In the current context of multicultural collision, online information is impacting traditional gender values. To analyze the changes in gender role attitudes and gender awareness among Chinese Generation Z college students under the influence of various social factors, the study focuses on Generation Z college students and explores the impact of cultural, media, educational, and family factors on gender role attitudes and gender awareness among Chinese Generation Z college students through questionnaire surveys and quantitative analysis methods. The research results show that Generation Z college students exhibit extremely favorable gender perspectives, with the proportion of bisexual gender roles approaching 38%, surpassing the number of students with traditional understanding of single sex gender roles. At the same time, in school gender awareness education, research has found that the proportion of bisexual gender roles is the highest among students who accept open mindedness, at 46.6%. In family gender awareness education, students who receive parental gender awareness sharing education have the highest proportion of bisexual gender roles, accounting for 48.5%. Therefore, the current gender education for the new Generation of students in China needs to abandon traditional avoidance-based teaching methods and adopt an open and supportive attitude to guide students’ gender values.

Cassava’s adaptability to different agroecological conditions, high yield, as well as its ability to thrive under harsh climatic conditions, makes it an essential food security crop. In South Africa, the cassava value chain is currently uncoordinated and underdeveloped, with a couple of smallholder farmers growing the crop for household consumption and as a source of income. Other farmers regard it as a secondary crop and hardly any producers grow it for industrial purposes. Hence, this study sought to analyze the determinants of household participation in the cassava value chain in South Africa. The study employed the multivariate probit model to analyze the determinants of household participation in the cassava value chain in South Africa, using a primary dataset collected through a simple sample method from smallholder farmers in KwaZulu-Natal, Mpumalanga, and Limpopo provinces. Results show that livestock ownership has a positive and significant effect on the likelihood of farmers participating in the value chain by growing cassava for household food consumption. Also, findings reveal that hiring labour in cassava production and an increase in the yield during the previous season increases the probability of farmers’ interest in selling cassava tubers along the value chain. Hence, the positive and statistically significant influence of hiring labour during cassava production in driving the farmers’ interest in selling cassava tubers and cuttings implies that the development of the cassava value chain presents great opportunities for creating jobs (employment) in the country. Also, policy interventions that ensure land tenure security and empower farmers to increase their cassava yields are bound to encourage further participation in the value chain with an interest in selling fresh tubers, among other derived products to generate income. Lastly, programmes that empower and encourage youth participation in the cassava value chain can increase the number of farmers interested in selling cassava products.

Recent technological advances in the fields of biomaterials and tissue engineering have spurred interest in biopolymers for various biomedical applications. The advantage of biopolymers is their favorable characteristics for these applications, among which proteins are of particular importance. Proteins are explored widely for 3D bioprinting and tissue engineering applications, wound healing, drug delivery systems, implants, etc., and the proteins mainly available include collagen, gelatin, albumin, zein, etc. Zein is a plant protein abundantly present in corn endosperm, and it is about 80% of total corn protein. It is a highly renewable source, and zein has been reported to be applicable in different industrial applications. Lately, it has gained attention in biomedical applications. This research interest in zein is on account of its biocompatibility, non-toxicity, and certain unique physico-chemical properties. Zein comes under the GRAS category and is considered safe for biomedical applications. The hydrophobic nature of this protein gives it an added advantage and has wider applications in drug delivery. This review focuses on details about zein protein, its properties, and potential applications in biomedical sectors.

Public-Private Partnerships (PPPs) can be an effective way of delivering infrastructure. However, achieving value for money can be difficult if government agencies are not equipped to manage them effectively. Experience from OECD countries shows that the availability of finance is not the main obstacle in delivering infrastructure. Governance—effective decision-making—is the most influential aspect on the quality of an investment, including PPP investments. In 2012, the OECD together with its member countries developed principles to ensure that PPPs deliver value for money transparently and prudently, supported by the right institutional capacities and processes to harness the upside of PPPs without jeopardizing fiscal sustainability. Survey results from OECD countries show that some dimensions of the recommended practices are well applied and past and ongoing reforms show progress. However, other principles have not been well implemented, reflecting the continuing need for improving public governance of PPPs across countries.

National unity is a matter of great concern for many countries around the world today. The study of policy evaluation is an important aspect of the study of national unity. The evaluation of policy implementation effects can help policymakers analyze whether there are problems in the formulation and implementation of the policy, thereby promoting further policy adjustments to better achieve national unity. This article adopts thematic searches and a systematic literature review as research methods. Through the systematic review, it summarizes and analyzes the research on national unity policies across different regions and countries. The article has two objectives: First, to explore the current perspectives in the research on national unity policies, and second, to analyze the state of research regarding the effectiveness of national unity policies. Among the 35 papers analyzed, 7 were on integration policy, 6 were on education policy and 4 were on language policy. To a certain extent, this reflects the perspectives of some countries in Europe, Asia and Africa, including France, Greece, Russia, Turkey, China, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Kenya, South Africa, Nigeria and other countries on the governance of national unity. Research on policy effectiveness is mainly conducted from the perspectives of policy content and policy implementation. However, there is little analysis of successful cases that achieved the desired goals. The main contributions of this article are as follows: first, it summarizes and identifies the characteristics of national solidarity-related policies in different continents and countries. Secondly, the experience of the success and failure of the national unity policy is studied and summarized. In addition, this article also found that there are still gaps in the research on successful experiences and causes.

The silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) exhibit unique and tunable plasmonic properties. The size and shape of these particles can manipulate their localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) property and their response to the local environment. The LSPR property of nanoparticles is exploited by their optical, chemical, and biological sensing. This is an interdisciplinary area that involves chemistry, biology, and materials science. In this paper, a polymer system is used with the optimization technique of blending two polymers. The two polymer composites polystyrene/poly (4-vinylpyridine) (PS/P4VP) (50:50) and (75:25) were used as found suitable by their previous morphological studies. The results of 50, 95, and 50, 150 nm thicknesses of silver nanoparticles deposited on PS/P4VP (50:50) and (75:25) were explored to observe their optical sensitivity. The nature of the polymer composite embedded with silver nanoparticles affects the size of the nanoparticle and its distribution in the matrix. The polymer composites used are found to have a uniform distribution of nanoparticles of various sizes. The optical properties of Ag nanoparticles embedded in suitable polymer composites for the development of the latest plasmonic applications, owing to their unique properties, were explored. The sensing capability of a particular polymer composite is found to depend on the size of the nanoparticle embedded in it. The optimum result has been found for silver nanoparticles of 150 nm thickness deposited on PS/P4VP (75:25).