Cross-cutting Issues Research Articles

The land tenure and environmental policies nexus: policy integration and spatial planning in Benin

ABSTRACT This article examines the dynamics of integration between land tenure and environmental policies in Benin. This country is characterised by growing vulnerability to the effects of climate change and is marked by a long history of extraversion and dependence on international aid. This article contributes to the theoretical debate on the integration and coordination of environmental and climate policies by showing that cross-cutting policy objectives can hardly be achieved by State sectoral institutions alone, which are largely dependent on international development aid. It successively analyses the different agendas for rural and urban land issues, the incomplete institutionalisation of a Ministry of the Environment, and finally the growing development, supported by international aid, of a more targeted approach to spatial planning, which is more inclusive of land and environmental issues, but which remains focused on urban areas. The article concludes with a discussion of the structural difficulties encountered by international donors and the Beninese government in reaching agreement on cross-cutting issues, and the sectoral autonomies that contribute to the dynamics of inertia and limit the integration of these issues into bureaucratic routines.

Disability-Related Risks Among Women and Girls Who Are Forcibly Displaced from Venezuela

Our study aimed to explore the lived experiences of Venezuelan refugee/migrant women and girls with disabilities to guide humanitarian assistance. The data analysed was part of a larger cross-sectional study whereby refugees and migrants in Ecuador, Peru, and Brazil were asked to share the migration experiences of a Venezuelan woman or girl. The sample for this analysis was drawn from one of the survey questions that asked participants whether the woman/girl in the narrative identified as a person with a disability. Thematic analysis using inductive coding was performed. A total of 126 narratives were included in the final analysis, of which four major themes were identified. Venezuelan refugees and migrants with disabilities described experiences of discrimination, violence, and physical challenges, such as exacerbation of symptoms while in transit. In host countries, refugees and migrants experienced a lack of disability-related accommodations in the workplace and long wait times when trying to obtain healthcare. Since discrimination is a cross-cutting issue, human rights awareness highlighting the dignity of persons with disabilities is imperative. Resources and support for Venezuelan refugee and migrant women and girls with disabilities should aim to create accessible employment opportunities, safe and timely access to medical care, and prioritise violence prevention.

Factors Associated with Poor Treatment Outcomes in Newly Diagnosed Tuberculosis Patients in Sub-Sahara Africa: A Systematic Review

Introduction: The burden of Tuberculosis (TB) in Africa continues to rise despite numerous interventions to stop the spread. Addressing factors associated requires a robust model that addresses cross-cutting issues in the continuum of TB care and management. The objective of this systematic review is to determine factors associated with poor treatment outcomes in newly diagnosed TB patients in sub-Saharan Africa. Method: The literature search identified 234 studies that were written in English. All the articles were identified via database search and imported into Mendeley for analysis. A total of 95 duplicates were removed and the abstracts of remaining studies were reviewed. A total of 139 abstracts were screened with misleading and non-open access journal articles removed. A full reading of the remaining 104 potentially relevant studies was done, in order to ascertain compliance with the inclusion/exclusion criteria and 24 studies were found to be eligible and were included in this review. Results: HIV co-infection, type of TB infection and gender were observed as most common factors associated with poor treatment outcomes in newly diagnosed patients. Several studies emphasized the impact of male gender on poor treatment outcomes stating a higher likelihood to developing unfavorable outcomes. Other factors identified included social factors namely employment, location, nutrition, failure to gain weight, failure to present at facility, delay to be treated at the facility and the type of facilities where one was treated. Conclusion: The common factors associated with poor treatment outcomes were HIV co-infection, type of TB infection and gender and these were notably underscored by social factors. Addressing these challenges will significantly improve the health outcomes of TB patients in the region.

How does Public Financial Management (PFM) influence health system efficiency: A scoping review.

