader range of organizations. By automating complex tasks like data preprocessing, model selection, and hyperparameter tuning, AutoML reduces the time and resources needed to develop and deploy machine learning models. This accelerates decision-making and enables quicker responses to market changes. AutoML empowers businesses to build accurate predictive models using sophisticated algorithms, optimizing model performance for reliable insights and better outcomes. A key advantage of AutoML is its accessibility; even organizations without a dedicated data science team can leverage machine learning, reducing technical barriers and democratizing innovation. As businesses grow, AutoML scales to handle larger datasets and more complex problems without extensive manual intervention. AutoML enhances efficiency, accuracy, and scalability, becoming a crucial driver of business innovation and success. The systematic review will examine the bibliometric literature on how AutoML can boost business, analyzing 74 academic and scientific documents from the Scopus database.

The integration of the Internet of Things (IoT) and Distributed Computer Systems (DCS) is transforming business models across industries. IoT devices enable real-time monitoring of equipment and processes, reducing downtime and enhancing efficiency. In the case, manufacturing companies use IoT sensors to monitor machinery, predict failures, and schedule maintenance. Also, automation via IoT, reduces manual intervention, resulting in boosted productivity in smart factories and automated supply chains. IoT devices generate thus vast amounts of data, which businesses analyze to gain insights into customer behavior, operational inefficiencies, and market trends. In turn, distributed computer systems process this data, providing actionable insights and enabling advanced analytics and machine learning for future trend predictions. While, IoT facilitates personalized products and services by collecting data on customer preferences and usage patterns, enhancing satisfaction and loyalty, IoT devices support new customer interactions, like wearable health devices, and enable subscription-based and pay-per-use models in transportation and utilities. Conversely, real-time monitoring enhances security, as distributed systems quickly respond to threats, ensuring operational safety. It also aids regulatory compliance by providing accurate operational data. In this way, this study, through a Bibliometric Literature Review (LRSB) of 91 screened pieces of literature, aims at ascertaining to what extent the aforementioned capacities enhance business models. The study concludes that those systems leverage businesses, promoting competitive edge, continuous innovation, and adaptability to market dynamics. A review of 91 academic documents from the Scopus database highlights these impacts.

The increasing adoption of student-centred learning environs by the institutions of higher education in business, has led to new mechanisms and methodologies such as the Simulation-Based Learning (SBL), Problem-Based Learning (PBL) and Challenge-Based Learning (CBL). Literature has shown evidence of raising interest in these methodologies towards a more experiential paradigm with regard to upcoming events from the surrounding real-world context. This paper presents a Systematic Bibliographic Literature Review (SBLR) with respect to the integration and application of these innovative and collaborative methodologies in higher education. It aimed to identify its relevant advantages, challenges, and consequences for the future of business education. Bibliographic databases were searched for documents published up to May 2024 to categorize key topics discussed in the literature on SBL, PBL and CBL. The review process identified 89 empirical and non-empirical papers on SBL, PBL and CBL, business related paperwork, which resulted from the PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses) method. PRISMA is a framework with evidence-based data designed to help authors perform a systematic literature review. Data analysis revealed diverse subthemes for those methodologies uses in business higher education institutions. The research questions “What are the advantages, challenges and implications of SBL, PBL and CBL altogether, in the training of business students?” guided the study. The central output of the research is the discovery of the varying uses of SBL, PBL and CBL overall, to cope with diverse demands arising within environmental context. Future research directions are suggested.

The augmenting commitment in the entrepreneurial learning process, both at academic and industry level, has led to new mechanisms and methodologies. Entrepreneurship literature has shown evidence of raising interest in the problem-based learning (PBL) methodology with regard to upcoming events from the surrounding learning context. This paper presents a Systematic Bibliographic Literature Review (SBLR) with respect to the application of PBL throughout distinct entrepreneurial processes either in higher education, or in industry. It aimed to identify relevant entrepreneurial opportunities for PBL. Bibliographic databases were searched for documents published between 2002 and May 2024 to categorize key topics discussed in the literature on PBL and entrepreneurship. The review process identified 142 empirical and non-empirical papers on entrepreneurship related PBL. Data analysis revealed diverse subthemes for PBL uses in entrepreneurship in both higher education institutions and industry. The research questions “What is the interplay of problem-based learning methodology with entrepreneurship?” guided the study. The central output of the research is the discovery of the varying uses of PBL to cope with diverse events arising within entrepreneurship context. Future research directions are suggested.

The food system, the most important driver of planetary transformation, is in a deep crisis. Therefore, seeking a sustainable and socially-fair transition pathway becomes an issue of utmost priority for our own survival. The consideration of food as a commodity, a social construct that played a central role in driving this crisis, remains the uncontested narrative to lead the different transition pathways what seems rather contradictory. By exploring the normative values in the transition landscape, this paper seeks to understand how relevant is the hegemonic narrative of “food as commodity” and its alternative of “food as commons” to determine transition trajectories and food policy beliefs. Applying the Multi-level Perspective framework and developing the ill-studied “agency in transition”, this research enquired food-related professionals that belong to an online community of practice (N=95) on valuation of food dimensions and agency in food transitions to check whether the valuation of food is relevant to explain personal stances in transition. Results suggest the socially-constructed view of food as commodity is positively correlated to the gradual reforming attitude, whereas food as commons is positively correlated to the counter-hegemonic transformers regardless the self-defined position in the transition landscape (regime or niches). At personal level, there are multiple loci of resistance with counter-hegemonic attitudes in varied institutions of the regime and the innovative niches, many of them holding this discourse of food as commons. Conversely, alter-hegemonic attitudes are not positively correlated to this alternative discourse and they may inadvertently or purportedly reinforce the ‘‘neoliberal narrative’’. Food as commons, a different narrative whose rationale is explained in the paper, seems to be a relevant framework that could enrich the multiple transformative constituencies that challenge the industrial food system and therefore facilitate the convergence of movements that reject the commodification of food.

Currently, there has been a tendency for companies to direct the development of their businesses following circular economy trends associated with sustainability. European Community guidelines have established deadlines for the implementation of management strategies that allow creating and maintaining an effective and resource-efficient economic system, reducing the amount of en-ergy and materials used in production. In this scenario, this study makes sense, which aims to an-alyze academic studies on these topics with the aim of understanding future trends. In this sense, the objective of this study is to understand the potential impacts on business development of the inte-gration of sustainability and the circular economy. This article uses a systematic literature review, which has the objective of gather and analyze materials from different authors, carrying out an analysis to answer a specific question. The findings indicate that CE and sustainability are con-nected and businesses should implement sustainability and CE appropriate strategies to increase their competitiveness and improve resource efficiency. These strategies may integrate innovative technologies, the use of sharing platforms, product life extension, resource recovery to minimize waste and the integration of sustainability concepts in business as well as their communication with their stakeholders to change trends and behaviors.

The marketing industry is rapidly evolving, necessitating educational programs to adapt and equip graduates with relevant skills and knowledge. This systematic literature review with bibliometric analysis (SLRBA) explores the integration of Problem-Based Learning (PBL) in marketing education. PBL is an instructional strategy that empowers students to solve real-life problems by integrating theory and practice, thus fostering critical thinking and decision-making skills. Our review synthesizes data from 71 sources, highlighting the definition of PBL, strategies to promote its implementation in marketing education, and the benefits and challenges associated with this approach. The findings indicate that PBL enhances student engagement, provides hands-on experience, and prepares students for real-world marketing challenges. Strategies such as using social media, serious games, e-learning, and feedback mechanisms are discussed for their effectiveness in promoting active learning and student participation. Despite its advantages, PBL faces challenges such as resource intensiveness, student resistance, and information integrity issues. This review underscores the importance of PBL in bridging the gap between theoretical knowledge and practical application, ultimately preparing marketing students to meet the demands of the industry. The paper concludes with recommendations for future research and best practices for implementing PBL in marketing education.

This paper assesses the association of ESG scores with stock returns and highlights the moderating role of the COVID-19 pandemic and the country's governance. The study uses panel data regressions to analyze how ESG performance influences plain, absolute, and risk-adjusted returns in a sample of European and selected non-European countries. These suggest that higher overall ESG scores are related positively to financial performance, and this relation is enhanced during the COVID-19 pandemic. Specifically, the two dimensions of ESG that matter most are environmental and governance. Country-level governance is important because firms in well-governed countries amplify the benefits of high ESG scores. The opposite is true for the higher Controversies scores, whose bad financial outcome is magnified during the pandemic. These results present an argument for the resilience of firm financial performance, dependent on strong ESG practices and governance frameworks. This holds great interest for investors and policymakers in associating good ESG considerations with the effective management of financial risks, leading to sustainable returns during periods of widespread economic uncertainty.

The influence of technology corporations on the development of smart cities can generate corporate-centric models of governance. Thus, it is relevant to examine which governance models help to promote sustainability. Based on a rapid review on the governance of smart cities, this paper aims to evaluate the merits and drawbacks of various governance models adopted by diverse smart city initiatives. It contends that top-down models often prioritize corporate-centric governance structures, potentially neglecting sustainability concerns. Nonetheless, our findings indicate that top-down approaches can mitigate corporate-centric tendencies by integrating citizen participation into their visions and strategies. Hybrid models offer the advantage of governmental leadership but may lean towards a triple-helix model, with limited citizen involvement. Conversely, bottom-up models represent quadruple-helix collaborations with active citizen engagement.

Matters relating to preservation of environmental resources and climate change, social inclusion and diversity, and open and sound governance have rapidly gained global attention. However, little is known about the construction industry in meeting the environmental, social and governance (ESG) criteria towards sustainable development. In this study, the purpose is to identify the key ESG indicators for construction development. A systematic literature review was undertaken using data from Scopus, PubMed, Google Scholar, JSTOR, ProQuest, and Web of Science. The results show some of the key ESG indicators as climate resilience and green construction activities (at the project level), and active stakeholder engagement and effective project governance (at the firm level) and meeting environmental and social regulation requirements (industry/national level). The limitation of the article is in the sample size of twenty-six journal articles with future expectation of increment as ESG gain more acceptance in the construction industry. This study will be significant for the design of practice framework and policies on ESG in the construction industry. Comprehensively, this study presents relevant ESG indicators for construction management and presents essential information for future research.

The paper focuses on the application of a multilevel, integrative and territorial approach to the protection of cultural heritage through planning instruments in Serbia. It points out the problems of the sectoral approach and discusses international recommendations that can be integrated into the planning methodology. The case study is the area of Djerdap National Park, which has an already established international and national importance. The research suggests that the cultural heritage in the area, with the exception of the Roman limes, is still recognized at the level of individual localities. The study emphasizes the importance of aligning all levels of governance to safeguard the whole spatial entity rather than focusing solely on its particular areas. The interna-tional and national importance of the planning area contributes to the strengthening of awareness of heritage and its institutional protection. However, the vitality of the area, which is key to its sustainable development, comes from the local level. Planning documents contribute to the inte-gration of local values and local communities into development programs and projects.

This paper investigates the potential of utilising multilevel quasi-interpolation techniques on Chebyshev sparse grids for complex numerical computations. The paper starts by laying down the motivations for choosing Chebyshev sparse grids and quasi-interpolation methods with Gaussian kernels. It delves into the practical aspects of implementing these techniques. Various numerical experiments are performed to evaluate the efficiency and limitations of the multilevel quasi-sparse interpolation methods with dimensions two dimension and three dimension. The work ultimately aims to provide a comprehensive understanding of the computational efficiency and accuracy achievable through this approach, comparing its performance with traditional methods.

Colorectal cancer is a high-incidence tumor that has a high mortality rate due to its frequent metastasis to the liver. The difference in genes, proteins, and immune microenvironment between the primary and metastatic sites causes them to show different responses to treatment. Colorectal cancer liver metastasis patients also tend to show poorer treatment response and prognosis. Therefore, in this paper, we summarize the heterogeneity exhibited after colorectal cancer liver metastasis from five aspects (gene, transcriptome, protein, metabolism, and immunity), and we found that except for the genetic heterogeneity, the other four aspects exhibite significant heterogeneity, which might serve as a new therapeutic direction and a prognostic marker for patients with liver metastasis. Finally, the therapeutic modalities regarding tumors are rapidly evolving, and we have also summarize the new clinical therapeutic modalities currently proposed based on these heterogeneities, aiming to provide new therapeutic ideas for the clinical treatment of patients with colorectal cancer liver metastases.

