Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Highlighting the Sustainability Implications of Urbanisation: A Comparative Analysis of Two Urban Areas in Ghana

Ghana is urbanising rapidly, and over half of the country’s population have lived in urban areas since 2010. Although research has proliferated to explore Ghana’s urbanisation, there is a dearth of research that holistically explores the wider sustainability implications of urbanisation, offers comparative perspectives in the context of large and smaller urban areas, and provides a perspective of local level urbanisation in the context of resource extraction (mining). This study comparatively assesses two urban areas in Ghana (Kumasi and Obuasi), by conducting a spatio-temporal analysis of land cover change through remote sensing and by analysing demographic change through a synthesis of published population data, in order to highlight the sustainability implications of urbanisation. The results show that urbanisation has been rapid, and has resulted in changes in land cover and demography in Kumasi and Obuasi. The sustainability implications of urbanisation are identified to include limited economic opportunities, socio-spatial segregation, and destruction of natural vegetation. The evidence in this study provides insights into urbanisation in Ghana, and suggests that the positive sustainability impacts of urbanisation may be eroded by how factors such as market forces and land tenure interact at the local level.
Etude cytologique de la gamétogenèse, de la sex-ratio et du cycle de reproduction chez l'huître perlière Pinctada margaritifera (L) var. cumingii (Jameson), (mollusques, bivalves). Comparaison avec le cycle de Pinctada maculata (Gould)

Les populations de Pinctada margaritifera et Pinctada macu/ata presentent des pontes tout au long de l'annee. Les variations de temperature entrainent des pontes massives qui sont le plus souvent asynchrones, les pontes preferentielles de maturite gonadique correspondent aux changements de saison pour P. margaritifera et P. maculata. Toutefois, quelques differences entre les deux especes sont signalees. P. margaritifera et P. maculata sont des especes hermaphrodites protandres. L'etat femelle est instable: un retour a l'etat mâle, vraisemblablement en reponse a un stress, peut etre observe. La taille moyenne de premiere maturation ainsi que celle de changement de sexe sont precisees pour P. margaritifera. Les conditions d'elevage entrainent des modifications de certains processus du cycle de reproduction (maturation, sex-ratio) or, certaines conditions de reproduction peuvent ne pas demeurer favorables au developpement voire meme au simple maintien des populations de P. margaritifera. Ceci conditionnera les possibilites de developpement futur de la perlicullure. L'etude ultrastructurale des cellules sexuelles est decrite chez P. margaritifera pour les deux sexes, depuis les cellules souches jusqu'aux gametes matures. Quelques particularites sont relevees par rapport aux donnees generales obtenues chez d'autres bivalves, en particulier: - l'existence de cellules auxiliaires dans les deux lignees, ayant sans doute un role trophique et participant a l'elaboration de l'enveloppe vitelline; - la nature vraisemblablement glycolipidique des inclusions vitellines de type II. - de frequentes aberrations cytologiques. notamment dans la lignee mâle. L'analyse de l'environnement somatique des cellules germinales releve l'existence: - de mucocytes, jouant un role nutritif non negligeable dans le processus d'alimentation de cette espece; - de cellules granuleuses dont le role est discute.
Effects of Structured Lifestyle Education Program for Individuals With Increased Cardiovascular Risk Associated With Educational Level and Socioeconomic Area