Effective Public Financial Management (PFM) approaches are imperative in the quest for efficiency in health service delivery. Reviews conducted in this area have assessed the impact of PFM approaches on health system efficiency but have left out the mechanisms through which PFM influences efficiency. This scoping review aims to synthesize evidence on the mechanisms by which PFM influences health system efficiency. We searched databases of PubMed and Google Scholar and websites of the World Health Organization (WHO), World Bank and Overseas Development Institute (ODI) for peer-reviewed and grey literature articles that provided data on the relationship between PFM and health system efficiency. Three reviewers screened the articles for eligibility with the inclusion criteria. Data on PFM and health system efficiency was charted and summarized. We then reported the mechanisms by which PFM influence efficiency. PFM processes and structures influence health system efficiency by influencing; the alignment of resources to health system needs, the cost of inputs, the motivation of health workers, and the input mix. The entire budget process influences health system efficiency. However, most of the findings are drawn from studies that focused on aspects of the budget process. Studies that look at PFM in totality will help explore other cross-cutting issues within sections of the budget cycle; they will also bring out the relationship between the different phases of the budget cycle.

Wood-Based Bioenergy in North America: An Overview of Current Knowledge

Policy priorities for wood-based bioenergy in North America have undergone fluctuations over time, influenced significantly by the dynamic interplay of sociopolitical factors. Recent years, however, have seen a renewed public interest in wood-based bioenergy in the United States, Canada, and Mexico. This resurgence is driven by fluctuating energy prices and growing concerns about climate change. This review provides an overview of current energy production and consumption scenarios, and highlights critical issues related to the sustainability of bioenergy feedstocks and their economic potential across the three North American countries. Different cross-cutting issues related to public health, climate change, and social acceptance of wood-based bioenergy are thoroughly examined. Within this context, several challenges have been identified, including uncertainties in climate projections, inadequate tree inventories beyond forestlands, deforestation concerns, technological shifts in wood processing, fluctuations in bioenergy demand, and the imperative need for access to reliable markets. Addressing these challenges requires increased research and investment in wood-based energy to enhance energy security, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and improve economic and social viability in bioenergy production. This proactive approach is vital for fostering a sustainable and resilient wood-based bioenergy sector in North America.

Using linked data to inform multidimensional real-world issues: Canadian examples

Issues at the top of global and national policy agendas, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, climate emergency, and energy and cost of living crises, are illustrating the interconnectivity of the economy, society, and the environment. Moreover, it is clear, that impacts of these issues are not uniformly felt across societies. Greater granularity of information is required to address inequalities. As a result, policy makers are taking a more holistic view of issues to address the interlinkages across domains. This is driving the demand for Statistics Canada to provide statistical insights that address these cross-cutting policy issues and provide more granular information across multiple domains. Linked data are necessary for understanding the interrelated nature of these issues and the scope of their impact. For example, recent Canadian research based on linked data has shown that COVID-19 led to changes in work arrangements that have implications for public transit use and greenhouse gas emissions. The employer-employee linked administrative data augmented with a further linkage to census data provide opportunities for Canadian researchers to produce multidimensional insights on a portrait of racialized groups and immigrants including refugees’ presence in the Canadian economy, their sociodemographic characteristics, and their performance over time relative to other Canadians, particularly post the COVID pandemic. Rapid growth in data availability for research also poses new challenges ranging from technical issues needed for the feasibility of data linkage to stewardship issues related to governance, access, and oversight. The presentation will also discuss the lessons learned and reflections from the Canadian experiences.

Outreach in coordinated individual events: the GCS format of CNR Italy

Abstract Global Conversation on Sustainability (GCS) 2023 was enthusiastically welcomed by researchers of the National Research Council of Italy (CNR). Highly committed to international organizations such as IUPAC and ISC, the promoters participated to the 2023 edition of the Global Conversation on Sustainability hosting a local in person event held in one of the major CNR institute for chemistry research. The format was a round-table discussion involving colleagues of different age, gender, experience, and area of expertise, who participated to an informal dialogue with the aim of reflecting and sharing aspects of the respective research activities contributing to sustainable development goals. From many chemistry research areas, it emerged a wide range of subjects, which stimulated an interesting and purpose-oriented discussion. Therefore, GCS 2023 at CNR prompted a reflection on how improving chemists’ impact on sustainability including laboratories’ practises and on considering communication becoming part of scientific process. Transformation requires continuous investment in research and innovation and evolving scientific activities, but also requires synergies, collaborations and policy making on cross-cutting issues that can make this successful. Global initiatives as GCS, in the framework of international scientific organizations, represent a key global vehicle for enhancing the big area of science communication. Overcoming time and spatial limitations, these initiatives enable to link global and locally tailored in person events.