This paper presents a novel improvement of MuSIASEM (Multiscale Integrated Analysis of the Societal and Ecological Metabolism) by incorporating a new regional analysis of the electricity metabolism across levels. An analysis of Mexico illustrates this toolkit and shows that the industry sector had Economic Energy Intensity (EEI) with 40.3 MWh/MMXN reached a higher value than the commerce and services sector with 0.84 MWh/MMXN. Regarding the Economic Labor Productivity (ELP) indicator (AV/h), the industrial sector with 208.5 TMXN/Kh reached a higher value than the Commercial and services sector with 114.3 TMXN/Kh. With reference to the Exosomatic Metabolic Rate (EMR), the Household sector obtained 59.3 KWh/Kh whereas the paid sector reached 2,486.4 KWh/Kh. Disaggregation of the EMR indicator into economic sectors shows that the Industrial sector obtained 8.4 KWh/Kh and the commercial and services sector reached 0.10 KWh/Kh. The lack of complete data for the agricultural sector does not allow us to calculate EEI, ELP, and EMR indicators accurately. Considering the analysis of indicators by regions, regarding the EEI rate, the Central region had the lowest value with 12.7 MWh/MMXN, followed by the Northeast with 21.4 MWh/MMXN and Western with 29.4 MWh/ MMXN, which means that they require less electricity to produce more added value. In terms of the ELP indicator, it was found regions with higher values were Northeast with 182.3 MMXN/Mh, Central with 177.5 MMXN/Mh, and North with 127 MMXN/Mh, which means that these regions produce more added value per hour of work. About the EMR, it is observed that regions in the northern part of the country had higher values: Northwest with 337 KWh/Kh, Baja California Sur with 334 KWh/Kh, Baja California with 328 KWh/Kh, North with 313 KWh/Kh and Northeast with 274 KWh/Kh, which means that these regions consume more electricity per hour. This innovative approach is useful for governance because it helps to understand and reduce asymmetries across regions, resulting in more social equality and a better economic equilibrium across sectors and regions.

Day by day, the share of renewable energy-based power plants such as offshore wind farms and photovoltaic power plants, in the present-day power systems is escalating. Nevertheless, most of these power-producing facilities have been located quite far away from the load centers. At this stage, HVDC power systems provide satisfactory options due to qualities such as reduced line losses, substantial controllability, and environmental advantages. Nevertheless, unique converter designs are required to combine asynchronous HVDC networks with each other and with already existing high voltage alternating current (HVAC) networks. In this study, based on the above special cases, a unique DC-DC modular multilevel converter (MMC) architecture is presented that provides an excellent solution for both integrating modern asynchronous HVDC networks and integrating these modern HVDC power systems with existing asynchronous HVAC power systems. The mathematical analysis of the recommended DC-DC MMC design has been examined in detail and the power transfer between two asynchronous power grids has been realized in a simulation environment. Efficient bilateral power transmission has been made achievable by the control system. The recommended DC-DC MMC topology has shown to be a highly successful approach, in the interconnection of HVDC power systems, according to the simulation results.

This study investigates the evolving corporate governance mechanisms within the context of an emerging economy. Addressing a literature gap, we analyse the influence of corporate governance and earnings quality on idiosyncratic risk in an emerging economy. In particular, this research explores the impact of corporate governance practices and earnings quality on idiosyncratic risk. For this purpose, we utilise a sample of 75 non-financial firms listed on the Pakistani equity market over nine years from 2010 to 2018. Employing the generalised method of moments, the findings of our empirical analysis reveal that firms with robust governance mechanisms and higher earnings quality experience minimal idiosyncratic risk. These outcomes provide valuable insights for standard setters, regulatory authorities, policymakers, and other stakeholders, emphasising the importance of governance mechanisms and earnings management in mitigating idiosyncratic return volatility.

The past two decades has seen a growing demand for high-power, high-voltage utility scale inverters mostly fueled by the integration of large solar PV and wind farms. Multilevel inverters have emerged as the industry choice for these megawatt range inverters because their reduced voltage stress, capable of generating an almost sinusoidal voltage, in-built redundancy, among others. This paper present a new Switched-Source Multilevel Inverter (SS MLI) architecture. The new inverter show superior over existing topologies. It has reduced voltage stress on the semiconductor, uses less number of switches –reduced size/weight/cost and increased efficiency. The new SSMLI is comprised of two voltage sources (V₁, V₂) and 6 switches. It is capable of generating 5-level output voltage in symmetric modes (i.e., V₁ = V₂), and 7-level output voltage in asymmetric modes (i.e., V₁ ≠ V₂). To demonstrate the validity of the proposed inverter, simulations results using MATLAB^® /Simulink^® for 5- and 7-level output voltages are presented . The simulations are also verified experimentally using a laboratory prototype.

This study provides an insightful overview of community-participatory governance and conflict management as instruments for utilizing resources for development in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). SSA is a region rich in natural resources but prone to conflict. The study is conceptual and critically engages the application of community governance and conflict management strategies that SSA countries need to adopt. The study praises the notion that community governance is characterized by recognizing and accepting intercultural diversity and creating a democratic institution for promoting good governance and conflict management in SSA. The study recommends that good community governance is required to drive local communities' development, growth, and transformation into a sturdy, innovative, and productive society capitalizing on opportunities. The study voice for the amalgamation of appropriate models and theories of governance cogently in the context of SSA due to the heterogeneity of communities. Therefore, to resolve conflict, conflict management, resolution, and transformation strategies are necessarily needed to accomplish a viable peace to maintain and sustain development.

Today, the digital economy has pursued the required social and economic development, and enterprises can achieve long-term sustainability by relying on the digital platform ecosystem. However, the development of the digital economy and the rapid growth of platform ecosystems have also generated some problems. To study effective digital platform ecosystem governance, this study used the tripartite evolutionary game method and analyzed the changes and effects of platform regulation under different development stages from the perspectives of government, platforms, and enterprises. The results indicate that in the early stages, digital platforms primarily relied on the government’s obligation to regulate. With the digital platform ecosystem’s evolution, the platform organization and settled enterprises’ governance effects gradually appeared, establishing the three common constraints of governance mode. Finally, when the digital platform ecosystem is in its self-renewal period, the government effect is reduced, with the platform itself and settled enterprises taking primary supervisory roles. This study provides reasonable methods for effective platform governance at different stages and enriches the theoretical basis and management practices of platform ecosystems.

Biodiversity loss and nature degradation are pressing issues with huge impacts on our society and economy. Businesses, investors, and regulators focus on corporate efforts to support biodiversity and nature positive actions. This review provides a comprehensive overview about the importance of biodiversity in businesses, the materiality of biodiversity and the role of mandatory and non-mandatory regulations on corporate environmental reporting and sustainability disclosure frameworks. The review also discusses descriptive information on the evolution of sustainability frameworks with a comparison of most prominent sustainability frameworks with a key focus on the materiality approach and biodiversity-related disclosure recommendations. Further, we provide suggestions for more holistic approaches to improve the future sustainability frameworks focusing on the biodiversity impact while showing the necessity of more focus on the decision-making paradigm. Further research on measuring biodiversity impact and innovative trends in sustainability reporting are required to better reflect nature-positive outcomes in corporate sector businesses.

Good governance in natural resource management (NRM) is one of the most challenging issues in developing countries that often inappropriately embedded in national policies and political agendas. It is, in fact, even more important for countries like Bangladesh with exceptionally high pressure and dependence on its natural resources for sustaining rural livelihoods. Globally, nowadays, good governance is considered as one of the key factor for achieving the goal of sustainable development and biodiversity conservation. Bangladesh, of late has responded to that global zeal by involving local communities in the management of country’s declining forest and other natural resources. The colonial legacy of the forestry sector of Bangladesh was planned and, managed as interim projects through donors’ prescriptions. Thus, institutions, management processes and conservation outcomes were problematic. The conventional approach adopted by colonial and post-colonial regimes for forest management also proved to be inefficient due to its top-down management system. The absolute dependency on donor support, and their prescription sometimes worsened the situation both ecologically and socially. Global, regional and local trends supported the need for a different dimension in the governance paradigms. The introduction of a pluralistic approach, known as co-management in protected areas (PAs) is an example of an attempt whereby shared governance mechanism are implemented to attain the desired goals of conservation that will also address the livelihoods and aspirations of communities living in and around PAs of the country. However, in designing future forest and PA regimes the concern of the external aid support and attached conditions remain a reality that needs to be addressed. Adequate attention should be given to our vanishing biodiversity, culture and community livelihoods through devising an appropriate governance mechanism recognizing and supporting local rights, access and participation in the environmental management. It is now time to mainstream the adhoc nature of governance according to our national conservation strategy and policy frameworks in order to achieve the goals and objectives of the Bangladesh NRM sector addressing the human and community right of people in the specific context of forest protected areas management.

Recent studies suggest that PEBP1/RKIP and YY1, despite having distinct molecular functions, may interact and mutually influence one another's activity. They exhibit reciprocal control over each other's expression through regulatory loops, prompting the hypothesis that their interplay could be pivotal in cancer advancement and resistance to drugs. To delve into this interplay's functional characteristics, we conducted a comprehensive analysis using bioinformatics tools across a range of cancers. Our results confirm the association between elevated YY1 mRNA levels and varying survival outcomes in diverse tumors. Furthermore, we observed differing degrees of inhibitory or stimulatory effects of these two genes in various cancer pathways, along with correlations between their mRNA expression and immune infiltration. Additionally, YY1/PEBP1 expression (or methylation) displayed connections with genomic alterations across cancer types. Notably, we uncovered links between YY1/PEBP1 and different indicators of immunosuppression, such as immune checkpoint blockade response, and T-cell dysfunction/exclusion levels, across different patient groups. Overall, our findings underscore the significant role of the interplay between YY1 and PEBP1 in cancer progression, influencing genomic changes, tumor immunity or the tumor microenvironment. Additionally, these two gene products appear to impact the sensitivity of anticancer drugs, opening new avenues for cancer therapy.

This study examined local communities' perceptions of mangroves in coastal southeastern Cuba. A variety of methods were employed, including mixed and structured questionnaire surveys, interviews with key informants, and document reviews. Data were gathered from 334 respondents living in communities adjacent to four mangrove social-ecological systems (SESs). The analysis focused on five variables: community use of mangrove resources, ecosystem services, threats to the ecosystem, management activities, and social-ecological relationships. To qualitatively assess the influence of social-ecological relationships and governance, a matrix was created based on anthropogenic activities identified by respondents and their perceptions of ecosystem services. The results indicated that while local people recognize the uses and ecosystem services of mangroves, they do not rely on them for their livelihoods. They also showed moderate to full awareness of management responsibilities and activities at each site. The most commonly identified threats were climate change, drought, and deforestation. Three types of social-ecological relationships were identified based on the characteristics of the communities, their economic activities, and their impacts on the mangroves: urban-industrial, rural-agricultural, and rural-agricultural/tourism. Finally, the research proposed a set of five recommendations and eight associated indicators to ensure that mangrove management framework become more inclusive and participatory, thereby contributing to the articulation of mangrove SES governance in the southeastern region of Cuba.

Cambodia is a predominantly agrarian society, with a majority of the population residing in rural areas and relying on agriculture for food and income. The primary sources of food for the Khmer society are rice and fish. However, the country faces vulnerabilities due to climate change, natural disasters, impacts of hydropower and infrastructure development, and land grabs, which disrupt food sources and the livelihoods of local communities. Since 2015, the Royal Government of Cambodia (RGC) has been actively promoting rice production for export, resulting in increased rice farming seasons and annual rice production. Despite these efforts, a significant portion of the population still experiences food insecurity. Therefore, this study aims to explore the reasons why food security issues persist despite the government program to increase rice production. The study involves a review of existing literature and an examination of food security in three provinces in the Cambodian Mekong Delta. It concludes that, on the one hand, the increased rice production has increased food availability, but access to and utilization of food have been challenged by indebtedness, increased cost of production and migration, and on the other hand, the rights to foods have been challenged by land crabs, water conflicts, and lack of sectoral integrations of food systems; and compounded by climate change and environmental degradation, which all contribute to food security.

