(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.

This article is an effort to scrutinize the role of Information Technology development in the chronological transformation of Urban Planning domain using the exploratory research approach. In this research, it is argued that the theoretical and practical understanding of Urban Planning should absorb and integrate the bright outcome of the rise of Information and Technology to foster congruent future urban development. The article addresses the trends of transformation in the urban planning domain through the myopic lens of the expansion of information and communications technology era followed by investigating the key drivers shaping the interaction between modern-day urban planning and information technology considering both the dark and bright sides into account.

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.

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.

Downpours are increasing in frequency and severity due to climate change. Cities are particularly susceptible to downpours because of their large share of impervious surfaces. Minimising pluvial flood risk requires all involved stakeholders to collaborate and overcome probable barriers. Simultaneously, an increase in citizen engagement in climate adaptation is preferred, whereas experiences with inclusive decision-making are still limited. The aim of this paper is to obtain a deeper understanding of how the capacity to govern pluvial flood risk can be developed through citizen engagement. We scrutinised the capacity of local actors to govern pluvial flood risk in the city of Utrecht, the Netherlands. For the analysis of Utrecht’s problem-solving capacity, the Governance Capacity Framework provided a consistent assessment of governance components. The results indicate that Utrecht’s capacity to govern pluvial flooding is relatively well-developed. Collaboration between public authorities is advanced, sufficient financial resources are available and smart monitoring enables high levels of evaluation and learning. However, citizen awareness and engagement in policy making is rather low. Accordingly, citizens’ willingness to pay for flood adaptation is limited. Stimulating flood risk awareness by combining financial incentives with more advanced arrangements for active citizen engagement is key for Utrecht and other cities.

This paper examines hybrid threats to maritime transportation systems, and their governance re-sponses; focusing on the congested Straits of Malacca and Singapore (SOMS) as an illustrative case study. The methodology combines secondary sources with primary data from 42 expert in-terviews, a 30-respondent survey, and two maritime security roundtables. Key findings were that ships’ critical systems are increasingly interconnected, yet aging IT infrastructure and minimal cybersecurity awareness among crews heighten risks. Meanwhile, regional terrorist groups have previously targeted shipping and shown considerable skill in exploiting online tools, aligning with broader calls for jihadist violence. Further, opportunistic piracy persists in the SOMS with the po-tential to disrupt shipping. Experts confirmed maritime cybersecurity lags other critical infra-structure sectors and needs updated governance. Initial International Maritime Organization (IMO) guidelines lack specificity but revisions and updated IMO guidance are in process, while Port state implementation of maritime cybersecurity standards varies. Crucially, information sharing remains inadequate, even as recorded attacks increase. Findings underscore that although major hybrid incidents have not occurred, simulations and threat actors’ capabilities demonstrate potential for catastrophic collisions or cascading disruption in congested waterways. Mitigating factors like redundancy and crew training are deficient currently. Some alignment between SOMS states on maritime security cooperation exists, but not cyber threats specifically. Key recommen-dations include an anonymous cyber-attack reporting system, reinforced training and shipboard systems, and consolidated regional frameworks. Until these priorities are addressed, the analysis concludes that hybrid vulnerabilities in this vital global chokepoint remain a serious concern.

Sea level rise and increased storm events, urge cities to develop governance capacity. However, a cohesive conceptual and empirical-based understanding of what governance capacity implies, how to measure it, and what cities can learn, is largely lacking. Understanding the influence of context is critical to address this issue. Accordingly, we aim to identify crosscutting contextual factors and their influence in impeding, enhancing or prioritising different elements of governance capacity to address urban flood risk. By assessing governance capacity through nine conditions and 27 indicators in two Dutch and two cities in the UK, three crosscutting contextual factors are identified: 1) flood probability and impact, 2) national imposed institutional setting, and 3) level of authority to secure long-term financial support. We found that contextual factors explain differences in urban capacity-priorities within and between both countries. The institutional setting in the UK and recent political devolution emphasized the role of citizen awareness, stakeholder engagement, entrepreneurial agents, and the overall necessity for local capacity-development. The Dutch focus on flood safety through centralised public coordination reduces flood probability but also inhibits incentives to reduce flood impacts and reduced public awareness. In conclusion, the three identified contextual factors enable a better understanding of capacity-building priorities.

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to further explore how e-loyalty and E-marketing influences E-trust and satisfy the demand by offering fresh perspectives based on research as well as emphasis on the factors influencing the E-trust such as culture as a mediator. This study not only contributed theoretically but also presented practical implementations. Design/methodology/approach: Online survey was used to obtain data by focusing the Hospitality sector (Hotel Industry) and verifying the conceptual framework. Data was collected in multiple time lags. Findings: Findings showed that the E-trust influenced by E-loyalty and E-Marketing. E-trust comes from the previous experiences, e-loyalty and e-marketing. Further, some trends such as culture influenced the e-trust. Research limitation/implications: The present study is quite suitable for those Researchers interested in learning more about the effects of E-loyalty and E-marketing on user E-trust and how to mitigate cultural influences can benefit from the current study. This research also has implications for those who wish to improve market allure and survival in digital world. This study focused on the hospitality sector (Hotel Industry) in China; however, the sector and geography could be altered to suit the needs of the study's participants. Practical implications: The present study delivers the practical guidelines which are quiet suitable for understanding the formation of E-loyalty, E-marketing, and E-trust through which specific E-marketing strategy can be designed to deal with the consumer’s E-loyalty and their expectations as per their Cultural perspective. At some particular regions/countries, cultural trends are more important than practical market. This research study practically showed that how culture changed the consumer set of mind. Originality/value: The relationship between E-loyalty, E-marketing, E-trust, specifically with the cultural influence in digital market has been the subject of few research.

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.

Background and Objectives: The site types of Eucalyptus urophylla × Eucalyptus grandis clonal plantations in southern Yunnan were compared, aiming to provide basis for site selection and scientific plantations management. Materials and Methods: In this study, 80 standard plots were set up in the 6−9-year-old Eucalypts plantations in Pu'er City and Lincang City. Furthermore, the quantitative theory I model and canonical correlation analysis were used to analyze the relationship between dominant tree growth traits and site factors, and evaluate the growth potential of E. urophylla × E. grandis plantation. Results: The multiple correlation coefficient between 8 site factors (altitude, slope, slope level, soil thickness, slope direction, texture, soil bulk density, and litter thickness) and the quantitative growth of the dominant wood was 0.825 (P < 0.05). According to the correlation coefficient of the quantitative regression model, slope, altitude, and soil thickness were the main factors for the classification of E. urophylla × E. grandis plantations in southern Yunnan. In addition, E. urophylla × E. grandis plantations grew best downhill and mid uphill at relatively low altitude, where the soil layer was thick and composed of weathered red soil. Contrastingly, E. urophylla × E. grandis plantation growth was extremely poor in uphill sites at higher altitude, where the soil layer was thin and composed of semi-weathered purple soil. Furthermore, total N, and available B, Cu, and Zn content, as well as soil organic matter content in the soil had a great influence on the growth of E. urophylla × E. grandis. Conclusions: Nitrogen and phosphate fertilizer as well as trace elements such as B, Zn, and Cu can be properly applied in middle- and low-yield forests to promote the growth and development of E. urophylla × E. grandis plantations.

Background: Electronic cigarette (e-cigarette) use among youth in Poland has become very popular. The aim of this study was to identify potential points of access to these products among students aged 16-17 before implementation of sales restrictions to minors in Poland in November 2016. Methods: A school-based, cross-sectional survey was administered in 2015-2016 in 21 secondary/technical schools across two regions of Poland. Analyses focused on 341 students aged 16-17 who reported past 30-day use of e-cigarettes. Pearson chi-square analyses were utilized to examine associations between access-related items, e-cigarette use, and demographics. Results: Among youth e-cigarette users, the most common access to their first e-cigarette was from a friend (38%), followed by purchasing from vape shops (26%). Similar patterns emerged when students were asked about the access to their currently used e-cigarette. Most youth reported no difficulty purchasing cartridges/e-liquid containing nicotine (90%); the majority of users (52%) reported buying such products in vape shops. Conclusions: Prior to implementing age-related sales restrictions, youth access to e-cigarettes and paraphernalia did not pose any significant barriers. Poland’s introduction of a new age limit on e-cigarette sales may help limit the number of youth who purchase e-cigarettes from vape shops.

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.

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.

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.

Various metals and semiconductors containing Printed Circuit Boards (PCBs) are abundant in any electronic device equipped with controlling and computing features. These devices inevitably constitute E-waste after the end of service life. The typical construction of PCBs includes mechanically and chemically resistive materials, which significantly reduce the reaction rate or even avoid accessing chemical reagents (dissolvents) to target metals. Additionally, the presence of relatively reactive polymers and compounds from PCBs requires high energy consumption and reactive supply due to the formation of undesirable and sometimes environmentally hazardous reaction products. Preliminarily milling PCBs into powder is a promising method for increasing the reaction rate and avoiding liquid and gaseous emissions. Unfortunately, current state-of-the-art milling methods also lead to the presence of significantly more reactive polymers still adhered to milled target metal particles. This paper aims to find a novel single and two-stage disintegration-milling approach that can provide the formation of metal-rich particle size fractions. The morphology, particle fraction sizes, bulk density, and metal content in produced particles were measured and compared. Research results show the highest bulk density (up to 6.8 g·cm-3) and total metal content (up to 95.2 wt. %) in finest sieved fractions after the single-step milling of PCBs. Therefore, the concentrations of about half tested metallic elements are higher in the single milled specimen and with lower adhered plastics concentrations, as compared to double milled specimens.

