This research aims to develop a Synergy Learning Model in the context of science learning.  This research was conducted at Islamic Junior High School, Madrasah Tsanawiyah Negeri 2 Medan, involving 64 students of Grade 7 as the research subject. The method used in this research refers to the development research approach (R&D). In collecting the data, the research employed test and non-test techniques. The results prove that the Synergy learning model developed is effective in improving student learning outcomes. This is evident through the t-test statistical test where the t-count of 4.26 is higher than the t-table of 1.99. In addition, the level of practicality with a score of 3.39 is categorized as practical. This learning model emphasizes the learning process that supports the development of science skills and develops students' competencies in planning, collaborating, and critically reflecting. The findings of this study contribute to pedagogical practices and literature in the field of science learning.

Plastic products are items that we use every day around us, and their replacement speed are very fast, so that to recycle waste plastic has become the focus of environmental problems. This study has proposed an optimized circular design for the recycle plant of waste plastic, therefore, and our proposed strategy is to build a new tertiary recycling plant to reduce the total generation amount of the derived solid plastic waste from ordinary and secondary recycling plants and the semi-finished products from secondary recycling plant. Results obtained from a real recycle plant has showed that to recycle the tertiary waste plastic in a tertiary recycling plant, the finished products produced from a secondary recycling plant accounts about 27% of ordinary waste plastic, and the semi-finished products that mainly is scrap hardware accounts about 1% of ordinary waste plastic. Other derived solid plastic waste accounts for 6% of ordinary plastic waste. Therefore, if the ordinary, secondary and tertiary recycle plant can be set all-in-one, it can reduce the total generation amount of derived solid plastic waste from 34% to 6%, without and with a tertiary recycling plant, respectively. It can also increase the operating income of the secondary recycle plant and the investment willingness of the new tertiary recycle plant.

Vehicle detection stands out as a rapidly developing technology today and is further strengthened by deep learning algorithms. This technology is critical in traffic management, automated driving systems, security, urban planning, environmental impacts, transportation, and emergency response applications. Vehicle detection, which is used in many application areas such as monitoring traffic flow, assessing density, increasing security, and vehicle detection in automatic driving systems, makes an effective contribution to a wide range of areas, from urban planning to security measures. Moreover, the integration of this technology represents an important step for the development of smart cities and sustainable urban life. Deep learning models, especially algorithms such as You Only Look Once version 5 (YOLOv5) and You Only Look Once version 8 (YOLOv8), show effective vehicle detection results with satellite image data. According to the comparisons, the precision and recall values of the YOLOv5 model are 1.63% and 2.49% higher, respectively, than the YOLOv8 model. The reason for this difference is that the YOLOv8 model makes more sensitive vehicle detection than the YOLOv5. In the comparison based on the F1 score, the F1 score of YOLOv5 was measured as 0.958, while the F1 score of YOLOv8 was measured as 0.938. Ignoring sensitivity amounts, the increase in F1 score of YOLOv8 compared to YOLOv5 was found to be 0.06%.

Employee retention is a critical concern for organizations in today’s dynamic labor market. This paper introduces a novel framework, integrating “absolute potential of the employee” and “risk associated with leaving the employee”, to address this challenge. Findings from the study suggest that this framework can effectively assist organizations in strategizing retention techniques. The research methodology employed an exploratory research design and collected data from 576 employees across various sectors. The results indicate significant implications for organizational risk assessment and employee retention strategies.

This paper investigates the factors influencing credit growth in Kosovo, focusing on the relationship between credit activity and key economic variables, including GDP, FDI, CPI, and interest rates. Its analysis targets loans issued to businesses and households in Kosovo, employing a VAR model integrated into a VEC model to investigate the determinants of credit growth. The findings were validated using OLS regression. Additionally, the study includes a normality test, a model stability test (Inverse Roots AR Characteristic Polynomial), a Granger causality test for short-term relationships, and variance decomposition to analyze variable shocks over time. This research demonstrates that loan growth is primarily driven by its historical values. The VEC model shows that, in the long run, economic growth in Kosovo leads to less credit growth, showing a negative link between it and GDP. Higher interest rates also reduce credit growth, showing another negative link. On the other hand, more foreign direct investment (FDI) increases credit demand, showing a positive link between credit growth and FDI. The results show that loans and inflation (CPI) are positively linked, meaning higher inflation leads to more credit growth. Similarly, more foreign direct investment (FDI) increases credit demand, showing a positive link between FDI and credit growth. In the long term, higher inflation is connected to greater credit growth. In the short term, the VAR model suggests that GDP has a small to moderate effect on loans, while FDI has a slightly negative effect. In the VAR model, interest rates have a mixed effect: one coefficient is positive and the other negative, showing a delayed negative impact on loan growth. CPI has a small and negative effect, indicating little short-term influence on credit growth. The OLS regression supports the VAR results, finding no effect of GDP on loans, a small negative effect from FDI, a strong negative effect from interest rates, and no effect from CPI. This study provides a detailed analysis and adds to the research by showing how macroeconomic factors affect credit growth in Kosovo. The findings offer useful insights for policymakers and researchers about the relationship between these factors and credit activity.

Earnings disparities in South Africa, and specifically the Eastern Cape region are influenced by a complex interplay of historical, socio-economic, and demographic factors. Despite significant progress since the end of apartheid, persistent disparities in earnings continue to raise questions about the effectiveness of policies aimed at reducing inequality and promoting equitable social system. Individual-level dataset from the 2021 South African general household survey were subjected to exploratory analysis, while Heckman selection model was used to investigate the determinants of earnings disparities in the study area. The results showed that majority of the population are not working for a wage, commission or salary, which also pointed to the gravity of unemployment situation in the area of study. Most of the working population (both male and female) are lowest earners (R ≤ 10,000), and this also cuts across all age-group categories. Majority of working population have no formal education, are drop out, or have less than grade-12 certificate, and very few working populations with higher education status were found in the moderate and relatively high earnings categories. While many of the working population are engaged in the informal sector, those in the formal sector are in the lowest earners group. Compared to any other race, the Black African group constituted the majority of non-wage earners, and most in this group were found in the lowest earners group. Some of the working population who were beneficiaries of social grants and medical aids scheme were found in the lowest, low, and moderate earnings categories. The findings significantly isolated the earnings-effect of age, marital status, gender, race, education, geographic indicators, employment sector, and index of health conditions and disabilities. The study recommends interventions addressing racial, gender, and geographic wage gaps, while also emphasizing the importance of equitable access to education, health infrastructure, and skills development.