The ultimate objective of the study was to investigate the effects of being landlocked on the living standards in Sub-Saharan African (SSA) countries from 1991 to 2019. Adopting the two-step estimation technique of System GMM (generalized method of moments), the study found that being landlocked has a negative and significant effect on the living standards in SSA countries when using GDP per capita as the living standard measure. Moreover, the historical living standard experiences of SSA countries have a positive and significant influence on the current living standard level. In addition, the population growth rate has a positive and significant effect on the living standards in SSA countries. On the other hand, the official exchange rate, broad money as a percentage of GDP, and inflation have a negative and significant effect on the living standards in SSA countries. Generally, the estimated result reveals the existence of a significant variation in the living standards in landlocked and coastal SSA countries. This study suggests that regional integration between landlocked and transit countries should be improved to minimize entry costs and increase access to global markets for landlocked countries. We argue that this study is of interest to landlocked and coastal countries to increase trade integration and promote the development of both groups, and it will contribute to the scarce empirical evidence.

This study explores the factors affecting dentists’ willingness to use social media in their practices, examining how consumer behavior influences their adoption decisions. Despite the growing use of social media across industries, its adoption in dentistry remains relatively underexplored. As investments in digital technologies increase, understanding dentists’ intentions to integrate social media becomes crucial, especially considering the evolving consumer behavior patterns in healthcare. Using the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) and factoring in patient pressures, this study analyzes data from 209 respondents through SPSS and Smart PLS 4.0. The results offer valuable insights for dentists, highlighting the benefits of social media integration, and justifying investments in these platforms to align with changing consumer expectations. The study also discusses its limitations and suggests future research directions to further explore social media adoption in dentistry and its potential to drive economic growth within the sector.

Antioxidants are derivatives of vitamin C or beta-carotene that prevent reactions stimulated by oxygen, peroxides, or free radicals, thus reducing the oxidative stress. They have found their way into many uses in treating several human diseases and reducing the risk of developing diseases like cancer. In view of this property, the present study was focussed in identifying several plants possessing antioxidative properties and which were also conserved in the ex-situ park of CSIR – Central Institute of Mining and Fuel Research, Dhanbad, India. Fifteen medicinal plants including herbs, shrubs and grasses are reported in this paper, and a collective insight has been presented about their antioxidant properties and the present state of their pharmacological applications. The specific chemical constituents abundant in the leaves, roots, stems, seeds and fruits of each of these plants have also been dealt with. To report a few antioxidant pharmacological preparations from Ayurvedic literature are Vimang, Maharishi Amrit Kalash (MAK4, MAK5), Maharishi Ayurved (MA631, MA47), MA Raja’s Cup, MA Student Rasayana and MA Ladies Rasayana. This review has been attempted to enhance the importance of the plants which are generally being neglected, so that it can used by the local people in rural areas for their cultivation and it will also pave the pathway for their subsequent future use in medicinal and research industry for drug formulation.

Tomato powdery mildew, fruit rot, and twig blight are all managed with Deltamethrin. Its residues could still be present in the crops, posing a health risk. The pesticide residue analysis, dissipation rate, and safety assessments were thus examined in green tomatoes. The analytical method for residue analysis was validated according to international standards. Tomato fruits and soil were used to study the dissipation of Deltamethrin 100 EC (11% w/w) at 12.5 g a.i ha⁻¹ for the recommended dose (RD) and 25.0 g a.i ha⁻¹ for the double of the recommended dose (DD). Ethyl acetate was used to extract residues from tomato fruit, and PSA and magnesium sulphate were used for cleanup.The fruits had recoveries ranging from 83% to 93% and the soil sample from 81.67% to 89.6%, with the limit of detection (LOQ) estimated at 0.01 mg kg⁻¹. The matrix effect (ME) was calculated to be less than 20% for the tomato fruits and the soil.Half-lives for RD and DD were 1.95 and 1.84 days, respectively. All sampling days for both doses had dietary exposures of residues below the maximum permissible intake (MPI) of 0.16 mg person⁻¹ day⁻¹. The most effective method of decontaminating tomato residue containing Deltamethrin is blanching.

Purpose: This research aims to examine the influence of intellectual capital disclosure and the geographical location of universities on the sustainability of higher education institutions in Southeast Asia. Design/methodology/approach: This research is quantitative and uses secondary data obtained through the annual reports of universities that have the Universitas Indonesia Green Metric Rank. This research uses two stages of data analysis techniques, namely the content analysis stage to determine the number of Intellectual Capital disclosures and the hypothesis testing stage. The analysis tool uses the SPSS version 23 application. The population of this research includes all universities in Southeast Asia that are included in the UI Greenmetric World University Rankings. The sampling technique used was purposive sampling technique, which resulted in 86 analysis units of higher education institutions in Southeast Asia. Findings: The research results prove that the geographical location of universities has a negative and significant influence on Universitas Indonesia Green Metric’s performance in Southeast Asia and human capital has a positive influence on UIGM’s performance in Southeast Asia. However, the structural capital and relational capital components do not affect the UIGM performance of universities in Southeast Asia. Originality/value: The originality of the research is the use of higher education sustainability variables with UIGM proxies and modified IC indicators for universities and geographical areas that have not been widely used to see whether there are fundamental differences in the disclosure of intellectual capital for higher education institutions in Southeast Asia.

Fruits are a source of vitamins. Mango is one of the abundantly nutritional fruits. Vitamin B9, or folic acid, is one of the important vital amines due to its role in preventing neural deficiency. Several beneficial micro-organisms are used for the synthesis of folic acid. In this study, Lactobacillus acidophilus, Leuconostoc mesenteroides, Streptococcus thermophilus, and Saccharomyces cerevisiae were used. Saccharomyces cerevisiae synthesized folic acid as compared to other organisms. There were five different concentrations of mango pulp that were analyzed for folic acid synthesis (5%, 10%, 15%, 20%, and 30%). The initial concentration of pulp was 133.37 mg kg⁻¹, but after fermentation with four micro-organisms it got reduced. As compared to the other three organisms, Saccharomyces cerevisiae synthesizes 17.15 mg kg⁻¹, 30.14 mg kg⁻¹, 28.62 mg kg⁻¹, 21.70 mg kg⁻¹, and 21.78 mg kg⁻¹, respectively, at different pulp concentrations of 5%, 10%, 15, 20%, and 30%. Vitamin C increased to 320 mg as compared to the control, and there was no significant difference between the four micro-organisms. Antioxidants also showed positive results at different concentrations of pulp. There was an increase in titratable acidity and a decrease in pH recorded for the 24 h fermentation period. In this variety, the color of mango pulp slightly changes to yellow shades due to the breakdown of pigments, so this effects the *b value in between the pulp concentrations. Data supports the enrichment of folic acid, which will further support the utilization of beneficial micro-organisms in food beverages.