Search Results (982)

This study examines the relatively underexplored phenomenon of hostile takeovers within the insurance industry, a sector that played a significant role in the events surrounding the 2008 global financial crisis. Using a sample of 754 insurance merger and acquisition (M&A) transactions completed between 2008 and 2021, we investigate the determinants of hostile takeover activity. The dataset comprises acquiring and target firms from 46 countries and special administrative regions (SARs), providing a broad international perspective on post-crisis insurance-sector M&A dynamics. The findings reveal that several transaction- and firm-specific factors significantly affect the likelihood of hostile takeovers. In particular, a target firm’s prior M&A experience, increases in target book value, higher bidder research and development expenditures, bid revisions, and acquisition premia are positively associated with takeover hostility. While descriptive analyses document notable variation across jurisdictions, the primary empirical evidence is derived from pooled regression models incorporating country fixed effects. The results contribute to the literature on insurance-sector consolidation by identifying industry-specific factors associated with hostile acquisition activity and enhancing understanding of how information asymmetries, strategic considerations, and governance mechanisms shape takeover outcomes. These findings offer valuable implications for corporate managers, investors, and policymakers operating within a globally interconnected and highly regulated insurance industry. Full article

Sustainability certification schemes (SCSs) such as LEED, BREEAM, etc., are widely accepted as an effective tool for the promotion of sustainable design principles and lifecycle carbon reduction in building projects. Greece, despite having a relatively small real estate market, presents solid activity in this field, but the related research remains extremely limited. Following a comprehensive quantitative data analysis regarding the use of SCSs in Greece and Europe, this paper examines adoption determinants, challenges, and prospects in the Greek construction sector, drawing on semi-structured interviews. The findings show that LEED dominates the Greek market, and although the SCS benefits are well documented in the literature, the overall market demand is largely confined to office and commercial developments and constrained by affordability concerns, low market awareness, supply chain constraints, administrative complexity, and project coordination challenges. Nevertheless, as future prospects are positive overall, the research provides recommendations towards targeted actions for policy-makers, industry professionals, and other stakeholders. This can encourage supply chain development and accelerate certification uptake, thereby supporting national sustainability objectives and the implementation of European climate and energy policies. Full article

These days, learning management systems have been instrumental in changing the face of online education. Nonetheless, a significant shortcoming in distance education is the attendance reports. This paper addresses the need to streamline attendance control and administration in institutions, particularly the education sector, by introducing a novel real-time facial recognition-based tracking system. The facial recognition mechanism at the heart of the system is a state-of-the-art technology that enhances attendance tracking. The system can use sophisticated algorithms and machine learning approaches to achieve accurate identification and detection. Together with important features like dynamic charts and real-time insights, the system also includes a dashboard that is used to centralize real-time records for better tracking and managing attendance. This enhanced data visibility enables the administrator to make well-informed decisions. Additionally, because the dashboard can be dynamically altered to suit the requirements of administrators and institutions, admininistrators can quickly become accustomed to the system thanks to dashboard modification. Thus, a significant advancement in attendance management has been made with the PHP 8.3 and Python 3.12 based facial recognition attendance system. Because of its user-friendly interface and instantaneous insights, it can be an invaluable tool for educational institutions looking to improve the effectiveness of their daily operations and optimize attendance monitoring procedures. Full article

Background: Individuals with intellectual and/or developmental disabilities (IDDs) experience persistent health inequities, exacerbated by the systemic lack of education of health care professionals about their care. In response to a 2020 call from the Administration for Community Living in the United States, five institutions formed the IDD Health Equity Consortium to develop a suite of educational materials and practice experiences to improve the education of health care professionals in the health and health care of individuals with IDDs. Methods: The Collective Impact Model, designed to align organizations and stakeholders around a shared agenda for system change, was used to organize IDD Health Equity Consortium programs. Backbone infrastructure included a cross-sector steering committee, an Advocate Advisory Committee, and three Consortium Action Networks focused on communication, measurement, and education, practice, and policy. A scoping review of the literature was conducted, and a Participatory Planning and Decision-Making process engaged individuals with IDDs, family members, students, faculty, and professionals in identifying important themes for developed materials. Results: Learning modules, case studies, service-learning experiences, and simulation experiences were developed across Consortium institutions and were disseminated across multiple other institutions, with beginning alignment with interprofessional and disability competencies. Mixed-methods evaluation strategies assessed learner outcomes, including knowledge checks and pre and post evaluations using established measures of skills, comfort levels, and approach; and interprofessional socialization, valuing, and collaborative practice behaviors. Conclusions: By involving individuals with IDDs in curriculum development and building multi-institution and cross-sector infrastructure, the Consortium developed scalable materials that address longstanding gaps in health care professional education. The developed suite of educational materials and practice experiences and early evaluation findings provided a foundation for further program refinement and future empirical studies examining long-term effects on practice and clinical outcomes. Full article

