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The issue of public and private debt has become one of the central themes in global economics and finance, especially in the context of the recent economic crisis and the expansion of financial markets. This paper brings together the findings of cerebral studies that explore the combined impact of public and private debt on economic growth with the focus on their interdependence as well as the implications for macroeconomic policies. Paper highlights how these types of debt influence each other and contribute to the financial stability or instability of both developed and emerging economies. Over the past decades, debt accumulation has become a key driver for economic development supporting investment in infrastructure and innovation. However these benefits come with significant risk, particularly when the level of indebtedness exceeds certain critical thresholds. Public debt is generally used to finance long-term projects and stimulate the economy during recessions, and private debt which contributes to consumption and private sector development are not easily isolated from one another. These two forms of debt interact in ways that can generate both positive synergies and amplify the negative effects. This paper brings together the conclusions of several studies that explore the combined impact of public and private debt on economic growth focusing on their interdependence and the implications for macroeconomic policies. Throughout the analysis of various perspectives ranging from critical debt thresholds to spillover effects between regions, the paper aims to provide the number of how that can become a systemic risk factor. Moreover, it explores the relationship between sovereign debt and the financial sector which can amplify vulnerabilities during crisis periods and presents the policies needed to manage these risks.

Chinese has the basic word order of Subject-Verb-Object (SVO), yet it is also known as a topic-prominent language, where an object can be topicalized from within a relative clause as well as from a main clause. In parsing Topic-Subject-Verb (TSV) structures, will a Chinese comprehender have difficulties in recognizing the second noun phrase (NP2) as the subject and in integrating the initial topic noun with the verb? Experience/surprisal-based theories and memory-based theories make testable predications at the NP2 and critically, at the verb. Focusing on these two regions in three self-paced reading experiments, we compared reading time patterns between TSVs and canonical SVOs in simple or complex sentences. Converging evidence showed processing costs at or prior to the NP2 in TSVs compared to SVOs, but no retrieval or integration costs at the verb regardless of dependency lengths. Our results are not predicted by memory-based theories, but are consistent with the predictions of experience/surprisal-based theories, suggesting that Chinese TSV processing is guided by structural frequencies and a universal subject-reading bias, with completion of dependency between topic and the verb (or empty category) likely to be fundamentally semantic.

This research aims to analyze the dependence of the IDR-USD exchange rate on the volume of mining exports in Indonesia using the copula approach. This dependence is important to understand considering that the exchange rate and mineral exports have a direct impact on the country's economy which depends on foreign exchange from this sector. Mineral exports are one of the country's main sources of foreign exchange, while the exchange rate influences the competitiveness of exports on the international market. The mining products taken are iron and steel, copper and nickel, which are Indonesia's leading commodities. The copula method was chosen because of its ability to capture and model non-linear dependencies between variables, without considering the distribution of each variable. Copula makes it possible to model the marginal distribution of exchange rates and export volumes separately from their dependency structures, which is in line with the complex and dynamic nature of the Indonesian mining sector economy. The results show that there is no significant dependence between the exchange rate and the volume of commodity exports taken. Therefore, this commodity export volume policy will not have a significant effect on fluctuations in the IDR-USD exchange rate and vice versa. This article can be a recommendation for exporters to understand that export volumes do not need to pay attention to exchange rate fluctuations.

The problem of forest fires is one that, with each passing year, gets more difficult to mitigate. A significant number of people will be affected by this case, particularly in terms of their health. The need for targeted initiatives must be balanced. Look at the forecasts for the number of forest fires expected to occur in the following period. Cases of forest fires reported to the Ministry of Environment and Forestry are categorized into three distinct categories: high, medium, and low. In addition to future estimates, it is reasonable to anticipate that classifications will also affect one another. The vector autoregressive (VAR) model is a statistical tool that may produce future projections based on three categories of forest fires in a specific period. This information can be utilized to make predictions. The aim of the study was to model 3 classifications of forest fire cases using the Vector Autoregressive (VAR) model. The data utilized is a summary of the number of forest fire cases in Pulang Pisau Regency, Central Kalimantan, categorized as low, medium, and high, from January 2013 to March 2024. During this study, the VAR modelling process was broken down into three primary stages: order identification (the findings that were achieved were VAR(4)), parameter estimation, and diagnostic testing (VAR(4) was declared to fulfil the requirements for the diagnostic test). It is possible to generate a predicted value for the subsequent three times based on these stages, which may be considered when calculating the proper amount of effort to put forward. The accuracy of forest fire case modeling utilizing the VAR(4) model is 70.23%. Moreover, the predictive outcomes for each categorization indicate a rise in medium and low-level forest fires compared to previous data, although the contrary is observed for high-level forest fire incidents.

Abstract Improper use of social media during the COVID-19 outbreak, leading to fear and misunderstanding, can contribute to psychological disorders in vulnerable populations. This descriptive and analytical cross-sectional study was conducted in 2023 on 511 medical students of Babol University of Medical Sciences. Data were collected using demographic, psychological distress, fear and misunderstanding questionnaires related to COVID-19 and social media dependency. A total of 511 medical students, with an average age of Mean and S.D; 23.57 ± 3.03 participated in the study. The average psychological distress score was 23.82 ± 7.73 (out of 54), the average score of social media dependency was 17.53 ± 3.09 (out of 30), for the fear of COVID-19 was12.63 ± 2.56 (out of 35), and for the misperception of COVID-19 was 0.53 ± 0.09 (out of 18). Path analysis results) showed that direct path from improper use of social media to psychological distress is significant (P

This article aims to reflect on the following problematizing questions: 1) What is popular education, what is its origin and what teachings does it provide us? 2) Why, after so many historical centuries of resistance and production of orders other than the hegemonic, does part of the critical field maintain the deviation regarding the content of popular education in its real emancipatory intention? To begin the reflective trajectory, we start with a Mexican mural-image by Alba Calderón, entitled Os desocupados. In the theoretical framework of Paulo Freire, José de Souza Martins, Claudia Korol, Oscar Jara, and the sociologist-muralist Eduardo Kingman, the reflection intends to address the questions above, to, in the end, make considerations about the centrality of popular education in the light of experience of rural social movements.

Introduction: When the traditional incremental technique is used for direct placement of composite resin in a deep occlusal cavity, each increment (2 mm or thicker) is individually cured where it undergoes hardening and shrinkage. As increments are bonded to all cavity walls, a constrained shrinkage develops in tooth, composite, and/or interfaces. In the first composite increment, this constrained shrinkage generates tensile stresses which are distributed in a nonuniform pattern within that increment, resulting in premature stressing of the dentin bond of the hybrid layer at the pulpal floor before it reaches full maturation. This premature stressing leads to initiation of interfacial debonding and propagation to form a microgap. This behavior is associated with persistent postoperative sensitivity and tooth pain, over the time, which subsequently results in restoration failure. Aims: This paper provides a comprehensive review on the first composite increment and its dependency on placement technique for the interaction behavior with the maturing dentin-adhesive bond at pulpal floors in deep occlusal cavities. Materials and Methods: The dental database was searched, and 59 articles were collected and included in this review, spanning the years from 1984 to 2023. Results and Discussion: Three biomimetic direct restorative techniques were reported in the literature for incrementally restoring large occlusal cavities. These techniques are the decoupling with time, the decoupling with fiber, and the decoupling with split-increment. They all aim at minimizing the generated shrinkage stresses in the first composite increment for protecting the developing dentin bond of the hybrid layer until it reaches full maturation and thus preventing the initiation and propagation of interfacial defects at pulpal floors of deep occlusal cavities. Finally, the restoration is completed by placing and curing successive increments of 1.5 mm each to fill the cavity; their number depends on the cavity depth. These increments can each be cured immediately following placement. Conclusions: In deep occlusal cavities, the interaction behavior between the first composite increment and the maturing dentin-adhesive bond at the pulpal floor depends on the technique used for the increment placement. This behavior is either favorable with the direct biomimetic techniques or unfavorable with the traditional incremental technique. With the direct biomimetic techniques, no premature shrinkage stressing of the dentin bond is induced at the pulpal floor. This prevents the initiation of interfacial debonding and propagation to form microgaps and results in the absence of postoperative sensitivity and persistent tooth pain.

