Search Results (158)

The sharing economy is considered to be a potentially efficacious approach for promoting sustainable production and consumption (SPC). This study utilizes dockless bike sharing (DBS) in Beijing as a case study to examine how sharing economy policies and business practices advance SPC. It also dynamically quantifies the environmental and economic performance of DBS practices from a life cycle perspective. The findings indicate that effective SPC practices can be achieved through the collaborative efforts of multiple stakeholders, including the government, operators, manufacturers, consumers, recycling agencies, and other business partners, supported by regulatory systems and advanced technologies. The SPC practices markedly improved the sustainability of DBS promotion in Beijing. This is evidenced by the increase in greenhouse gas (GHG) emission reduction benefits, which have risen from approximately 35.81 g CO₂-eq to 124.40 g CO₂-eq per kilometer of DBS travel. Considering changes in private bicycle ownership, this value could reach approximately 150.60 g CO₂-eq. Although the economic performance of DBS operators has also improved, it remains challenging to achieve profitability, even when considering the economic value of the emission reduction benefits. In certain scenarios, DBS can maximize profits by optimizing fleet size and efficiency, without compromising the benefits of emission reductions. The framework of stakeholder interaction proposed in this study and the results of empirical analysis not only assist regulators, businesses, and the public in better understanding and promoting sustainable production and consumption practices in the sharing economy but also provide valuable insights for achieving a win-win situation of platform profitability and environmental benefits in the SPC practice process. Full article

This article thoroughly examines the multidimensional consequences of intimate partner violence against women (IPVAW) and estimates the monetary costs associated with this kind of violence in Spain for 2022. Based on the accounting model approach, three alternative scenarios are proposed to quantify the direct tangible costs of IPVAW from a microeconomic perspective. Each scenario considers the out-of-pocket expenditures and the opportunity cost of lost income due to IPVAW, borne by the survivor women, their families and relatives, the public sector, and the private organizations. The study utilizes microdata from the latest Spanish Macro-survey on Violence Against Women, conducted in 2019 by the Government Office against Gender-Based Violence (Spanish Government). Results show the costs ranging from EUR 1.38 billion (the most conservative estimate) to EUR 3.01 billion (the highest estimate). Further research is needed to deepen understanding of the mechanisms by which violence affects the various domains and agents of society. Full article

Real-world laboratories have become important institutions of the energy transition in Germany and the EU. They represent innovation networks that integrate public and private actors in energy transition projects. In the past, they focused on urban districts, but, more recently, the real-world laboratories have been expanded to include large-scale, capital-intensive projects for the development of a hydrogen economy. This has increased the complexity of such projects and poses new challenges in contextualising the new form of real-world laboratories. This article analyses the response of one of the first of these new projects and how it dealt with this new organisational form at the project communication level. It shows that the co-creation of a common story shared by all project partners—or the lack of it—may be an early indicator of whether the necessary legitimacy from business, politics, and society can be gained. Full article

With the renewed interest in the Moon, several countries are launching projects to explore the Moon (at both institutional and private level). As part of the Moonlight Programme, the European Space Agency (ESA) is developing Lunar Communication and Navigation Services (LCNS) with its industrial partners. The Moon orbits, specifically the Elliptical Lunar Frozen Orbits (ELFO), are quite different compared to the GNSS orbits. This work presents a novel orbit model for the LCNS that can support different ELFOs and other orbits. The performance of the new model is measured in terms of accuracy and the number of bits (required to broadcast the information) against other available models. Such a model could be used to broadcast the ephemeris of the LCNS satellites within the navigation message of the LunaNet Augmented Forward Signal (AFS). Full article