Background. Differences in socioeconomic status contribute to inequalities in lifestyle habits and burden of noncommunicable diseases. We aimed to examine how the effects of a 1-year structured lifestyle education program associate with the participant’s educational level and socioeconomic area (SEA) of residence. Methods. One hundred individuals (64% women) with high cardiovascular risk were included. Education level (nonuniversity vs university degree) was self-reported and SEA (low vs high) defined by living in different SEAs. Lifestyle habits and quality of life were self-reported, cardiovascular risk factors and Framingham 10-year cardiovascular disease risk were measured at baseline and after 1 year. Results. Sedentary behavior decreased in both nonuniversity degree and low SEA group over 1 year, with a significantly greater improvement in daily activity behavior in low- compared with high-SEA group. Abdominal obesity decreased significantly more in the nonuniversity compared with the university degree group. Cardiovascular risk and quality of life improved in all groups, however, with greater discrimination when using educational level as the dichotomization variable. Conclusion. The results are clinically and significantly relevant, suggesting that low socioeconomic status measured both as educational level and SEA are no barriers for changing unhealthy lifestyle habits and decreasing cardiovascular risk after participation in a lifestyle program.
Profile of sever acute malnutrition children admitted at nutritional rehabilitation centre at tertiary care treatment centre of Gujarat

India is committed to achieve Sustainable Developmental Goal (SDG) and we can observe the committed political affords to achieve to it. One of the target of third sustainable development goal is to achieve neonatal mortality rate to less than 12 per 1000 live birth and under 5 mortality rate to low as 25 per 1000 live birth by 2030. Severe acute malnutrition has been a real obstacle to the achievement of the third Sustainable Developmental Goal (SDG) as malnutrition directly and indirectly effect the survival of children under five year of age severe acute malnutrition is a major public health issue, which affects 7.5% of under-five children in India according to NFHS-4 survey. Nearly 0.6 million deaths and 24.6 million DALYs (disability adjusted life years) are attributed to this condition. Short-term consequences of malnutrition include mortality and morbidity, for example, pneumonia, diarrhoea, fatigue and impaired thermos-regulation. In the long term, malnutrition in children may affect adult size, intellectual ability, economic productivity and reproductive performance, and increase the risk of metabolic disorders and cardiovascular disease. Nutritional anaemia is also more common among Sever acute malnutrition (SAM) children and it is also contributing factor for infections. The facility based care is being implemented through a network of CMTCs and NRCs. The admission criteria is ABSTRACT
Factors Associated with Child Labor and Students’ Educational Participation: A Case Study of Public Elementary Schools of Wolaita Zone, Ethiopia

Aim: The study assessed factors associated with child labor and students’ education participation in public elementary schools of Wolaita Zone. Design: The study employed a descriptive survey research design. Place and Duration of Study: The study was conducted in four divisions and one administrative town in Wolaita zone from November 2018 to April 2019. Methodology: Data were obtained from 150 household heads purposively selected to respond to a household survey. Additionally, eight focus group discussions were held with 84, 3 rd and 4 th grade teachers. Data were analyzed using both descriptive statistics, Pearson correlation and Multiple linear regression using SPSS software version 20.0. Results: Findings revealed that child-labor is still common in Wolaita Zone. Results indicated that over three quarters of the sampled households engage their children in paid or unpaid work. The correlation analysis revealed that younger household heads and those with better education, Original Research Article Syoum et al.; AJESS, 10(3): 1-13, 2020; Article no.AJESS. 60175 2 higher income and formal employment were less likely to let their children engage in child labor. The regression analysis found that education participation of 3 rd and 4 th graders increased with the number of children attending school per household, and on the perception of the household head regarding household needs. The decision to send a child to school or not were also based on; households’ economic standing, health care needs, employment opportunities, and being an orphan or having divorced/separated parents. Conclusion: The study concluded that policies that protect children’s rights and those that increase participation in school should be enforced within the study area. As a policy recommendation, community involvement in protection of children welfare is required to support the long-run investment in human capital development.
Nearly Half of Global Vegetated Area Experienced Inconsistent Vegetation Growth in Terms of Greenness, Cover, and Productivity