IntroductionCognitive impairment and dementia are part of a continuum that progressively leads to functional impairment and dependency. Dementia is a paradigmatic example of chronic and complex psychogeriatric diseases, requiring a comprehensive assessment. The authors underline the importance of implementing a formal assessment of needs (whether met or unmet) as an essential element of comprehensive assessment. The aim of this paper is to empirically validate this model of approach towards dementia, the needs assessment, demonstrating the relationship between needs and functionality/dependency in people with cognitive impairment/dementia in the community.Material and methodsCommunity-based, cross-sectional, descriptive epidemiological study based on the reanalysis of data from a two-phase community epidemiological study conducted in Santiago de Compostela, Spain, of 800 people over 65 years of age. The present study reanalyzes a subsample of 368 people, including those with dementia/cognitive impairment. The comprehensive assessment of the sample included sociodemographic variables, the presence of chronic diseases, health self-perception, assessment of affective, cognitive and functional state, as well as the needs assessment. The main instruments used were the MMSE, the Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS), the Barthel and Katz Indices, the Lawton Scale, and, for the needs assessment, the Camberwell Assessment of Need for the Elderly (CANE). For the clinical diagnosis of dementia, the ICD-10 criteria were followed. Statistical analysis: A study of the association between variables was carried out through hypothesis testing and a multivariate study was performed using regression models to analyze the relationship between the different variables defining disability/dependency, other health conditions and sociodemographic variables and the MMSE score as an expression of the cognitive impairment/dementia continuum.ResultsPeople with cognitive impairment/dementia had a higher number of needs compared to the healthy population. The severity of cognitive impairment is a significant predictor of dependency in Basic Activities of Daily Living (BADL) and is also a predictor of a greater number of needs (both met and unmet).DiscussionThe present study provides empirical evidence of the importance of implementing scales to assess the needs of people with cognitive impairment, as part of the process of comprehensive biopsychosocial assessment and person-centered care for dementia.

LSTM has been presented to overcome the problem of the gradient vanishing and explosion. Tree-LSTM could improve the parallel speed of LSTM, and incorporate relevant information from dependency or syntax trees. Tree-LSTM can update gate and memory vectors from the multiple sub-units. Learning edge features can strengthen the expression ability of graph neural networks. However, the original Child-Sum Tree-LSTMs ignores edge features during aggregating the sub-nodes hidden states. To enhance node representation, we propose an interaction mechanism that can alternately updating nodes and edges vectors, thus the model can learn the richer nodes vectors. The interaction mechanism attaches the node embedding to its connected link at the first stage. Next, it superimposes the updated edge into the parent node once more. Repeat the above steps from bottom to top. We present five strategies during the alternant renewal process. Meanwhile, we adopt one constituent parser and one dependency parser to produce the diversified formats, and compare their performances in the experiment result. The proposed model achieves better performance than baseline methods on the BioNLP’09 and MLEE corpuses. The experimental results show that the simple event results are almost identical for each parser. But for complex events, Stanford Parser is better than MaltParser because of more frequent interactive behaviors. The different parsing formats have different results, and CoNLL’2008 Dependencies show competitive and superior performance for each parser.

Lo studio dell’economia palestinese pone numerose sfide alla disciplina economica. Si tratta di un sistema generato da una storia complessa, assai frammentato dal punto di vista geografico, sociale e politico. Inoltre, gli Accordi di Oslo e il relativo Protocollo sulle Relazioni Economiche (o Protocollo di Parigi) con Israele hanno creato una struttura economica in cui l’Autorità Palestinese – uno degli attori economici della Palestina precedente al 7 ottobre 2023, ma non il solo – è priva di ogni leva di politica economica. È fondamentale capire nel dettaglio caratteristiche e implicazioni di questa assenza di sovranità. Si tratta di un caso sostanzialmente unico e peculiare, tale per cui lo sviluppo macroeconomico palestinese risulta di fatto impraticabile alla luce di qualunque approccio teorico si adotti.

Background: Health-related quality of life (HRQoL) is an essential outcome parameter in geriatric research; however, the available evidence is mixed regarding the factors associated with HRQoL among people with dementia. We aimed to identify factors that contribute to HRQoL among people with dementia in residential long-term care (LTC) institutions. Methods: We randomly selected 299 of 1607 registered residential LTC institutions in Taiwan. A cross-sectional survey was conducted between 2019 and 2020, including items on demographic characteristics, comorbidities, the EuroQol-5 dimensions-5 levels (EQ-5D-5L; utility and visual analog scale [VAS] scores), the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE), the Clinical Dementia Rating (CDR), behavioral and psychological symptoms of dementia, activities of daily living (ADL), and instrumental ADL (IADL). Results: In total, 1313 people with dementia from 267 institutions were enrolled (mean age, 76.4 ± 12.7 years). The mean EQ-5D-5L utility and VAS scores were 0.10 (standard deviation [SD] = 0.48) and 66.57 (SD = 20.67), respectively. In multivariate linear regression analysis, higher scores for ADL, IADL, and CDR sum of boxes were associated with higher utility scores. Higher VAS scores were associated with higher ADL and MMSE scores. Lower utility scores and VAS scores were associated with more frequent depressive symptoms. Conclusion: ADL, dementia severity, cognitive function, and depressive symptoms influenced the HRQoL of people with dementia in residential LTC institutions. Longitudinal studies should be conducted to better understand how HRQoL changes over time among people with disabilities.

Background: Regular utilization of dental services enables to improve and maintain oral and general health, in old age. The study assessed the factors acting as barriers and their association with the utilization of dental services among the elderly population aged 65–74 years in Davangere, India. Methodology: A cross-sectional door-to-door survey using a self-designed, structured, validated questionnaire was carried out with a sample of 1440 elders aged 65–74 years residing in Davangere city. They were randomly selected through a multistage sampling technique. Information regarding demographic details, systemic conditions, oral hygiene practices, perceived need, utilization rate of dental services, and factors acting as barriers for the utilization of dental services among elderly was collected. “Cronbach’s α test and test–retest” tests were performed to assess the validity and reliability of the questionnaire. The Chi-square test, Pearson correlation test, and multivariate logistic regression analysis were used to assess the association between various factors acting as barriers and utilization of dental services. Results: Fifty percent of elders perceived a problem in their oral cavity, and 41.4% had utilized dental service in the previous year. The factors such as location of clinic, appointment system, expense of treatment, self-care, inability to comprehend the dentist explanation, availability of specialist, and service on weekends were highly significant in the regression model (P < 0.0001). Conclusion: Education, economic condition, negative perception of dental treatment, presence of systemic conditions, inability to comprehend dentist explanation, and use of self-oral care were the most important barriers for the utilization of dental services.