The escalating global contradiction between water supply and demand has imposed novel imperatives on regional water security within the paradigm of resilient city development. To elucidate the supply–demand dynamics of water provisioning services under heterogeneous institutional contexts, this study selected the Guangdong–Hong Kong–Macao (GHKM) region as the empirical study area. Employing the Integrated Valuation of Ecosystem Services and Trade-offs (InVEST) model, we coupled meteorological, land-use/land-cover (LULC), and pedological data to quantify the provisioning of water yield services in 2024. Concurrently, sector-specific water demands—encompassing agricultural, industrial, domestic, and ecological categories—were accounted for using statistical yearbooks. Subsequently, a Supply–Demand Index (SDI) was formulated to delineate the spatial matching patterns. The findings reveal pronounced spatial heterogeneity in water service provisioning; high-value zones are predominantly aggregated along the western and southern coastal belts, whereas low-value zones are dispersed across the northern mountainous terrains. Based on the SDI classification, the study area comprises 12 supply-surplus, 6 supply–demand-equilibrium, and 5 supply-deficit administrative units. Notably, the northern Guangdong mountainous region assumes a critical ecological role in water conservation, whereas the core megalopolises of the Pearl River Delta exhibit an acute dependency on extrinsic water subsidies, with Macao demonstrating a distinct ecological deficit in water provisioning. Furthermore, this study uncovers the overestimation artifact of water yield estimations over urban impervious surfaces, thereby providing a robust empirical foundation for the cross-regional synergistic governance and adaptive management of water resources. Full article

Background/Objectives: Methylphenidate is widely used for attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder and is available in immediate-release (IR) and extended-release (XR) formulations. Long-term reported private-sector dispensing data from Costa Rica remain limited. Because methylphenidate is a controlled medication, longitudinal dispensing trends are relevant for monitoring access, formulation use, and dose-standardized exposure at the health-system level. This study described reported private-sector methylphenidate dispensing trends from 2017 to 2024 by dispensed boxes and Defined Daily Doses (DDDs). Methods: This retrospective ecological drug-utilization study analyzed reported private-sector administrative controlled-substance dispensing records from 1 January 2017 to 31 December 2024. Products were standardized by brand or generic designation, strength, dosage form, and formulation class. Outcomes included annual and cumulative dispensed boxes, formulation-specific share, XR-to-IR ratio, year-over-year change, presentation-level distribution, population-standardized rates, and DDDs calculated using the WHO reference value of 30 mg/day. Results: Total dispensing increased from 988,739 boxes in 2017 to 2,774,698 boxes in 2024 (+180.63%; CAGR 15.88%). Overall, 13,807,824 boxes were dispensed; IR accounted for 9,344,944 boxes (67.68%) and XR for 4,462,880 boxes (32.32%). In DDDs, XR exceeded IR in every study year and represented 61.0% of cumulative dose-standardized exposure. Conclusions: Reported private-sector methylphenidate dispensing in Costa Rica increased substantially between 2017 and 2024. IR predominated by dispensed boxes, whereas XR predominated by DDDs, highlighting the importance of reporting both administrative volume and dose-standardized metrics. These findings provide a private-sector baseline for controlled-medication surveillance and may inform monitoring of access, formulation mix, and dose-standardized exposure to methylphenidate in Costa Rica. Full article

Public sector organizations face persistent challenges in workforce retention, particularly in institutionally complex and resource-constrained environments. Although leadership is widely recognized as a key factor, research remains fragmented across the public administration and human resource management literature. This article develops a governance-sensitive framework to explain how leadership influences workforce retention in public service organizations. Drawing on a PRISMA 2020-guided systematic review of 30 studies, it integrates insights to examine the relationships between people-centered leadership, organizational commitment, and turnover intentions. The synthesis suggests that leadership effects are primarily indirect, operating through affective organizational commitment. Administrative burden (red tape) and working conditions emerge as key contextual factors shaping these relationships. The study contributes by offering an integrated framework and identifying implications for managing workforce retention in public healthcare organizations and comparable institutionally dense public service settings. The article proposes an integrated conceptual framework for future empirical research. Full article