Increased proliferation of IT services in all sectors has reinforced the adoption and diffusion across all levels of education and training institutions. However, lack of awareness of and knowledge about the key challenges and opportunities of elearning, seem to allude policymakers, resulting in low adoption or increased failure rate of many e-learning projects. Our study tries to address this problem through a review of relevant literature in e-learning. Our goal was to draw from the existing literature, insights into the opportunities and challenges of e-learning diffusion, and the current state-of-research in the field. To do this, we employed a systematic review of literature on some of the salient opportunities and challenges of e-learning innovation for educational institutions. These results aimed to inform policymakers and suggest some interesting issues to advance the research and adoption and diffusion of e-learning. Moreover, the bibliometric analysis shows that the field is experiencing high research attraction among scholars. However, several research areas in the field witnessed relatively low research paucity. Based on these findings, we discussed topics for possible future research.

Eucalyptus, a therapeutic plant mentioned in the ancient Algerian pharmacopeia, specifically two species belonging to the Myrtaceae family - E. radiata and E. cinerea, were investigated in this study for their antibacterial, antioxidant, and anti-inflammatory properties. The study used aqueous extracts (AE) obtained from these plants, and the extraction yields were found to be dif-ferent. The in vitro antibacterial activity was evaluated using a disc diffusion assay against three typical bacterial strains. The results showed that E. radiata EAq was effective against all three strains, while E. cinerea EAq was only effective against E. coli. Both extracts displayed significant antioxidant activity compared to BHT. The anti-inflammatory impact was evaluated using a pro-tein (BSA) inhibition denaturation test. The E. radiata extract was found to inhibit inflammation by 75% at a concentration of 250 g/ml, significantly higher than the placebo. Ellagic acid, a pri-mary phytochemical found in the extracts, demonstrated noteworthy toxic and pharmacokinetic characteristics and a maximum binding energy of -7.53 kcal/mol for its anti-TyrRS activity in sili-co. The study suggests that the extracts and their primary phytochemicals could enhance the effi-cacy of antibiotics, antioxidants, and non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs). As phar-maceutical engineering experts, we believe this research contributes to developing natural-based drugs with potential therapeutic benefits.

Communication and effective interactions are inevitable necessities in every organizational setting. In this era of information and communication technology, where limitations and difficulties in proper communication and interactions between different entities of various organizations have been reduced maximally, the government, stakeholders, and citizens of the different nations should also utilize these available tools in a way to improve the maximum performance in governance through interactions and e-participation between the citizens, stakeholders, and the government parastatals. This research focuses on examining the available and most preferred applications or platforms which encourage the best level of communication and interaction through E-participation among the citizens, stakeholders, and government from the local government lev-el taking Nigeria as a case study

According to the World Health Organization, approximately 20 million people worldwide are infected annually with the hepatitis E virus (HEV). There are 4 main genotypes of HEV. Genotype 1 and genotype 2 are common in developing countries and are transmitted by contaminated water from a fecal-oral route. Genotype 3 and genotype 4 are common in developed countries and can lead to occasional transmission to humans by undercooked meat. Hepatitis E virus 1 and HEV3 can lead to fulminant hepatitis, and HEV3 can lead to chronic hepatitis and cirrhosis in immunocompromised patients. The majority of patients with HEV infection are asymptomatic and usually have spontaneous viral clearance without treatment. However, infection in immunocompromised individuals can lead to chronic HEV infection. Both acute and chronic HEV infections can have extrahepatic manifestations. No specific treatment is required for acute HEV infection, no treatment has been approved in chronic infection and no HEV vaccine has been approved by the (United States) Food and Drug Administration. This review focuses on the molecular virology (HEV life cycle, genotypes, model systems, zoonosis), pathogenesis, clinical manifestation, and treatment of chronic HEV infection, especially in immunocompromised patients, to provide clinicians a better understanding of the global distribution of these infections and the significant effect they can have on immunocompromised patients.

Blockchain is considered a technological trend with a unique and unprecedented foundation of ways of working, and has the potential to fundamentally change society in conducting activities related to the public or private sector. Although the academic literature on blockchain is generally focused on cryptocurrencies, in recent years, literature with different perspectives has begun to emerge regarding the use of blockchain in the context of the public sector. The unique characteristics of how blockchain technology works make it an innovation that is expected to change many activities, structures, and processes related to the implementation of public sector activities, especially in public services such as administrative processes, welfare provision, and regulatory practices. This article discusses through a systematic literature review about the potential use of blockchain in public services. This literature review identifies the types of public services most likely affected by the introduction of blockchain. In addition, this article highlights the benefits, potentials, and challenges and risks of blockchain for governments and citizens/society in general. Governments, in general, can optimize efficiency and tracking through the use of blockchain, but regulatory uncertainty and scalability capabilities being major challenges, which are still poorly researched in the literature, can benefit from reduced bureaucracy and improved coordination through blockchain adoption, despite the lack of blockchain knowledge and skills being significant barriers to its implementation. For citizens or the public, security and transparency are key benefits, while the main risk lies in data security concerns. The article closes by noting a number of limitations in the existing literature and providing suggestions and recommendations for future research.

This study investigates the impact of governance variables on the earnings quality based on the industry the firm is in. it has been identified that earnings management have been practised differently by different industries. Most of the research under earnings management have focussed on holistic impacts of corporate governance variables on discretionary accruals while this study has categorised the firms based on what industry they fall on while identifying the impacts of the variables of corporate governance on discretionary accruals. Initially, this paper has studied the estimation of the value of discretionary accruals and identified that performance matched discretionary accruals as the best model as per the explanatory power of the model is higher than other models. Hence, the estimation of the earnings management has been calculated based on performance matched discretionary accruals in this research. This research has studied the impacts of the governance attributes on the earnings management categorising the firms based on the industry they are in; hence, the value of earnings management has been categorically separated; hereafter, the impact of the corporate governance factors on the value of categorically separated earnings management have been statistically analysed. This study has considered the descriptive study to compare the means, medians and standard deviations of the earnings management of various industries. Moreover, Pearson correlations and Spearman rank correlation have been used as a research tool to examine the correlation coefficients.

Given the extreme importance of improving the accountability of Private Social Solidarity Institutions (IPSS), both for reasons of legal compliance (hard law) and for reasons of improving legitimacy and notoriety among their stakeholders (soft law), this paper aims to present a framework designed under a more comprehensive research project, for the assessment of IPSS accountability and, consequently, its improvement. This study also present results of the indicators conceived, identifying the main trends of the framework dimensions and sub-dimensions from a pilot test for the years 2018, 2019 and 2020 in Portugal. Given the results, we believe that the framework designed answers the research question: How to promote accountability (social, financial and economic) in the social economy sector, in particular: the case of the IPSS?, however, as this is an exploratory article, it incorporates the limitation that this is a pilot test with only 7 entities.

Changing mobility patterns combined with changes in the climate present challenges and opportunities for global health, requiring effective, relevant and humane policy responses. This study used data from a systematic literature review that examined the intersection between climate change, migration and health. The aim of the present study was to synthesize policy recommendations in the peer-reviewed literature, regarding this type of environmental migration with respect to health, to strengthen the evidence-base. Systematic searches were conducted in four academic databases (PubMed, Ovid Medline, Global Health and Scopus) and Google Scholar for empirical studies published between 1990 – 2020 that used any study design to investigate migration and health in the context of climate change. Studies underwent a two-stage protocol-based screening process and eligible studies were appraised for quality using a standardized mixed-methods tool. From the initial 2,425 hits, 68 articles were appraised for quality and included in the synthesis. Among the policy recommendations, six themes were discernible: (1) avoid the universal promotion of migration as an adaptive response to climate risk; (2) preserve cultural and social ties of mobile populations; (3) enable the participation of migrants in decision-making in sites of relocation and resettlement; (4) strengthen health systems and reduce barriers for migrant access to health care; (5) support and promote optimization of social determinants of migrant health; (6) integrate health into loss and damage assessments related to climate change. The results call for transformative policies that support the health and wellbeing of people engaging in, or affected by mobility responses, including those whose migration decisions and experiences are influenced by climate change, and to establish and develop inclusive migrant healthcare.

Information and communication technologies play an increasingly important role in the process of knowledge and management of places at different scales. ICTs allow a rapid diffusion of data not only through institutional channels but also through social networks where the smart community share experiences and perceptions. In this sense, ICTs become strategic tools to support the promotion of sustainable tourism development of territories, especially if the digital data are organised within a circular smart dashboard. This research focuses on the case study of the Santa Barbara Walk (SBW), an ancient mining route in the Sulcis Iglesiente region (Sardinia, Italy), where the authors have recognized a state of disorganization in slow tourism promotion activities. In fact, if the SBW represents a network - material infrastructure - which connects the main points of interest along the Walk, its digital network - intangible infrastructure - is fragmented in terms of policies and contents. The goal of this study is to provide a comprehensive set of data and to propose the architecture and design for a circular dashboard of the SBW, capable of organizing information concerning the main features of the walk, in order to facilitate a shared governance for an effective tourism promotion.

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’.

There is a large potential for cost-effective solutions to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and to improve the sustainability of the transport sector that is yet unexploited, in particular in the urban context. Considering the cost-effectiveness and the potential for co-benefits, it is hard to understand why energy gains and mitigation action in the transport sector is still lagging behind the potential. Particularly interesting is the fact that there is substantial difference among countries with relatively similar economic performances, such as the OECD countries in the development of their transport CO2 emission over the past thirty years despite the fact that these countries had relatively similar access to efficient technologies and vehicles. This study aims to apply some well established political science theories on the particular example of climate change mitigation in the transport sector in order to identify some of the factors that could help explain the variations in success of policies and strategies in this sector. The analysis suggests that institutional arrangements that contribute to consensus building in the political process provide a high level of political and policy stability which is vital to long-term changes in energy end-use sectors that rely on long-term investments. However, there is no direct correlation between institutional structures, e.g. corporatism and success in reducing greenhouse gas emissions in the transport sector. Environmental objectives need to be built into the consensus-based policy structure before actual policy progress can be observed. This usually takes longer in consensus democracies than in politically more agile majoritarian policy environments, but the policy stability that builds on corporatist institutional structures is likely to experience changes over a longer-term, in this case to a shift towards low-carbon transport that endures.