Abstract While Free and Open Source (F/OSS) coding has traditionally been described as a separate commons linked to values of openness and sharing, recent research suggests an increasing integration of private corporations into F/OSS practices, blurring the boundaries between F/OSS and commodified coding. However, there is a dearth of empirical, and especially quantitative studies exploring this phenomenon. To address this gap, we model the power dynamics and infrastructural aspects of software production within GitHub, a central hub for F/OSS development, using a large-scale, directed network. Using various network statistics, we detect the ecosystem’s most impactful actors and find a nuanced picture of the influence of individuals, open source organizations, and private corporations in F/OSS practices. We find that the majority of public repositories on GitHub depend on a small core of specialized repositories and users. In accordance with expectations, individuals and open source organizations are more prevalent in this core of elite GitHub users, however, we also find a significant amount of private organizations with an indirect, yet consistent influence within GitHub. In addition, we find that directly influential individuals tend to facilitate sponsorship methods more often than indirectly or non-influential individuals. Our research highlights a hybridization of F/OSS and sheds light on the complex interplay between influence, power, and code production in the multi-language dependency ecosystem of GitHub.

Abstract Background Frailty among older adults undergoing hemodialysis is increasingly prevalent, significantly impacting cognitive function, mobility, and social engagement. This study focuses on the clinical profiles of very older adults in hemodialysis, particularly examining the interplay of dependency and frailty, and their influence on dialysis regimens. Methods In this observational, descriptive study, 107 patients aged over 75 from four outpatient centers and one hospital unit were examined over a year. Patient data encompassed sociodemographic factors, dialysis specifics, analytical outcomes, lifestyle elements, and self-reported post-treatment fatigue. Malnutrition-inflammation scale was used to measure the Nutritional status; MIS scale for malnutrition-inflammation, Barthel index for dependency, Charlson comorbidity index; FRIED scale for frailty and the SF12 quality of life measure. Results The study unveiled that a substantial number of older adults on hemodialysis faced malnutrition (55%), dependency (21%), frailty (46%), and diminished quality of life (57%). Patients with dependency were distinctively marked by higher comorbidity, severe malnutrition, enhanced frailty, nursing home residency, dependency on ambulance transportation, and significantly limited mobility, with 77% unable to walk. Notably, 56% of participants experienced considerable post-dialysis fatigue, correlating with higher comorbidity, increased dependency, and poorer quality of life. Despite varying clinical conditions, dialysis patterns were consistent across the patient cohort. Conclusions The older adult cohort, averaging over four years on hemodialysis, exhibited high rates of comorbidity, frailty, and dependency, necessitating substantial support in transport and living arrangements. A third of these patients lacked residual urine output, yet their dialysis regimen mirrored those with preserved output. The study underscores the imperative for tailored therapeutic strategies to mitigate dependency, preserve residual renal function, and alleviate post-dialysis fatigue, ultimately enhancing the physical quality of life for these patients.

Most job reforms in terms of digitalisation stem from technology and information. The changes and developments that take place in this sector of activity subsequently determine what will be the changes in the labor market for all bald areas of activity (Aleksynska et al., 2019). Thus, there can be no discussion about the digitalisation of agriculture itself as an individual sector, nor about other isolated areas. Digitalization takes place among employees, the workforce and acts in the direction of changing the job description of a particular profession (De Stefano et al., 2018). Digitalisation does not depend only on the way of automation and technology of technical processes (Asmer et al., 2022). It also largely depends on the ability of individuals to adapt and educate themselves digitally (Veselko and Gaurav, 2021). In this way, jobs do not change only as a structure, but are modernized and make way for the emergence of new jobs, new specializations that require training from several fields of activity or a greater deepening of a certain field (Graham et al., 2017). The statement is valid for all fields of activity, starting from the financial sector of activity where the activity is aimed at processing large databases, to activities specific to the humanities, sociological field (Horton et al., 2017). This paper is concerted on the interpretation of those elements that alter a certain structure of the labor market, as well as the way in which these changes propagate.

This paper aims to explore the effects of earthquakes on the properties of medium-height reinforced concrete houses in China. The results demonstrated a significant decrease in ultrasonic resonance frequency, indicating structural damage, with reductions of 26.5 %, 30.2 %, and 37 % observed for earthquakes of magnitudes 5.0, 5.3, and 5.7, respectively. Similarly, the dynamic modulus of elasticity exhibited a reduction of over 50 %. Measurements of carbonation depth revealed values of 34.65 mm, 38.97 mm, and 46.12 mm for earthquakes of magnitudes 5.0, 5.3, and 5.7, respectively. Accordingly, the percentage of mass loss amounted to 22.17 %, 36.87 %, and 49.78 %. Furthermore, experiments identified the least favourable outcomes during maximum seismic activity, with a recorded peak stress of 447.3 MPa at a deformation of 0.63 mm. These findings contribute to a better understanding of the impact of seismic events on reinforced concrete structures and the associated corrosion mechanisms.

BackgroundNursing homes in the Caribbean are scarce and the characteristics of their residents have not been previously documented. This study aimed to describe the clinical profiles of residents living in nursing homes in Guadeloupe and Martinique (French West Indies).MethodsThis is a cross-sectional study of the baseline screening data from the KASEHPAD (Karukera Study of Ageing in nursing homes) study. Clinical characteristics and geriatric scale scores, including the Activities of Daily Living (ADL), Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE), Mini Nutritional Assessment Short-Form (MNA-SF) and Short Physical Performance Battery (SPPB) were collected and analysed.ResultsA total of 332 older adults were recruited between September 2020 and November 2022. The mean age of the residents was 81.3 ± 10.1, with a male–female ratio of 1:1. Diabetes was reported in 28.3% of the residents, hypertension in 66.6% and heart disease in 18.4%. Dementia was diagnosed in 52.3% of the residents and 74.9% had a MMSE score ≤18. The prevalence of Parkinson’s disease was 9.0%. Additionally, 18.4% were unable to perform any basic activities of daily living (ADL score of 0). The prevalence of physical impairment (SPPB

Under the Trump presidency, the United States and China were embroiled in an open trade war that threatened the neoliberal world order. This paper attempts to put forward an explanation of the trade war from a world-systems perspective. Using the world-systems theory, systemic cycles accumulation theory, and the new international division of labor thesis, the paper contends that the rise of China and the protectionist stance of the United States were products of the neoliberal world economic and political order. It concludes that the trade war has not ended with the end of the Trump presidency. On the contrary, the trade war is systemic and will continue to be fought regardless of which party or persons who occupy the White House. The willingness of the American leadership to use international institutions as dispute resolution mechanisms and avoid unilateral undertakings would define the nature of the trade war and its possible outcomes.