Ethiopian pastoralist communities are facing a recurrent drought crisis that significantly affects the availability of water and pasture resources for communities dependent on livestock. The increasing intensity, duration and frequency of droughts in the pastoral community in Ethiopia have drawn the attention of multiple stakeholders and increased stakeholder debates on the role of early warning systems (EWSs) for anticipatory action to build climate resilience in the pastoral community. The Alliance of Bioversity International and the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT), in collaboration with various partners, has developed an interactive web-based digital EWS to provide near real-time information on water and pasture conditions in pastoral and agro-pastoral regions of Ethiopia. In this study, a stakeholder analysis was conducted to identify key stakeholders, understand stakeholder needs, and facilitate collaboration towards sustaining the EWS. The stakeholder analysis revealed the roles and information needs of key actors engaged in livestock water and pasture monitoring and early warning systems aimed at improving the pastoral communities’ resilience. The analysis showed a pressing need for access to real-time information on water and pasture availability and seasonal climate forecasts by local communities for effective and optimal resources management. Local and national governments need similar data for evidence-based decision-making in resource allocation and policy development. International and non-governmental organizations (INGOs) require the same information for efficient humanitarian responses and targeted development interventions. The private sector seeks insights into market dynamics to better align production strategies with community needs. An EWS serves as a vital tool for development partners, facilitating improved planning, coordination, and impact assessment. It also emphasizes the importance of proactive collaboration among stakeholders, including local communities, government bodies, INGOs, and academic and research institutions. Enhanced communication strategies, such as partnerships with local media, are essential for timely information dissemination. Ultimately, sustained collaboration and adaptive strategies are crucial for optimizing the impact of an EWS towards improving the livelihoods and resilience of pastoral communities amid climate variability. Full article

Pregnancy is a transformative stage in a woman’s life, marked by significant physical, emotional, and social changes. This study had three main objectives: (1) to assess the quality of life (QoL) of pregnant women in Romania, (2) to identify the sociodemographic, health, and obstetric factors influencing their QoL and (3) to examine the psychometric properties of the WHOQOL-BREF questionnaire within the Romanian context, determining its effectiveness in evaluating QoL during pregnancy. Methods: A cross-sectional analytical survey was conducted between January and July 2023 among pregnant women in Romania, targeting a geographically diverse sample from urban and rural areas. Eligible participants were Romanian citizens aged 18 or older. Data were collected through an online self-administered questionnaire using Google Forms, with informed consent obtained electronically. The survey included demographic, obstetric, and health-related variables alongside the WHOQOL-BREF tool, which evaluates QoL across four dimensions: Physical, Psychological, Social Relationships, and Environment. Statistical analysis involved confirmatory factor analysis, reliability testing (Cronbach’s α and McDonald’s ω), and comparisons using Welch’s t-tests and ANOVA. Results: A total of 1550 valid responses were analyzed. The WHOQOL-BREF demonstrated excellent internal consistency (Cronbach’s α > 0.9 across all dimensions). Women with higher education and stable employment reported significantly higher QoL scores in physical and psychological dimensions. No significant differences were found based on pregnancy trimester, previous births, or participation in prenatal classes, although trends suggested slight advantages for participants in prenatal education. Women delivering in private hospitals or non-hospital settings reported better psychological and physical QoL than those delivering in public hospitals. Support from partners and urban residency positively influenced perceived QoL. Conclusions: The WHOQOL-BREF is a reliable tool for assessing QoL in pregnant women in Romania. The study highlights the role of education, employment, and delivery location in influencing QoL, emphasizing the need for targeted support for vulnerable groups during pregnancy. Full article

Connectivity modeling has been a tool available to the conservation community since the 1980s that guides our responses to habitat fragmentation. While the sophistication of computer modeling continues to grow, on-the-ground delivery remains challenging and lacks urgency. We present an approach to scale up delivery and do so within effective timeframes. The approach, termed ANCHOR (Areawide Networks to Connect Habitat and Optimize Resiliency), is grounded in connectivity science but executed in a manner that is flexible, expandable, and measurable. ANCHOR goes beyond the traditional protected area focus for establishing connected biomes to maximize the contributions of existing public lands and expand private landowner participation. The approach is applied using an umbrella species to represent a faunal group and/or multiple taxa to deliver co-benefits of landscape connectivity. Public lands receive connectivity rankings that are then used to engage potential connectivity partners who commit land units and collectively monitor improvements in habitat quality and landscape resiliency. The ANCHOR approach can guide unprecedented participation across agencies and departments to create public lands networks, while private and corporate lands establish landscape connections. To illustrate the approach, we present an example of native grasslands conservation in the central and eastern U.S. and an emerging partnership with the Department of Defense. Full article