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.

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 work investigated the effects of manufacturing variations including coil resistance, initial pod mass, and e-liquid color on coil lifetime and aerosol generation of Vuse ALTO pods. Random samples of pods were used until failure (where e-liquid was consumed, and coil resistance increased to high value indicating a coil break). Initial coil resistance, initial pod mass, and e-liquid net mass ranged between 0.89 to 1.14 [], 6.48 to 6.61 [g], and 1.88 to 2.00 [g] respectively. Coil lifetime with light color e-liquid was (mean) = 149, (standard deviation) = 10.7 puffs while pods with dark color e-liquid was = 185, = 22.7 puffs with a difference of ~36 puffs (p &lt;0.001). Total mass of e-liquid consumed until coil failure was = 1.93, = 0.035 [g]. TPM yield per puff of all test pods for the first session (brand new pods) was = 0.0123, = 0.0003 [g]. During usage, TPM yield per puff of pods with light color e-liquid was relatively steady while it was continuously decreasing for pods with dark e-liquid. Coil lifetime and TPM yield per puff were not correlated with either variation in initial coil resistance or variation in initial pod mass. The absence of e-liquid in the pod is an important factor in causing coil failure. Small bits of the degraded coil could be potentially introduced to the aerosol. There is a potential correlation of e-liquid color with both coil lifetime and TPM yield per puff. Change of e-liquid color might have been a result of oxidation which changed some nicotine into nicotyrine.

This study focuses on a new class of functions called sub-b-s-preinvex, that is a generalization of sub-b-s-convex and preinvex functions, and discusses some of their properties. A new sub-b-s-preinvex programming is introduced and the sufficient conditions of optimality under this type of function is established.

The alkylation of 1,1,2-trimethyl-1H-benzo[e]indole with 2-chloroacetamide, followed by work-up of the reaction mixture with a base and the subsequent treatment of a crude product with acetic acid gives 10a,11,11-trimethyl-10a,11-dihydro-8H-benzo[e]imidazo[1,2-a]indol-9(10H)-one. The structure assignments were based on data from ¹H, ¹³C and ¹⁵N NMR spectroscopy. The optical properties of the obtained compound were studied by UV-vis and fluorescence spectroscopy.

Multi-sensor data fusion of E-tongue and E-nose can provide a more comprehensive and more accurate analysis results. However, it also brings some redundant information, it is a hot issue to reduce the feature dimension for pattern recognition. In this paper, the taste-olfactory data fusion based on E-tongue and E-nose combined with Support Vector Machine (SVM) was used to classify five different beers. First, the taste and olfactory feature information were obtained based on E-tongue and E-nose. Second, the original feature data of single system were fused, then Principal Component Analysis (PCA) was applied to extract principal components, Genetic Algorithm-Partial Least Squares (GA-PLS) was used to select the characteristic variables, 20 subsets were generated with those variables based on the best Variable Importance of Projection (VIP) score. Finally, the classification models based on SVM were established, also c and g of SVM were calculated by Grid Search (GS), Genetic Algorithm (GA), and Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO), the classification results of all subsets were obtained. The results showed that the classification accuracy using data fusion was much higher over single E-tongue and single E-nose, and the variable selection method by VIP had the best classification performance in #12 subset coupled with GA-SVM.

The management of an organization's human resources is the first stage in the governance process for any operation. This present study examine the strategies employed in Saudi Arabia for establishing effective governance through the implementation of human resource management practices and the key sustainable strategies criteria for effective human resource management practices. This step is considered crucial in governance as it involves the selection of highly qualified individuals who are expected to contribute to the achievement of optimal governance outcomes and the overall well-being of the population within a nation as well as the key criteria involves. Qualitative research methodology as well as Decision making trial and evaluation laboratory (DEMATEL) were utilized with a sample of 31 participants from 8 government ministries and 14 companies in Saudi Arabia. The study's findings from qualitative interview exert four key criteria influencing sustainable effective human resources management practices. Cultural reflection" is the most important long-term goals of Saudi Arabia's HRM initiatives found from DEMATEL evaluation impacting three criteria with7.9181, 8.2294, 8.1961 above the threshold value of 7.783599781. This means that HR professionals should take the time to study and evaluate the cultural dynamics at work, in order to promote cultural introspection and understanding of cultural differences.

Digital technology makes energy systems more dynamic, efficient, reliable and sustainable. Promoting the digital governance of renewable energy is not only a key part of energy transformation, but also an important initiative to cope with the global energy crisis, which provides a new impetus for realizing the goal of net-zero emissions. In order to achieve the "dual-carbon" goal, China has been actively promoting energy reform and enhancing the wide application of digital technologies in the development and utilization of renewable energy. The digital governance system and governance capacity of renewable energy is an important support for the modernization of the national governance system and governance capacity. Although the digital governance of renewable energy in China has better policy support and advantages, the dilemmas it faces are still relatively prominent, including unsound laws and policies, insufficient governance capacity, and security loopholes in digital technology, etc. Therefore, this paper proposes a problem-oriented approach to the digital governance of renewable energy. Therefore, this paper puts forward problem-oriented optimization suggestions to innovate the legal system of renewable energy digital governance, promote the digital transformation of China's renewable energy industry, provide development space for renewable energy digital governance in a diversified mode, and enhance the digital governance capacity by improving the renewable energy security system.

The coastal zone, situated at the sensitive interface between land and sea, serves as a pivotal area of extensive human economic activities. As one of China's economic special zones, Xiamen exemplifies the comprehensive trajectory of coastal governance in China. This research adopts an interdisciplinary approach grounded in historical geography and political ecology, employing data collection methods encompassing historical literature, field surveys, and interviews. The research findings indicate that:(1) The year 1994 witnessed the pivotal role played by the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) in connecting Jimei Peninsula from a local context to the international arena, thus signifying a momentous turning point in the process of scale reconstruction. However, the subsequent implementation of the Coastal Exclusion Policy in 2002 had detrimental consequences, leading to the disintegration of the local scale, the erosion of maritime culture, and the disregard for the livelihood security of displaced coastal populations.(2)The Coastal Exclusion Policy serves as an instrumental tool for implementing scale politics, while its functional realignment has had profound implications for the coastal zone, encompassing economic transformation, ecological degradation, and the marginalization of the socio-cultural fabric that intertwines humans and the coastal environment.

Many countries are raising questions on the intentions behind Saudi reforms. The low oil prices in 2008-09 were the awakening call for Saudis, and later in 2014, it became the reason to look for the economy that is less dependent on oil. The article studies the initiated social reforms and social impact of foreign cultural activities. It scrutinizes the Saudi social fabric under the social exchange theory and looks for the positive and negative effects of cultural exchanges. The paper also considers the COVID-19 situation in KSA as it has broken the chain of cultural events planned all over the country to promote tourism and improve the image of KSA.

Innovation in general education governance is one of the development trends not only in Vietnam but also in the world. This is also an important measure to change and improve the quality of education, especially expand autonomy of high schools and universities. The paper focuses on some main contents: overview of general education; the experiences of some countries in the implementation of the school administration model towards the school autonomy model so that give lessons for Vietnam’s education can be learned in the context of development conditions nowadays. The results in this work would be used to classify the schools into the various groups. The data also analysts on decision-making capability, on what we called an “index of school autonomy”, expressed the possible level of school-level decision-making.

The challenges to sustainability governance across multiple geographical/cultural contexts lead us to the “piecemeal engineering” idea advocated by the philosopher Karl Popper, which explicitly considers context. We argue for adopting the piecemeal engineering approach, augmented by adaptive policies and modern (online) collaboration platforms to maximize the prospects of sustainable practices worldwide. This recommended course is not intended to be a theory in itself. Rather, it is a well-grounded, practical and practicable stop-gap measure in times when complexity and change outpace theories and strategies. We present a philosophical foundation for this “Augmented Popperian Experimentation.” Focusing on The Water Network (the largest collaborative platform for water researchers and professionals), we show that sustainability-oriented organizations in the water realm and others are inching toward the practice we advocate. We discuss implications.

The governance of public sector infrastructure projects became an important topic of interest in the project, programme and portfolio management literature during the last decade. Today, it is becoming a central focus for policymakers seeking to ensure success in selecting, designing and implementing government-sponsored programme of multi-projects. Due to the multiple underlying risks and complexities, the governance of infrastructure programme constitutes a critical element in strategic planning in developing countries. This paper has analyzed infrastructure development programme and revealed shortcomings in the areas of appraisal, decision-making, quality assurance and stakeholder management. Approaches to remedy these shortcomings have been proposed.

Jakarta belongs to the cities with the highest flood risk in the world. Its flood hazard is driven by land subsidence, soil sealing, changes in river discharge and increasingly sea level rise. As all of these trends are set to continue, Jakarta’s flood hazard is expected to intensify in the future. Designing and implementing risk reduction and adaption measures is therefore of utmost importance. Against the background, the paper draws on a discourse analysis and original empirical household survey data to review and evaluate current adaptation measures and to analyze in how far they describe a path that is transformative from previous risk reduction approaches. The results show that the focus is clearly on engineering solutions, foremost in the Giant Sea Wall project. The project is likely to transform the city’s flood hydrology. However, it cements rather than transforms the current risk management paradigm which gravitates around the goal of controlling flood symptoms, rather than addressing their anthropogenic root causes. The results also show that the planned measures are heavily contested due to concerns about ecological impacts, social costs, distributional justice, public participation and long-term effectiveness. On the outlook, the results therefore suggest that the more the flood hazard will intensify in the future, the deeper a societal debate will be needed about the desired pathway in flood risk reduction and overall development planning – particularly with regards to the accepted level of transformation, such as partial retreat from the most flood-affected areas.

