Challenges in Monitoring the Implementation of Disaster-Resilient Building Regulations: A Delphi Study in Kerman Province, Iran

This present study aims to design a model of antecedents of entrepreneurial orientation and behaviour in the administrative agencies in Kerman Province, Iran. Accordingly, first, antecedents of entrepreneurship were identified through exploratory studies and a survey of those experts in the topic using the Delphi technique, and then, identified antecedents were presented in a model and tested in the target statistical population. In the present study, a model of antecedents of entrepreneurial orientation and behaviour was presented. In the model, three sets of independent variables, including organisational (eight variables), individual (four variables) and environmental factors (six variables), were considered. They are of factors directly affecting entrepreneurial orientation and behaviour. Then, based on this model and the data obtained from the questionnaire, the relationship between the antecedents of entrepreneurship and the entrepreneurial behaviour and orientation were investigated using the structural equation modelling approach. The results show that there is a relationship between antecedents of entrepreneurship and entrepreneurial orientation and behaviour in the administrative agencies in Kerman province. Moreover, there is a relationship between organisational, individual and environmental factors and entrepreneurial orientation and behaviour.

Low-income countries such as Ethiopia face significant food safety challenges due to weak regulatory enforcement, limited infrastructure, and rapid urbanization. In addition, the rising incidence of foodborne illnesses and emerging bioterrorism threats underscore the urgent need for robust legislation, effective regulation, and coordinated food safety measures. This review aimed to assess the food safety regulatory framework, standards implementation, and on-the-ground practices in the context of Ethiopia. This scoping review included peer-reviewed articles and gray literature, such as institutional reports and unpublished documents. Data were retrieved from Google Scholar, Scopus, PubMed, and relevant organizational websites. The review was conducted in accordance with the PRISMA-ScR 2020 checklist, with document selection guided by the SPIDER framework. Ethiopia has adopted a multi-agency food safety governance model involving several sectoral institutions, notably the Ethiopian Food and Drug Authority and the Ministries of Health, Trade and Industry, and Agriculture. Despite this institutional architecture, implementation is constrained by weak enforcement, poor intersectoral coordination, limited adoption of internationally recognized food safety certification systems, and inadequate foodborne disease surveillance, resulting in persistent deficiencies in food safety and handling practices across the food supply chain. Despite the presence of food and nutrition policies, food safety regulations, standards, and a formal regulatory framework, this scoping review, among the first to comprehensively map Ethiopia's food safety governance, identifies a substantial gap between policy design and practical implementation. Although government and non-governmental organizations have provided training on good hygiene practices, good manufacturing practices, and hazard analysis and critical control points, these efforts have not produced sustained improvements due to weak enforcement, fragmented institutional coordination, and limited surveillance capacity. The findings underscore the need to shift from policy development to implementation-focused reforms, strengthened accountability, and integrated regulatory action to improve food safety outcomes in Ethiopia and similar low-income settings.

Environmental issues have been increasingly recognized as significant challenges facing Indonesia, as a developing country with a rapidly growing population and a rapidly expanding economy. In recent years, environmental degradation and natural resource depletion have become more acute, resulting in increased pressure on the government to take stronger action to protect the environment. Despite the existence of environmental laws in Indonesia, environmental degradation continues to occur, highlighting the need for better enforcement and stronger legal protections. One of the major environmental problems in Indonesia is deforestation, which is driven by the expansion of agricultural land, mining activities, and logging. This has resulted in significant habitat loss and biodiversity decline, as well as increased greenhouse gas emissions from the loss of forest cover. Additionally, Indonesia’s coastline and marine ecosystems are threatened by pollution from industrial activities and plastic waste, which has adverse effects on marine life and human health. Environmental laws in Indonesia include a range of regulatory measures, such as the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) and Forest Law Enforcement, Governance and Trade (FLEGT) programs. However, the implementation of these laws is often inadequate, with weak enforcement and a lack of effective penalties for non-compliance. Moreover, corruption and lack of political will have been identified as key factors that hinder the effective implementation of environmental laws in Indonesia.