The considerable interest in detecting global vegetation changes based on satellite observations is increasing. However, studies rely on single indices to explore the driving mechanisms of the greening trend might exacerbate uncertainties of global ecosystem change. Thus, vegetation growth dynamics from various biophysical properties required to be monitored comprehensively. In this study, a consistent framework for evaluating vegetation growth trends was developed based on five widely used satellite‐derived products of MODIS Collection 6; the consistency in vegetation growth was mapped; and the factors that affected the consistency of vegetation growth were explored. The results showed that, during 2000‐2015, 45.6% of global vegetated area experienced inconsistent trends in vegetation greenness, cover and productivity, especially in evergreen broadleaf forests, grasslands, open shrublands, woody savannas and croplands. Only 5.4% of global vegetated area exhibited simultaneous trends in greenness, cover and productivity, and the inconsistent areas were expanding in the study period. Contradictory vegetation changes were mainly reflected in the opposite trends of vegetation greenness and productivity in evergreen broadleaf forests. Moreover, the inconsistency change was mainly manifested in the greenness‐dominated vegetation enhancement, without enhanced productivity. The increment difference between NPP and GPP also showed respiration losses greatly offset the effect of vegetation greenness or cover on productivity. This study provides integrated insights for understanding the inconsistency of vegetation structural and functional changes in the context of global greening.
Perfil de idosos internados em um hospital público de Teresina

Objective: To analyze the profile of the elderly in a public hospital as well as to describe the length of hospital stay and the main causes of hospitalization and comorbidities. Method: Descriptive, cross-sectional study with a quantitative approach. Held in a highly complex public hospital. 122 elderly people participated in the study from December 2018 to February 2019. Inpatients aged 60 years or older were included and patients with unsatisfactory results for Mini Mental State Examination and patients in the Intensive Care Unit were excluded. Results: In the study 62 were female, the most relevant age groups were 66-80 years. Regarding socio-demographic characteristics, the elderly were brown, married, 59 incomplete elementary school and 48 non-literate. Of the respondents, 99 came from other municipalities in Piaui, 77 from the urban area. Regarding family income, 92 elderly people with income of 1 minimum wage and 95 are Catholic. The days of hospitalization the minimum of 01 day, average of 11 days and maximum of 90 days. Among the causes of hospitalization were: Surgical treatment, Fractures, Vascular diseases, Heart Diseases. The comorbidities were: multimorbidities, hypertension, diabetes mellitus and heart disease. Conclusion: It is necessary to invest in the qualification and qualification of professionals of primary health care teams to work on prevention and health promotion, so as to minimize the causes of hospitalization.
Contextualizing Firearms in Mass Shooting Incidents: A Study of Guns, Regulations, and Outcomes

Abstract The current study provides a quantitative examination of 634 firearms used in 348 mass shootings (1966–2018) through a unique firearm-level database. Specifically, this work identifies the relationship between the types of firearms, methods of obtainment, firearm regulations, and incident outcomes. Findings indicate the most common firearms were handguns. They were often legally obtained by the perpetrator, from independently owned or operated federally licensed firearms dealers. Although handgun-specific regulations did not appear to impact the legality of firearms, assault weapons bans were associated with an increase in illegal obtainment. Furthermore, the presence of a semiautomatic rifle and a higher number of guns were associated with increased casualties. A discussion of key findings provides important implications and future directions for scholars, practitioners, and policymakers.
Efficacy of Maxforce and Avion gel baits containing fipronil, clothianidin, and indoxacarb against the German cockroach (Blattella germanica)