Welcome to the New Issue of GIPAN: Interdisciplinary Approach to Research and Innovation

This editorial review of Gipan Volume 6 (1) introduces the smooth shift from previous disciplinary focus on Gipan to more multidisciplinary one, in which papers belonging to issues in linguistics and applied linguistics (including language teaching) have been incorporated. The primary purpose of bringing in the interdisciplinary focus is to bring the cross-cutting issues across disciplines into broader discourse. This review starts with a brief background information relating to the journal, highlights the themes as they emerge in the issue, summarizes the papers included and concludes with a call for action in support of the new multidisciplinary initiative. Acknowledging the contribution from the individuals and institutions involved in bringing the journal in this form, the review ends with a call on the established scholars and practitioner researchers to cross over disciplinary boundaries and create an international platform for intellectual exchange which will ultimately lead towards a positive social transformation.

Contributing Factors to Central Line-associated Bloodstream Infections and Catheter-associated Urinary Tract Infections

Background: Central line-associated bloodstream infections (CLABSI) and catheter-associated urinary tract infections (CAUTI) are key healthcare-associated infection (HAI) quality metrics. In this qualitative analysis, we aimed to identify common issues contributing to CLABSIs and CAUTIs occurring during the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: In an academic healthcare network in Atlanta, GA, four hospitals perform real-time, apparent cause analyses (ACAs) for all CLABSIs and CAUTIs. Contributing factors are entered as free text into an electronic database. We analyzed data from 8/2020–8/2022. We first performed a qualitative open card sort of all reported contributing factors to CLABSI and created a novel framework based on mutually defined critical tasks (e.g., line insertion) and cross-cutting issues (e.g., communication breakdown). Contributing factors could describe ≥1 critical task and/or ≥1 cross-cutting issue. After establishing interrater reliability, a multidisciplinary group applied this framework to classify each contributing factor. For CAUTI, we used the same set of cross-cutting issues but identified new critical tasks via open card sorting. We then used the framework to classify each CAUTI contributing factor. We used descriptive statistics to identify frequent critical tasks and cross-cutting issues. Results: We reviewed 350 CLABSI ACAs with 602 contributing factors and 240 CAUTI ACAs with 405 contributing factors (Figure 1). Our classification framework comprised 11 cross-cutting issues and 9 critical tasks for CLABSI and 7 critical tasks for CAUTI (Figure 2). CLABSI: The critical tasks most often reported were bathing (19%), central line dressing maintenance (15%), and assessing central line indication (8%; Figure 3). Within these tasks, the most frequent issues described for bathing were the task not being performed (20%) and unclear documentation (18%); for dressing maintenance, the task was not performed (15%), not documented (15%), or poorly performed due to lack of competency (15%); and for assessing line indication, there was frequent communication breakdown (33%). CAUTI: The critical tasks most often reported were urinary catheter care (26%) and assessing the indication for urinary catheter (22%; Figure 4). Within these tasks, urinary catheter care was frequently not documented (38%) or not performed (16%); assessing urinary catheter necessity was often not documented (29%) or involved breakdown of communication (19%). Conclusion: We created a novel framework to evaluate common causes of HAIs in an academic healthcare network. This framework can be used to identify and track gaps over time and to develop quality improvement initiatives targeting key tasks and associated factors, such as communication difficulties when assessing device indications.Disclosure: Colleen Kraft: Consultant - REbiotix/Ferring; Scientific Advisory Board - Seres, LLC

Teacher Training Program on Secondary Mathematics and Science Teachers’ Attitude and Confidence of Teaching