Online gambling has become a rapidly growing issue, leading to financial losses and mental health challenges. In Malaysia, online gambling is regulated under progressive Islamic law which focuses on social justice, while Indonesia struggles with weak enforcement despite existing regulations. This study discusses three main parts: first, current online gambling regulation in Indonesia and Malaysia; second, Malaysia’s progressive legal experience as a blueprint for Indonesia; and third, social justice and SDGs-based online gambling regulation for Muslim-majority countries. A qualitative approach, including case studies, in-depth interviews with legal experts, and document analysis in both countries, was employed. The findings show that Malaysia’s implementation of progressive Islamic law has been effective in managing online gambling, promoting social justice, and reducing financial and mental health impacts. In contrast, weak law enforcement in Indonesia exacerbates the social issues related to online gambling. The research concludes that Malaysia’s approach has successfully regulated online gambling and supported SDG achievement. Therefore, Indonesia should consider adopting more progressive Islamic legal principles to enhance law enforcement and reduce the social harms of online gambling.

PurposeIn addition to dental education, a system for the evaluation and management of dental licensing and certification is required to meet the growing societal demand for more competent dentists. In this study, the Delphi technique was used to gather opinions from a variety of professionals on the problems of and remedies for the dental license management system in Korea. MethodsDelphi surveys were conducted from April 2016 to October 2016 in South Korea. A variety of dental professionals were included and categorized into 3 groups according to their expertise as follows: the basic dentistry group, the clinical dentistry group, and the policy group. The Delphi technique was conducted in 3 rounds of e-mail surveys, each with different questions that probed with increasing depth on the dental license management system. In each successive round, the responses were categorized, scored on a Likert scale, and statistically analyzed. ResultsAfter categorizing the results of the first survey and ranking the results of the second survey using the Delphi technique, regulation by a licensing authority was found to be the most critical issue. This was followed by the license renewal system, continuing education, a tiered licensure system, improvement of foreign license approval, and utilization of retirees, in decreasing order of importance. The third Delphi survey showed a similar ranking, with regulation by a licensing authority being the major concern. Opinions regarding the dental license management system were provided as open-ended responses. The responses of the 3 groups showed statistically significant differences in the scores for the issue of regulation by a licensing authority. After re-grouping into the dentistry group and the policy group, the issue received a significantly higher score in the dentistry group. ConclusionThe quality of dental treatment should be managed to protect patients and dental professionals. For this purpose, the establishment of an independent license regulation authority along with legislative changes is required.

Paediatric intensive care ‘do not do’ recommendations in Spain: Selection by Delphi method

While different proposals exist for a guideline on reporting Delphi studies, none of them has yet established itself in the health and social sciences and across the range of Delphi variants. This seems critical because empirical studies demonstrate a diversity of modifications in the conduction of Delphi studies and sometimes even errors in the reporting. The aim of the present study is to close this gap and formulate a general reporting guideline. In an international Delphi procedure, Delphi experts were surveyed online in three rounds to find consensus on a reporting guideline for Delphi studies in the health and social sciences. The respondents were selected via publications of Delphi studies. The preliminary reporting guideline, containing 65 items on five topics and presented for evaluation, had been developed based on a systematic review of the practice of Delphi studies and a systematic review of existing reporting guidelines for Delphi studies. Starting in the second Delphi round, the experts received feedback in the form of mean values, measures of dispersion, a summary of the open-ended responses and their own response in the previous round. The final draft of the reporting guideline contains the items on which at least 75% of the respondents agreed by assigning scale points 6 and 7 on a 7-point Likert scale. 1,072 experts were invited to participate. A total of 91 experts completed the first Delphi round, 69 experts the second round, and 56 experts the third round. Of the 65 items in the first draft of the reporting guideline, consensus was ultimately reached for 38 items addressing the five topics: Title and Abstract (n = 3), Context (n = 7), Method (n = 20), Results (n = 4) and Discussion (n = 4). Items focusing on theoretical research and on dissemination were either rejected or remained subjects of dissent. We assume a high level of acceptance and interdisciplinary suitability regarding the reporting guideline presented here and referred to as the "Delphi studies in social and health sciences-recommendations for an interdisciplinary standardized reporting" (DELPHISTAR). Use of this reporting guideline can substantially improve the ability to compare and evaluate Delphi studies.