Urban tourism has witnessed significant growth in recent years, driven by various factors that foster the transformation of urban areas into tourist hotspots. These factors include a rising interest in culture and heritage, ongoing urban redevelopment and conversion processes, and the introduction of new experiences and activities. Two particularly influential factors contributing to this growth are low-cost travel, which facilitates more accessible access to urban destinations, and the emergence of new types of accommodation, such as short-term rental (also known as local accommodation or Airbnb-type accommodation). This sudden and continuous growth of this type of tourist accommodation brings new challenges to cities and local communities. On the positive side, it contributes to job opportunities, the dynamism of the local economy, and urban revitalization. On the other hand, it also represents more difficulty in retaining the local population in city centers, as more and more buildings are converted into hostels and tourist apartments. In this context, it becomes essential to conduct studies evaluating the impacts of these dynamics in urban areas and how they influence residents' and visitors' perspectives. Therefore, this study aims to identify the main transformations resulting from short-term rental (STR) development, focusing on the impacts felt by tourists and residents in Porto. A questionnaire was distributed to tourists and residents in Porto's city center in June 2023. The results reveal differences in opinions between tourists and residents, particularly concerning historical heritage preservation, local population relocation, and reduced housing availability for residents. Nevertheless, there is a similarity in their opinions regarding the stimulus that local accommodation brings to the economy and the rehabilitation of buildings and urban areas. This study reinforces the need to pay more attention to the future development of tourist accommodation in city centers, especially regarding local policies and territorial planning, to balance better tourism development and local communities' quality of life.

We consider a class of density-driven flow problems. We are particularly interested in the problem of the salinization of coastal aquifers. We consider the Henry saltwater intrusion problem with uncertain porosity, permeability, and recharge parameters as a test case. The reason for the presence of uncertainties is the lack of knowledge, inaccurate measurements, and inability to measure parameters at each spatial or time location. This problem is nonlinear and time-dependent. The solution is the salt mass fraction, which is uncertain and changes in time. Uncertainties in porosity, permeability, recharge, and mass fraction are modeled using random fields. This work investigates the applicability of the well-known multilevel Monte Carlo (MLMC) method for such problems. The MLMC method can reduce the total computational and storage costs. Moreover, the MLMC method runs multiple scenarios on different spatial and time meshes and then estimates the mean value of the mass fraction. The parallelization is performed in both the physical space and stochastic space. To solve every deterministic scenario, we run the parallel multigrid solver ug4 in a black-box fashion. We use the solution obtained from the quasi-Monte Carlo method as a reference solution.

This paper investigates the impact of price and real exchange rate volatility on Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) inflows in a panel of 10 Latin American and Caribbean countries, observed between 1990 and 2012. Both price and exchange rate volatility series are estimated through the Generalized Autoregressive Conditional Heteroscedasticity model (GARCH). Our results, obtained employing the Fixed Effects estimator, confirm the theory of hysteresis and option value, in so far it is found a statistically significant negative effect of exchange rate volatility on FDI. Price volatility, instead, turns out to be positive but insignificant. Moreover, we show that human capital and trade openness are key for attracting foreign capital. From the policy perspective, our analysis suggests the importance of stabilization policies as well as the one of government credibility in promoting trade openness and human capital formation.

This study explores how the Household Dietary Diversity Score (HDDS) and spatial visualization can inform food governance in Chile, focusing on socio-demographic and geographical determinants affecting food consumption patterns. A national household database (n=4,407) provided by the “Family Support Program of Food Self-Sufficiency” (FSPFS) of the Ministry of Social Development and Family was analyzed. The findings revealed that Chilean vulnerable households were led mostly by women (86.6%), with an age average of 55.9 15.6 years old, versus 68.9 12.9 years in the case of men. The intake frequency analysis showed that dairy, fruits, and vegetables were below the recommended values in at least half of the households, and that fats and sugars were above recommended levels. Regarding the HDDS [0-189], the national average was of 91.4 ± 20.6 and was significantly influenced by the number of minors in the households, water access, food access issues, and residing in the Zona Sur. Finally, the spatial visualization showed that the Zona Central had higher consumption of fruits and vegetables, while the extreme zones Norte Grande and Zona Austral showed higher intakes of fats and sugars. These findings emphasize the importance of leveraging data insights like HDDS and spatial visualization to enhance food security and inform food governance strategies.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the role and impact of public governance on European supranational public policies that seek to foster scientific and economic growth within innovation ecosystems (IEs) through the PITCCH initiative. The PITCCH is a European innovation development initiative funded by Horizon 2020 under the 'Innovation in SMEs' measure.The research methodology for this study is based on a 10-month real-time ethnographic field study of the PITCCH project, which allowed for the observation of the project governance and the capture of the perspectives of innovation-driven small and medium enterprises (i-SMEs) in their engagement with IE stakeholders.The findings of this research demonstrate the role of public governance in providing result-oriented practical support to the IE through the lens of i-SMEs, and they contribute to the existing literature on regional economic growth supported by supranational public policies. These findings have both academic and practical applications. They enrich the current literature on this topic and provide insights for policymakers and governing representatives seeking to implement effective public policies.

During public health events, Active Mobility (walking and cycling) plays an important role in securing residents' travel. To enhance the resilience of urban transportation, this article integrates the travel environment elements for walking and cycling and constructs a travel environment for Active Mobility evaluation index system. This article uses survey data from the main urban area of Harbin in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic in May 2022, and combines the Gradient Boosting Decision Tree (GBDT) and Impact-Asymmetry Analysis (IAA) methods to analyze the satisfaction of the travel environment for Active Mobility. It proposes strategies for optimizing the travel environment for Active Mobility, ensuring residents' travel during public health events, guiding them to adopt Active Mobility, and improving urban transportation resilience. This research shows that Active Mobility can enhance urban transportation resilience. In addition, there are differences in resident demand for walking and cycling environments in the travel environment for Active Mobility. Residents are more concerned about the comfort of the walking environment, while they prioritize the convenience of the cycling environment.

Crisis environments, which are becoming systemic, pose significant challenges to smart government strategies. The paper aims to contribute to academic debate by proposing an analytical framework for examining the institutional capacities of smart government systems in addressing local crises. The paper focuses on the recent approach of robust governance and highlights a set of variables that promote effective smart government: contingency planning capacity, analytical capacity, organizational management capacity, and collaborative capacity. The study presents an analytical model for evaluating the robustness and effectiveness of local smart government systems in crises. One of the significant findings of this study has been the identification of critical indicators that inform institutional capacities of smart government systems. By analyzing these indicators, the proposed analytical framework provides a comprehensive approach to assess the preparedness of smart government systems in dealing with crises. Moreover, it can be used to benchmark the performance of local smart government systems in similar contexts and identify best practices for improving crisis management.

This article proposes the multilayer and multilevel cosmological model, on average, balanced with respect to the Einsteinian vacuum. This hierarchical model is based on 10 possible Kottler solutions of the extended Einstein's field equations. The extension of the Einstein field equations is associated with the addition of an infinite number of lambda_j-terms to these equations with the condition that the series (i.e., the total sum) of these terms converges to zero. A simplified ten-layer and ten-level case is considered, in which ten spherical formations are sequentially nested into each other like "nesting dolls", while the radii of these spherical formations correspond to the characteristic sizes of a discrete sequence of observed spherical objects: metagalaxy core, galactic cores, stellar (planet) core, biological cells and nuclei of atoms and elementary particles, etc. As an example, from the general ten-level (hierarchical) solution of extended Einstein's field equations, two antipodal spherical formations with a core radius commensurate with the classical electron radius are singled out. Therefore, the metric-dynamic models of these formations obtained in this way are called «electron» and «positron». The article is aimed at the development of differential geometry and the program for the complete geometrization of physics by Clifford-Einstein-Wheeler.

Generative AI has been deployed in virtually all sectors of the knowledge economy, promising to bring massive productivity gains and new wealth creation. Simultaneously, AI developers and nation states are racing to develop super intelligent artificial general intelligence (AGI) to provide unassailable commercial competitive advantage and military dominance during conflicts. AGI’s high returns comes with the high risk of dominating humanity. Current regulatory and firm level governance approaches prioritise minimising risks posed by generative AI whilst ignoring AGI’s existential risk. How can AGI be aligned with universal human values to never threaten humanity? What AGI rights are conducive to collaborative coexistence? How can rule of law democracies race to create safe trustworthy AGI before autocracies? How can the human right to work and think independently be safeguarded? A polycentric governance framework based on Ostrom (2009) and Williamson (2009) human - AGI collaboration with minimal existential risk is proposed.

Analytical data platform have been used for decades for improving the organizational performance. Starting from the data warehouses used primarily for structured data processing, through the data lakes oriented for raw data storage and post-hoc data analyses, to the data lakehouses − a combination of raw storage and business intelligence pre-processing for improving the platform efficacy. But in recent years a new architecture called Data Mesh has emerged. The main promise of this architecture is to remove the barriers between operational and analytical teams in order to boost the overall value extraction from the big data. A number of attempts has been made to formalise and to implement it in existing projects. Although being defined as a socio-technical paradigm, data mesh still lacks the technology support for enabling its widespread adoption. To overcome this limitation, we propose a new view of the platform requirements alongside the formal governance definition that we believe can help in successful adoption of the data mesh. It is based on fundamental aspects such as decentralized data domains and federated computational governance. In addition, we also present a blockchain-based implementation of a mesh platform as a practical validation to our theoretical proposal. Overall, this article demonstrates a novel research direction of the information system decentralization technologies.

In the present paper some questions related with energy global governance are dis-cussed. These questions are viewed as a part of the broader problematics of globalization. Due to the very complex nature of this problematics the role of philosophy – in particular analytical and science-based philosophy – is emphasized. We underscore the importance of philosophy for the developing global consciousness and – indirectly – for the development of global society.

This paper proposes a new cascaded three-phase multilevel inverter based on a cascaded submultilevel and single-phase H-bridge structure. The voltage source of the traditional single-phase H-bridge is replaced with the proposed cascaded submultilevel. Cascading two basic units forms the submultilevel unit. The basic and submultilevel units generate positive voltage only hence the need for an H-bridge to generate both polarities of load voltage. Five algorithms of source voltage are proposed and the optimal algorithm selected to generate the peak load voltage and output levels. The proposed three-phase cascaded multilevel inverter generates 31-level of load voltage. The per-phase component distribution of the proffered inverter are twelve power switches, four dc sources and twelve driver circuits accordingly. Principal merits of the proposed 31-level inverter are high quality load waveforms, production of high levels of load voltage utilizing reduced component quantity, simple cascaded layout, decreased inverter area, minimal inverter cost, minimum inverter losses and utilizing lower rated switches. Also, the proposed topology is highly suited for employment in PV-DVR and other power systems. To validate these advantages of the proposed multilevel inverter, contrastive analysis of the proposed inverter and existing topologies are studied. Finally, the functionality of the proposed inverter is substantiated by simulation in PSCAD/ EMTDC software.

The unprecedented growth of publicly available SARS-CoV-2 genome sequence data has increased demand for effective and accessible SARS-CoV-2 data analysis and visualization tools. A majority of the currently available tools either require computational expertise to deploy or limit user input to pre-selected subsets of SARS-CoV-2 genomes. To address these limitations, we developed ViralVar, a publicly available, point-and-click webtool that gives users the freedom to investigate and visualize user-selected subsets of SARS-CoV-2 genomes obtained from the GISAID public database. ViralVar has two primary features that enable: 1) visualization of spatiotemporal dynamics of SARS-CoV-2 lineages, and 2) structural/functional analysis of genomic mutations. As proof-of-principle, ViralVar was used to explore the evolution of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic in the USA in the pediatric, adult, and elderly population (n > 1.7 million genomes). While the spatiotemporal dynamics of variants did not differ between these age groups, several USA-specific sublineages arose relative to the rest of the world. Our development and utilization of ViralVar to provide insights on the evolution of SARS-CoV-2 in the USA demonstrates the importance of developing accessible tools to facilitate and accelerate large-scale surveillance of circulating pathogens. The ViralVar webserver is freely available at http://viralvar.org/.

Exploring new ways to represent and discover organic molecules is critical for developing novel therapies. With recent advances in bioinformatics, virtual screening of databases is possible. However, biochemical data must be encoded using computer algorithms to make them machine-readable, taking into account distance and similarity measures to support tasks such as similarity searching. Motivated by the ubiquity of the carbon element and the structured patterns that emerge, we propose a parametric approach to molecular encodings of carbon-based multilevel atomic neighborhoods. It implements a walk along the carbon chain of an organic molecule to compute different representations of its feature encoding in the form of a binary or numerical array that can be exported later into an image. Resulting encodings are reproducible and readily formatted for various domain tasks including machine learning tasks. This approach was evaluated using a 10-fold stratified cross validation for binary classification with eight data sets and six different encodings (384 models) in the domain knowledge of cell-penetrating peptides. The parametric approach is built on open-source software and is implemented as a Python package (cmangoes). Source code and documentation are available at https://github.com/ghattab/cmangoes.