Abstract During the 21st Century, China has played a growing role in international trade and geopolitics, with important consequences for the Global South. In Argentina and Brazil, international insertion as a development model has been questioned. Although this situation has allowed for economic growth, it has also recreated old relationships of dependency. This study contributes to the discussion of the possibilities of implementing development policies in Argentina and Brazil in a scenario in which the international (re) emergence of China reinforces the structural power of the historical ruling classes. To do so, dependency categories, as well as notions of the accumulation regime and Poulantzas’ power bloc, are used in an international political economy framework, which empirically focuses on elaborate data on trade and investment.

Abstract Background During the COVID-19 pandemic, depression and suicide rates increased worldwide, and in Japan. Presumably, an increase of neuroticism-related personality traits mediates the relation linking the COVID-19 pandemic with depression and suicide. This study examined COVID-19 pandemic effects on dysfunctional attitudes, cognitive vulnerability to depression, in healthy participants. Methods The study used Dysfunctional Attitude Scale (DAS) -24 data of three subscales (i.e., achievement, dependency, and self-control) obtained from 270 Japanese medical students during October 2017 – June 2022. Participants were divided into two groups: those for whom DAS-24 was assessed before the pandemic (phase 1 group, October 2017 – March 2020, n = 178) and those for whom DAS-24 was assessed during the pandemic (phase 2 group, April 2020 – June 2022, n = 92). Results Total DAS-24 scores of the phase 2 group were significantly (p = 0.047) lower than those of the phase 1 group. Scores of the dependency subscale for the phase 2 group were significantly (p = 0.002) lower than those for the phase 1 group, but no significant difference was found in the scores of the achievement and self-control subscales. Conclusions These findings suggest that a decrease in DAS-24 scores, particularly of the dependency subscale, occurred during the COVID-19 pandemic. Possible mechanisms underlying these results are 1) individuals became less preoccupied with receiving evaluation, 2) individuals realized that self-cognition depending on the approval of others is unimportant, and 3) high levels of dysfunctional attitude were maladaptive for obtaining affective benefits via social interactions during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Introduction: Depression in the elderly is becoming common and has dangerous implications on elderly that not only lowers quality of life, but it also has an impact on the prognosis of other chronic conditions leading to disability. According to WHO, depression occurs in 7% of elderly population and in India prevalence of depression among elderly is 9.3%. Objective: To estimate the prevalence of depression among geriatric age group and to determine the association between the depression and the dependency among geriatric population. Method: Present cross sectional study was conducted with 220 villagers of age above 60 years from catchment area of Rural Health training center of medical college. The identification of depression and dependency was carried out using the Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS) and Barthel Index respectively. Results: The prevalence of depression and dependency among the geriatric population was found out to be 28 % and 31%, respectively. There was significant association between median scores of Barthel Index among depressed and non-depressed individuals (p value< 0.001). There was significant association between depression and dependency (P value=0.05). Conclusion: The present study shows 28% of prevalence of depression among elderly population and dependency as a significant risk factor for depression, thus showing the importance of analyzing dependency status while screening for the mental health status of the elderly person.

Introduction: Household heads females are of the most vulnerable in the society, especially in terms of health and mental health, due to their multiple roles, financial poverty, loneliness, and many limitations and this matter determines the importance of using appropriate and effective psychological treatments for them. Aim: This research aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of rational emotive behavioral therapy on death anxiety, interpersonal dependency and mental well-being of household heads females. Method: The research design was semi-experimental with pre-test - post-test and follow-up with a control group. 30 female heads of households in Isfahan city in 2022 were selected by purposive sampling method and randomly assigned to two control and experimental groups. The experimental group received 10, 90-minute sessions of rational emotive behavioral therapy, and the control group did not receive any intervention. Measurement tools included Templer's Death Anxiety Scale (1970), Hirschfeld's Interpersonal Dependency Inventory (1997), as well as Keyes and Magyarmo's Mental Well-Being questionnaire (2003). The data was analyzed using multivariate analysis of covariance with SPSS23. Results: The results showed that behavior therapy intervention had a significant effect on death anxiety, interpersonal dependency and mental well-being with effect sizes of 0.60, 0.196, and 0.424 (P=0.001), respectively, and the effects of the intervention remained in the follow-up(P

Background: Higher life expectancy has produced a higher older people porpulation, not necessarily with a consistent quality of life, showing a high rate of vulnerability and dependence. The current social and health crisis situation has highlighted the need to create new integrated models of care that could be translated into social and health policies. Objective: The present study aims to develop, test, and validate an innovative integrated care model for older people with dependence and at risk of social exclusion and their caregivers. Methods: The TEC-MED project participants are nine project partners and six associated partners, with geographic coverage from six countries in the Mediterranean basin, Spain, Tunisia, Italy, Lebanon, Egypt, and Greece. Project coordination will take place at three different levels, macro, meso and micro, through six work packages. The pilot phase uses qualitative-quantitative method to assess the impact of the TEC-MED project, it is expected to train 36 Training Agents, six per country, who apply to a total of 28,200 people (mainly elders and their caregivers). Conclusion: The study proposes a new social integrated care organizational model focused on the integration of social and health care, comprising the governance model; the organization structure and the skills profiles for the caring personnel. Abstracta Antecedentes: La mayor esperanza de vida ha generado un incremento en la población de personas mayores, sin embargo, no necesariamente se ha traducido en una mejora constante de la calidad de vida, evidenciándose una alta tasa de vulnerabilidad y dependencia. La actual crisis social y sanitaria ha resaltado la necesidad de crear nuevos modelos integrados de atención que puedan traducirse en políticas sociales y de salud. Objetivo: El presente estudio tiene como objetivo desarrollar, probar y validar un modelo innovador de atención integrada para personas mayores con dependencia y/o en riesgo de exclusión social, así como para sus personas cuidadoras. Métodos: Los participantes del proyecto TEC-MED son nueve socios del proyecto y seis asociados, con cobertura geográfica en seis países de la cuenca del Mediterráneo: España, Túnez, Italia, Líbano, Egipto y Grecia. La coordinación del proyecto se llevará a cabo en tres niveles diferentes, macro, meso y micro, y a través de seis paquetes de trabajo. La fase piloto utiliza un método cualitativo-cuantitativo para evaluar el impacto del proyecto TEC-MED. Se espera capacitar a 36 Agentes de Formación, seis por país, quienes aplicarán el proyecto a un total de 28,200 personas (principalmente personas mayores y sus personas cuidadoras.). Conclusión: El estudio propone un nuevo modelo organizativo de atención social integrada, centrado en la integración de la atención social y sanitaria, que comprende el modelo de gobernanza, la estructura organizativa y los perfiles de competencias del personal de cuidado. Palabras Claves: Atención integrada; Dependencia; Personas mayores; Riesgo de exclusión; Transcultural

This study examines the influence of depressive personality styles on treatment responses in patients with major depression receiving cognitive behavioural therapy and psychodynamic therapy. We assessed changes in personality styles, including dependency, self-criticism, sociotropy, and autonomy, and their association with treatment response. Both treatment modalities led to significant reductions in self-criticism and sociotropy scores. Depressive symptom severity decreased overall, with a more pronounced reduction observed in the cognitive behavioural therapy group. Notably, reduced self-criticism and sociotropy were associated with better treatment outcomes in the cognitive behavioural therapy group. Our findings highlight the role of personality styles in influencing treatment outcomes for major depression. The study suggests an association between changes in personality styles and the reduction of symptoms. Our results support the idea that unique pathways of change are activated depending on the therapeutic intervention. These insights are critical in tailoring treatments to individual needs, addressing the central question of ‘what works for whom’.