BackgroundDelphi studies are primarily used in the health sciences to find consensus. They inform clinical practice and influence structures, processes, and framework conditions of healthcare. The practical research—how Delphi studies are conducted—has seldom been discussed methodologically or documented systematically. The aim of this scoping review is to fill this research gap and to identify shortcomings in the methodological presentation in the literature. On the basis of the analysis, we derive recommendations for the quality-assured implementation of Delphi studies.MethodsForming the basis of this scoping review are publications on consensus Delphi studies in the health sciences between January 1, 2018, and April 21, 2021, in the databases Scopus, MEDLINE via PubMed, CINAHL, and Epistemonikos. Included were publications in German and English containing the words “Delphi” in the title and “health” and “consensus” in the title or abstract. The practical research was analyzed for the qualitative content of the publications according to three deductive main categories, to which an influence on the result of Delphi studies can be imputed (expert panel, questionnaire design, process and feedback design).ResultsA total of 287 consensus Delphi studies were included in the review, whereby 43% reported having carried out a modified Delphi. In most cases, heterogeneous expert groups from research, clinical practice, health economics, and health policy were surveyed. In about a quarter of the Delphi studies, affected parties, such as patients, were part of the expert panel. In the Delphi questionnaires it was most common for standardized Likert scales to be combined with open-ended questions. Which method was used to analyze the open-ended responses was not reported in 62% of the Delphi studies. Consensus is largely (81%) defined as percentage agreement.ConclusionsThe results show considerable differences in how Delphi studies are carried out, making assessments and comparisons between them difficult. Sometimes an approach points to unintended effects, or biases in the individual judgments of the respondents and, thus, in the overall results of Delphi studies. For this reason, we extrapolate suggestions for how certain comparability and quality assurance can be achieved for Delphi studies.

Drowning remains a leading cause of death in aquatic training activities within military courses, especially in Brazil, exacerbated by risk underestimation and unsafe practices. Despite its severity, systematic data on contributing factors and preventive strategies are scarce. To present evidence-based technical recommendations aimed at reducing fatal drownings involving aquatic activities in military courses. A Delphi method was employed, involving 16 experts in water safety to identify critical factors and develop consensus recommendations. The process included a literature review and analysis of publicly documented drowning cases. Recommendations were refined through multiple feedback rounds and were structured according to the systematic drowning timeline model, divided into three phases: pre-event, event and post-event. The proposed measures seek to mitigate risks, promote a prevention-oriented culture and ensure effective intervention in emergencies. Fourteen recommendations along three phases of the event addressed specific actions including instructor training, participant screening, safety infrastructure, rapid emergency response and coordination with hospital services. Sociedade Brasileira de Salvamento Aquático's recommendations offer a structured and applicable framework to reduce fatal drownings and its severity in military training environments related to pre-event, event and post-event. Their implementation should be tailored to the operational context of each unit, with continuous review, documentation and protocol updates to enhance safety standards.

Shorebird researchers and land managers recognize human disturbance as a serious threat facing shorebirds. Yet, a common understanding of what defines human disturbance is lacking. To address this issue, we employed the Delphi technique, an iterative consensus-building social science method, to bring scientists and managers together to develop a shared definition of human disturbance and a list of priority human activities that could affect migratory shorebirds. During four iterative rounds, participants with extensive knowledge on human disturbance to shorebirds from varying geographic locations within the Northeastern U.S. worked together to produce a shared understanding. Through analyzing participants' open-ended responses, we identified important themes for the definition. The participants then refined and ranked these themes through surveys, and the top-ranked themes were used to draft a final definition also reviewed by the participants. Participants provided 94 human activities in response to our request to list and describe all potential human disturbances that affect shorebirds during fall migration. From there, we grouped the activities into 23 categories. Through rating and ranking tasks, participants reduced this list to 12 priority disturbance categories that represent the perceived most significant human disturbances in the Northeastern United States. We also compared responses among the different participant groups (i.e., managers, scientists, and manager/scientists), finding that groups' responses generally did not significantly differ. While nearly all participants were satisfied with the process, we provide some suggestions to improve it. The outputs of the Delphi technique have informed a best practices guidance document for shorebird management.