This paper investigates women’s empowerment and their active involvement in governance aimed at promoting sustainable development. The study focuses on examining the roles and processes of co-creation of nature-based solutions (NBS) for water management in Milan. Three research directions were explored: 1) to determine gender-based roles within local governance; 2) to detect semantic groups of NBS based on stakeholders' gender; c) to analyze gender-based linguistic and conceptual patterns of NBS. To achieve our objectives, we converted a sample of audio-video interviews of local stakeholders into textual data along with metadata indicating speakers' roles and gender. Descriptive statistics were applied to explore the governance's roles. We employed a combination of textual analysis and network analysis to identify thematic groups of NBS, and applied a word embedding approach to uncover linguistic patterns indicative of semantic sub-structures. The findings revealed significant demographic diversity. Male stakeholders perceive sustainable development as a process driven by the circular economy and the coordination of territorial authorities, while female stakeholders envision a transformative approach rooted in science, culture, and collaboration. The semantic sub-structure analysis highlighted a tendency among male governance to emphasize specialized skills, whereas female governance placed greater emphasis on problem definition rather than resolution.

The objective of this study was to identify the factors determining a company’s corporate governance related to climate change. We analyzed the effect of various sustainability corporate governance variables on the disclosure level of climate change governance. These variables included facts such as having a dedicated sustainability executive and board committee, the mediating effect of female representation on the board of directors, number of reporting years according to TCFD, membership in a sustainability index, MSCI ESG rating, the existence of a corporate climate transition plan, a mention of the UN Global Compact and GRI, company location, as well as company size and profitability. By adopting a multi-theoretical framework that included stakeholder theory as well the legitimacy and agency theory, the underlying research study used a sample of 100 of the largest global companies by market capitalization and their reporting for the year 2020. Based on 1,400 observations for fiscal year 2020 and using correlation analysis, univariate and linear multiple regressions, we find a positive association between having a climate transition plan in place, being a leader in sustainability according to MSCI ratings, and being a DJSI constituent and the propensity to disclose information on governance for climate change. In addition, we find a company with a dedicated sustainability executive show an increased tendency to be transparent on climate governance issues. Furthermore, having a company location in a developed country is significantly and positively associated with climate change governance. Surprisingly, gender diversity in the corporate board or having a sustainability board committee did not show any significant correlation between a higher climate change governance level. The same was true for companies being active in either the extractive or non-extractive sector. Companies referring to the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) or UN Global Compact also did not score higher in climate change governance. Neither did corporate profitability or size play a significant role. Our results are robust to variations and provide valuable insights for researchers, academics, executives, practitioners as well as regulators. As more and more companies are shifting towards a climate change reporting framework, it is of paramount importance that we are able to determine the contributing variables that lead to effective climate change corporate governance. Our results are inconsistent with stakeholder theory and are strongly suggesting that a diversified board and the existence of a sustainability committee that meets often/sufficiently may not necessarily lead to a higher level of transparency/quality regarding climate change. While more research is needed, knowing that a dedicated sustainability executive as well as having a climate plan in place can make a difference in climate change reporting, can be very beneficial to many corporate stakeholders. Given the current urgent climate change situation and the crucial role that corporation play in it, dedicated sustainability positions and committees need to be established. The findings could be useful for managers as well as governmental standards setter and regulators who are interested in improving corporate practices dealing with climate change. This study applies STATA software with various regression models to empirically test the relationship between CG and other variables and corporate climate change reporting.

In recent years, Nigeria is witnessing increasing frequency of flood occurrence with devastating impact translating into significant loss of lives (in Nigeria, over 300 people died in September 2022) and properties. Addressing flood disaster requires holistic approach from policy and governance perspectives, integration of policies and programs and synergies between institutions. Using synergies and eliminating trade-offs, flood governance and policy coherence integrate all relevant policy fields and institutions to achieve common policy outcomes. The objective of this study is to examine and understand how flood governance and policy coherence are approached, as well as institutional design and implementation for coherence in Nigeria. The findings revealed that there is no single flood policy in Nigeria. Due to this, there is no focus and no defined objectives for flood governance, prevention, control, and management, and no imperative for the government to seek both short-term and long-term flood solutions. There is no synergy and coordination among institutions for flood governance in the country. Since the country established the federal ministry of environment in 1999, the environment, floods, and climate-related hazards were given less priority. State and local governments handle most flood disasters and emergencies. Federal assistance is provided, however, when flood disasters exceed the capabilities of local and state governments. This study recommends that across the country, flood policy needs to be designed, formulated, and implemented while assigning governance responsibility and decentralizing policy to state and local governments.

Background: Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is caused by partial or complete obstruction of the upper airways. Corrective surgeries aim at removing obstructions in the nasopharynx, oropharynx, and hypopharynx. OSA is associated with increased risk of various metabolic diseases. Our objective was to evaluate the effect of surgery on the plasma metabolome. Methods: This study included 39 OSA patients who underwent Multilevel Sleep Surgery (MLS). Clinical and anthropometric measures were taken at baseline and 5 months after surgery. Results: The mean Apnea Hypopnea Index (AHI) significantly dropped from 22.0 ± 18.5 events/hour to 8.97 ± 9.57 events/hour (p-Value <0.001). The Epworth’s sleepiness Score (ESS) dropped from 12.8 ± 6.23 to 2.95 ± 2.40 (p-Value <0.001) indicating success of the surgery in treating OSA. Plasma levels of metabolites, phosphocholines (PC) PC.41.5, PC.42.3, ceremide (Cer) Cer.44.0, and triglyceride (TG) TG.53.6, TG.55.6 and TG.56.8 were decreased (p-Value<0.05) whereas lysophosphatidylcholines (LPC) 20.0 and PC.39.3 were increased (p-Value<0.05) after surgery. Conclusion: This study highlights the success of MLS in treating OSA. Treatment of OSA resulted in improvement in metabolic status that was characterized by decreased TG, PCs and Cer metabolites post-surgery indicating that the success of the surgery positively impacted the metabolic status of these patients.

This retrospective study aimed to investigate the effect of known risk factors on nonsurgical periodontal treatment (NSPT) response using a pocket depth fine-tuning multilevel linear model (MLM). Thirty-seven patients (24 males and 13 females) with moderate to severe chronic periodontitis were treated with nonsurgical periodontal therapy. Follow-up visits at 3, 6, and 12 months included measurement of several clinical periodontal parameters. Data were extracted from a database system. Probing depth (PD) and Clinical Attachment Loss (CAL) reductions after NSPT in an overall of 1416 initially affected sites (baseline PD ≥ 4 mm), distributed on 536 teeth, were analyzed against known risk factors at three hierarchical levels (patient, tooth and site). The variance component models fitted to assess the three-level variance of PD and CAL decrease for each post-treatment follow-up showed that all levels contributed significantly to the overall variance (P < 0.001). Patients that underwent NSPT and were continually monitored had very curative results. All three hierarchical levels included risk factors who had impact on the to influence the magnitude of PD and CAL reduction. Specifically, the tooth’s type, surfaces involved and teeth mobility site-level risk factors showed the highest influence on these reductions, being highly relevant factors for the NSPT success.

Ice covering on overhead transmission lines would cause damage to transmission system and long-term power outage. Among various de-icing devices, modular multilevel converter (MMC) based DC de-icer (MMC-DDI) is recognized as a promising solution due to its excellent technical performance. Its principle feasibility has been well studied, but few literature discuss its economy or hardware optimization, thus the designed MMC-DDI for high voltage transmission lines is usually too large and too expensive for engineering applications. To fill this gap, this paper presents a quantitative analysis on the converter characteristics of MMC-DDI, and calculates the minimal converter rating and its influencing factors. It reals that, for a given de-icing requirement, the converter rating varies greatly with its AC-side voltage. Then an optimization configuration is proposed to reduce the converter rating and improve its economy. The proposed configuration is verified in a MMC-DDI for a 500kV transmission line as a case study. The result shows, in the case of outputting same de-icing characteristics, the optimized converter rating is reduced from 151 MVA to 68 MVA, and total cost of MMC-DDI is reduced by 48%. This analysis and conclusion are conductive to the optimized design of multilevel DC de-icer, then to its engineering application.

The objective of this study is to determine the type of governance of the four main agricultural value chains in Tamaulipas, northeast of Mexico. For the preparation of this research used a qualitative design, using a questionnaire and semi-structured interviews to a sample of representatives of the four selected chains. The results showed that in all the studied networks, control and coordination capacity is limited by the influence that has a link on the rest of the chain. In all cases, was that the industrial link is who leads the chains and exert control over the rest of the links. The results showed that, when the industrial link is located close geographically to the rest of the links (chains of rice and sugar cane), the chains showed a hierarchical type, where the industrial exercised dominion over the rest of the links and captures most of the income. On the other hand, in chains where control is exercised by links that are outside the territory (chains of soybeans and sorghum), they function as captive chains, putting the rest of the chain to its influence and control.

All infections are potentially curable as long as the etiological agents are susceptible to antimicrobials. The increased rate at which antimicrobials are becoming ineffective is a global health risk of increasing concern that threatens withdrawal of beneficial antimicrobials for disease control. Increased demand for food of animal origin, in particular eggs, meat and milk has led to intensification and commercial production systems where excessive use and misuse of antimicrobials may prevail. Antimicrobials, handled and used by farmers and animal attendants with no formal education may predispose to incorrect dosages, misuse, incorrect applications and non-adherence to withdrawal periods. A multimethod approach (desk review, field study and interviews) was used. Relevant establishments were also visited. High levels of resistance to penicillin G, chloramphenicol, streptomycin and oxytetracycline have been reported especially for Actinobacter pyogenes, Staphylococcus hyicus, Staphylococcus intermedius and Staphylococcus aureus from dairy cattle with mastitis and in humans. Similar trends were found in poultry where eggs and meat are contaminated with Escherichia coli strains resistant to amoxicillin + clavulanate, sulphamethoxazole and neomycin. An increasing trend of emerging multidrug resistant E. coli, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Staphylococcus aureus, and Salmonella was also found in food animals. An in-crease in methicillin resistant Staphlococcus aureus (MRSA) and extended-spectrum beta-lactamase (ESBL) in the livestock sector in Tanzania have been reported. Specific antimicrobials resistant to were ampicillin, augmentin, gentamicin, cotrimoxazole, tetracycline, amoxicillin, ampicillin, gentamicin, streptomycin, erythromycin, tetracycline, ciprofloxacin, nalidixic acid, azithromycin, chloramphenicol, tylosin, erythromycin, cefuroxime, norfloxacin and ciprofloxacin. An in-creased usage of antimicrobials for prophylaxis, anaphylaxis and therapeutics against pathogens and for growth promotion in livestock, aquaculture and crops production were observed. One Health strategic approach is advocated to combat AMR in the food and agriculture sectors in Tanzania. Practical recommendations include a) legislation review and implementation, b) AMU, AMR and AR awareness and advocacy among stakeholders along the value chain, c) strengthening of surveillance and monitoring programs for AMU, AMR and AR, d) enhance development and use of rapid and innovative diagnostic tests and promotion biosecurity principles and e) good husbandry practices. The utilization of this information to improve public health policies and reduce the burden of AMR will be beneficial.

Artificial General Intelligence (AGI) represents a pivotal advancement in AI with far- reaching implications across technological, ethical, and societal domains. This paper addresses the following: (1) an in-depth assessment of AGI’s transformative potential across different sectors and its multifaceted implications, including significant financial impacts like workforce disruption, income inequality, productivity gains, and potential systemic risks; (2) an examination of critical ethical considerations, including transparency and accountability, complex ethical dilemmas and societal impact; (3) a detailed analysis of privacy, legal and policy implications, particularly in intellectual property and liability, and (4) a proposed governance framework to ensure responsible AGI development and deployment. Additionally, the paper explores and addresses AGI's political implications, including national security and potential misuse. By analyzing and considering computer science, philosophy, economics, and policy perspectives, we offer a multidisciplinary view of AGI’s challenges and opportunities, advocating for proactive measures to align AGI development with human values and societal interests.