BackgroundStroke is the leading cause of death in China. Older stroke survivors often have other chronic conditions, not only musculoskeletal deterioration due to age, but also changes in body image that can be brought on by stroke and other diseases, making them unable to take good care of themselves and dependent on others. The degree of dependency affects the rehabilitation progress of stroke survivors and shows dynamic changes that need to be recognized.ObjectivesThis study investigates the trajectory of dependency changes in older stroke patients with comorbidities and analyze the influencing factors.MethodsGrounded in the Chronic Illness Trajectory Framework (CITF), a longitudinal study was conducted from February 2023 to October 2023, tracking 312 older stroke patients with comorbidities admitted to two tertiary hospitals in Guangzhou. Care dependency levels were assessed using Care Dependency Scale on admission day 5 (T0), at discharge (T1), 1 month post-discharge (T2), and 3 months post-discharge (T3). Growth Mixture Model were utilized to identify trajectory categories, and both univariate analysis and multivariate logistic regression methods were employed to explore factors associated with different developmental trajectories.ResultsA total of four developmental trajectories were fitted, C1 (high independence-slow increased group, 52.0%), C2 (moderate independence-rapid increased group, 13.0%), C3 (moderate independence-slow increased group, 25.0%), and C4 (low independence-increased and decreased group, 10.0%). Length of hospital stay, place of residence, level of social support, residual functional impairments, NIHSS score, and BI index independently influence the trajectory categories.ConclusionThere is heterogeneity in care dependency among older stroke patients with comorbidities. Most patients gradually reduce their dependency and become more independent, but others remain dependent for an extended period of time. It is recommended to focus on patients who live in rural areas, have low social support, have high admission NIHSS scores and have residual functional impairment, and provide them with personalized continuity of care and rehabilitation services in order to reduce care dependency and the burden of care, and to improve patients’ quality of life.

Background: Elder abuse is a multidimensional problem of public importance. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), 16% of older people were victims of elder abuse. A study conducted by HelpAge India in 2018 showed that Mangaluru ranks the highest in elder abuse (47%). Given the scarce literature, this study sought to determine the prevalence of elder abuse and its associated sociodemographic factors. Material and Methods: A community-based cross-sectional study was conducted among the senior population in the rural and urban field practice a medical college in Mangaluru for one and a half years. The sample size was 280. Results: Most of the study population was in the age group of fewer than 75 years (75.4%), with 50.4% females, 60% Hindus, 56.4% married, 39.3% illiterate, and 88.9% of them retired. The prevalence of elder abuse was 44.6% (rural = 50.7% and urban = 38.6%). Binary logistic regression showed that elder abuse was statistically significant among the unemployed, extended family members, and staying with children. Conclusions: The study brings to light the sociodemographic factors that play a role in detecting elder abuse. It also shows the importance of awareness of elder mistreatment among older people. These elements must be considered for implementing and enforcing laws and legislation to help curb elder abuse.

The supply of coffee beans in Indonesia involves several stakeholders, namely farmers, collectors and KUB (Joint Business Group). Sustainable supply activities are human, economic, social, environmental and technological resource management activities. The aim of this research is to analyze the sustainability performance of human resources in the supply of coffee beans in Indonesia. The data processing stage is identifying the supply of coffee beans in Indonesia. Analysis of identifying the supply of coffee beans in Indonesia, analysis of added value, measurement and assessment of the sustainable supply performance index for coffee beans. The added value of coffee bean supply was analyzed using the Hayami modification. SCOR-AHP (Supply Chain Operations Reference-Analytical Hierarchy Process) is used to measure the sustainability performance of human resources. The supply status of coffee beans is calculated using the Multi-Dimensional Scaling (MDS) technique with R software. The value added ratio for coffee farmers is low (46.58%) compared to collectors with (71.31%) and KUB (86.35% ). Farmers' supply performance is 71.99% lower than collectors with a value of 88.15% and KUB 86.77%. The economic dimension of sustainability is almost sustainable (78.39), the social dimension is sustainable (89.25), the environmental dimension is almost sustainable (79.63) and the technological dimension is almost sustainable (67.68). The aggregate value of sustainable supply shows 78.72% which means almost sustainable. This research recommends a strategy for building partnerships between coffee farmers and coffee cafes to improve performance and sustainability of the supply of coffee beans.

Aim and Objectives: The aim of the present study was to determine the impact or effect of nicotine dependence on self-efficacy and readiness to quit. Materials and Method: The current study was performed using a cross-sectional descriptive questionnaire design among tobacco users visiting primary health care facilities in the rural Jaipur district. Jaipur district is divided into four directions: east, west, north, and south. From each direction, two PHCs were selected randomly based on suitable accessibility to patients. Sample size of study is 465. Out of 465 tobacco consumers, 238 were consuming a smoked form of tobacco, and 227 study participants were consuming a smokeless form of tobacco. Results: It was observed that the majority of study participants (145 (31%)) need smoke/smokeless tobacco within 5 minutes of waking up. With regards to internal stimuli, the majority of study participants (179 (38%)) and (203 (44%)) were not very sure that they would refrain from smoking when they were nervous and depressed. It was determined that quitting tobacco products was not at all important for 159 (34%) study participants. In regards to confidence in tobacco product quitting, only 79 (16%) of tobacco consumers were extremely confident. Conclusion: It was concluded that nicotine dependence impacts both self-efficacy and readiness to quit. It was determined that the higher the nicotine dependence, the less self-efficacy and the less would be the readiness to quit.

Objectives: Analyze the flow of appointments at the Dental Hygiene Clinic for People with Disabilities at FMDUL, characterize their clients, and relate their dental health status with their main disability, level of dependency, difficulties in oral hygiene, and frequency of appointments. Methods: This observational, analytical, cross-sectional study included a sample of 555 patients who attended the Dental Hygiene Clinic for People with Disabilities at FMDUL between 2015 and 2019. The decayed missing and filled teeth (DMFT) index, bleeding index, and debris index were collected from clinical records. Statistical analysis included the Kruskal-Wallis and Mann-Whitney tests with a significance level of 5%. Results: During the study period, 3120 appointments were carried out. The DMFT index was 9.51(±7.49) and was higher in individuals with intellectual disabilities (p

The Baia Mare region was once one of Romania's main mining centres, with a significant proportion of the local population engaged in industry jobs. However, the extensive economic restructuring that followed the collapse of the old communist regime and the emergence of capitalist development was characterized by brutal privatization measures and great economic instability. While the transition years brought new opportunities for some, for most they meant unstable housing and employment, debt, and a declining social status. Thus, many workers quickly became ‘surplus populations’ (Li 2017) and were forced into patterns of circular migration abroad. Employing a qualitative research methodology, analysing both interviews and secondary data, this paper will focus on the adaptive responses of workers from Baia Mare to the changes in the socio-economic landscape after the collapse of the communist regime and the advance of neoliberal policies in Romania. In particular, the paper looks at Roma and non-Roma migrants from Baia Mare, attempting to compare their strategies and work histories in the context of migration, to see the extent to which class and race differences play a role in creating specific migration patterns in the post-socialist context. The comparison between racialized people living in improvised shelters on the periphery of Baia Mare and those who are working class but not living in a situation of destitution will show us the role that dispossession plays in creating certain conditions that lead to debt dependency and specific migration patterns.