Provision of affordable housing is a global issue and key agenda of UN Habitat, ‘housing for everyone’ (ILO, 1974). It is believed that a decent and good quality affordable housing is a basic and fundamental need for humans and can help to achieve several socio-economic policy objectives (UN-Habitat, 2008; Rizvi, 2015; Shaikh, 2016; Anacker, 2019; Commission, 2019). Housing affordability is mostly assessed based on the income to expense (IER). However, researchers (Anacker, 2019; Affordable Housing Commission, 2019; Matt and Marshall, 2019) are agreed that housing affordability is more than housing (rent, mortgage and utility bills) and non-housing expenses (commuting, health and education expenses, etc.). A household should not spend more than 30% of their household income on housing costs; and social and environmental criteria should be considered to assess the housing affordability Mulliner, Malys and Maliene, 2016; Napoli, Trovato and Giuffrida, 2016; Meen, 2018; Affordable Housing Commission UK, 2019; Matt and Marshal, 2019), especially for low-income households. The government of Pakistan is unable to meet housing requirements due to rapid urbanization and uncontrolled population growth in the country. Available affordable housing developments either are too expensive for low-income households or are built in the periphery of the major cities. Households with low-income ($2 a day) face non-housing expenses (especially traveling cost and time) due to lack of employment opportunities near these affordable housing developments (Rizvi, 2015; Kakakhel, 2014; Gerrity, 2016; Shaikh, 2017; Hasan and Arif, 2018; Islamabad, 2018; Zameen.com, 2019). Consequently, a substantial proportion of population lives in sub-standard and low-quality houses or slums near the town centres of major cities or go homeless. All the housing finance organizations including House Building Finance Company Limited (HBFC: a public body) use IER to assess the housing affordability; and they do not consider any social and environmental criteria. Therefore, there was a need to develop an affordable housing framework that can be used to assess the housing affordability of low-income households. The aim of this research is to establish an affordable housing framework that can be used to assess the housing affordability and to develop future affordable housing developments for the low-income households in Pakistan. A rigorous literature review helped to develop housing affordability assessment criteria (HAAC). In order to bring together cross-national housing information, and to get an approval for developed HAAC, housing professionals in Pakistan were asked to rank them on importance scale. The Delphi methods were used due to their hybrid nature within the mixed research methodology framework. Some statistically significant tests whether to use parametric or non-parametric tests for statistical analysis such as Kolmogorov-Smirnov (K-S); to compare the differences of opinion between housing professionals and the end users’ groups Mann-Whitney U test; Cronbach’s alpha to check the internal consistency (reliability) of the data. The HAAC was reduced into most critical criteria by applying factor analysis tests using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS). Based on the literature review and the field survey results, this thesis offers an original contribution to knowledge by developing the concept of affordable housing to support the low-income households in Pakistan. The framework contains comprehensive housing affordability assessment criteria (HAAC) and income to expense ratio (IER) threshold to assess the housing affordability of low-income households in Pakistan. Housing stakeholders, housing finance & banking sector and government authorities can use this framework to assess housing affordability for low-income households, provide and monitor good quality affordable housing developments for this segment of population in Pakistan.

Hospitals are essential infrastructures that must maintain continuous operation during and after disasters to ensure the safety of patients and staff while providing medical services, even under surge conditions. Given the critical nature of these facilities, assessing their disaster preparedness is of utmost importance. This study addresses the limitations of the World Health Organization's Hospital Safety Index (HSI) when applied to Sri Lankan hospitals, leading to the development of the Structural Safety of Hospitals Assessment for Sri Lanka (SSH-SL). The study presents a comprehensive framework for evaluating hospital safety, divided into three primary modules: structural safety (utilizing SSH-SL), functional safety, and emergency and disaster management. Enhancements were made to the latter two modules to better align with the specific needs of the Sri Lankan context. The framework introduces a set of equations to calculate the safety index for each module, which then assigns safety levels and provides recommendations for improvement. This framework was applied to assess 15 government hospitals, revealing significant concerns across all three modules, underscoring the need for targeted interventions to enhance hospital resilience in Sri Lanka. The results from the assessment indicate that the structural safety levels of the 15 hospitals are generally at or above average level, suggesting that these facilities can operate during disaster conditions, though steps must be taken to ensure safety of both patients and staff. In terms of functional aspects, the majority of hospitals demonstrated a safety level of average or above, with two hospitals exhibiting below-average safety levels. Regarding Emergency and Disaster Management, 11 out of the 15 hospitals displayed high safety levels, whereas two hospitals had low safety levels. Immediate actions are necessary for hospitals with below-average safety levels, with a focus on implementing both short-term and long-term remedies. Additionally, limitations of the framework were identified during the hospital assessment process. The architectural safety submodule, under functional safety, was recognized as a critical submodule requiring modifications. Several assessment criteria specific to the Sri Lankan context were identified and subsequently incorporated into the existing submodule. Following these adjustments, a Delphi Study was conducted on the enhanced submodule, utilizing a panel of experts to gauge their consensus. Based on the survey results from the Delphi Study, weights were assigned to each assessment criterion within the submodule, leading to the derivation of a comprehensive safety score for the architectural safety of hospital buildings.