Background - Chronic kidney disease with unknown aetiology (CKDu) is a progressing disease which is affecting many Sri Lankans’ yearly, this disease is slow progressive, irreversible and asymptomatic disease. Patients suffering from CKDu over the past two decades have been evaluated using the estimated glomerular filtration rate (e-GFR). This is the standard test performed under WHO guidelines to investigate and grade the CKDu, and this creatinine clearance is measured in this in order to grade the patient. Backache has been a common symptom presented in most of the chronic kidney disease patients (CKD), patients with CKDu are liable to get backache due to the renal failure that takes place (Jayathilake et al., 2013; Redmon et al., 2016). Objective – To detect a correlation between serum creatinine values and level of backache presented in the patient. Method -Using an interview based questionnaire to assess patients’ body condition and the degree of backache is assessed, 59 patients were part of the study for a period of five months and had an average age of 60.3 years. The questionnaire answers are scaled into four main types of backache from the least to the most painful based on the pain scale adapted from Kapkia. Serum creatinine is measured using an automated analyzer which is measured using Jaffe’s reaction. Using Pearson R correlation, the relationship was determined between serum creatinine and backache (Kafkia et al., 2011). Results – The results were obtained for 58 patients (n=58), where the mean backache score was 2.30 and mean serum creatinine value 2.77. The Pearson R value obtained was 0.01 which is indicating almost no relationship between backache and serum creatinine. Patients with stage 3 kidney disease (n=14) had an average E-GFR of 38.0, stage 4 (n=38) with 22.3 and stage 5 (n=6) with 14.0. Conclusion – Backache can be used an indicator of CKDu since it is presented in most patients’ suffering from the disease but unable to be used to determine the stage of CKDu suffered by the patient due to the external causes that leads to backache. Several predisposing factors such as temperature, water source and agricultural activity can influence the backache.

The use of e-scooters and e-bicycles has been on the rise with an increased medical and financial burden. Our purpose was to identify risk factors for increased medical charges and recommend appropriate steps. We studied a retrospective cohort presenting to a level 1 urban trauma center from January 2018 through July 2019 due to micro-mobility platforms. The primary outcome for comparison was total billing cost and a regression analysis was performed to identify variables associated with higher cost. A total of 4073 patients were identified. The majority of which were males (67%), aged 20-30 years (41%). Helmet use reported in only 39.8%. Radiologic studies were performed more often in the e-bicycle group. Total billing charges amounted to 28.3 million New Israeli Shekels ($7.9 million). Average total cost was higher for e-bicycle injuries and in non-helmet users. Other factors associated with higher cost were age, and time of day 12:00-18:00. We recommend that urban cities invest in infrastructure in advance to micro-mobility introduction, regulate the use of e-platforms, designate resources for education on personal protective equipment and prepare medical centers in advance.

The investment in digital e-Health services is a priority direction in the development of global health care systems. While people are increasingly using the Web for health information, it is not entirely clear what is the physicians’ attitude towards digital transformation, and the acceptance of new technologies in healthcare. The aim of this cross-sectional survey study was to investigate physicians’ self-digital skills, and their opinions on obtaining online health knowledge by patients, as well as the recognition of physicians’ attitudes towards e-Health solutions. Principal Component Analysis (PCA) was performed to emerge the variables from self-designed questionnaire, and cross-sectional analysis comparing descriptive statistics and correlations for dependent variables using the one-way ANOVA (F-test). 307 physicians participated in the study, reported using the internet mainly several times a day (66.8%). Most participants (70.4%) were familiar with new technologies and rate their e-Health literacy high, although 84.0% reported the need for additional training in this field, and reported a need to introduce a larger number of subjects shaping digital skills (75.9%) in medical studies 53.4% of physicians perceived Internet-sourced information as sometimes reliable, and in general assessed the effects of using it by their patients negatively (41.7%). Digital skills increased significantly with frequency of internet use (F = 13.167; p = 0.0001), and decreased with physicians’ age, and the need for training. Those who claimed that patients often experienced health benefits from online health showed higher digital skills (-1.06). Physicians most often recommended their patients to obtain laboratory test results online (32.2%), and to arrange medical appointments via the Internet (27.0%). Along with the deterioration of physicians’ digital skills, the recommendation of e-Health solutions decreased (r = 0.413), and lower the assessment of e-Health solutions for the patient (r = 0.449). Physicians perceive digitization as a sign of the times, and frequently use its tools in daily practice. The evaluation of Dr. Google’s phenomenon and online health is directly related to their own e-Health literacy skills, but there is still a need for practical training to deal with digital revolution.

The new need to move to an online mode of administration has necessitated the adoption of Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) and Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS). The conventional paper-based administrative memorandum is relatively costly, requires manpower, insecure and non-confidential, prone to unauthorized access and has a relatively slow cycle time; among others. An electronic memo (e-memo) can save cost, offer high speed of processing, reliability and security. The aim of this work was to conceptualize, design and develop a novel semantic web-based memo platform that allows for handling memos within an organization. The tools used include HTML, CSS, PHP, JavaScript, jQuery and AJAX, MySQL. The developed system was tested in three stages. Testing was done in the Department of Computer Science of the institution of case study, then in the Faculty of Science and finally in the entire Lagos State University. Agile development method was used in the development process. The designed system was hosted on a cloud-server and a total of 43 test cases were considered and an average of four minutes was recorded for a complete memo cycle. eMemo allows users to generate, sign, treat and memo electronically. It is such a useful tool that will enhance information processing in a faster, standardized and more secure manner.

E-petitioning is a useful object of study for observing the potential emergence of a new relationship to politics and new forms of political participation. Access to a dataset of hundreds of thousands of users of an electronic petitioning platform, provides the opportunity to overcome a certain number of limitations that are associated with traditional methods of studying political participation, since it allows us to focus on the reality of the signatories’ behaviour rather than on their declarations. We follow the traces left by the petitioners on this site to better understand the process of dissemination of an online petition, and its linked with offline activities. Our examination of the three most signed petitions in the ‘environment’ category, combining an analysis of their petitioning dynamics and an analysis of the comments attached to them, allows us to show: firstly, that there is an interwoven relationship between the local anchoring of the mobilisation and the processes of dissemination by which petitions extend from local signatories to signatories who are geographically more distant; and secondly, that it is not accurate to imagine that just anyone can sign any petition, since petitioning dynamics proceed from one person to the next, whether these dynamics start from a pre-existing local anchorage on the ground, or act through a platform effect which is dependent on the attractiveness of the petition in question.

Enteroaggregative Escherichia coli (EAEC) is an emerging pathogen frequently associated with acute diarrhea in children and travelers to endemic regions. EAEC was found the most prevalent bacterial diarrheal pathogen from hospitalized Bolivian children less than five years of age with acute diarrhea from 2007 to 2010. Here, we further characterized the epidemiology of EAEC infection, virulence genes, and antimicrobial susceptibility of EAEC isolated from 414 diarrheal and 74 non-diarrheal cases. EAEC isolates were collected and subjected to a PCR-based virulence gene screening of seven virulence genes and a phenotypic resistance test to nine different antimicrobials. Our results showed that atypical EAEC (a-EAEC, AggR-negative) was significantly associated with diarrhea (OR, 1.62, 95% CI, 1.25 to 2.09, P < 0.001) in contrast to typical EAEC (t-EAEC, AggR-positive). EAEC infection was most prevalent among children between 7 - 12 months of age. The number of cases exhibited a biannual cycle with a major peak during the transition from warm to cold season (April – June). Both typical and a-EAEC infections were graded as equally severe; however, t-EAEC harbored more virulence genes. aap, irp2, and pic were the most prevalent genes. Surprisingly, we detected 60% and 52.6% of multidrug resistance (MDR) EAEC among diarrheal and non-diarrheal cases. Resistance to ampicillin, sulfonamides, and tetracyclines was most common, being the corresponding antibiotics, the ones that are frequently used in Bolivia. Our work is the first study that provides comprehensive information on the high heterogenicity of virulence genes in t-EAEC and a- EAEC and the large prevalence of MDR EAEC in Bolivia.

Artificial intelligence (AI) systems are poised to become deeply integrated into society. If developed responsibly, AI has potential to benefit humanity immensely. However, it also poses a range of risks, including risks of catastrophic accidents. It is crucial that we develop oversight mechanisms that prevent harm. This article outlines a framework for evaluating and auditing AI to provide assurance of responsible development and deployment, focusing on catastrophic risks. We argue that responsible AI development requires comprehensive auditing that is proportional to AI systems’ capabilities and available affordances. This framework offers recommendations toward that goal and may be useful in the design of AI auditing and governance regimes.

Rural areas of advanced industrial countries have frequently experienced a dualistic set of policies: one designed for the land-use sector, especially agriculture; and another dealing with rural development [1]. As problems of industrialised agriculture and forestry emerged, a more joined up approach to policy was advocated. Since the 1980s, at national and international level, new elements of rural policy have emerged to connect these two policy fields, including environmental payments, farm diversification grants, woodland creation within the farm sector and support for community-led local development. Rural land is also closely connected to the biodiversity and climate crises which have become important policy drivers. Policy towards community-led local development has moved further in Scotland than almost anywhere else as a result of policies for community-based land reform, community empowerment and community asset transfer. These communitarian approaches connect closely to collaborative landscape management as it addresses environmental challenges. As collaborative place-based and area-based approaches emerge as the guiding stars of the new rural development, this paper explores the challenges in the governance of sustainability transitions in moving from a sectoral rural policy hinging around support for land use to one based much more on communitarian values and place-based development.