Abstract Background A comprehensive understanding of subgroups of community-dwelling older adults and their long-term care (LTC) utilization can help to promote equality in the long-term services and support system. Dependency and household characteristics were found to affect the LTC utilization of homebound older adults. However, few studies considered the typologies of dependency of older populations according to co-occurring limitations, and little is known about differences in LTC use among elderly of typologies of dependency under distinct household conditions. Methods We aimed to identify typologies of dependency of older adults living at home and explore the disparities in formal care and informal care use among typologies of dependency by income and living situation. In this cross-sectional study, we used the public long-term care insurance (LTCI) database of Yiwu, Zhejiang Province, China, and included 1675 individuals aged ≥ 60 years living at home. Cluster analysis was conducted to determine typologies of dependency among older adults. A two-step multilevel analysis was used to examine disparities in formal and informal care use related to household income and living status among typologies of dependency. Results Seven dependency clusters were identified. Pro-wealthy inequalities in both formal and informal care use were found in the least dependent cluster and the limited-locomotion cluster. Pro-poor inequalities in formal care use were found in the fully dependent cluster without impaired vision and the cluster with intact continence and vision. Living with family members was positively associated with receiving formal care for the fully dependent cluster. Older adults in most clusters were more likely to use informal care when living with family members, except for the least dependent cluster and the limited-locomotion cluster. Conclusions Our findings suggest that household inequalities in LTC use varied among typologies of dependency of older adults, which may provide insights for researchers and policymakers to develop tailored LTC and targeted LTCI programs for older adults living at home and their family caregivers, considering both typologies of dependency and household characteristics.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) technology, particularly generative AI, has positively impacted education by enhancing mathematics instruction with personalized learning experiences and improved data analysis. Nonetheless, variations in AI literacy, trust in AI, and dependency on these technologies among mathematics teachers can significantly influence their development of 21st-century skills such as self-confidence, problem-solving, critical thinking, creative thinking, and collaboration. This study aims to identify distinct profiles of AI literacy, trust, and dependency among mathematics teachers and examines how these profiles correlate with variations in the aforementioned skills. Using a cross-sectional research design, the study collected data from 489 mathematics teachers in China. A robust three-step latent profile analysis method was utilized to analyze the data. The research revealed five distinct profiles of AI literacy and trust among the teachers: (1) Basic AI Engagement; (2) Developing AI Literacy, Skeptical of AI; (3) Balanced AI Competence; (4) Advanced AI Integration; and (5) AI Expertise and Confidence. The study found that an increase in AI literacy and trust directly correlates with an increase in AI dependency and a decrease in skills such as self-confidence, problem-solving, critical thinking, creative thinking, and collaboration. The findings underscore the need for careful integration of AI technologies in educational settings. Excessive reliance on AI can lead to detrimental dependencies, which may hinder the development of essential 21st-century skills. The study contributes to the existing literature by providing empirical evidence on the impact of AI literacy and trust on the professional development of mathematics teachers. It also offers practical implications for educational policymakers and institutions to consider balanced approaches to AI integration, ensuring that AI enhances rather than replaces the critical thinking and problem-solving capacities of educators.

Recognizing the global challenges faced by marine ecosystems and the people that depend on them, there is a growing worldwide uptake of the “Blue Economy” approach for establishing equitable and sustainable ocean industries. Research has shown that the capacity to achieve these Blue Economies is largely shaped by enabling governance conditions related to social and economic equity, more so than available natural resources. Yet there is often a very wide variation across such enabling conditions even within nations and subregions of the world. This must be addressed to build the foundations necessary for regional development and cooperation in shared ocean systems, but will require much beyond investments in scientific knowledge, technology, or infrastructure. Indeed, in most developing (and some developed) regions of the world, enabling conditions for and establishing a Blue Economy will require confronting and redressing colonial and postcolonial histories of systematic underdevelopment. Accordingly, we conduct a regional, historical comparative analysis to assess how country differences in colonial and post-colonial development processes correspond with varying levels of Blue Economy capacity. We focus on the Caribbean given its deep reliance on ocean systems, the wide variability in current enabling conditions for a Blue Economy, and its long history of colonial exploitation. Our structural analysis emphasizes how the historical forces of colonial and neocolonial development serve as long-standing obstacles to achieving high Blue Economy capacity in the region. We reason that these findings provide further justification for reparation programs, which possess relevance for ocean sustainability and development across the Global South.

ABSTRACT We explore structural differences in growth patterns and income distribution between central and peripheral countries. We provide dimensions that account for the structural limitations that dependent positions have in the peripheries and semi-peripheries. We conducted an analysis through different estimates of panel data models for 35 central and peripheral countries for the period 1980-2018. In particular, in addition to making the usual estimates of the components of aggregate demand, we include three variables that we consider representative of the dynamics that capital accumulation takes in the periphery: participation in global value chains, levels of foreignization of economies and labor productivity differentials.

This article examines the effects of neocolonialism on Africa’s development and explores potential strategies to counter its negative impact. The legacy of colonialism has cast a long shadow over the continent, with neocolonial practices posing significant obstacles to sustained socio-economic growth and self-determination. This study aims to extensively understand neocolonialism’s multifaceted impacts on Africa’s economic growth and development by employing a qualitative approach and analyzing secondary data sources. The analysis highlights the intricate dynamics of neocolonial control in Africa, including economic dominance, political interference, cultural subjugation, and power imbalances. Moreover, it sheds light on the role of foreign aid and trade, multinational corporations, and international financial institutions in perpetuating neocolonial practices. These means and mechanisms enable the former colonial powers to exert indirect influence over Africa’s economic and political landscape, impeding genuine progress. Findings reveal that Africa’s nominal and flag independence following decolonization has not translated into genuine autonomy and self-sufficiency. Instead, the continent continues to face economic dependence, corruption, and stunted development due to neocolonial exploitation. The exploitation of Africa’s vast natural and human resources, unequal trade relationships, and support for authoritarian regimes have all contributed to the continent’s ongoing struggles. To address these challenges, the article proposes tentative strategies and solutions. These include promoting fair trade practices, empowering African nations to regain control over their resources and economies, promoting regional integration and cooperation, strengthening governance and institutions, and fostering a more equitable global economic order. Africa can achieve genuine economic growth, social progress, and self-determination by countering neocolonial practices and fostering sustainable development. Acknowledging the complex web of neocolonial dynamics is crucial for formulating effective strategies and policies to dismantle neocolonial structures and promote sustainable development.

The forest-dependent communities in a Canadian context have been studied for several decades. However, in the late 1990s and early 2000s, Canada's so-called "forest-dependent" communities became the focus of several studies in the context of the implementation of sustainable development and the criteria and indicators for sustainable forest management. Despite a recognition that community-forest relationships are multi-dimensional, the criteria and indicators deployed in Canada to measure the achievement of sustainability goals by forest-dependent communities have been predominantly linked to forest industry economics. This economic emphasis is particularly problematic in the context of climate change, as it affects communities across a broader set of values. This article highlights the need to revise the criteria and indicators of sustainable forest management from the perspective of climate change adaptation. The approach is driven by a dual objective: to ensure better monitoring of communities and to identify synergies between sustainable forest management and climate change adaptation.