Foodborne mycotoxins are toxic secondary metabolites produced by filamentous fungi. At sufficient concentrations, ingested mycotoxins have been found to disrupt the microbiome and exert toxic effects on gastrointestinal, hepatic, renal, and other tissues. Toddlers are particularly vulnerable to ill effects due to increased intake relative to lower body weight and immature detoxification, metabolic, and immune function. Despite this susceptibility, their adverse health effects remain under-recognized in public health sectors, and data on mycotoxin contamination in foods marketed to young children in North America remain sparse. To investigate this, 118 food products, including cereals, snacks, pasta, first foods, juices, and staple ingredients, were purchased at retail and analyzed for 34 mycotoxins using liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry. The results were compared with the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regulatory thresholds and European tolerable daily intake (TDI) limits. Of the 34 analytes, 32 were detected, and 25 were quantified. At least one mycotoxin was quantified in 87 percent of products, with a mean of 3.7 per item and a maximum of 13. Multi-toxin contamination was common; many products exceeded the FDA and TDI limits, and many remain unregulated. These findings highlight regulatory gaps in food safety and underscore the need for stronger child-focused oversight, particularly regarding emerging mycotoxins and multi-toxin contamination. Full article

Locusts are recognized globally as one of the worst pests affecting human activities in the agricultural sector. From 2019 to 2024, a severe outbreak of the Moroccan locust (Dociostaurus maroccanus) occurred in Sardinia (Italy). We aim to propose a methodological approach and useful criteria for considering locust infestations risk in regional and/or subregional plans that affect land use and landscape. The idea is to integrate prevention strategies into planning practice, in the context of climate changes affecting the development and spread of insects, including locusts. As for the methodology, from an analysis of scientific literature, we have distilled five useful criteria for assessing whether spatial planning tools integrate locust-related issues. The criteria are intended as a scoreboard to highlight the strengths and weaknesses of the plans. We applied the five criteria to assess a regional and a municipal master plan adopted in Sardinia. The findings show that the regional plan received a positive evaluation while the municipal master plan did not meet any criteria. As countermeasures, we suggest that public administrations and planners integrate the criteria while designing planning tools affecting land use and land management. Full article

Background: Despite noteworthy progress in the Expanded Program on Immunization (EPI) for improving vaccination coverage worldwide, inequalities in vaccine uptake and accessibility persist in several middle- and low-income states. Pakistan’s routine vaccination uptake varies greatly between federal geographical regions and continues to fall below the standard threshold needed to attain optimal herd immunity. The Federal Directorate of Immunization (FDI) in collaboration with the provincial Expanded Program on Immunizations implemented Enhanced Outreach Activities (EOAs) to boost immunization delivery in selected districts in order to address immunization coverage gaps in marginalized and difficult-to-reach communities. The purpose of this secondary data research was to evaluate whether EOAs improved immunization coverage in the country. Methods: The Federal Directorate of Immunization’s longitudinal panel analysis of district–month administrative data for the years 2011–2021 have been analyzed. The research investigation reviewed 158 districts’ monthly vaccination records for multiple antigens, covering regions where EOAs were successfully carried out in particular months. National and subnational analyses were carried out to measure geographical variations in the impact of Enhanced Outreach Activities (EOAs). The average vaccination coverage during EOAs and non-EOAs months was compared using the paired t-test. Results: An aggregate of 2430 months with EOAs were included in the analysis of 19,068 monthly district observations. National level analysis revealed higher average vaccinations during the EOA months for all antigens, but a statistically significant increase was observed for IPV and measles second dose (p < 0.05) only. Provincial-level results indicate that the impact was more evident in underserved regions. Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Balochistan, Punjab, and Sindh demonstrated statistically significant increases in vaccination counts for most antigens. Due to variations in baseline population coverage, as well as health care sector capability, the extent of improvements differed throughout regions. Conclusions: In Pakistan, routine immunization counts has been improved via enhanced outreach initiatives, especially in provinces with lower initial vaccination rates and restricted accessibility to services. Strengthening outreach strategies, together with consistent fixed-site immunization services, is likely to accelerate progress toward equitable immunization coverage and contribute to achieving the Immunization Agenda 2030 goals. Full article