Territory space is an ecological resource carrier and place for human development. Human activities and ecological systems are the basis of ecological product supply. Promoting territory spatial protection and governance by improving the ecological products supply is very important. In this study, we established an ecological products supply capacity evaluation index system involving three types of ecological products, i.e., ecological environmental products, ecological material products, and ecological cultural products. For the case of the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region, we comprehensively used principal component analysis, equivalent factor method, and entropy method to evaluate the supply capacity of the ecological products from 2011 to 2021. Then, we analyzed the spatio-temporal pattern combining the natural breakpoint and quantile classification methods and analyzed the obstacle factors using the obstacle degree model of ecological supply. The results show that the supply capacity of different ecological product in each city are closely related to ecological resource endowment. The supply capacity of ecological products exhibited an upward trend, with the highest ecological environmental products supply, relatively smaller ecological material product supply, and the largest growth rate for ecological cultural product supply. The supply capacity of different ecological products varied across cities over time and displayed noticeable spatial differentiation. The main obstacle factors included eco-land, eco-tourism, eco-leisure, park green space, and fishery products, although there were variations among cities. Finally, based on the level, spatial-temporal pattern, and obstacle factors of ecological product supply, we proposed strategies for territory spatial protection and governance from the perspectives of integrated protection of elements, structural regulation, and systematic governance. The results reflected the ecological functional heterogeneity of territory space, which can provide spatial planning guidance for sustainable development.

With the changing relationship between urban and rural areas in China, the rural areas are experiencing rapid social transformation. To ensure successful implementation of the rural revitalization strategy, land consolidation has become a major measure of rural economic reform. Existing research focuses on quantitative studies exploring the relationship between land consolidation and rural economic development, but there is a lack of studies on the relationship between land consolidation and social change. In this study, Jin’an Village is selected as the research area, using semi-structured interviews and semi-participatory observation to obtain original materials, aiming to make a detailed description of the specific practice of land consolidation, and to analyze the impact of land consolidation on the transformation of rural social consciousness. The study found that rural land consolidation involves villagers in the land consolidation process, which can effectively stimulate villagers’ participation in public affairs. Concurrently, the interaction between villagers and outside investors disrupts the conventional socialization model in rural areas and motivates villagers to act in accordance with contractual agreements. The conclusion is that land consolidation in rural areas can enhance the political democracy and legal consciousness of local villagers, which can lead to a change in local social consciousness. Our findings also emphasize the crucial necessity to grant rural villagers with improved accessibility to professional services and information, coupled with the continued promotion of land consolidation to advance modernization in these areas.

Urban governance and sanitation in the peri-urban commune of Agoè-Nyvé 6 in Togo: Diagnosis of the sanitation system in Adétikopé.

Previous research has paid little attention to the relationship between corporate governance and brand equity in the tourism industry. This study aims to investigate the moderating effect of corporate governance (CG) on the relationship between brand equity (BE) and corporate profit-ability (CP) with ten control variables including five company characteristics and five macroeconomic variables. Financial data is retrieved from the Taiwan Economics Journal Database (TEJ), covering a total of 196 records from 32 listed companies for 16 years. Results indicate that BE has a significantly positive impact on CP in Taiwanese-listed tourism companies, and that CG moderates the relationship between BE and CP. These findings could help management executives enhance profitability by deepening BE and CG in the tourism industry. Managerial implications are also discussed.

Wetlands are complex ecosystems, considered among the most productive environments of the world. They contain major biodiversity hotspots, providing the resources upon which countless species of plants and animals depend and they perform important environmental and economic functions. Wetlands reduce flooding events, improve water quality and represent a valuable cultural and natural heritage. It is estimated that 2/3 of Europe wetlands have disappeared since the beginning of the 20th Century, mainly lost through development processes which did not take their functions and values adequately into account. The European Directive (2000/60/EC) re-quires to foster an integrated approach for wetland management through collaborative governance processes. The Wetland Contract is a tool that has been developed and implemented to set the ground for voluntary-based commitments for the sustainable governance of water systems. Among the Mediterranean countries, Italy and Croatia count on a rich variety of coastal wetlands that, together with the plants and animals inhabiting and crossing them, constitute an extremely precious natural heritage. The aim of this paper is to present and discuss, whit a critical approach, the output of the Interreg Project CREW that, between 2018-21, contributed to the drafting of seven new Wetland Contracts.

The Covid-19 pandemic and the initial focus on handwashing measures have again highlighted the importance of water access as an essential service in protecting human health. Yet, especially in southern cities, uneven geographies of water access – often mediated by fragmented and unequal infrastructure systems – may hamper the fight against infectious diseases. The spread of SARS-CoV-2 presented a dilemma for water providers as well as residents in water-deprived urban areas as they had to adhere to new hygiene standards and requirements, despite limited access to basic water infrastructure. Therefore, a deeper understanding of pandemic urban waterscapes – the infrastructure and governance systems as well as everyday practices and technologies – is necessary for ongoing debates on (post-) pandemic or zoonotic cities. In our paper, we focus on changes in urban (water) governance and government water projects in Nairobi since early 2020. We show that Covid-19 has contributed to changes in Nairobi’s waterscape but only in conjunction with recent changes in the city’s overall governance structure. However, if these waterscape changes lead to greater equity in water access, and if they have helped to curb the spread of SARS-CoV-2, is more than questionable.

The power sectors in most African countries face an enduring problem of utility performance – electricity utilities have failed to deliver adequate, reliable and competitively priced electricity to support economic growth and improve the welfare of their populations. Despite more than two decades of power sector re-forms, outcomes have been varied and often disappointing. Using a case study de-sign, we explore the five key enduring power challenges. The research utilizes a more powerful analytical framework that combines power sector reform theory and principal-agent theoretical lens to explore the experience of power sector reforms in Kenya and provides a deeper understanding of drivers of utility performance and reform impacts. Empirical findings show that the structural, governance and regulatory reforms that previously created incentives for improved utility performance are increasingly threatened by political influence. Kenya Power’s financial viability has deteriorated in recent years and the regulator has been undermined. One of our major conclusions is that when the relationship between the principal (government) and agent (utility) is well understood and the agent is properly incentivized, performance improvements are possible. However, when the government undermines or muddies those incentives through conflicting political interventions, performance improvements can be reversed.

During the last two decades, energy poverty has captured a growing attention of researchers and policymakers due to its strong association with economic poverty and poor economic performance. This study uses a broad set of macro level indicators and makes the first attempt to measure energy poverty and its impact on economic growth of Pakistan over the period 1990 to 2017. In particular, our energy poverty indicator considers four main dimensions of energy poverty, namely, energy services, clean energy, energy governance and energy affordability. Our main results show that though the overall energy poverty has reduced in Pakistan during the selected sample period, the country shows an increasing dependence on polluted energy supply in order to meet its growing demand of energy. In second stage of the investigation, we test the neoclassical growth theory where we incorporate energy poverty along with human capital as source of economic growth. Our cointegration results reveal a strong relationship between energy poverty and economic growth that is also dynamically stable in short run. These strong negative linkages between energy poverty with economic growth for the sample economy complement the previous literature on the subject.

Kenya’s natural resource base has dwindled over years. The existence of many natural resource policies, some that are incompatible, has resulted in complex rangeland management regimes, giving rise to fragmented interventions and inadequate natural resource policies in relation to pastoralism. The majority of pastoral land resources held under a controlled access system by the national government that regulates management and utilization of resources. Pastoralists in Kenya have become among the most marginalized and disadvantaged minority groups. This is due to limited or under investment by government and other actors, and access to, or ownership of land, water and other resources, which are fundamental for pastoralism. This study examines significant obstacles for the establishment of a more inclusive ‘governance’ approach to natural resource management in northern Kenya, that characterize the customary Boran knowledge such as Deedha’s (traditional grazing unit) and formal institutions and seeks to address the tension between them through a legal framework that accommodates both. The results of the study established existence of the traditional structures and institutions in governance of natural resources within the pastoralist communities in Isiolo County. These institutions have evolved to cope with changing dynamics brought about by formalization of the natural resources governance. The resulted showed that various formal institutions from national government agencies to county government department were involved in management of the natural resources. However, the study established various operational divergence and links between informal and formal institutions involved in natural resources management. The study concluded that both informal institution such as Deedha and formal institutions constituted by national and county government did governance of natural resources among pastoralist communities in Isiolo County. The communities however have more trust in the informal structures and institutions because of their flexibility and inclusiveness.

Despite the increasing interest in ‘smart city’ initiatives worldwide, current literature still lacks the approaches and models that address challenges in organization and collaboration, which boost sustainability and ‘smartness’ in modern cities. This paper provides an overview of ‘smart city’ ecosystems as a mechanism to promote the expected outcomes of their sustainable development, and highlights the importance of conceptualizing cities from organizational and managerial perspectives. Representative exploratory models of ‘city organization’, which emphasize on the role of ‘governance’ and synergies, are presented to ‘decode’ complex city mechanisms and to determine key components that lead to ‘smart’ initiatives. Interesting case studies and applications are then analysed to examine the practical dimension of these approaches. As a review paper, this article lays out a general framework on the importance of ‘collaboration’, ‘governance’, ‘management’, and ‘ecosystem’. However, 'planning smartly’ and achieving ‘sustainability’ at the level of city ‘organization’ remain as challenges in this pioneering study of smart cities.

In Vietnam, general education includes primary education, lower secondary education (the period of basic education) and upper secondary education (the period of vocational orientation education). In particular, primary education is compulsory for all children from 6 to 14 years old, is implemented in 5 school years, from first grade to fifth grade. The age of students entering first grade is six years old. Primary education aims to help students form the initial foundations for proper and long-term development of morality, intelligence, physicality, aesthetics and basic skills for students to continue high school. Secondary education is conducted in four school years, from grade six to grade nine. Students entering sixth grade must have an elementary school diploma. Secondary education aims to help students consolidate and develop the results of primary education; have basic secondary education and initial knowledge about technology and career to continue high school, vocational high school, vocational training or enter a working life. High school education is conducted in 3 school years, from grade ten to grade twelve. Students entering tenth grade must have a junior high school diploma. High school education is aimed at helping students consolidate and develop the outcomes of lower secondary education, complete high school education and common knowledge about technology and career guidance for further college education, college, professional secondary school, apprenticeship or enter the working life. Thus, the term general education is a term with broad connotation including primary education, lower secondary education (basic education period) and upper secondary education (education period) career orientation. Within the scope of this research, we use the term school governance used to mean a mode of action, which is directed toward the goal of being accomplished effectively, by and through others. Governance activities are indispensable activities that arise when people work together to accomplish goals.

