The United Nations General Assembly declared 2023 the “International Year of Millets” in order to promote millet cultivation, consumption, and conservation. Millets play an important role in food security, livelihoods, and biodiversity. Despite its numerous benefits, millet cultivation and consumption in Uttarakhand have declined due to a variety of constraints. This paper examines the effects of regiocentrism and materialism on intention towards Uttarakhand’s regional food products (millets). It employs PLS-SEM to investigate relationships between latent variables and generate results on a sample of 460 participants. This study elucidates the intricate interplay between materialism, regiocentrism, and intention towards regional food products in the Himalayan region, enriching the theory of planned behavior (TPB) with a nuanced understanding of personal values and regional identity. It reveals materialism’s positive association with attitudes towards regional food products, suggesting materialistic individuals may view these products as status symbols, thus affecting behavioral intentions. Additionally, the research highlights regiocentrism’s dual influence—enhancing attitudes yet deterring purchase intentions—underscoring the complexity of regional pride in consumer decision-making. These findings advance TPB by integrating broader value systems and cultural context, offering significant theoretical and practical insights for promoting sustainable consumption patterns.

Breast cancer was a prevalent form of cancer worldwide. Thermography, a method for diagnosing breast cancer, involves recording the thermal patterns of the breast. This article explores the use of a convolutional neural network (CNN) algorithm to extract features from a dataset of thermographic images. Initially, the CNN network was used to extract a feature vector from the images. Subsequently, machine learning techniques can be used for image classification. This study utilizes four classification methods, namely Fully connected neural network (FCnet), support vector machine (SVM), classification linear model (CLINEAR), and KNN, to classify breast cancer from thermographic images. The accuracy rates achieved by the FCnet, SVM, CLINEAR, and k-nearest neighbors (KNN) algorithms were 94.2%, 95.0%, 95.0%, and 94.1%, respectively. Furthermore, the reliability parameters for these classifiers were computed as 92.1%, 97.5%, 96.5%, and 91.2%, while their respective sensitivities were calculated as 95.5%, 94.1%, 90.4%, and 93.2%. These findings can assist experts in developing an expert system for breast cancer diagnosis.

Bagasse fiber from sugarcane waste is used with epoxy resin to make natural composites. The raw fibers are treated chemically to improve compatibility and adherence with the epoxy polymer. It’s anticipated that epoxy resin matrix composites reinforced with bagasse particles would work as a trustworthy replacement for conventional materials utilized in the building and automobile sectors. The amount and distribution of reinforcing particles inside the matrix are two factors that impact the composite’s strength. Furthermore, the precise proportion of reinforcing elements—roughly 20–30 weight percent—into the matrix plays a critical role in providing a noticeable boost in improving the properties of the composites. This research investigates the impact of reinforcing alkali-treated bagasse and untreated bagasse powder into an epoxy matrix on aspects of mechanical and morphological characteristics. The hand layup technique is used to create alkali-treated bagasse and untreated bagasse powder-reinforced epoxy composites. Composites are designed with six levels of reinforcement weight percentages (5%, 10%, 15%, 20%, 25%, and 30%). Microstructural analysis was performed using SEM and optical microscopes to assess the cohesion and dispersion of the reinforcing particles throughout the hybrid composites’ matrix phase. With reinforcement loading up to 20 wt%, the tensile strength, impact strength, and toughness of epoxy-alkali-treated bagasse and untreated bagasse powder-reinforced composites increased. In contrast, treated bagasse epoxy composites were superior to untreated epoxy composites in terms of efficacy. The results indicate that 20 wt% alkali bagasse powder provides better mechanical properties than other combinations.

African countries have shown interest in developing the legal framework for electronic payment as part of digital law. The article aims to analyze the role of the legal framework for electronic payment in the field of digital economy. It relies on a legal methodology through analyzing legal texts related to electronic payment. It also relies on the comparative and descriptive approaches whenever there is a scientific necessity. The article concluded that the legal framework plays an important role in the field of digital economy. This framework appears in the general rules of civil and commercial laws or through the laws of money and credit. Other laws also play a complementary role, such as criminal law and personal data protection laws.

Compared with their fellow citizens in the city, rural residents are more likely to be affected by ecological restoration programs and policies. Yet no one has conducted a large-scale study of how ecological conservation impacts rural livelihoods and the economic status of rural households, especially in China. To fill that knowledge gap, I collected and analyzed relevant data from 2007 to 2018 for western and eastern China. I found that the relationship between western China’s green coverage rate and rural income followed an inverted U curve whereas that between its green coverage rate and urban-rural income gap was instead U-shaped, suggesting that ecological restoration has come to eventually negatively impact the economic welfare of rural residents in western China; however, the complete opposite was found in eastern China. Greater urbanization, financial support, and infrastructure such as education, medical, and Internet services would help to improve the current situation in western China. This suggests the government should take actions—such as improving the quality of farmer training to the rural residents and improving infrastructure construction—to help farmers acquire a new source of income and narrow the urban-rural income gap in parallel to implementing ecological restoration projects.

This research examines data from 1989 to 2022 across 48 Sub-Saharan African (SSA) countries using a novel panel data regression approach to uncover how conflict undermines economic stability. The study identifies the destruction of infrastructure, disruption of human capital development, and deterrence of investment as primary channels through which conflict negatively impacts economies. These findings support the hypothesis that armed conflict severely hampers economic performance in SSA, highlighting the urgency for effective conflict resolution strategies and robust institutional frameworks. The negative impacts extend beyond immediate losses, altering income growth trajectories and perpetuating poverty long after hostilities cease. Regional spillover effects emphasize the interconnectedness of SSA economies, where conflict in one country affects its neighbors. The research provides innovative insights by disaggregating impact pathways and employing a robust methodology, revealing the complexity of conflict's economic consequences. It underscores the need for comprehensive policy interventions to foster resilience and sustainable development in conflict-prone regions. While there is evidence of potential post-conflict growth, the overall net effect of armed conflict remains profoundly negative, diminishing economic prospects. Future research should focus on strengthening long-term resilience mechanisms and policy measures to enhance the peace dividend. Addressing the root causes of conflict and investing in peace-building efforts are essential for transforming SSA's economic landscape and ensuring sustainable growth and development.