When teachers are confident in their ability to teach Mathematics and Science, it can inspire students to have confidence in their own abilities. Students are more likely to engage with and enjoy these subjects when they see their teacher's interest and belief in the material. This study aiming at exploring teachers' confidence of teaching Mathematics and science as result of Continuous Professional Development (CPD) by the African Institute for Mathematical Science (AIMS Rwanda) through its Teacher Training Program (AIMS-TTP). It employed an ex-post facto research design targeting 351 secondary school teachers. The findings revealed a positive and significant relationship (p<0.05) between AIMS-TTP interventions and teachers’ confidence to teach Mathematics and science. Besides, linear regression model indicated that the dependent variable Teachers’ Confidence to teach Mathematics and science was regressed on predicting variables of improved capacity to plan, adapting teaching to the level of learners, ICT integrated in teaching and learning; learning from peers; addressing cross-cutting issues; effective implementation of the competence-based curriculum (CBC); and the application of bloom’s taxonomy. The independent variables significantly predict teachers’ confidence of teaching Mathematics and science, F (7,326) =183.843, p<0.001, which indicates that the factors under study have a significant impact on teachers’ confidence of teaching Mathematics and science. Moreover, the findings (Adjusted R2 =0.822, F (8, 342) = 197.055, p= 0.000 p<0.05) indicated that 82.2 % of the variance in improved teachers’ attitude in teaching Mathematics and science evidences a significant influence on the total variance. Our research suggests that policy makers should consider developing and endorsing training on innovative teaching and learning methods to boost teachers’ confidence and attitude when it comes to instructing Mathematics and science at basic levels. Trainings should also be extended to Technical Secondary School (TSS) STEM teachers.

Countering the “Climate Cult” – Framing Cascades in Far-Right Digital Networks

ABSTRACT In many contemporary democracies, digital networks on the far-right have established themselves as “alternatives” to liberal institutions. Within this nexus of parties, hyper-partisan news, and social media channels, opposition to climate change mitigation has emerged as a central cross-cutting issue. Despite the prominence of these trends, we still know relatively little about the hierarchies that govern these communicative ties. This study draws on the concept of cascading frame activation to trace communication flows between four distinct actor types within the German far right. We apply a mixed-methods approach across social media and websites over a period of 19 months. First, we conduct a time series analysis via a vector autoregression model, to assess potential causal relationships between the issue agendas of far-right actor types. Automated text analysis then inductively generates a lexicon exclusive to far-right posts about climate change, which we qualitatively assess and manually cluster into distinct frame categories. We conclude by tracing framing cascade sequences across the various actor types. Our results reveal significant associations between the issue agenda of far-right actors, especially among right-wing news sites (RNS) and hyperactive accounts. Within this network, the most dominant frames demarcate out-groups, such as the Green Party or climate activists. Notably, RNS play a central role in shaping this discourse, initiating 42% of the identified frames before they find wider dissemination. These findings expand our understanding of hierarchies and new communication pathways among partisan media, political parties, and their extended digital networks on the far right.

Article: Sorting the Building Blocks of Investor-State Dispute Settlement Reform: Recent Developments from the UNCITRAL Working Group III

The United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL) Working Group III (WGIII), as the main forum the reform of investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS), continues to deliberate an ambitious agenda of reform areas of high priority. Recently, the WG marked an important milestone with the adoption of the first reform instruments on the conduct of adjudicators and investment mediation. Nevertheless, the most challenging ‘building blocks’ of reform remain to be addressed, including the systemic reform proposal for a standing mechanism, which would transform the landscape of ISDS as we know it. This chapter first captures the progress of the WGIII as it stands today, focusing in particular on the first reform instruments – the Codes of Conduct for Arbitrators and Judges in International Investment Dispute Resolution, the UNCITRAL Notes on Mediation, and UNCITRAL Guidelines for Mediation in Investment Disputes. Then, it outlines the issues that remain on the agenda of the WGIII, in particular the standing investment court, appellate mechanism, the Advisory Centre and other procedural and cross-cutting issues. The chapter concludes with reflections on the overall dynamics of the WGIII and the lessons learned thus far that could contribute to the effectiveness of the deliberations ahead.

Overcoming barriers to integrate more justice into climate change policies. Lessons from adaptation policies and flood risk management in Flanders and France

The paper aims to improve the general and practical understanding of justice in climate change policies, both in terms of how policymakers integrate justice elements in political intentions and policy implementation. The paper is based on social scientific and qualitative research on justice in climate change policies, with a focus on both the study of climate adaptation policies and, more concretely, the study of flood risk management. The main objective is to identify obstacles to the definition and implementation of justice in policies. The article offers a cross-national analysis of the issue of justice in Flanders and France, between 2000 and 2020, of the issue of justice in climate adaptation policies, with a particular focus on flood management. Based on policy documents’ analysis, the study helps to clarify barriers to pragmatically embed justice in policies’ decision making, at the formulation stage through four cross-cutting issues: leadership, resources, information and values.