The Brazilian water legislation advocates that some uses have priority over others, but this aspect has never been clearly addressed, generating conflicts. Water authorities usually refer to hydrological models to justify their decisions on water allocation. However, a significant group of stakeholders does not feel qualified to discuss these models and is, therefore, excluded from the decision process. We hereby propose a hydrologically robust method to correlate water uses with their respective reservoir alert volumes, which should empower the less formally educated stakeholders. The method consists of: (i) generating the water discharge versus reliability curve, using a stochastic approach; (ii) generating the withdrawal discharge versus alert volume family of curves, using a water-balance approach; (iii) calibrating the key parameter T using field data; and (iv) associating each water use with its alert volume. We have applied the method to four of the largest reservoirs (2.10³ - 2.10² hm³) in the semi-arid Ceará State. The results indicate that low-priority water uses should be rationalized when the reservoir volume is below 20%; whereas uses with very high priority should start rationalization when it is below 11%. These hydrological guidelines should help enhance water governance among non-specialist stakeholders in water-scarce and reservoir-dependent regions.

The world will experience an estimated 40% freshwater supply shortage by 2030, converting water scarcity into one of the principal global challenges that modern society face. Urban water-reuse is recognized as a promising and necessary measure to alleviate the growing water stress in many regions. The transformation to widespread application of water-reuse systems requires major changes in the way water is governed, and countries such as Spain already find themselves involved in this process. Through the systematic assessment of the city of Sabadell (Spain), we aim to identify the main barriers, opportunities and transferable lessons that can enhance governance capacity to implement systems for non-potable reuse of treated wastewater in cities. It was found that continuous learning, the availability and quality of information and level of knowledge and strong agents of change are the main capacity-building priorities. On the other hand, awareness, multilevel network potential and implementing capacity are already well-established. It is concluded that in order to undertake a widespread application of water-reuse practices, criteria examining water quality according to its use need to be developed, independently of the water’s origin. The development and implementation of such a legislative frame should be based on the experience of local water-reuse practices and continuous evaluation. Finally, the need for public engagement and adequate pricing mechanisms are emphasized.

O26 enteropathogenic Escherichia coli (EPEC), possesses a unique pseudocapsule composed of polysaccharides identical to the O antigen in their lipopolysaccharide (LPS) membrane. Therefore, the impact of O26 polysaccharides on the immune evasion mechanisms of capsulated O26 EPEC was investigated. Our findings reveal that the concentration of GlcNAc, an immunodominant unit of O26 polysaccharides capable of activating the MBL (Mannose Biding Lecting) pathway of the complement system, was found to be lower in capsulated EPEC O26 compared to naked shiga toxin-producing E. coli (STEC) O26 strain. It was noted that, unlike the naked STEC strain, the capsulated EPEC O26 strain was protected against lysis by the alternative pathway of the com-plement system by inhibiting C3b adhesion to its bacterial surface. Capsulated EPEC O26 strains were also able to avoid phagocytosis by macrophages. However, the immune evasion provided by the capsule was overcome in the presence of anti-O26 polysaccharide antibodies. Additionally, these antibodies were able to recognize O26 EPEC in the presence of biofilm and inhibit their adhesion to human epithelial cells. Overall, the results indicate that the O26 polysaccharides can generate an effective humoral immune response, making them promising antigens for the de-velopment of a vaccine against capsulated O26 E. coli

For better export performance in cross border e-commerce, a contingency model integrates e-commerce into traditional export marketing strategy (EMS) with internal and external determinants of EMS. However, EMS of Micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) is understudied. This study validates and modifies existing model for MSMEs. As a qualitative study, multiple sources of data including interviews, internal documents, and group discussions were used regarding business cases of entrepreneurs and supporting organizations in Mongolia and Korea. This research suggets contingency model for MSMEs with modified factors and different strategies in each factor. Specifically, intermal determinants are managerial capability, product competitiveness, and strategic marketing orientation. External determinants are export market competitivceness, export market infrastructure and entry barriers. EMS for MSMEs consists of the same factors with the original model but come up with different strategies. Theoretical and managerial implications were discussed.

Printed Circuit Boards (PCBs) are essential to most electronic devices. Digitalization and upgradation of gadget generates lots of PCB-containing electronic waste. Conserving resources and protecting the environment requires recycling such e-waste. The present paper is focused on the recovery of metals from PCBs by physical pretreatment and hydrometallurgical processes. Initially, the waste PCBs were pre-treated to separate metallic and non-metallic fractions. The metallic concentrate was leached using nitric acid (strong oxidative agent) for dissolution of metals. The system was fully jacketed with scrubber and condenser so that no emission of toxic gases to the environment. The process parameters viz. effect of acid concentration, pulp density, temperature, time, etc. were optimized and the obtained data were scientifically validated. Kinetics leaching fitted well with the Shrinking core model, XB = kc.t for Cu, (1-(1-XB)1/2) for Ni and 1-3(1-XB)2/3 + 2(1-XB) for Pb. The optimized conditions derived from these studies will be useful for recovery of metals from waste PCBs, and tin left in the residue could be further treated for the purpose of safe disposal or the utilization in an environmentally friendly manner. The developed process provides environmental benefits and has potential to be commercialized after scale-up studies.

(1) Background: Spain launched an official campaign, #EsteVirusLoParamosUnidos, to try and unite the efforts of the entire country through citizen cooperation to combat coronavirus. The research goal is to analyze the Twitter campaign’s repercussion on general citizen feeling. (2) Methods: The research is based on a composite design that triangulates from a theoretical model, a quantitative analysis and a qualitative analysis. (3) Results: Of the 7357 tweets in the sample, 72.32% were found to be retweets. Four content families were extracted: politics, education, messages to society and defense of occupational groups. The feelings expressed ranged along a continuum, from unity, admiration and support at one end to discontent and criticism regarding the health situation at the other. (4) Conclusions: The development of networked sociopolitical and technical measures that enable citizen participation facilitates the development of new patterns of interaction between governments and digital citizens, increasing citizens’ possibilities of influencing the public agenda and therefore strengthening citizen engagement vis-à-vis such situations.

A E. Crassipes is considered a problem in different aquatic ecosystems, due to its abundance could become a solution to design and build economic and efficient treatment plants, and especially for the production of biofuels such as bioethanol. The objective of this research is to design and implement a sustainable development process between phytoremediation and bioethanol production with E. crassipes, evaluating the incidence of chromium adhered to the biomass of this plant in the production of bioethanol. Materials and methods: A system was installed to evaluate the phytoremediation with E crassipes with water loaded with chromium, determining the effectiveness of this plant to remove this heavy metal even if it is alive in a body of water. After this process, we proceeded to bring the biomass loaded with chromium to bioreactors to evaluate the production of bioethanol, assessing three types of biomass, one without chromium adhered and the other two with chromium adhered to its plant structure. There was an impact of the ethanol production of the E crassipes due to the presence of chromium, but this production can be taken into account for the assembly of an integral system of phytoremediation and bioethanol production, making the most of this biomass.

In the present work we study the properties of geodesic sub-$ (\alpha,b,s) $-preinvex functions on Hadamard manifolds and establish some basic properties in both general and differential cases. Further, we study sufficient conditions of optimality and proved some new inequalities under geodesic sub-($ \alpha,b,s $)-preinvexity.

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.

Abstract: Rural digital governance is an inevitable requirement to improve the efficiency of rural governance, and is also an important means to realize the modernization of rural governance. In the context of the digital rural development strategy, the index measurement system of rural digital governance level is built around five key governance areas of "digital economy, digital ecology, digital culture, digital people's livelihood, and digital government affairs". The entropy weight Topsis model is used to measure and evaluate the level of rural digital governance in 31 provinces in China in 2021. The results show that there is a large gap in the level of digital governance in China's counties and villages, and the level of each region presents a decreasing spatial distribution from "east - middle - west". In terms of digital economy, the eastern region has a high score and good development, while the central and western regions have poor development. In terms of digital ecology, only the eastern region is higher than the national average; In terms of digital culture, only the central region is higher than the national average; In terms of digital livelihood and digital government, the central and eastern regions are slightly higher than the national average; The top three provinces in overall scores are Zhejiang, Guangdong and Jiangsu.

This article deals with the governance of common goods within regeneration projects of UNESCO heritage sites. The main objective is to evaluate the existence of conditions that prove the con-temporary function of common goods as drivers of strategic regeneration of complex territories with high cultural value. The research identifies some of the strategic planning policies implemented for the historical centre of Naples and analyses their proactive function in the enhancement, conser-vation and reuse of built commons. The expected result is to contribute to the debate on the cultural planning of the territory, aimed at the diversification of services and the fight against the process of touristisation. Through desk research and consultation of primary sources, a brief outline is given of the historical process that led to the birth of the "Great UNESCO Project" in the historical centre of Naples. The paper then analyses the "Discipline of the common goods - Principles for the govern-ance and management of the commons in the city of Naples", defining its addresses, opportunities and limitations as a contribution to relational, oriented and sustainable strategic territorial planning.

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.

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.

In this work, a general framework for the analysis of governance of artificial intelligence is presented. A dashboard is presented for this analysis from the perspective of political theory. The dashboard allows eventual comparisons between democratic and non democratic regimes, useful for countries in the global south and western countries. The dashboard allows us to assess the key features that determine the governance model for artificial intelligence at the national level, for local governments and for other participant actors. The dashboard allows us to appraise aims of AI strategy and aims left aside in alternative strategies. The work shows the theoretical framework could be of use to advance case studies globally, and comparative endeavors. Applying the theoretical dashboard, the case study on China has been undertaken. These are the main points the study tackles in the final discussion, conclusion and further recommendations: 1) the complex reality of AI command and control 2) uncertainties about future society and the polity against AI development and 3) particular cultural values enshrined in countries' AI development.