Availability of veterinary medicinal products is a critical determinant of health, welfare, and economic sustainability in European aquaculture. This study assessed the changes in the authorization and reported market availability of veterinary medicines for finfish in the European Union (EU) and European Free Trade Association (EFTA) between 2018 and 2026, by comparing and analyzing data on veterinary medicinal products for aquatic species from the Heads of Medicines Agencies (HMA), the FishMedPlus Coalition, and the European Medicines Agency Union Product Database. The results revealed a wide divergence between regulatory authorization and reported availability. While the total number of authorized VMPs nominally increased from 304 in 2018 to 332 in 2025 (+9.2%), the number of reported unique active substances available declined (−16.7%). Crucially, the analysis of 2025 data indicates that only 26.5% of authorized products were reported to be actively available on the market, creating a “paper market” that masks severe therapeutic gaps, particularly in minor fish species such as seabass, seabream, carp, and trout sectors. Potential key drivers identified were limited markets, industry consolidation, increased burden related to stricter environmental requirements, as well as enlarged administrative and financial burdens. Despite EU legislative mechanisms designed to support limited markets, the sector faces stagnation in therapeutic diversity, necessitating continued reliance on the off-label use of medicines. Full article

Public works projects are inherently complex, involving multiple stakeholders with distinct institutional roles and decision-making priorities. This study applies the multicriteria method Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) to evaluate and prioritize Critical Success Factors (CSFs) influencing the successful delivery of public construction projects, comparing the perspectives of Project Managers, Public Authorities, and Economists engaged in public works. The analysis is grounded in empirical evidence and institutional practice, reducing subjective bias. Results reveal systematic differences between operational and institutional actors: Project Managers prioritize project maturity, effective planning, technical supervision, and control mechanisms, while Public Authorities emphasize financial soundness, exposure to external risks (Force Majeure), and stakeholder communication. Economists, in turn, assign the highest importance to financial stability, risk exposure, and budgetary resilience, highlighting the central role of financial sustainability in public-project implementation. These findings highlight the role of administrative responsibilities and governance structures in shaping decision-making priorities within the public sector. By demonstrating how AHP can support transparent comparison of stakeholder perspectives, the study contributes to public administration and project governance literature, offering a decision-support framework that enhances institutional capacity and facilitates more aligned and effective public-sector decision-making. Full article

The purpose of this paper is to present and evaluate some compliance-oriented approaches designed and patented by the company Elabordati of Matera, which operates in the business services sector with particular reference to administrative, accounting and tax services, together with a comparison with approaches generated by the generative artificial intelligence ChatGPT, with the aim of making a comparison and providing insights to the academic world in terms of data analysis. The two approaches highlighted concern the assessment of the mandatory nature of a DPO, presented in the first part of the paper, and the assessment of enterprise value, presented in the same way in the second part of this paper. Finally, for each approach presented, a subjective comparison is made by the generative artificial intelligence itself. Full article

Cycling infrastructure, as a part of the smart mobility concept, plays a sound role in the urban development and enhancement of quality of life of urban residents. Moreover, the growing attention to the development of cycling paths in cities creates benefits for the local administrations and industries. The evolution of the “cycling” trend is embedded in academic discourse and embraces the discussion on its social, economic, and environmental impacts. However, despite the major attention to these issues in the high-quality academic literature, the authors observe fragmented discussion on the implementation of (novel) digital technologies in the cycling infrastructure in the smart cities. To fill this gap, the present research proposes a conceptual framework for the integration of digital technologies into cycling infrastructure within urban environments and corroborates these findings with a systematic literature review (SLR) of the topical journal articles published from 2020 to 2025 and retrieved from the Scopus database; the SLR follows Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA 2020) guidelines. The findings show an uneven implementation of digital technologies, with IoT-based and AI-based solutions emerging as the most relevant technologies for the development of cycling infrastructure. At the same time, the study highlights a gap in the current literature regarding the role of the private sector, which is still mainly presented as a beneficiary of rather than as an active contributor to innovation. Full article

To meet the growing need for streamlined transit in the Municipality of Romblon, this research introduces TRIPSY, an Android-based platform for optimized tricycle dispatch and booking. The project focused on creating an intuitive interface serving three distinct groups: commuters, operators, and administrators. While the research employed convenience sampling, a factor noted by the authors as a limitation regarding the total population of 40,554 citizens and 1295 drivers, this pilot phase successfully established a performance baseline. Empirical results from 100 passenger participants showed a high level of acceptance, yielding a weighted mean of 4.39. While the system excelled in usability and operational efficiency, “system reliability” was identified as the primary area for technical refinement. Feedback from 10 tricycle operators was even more favorable, resulting in a 4.67 mean score, though hardware compatibility remains a point for future optimization. Although the sample size was limited to a closed technical pilot designed to establish an operational baseline, TRIPSY’s alignment with international software standards and positive local reception confirm its potential as a viable transit solution. Future development will focus on enhancing system stability and cross-device integration to further solidify its efficacy in the Romblon transport sector. Full article