The present study evaluated the efficacy of Maxforce gel baits containing 0.01% fipronil (Maxforce), 0.05% fipronil (Maxforce Magnum), 1.0% clothianidin (Maxforce Impact), and 0.6% indoxacarb (Avion gel bait; all from Bayer Environmental Science, Clayton, CA, USA) against reference and wild strains (Mobasher, Andisheh, Tamin‐e Ejtemaei, and Maskoni) of German cockroach collected in 2016. Test design and bait placement were according to World Health Organization (WHO) procedures for efficacy achieving a 95% mortality rate. Although cockroaches fed on all gel baits, gel baits containing clothianidin and indoxacarb were eaten at higher rates than gel baits containing 0.01% and 0.05% fipronil. The cumulative mortality rates reached 100% for all cockroach strains at 32, 28, 28 and 40 h after eating baits containing 0.01% fipronil, 0.05% fipronil, clothianidin, and indoxacarb, respectively. Efficacy (a 95% mortality rate) after exposure (consumption) of gel baits containing 0.05% fipronil and clothianidin was seen after 28 h, compared with 32 h for 0.01% fipronil and 40 h for indoxacarb. In conclusion, commercial gel baits have improved and may be more effective than spray formulations against German cockroaches.
Mechanisms of TPGS and its derivatives inhibiting P-glycoprotein efflux pump and application for reversing multidrug resistance in hepatocellular carcinoma

D-α-Tocopheryl polyethylene glycol 1000 succinate (TPGS) and TPGS based conjugates have been widely researched for treatment of multidrug-resistant (MDR) cancer. Nevertheless, the influence of structural modification of TPGS on its properties and function requires further exploration. In this study, a hypothesis for the interaction between TPGS and P-glycoprotein (P-gp) at the molecular level has been proposed based on the existing limited knowledge of TPGS inhibition on P-gp. Two TPGS derivatives, TPGS–glycyrrhetinic acid conjugate (TGA) and TPGS–lactobionic acid conjugate (TLA), were synthesized. Molecular docking and molecular dynamics (MD) simulations were employed to investigate the P-gp inhibitory ability of TPGS and its derivatives and their inhibitory mechanism. Moreover, a systematic in vitro experiment was conducted to further confirm simulation results and evaluate antitumor effects. It was found that TLA and TGA displayed higher binding affinities with P-gp than TPGS, which was attributed to their properties of hydrophilicity and negative charge. Meanwhile, TPGS and its derivatives prevented the P-gp ATPase from hydrolyzing ATP by blocking the ATP binding sites, thereby inhibiting P-gp function. It was also found that the high hydrophilic–lipophilic balance (HLB) of the polymer contributed to a significant MDR reversing effect. In addition, TLA and TGA could promote intercellular accumulation and noticeably enhance the cytotoxicity of DOX in HepG2 and HepG2/ADR cells compared to TPGS. This work may be an important step in understanding the structure–activity relationships (SARs) of TPGS and its derivatives, the roles of the three polymers in MDR reversal mechanisms and in designing promising excipients for reversing MDR. The results suggested that TLA and TGA can be used as potential P-gp inhibitors or nanocarriers in the field of drug delivery.
Multiway Canonical Correlation Analysis of Brain Signals

Brain signals recorded with electroencephalography (EEG), magnetoencephalography (MEG) and related techniques often have poor signal-to-noise ratio due to the presence of multiple competing sources and artifacts. A common remedy is to average over repeats of the same stimulus, but this is not applicable for temporally extended stimuli that are presented only once (speech, music, movies, natural sound). An alternative is to average responses over multiple subjects that were presented with the same identical stimuli, but differences in geometry of brain sources and sensors reduce the effectiveness of this solution. Multiway canonical correlation analysis (MCCA) brings a solution to this problem by allowing data from multiple subjects to be fused in such a way as to extract components common to all. This paper reviews the method, offers application examples that illustrate its effectiveness, and outlines the caveats and risks entailed by the method.
Sustainability Governance Mechanisms in Supply Chains: An Application in the Retail Sector