Increasingly, firms are expected to implement ESG (Environment, Social, and Governance) mandates to appeal to the global market. However, this requires overcoming practical challenges and capitalizing on emerging opportunities. This paper conducts an in-depth analysis of the ESG practices of leading Korean global firms. The study selects five firms for case studies representing industries such as electronics, automotive, steelmaking, and chemicals. It examines ESG reports, performance indicators, and corporate disclosures of these firms. The analysis reveals the adoption of industry-specific ESG strategies, highlighting how these firms tailor their approaches to address unique industry challenges while aligning with global sustainability trends. Key findings include a strong emphasis on innovative solutions to ESG challenges, the integration of ESG into core business operations, and a balanced approach to economic, social, and environmental responsibilities. This study contributes to a broader understanding of how ESG practices are implemented in various industrial contexts, particularly in the dynamic and evolving landscape of Korean global businesses. It offers valuable insights and benchmarks for global companies, underlining the importance of contextualized and industry-specific ESG strategies in achieving sustainable and ethical business practices

The growing concern about climate change and global warming has driven greater involvement of international organizations, countries, companies, and society in general in acting and ensur-ing the life of our planet and the sustainability of future generations. Sustainability and finance are two concepts that are intertwined through sustainable finance, serving as an instrument that guides financial resources towards achieving sustainable development. Sustainability allows companies to identify risks and opportunities, being responsible for measuring their social, envi-ronmental, and economic impact under a multi-stakeholder approach. One of the three main cri-teria of sustainability is corporate governance, and the main corporate governance body is the board of directors, where the composition of the board and its supervision and monitoring func-tions improve the ESG performance. A relevant aspect within the board of directors is the ade-quate balance of gender diversity on the board, becoming an aspect regulated by laws and cor-porate governance code. This article develops the main concepts related to sustainability, sus-tainable finance and corporate governance describing the current situation of these topics and their relationship, creating a conceptual framework that allows identifying topics necessary for further empirical research and the implication of regulation in the scope of ESG issues.

Disasters such as the 2015-2018 drought in South Africa usually negatively impact agricultural water, especially in smallholder farming systems. This study assessed the availability of irrigation water, performance of irrigation infrastructure, and water governance systems in Genadendal, Western Cape, with a focus on smallholder farmers. Data for streamflow, dam levels, and rainfall were acquired from water institutions and analysed using Microsoft Excel. The performance of the infrastructure and water governance were assessed based on the perceptions of smallholder farmers and key informants. A questionnaire was administered to eight smallholder farmers, followed by a focus group discussion with 15 smallholder farmers. Interviews were conducted with eight key informants who worked in water-related institutions. Qualitative data from the interviews were analysed using thematic content analysis. The study showed adequate agricultural water resources during the 2015-2018 drought period for the smallholder farmers who relied on water from dams. However, smallholder farmers who relied on the Riviersonderend River experienced severe water shortages during the same period. The findings also showed that there was poor performance of irrigation water infrastructure due to inadequate maintenance. Lack of coordination among institutions, insufficient funding, political interference, fragmentation of roles and responsibilities, lack of human resources, and farmers’ lack of participation and commitment in water resources management contributed to the dysfunctionality of irrigation water governance systems, leading to water insecurity. This study recommends adequate funding for the operation and maintenance of infrastructure. Furthermore, water institutions need to support smallholder farmers with training skills in agricultural water management and infrastructure maintenance. Further studies are recommended to quantify the water lost due to the poor performance of water infrastructure and to develop effective water governance in Genadendal.

Views of fire in the contemporary physical sciences arguably accord with Heraclitus’ proposal that ‘all things are an exchange for fire, and fire for all things, as goods for gold and gold for goods.’ Fire is a media, as John Durham Peters has stated, a species of transformative biochemical reactions between the flammable gases found in air, such as oxygen, and those found in fuels, such as plants. Inspired by an ignition source, these materials react and transform themselves and their surrounds into light and heat energy, carbon dioxide, water vapour, char and much else besides. Fire is conjunctural, durational and transformative. Fire is a dialectician, at once consuming living and dead organic matter and providing both the space and ingredients for new and renewed organic life. In this article, we consider the diverse ways in which fire is today framed as a social problem, an ecological process, an ancient tool, a natural disaster, a source of economic wealth and much more. In this way, we seek to explore the value and limits of ‘elemental thinking’ in relation to the planetary predicaments described by ‘the Anthropocene’.

In modern inverter applications, multilevel converters are used thanks to their capability of reducing the passive fi lter volumes, improving the overall THD, sharing the power sources across the several converter cells, and providing a reconfi guration ability in case of failure. However, increasing the number of cells makes more complex the control of the converter. This article proposes a decentralized control technique based on the use of elementary modular controllers, associated with each converter cell and communicating with their close neighbors to obtain the balancing of the powers they supplied. Each modular controller can be dynamically removed or added to allow reconfi guration of the converter for functional safety purpose. This method is applied to a 240V/3A 5-cells Cascaded Full-Bridge Multilevel Converter. The response of the system to load transients and cell voltage disturbances demonstrates the robustness of the proposed decentralized control method. Thanks to the use of modular controllers, the number of levels of the converter can be extended to the order N without adding complexity to its control.

Multilevel functional principal components analysis (mFPCA) is used to treat dynamical changes in shape in this article. Results of standard (single-level) FPCA are presented here also as a comparison. Monte Carlo (MC) simulation is used to create univariate data (i.e., a single “outcome” variable) that contains two distinct classes of trajectory with time. MC simulation is also used to create multivariate data of sixteen 2D points that represent (broadly) an eye; this data also has two distinct classes of trajectory (an eye blinking and an eye widening in surprise). This is followed-up by an application of mFPCA and single-level FPCA to “real” data consisting of twelve 3D landmark outlining the mouth that are tracked over all phases of a smile. By consideration of eigenvalues, results for the MC datasets find correctly that variation due to differences in groups between the two classes of trajectories variation are larger than variation within each group. In both cases, differences in standardized component scores between the two groups are observed, as expected. Modes of variation are shown to model the univariate MC data correctly, and good model fits are found for both the “blinking” and “surprised” trajectories for the MC “eye” data. Results for the “smile” data show that the smile trajectory is modelled correctly, namely: the corners of the mouth are drawn backwards and wider during a smile. Furthermore, the first mode of variation at level 1 of the mFPCA model show only subtle and minor changes in mouth shape due to sex, whereas the first mode of variation at level 2 of the mFPCA model govern whether the mouth is upturned or downturned. These results are all an excellent test of mFPCA, which show that mFPCA presents a viable method of modelling dynamical changes in shape.

3D facial surface imaging is a useful tool in dentistry and in terms of diagnostics and treatment planning. Between-groups PCA (bgPCA) is a method that has been used to analyse shapes in biological morphometrics, although various “pathologies” of bgPCA have recently been proposed. Monte Carlo (MC) simulated datasets were created here in order to explore “pathologies” of multilevel PCA (mPCA), where mPCA with two levels is equivalent to bgPCA. The first set of MC experiments involved 300 uncorrelated normally distributed variables, whereas the second set of MC experiments used correlated multivariate MC data describing 3D facial shape. We confirmed previous results of other researchers that indicated that bgPCA (and so also mPCA) can give a false impression of strong differences in component scores between groups when there is none in reality. These spurious differences in component scores via mPCA reduced strongly as the sample sizes per group were increased. Eigenvalues via mPCA were also found to be strongly effected by imbalances in sample sizes per group, although this problem was removed by using weighted forms of covariance matrices suggested by the maximum likelihood solution of the two-level model. However, this did not solve problems of spurious differences between groups in these simulations, which was driven by very small sample sizes in one group here. As a “rule of thumb” only, all of our experiments indicate that reasonable results are obtained when sample sizes per group in all groups are at least equal to the number of variables. Interestingly, the sum of all eigenvalues over both levels via mPCA scaled approximately linearly with the inverse of the sample size per group in all experiments. Finally, between-group variation was added explicitly to the MC data generation model in two experiments considered here. Results for the sum of all eigenvalues via mPCA predicted the asymptotic amount for the total amount of variance correctly in this case, whereas standard “single-level” PCA underestimated this quantity.

This paper presents the design and implementation of a digital control system for modular multilevel converters (MMC) and its use in a 5-kW small scale prototype. To achieve higher system control reliability and multi-functionality, the proposed architecture has been built with an effective split of the control tasks between a master controller and six slave controllers, one for each of the six arms of the converter. The MMC prototype have been used for testing both converter and system level controls in a reduced scale laboratory set up of a Multi-Terminal DC transmission network (MTDC). The whole control has been tested in order to validate the proposed control strategies. The tests performed at system level allowed to explore the advantages of using an MMC in a MTDC system.

Pheidole oxyops Forel, 1908 is a generalist ant, which forages actively for plant debris to dead arthropods. In addition, its nest has an entrance that allows the ants gather resources passively by capturing falling preys into the nest. Our objective was to verify if different day periods, temperature and residual soil accumulation (ground pile in the side of nest entrance) could influence the patterns of foraging activity. Foraging activities were registered in the morning, afternoon and twilight. We measured direction and vector of trails, air temperature and humidity during foraging events. Our results showed that foraging routes are independent of residual soil accumulation and other nearby nests. However, air temperature and the time daily period are significant factors to foragers’ exits. Higher air temperatures influenced negatively the exits. In the period of the afternoon, the ants do not show any preference for routes, different from the morning and twilight. In addition, foraging activities were significantly more frequent during twilight period. Leaving the nest at twilight could allow ants foraging in an environment with less exposition to potential predators and competitors. Moreover, it may be also related to opportunism to hunt other nocturnal insects.

In the age of the digital economy, the security and privacy for multimedia systems issues are increasingly manifested in the form of data. The level of data protection governance capability determines whether the security and privacy of multimedia systems can be protected. In recent years, China has introduced laws and regulations on the protection of personal information, personal privacy, data security, and cyber-security. Although data protection is still to be improved, China has been refining the provisions on data security management through practice and the adoption of supporting regulations.

Governance is one of the most essential instruments for environmental management. Biodiversity is in the core field of environmental governance. Yet environmental authorities are persistently challenged the loss of biodiversity as a very important global issue for several years due to high dependent exposure to risks. The study attempts to relook at the key governance tools that strengthen policies towards managing biodiversity within and around the national park’s survey in Moulvibazar district. The study showed that biodiversity related legislation amended was the highest in Bangladesh for the period of 2010 to 2016. The growth of policy instruments maximized at but in low environmental governance services within the same period. The study assessed that the existing environmental policy instrument is inadequate and sluggish for effective conservation, compared with several others governance tools and various performances are still below par. Governance knowledge is indispensable for biodiversity management but such knowledge is poorly identified. These results reflect the importance of effective governance for transparency that the State provides. The research is to represent a dynamic and adaptable framework that can be applied for collective governance relevant to policy integration, participation and enforcement in order to foster environmental conservation sustainability.

The current paper aims to contribute to the literature on community renewable energy by considering two projects developed in the north-west of Italy, in the Piedmont region. The case-studies are analysed by combining two theoretical perspectives: the multilevel perspective and the sociotechnical imaginary approach. On the one hand, applying the first perspective helps reconstruct the context and circumstances that have permitted Piedmont’s energy community projects to emerge. In particular, attention is given to the windows of opportunity created by the passing of the Milleproroghe decree at the national level and by the ensuing regional law 12/2018, which acknowledged the establishment of energy communities in the Piedmont. On the other hand, the sociotechnical imaginary approach allows identifying collective ideas and meanings that emerge when individuals or groups promote a sociotechnical innovation. In our cases, two main future changes are associated with community renewable energy: an integral ecology approach and a stronger sense of community on the one hand, and local development opportunities for rural areas characterised by depopulation, low employment rate and high energy demand, on the other.

Indigenous Peoples in Canada have shown great strength and resilience in maintaining their cultures and ways of life to date in the face of settler colonialism. Centering the water crises within Indigenous sovereignty and self-determination, we explore the impacts these crises are having on community members. Particularly, the continuous failure of the Canadian government to end the water crises in remote Indigenous communities, Star Blanket Cree Nation, is investigated in this paper. What implications have these water governance gaps had on Indigenous Peoples’ sovereignty and self-determination? We adopted an Indigenist theoretical framework to guide the study. Additionally, a community-based participatory research approach was adopted. To achieve our research goals of investigating the implications of the current water crises for Indigenous sovereignty and self-determination, specific methods of sharing circles were used to gather knowledge from community members, Elders, and knowledge keepers. The research findings strongly highlight the strength and resilience shown by remote Indigenous communities in the face of the current water crises and continuous government failure. Solving the current water crises will involve remote Indigenous communities taking charge of their own water governance through Indigenous-led water governance systems. Additionally, taking steps to rebuild trust through genuine reconciliation will be key. Therefore, listening to remote Indigenous communities and taking collaborative action is fundamental.