Increased life expectancy and reduced fertility mean more generations are living simultaneously but with fewer members. There is also a growing group of older people (aged 80 and over) who need care and support. This impacts mutual support within families and the care provided by public or private care organisations. Across OECD countries, on average, 60% of people aged 65 years and older in 2020 reported receiving support from family members, friends and people in their social network, living inside or outside their household but not care organisations. European research shows that when older persons do not have a partner (anymore), they rely on their adult children for care and support. Given that adult children frequently serve as primary providers of informal care, our study examines their perspectives and motivations to provide future care alongside the demands and expectations of their old parents. Our study adopts a multi-actor interview approach and simultaneously looks at the perspective of 40 adult children and one of their older aged parents (65 years or older). We apply the distributive justice theory to understand how children and parents assess the expectation and fairness of support. This paper contributes to the existing literature about support behaviour between parents and children, expanding insights about the fairness of support, expectations and willingness from a multi-actor approach. Through the lens of child–parent dyads, it is seen that the principles of the distributive justice theory can be perceived as not so strict, and within family relationships, one or more principles can coexist and have underlying mechanisms. This study shows the complexity and often ambivalence of family solidarity by adopting a multi-actor approach. One of the main findings is that contrasting dyads who reject the reciprocal act of support experience feelings of guilt or misunderstanding, resulting in stress and worry. A child may not follow the expected support pattern from the parent due to competing demands such as work or the prioritisation of young children, which can reduce the support given to the older parent. Besides general contrasts and similarities between child–parent support perspectives, the analysis looked into differences regarding gender and legal relationships. Our findings only found gendered care expectations. Future research should entangle this by looking into feelings of closeness, emotional connection and considering the dynamic character of filial support over time, especially between siblings. Full article

Background: During the COVID-19 pandemic, migrant populations remained under-immunized due to limited access to health care, language barriers, and vaccine hesitancy. The USAID-funded MOMENTUM Routine Immunization Transformation and Equity project supported the government in collaborating with various local health and non-health partners to identify and vaccinate migrants. This case study examines the roles of project partners and the strategies each entity implemented to increase COVID-19 vaccine uptake among migrants, as well as the perceptions regarding the effectiveness of these strategies. Methods: We designed a qualitative explanatory case study guided by the Behavioral and Social Drivers framework and RE-AIM implementation science frameworks. We conducted 31 focus group discussions and 50 in-depth interviews with migrants, project partners, community leaders, and government stakeholders in Tamil Nadu and Punjab. Results: In both states, partnerships with health departments, private employers, and community-based organizations were essential for identifying and vaccinating un- and under-vaccinated migrant groups. In Tamil Nadu, collaboration with the Department of Labor and mobile medical units facilitated vaccination camps at construction sites. In Punjab, religious institutions organized sessions at places of worship, and the Border Security Force enabled health workers to reach migrants living near the border. In both states, key strategies—involving influencers to discuss the importance of vaccine safety and value, bringing vaccination services to migrants’ workplaces and homes at flexible times and mandating workplace vaccination to encourage vaccination—shifted perceptions towards vaccination and increased vaccine uptake among migrants. Conclusions: The strategies and partnerships identified in this study highlight the broader implications for future public health interventions, demonstrating that collaboration with the private sector and faith-based organizations can enhance routine immunization efforts, particularly when localized to organizations that understand community needs and can address specific barriers and motivators. Full article

This paper demonstrates the use of an Excel-based tool called the “Electric Vehicle-Charging Infrastructure Financial Analysis Spreadsheet Tool”, or “EVCI-FAST”, developed to analyze public–private partnership approaches to deliver publicly accessible EV-charging infrastructure that would not be commercially viable without a government subsidy. To demonstrate the use of this tool, we conducted a high-level screening analysis for a hypothetical bundle of publicly accessible EV-charging stations to assess the financial viability of delivering electric vehicle-charging infrastructure (EVCI) using alternative public–private partnership (P3) structures. This demonstration suggests that the EVCI-FAST could assist public agencies in determining whether their budgetary resources are adequate to support a proposed P3 for an EVCI project. The demonstration suggests that the EVCI-FAST could also help agencies decide which P3 structuring option would best meet their financial objectives. The results from the analysis of the hypothetical project suggest that public agencies could benefit considerably from a P3 structure that uses a minimum revenue guarantee to reduce revenue risk for the private partner. Full article

Case study to investigate whether creative writing through story-based learning in public and private secondary schools can account for performance in readability, purpose, word/sentence relationships, vocabulary diversity, correct use of punctuation marks and proper use of spelling rules. The exclusion criteria, applied only to public and private secondary school students, first, second and third periods. The sampling is convenient as the participants were selected from accessible educational institutions. This is a cross-sectional study of descriptive qualitative cut in which the coding of linguistic patterns and dominant themes is used. When triangulated with statistical results it was found that despite the variability in the results there was a production of original narratives, which corroborates the theories about the relationship between creativity and divergent thinking. It is confirmed that ABH is an active methodology based on the emotional link with creative writing from which components of the structure and creation of the narrative are derived, and it was found that most of the students are in a zone of proximal development, i.e., they are ready to learn with the help of a tutor or more advanced partner. Full article