Modular Multilevel Converter (MMC) is widely used in applications such as High Voltage Direct Current (HVDC) transmission, AC/DC power conversion centers, and large-scale power quality management in electrical grids due to its highly modular structure, strong redundancy and low harmonic content in AC output. The application of the traditional deadbeat predictive current control to MMC enhances the fast tracking ability of the output current, but it still has the problems of low output current accuracy and high dependence on bridge arm inductor. Based on this, this paper proposes an improved two-beat deadbeat synchronous predictive current control based on Newton interpolation method. By improving the two-beat deadbeat synchronous predictive current control strategy, the accuracy of the output current can be further improved and its fast tracking ability can be enhanced. Newton interpolation is introduced to improve the accuracy of the output current while reducing the dependence on the bridge arm inductor. The results show that the control strategy proposed in this paper reduces the output current THD by 2.88% compared with the two-beat deadbeat predictive current control, thus improving the accuracy; the bridge arm inductor value is reduced by 1.28%, thus reducing the dependence; and under the transient environment, the output current can be tracked to its predicted reference value 843 μs in advance, which enhances the fast tracking capability.

Death has become a medicalized event. As such, end-of-life care has become entrenched in an over-reliance on individual patient autonomy to guide ethical decision making. Subsequently, the process of dying and the event of death are not primarily valued as life events – that is, as life-affirming phases of living. Rather, dying and death are viewed through the lens of medical options of when and how to die versus why dying and death are meaningful. This presents a problem for addressing the pediatric palliative care access gap and the Global Common Good. Specifically, in the context of important life events, one of which is death, we need space to be dependent on our inter-personal relationships to make crucial life decisions that affect our well-being. Recognizing dependency and inter-personalism is particularly important for pediatric populations. Children are uniquely placed to draw on their families and caregivers to make affirming life decisions in end-of-life care. This is particularly challenging to do in the Canadian context when Specialized Pediatric Palliative Care is not equitably available but options such as assisted death may soon be. Importantly, the meaning of death and dying is largely unexplored for this population. To advance ethical care at the end-of-life, more emphasis needs to be placed on the meaning that end of life events hold for Canadian children. In this paper I will outline the relevance of dependency and inter-personalism to attend to dying and death as meaningful phases of living for Canadian children and in relation to the pediatric palliative care access gap, the Global Common Good and Global Health Bioethics.

This paper presents an integrative and interdisciplinary approach to the study of ancient agricultural terraces and food production systems. Our approach consists of (1) a resource dependency theoretical framework and (2) the application of a variety of archaeological and geoscientific methods, including archaeological and geomorphological surveys, archaeological excavations, drone surveys, mapping based on satellite imagery and high-resolution digital elevation models (DEMs), geographic information system (GIS) applications, soil testing, phytolith analysis, radiocarbon dating, and calculations of food supply capacity and labor requirements. We apply these to the prehispanic site of Cutamalla (3,300 m asl) in the southern Peruvian Andes, which serves as an ideal and pioneering case study. Previous research has focused primarily on the settlement of Cutamalla, particularly through large-scale archaeological excavations, but less attention has been paid to the extensive farming terraces surrounding the settlement and the close relationship between agricultural and settlement activities. By analyzing both the terrace and settlement levels, we take a new perspective and introduce the term agricultural terrace-settlement system for such complexes. Our results show that the residential occupation of Cutamalla and the use of the surrounding farming terraces coincided: the agricultural terrace-settlement system was intensively used for a relatively short period of about 200 years (~250–40 BCE) during the Formative Late Paracas and transitional Initial Nasca periods, long before the famous Inka terrace agricultural systems. There is no evidence of reoccupation of the site and subsequent reuse of the agricultural system. Our data also document the large extent of agricultural terraces around Cutamalla (221 ha) and that maize was likely a major crop grown there. Finally, we place these findings in their broader socio-economic and ecological context. Cutamalla was an important regional center and economic hub during a very dynamic period characterized by significant population growth and increased violence. Not only a more humid climate, but probably also forced collective labor were cornerstones of substantial agricultural production in Cutamalla and the region.

The paper focuses on the question of whether it is morally permissible to use reproductive technologies to select children with congenital deafness. I review the arguments that have been presented to support the claims that the lack of hearing is not overall bad, that disability is caused by social discrimination rather than impairment, that the community of deaf people gives its members plenty of opportunities to lead a happy life, and that procreative decisions need not improve the world. I argue that although the claims are, to a certain extent, reasonable, they fail to establish the conclusion that selecting for deafness is morally permissible. I further argue that the decision to select a deaf child is morally wrong because it results in imposed and needless dependency, that the happiness of a deaf child is conditioned by their confinement to a relatively small community, and that the deaf parents who reject their child’s potential biculturalism are motivated by questionably self-regarding reasons.

AbstractPrior studies on the relationship between FDI and growth have generally concentrated on mean effects, or average growth benefits. It seems improbable that the majority of sub-Saharan economies will have similar “average” economic growth, hence the emphasis on mean effects in particular falls short. All other drivers can be seen to have an impact based on the uneven growth rates of these economies. The current study brings new evidence about the asymmetric relationship between foreign direct investment (FDI) and economic growth amidst financial sector development (FSD) and corruption covering a sample period of 2002 to 2020 for 48 sub-Saharan economies. For this reason, the instrumental variables panel quantile regression technique is employed to achieve the purpose of the study. The study finds that FDI inflows have a significant positive relationship with economic growth for economies with low growth (less than 50% quantile) but negative at high growth levels (at quantiles 50% and beyond). Also, control of corruption significantly interacts negatively with FDI and GDP per capita irrespective of the GDP levels, whereas FSD significantly positively interacts with FDI to contribute to economic growth at various growth levels. Findings from the study imply that FSD promotes economic growth in sub-Saharan Africa at diverse growth levels. On the other hand, the interacting effect of control of corruption is inimical to FDI-growth nexus at all growth levels. It is pertinent that efforts are made by financial policymakers in sub-Saharan Africa to improve the local financial sector conditions to recuperate the economic advances from FDI.

The aim of the article is to describe the categorical components of collocations in the German language, which arise between the reduced meaning of a predicate and a noun or a prepositional phrase. This should facilitate their understanding and their appropriate teaching approach. The article focuses on the syntactic analysis of such constructions, seeking answers to the question of how much the semantic reduction of a predicate can still evoke the ability to admit and logically determine the appropriate categories of complements. At the same time, adequate exercise concepts to address the verbal phenomenon described were presented.

In light of recent price swings in oil and the need to reduce the country's dependency on the commodity, the government of Nigeria has implemented a number of reforms and initiatives to stimulate the non-oil sector of the economy, most notably the informal sector. Government financial support as interventions would have otherwise been a relief in changing the narrative of ugly financial accessibility of participants in the informal sector. The level of financial accessibility and its relationship to the economic performance of participants in the informal sector have been largely understudied. Therefore, the purpose of this research is to assess the shortcomings of current government interventions in the informal sector and to provide a viable financial intervention structure to address these issues. This research included both primary and secondary sources of information. Questionnaires were used to collect primary data from respondents. A total of 700 informal sector participant who are mainly SMEs operators, 300 registered and 400 unregistered, were chosen using a purposeful selection technique from the six states of Southwest Nigeria. Data was examined in two ways using SPSS: descriptive and inferential. Thus, the study showed the flaws of the past interventions, such as a faulty programme design, bias in the distribution of financing facilities, a lack of knowledge about the facilities, and convoluted procedures for gaining government funding support.