This study analyzes supply chain sustainability governance mechanisms, and their characterization, typology, adoption and relationship with the overall level of sustainability in the supply chain, and with the adopting firm’s competitive strategy. It is a case-based study conducted in the Spanish retail sector. A representative set of mechanisms is identified, and both their theoretical background and their degree of practical adoption is established. These mechanisms are then characterized in terms of several traits regarding either the mechanisms themselves or the way they are adopted both by the focal company (internal view) and by its suppliers (external view) in each of the cases. Results suggest that mechanisms might be classified into either ‘enablers’, which increasingly constitute a prerequisite for achieving acceptable levels of sustainability, and ‘differentiators’, which can potentially confer sustainable strategic advantages. Actually, achieving these advantages, however, seems contingent on the additional attainment of a comprehensive ‘depth’ in the implementation of an integrated set of mechanisms of both types, both internally within the focal company and throughout the whole supply chain, as measured by the traits proposed in the study. Furthermore, the concept of ‘circular improvement models’ for sustainable supply chains, akin to Total Quality Management models, is proposed by the authors. The resulting model encompassing enabling and differentiating governance mechanisms could guide the self-evaluation and improvement plans of companies aiming to improve their supply chains sustainability; further guidance on ‘deep adoption’ comprehensive strategies and on the potential for self-reinforcing continuous improvement in sustainability beyond a certain threshold are provided by the study’s conclusions.
Determination of the influence factors on social commerce in SME: A review

Social commerce refers to a new wave of e-commerce wherein traditional e-commerce companies use social media or social networking services to promote online transactions and shopping-related information exchanges. It has become a new critical hub of product sourcing for both businesses and individuals. Still, there is a scarcity of identifying what significantly contributes to success. This study aim to investigate the determinants factor that influence the implementation of social commerce. The results of this study are TAM is a method that is widely used for social commerce implementation, while the factors that influence the implementation of social commerce are trust, perceived usefulness, information quality, ease of use, enjoyment, and service quality.
Comparing Theoretical Models for the Understanding of Health-Risk Behaviour: Towards an Integrative Model of Adolescent Alcohol Consumption

The aim of the present manuscript is to test and compare the theory of reasoned action (TRA), theory of planned behaviour (TPB) and prototype-willingness model (PWM) in predicting risky alcohol consumption among adolescents and to build an integrative model to get a more comprehensive understanding of such risky behaviour. A total sample of 518 adolescents (55% females; 13-19 aged) recruited from Italian schools (7th to 12th grade) participated in a cross-sectional research study and completed an online questionnaire. Risky alcohol use assessed through the AUDIT-C was the dependent variable; whereas, variables from the TRA, TPB, and PWM (i.e. attitude, subjective norms, perceived behavioural control, intention, prototype favourability and similarity, and willingness to alcohol use) were used as predictors. Data were analysed using structural equation modelling (SEM). The findings show that the integrative model had greater explanatory power and provided a better fit to the data, compared to the TRA, TPB, and PWM, indicating attitudes and subjective norms as the best predictors. In conclusion, perceived social approval from significant others and the volitional component have a central role in understanding adolescents’ alcohol consumption.
The Role of Managerial Cognitive Capability in Developing a Sustainable Innovation Ecosystem: A Case Study of Xiaomi

Establishing a hub-based innovation ecosystem is an effective way for companies to cope with technological transformation and achieve sustainable development. While existing literature has explored how a hub firm develops or manages an innovation ecosystem, little attention has been paid to the strategic challenges in the development and management process. In strategic management, managerial cognitive capability has been proposed as a key factor that influences how firms make strategic changes and adapt to dynamic environments. Hence, from the perspective of managerial cognitive capability, this paper strives to investigate the development of an innovation ecosystem from the perspective of managerial cognitive capability. To do so, we conducted a qualitative case study of Xiaomi’s innovation ecosystem from 2010 to 2019. The research adopts an interpretive approach and finds that (1) the evolution of the innovation ecosystem can be divided into incubation, growth, and regeneration periods, with developing core products, related products, and unrelated products as respective focus; (2) under rapid technological and market changes, it is critical to match the managerial cognitive capability of the hub-firm with its innovation ecosystem; (3) building innovation ecosystems enables the hub-firm to achieve sustainable competitive advantages. The study builds a model for the growth of innovation ecosystems and enriches theoretical research on innovation ecosystems and managerial cognitive capability.