What if Black Studies studied fat for real for real?

ABSTRACT Only four years after Black Studies departments began to form in the US, Johnnie Tillmon, then Chairwoman of the National Welfare Rights Organization, proclaimed in her 1972 article in Ms. magazine that her marginalized intersectional identities – woman, Black, poor, fat, middle-aged, and on welfare – gave her little to no value in the American imaginary. How, in the midst of establishing departments for the study of Black life, could Tillmon’s Black fat life not be studied as well? Cathy Cohen (1999) asserts that welfare reform, like women’s rights and HIV/AIDS, are “cross-cutting issues” that complicate “respectable,” singularized notions of group identity. Black Studies departments have long aligned with this “secondary marginalization,” and Black feminists have stepped in and fought to obtain epistemological space for Black women and femmes. However, there was a missed opportunity to connect Tillmon’s embodiment with the social justice work being done to establish Black Studies. Fat Black women, such as Fannie Lou Hamer, had been on the front lines, but their embodied experiences had no seats in the front of the Black liberation bus. Because of this disconnect, I posit that Black Studies’ secondary marginalization of fat Black women leaves a noticeable gap in its disciplinary project. I argue that Black Studies as a field must 1) engage with Fat Studies via a social justice commitment to disrupt Black fat women from being rendered hyper-visible as service-workers and hyper-invisible as decision-makers, and 2) utilize body size as an analytical category to gain more nuanced and deeper understandings of Black life.

Ethical issues in direct-to-consumer healthcare: A scoping review.

An increasing number of health products and services are being offered on a direct-to-consumer (DTC) basis. To date, however, scholarship on DTC healthcare products and services has largely proceeded in a domain-specific fashion, with discussions of relevant ethical challenges occurring within specific medical specialties. The present study therefore aimed to provide a scoping review of ethical issues raised in the academic literature across types of DTC healthcare products and services. A systematic search for relevant publications between 2011-2021 was conducted on PubMed and Google Scholar using iteratively developed search terms. The final sample included 86 publications that discussed ethical issues related to DTC healthcare products and services. All publications were coded for ethical issues mentioned, primary DTC product or service discussed, type of study, year of publication, and geographical context. We found that the types of DTC healthcare products and services mentioned in our sample spanned six categories: neurotechnology (34%), testing (20%), in-person services (17%), digital health tools (14%), telemedicine (13%), and physical interventions (2%). Ethical arguments in favor of DTC healthcare included improved access (e.g., financial, geographical; 31%), increased autonomy (29%), and enhanced convenience (16%). Commonly raised ethical concerns included insufficient regulation (72%), questionable efficacy and quality (70%), safety and physical harms (66%), misleading advertising claims (56%), and privacy (34%). Other frequently occurring ethical concerns pertained to financial costs, targeting vulnerable groups, informed consent, and potential burdens on healthcare providers, the healthcare system, and society. Our findings offer insights into the cross-cutting ethical issues associated with DTC healthcare and underscore the need for increased interdisciplinary communication to address the challenges they raise.

TREND ANALYSIS OF UGANDA’S COFFEE SECTOR

Coffee (Coffea arabica and C. canephora) is an important commercial crop globally, and the second most traded global commodity by developing nations after oil. Uganda is among the top 10 coffee exporters worldwide, and second in Africa. The total export amounted to 301,366 tons of “green” coffee in 2021, forming the second-largest commodity export, and contributing about 12.4% to Uganda’s total formal exports. However, the country’s overall performance over time remains unclear given the fluctuations in production and export prices. This study aimed to evaluate the production and export trends of Uganda’s coffee sector by: (i) defining the overall direction of coffee production and export value, (ii) assessing the market variability, and (iii) evaluating the global cross-cutting issues regarding coffee production and export. Data was extracted from FAOSTAT and Uganda Coffee Development Authority (UCDA) databases. Trends were analysed using the Mann-Kendall and Sen’s Slope test, while market variability was analyzed using the fixed base index (FBI) and coefficient of variation. VOSviewer software was used to analyze literature from the Web of Science database to highlight cross-cutting issues. Results indicated a significant positive increase in coffee production and export value (p = 0.0001, Slope = 1736.67 tons and p = 0.001, Slope = 4.44 million USD) respectively. Among the top ten coffee producers, Uganda presented the third worst unstable coffee export value with a 20.1% coefficient of variation. Fairtrade, climate change, and certification were the most outstanding global cross-cutting issues. Market stabilization mechanisms should be developed through value addition by establishing coffee processing and roasting plants, as well as strategic governance and policy support to counter emerging global challenges such as climate change.