Twenty-first century infrastructure needs to respond to changing demographics, becoming climate neutral, resilient, and economically affordable, while remaining a driver for development and shared prosperity. However, the infrastructure sector remains one of the least innovative and digitalized, plagued by delays, cost overruns, and benefit shortfalls [1-4]. The root cause is the prevailing fragmentation of the infrastructure value chain [5]. To support overcoming the shortcomings, an integration of the value chain is needed. This could be achieved through a use-cased-based creation of federated digital platforms applied to infrastructure projects. Such digital platforms enable full-lifecycle participation and responsible governance guided by a shared infrastructure vision.

Researchers have focused on collaborative governance as an effective measure to realise sustainable natural resource management through the participation of various stakeholders. However, the literature has indicated that issues such as power imbalances tend to undermine the effectiveness of collaborative governance. Powerful actors represented by the government tend to control collaborative processes and produce benefits for dominant groups, while less empowered local communities are often deprived of opportunities for livelihood improvement. Although numerous researchers have analysed the key factors that influence the processes and outcomes of collaborative governance, few have identified a concrete measure to reduce the risk of failure, particularly when managing power imbalances in developing countries. This study explored a methodology to address the power imbalances in collaborative governance based on a case study of a participatory peatland fire prevention project implemented in West Kalimantan Province, Indonesia. Semi-structured interviews and questionnaire surveys conducted with project participants suggested that measures such as establishing a joint team of government officers and villagers, providing a common facilitation training programme, training villagers as facilitators, promoting equal knowledge sharing, and allowing villagers to make their own decisions mitigated the power imbalances between the two groups.

Corporate governance is developing rapidly in many countries across the world. In this article, the existing state of corporate governance in Jordan is examined. Jordan does not have a corporate governance code per se. The article reveals that overall Jordan has in place some of the features of corporate governance best practice, but that there remains further progress to be made in areas such as independence of directors, compensation, and correlation between shareholding and entitlement to seats on the board. The article recommends legal reforms in order to enhance corporate governance in Jordan.

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.

Establishment of protected areas (PAs) is one of the key global conservation strategies that currently cover approximately 15% of the earth’s land surface. Globally, PA networks are designed to curb the growing anthropogenic pressures in areas with high biological diversity. Despite the importance of PAs in conserving the vanishing biodiversity and unique habitats, many of them are in critical condition due to poor governance thus functioning below the expected level. Moreover, in many developing countries, the PA coverage is below the global standard. Recognizing their contemporary role in conservation, governments have recently agreed to expand the global PA coverage to 17% by the year 2020 (Aichi target 11). This book with eight chapters from different regions of the world provides an overview of the PAs governance, institutional mechanisms, conservation benefits, limitations and challenges associated with their respective policy discourse, integrated management, and functional attributes. Protected areas expect to to play an important role in the long rn in conservation and protection of biodiversity and ecosystems particularly in countries where population pressure and habitat loss are high. Regular intervention, political commitment, and effective governance are essential for the sustainability of PAs across the world. Here, we also attempted to shed some light on future development clues for the sustainable management and monitoring of PAs worldwide.

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.

Most mature companies have started some kind of “transformation”, either digital, or agile transformations, to cope with changes in the environment, yet most fail, ending up delivering nothing or just one more reorganization. We postulate that considering the Organization as a self-aware Complex Adaptative System (CAS) is paramount, as the common conception (Industrial: mechanistic and predictive) results in bringing the systems in a frozen or defensive mode. Stimulating the system enables us to use its adaptative power to develop new capabilities, and all layers should be tackled simultaneously, to prevent the system from collapsing back into its original state. To ensure this, it is necessary to create a seed per level, and a mechanism to propagate the transformation, with a focus on development instead of growth, that is qualitative change rather than quantitative. A common vocabulary should also be provided, so conversations can occur at every level. Finally, changing mindsets is key, and both concepts and techniques should be provided as enablers to the adequate mindset level. We detail one such transformation that resulted in distributed leadership and more intrinsic motivation, providing both an account of the transformation itself and a model to read it.

This study describes the development of an image-based insect trap diverging from the plug-in camera insect trap paradigm. In short, a) it does not require manual annotation of images to learn how to count targeted pests and, b) it self-disposes the captured insects, and therefore is suitable for long-term deployment. The device consists of an imaging sensor integrated with Raspberry Pi microcontroller units with embedded deep learning algorithms that count agricultural pests inside a pheromone-based funnel trap. The device also receives commands from the server which configures its operation while an embedded servomotor can automatically rotate the detached bottom of the bucket to dispose of hydrated insects as they begin to pile up. Therefore, it completely overcomes a major limitation of camera-based insect traps: the inevitable overlap and occlusion caused by the decay and layering of insects during long-term operation, thus extending the autonomous operational capability. We study cases that are underrepresented in literature such as counting in situations of congestion and significant debris using crowd counting algorithms encountered in human surveillance. Finally, we perform comparative analysis of the results from different deep-learning approaches (YOLO7/8, crowd counting, deep learning regression) and we open-source the code and a large database of Lepidopteran plant pests.

Vitamin E facilitates testicular development and semen quality in farm animal. And most research tends to investigate antioxidant roles of Vitamin E in reproductive health; some research also find potential non-antioxidant roles of Vitamin E. To further uncover the mechanism by which Vitamin E modulates reproductive health, the paper reviews specific function of Vitamin E and candidate genes involved in male reproductive performance promoted by Vitamin E. The review found that cell proliferation (PDPN, BMP, Myc, AMPKa, GSK3β, PPARγ, CDK4, CDK6, Ki67, PCNA, Cyclin A2, Cyclin B1, Cyclin B3, BLM, REL, KLHL25)-, cell apoptosis (BCL-2, Caspase 9, Bax)-, spermatogenesis (CatSper1, CatSper2, NDRG1, CYP26B1, FSCN3, FLNA, SPCS3, YBX3, RARS)-, hormone receptor (PGR, FSHR, AR)-related genes are the underlying key points. And two miRNAs, miR-107 and miR-493-3p, which mediate cell cycle process, are also identified in response to Vitamin E treatment. The paper paves the way for a comprehensive understanding about effect of Vitamin E on testis development and semen quality in domestic animals.

Sexual issues and treatment side effects are not routinely discussed with men receiving treatment for prostate cancer and support to address these concerns is not consistent across settings. This study evaluates a brief e-learning resource designed to improve sexual wellbeing support and examine its effects on healthcare professionals’ sexual attitudes and beliefs. Healthcare professionals (n=44) completed an online questionnaire at baseline which included a modified 12-item sexual attitudes and beliefs survey (SABS). Follow-up questionnaires were completed immediately after the e-learning and at 4 weeks. Data were analysed using one-way, repeat measures ANOVAs to assess change in attitudes and beliefs over time. Significant improvements were observed at follow-up for a number of survey statements including ‘knowledge and understanding’, ‘confidence in discussing sexual wellbeing’ and the extent to which participants felt ‘equipped with the language to initiate conversations’. The resource was seen as concise, relevant to practice, and as providing useful information on potential side effects of treatment. Brief, e-learning has potential to address barriers to sexual wellbeing communication and promote delivery of support for prostate cancer survivors. Practical methods and resources should be included with these interventions to support implementation of learning and long-term changes in clinical behaviour.

E-learning with many outstanding advantages in training has drastically changed the self-study process due to the ability to personalize and effectively meet the learning activities of learners. E-learning and building an e-learning environment are currently paying attention and being deployed in many universities in Vietnam with different scope and levels. Especially in the current period, when science and technology are developing, many applications of technology and technology products have been applied in the field of education, changing the way of teaching and learning activities, the practice of both lecturers and students. Big Data and Artificial Intelligence (AI) technologies have replaced people not only for manual labor but also for intellectual labor, including the teaching of teachers. Many software applications have been used to replace people in the transmission of knowledge, testing, and evaluation of training quality, especially E-learning online training programs. However, in Vietnam today, the output quality of these online training programs has not been highly appreciated compared to similar programs in the world. The cause of this situation is that the training, teaching, and learning are not effective. Therefore, in this article, I will give some analysis, evaluate the current teaching and learning methods and propose solutions to enhance the interaction and initiative in the teaching and learning process of lecturers and students to improve the quality of online training in the future.

In this work, two embroidered textile moisture sensors are characterized with three different conductive yarns. The sensors are based on a capacitive interdigitated structure embroidered on a cotton substrate with an embroidered conductor yarn. The performance comparison of 3 different type of conductive yarns has been addressed. In order to evaluate the sensor sensitivity, the impedance of the sensor has been measured by means of a LCR meter from 20 Hz to 20 kHz on a climatic chamber with a sweep of the relative humidity from 30% to 65% at 20 ºC. The experimental results show a clear and controllable dependence of the sensor impedance with the relative humidity and the used conductor yarns. This dependence points out the optimum conductive yarn to be used to develop wearable applications for moisture measurement.

Internet-led labour market has become so competitive forcing many organisations from different sectors to embrace e-recruitment. However, realising the value of the e-recruitment from a Requirements Engineering (RE) analysis perspective is challenging. This research is motivated by the results of a failed e-recruitment project conducted in military domain which is used as a case study in this research. After reviewing the various challenges faced in that project through a number of related research domains, this research focuses on two major problems which are the (1) difficulty of scoping, representing, and systematically transforming recruitment problem knowledge towards e-recruitment solution specification; and (2) the difficulty of documenting e-recruitment best practices for reuse purposes in an enterprise recruitment environment. In this paper, a Problem-Oriented Conceptual Model (POCM) with a complementary Ontology for Recruitment Problem Definition (Onto-RPD) is proposed to contextualise the various recruitment problem viewpoints from an enterprise perspective and to elaborate those problem viewpoints towards a comprehensive recruitment problem definition. The POCM and Onto-RPD are developed incrementally using action-research conducted on three real case studies: (1) Secureland Army Enlistment, (2) British Army Regular Enlistment, and (3) UK Undergraduate Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS). They are later evaluated in a focus group study against a set of criteria. The study showed that the POCM and Onto-RPD provide a strong foundation for representing and understanding the e-recruitment problems from different perspectives.

