Malaria is a mosquito-borne infectious disease that affects humans and poses a severe public health problem. Nigeria has the highest number of global cases. Geospatial technology has been widely used to study the risks and factors associated with malaria hazards. The present study is conducted in Ibadan, Oyo State, Nigeria. The objective of this study is to map out areas that are at high risk of the prevalence of malaria by considering a good number of factors as criteria that determine the spread of malaria within Ibadan using open-source and Landsat remote sensing data and further analysis in GIS-based multi-criteria evaluation (MCE). This study considered factors like climate, environmental, socio-economic, and proximity to health centers as criteria for mapping malaria risk. The MCE used a weighted overlay of the factors to produce an element at-risk map, a malaria hazard map, and a vulnerability map. These maps were overlaid to produce the final malaria risk map, which showed that 72% of Ibadan has a risk of malaria prevalence. Identification and delineation of risk areas in Ibadan would help policymakers and decision-makers mitigate the hazards and improve the health status of the state.
Technological innovation allows nations to produce sophisticated products more efficiently and at higher quality to increase exports. Countries that aim to produce and export sophisticated products can improve their economic complexity and lead to the country’s economic development. Hence, the study investigates the impact of technological innovation on economic complexity in South Africa. Technological innovation, exports, and manufactured products were used as variables to examine South Africa’s economic complexity index. The study employed the ARDL method to determine the relationship among the variables. The ARDL F-bounds test reflected the long-run cointegration among the selected variables. The study produced long-run positive estimates of technological innovation, exports, and manufactured products on economic complexity, however, manufactured products and exports were insignificant. Granger causality indicated unidirectional causality on economic complexity to manufactured products, exports to technological innovation, and a bi-directional causal effect from exports to economic complexity and technological innovation to economic complexity. The study recommends that South Africa focus on innovation, create more diversified and sophisticated products and processes, and promote more manufacturing firms, particularly Agri-processed products.
Peru is a country open to the world economy and to national and foreign investments; therefore, economic activities of an industrial, commercial and service nature in general are developed. It also has a wide variety of natural resources, which is why the state has chosen to apply differentiated treatment in the tax field to certain types of business activities by granting certain “benefits” and “incentives”. However, due to a lack of knowledge about tax legislation, they are not used adequately. In this context, the objective was to analyze the level of knowledge of the legislation, tax and its impact on the development of their operations in formal business aquaculture in the ring circumlacustrine of the region in 2021. It was developed under a descriptive correlational design with a sample of 80 circumlacustrine ring aquaculture companies. The results indicated that there is a low level of knowledge about tax legislation on the part of the owners of aquaculture companies, which negatively affects the development of their formal operations in the circumlacustrine ring of the Puno region. As a consequence, it has a negative impact on the formalization of companies since they do not know about the benefits and tax incentives and even less about the tax regimes to which they are subject as taxpayers; therefore, aquaculture companies are in the informality category in a high percentage.
This case study employs the Asset-Based Community Development (ABCD) theory as a conceptual framework, utilizing semi-structured interviews combined with focus group discussions to uncover the driving forces influencing rural revitalization and sustainable development within communities. ABCD is considered a transformative approach that emphasizes achieving sustainable development by mobilizing existing resources within the community. Conducted against the backdrop of rural revitalization in China, the study conducts on-site investigations in Yucun, Zhejiang Province. Through the analysis of Yucun’s community development and asset utilization practices, the study reveals successful experiences in various aspects, including community construction, industrial development, cultural heritage preservation, ecological conservation, organizational management, and open economic thinking. The results indicate that Yucun’s sustainable development benefits from its unique resources, leveraging policy advantages, collective financial organizations, and open economic thinking, among other factors. These elements collectively drive rural revitalization in Yucun, leading to sustainable development.
This study intends to explore the idea of a vocational village strategy to foster sustainable rural development. Vocational villages, offering targeted skills training and economic opportunities, present a compelling soft approach to rural development, addressing the need for sustainable livelihoods and community empowerment. Drawing upon the collaborative governance (the penta-helix model); underpinning the social capital perspective; and highlighting the economic, institutional, cultural, environmental, technological, and institutional dimensions of sustainable development, a vocational village strategy is expected to level up village capacities and facilitate modernization. The research was narratively developed through a qualitative methodology using primary and secondary data sources. Primary empirical data was employed to analyze vocational village practices in Panggungharjo Village, Yogyakarta, Indonesia as a representative example. The PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-analyses) framework provided secondary data to present comparative literature on vocational village development. The findings determined a four-staged vocational village model includes initiation, training, business development, and independence. The success of this model is contingent upon political, bureaucratic, and sociocultural factors (social capital), as well as the effective collaboration of government, academia, industry, and community (penta-helix). This research contributes to the urgency of vocational village practices and models as a viable strategy for achieving equitable and sustainable rural development.
The present study demonstrates the fabrication of heterogeneous ternary composite photocatalysts consisting of TiO2, kaolinite, and cement (TKCe),which is essential to overcome the practical barriers that are inherent to currently available photocatalysts. TKCe is prepared via a cost-effective method, which involves mechanical compression and thermal activation as major fabrication steps. The clay-cement ratio primarily determines TKCe mechanical strength and photocatalytic efficiency, where TKCe with the optimum clay-cement ratio, which is 1:1, results in a uniform matrix with fewer surface defects. The composites that have a clay-cement ratio below or above the optimum ratio account for comparatively low mechanical strength and photocatalytic activity due to inhomogeneous surfaces with more defects, including particle agglomeration and cracks. The TKCe mechanical strength comes mainly from clay-TiO2 interactions and TiO2-cement interactions. TiO2-cement interactions result in CaTiO3 formation, which significantly increases matrix interactions; however, the maximum composite performance is observed at the optimum titanate level; anything above or below this level deteriorates composite performance. Over 90% degradation rates are characteristic of all TKCe, which follow pseudo-first-order kinetics in methylene blue decontamination. The highest rate constant is observed with TKCe 1-1, which is 1.57 h−1 and is the highest among all the binary composite photocatalysts that were fabricated previously. The TKCe 1-1 accounts for the highest mechanical strength, which is 6.97 MPa, while the lowest is observed with TKCe 3-1, indicating that the clay-cement ratio has a direct relation to composite strength. TKCe is a potential photocatalyst that can be obtained in variable sizes and shapes, complying with real industrial wastewater treatment requirements.
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