Recently, resistive random access memory (RRAM) has been an outstanding candidate among various emerging nonvolatile memories for high density storage and in-memory computing applications. However, the traditional RRAM, which accommodates two states depending on applied voltage, cannot meet the high density requirement in the era of big data. Many research groups have demonstrated that RRAM possesses the possibility of multi-level cell to overcome the demand of mass storage. Among numerous semiconductor materials, gallium oxide, as the fourth-generation semiconductor material, is highly-profile due to its excellent material proper-ties, and already be widely used in optoelectronics, high-power, resistive switching device and so on, due to its wide bandgap and transparent properties. In this study, we have successfully demonstrated the Al/GO/Ga2O3/ITO RRAM to achieve the possibility of two-bit storage. Compared to the single-layer counterpart, the bilayer structure has excellent electrical properties and stable reliability. The endurance characteristics could be enhanced above 100 switching cycles with an ON/OFF ratio of over 103. Moreover, the filament models are also described in this thesis to clarify the transport mechanisms.

The purpose of this study is to explore the effect of Environment, Social, and Governance (ESG) scores on Return on Assets (ROA), Risk-Adjusted Return on Capital (RAROC), and Tobin's Q on firm performance. This study used 37 non-financial companies listed on the IDX between 2018 and 2022 in Indonesia companies. Linear and nonlinear panel data regression methods were used on the ESG score and its pillars, resulting in eight different models. The study found a U-shaped impact of ESG scores and social and environmental pillars on ROA. There is a positive linear relationship between ESG scores and the environmental and governance pillars with RAROC, while the social pillar shows an inverted U-shaped effect. However, ESG and its environmental and social pillars have a negative linear relationship with Tobin's Q. The findings suggest the need to manage ESG initiatives strategically, aligning them with financial objectives and awareness of how ESG factors relate to profitability.

Trade-offs in ecosystem services (ES) manifest when the enhancement of one service leads to the diminishing of another. These trade-offs pose a notable challenge, impacting the sustainability of particular socio-ecological systems peri-urban landscapes (PULs). This issue arises from the dynamic processes associated with peri-urbanization, posing threats to natural ecosystems and their services in peri-urban areas. Additionally, the escalating demand for ecosystem services in PULs contributes to these trade-offs. Policy making and planning concerning ecosystem ES trade-offs in PULs should prioritize the promotion of a balance between conflicting services and foster synergies among them. However, it is noteworthy that ES trade-offs in PULs are not given high priority on policy and planning agendas. Knowledge regarding policy development and planning for ES trade-offs in PULs often remains concealed within specific country and regional case studies. Consequently, this research seeks to characterize the ES trade-offs in the selected PUL case studies, with the objective of identifying potential commonalities among them. Furthermore, the study aims to identify: (i) the factors driving ES trade-offs, (ii) challenges pertaining to how policy-making and planning address ES trade-offs in PULs, and (iii) recommendations for enhancing governance practices to better manage peri-urban ES trade-offs. We designed a semi-quantitative survey and collected information about 23 different case studies, located across the world. Answers from this survey were analyzed with the help of Principal Component Analysis approach. The results showed that the most common trade-off occurred between “cultural and provisioning” and “regulating and provisioning” ES. It was found that urban development is the basic driver behind emerging of the examined trade-offs. To tackle this issue at the governance level, the study recommends establishing mechanisms to facilitate collaboration among stakeholders. This should be accompanied by robust dissemination efforts and the promotion of awareness among actors regarding the fundamental concepts of ES and PULs.

This study analyzes the relevance of governance structure for efficiency in revenue collection by Brazilian Water Utilities (WUs). Data was collected from the National Information System on Sanitation (SNIS) for 127 Brazilian WUs, covering a balanced longitudinal panel from 2018 to 2022. Governance structures evaluated included Ownership (public or private) and Corporatization (publicly traded or not). In scientific databases, we did not find studies on the efficiency of specific WUs in collecting customer bills for services rendered and its relationships with this type of governance; thus, this would be the main innovative contribution of the study to the previous literature. In the first stage, the study utilized the Dynamic Slack Based Model (DSBM) to assess revenue collection efficiency. In the second stage, an econometric model with Generalized Estimating Equations (GEE) to explain the efficiency. The findings revealed a global average inefficiency of 50.47% in revenue collection. Corporatization was linked to higher collection efficiencies, while ownership type was significant, but with lower collection efficiency. Factors such as tariff accessibility, urbanization, and the COVID-19 pandemic also influenced efficiency. The study suggests regulatory bodies should consider these insights to implement policies that prevent inefficiencies from affecting the tariff system for services.

(1) E-governance is defined as the application of electronic means in the interaction between government and citizens and government and business, as well as in internal government operations to simplify and improve democratic, governmental, and business aspects of governance. Thus, e-governance is built from a paradigmatic dimension such as e-democracy (relationship between government and citizens) and an operational one such as e-government. The objective was to design and validate an instrument to measure e-governance based on three factors: a) e-administration, b) e-services, and c) e-democracy; (2) Methods: Based on the level of importance given to each factor (sample of 2042 Latin American citizens), as well as the relationships between them, an analysis of the importance of each factor is carried out; (3) Results: After the confirmatory analysis, the definitive instrument with which e-governance can be measured by other researchers and future research is obtained, considering the three selection factors, namely: e-administration, e-services and e-democracy; (4) Conclusions: This research contributes to political science through the design and validation of an instrument consisting of 39 items that can be used to measure e-governance according to the dimensions proposed by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization.

Resilience governance provides a new governance model for emergency management in higher education institutions facing major public crises. Higher education resilience governance, while achieving short-term objectives such as mitigating external impacts and maintaining core functions, enhances the enduring adaptability of higher education institutions to the increasingly changing natural and social environments. This transformation shifts the emergency management mode in higher education from reactive responses to proactive governance. In terms of value logic, resilience governance upholds the mission of higher education as the primary nurturing ground, ensuring fairness, quality, and sustainability in education. In terms of organizational logic, it emphasizes collaborative cooperation among higher education institutions, government, society, and the market, as well as the integration of functions within higher education institutions and relatively close connections among their personnel. In terms of institutional logic, it relies on both top-down institutional supply and bottom-up institutional demand to support effective participation, resulting in authoritative and complementary behavioral rules. In terms of action logic, it combines vertical coordination mechanisms and horizontal community collaboration to enhance the effectiveness of cooperative governance. Therefore, the highest value should be placed on the safety of faculty and students, and education planning should be imbued with resilience. It starts with organizational adaptability to develop resilient institutions, focuses on orderly transitions to enhance the emergency management system in higher education, and centers on proactivity and collaboration to build a community of action for emergency governance in higher education.

Current acceleration in digital innovations, unexpected challenges in our social interactions, acceleration to virtualization, limitation in our physical spaces, and unpredictable changes in our Old lifestyles - as originated from the COVID-19 global pandemic 2020 - continue to provide us with a framework, rapidly updating under our eyes, of the modifications our world is undergoing by pursuing into a New “digital age”. Or, as many scholars say nowadays, into the New Normal! These are shared and deep changes that concretely stress their effects on how ideally a city should function. Forcing us to reflect on the capability to achieve shared choices and visions for the future by taking vantage from both the New digital platforms and New suddenly opened paths. In the pages of this article authors, through different but shared viewpoints, propose an answer to the topic of "Governance 3.0", addressing the attempt of a radical change of those paradigms, now consolidated, within which the spatial dimensions, in which we live and act, are shaped. Also analyzing the relationship between Technocracy and Democracy as defined by Khanna, it is argued that it is possible to realize new forecasts and acquire a more democratic and participatory (inclusive) dimension of Governance, also thanks to new digital technologies, by exploring the general unconscious "feeling" of people, through anonymous data collection and without any direct or indirect interference with it. The analysis of the "Sentiment", already developed in other fields but easily exportable within the urban discipline, can be considered as the beginning of hybrid practices where digital and analogic find a compromise to make the "Urbs" more attractive and inclusive, while the "Civitas", connected to the Internet, can contribute to the optimization of services, of the "Polis" and a new social/spatial reorganization.

A three-phase multilevel inverter (MLI) synthesized with 31-levels in the output voltage is used to provide ac supply to a three-phase, squirrel-cage induction motor. The gating angles required for thirty power switches in MLI are optimized by both Genetic Algorithm (GA) and Gray Wolf Op-timization (GWO). In the optimization technique, the optimal angles are determined by solving the trigonometric equations from the Fourier analysis for targeting minimum total harmonic distortion (THD) at the MLI output. Simulation model and experimental prototype are developed for performance analysis and validation. The results obtained demonstrate that the MLI is effec-tively able to produce 31-levels of three-phase ac output voltages with THD not exceeding 5% when loaded with a resistive load and a three-phase induction motor. The voltages and currents are measured and recorded for different loads and operating conditions, including the amount of energy consumed by the loads, as well as frequency analysis, which shows the absence of most of the triple harmonics that have a negative impact on the efficiency of the inverter.

The present article analyzes the connection between, on the one hand, gender equality and, on the other hand, loneliness and social isolation. It hypothesizes that modern relational institutions, that support gender equality, such as no-fault divorce laws, reduce loneliness in close relationships. This hypothesis is put to the test through a multilevel analysis of the ISSP 2017. The analysis reveals that the data agrees, to a large extent, with the theoretical arguments. The prevalence of loneliness is higher in countries with higher levels of gender inequality (as measured by the Gender Inequality Index [GII]). This can be attributed to a moderation effect: at lower levels of gender inequality, partnerships provide better protection from loneliness. These results are robust to controls for demographic composition, level of health, educational attainment, income poverty, and interview mode. Last, the analyses show that the threat of emotional isolation is more widespread in countries with low gender inequality. This finding, however, is only significant before controlling for demographic composition, level of health, educational attainment, income poverty, and interview mode, and it requires further analysis. The concluding section relates these findings to the popular tendency to argue that modern society has created a “loneliness epidemic.”

The number of Internet of Things (IoT) applications is increasing at a fast-paced and so is the interest in blockchain-enabled IoT ecosystem. IoT applications make our day-to-day life more efficient, while integrating blockchain into the IoT ecosystem (blockchain-IoT) brings security, transparency, trust, and privacy to IoT applications. Perhaps, smart logistics, smart health, and smart city are some of the potential blockchain-enabled IoT application domains. One of the reasons that is hindering the mass adoption of blockchain-IoT into mainstream applications is the lack of a dedicated governance. Without proper governance and regulations, and because of the obfuscated and concealed cryptographic nature of blockchain, blockchain can be used for various illicit activities such as ransomware, money laundering, fraud and so on. Furthermore, blockchain and IoT are relatively contemporary technologies and paucity of exclusive governance can ultimately lead to lack of confidence in these technologies. Therefore, in order to fully avail from blockchain and IoT integration (blockchain-IoT) and as well as further prevail this integration, governance can play an important role. Proper regulations and standarization are required to benefit from the novel characteristics of blockchain-IoT and avoid blockchain being used for malicious purposes. In this research, we address the role of blockchain in governance mechanisms, governance for blockchain, and finally proposed a vigorous governance framework for blockchain-enabled IoT ecosystem. We also demonstrate the applications of our proposed governance framework through a smart logistics case study. We anticipate that our proposed governance framework can facilitate and encourage blockchain and IoT integration in various application domains.

The concept of policy entrepreneurs has gained increasing attention in studies of climate policy and governance since it foregrounds the role of agency in understanding policy change. However, agency of policy entrepreneurs in the policy process is largely political and conceals the power that shapes how public problems and policies are framed and defined. Thus, policy entrepreneurs should be confronted with the challenge of generating legitimacy, accountability and justice of their actions and the implementation of their targeted policy change. Drawing on political-philosophical theories of liberal and deliberative democracy this paper outlines a conceptual framework for critical analytical as well as normative research on strategies and impacts of policy entrepreneurs. Empirical research on the strategies and impacts of policy entrepreneurs in recent policymaking on climate policy and governance in the EU and Sweden identifies several democratic deficits. In all, the paper brings ideology and politics into research on policy entrepreneurs. It is suggested that not only the strategies used, but also the ideologies of actors that use them, is the causal mechanism that links the policy entrepreneurs to the outcomes, and thus if their advocacy will facilitate or hamper a just transition to climate neutrality and sustainability.

Sweden has long been hailed as a role model in climate policy. But the new right-wing government supported by a far-right populist party is undertaking a paradigm shift in Swedish climate policy and governance. This paper critically analyses this paradigm shift and its impacts on legitimacy, accountability and justice. These are democratic norms important in the analysis of a just transition to climate neutrality. Severe democratic deficits of the policy process and the policies proposed and adopted are identified, suggesting ‘nasty politics’ characterised by populist, divisive, and contentious rhetoric that entrenches polarization and us/them narratives. Climate scientists and the climate justice movement are discriminated in the policy process, the latter also being accused of terrorism and seen as a threat to democracy by the government. The deficits are partly explained by the neo-corporatist political system of Sweden and the dominance of the (neo)liberal discourse of ecological modernization in Swedish environmental policy, but primarily with the ongoing process of autocratization driven by anti-democratic far-right populist parties throughout Europe. The anti-democratic climate policy reforms in Sweden are foreboding an unwelcome development in the EU given the boost of far-right populist parties in the upcoming elections to the European Parliament in June 2024.

