An exhaustive analysis and evaluation of fertility indicators in a society including many ethnic groups might provide valuable insights into any discrepancies. This study aims to systematically analyse the fertility rates over specific periods and investigate the differences in levels and patterns between local and expatriate women in Saudi Arabia using the existing data. This analysis used data from credible sources published by the General Authority for Statistics in the Saudi census 2022. The calculation of period fertility indicators started with the most straightforward rates and advanced to more complex ones, followed by a comprehensive description of the advantages and disadvantages of each. The aim was to ascertain fluctuations in fertility rates and analyse temporal patterns. Multiple studies consistently show that the fertility rate among expats in Saudi Arabia is lower than that among Saudi native women. However, the reason for this discrepancy still needs to be discovered since the definitive effect of contraceptive techniques has yet to be confirmed. Moreover, the reproductive trends that have occurred since the early 1980s will persist, although with additional precautions in place.
Hazards are the primary cause of occupational accidents, as well as occupational safety and health issues. Therefore, identifying potential hazards is critical to reducing the consequences of accidents. Risk assessment is a widely employed hazard analysis method that mitigates and monitors potential hazards in our everyday lives and occupational environments. Risk assessment and hazard analysis are observing, collecting data, and generating a written report. During this process, safety engineers manually and periodically control, identify, and assess potential hazards and risks. Utilizing a mobile application as a tool might significantly decrease the time and paperwork involved in this process. This paper explains the sequential processes involved in developing a mobile application designed for hazard analysis for safety engineers. This study comprehensively discusses creating and integrating mobile application features for hazard analysis, adhering to the Unified Modeling Language (UML) approach. The mobile application was developed by implementing a 10-step approach. Safety engineers from the region were interviewed to extract the knowledge and opinions of experts regarding the application’s effectiveness, requirements, and features. These interview results are used during the requirement gathering phase of the mobile application design and development. Data collection was facilitated by utilizing voice notes, photos, and videos, enabling users to engage in a more convenient alternative to manual note-taking with this mobile application. The mobile application will automatically generate a report once the safety engineer completes the risk assessment.
Assessment of water resources carrying capacity (WRCC) is of great significance for understanding the status of regional water resources, promoting the coordinated development of water resources with environmental, social and economic development, and promoting sustainable development. This study focuses on the Longdong Loess Plateau region and utilized panel data spanning from 2010 to 2020, established a three-dimensional evaluation index system encompassing water resources, economic, and ecological dimensions, uses the entropy-weighted TOPSIS model coupled with global spatial autocorrelation analysis (Global Moran’s I) and the hot spot analysis (Getis-Ord Gi* index) method to comprehensively evaluate the spatial distribution of the WRCC in the study region. It can provide scientific basis and theoretical support for decision-making on sustainable development strategies in the Longdong Loess Plateau region and other regions of the world.From 2010 to 2020, the overall WRCC of the Longdong Loess Plateau area show some fluctuations but maintained overall growth. The WRCC in each county and district predominantly fell within level III (normal) and level IV (good). The spatial distribution of the WRCC in each county and district is featured by clustering pattern, with neighboring counties displaying similar values, resulting in a spatial distribution pattern characterized by high carrying capacity in the south and low carrying capacity in the north. Based on these findings, our study puts forth several recommendations for enhancing the WRCC in the Longdong Loess Plateau area.
Uncontrolled economic development often leads to land degradation, a decline in ecosystem services, and negative impacts on community welfare. This study employs water yield (WY) modeling as a method for environmental management, aiming to provide a comprehensive understanding of the relationship between Land Use Land Cover (LULC), Land Use Intensity (LUI), and WY to support sustainable natural resource management in the Cisadane Watershed, Indonesia. The objectives include: (1) analyzing changes in WY for 2010, 2015, and 2021; (2) predicting WY for 2030 and 2050 under two scenarios—Business as Usual (BAU) and Protected Forest Area (PFA); (3) assessing the impacts of LULC and climate change on WY; and (4) exploring the relationship between LUI and WY. The Integrated Valuation of Ecosystem Services and Trade-offs (InVEST) model calculates actual and predicted WY conditions, while the Coupling Coordination Degree (CCD) analyzes the LULC-WY relationship. Results indicate that the annual WY in 2021 was 215.8 × 108 m³, reflecting a 30.42% increase from 2010. Predictions show an increasing trend in WY under both scenarios for 2030 and 2050 with different magnitudes. Rainfall contributes 88.99% more dominantly to WY than LULC. Additionally, around 50% of districts exhibited unbalanced coordination between LUI and WY in 2010 and 2020. This study reveals the importance of ESs in sustainable watershed management amidst increasing demand for natural resources due to population growth.
Poverty, as a phenomenon, remains an obstacle to global sustainable development. Although a universal malaise, it is more prevalent in underdeveloped countries, including Nigeria. However, because of its devastating impacts on the Nigerian economy, such as increasing death rates, high crime rates, insecurity difficulties, threats to national cohesion, and so on, successive administrations have implemented poverty alleviation programs to mitigate the consequences of this disease. Worryingly, despite a multiplicity of projects and massive human and natural resources invested to match global standards, Nigeria remains impoverished. The curiosity at how these programs fail, either because of implementation hiccups or because elites’ wealth and power influence these programs spurred the paper to assess poverty alleviation policies and elitist approaches in Nigeria. The study employed the desk study approach, as it examined secondary sources such as books, journals, articles, and magazines. Its theoretical underpinning was the elite theory. The paper discovered that several factors such as corruption, the elitist nature of the policies which in disguise reflect public interests, lack of continuity, lack of coordination and monitoring system, misappropriation of public resources, and others, led to the poor performances of government in alleviating poverty in Nigeria. The paper concludes that, while the rate of poverty index in Nigeria rises year after year, poverty alleviation efforts in Nigeria have had little or no influence on the Nigerian economy, since most of these projects are purely reflective of the elites’ interests rather than the masses. Therefore, the paper recommends that for there to be a reduction in poverty incidence in Nigeria, a holistic developmental approach should be adopted, the policies formulated and implemented should sync with the needs of the citizens, and quality and viable programs should be sustained and financed irrespective of change in government; public accountability should be instilled; proper coordination and monitoring system should be domesticated, etc.
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