Among the various elements of probabilistic safety assessment (PSA), human failure events (HFEs) and their dependencies are major contributors to the quantification of risk of a nuclear power plant. Currently, the dependency among HFEs is reflected using a post-processing method in PSA, wherein several drawbacks, such as limited propagation of minimal cutsets through the fault tree and improper truncation of minimal cutsets exist. In this paper, we propose a method to model the HFE dependency directly in a fault tree using the if-then-else logic. The proposed method proved to be equivalent to the conventional post-processing method while addressing the drawbacks of the latter. We also developed a software tool to facilitate the implementation of the proposed method considering the need for modeling the dependency between multiple HFEs. We applied the proposed method to a specific case to demonstrate the drawbacks of the conventional post-processing method and the advantages of the proposed method. When applied appropriately under specific conditions, the direct fault-tree modeling of HFE dependency enhances the accuracy of the risk quantification and facilitates the analysis of minimal cutsets.

Objective/Context: During the 20th century, Asia and Latin America had limited exchanges. However, this situation has changed significantly since the beginning of the 21st century. In this introductory contribution to the special issue of Colombia Internacional on Asian and Latin American relations, we reflect and critically assess the central debates concerning contemporary networks and meeting points between the two regions. Methodology: We employ a Global Political Economy (GPE) framework to provide an overview of the field. It focuses on the dynamics of production, trade, and finance power structures that have shaped interregional relations. Conclusions: We identified four areas that have dominated research on these regions. 1) China’s ever-increasing influence. 2) Trade and investment as drivers of interconnection. 3) Interregional cooperation approaches. 4) Different development paths. As a result of this analysis, we suggest that significant asymmetries between the two regions have influenced the relationship, leading to new centre-periphery relations. Originality: The article provides an original perspective to understand better the Asia-Latin America interregional relationship in the 21st century, identifies less studied phenomena, and proposes four avenues for a future research agenda.

Non-timber forest products (NTFPs) contribute to livelihood of rural communities which is influenced by numerous socio-economic variables. This study assessed the financial contribution of Zanthoxylum armatum and the influence of respondents’ various socio-economic characteristics on such contribution in Ghatan of Beni Municipality, Myagdi District, Nepal. For this study, we used semi-structured questionnaires to 80 purposively selected households, followed by 10 key informant interviews, four focus group discussions, and direct field observations. A Pearson correlation matrix was used to determine the dependence of several socio-economic variables on average annual household income from the sale of Z. armatum. The average annual income per household from the sale of Z. armatum was found to be the highest (494 USD) in Brahmin/Chhetri households and the lowest (372 USD) in Dalit households. Among five variables used in the regression model, only three of them: land holding size (khet), time taken to harvest (days), and wealth ranking (rich) were found positively significant with p-values of 0.042, 0.000, and 0.064 respectively. Whereas, the education status of the respondents (literate) and the main income source (agriculture) were found negatively significant with p-values of 0.046 and 0.064, respectively. Furthermore, we believe that this result will help to promote the conservation of Z. armatum and other valuable medicinal plants as well as their sustainable management in the study area and similar areas.

Social media is a widely used platform that provides a huge amount of user-generated content that can be processed to extract information about users’ emotions. This has numerous benefits, such as understanding how individuals feel about certain news or events. It can be challenging to categorize emotions from text created on social media, especially when trying to identify several different emotions from a short text length, as in a multi-label classification problem. Most previous work on emotion classification has focused on deep neural networks such as Convolutional Neural Networks and Recurrent Neural Networks. However, none of these networks have used semantic and syntactic knowledge to classify multiple emotions from a text. In this study, semantic and syntactic aware graph attention networks were proposed to classify emotions from a text with multiple labels. We integrated semantic information in the graph attention network in the form of Universal Conceptual Cognitive Annotation and syntactic information in the form of dependency trees. Our extensive experimental results showed that our two models, UCCA-GAT (accuracy = 71.2) and Dep-GAT (accuracy = 68.7), were able to outperform the state-of-the-art performance on both the challenging SemEval-2018 E-c: Detecting Emotions (multi-label classification) English dataset (accuracy = 58.8) and GoEmotions dataset (accuracy = 65.9).

Open-source libraries form the backbone of modern software systems, making software composition analysis (SCA) a vital part of the software development cycle. Despite its importance, current SCA methods, primarily focusing on open-source component issues, lack comprehensive analysis of these components’ integration into the software system. This paper proposes an advanced SCA approach that simultaneously considers open-source component issues and their integration into a software system. We introduce a novel meta-model that links a library with its source code dependencies and enables a unified analysis, irrespective of the originating package manager or open-source repository. The proposed approach, instantiated through a code analysis tool and adapters for major package managers and repositories, was applied to over 200 popular GitHub projects. Results confirm that the impact of open-source component issues largely depends on their integration level in the software system, validating our assumption that effective risk management requires understanding of the open-source component use within the system. Our work, therefore, provides an enriched methodology for SCA.

Background: Betel quid (BQ) consumption is prevalent globally, majorly consumed in South-Asia and South-East Asian countries. Among the other country studies done on BQ, the focus has been on its consumption prevalence, its physiological and psychological effects, and aids to discontinue this habit. Systematic literature research on suitability of different instruments (metric or scale) to measure BQ dependency is scarce, hence pointing to the need of more evidence-based studies in this domain. Aim: The aim of the article was to identify the instruments used in the published literature to measure BQ dependency among young and adult chewers and draw a comparison. Methodology: The electronic retrieval systems and databases PubMed (Medline), Cochrane Library, Scopus, Web of Science, and Google Scholar were searched independently by two authors from January 2011 to September 2022 for the collection of desired data. Results: Among 1271 articles, 337 were duplicates and removed, 866 did not meet selection criteria. Out of 68 articles, 57 were excluded due to the lack of relevant data. Finally, only 11 articles were included for the analysis in this systematic review. Conclusion: Due to a scarcity of researches in this direction, no scale can be assigned as the best Dependence Scale, thus necessitating more such systematic reviews and meta-analysis for better comprehension and usage of present dependence scales.

Abstract Background The incidence of dependency is high among the elderly people worldwide and increases with increasing life expectancy. The purpose of this study was to establish from the perspective of resource demand the association between community environmental resources and dependency among the elderly people. Methods This study is a cross-sectional design based on community from 22 locations in China. A multistage sampling method was used to select the study objects. The questionnaires were used to collect the survey data by face-to-face interviews. A total of 950 individuals completed the survey, and 913 individuals were available for this analysis. Dependency and community environment were measured using the standard instruments. Logistic regression analysis was performed to identify the community environment factors associated with dependency. Cluster analysis was used and demonstrated that dependency was mainly associated with community primary preventive care service resources. Results In the group aged under 70 years, the utilization of electronic health records and the need for health assessments, and rehabilitation equipment rentals were significantly associated with the levels of dependency scores: the OR was 2.81, 2.25 and 2.13 (P