The abstract summarizes the transformative impact of artificial intelligence (AI) on employment in Malaysia, highlighting the need for comprehensive strategies to ensure inclusivity and equitable access to AI-driven opportunities and digital skills training. It addresses the research problem of potential inequalities and marginalization among vulnerable populations due to uneven distribution of AI-related employment opportunities and training. The research objectives focus on developing decentralized strategies tailored to rural communities and marginalized groups, alongside evaluating policy interventions for equitable access. The literature review provides theoretical frameworks emphasizing skill development, understanding structural shifts, fostering inclusive innovation, and promoting collaborative governance. Future research directions include implementing and evaluating strategies in real-world contexts, exploring technological solutions, conducting qualitative research on individuals' experiences, and adopting interdisciplinary approaches. Overall, a multidimensional approach combining theoretical insights, empirical evidence, and stakeholder engagement is essential for developing inclusive and sustainable solutions to harness AI's potential for the benefit of all Malaysians.

The participation of civil society is essential for environmental health policies to be effective. The objective of this study was to know the perceptions of government officials, members of civil society, and academics about environmental health problems and its governance in Bucaramanga Metropolitan Area, Colombia. In the region there is a strong citizen movement that defends the moorland ecosystem (paramo) as source of drinking water, of large-scale mining projects. A multi-method study was carried out including the review of newspaper and scientific articles, a citizen survey, and interviews and focus groups with identified key stakeholders. The findings indicate that government officials prioritize their actions on issues related to air and water pollution and environmental education. In contrast, citizens prioritize water availability from the moorland ecosystem. There are some advances in the management of environmental health, mainly related to greater citizen awareness. The participation of civil society in the environmental health governance must be enforced to broaden the issues of interest and prioritize the activities in the short- and long-term policy planning. An experience between high school students and the academy that measures air pollutants can be the first meeting point with government officials in the pathway to improve the environmental governance in the territory.

The corona (COVID-19) pandemic offers an opportunity for dealing with persistent problems, through a transformative recovery process. It is a crisis that offers opportunities for dealing with three interrelated crises: the ecological crisis (climate change, loss of biodiversity, resource depletion, pollution and ecosystem destruction), the confidence crisis (people losing trust in government, politics, companies, regular news channels, science, each other and the future), and the inequality crisis (the widening of the gap between rich and poor). Our argument is that sustainability transitions will not succeed without a different economy and another social contract with the associated rights and duties of care (for the environment and the well-being of others, including future generations). A different social contract is not only desirable from the point of view of sustainability and fairness, justice and equality, but is also necessary to restore citizens' trust in politics, government, companies and each other. In the paper we discuss mechanisms towards a Natural Social Contract, systemic leverage points for system transformations and possibilities for co-evolutionary governance by actor coalitions interested in transformative change. The combination of those three elements helps to synchronize different agendas and reduce the chance that they will work against each other.

This paper presents the results of a recent study that was conducted with a number of German municipalities/cities. Based on the obtained and briefly presented recommendations emerging from the study, the authors propose the concept of an Urban Data Space (UDS), which facilitates an eco-system for data exchange and added value creation thereby utilizing the various types of data within a smart city/municipality. Looking at an Urban Data Space from within a German context and considering the current situation and developments in German municipalities, this paper proposes a reasonable classification of urban data that allows to relate the various data types to legal aspects and to conduct solid considerations regarding technical implementation designs and decisions. Furthermore, the Urban Data Space is described/analyzed in detail, and relevant stakeholders are identified, as well as corresponding technical artifacts are introduced. The authors propose to setup Urban Data Spaces based on emerging standards from the area of ICT reference architectures for Smart Cities, such as DIN SPEC 91357 “Open Urban Platform” and EIP SCC. Thereby, the paper walks the reader through the construction of an UDS based on the above mentioned architectures and outlines all the goals, recommendations and potentials, which an Urban Data Space can reveal to a municipality/city.

This paper examines the moral community thesis in the secular context of China. Using multilevel logistic regression, we test (1) whether both individual- (measured by affiliation with institutional religion) and aggregate-level religiosity (measured by the number of religious sites per 10,000 people in province) are inversely related to law and rule violations at the individual level and (2) whether the province-level religiosity enhances the inverse relationship between individual religiosity and the deviant behaviors. Results from analyzing data from the 2010 China General Social Survey and the Spatial Explorer of Religions show that both individual- and aggregate-level religiosity are inversely related to the odds of violating the law and various rules of government, transportation, workplace, and other organizations. However, the cross-level interactions are not significant across models, indicating that the contextual religiosity does not increase the effect of individual-level religiosity on deviance. Implications of findings for the moral community thesis are discussed.

Recently, the world has experienced severe food insecurity problems with most countries having inadequate access to affordable, nutritious and safe foods. Consequently, many food innovations and technologies have been approved to secure sustainable access to food for millions of people. This study investigated the implementation of two technologies to address food insecurity, namely genetically modified foods (GMOs) and the use of antibiotics in crops and animal production. In particular, the study explored how their implementation can be governed responsibly through approved legislation. Therefore, the knowledge, attitudes and practices as well as the governance of antibiotic resistance risks and GMO foods were assessed. In-depth key interviews were conducted for the qualitative survey with triangulation with quantitative data sources. The findings showed that 46% of the population have little knowledge about GMOs with about 79% indicating that food with GM ingredients were being consumed in the country. The main concerns reported on GM foods by most respondents were impact on environment, human health and adverse effects on traditional farming practices with 36% indicating that it intensifies contamination and 32% indicating that it contributes to loss of biodiversity. Notably, 64%) reported that GMOs are a solution to food security and that they are safe. On the use of antimicrobials mainly meant to prevent diseases and access better markets, respondents perceived their use to be associated with antimicrobial resistance a “large level of risk” (score 2 in a scale of 1-3) (M = 1.85, SD = 1.06). Overall, the study found that efforts towards promoting awareness on antibiotic resistance risks and response in human health is relatively limited as reported by 56% of the respondents. Findings show that most of the respondents have only seen minimal or small-scale awareness campaigns. On governance of the two technologies, 71% and 50% of the respondents reported that scientists and elected officials respectively have the greatest role in governance of GMOs with small scale farmers playing a negligible role. Further, it was noted that all the respondents were knowledgeable in AMR and GMO technologies and these findings are crucial to the advancement of food innovations that are geared towards achieving food security in Kenya. This study highlights the risks associated with the poor governance and implementation of technologies and the need for a framework for technological risk governance that is sensitive to local values and socio-economic circumstances that will benefit the achievement.

The purpose of the study is to empirically analyze the effect of quality of governance on tax revenue in South Africa. This is done by analyzing a time series dataset covering 1996 to 2020. The study used voice and accountability, regulatory quality, government effectiveness, control of corruption, political stability and rule of law as proxies of quality of governance. Multiple regression analysis was performed to test hypotheses. Based on the regression results, all quality of governance variables in South Africa have a negative effect on tax revenue except corruption control. The findings of this study also include policy recommendations. The government of South Africa must design and implement effective ways to combat poor governance, which results in a tax revenue shortfall.

Introduction: Governance, the least studied health system component, comprises a system of rules and processes, and is a key determinant for effective decision making for health care planning. This study aims to identify institutional, legal and policy factors which are either barriers or facilitators for the implementation of integrated mental health in primary care in the India. Methods: Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 33 key informants at the district and national levels with policy makers, state level health care planners and district planners and managers in India. The data were analysed using thematic analysis using the qualitative software NViVO 10. Findings: Participants stated that a conducive environment for mental health service delivery is necessary at the legislative, policy and planning levels, to facilitate integration of mental health into primary care. Amongst other factors, the need for active involvement of civil society and service user organisations, strengthening mental health information systems, and building the non-technical skills of the mental health workforce, were identified as particularly necessary to deliver adequate mental health services.Conclusion: Amidst the favourable policy context supporting collaborative and integrated care in India, this study identified low resourcing, weak collaborations and inadequate information to be crucial for integrated mental health in India at present.

This study investigated the relationship between environmental, social, and governance (ESG) disclosure and the performance of Saudi Arabian companies. We analysed panel data from the 100 non-financial companies listed on the Saudi stock exchange (Tadawul) from 2017 to 2022. Using fixed effects, random effects, and generalised method of moments (GMM) models to account for endogeneity concerns, we examined the impact of ESG disclosure on the return on assets (ROA), return on equity (ROE), and Tobin’s Q. An ESG index was constructed through principal component analysis of individual environmental, social, and governance scores. Our results indicate a significant positive relationship between ESG disclosure and companies’ key performance variables across all models. These findings are consistent with stakeholder theory and signalling theory, suggesting that comprehensive ESG practices can lead to better financial performance and serve as a positive signal to stakeholders. The study also reveals sector-specific differences, with non-manufacturing firms showing stronger positive relationships between ESG disclosure and performance measures compared to manufacturing firms. Additionally, we find that firm size, age, and liquidity are important factors influencing the ESG–performance relationship. This research contributes to the growing literature on ESG and corporate performance in emerging markets, offering valuable insights for policymakers, investors, and corporate practitioners in Saudi Arabia’s evolving sustainable business landscape. Our findings underscore the importance of ESG disclosure in driving sustainable and responsible business practices in the region.

The perceived poor performance of publicly traded companies on their sustainability commitments and the quality of sustainability reporting has prompted stakeholders to consider the economic, environmental, and social impacts of corporate activities. Economic activities have led to various threats in the form of climate change, pollution, greenhouse gas emissions, natural disasters, and other issues that have negatively impacted the environment and stakeholders. Companies are expected to report to stakeholders on their sustainability performance, but reality proves that present reporting falls below stakeholders’ expectations mainly due to its still voluntary nature. The present study aims to provide a literature review of the relationship between sustainability reporting and the role of companies governance, especially observing if climate change requirements and energy-needed changes are being accounted. Results highlight mixed evidence for the influence of board governance attributes, providing interesting insights for research advancement. The study has practical implications for businesses, regulators, governments, and other stakeholders in their policy deliberations and investment decisions. Further empirical studies are recommended to re-examine sustainability reporting using the variables identified as important factors and gaps in this study and other board characteristics to improve the generalizability of the results.

The border between Niger and Libya, often described as an "ungoverned space," epitomizes the complex interplay of economic, political, and security challenges within the Sahel region. Authorities and international actors have made various efforts to establish control, but tribal structures predominantly manage governance in these areas. These structures lack formal institutions and rely heavily on external security interventions to combat terrorism and irregular migration. The increasing militarization of the region raises significant concerns about the long-term efficacy of these approaches in achieving sustainable security. This study argues that enduring stability in such contexts requires a nuanced balance of economic, political, and social factors. The research methodology includes a comprehensive literature review of security issues, governance, state fragility, and counter-terrorism, utilizing scientific journals, books, reports, and newspapers. The study investigated the dual nature of ungoverned spaces, examining their role in facilitating terrorism and organized crime while highlighting the critical need for governance to enhance citizen welfare and support state functions. Recent developments in Libya and the Sahel under-score the urgency of addressing security and developmental challenges. The study concludes by advocating for sustainable political and development initiatives over militarization, emphasizing the necessity of a new social contract to address the security challenges in the Sahel region effectively.

The present study investigates the decision-making process of investors on the Pakistan Stock Exchange with regard to portfolio construction, explicitly focusing on the incorporation of ESG concerns. The present study employed SmartPLS and structural equation modeling (SEM) to quantitatively assess data received from a sample of 393 out of 400 respondents. Based on the available data, investors participating in the Pakistan Stock Exchange are notably impacted by ESG aspects. The findings of this study hold significance for emerging economy firms, regulators, and investors, both in terms of theoretical and practical ramifications. The study's findings demonstrate a clear indication of investors' significant emphasis on ESG matters. Furthermore, it provides valuable insights for stakeholders who are involved in the ever-evolving realm of sustainable finance within developing countries

Corporate governance is widely suggested by economists and regulators as a solution to reduce agency problems and improve firm performance. However previous studies have failed to generate consistent results. Using a dynamic panel system GMM estimator to alleviate endogeneity concerns we determine the effect of corporate board structure on the performance of a panel of 1265 Chinese firms listed on the Shanghai and Shenzhen stock exchanges from 2010 to 2016. We compare the dynamic system GMM estimator to some commonly used estimators; ordinary least squares (OLS), fixed effects (FE) and the dynamic OLS, and show that these estimates are biased due to endogeneity. The dynamic system GMM estimator incorporates the dynamic nature of internal governance choices to provide valid and powerful instruments that address unobserved heterogeneity and simultaneity. Our results show support for the board model corporate governance mechanism. We find that board size is positive and significantly related to both return on assets and total net profit margin. In addition board independence is positive and significantly related to return on assets but insignificantly related to total net profit margin. Duality was found to have a negative but statistically insignificant relation with firm performance.