Immigrants in the United States, including Korean immigrants, are more vulnerable to intimate partner violence (IPV), yet they are less likely to seek help than non-immigrants. This qualitative study sought to understand barriers to seeking help for IPV among Korean immigrants and to explore age and gender differences in Korean immigrants’ understanding of these barriers. We conducted four focus groups with 38 adults grouped by age and gender. Thematic analysis was employed to understand Korean immigrants’ perceptions of IPV and barriers to help-seeking. As a result, four prominent themes emerged: (1) differential understanding of IPV, (2) Confucian cultural influences on IPV, (3) cultural barriers to help-seeking, and (4) practical barriers to help-seeking. Women participants showed an in-depth understanding of IPV, recognizing various forms beyond physical violence within the immigrant social context. Younger participants highlighted the intergenerational transmission of IPV. Cultural factors, rooted in Confucianism such as strict gender roles and women’s self-sacrifice, exacerbate IPV. Cultural barriers include shame culture, treating IPV as a private matter, and the emphasis on family unity. Practical barriers are linked to the challenges immigrants face. These insights illustrate the need for targeted IPV interventions tailored to distinct gender and age demographics within the community. Full article

We examined the postharvest rice value chain among farmers in the Arequipa region of Peru, focusing on the stages of value creation after harvest. Our study is complemented by an economic analysis that provides insights into farmers’ decisions on whether or not to store rice after harvest. We found that farmers produced, on average, 65 tons of paddy rice on a 5 ha farm. Most farmers (over 85%) milled their paddy rice immediately after harvest, usually by paying a fee to a private mill. Milled rice was then sold to intermediaries (wholesalers and retailers). Approximately 13% and less than 1% of farmers stored their paddy rice before and after milling, respectively. Storage provided minimal financial benefits once grain preservation costs and price arbitrage were considered. Our findings offer guidance for policymakers and investment partners to enhance the efficiency of the postharvest rice value chain and to improve outcomes for farmers in Peru and other developing countries. Full article

Alternative innovation models have emerged to address failures of the traditional pharmaceutical system, particularly for diseases where market incentives do not attract sufficient research and development efforts. However, the feasibility of such models for diseases with significant markets is not well-established. This article analyses the development of a novel drug (ravidasvir) for the treatment of hepatitis C, a highly profitable market. Data from qualitative research methods, including literature reviews and semi-structured interviews, was analyzed using a novel conceptual framework focusing on actors, resources, organizational practices, and outcomes. Dissimilar to other projects, ravidasvir did not involve any major pharmaceutical companies. Rather, it leveraged the capacities of actors less traditionally involved in the development of novel medicines by constructing a collaborative network of private and public partners from low- and middle-income countries with a shared goal. The collaboration was successful in developing a highly effective, easy-to-use, and affordable medicine and contributed significantly to capacity-strengthening. However, the case also highlighted that strategic behavior by competing for-profit firms could pose significant challenges and that changing external conditions reduced the potential public health impact of the drug. Lessons from ravidasvir can inform future efforts to develop alternative innovation models for therapeutic areas with significant commercial interest. Full article

The ATLAZUL project is an Interreg effort among 18 partners from Spain and Portugal along the Atlantic Iberian coasts. One of its objectives is the development of new methods and data processing for oceanic information to produce useful products for private and public stakeholders. This study proposes a new insight on the sea surface dynamic of the ATLAZUL area based on almost two years of multiscale high resolution sea surface temperature imagery. The use of techniques such as the Karhunen–Loève transform (Empirical Orthogonal Function) and the Maximum Entropy Spectral Analysis were applied to study long- and short-term features in the sea surface temperature imagery. Mathematical Morphology and the Geometrical Theory of Measure are utilized to compute the Medial Axis Transform and the Hausdorff dimension. The results can be summarized as follows: (i) the tow upwelling areas are identified along the Galician–Portugal coast as indicated in the second and third modes of KLT/EOF analysis, and they are partially affected by wind; (ii) the tow warm water outflows from the Bay of Cádiz to the Gulf of Cádiz are identified as the second and third modes of KLT/EOF analysis, which are also influenced by wind; (iii) the skeletons of the surface signature of the upwelling and of the warmer water outflow, along with their fractal dimensions, indicate a chaotic pattern of spatial distribution and (iv) the harmonic prediction model should be combined with the wind prediction. Full article