Despite the uptake of tobacco smoking declining in the UK, smoking is still the leading cause of preventable poor health and premature death. While improved approaches to smoking cessation are necessary, encouraging and assisting smokers to switch by using substantially less toxic non-tobacco nicotine products may be a possible option. To date few studies have investigated the rates of smoking cessation and smoking reduction associated with the free provision of electronic-cigarettes (e-cigarette) to smokers. In this study the Blu Pro e-cigarette was given to smokers for use in place of tobacco for 90 days. The rates of smoking abstinence and daily smoking patterns were assessed at baseline 30 days, 60 days and 90 days. The response rate was 87%. After 90 days, the complete abstinence rate was 36.5% from 0% at baseline. Frequency of daily smoking reduced from 88.7% to 17.5% (P<0.001) and median consumption of cigarettes/day from 15 to 5 (P<0.001). Median days per month participants smoked also dropped from 30 to 13 after 90-days (P<0.001). On the basis of these results there may be value in smoking cessation services and other services ensuring that smokers are provided with e-cigarettes at zero or minimal costs for at least a short period of time.

The contents of Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) should be included in teachers’ initial and advanced training programs. In order to determine the key competences for sustainability, creating a Sustainable Consciousness is one of the main foundations. However, there are not many empirical studies that deal with consciousness from education. In this context, e-portfolio appears as a tool that promotes reflection and critical thinking, key competences for consciousness development. This work intends to propose a categorization system to extract types of consciousness and identify trainee teachers’ levels of consciousness. For this research work, of an eminently qualitative nature, we have selected twenty-five portfolios of students in the last year of the School of Education at the University of Macerata (Italy). The qualitative methodological procedure followed allowed to deduce three bases that shape trainee teachers’ consciousness: thinking, representation of reality and type of consciousness. We concluded that the attainment of a Sustainable Consciousness in teachers requires activating and developing higher levels of thinking, as well as a projective and macrostructural representation of reality.

Clinical training in medical schools in Spain is performed by rotations in university hospitals. During these internships, students are expected to acquire and master basic procedural skills. However, the assessment tools available rarely check whether these skills are completely acquired by the students. We have used an e-portfolio to determine the optimal number of times the students need to repeat a procedure to be able to perform it independently. The results were compared with the actual performance during the internships. An e-portfolio collected qualitative information about the internships. Quantitative information was also requested about the number of times each clinical skill was performed. Later, a survey asked these students and their teachers the optimal number of times each skill should be repeated before it could be considered fully acquired. The questionnaire was answered by 98.6% of the students and 70.3% of their teachers. Out of the 21 clinical skills and procedures selected, both students and their tutors agreed in a similar optimal value in 16 of them; only in five of them, teachers thought that students needed a greater number of times than that selected by the students. When these optimal values were compared with the actual values recorded in the portfolio during the internships, it was found that about half of the clinical skills were carried out less frequently than expected, thus providing an important feedback about the internships. Quantitative information collected in portfolios reveals a moderate mismatch between students and tutors perceptions of their training needs.

How much is religion quantitatively involved in global climate politics? After assessing the role of the Conference of Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change from a normative perspective, this descriptive, transdisciplinary and unconventional study offers the first comprehensive quantitative examination of religious nongovernmental organizations that formally participate in its annual meetings, the largest attempts to solve the climate crisis through global governance. This study finds that although their numbers are growing, only about 3 percent of registered nongovernmental organizations accredited to participate in the conference are overtly religious in nature — and that more than 80 percent of those faith-based groups are Christian. Additionally, this study finds that religious nongovernmental organizations that participate in the conference are mostly from the Global North. The results call for greater participation of religious institutions in the international climate negotiations in order for society to address the planetary emergency of climate change.

For any odd positive integer $x$, define $(x_n)_{n\geqslant 0} $ and $(a_n )_{n\geqslant 1} $ by setting $x_{0}=x, \,\, x_n =\cfrac{3x_{n-1} +1}{2^{a_n }}$ such that all $x_n $ are odd. The 3x+1 problem asserts that there is an $x_n =1$ for all $x$. Usually, $(x_n )_{n\geqslant 0} $ is called the trajectory of $x$. In this paper, we concentrate on $(a_n )_{n\geqslant 1} $ and call it the E-sequence of $x$. The idea is that, we consider any infinite sequence $(a_n )_{n\geqslant 1} $ of positive integers and call it an E-sequence. We then define $(a_n )_{n\geqslant 1} $ to be $\Omega-$convergent to $x$ if it is the E-sequence of $x$ and to be $\Omega-$divergent if it is not the E-sequence of any odd positive integer. We prove a remarkable fact that the $\Omega-$divergence of all non-periodic E-sequences implies the periodicity of $(x_n )_{n\geqslant 0} $ for all $x_0$. The principal results of this paper are to prove the $\Omega-$divergence of several classes of non-periodic E-sequences. Especially, we prove that all non-periodic E-sequences $(a_n )_{n\geqslant 1} $ with $\mathop {\overline {\lim } }\limits_{n\to \infty } \cfrac{b_n }{n}>\log _23$ are $\Omega-$divergent by using the Wendel's inequality and the Matthews and Watts's formula $x_n =\cfrac{3^n x_0 }{2^{b_n }}\prod\limits_{k=0}^{n-1} {(1+\cfrac{1}{3x_k })} $, where $b_n =\sum\limits_{k=1}^n {a_k } $. These results present a possible way to prove the periodicity of trajectories of all positive integers in the 3x + 1 problem and we call it the E-sequence approach.

The majority of E-commerce transactions reveal private information such as customers' identities, order contents, and payment information during the transaction. Other personal information such as health conditions, religion, and even ethnicity may be also deduced. Even when deploying electronic cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin, anonymity cannot be fully guaranteed. Also, many anonymous payment schemes suffer from possible double spending circumstances. E-commerce privacy is basically a difficult problem as it involves parties with concurring interests. Three major e-commerce requirements are highly difficult to resolve: anonymous purchase, anonymous delivery, and anonymous payment. This work presents a possible e-commerce system addressing all three anonymity requirements for electronic-items business on open networks. The system offers anonymous entities authentication mechanisms up to completing a fair anonymous e-commerce transaction. The system is based on deploying a physically clone-resistant hardware token for each relevant involved party. The tokens are made clone-resistant by accommodating a Secret Unknown Cipher (SUC) in each hardware-token as a digital PUF-like identity. A set of novel generic system-setups for units, protocols and e-commerce schemes is introduced. The proposed anonymization is basically attained by virtually-replacing relevant e-commerce entities by low-cost, unique and clone-resistant tokens/units using SUCs. The units act as trustable anonymous, authenticated and non-replaceable entities monitored by their acting users.

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.

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 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.

Background: Public engagement is needed to make sure urban forestry management efforts align with the values of the public being served. Noting this, we determined current and desired urban forest access of Florida (United States) residents using the criteria from the 3-30-300 rule (i.e., 3 trees visible from home, 30% canopy in neighborhood, and a green space within 300 meters of home). Methods: A survey of 1,716 Florida residents was conducted to assess canopy coverage and green space access. Respondents were then asked if this level of urban forest access was sufficient for their needs. We also asked their perceptions of the benefits and drawbacks of urban trees and whether they had any negative interactions with trees in the past. Results: We found that 37.3% of Florida residents met all three criteria of the 3-30-300 rule. Despite this, half the respondents would prefer more trees in their neighborhoods. When asked to name the top benefits provided by trees, the most common responses were shade, beauty, and attracting wildlife. The most common drawbacks to urban trees included risk to property, leaves/debris, and fears regarding storms and hurricanes. Conclusions: Florida residents largely value their urban forest and would like to see it maintained or enhanced. Improving access to greenspaces for recreation is the most pressing concern for urban forest managers in Florida looking to meet the requirements of the 3-30-300 rule. Results from this study can inform and test urban forest management at national and global scales.

Today, the world is undergoing a major investment cycle in infrastructure, which is vital for the development and prosperity of countries and society. Management deficiencies in infrastructure projects are well known and some of them concerns weak engagement of project stakeholders. Importance of stakeholder engagement as the key success factors for infrastructure projects is recognized. However, the literature gives very few answers how this process manifests in projects. Some scholars concluded that it is a complex and undertheorized management process which necessitates more empirical research. The research questions seek to identify how practitioners perceive the stakeholder engagement, who implements activities and processes related to engagement and in what way, which organizational aspects influence the process and how success is achieved in infrastructural projects. Interviews were conducted with eight experienced experts who participated in a whole series of (complex) infrastructure projects. The interviews examined all aspects of the engagement of stakeholders in detail, and a thematic analysis was carried out. Based on the analysis, success/failure factors related to the stakeholder engagement process were defined. As a result, a framework model for engaging stakeholders and achieving success in infrastructure projects is presented, which is based on three management levels and three levels of project success.

Tree ordinances can be an effective means of preserving urban forests in the face of development pressures. Despite this, they also have the potential to be divisive among the public - especially when applied to privately-owned land. In this study we surveyed 1,716 Florida urban residents to understand how they value regulation and management of the urban forest. Specifically, we asked about: tree protection ordinances, incentive programs to manage or plant trees, justification for tree removal, and development. Most respondents supported tree protections, even when applied to trees on their own property or when they had the potential to limit development activities. Additionally, there was limited support for removing healthy trees for development. Respondents supported the use of funds for urban forestry efforts – particularly at the local or state level.

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.

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.