The rapid growth of e-commerce in South Africa has increased the demand for efficient last-mile delivery. Motorcycle delivery drivers play a crucial role in the last-mile delivery process to bridge the gap between retailers and consumers. However, these drivers face significant challenges that impact both logistical efficiency and their socio-economic well-being. This study critically analyzes media narratives on the safety and working conditions of motorcycle delivery drivers in the e-commerce sector in South Africa. The thematic analysis of newspaper articles identified recurring themes. This study reveals critical safety and labor vulnerabilities affecting motorcycle delivery drivers in South Africa’s e-commerce sector. Key findings include heightened risks of violence, hijackings, and road accidents, exacerbated by inadequate infrastructure and safety gear. Coupled with low wages, job insecurity, and limited benefits, these conditions expose drivers to significant precarity. Policy interventions are urgently needed for driver safety and sustainable logistics. By integrating insights from multiple disciplines, this study offers a comprehensive understanding of the complex challenges within this rapidly growing sector.

Soil erosion is characterized by the wearing away or loss of the uppermost layer of soil, driven by water, wind, and human activities. This process constitutes a significant environmental issue, with adverse effects on water quality, soil health, and the overall stability of ecosystems across the globe. This study focuses on the Anuppur district of Madhya Pradesh, India, employing the Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation (RUSLE) integrated with Geographic Information System (GIS) tools to estimate and spatially analyze soil erosion and fertility risk. The various factors of the model, like rainfall erosivity (R), soil erodibility (K), slope length and steepness (LS), conservation practices (P), and cover management factor (C), have been computed to measure annual soil loss in the district. Each factor was derived using geospatial datasets, including rainfall records, soil characteristics, a Digital Elevation Model (DEM), land use/land cover (LULC) data, and information on conservation practices. GIS methods are used to map the geographical variation of soil erosion, providing important information on the area's most susceptible to erosion. The outcome of the study reveals that 3371.23 km2, which constitutes 91% of the district's total area, is identified as having mild soil erosion; in contrast, 154 km2, or 4%, is classified as moderate soil erosion, while 92 km2, representing 2.5%, falls under the high soil erosion category. Additionally, 50 km2, or 1.35%, is categorized as very high soil erosion and around 30 km2 of the study area is classified as experiencing severe soil erosion. The analysis further discovers that the annual soil loss in the district varies between 0 and 151 tons per hectare per year. This study indicates that most of the district is classified under low soil erosion; only a tiny fraction of the area is categorized as experiencing high and very high soil erosion. The study provides significant insights into soil erosion for policymakers and human society to bring their attention to the need for sustainable soil conservation practices in the undulating terrain/topography and agriculturally dominated district of Anuppur.

The Ecuadorian electricity sector encompasses generation, transmission, distribution and sales. Since the change of the Constitution in Ecuador in 2008, the sector has opted to employ a centralized model. The present research aims to measure the efficiency level of the Ecuadorian electricity sector during the period 2012–2021, using a DEA-NETWORK methodology, which allows examining and integrating each of the phases defined above through intermediate inputs, which are inputs in subsequent phases and outputs of some other phases. These intermediate inputs are essential for analyzing efficiency from a global view of the system. For research purposes, the Ecuadorian electricity sector was divided into 9 planning zones. The results revealed that the efficiency of zones 6 and 8 had the greatest impact on the overall efficiency of the Ecuadorian electricity sector during the period 2012–2015. On the other hand, the distribution phase is the most efficient with an index of 0.9605, followed by sales with an index of 0.6251. It is also concluded that the most inefficient phases are generation and transmission, thus verifying the problems caused by the use of a centralized model.

This study aims to explore the mediating role of perceived organizational support(POS) in the relationship between university teachers' competence and job performance. Through a questionnaire survey of 968 undergraduate university teachers in China, 879 valid questionnaires were collected. The study employed quantitative methods, constructing a university teacher competence scale comprising foundational competence, teaching competence, research competence, and innovation competence, as well as a job performance scale encompassing task performance, relationship performance, and adaptive performance. Structural equation modeling and SOBEL tests were used for data analysis. The results showed that POS exhibited different mediating effect patterns between various competence dimensions and job performance dimensions: no significant mediating effect was found in task performance; partial mediating effects were observed in relational performance and adaptive performance; and a complete mediating effect was identified between foundational competence and adaptive performance. The study provides theoretical support and practical guidance for university teachers management, emphasizing the importance of establishing a competence-based human resources management system, strengthening teachers perceptions of organizational support, and establishing diverse evaluation standards. Future research could further explore the impact of different cultural backgrounds and organizational types on mediating effects.

Fog computing (FC) has been presented as a modern distributed technology that will overcome the different issues that Cloud computing faces and provide many services. It brings computation and data storage closer to data resources such as sensors, cameras, and mobile devices. The fog computing paradigm is instrumental in scenarios where low latency, real-time processing, and high bandwidth are critical, such as in smart cities, industrial IoT, and autonomous vehicles. However, the distributed nature of fog computing introduces complexities in managing and predicting the execution time of tasks across heterogeneous devices with varying computational capabilities. Neural network models have demonstrated exceptional capability in prediction tasks because of their capacity to extract insightful patterns from data. Neural networks can capture non-linear interactions and provide precise predictions in various fields by using numerous layers of linked nodes. In addition, choosing the right inputs is essential to forecasting the correct value since neural network models rely on the data fed into the network to make predictions. The scheduler may choose the appropriate resource and schedule for practical resource usage and decreased make-span based on the expected value. In this paper, we suggest a model Neural Network model for fog computing task time execution prediction and an input assessment of the Interpretive Structural Modeling (ISM) technique. The proposed model showed a 23.9% reduction in MRE compared to other methods in the state-of-arts.

The multifaceted nature of the skills required by new-age professions, reflecting the dynamic evolution of the global workforce, is the focal point of this study. The objective was to synthesize the existing academic literature on these skills, employing a scientometric approach . This involved a comprehensive analysis of 367 articles from the merged Scopus and Web of Science databases. Science. We observed a significant increase in annual scientific output, with an increase of 87.01% over the last six years. The United States emerged as the most prolific contributor, responsible for 21.61% of total publications and receiving 34.31% of all citations. Using the Tree algorithm of Science (ToS), we identified fundamental contributions within this domain. The ToS outlined three main research streams: the convergence of gender, technology, and automation; defining elements of future work; and the dualistic impact of AI on work, seen as both a threat and an opportunity. Furthermore, our study explored the effects of automation on quality of life, the evolving meaning of work, and the emergence of new skills. A critical analysis was also conducted on how to balance technology with humanism, addressing challenges and strategies in workforce automation. This study offers a comprehensive scientometric view of new-age professions, highlighting the most important trends, challenges, and opportunities in this rapidly evolving field.