Kerman province has an important advantage of solar energy due to the sun's rays in more than 300 days of the year, which can improve the province's position in the field of clean energy supply as well as attracting foreign investors. In this study, in order to identify, extract, weigh the criteria to measure the technical, spatial, economic, socio-environmental advantages and also to rank the cities of Kerman province using the Delphi, AHP and TOPSIS method. In the next step, simulation of the production capacity of domestic solar power plants has been done using PVSyst software. The results show that the cities of Baft and Rabor have the greatest advantage in generating electricity from the solar system.

High-school-aged youths have limited food safety knowledge and lack safe food-handling skills. However, these youths will prepare food for themselves and are frequently employed in the food service industry, where their food-handling practices can directly impact public health. Youths’ beliefs about safe food-handling behaviors are affected by Key Influencers in their lives such as peers, classroom instructors, parents, and celebrities including popular web-content authors or video hosts. Societal changes have prompted the elimination of Family and Consumer Science courses from many schools and the reduction of food-handler role models at home, while increasing access to unregulated sources of food-handling information such as information published on web-based platforms. These societal changes largely remove peers, classroom instructors, and parents from influencing youths’ food-handling behaviors. The purpose of this study was to (1) evaluate the effectiveness of a researcher-developed food safety educational intervention at changing students’ food-handling behaviors specifically focusing on the role of subjective norms in generating behavior change and (2) conduct an exploratory content analysis of food safety messages delivered by blog authors and video hosts of popular web-content. The researcher-developed curriculum was evaluated for adherence to academic standards and overall usability in the classroom using the Delphi Technique by a panel of secondary educators who were considered experts in the education field. The curriculum was evaluated for effectiveness at changing high school students’ food-handling behaviors through self-reported surveys and observation using GoPro head mounted and stationary cameras. Finally, content analysis was performed on food safety messages disseminated by authors and video hosts of popular blogs and YouTube videos, respectively. Findings from the study demonstrated that youths’ food-handling behaviors are affected by Key Influencers including their peers and classroom instructor. However, post-intervention, a role-reversal was observed and reported as students became influencers who sought to improve their Key Influencers’ food-handling behaviors. Differences in influencing power within these relationships could impact the sustainability of youths’ safe food-handling behaviors. In particular, imbalances in influencing power of celebrities in the absence of other Key Influencers could leave students vulnerable to adopting unsafe food-handling practices.

Goods smuggling remains a major challenge in Zambia, reducing government revenue, distorting markets, and weakening regulatory systems. Despite efforts by the Zambia Revenue Authority (ZRA), smuggling persists due to policy gaps, socio-economic pressures, and weak enforcement. This study addresses limited integrated research by developing a conceptual model linking customs enforcement, socio-economic drivers, and tax policy structures to explain smuggling dynamics. A qualitative case study design was used, focusing on Chirundu border town. Data were collected through 20 in-depth interviews and four focus group discussions with customs officials, traders, and community members. Thematic analysis was applied to identify patterns in enforcement effectiveness, institutional weaknesses, and behavioural drivers. Findings show that smuggling is driven by interacting economic and institutional incentives rather than enforcement failure alone. High import duties, complex compliance procedures, and regulatory burdens encourage traders to bypass formal systems. These are reinforced by unemployment and reliance on informal trade. Weak enforcement capacity, resource constraints, and corruption further reduce the perceived risk of detection. The study contributes by proposing an integrated anti-smuggling model that views smuggling as a rational response to systemic conditions. It recommends policy reforms including risk-based monitoring, digital tracking systems, tax simplification, improved coordination, and support for formalizing informal trade.