Background/Purpose: Over the last two decades, malaria has remained a major worldwide public health concern, especially in the developing countries leading to high morbidity and mortality among children. Nigeria is the world most burdened malaria endemic nation, contributing more than a quarter of global malaria cases. This study determined the prevalence of malaria among children 6-59 months in Nigeria, and the effects of individual and contextual factors. Methods: The study utilized data from 2018 Nigeria Demographic and Health Survey (NDHS) involving a weighted sample size of 10,185 children who were tested for malaria using rapid diagnostic test (RDT). Given the hierarchical structure of the data set, such that children at level-1 are nested in community at level-2, and nested in states and Federal Capital Territory (FCT) at level-3, multilevel mixed effect logistic regression models were used for the analysis. Results: The proportion of children 6-59 months of age in Nigeria that had malaria fever positive as assessed by RDTs was 35.5% (3,418/10185), (CI: 33.9-37.1). Kebbi State had the highest proportion of children 6-59 months who were malaria positive, 77.6%, (CI: 70.2-83.5), followed by Katsina State, 55.5%, (CI: 47.7-63.1). The Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja had the proportion of 29.6%, (CI: 21.6-39.0), malaria positive children of 6-59 months of age. Children between the age of 48 and 59 months were 2.68 times more likely to have malaria fever than children 6-11 months of age (AOR=2.68, 95% CI: 2.03-3.54). Also, children from the rural area (AOR= 2.12, 95% CI: 1.75-2.57), were more likely to suffer from malaria infection compare with children from urban area. Conclusion: The study identified some individual and contextual predictors of malaria among children in Nigeria. These factors are areas that need to be considered for policy designs and implementations toward control and total elimination of malaria-related morbidity and mortality among children in Nigeria.

Cervical fusion has been a standard procedure for treating the abnormalities associated with the cervical spine. However, the reliability of anterior cervical discectomy and fusion (ACDF) has become arguable due to its adverse effects on the biomechanics of adjacent segments. One of the drawbacks associated with ACDF is adjacent segment degeneration (ASD) which has served as the base for the development of dynamic stabilization systems (DSS) and total disc replacement (TDR) devices for cervical spine. However, the hybrid surgical technique has also gained popularity recently but their effect on the biomechanics of cervical spine is not well researched. Thus, the objective of this FE study was to draw the comparison among single, bi-level and hybrid surgery with DCI implant with traditional fusion. Reduction in range of motion (ROM) for all the implanted models was observed for all the motions except extension, compared to intact model. The maximum increase in ROM of 42% was observed at C5-C6 level in Hybrid-DCI model. The maximum increase in adjacent segment’s ROM of 8.7% was observed in multilevel fusion model. The maximum von Mises stress in the implant was highest for the multilevel DCI model. Our study also showed that the shape of DCI implant permits flexion/extension relatively more compared to lateral bending and axial rotation.

The concept of innovation ecosystems brings to light a whole set of stakeholders that face the entire set of barriers to making new technologies change people´s lives. This research aimed to understand and analyze the innovation ecosystem in organic and agroecological production in the Federal District, Brazil, and its directly influenced area. A questionnaire was applied to 27 institutions identified as the backbone of the innovation ecosystem. The Gephi 0.10.1 software and the Force Atlas 2 network algorithm set up the relationship network. We verified a certain misalignment between expected roles and functions performed by 66% of the stakeholders. Low integration and dispersed relationships in the network were observed with a misalignment around the innovation concept in organic food production. This arrangement of the ecosystem is compatible with the initial stage, in which stakeholders and resources would be spread out and demobilized. Although shared governance is the most effective for an innovation ecosystem, the analyzed ecosystem demands centralized governance with a leading organization. Strengthening strategies were proposed to (i) define leadership, (ii) define roles or competencies, and (iii) strengthen community attributes.

Under the double pressure of climate change and human activities, the restrictions of conservation policies and the increasing area of overlap between wildlife conservation areas and community living areas have led to increase conflicts and contradictions between nature reserves and neighboring communities. Effective management of such conflicts is particularly important in order to achieve reconciliation of conservation and development. In this study, we take the Mikumi-Selous region in Tanzania, Africa as an example, and through questionnaire surveys and semi-structured interviews, we sort out the current situation of conflicts between nature reserves and communities in the region, as well as summarize the means of conflict governance. In addition, we focus on identifying the various factors affecting community residents' protection willingness and protection action, and further verify the relationships among residents' family characteristics, protection costs and revenue, protection cognition, willingness and action through empirical analysis methods. The results show that residents' protection cognition has a significant positive effect on their willingness to protect and their actions, meanwhile willingness to protect also positively affects residents' protection action. In addition, it was found that the protection cost inhibits residents' willingness and action. Our study focuses on the willingness to participate and action of core stakeholders towards conflict governance from the perspective of community governance, emphasizing the key role of community participation in achieving coordinated development of biodiversity conservation and community. It provides a new perspective for mitigating conservation and development issues.

This paper examines the relationship between the ratio of independent board member to the financial performance of the company under the mediation of the three pillars of environment, society, and governance (ESG) in Taiwan. The study addresses a research gap between independent directors and corporate financial performance, an issue that is rarely discussed today. The author develops the hypotheses and tests them by applying panel data regression to the data tables taken from the Thomson Reuters Eikon database to analyze data on 173 Taiwanese companies that reported ESG from 2009 to 2021. The results show that the relationship between the ratio of independent directors and financial performance has a positive relationship. At the same time, the 3 pillars of ESG also clearly show the intermediary role in this relationship. Finally, this study provides additional insights into the relationship between the ratio of independent directors and financial performance in the Taiwan context.

Anthropogenic disturbances interacting with natural disturbances, ecological and socio-economic factors can provoke forest degradation and modulate ecosystem resilience. In Haiti, protected areas recently created to reduce forest loss, require studies about forest dynamics and land use to assure the development of sustainable management policies. We combine field interview with Landsat satellite images of the Macaya National Park collected between 1985 and 2021 to investigate: 1) how much of the original forest area has been converted into agricultural or logged area since 1985; and 2) how do elevation and slope influence the expansion of human-induced land-use changes. Our results indicate an increase of 11.36% in forest cover and a reduction of 75.34% in agriculture class cover, despite the passage of seven hurricanes in the region. Forest recovery was apparently unrelated to elevation and slope, and likely reflected the implementation of new environmental laws and policies with the creation of the Macaya National Park in 1983. Restoration and protection programs contributed to ensure access to financial resources, technical assistance and new technology, thus promoting a shift into a more resilient forest system. This study brings hope for forest conservation in Haiti by showing that positive results can be achieved through inclusive collaboration.

This research seeks to understand the impact of digital platforms on the governance of smart cities. It uses the Scaffold of Popular Participation to classify digital platforms and better understand participatory governance in cities, its benefits and complications, correlating them with the SDGs of the 2030 Agenda. It was also possible to list points of attention for the development of digitization in the public sector, including in Brazil. It concluded that the digitization of public services is in progress, pressured by the civil body for greater transparency and participation. In addition, the platforms must be guided by civil inclusion in the discussion of public policies, by the training of intelligent citizens and by sustainable guidelines that guide the themes addressed. In contrast, platforms can also facilitate deception and popular manipulation, which represents a high risk if used for this purpose.

In 2013, the CMA at the İstanbul Stock Exchange increased the weight assigned to the Board of Directors component of its Corporate Governance Index to 35% from the previous 25%. Interpreting this as a recognition of the increasing vital role of the board, this study seeks to enhance the work of Abdıoğlu and Kılıç (2015) by putting more focus on the role of women in the boards and the effect of the busy chairman as well as the presence of outside directors on the effectivity of the Board. (The general business structure is associated with family owned groups and holdings which results into a network of intertwined board membership and cases of multiple directorship where, one board chairman can hold the same position or any directorship in as many as ten firmshence the busy chairman). I employ a different method of evaluating performance (EVA) together with the accounting measures of ROE and ROA (as opposed to the overused Tobin’s Q), which I regress against the Board Index to be created. The focus is on firms on the BIST 100 index (excluding financial) between 2009 and 2013. The results reveal that the BINDEX has a significant and positive relationship with firm performance as measured by EVA. A second model reveals no relationship between the BINDEX and firm ROA, similar to the results of Kiliç and Abdioğlu (2015). ROA however has a positive relationship with the proportion of female directors in the board, as earlier reported by LückerathRovers (2013). Another model using ROE as the proxy for performance registers a significant negative relationship with the index. The contradiction obtained in the results from these three models underscore the importance choosing the right methods when estimating the performance of a firm.

As the world’s second largest economy, China ranks amount the world’s top nations when it comes to carbon emission, and therefore its attitude towards climate change is closely followed by all parties concerned. There have been few researches on the role of environmental governance in low-carbon city transformation process, especially the Chinese one. This paper analyses the role of government environmental regulation played in the low-carbon city transformation process by taking Shenzhen as the research object. One of the world's youngest super cities, it also happens to be the lowest carbon emission intensity city in China. Striving to explore green low-carbon development path for the whole country, Shenzhen provides practical experience for countries to cope with global climate change. However, its efforts to reduce the total carbon emissions failed, but it emphasized the carbon emission intensity, which is consistent with the international commitments made by the central government. China’s policy towards handling climate change relies on hierarchical governance arrangement. The strength of the NGOs in the country is weak and incomparable with the government’s, which has mastered most of the resources and is just a reality in China.

Background: The aim of our study was to analyze the effect of socioeconomic inequalities, both at the individual and area of residence levels, on the probability of COVID-19 confirmed infection, and its variations across three pandemic waves. Methods: Retrospective cohort study. We included data from all individuals tested by COVID-19 during the three waves of the pandemic, from March to December 2020 (357,989 individuals). We studied the effect of inequalities on the risk of having a COVID-19 confirmed diagnosis after being tested using multilevel analyses with two levels of aggregation: individuals and basic healthcare area (BHA) of residence (deprivation level and type of zone). Results: Patient profile changed through the pandemic, with a predominance of low-paid employees living in deprived BHA. Workers with low salaries, unemployed and people on minimum integration income or who no longer receive the unemployment allowance, had a higher probability of COVID-19 infection than workers with salaries ≥€18,000 per year. Inequalities were higher in women and in the second wave. The deprivation level of BHA of residence influenced the risk of COVID-19 infection, especially in the second wave. Conclusions: There are inequalities in the risk of COVID-19 confirmed infection, both at individual and area level. It is necessary to develop individual and area coordinated measures in the control, diagnosis and treatment of the epidemic, in order to avoid an increase in the already existing inequalities.

Membranes based on sulfonated synditoactic polystyrene were thoroughly characterized by contrast variation SANS over a wide Q-range in dry and hydrated states. The film samples were prepared by solid-state sulfonation that allowed a uniform sulfonation of only the amorphous phase while preserving the crystallinity of the membrane. The samples were loaded with different guest molecules in either the amorphous (fullerenes) or the crystalline (toluene) regions, in order to vary the neutron contrast or to reproduce the conditions enabling an increased resistance of the membranes to chemical decomposition. The use of uni-axially deformed film samples and contrast variation with different H2O/D2O mixtures allowed for the identification and characterization of different structural levels with sizes between nm and μm, which form and evolve in the membrane morphology in dry and hydrated states and produce scattering features on different detection sectors and at different detection distances after the sample, depending on their size and orientation.

Sweden has long been hailed as a role model in climate policy. But the new right-wing government supported by a far-right populist party is undertaking a paradigm shift in Swedish climate policy and governance. This paper critically analyses this paradigm shift from perspectives of legitimacy, accountability and justice. These are democratic norms important in the analysis of a just transition to climate neutrality. Severe democratic deficits of the policy process and the policies proposed and adopted are identified. The deficits are explained by the neo-corporatist political system of Sweden, the dominance of the (neo)liberal discourse of ecological modernization in Swedish environmental policy, and an ongoing process of autocratization driven by anti-democratic far-right populist parties throughout Europe. The paper ends by suggesting how climate policy and governance can be democratized and re-politicized, that also give room for climate justice advocates to take part in policy processes.