Peace and Values Education as a Cross-Cutting Issue in Rwandan Schools: Teachers and Classroom-Based Perspective

Peace and values is one of the cross-cutting issues in the Rwandan primary and secondary school curriculum. Different organizations such as the Aegis Trust have trained teachers in integrating peace and values in the various subjects, they teach by training learners on how to build a culture of peace. This is very important to Rwanda as a post genocide. However, no research (at the best of our knowledge) has been conducted to investigate how and to what extent teachers integrate peace and values in various school subjects. This article reports on empirical research conducted in five primary schools in four provinces of Rwanda plus Kigali City to examine the teaching of peace and values in Rwandan schools. A qualitative approach was adopted for this research. Classroom observations, focus group discussions and semi-structured interviews were conducted to collect data. Thematic content analysis was used to analyse the data. The findings show that peace values are not part of teachers’ planning and are not explicitly referred to in classroom practices. This is mainly because teachers lack skills and knowledge to do so. However, some peace related messages are shared in extracurricular activities but these are counteracted by violent practices such as corporal punishment and bullying. This article concludes that teachers’ limited understanding of peace impedes the integration of peace culture in schools. Thus, it suggests that peace values should be explicitly and systematically integrated in the teaching of all subjects. It also calls for strong measures to end school violence in Rwandan schools by equipping teachers for positive management of learners’ behaviours.

Analysis of barriers that affect the success of the “Zero Waste North Lombok” program

Waste management is a cross-cutting issue that is closely related to various global challenges. At the local government level, waste management services carried out demonstrate the sustainability of a city so that local governments are responsible for finding affordable waste management solutions with the least impact on the environment. North Lombok Regency has a waste management problem that results in the realization of its handling not reaching the target. To overcome the waste management problem, the local government initiated a priority development program "Zero Waste North Lombok" which is expected to address the existing problems. In the process, the implementation of the program has not run significantly. To support the achievement of the program, a study of the barriers to zero waste was conducted using the fuzzy DEMATEL method. This method is able to facilitate the identification of causal relationships between criteria assessed in complex systems so as to provide information on various perceptions for stakeholders. The 12 barriers identified were divided into two groups: influential barriers and receptive barriers. The influential barriers consist of lack of policies and regulations on waste, lack of cooperation among stakeholders, uncertainty about circular economy targets and strategies, and inadequate sanctions and fines. While the influential group of barriers consists of the barriers of lack of environmental awareness, inadequate recycling techniques, inadequate methods for sorting, transporting and recycling waste, lack of financial and economic assistance, lack of advertising and media coverage for waste management, lack of adequate areas for waste collection and sorting, lack of awareness about environmental protection and lack of temporary shelters. This group of influential barriers needs to be considered and addressed by the local government so that the goals of the "Zero Waste North Lombok" program can be achieved.

Effect of different hydrophilic heads on strong interfacial activities of non-edible oil-derived ultra-long chain (UC24:1) Bio-based zwitterionic surfactants for tertiary oil recovery

One of the cross-cutting issues in green petrochemistry is discovering an efficient and sustainable technique for chemically enhanced oil recovery (EOR). Developing eco-friendly and renewable surfactants with strong interfacial activity as greener chemical materials for EOR has been a challenging topic. In this work, a new series of eco-friendly and high-performance ultra-long chain fatty acid-derived bio-based zwitterionic surfactants with different hydrophilic heads (the 2-(dimethyl(3-(tetracos-15-enamido)propyl)ammonio)acetate (TAPAA), 3-(dimethyl(3-(tetracos-15-enamido)propyl)ammonio)− 2-hydroxypropane-1-sulfonate (TAPAHPS), and 4-(dimethyl(3-(tetracos-15-enamido)propyl)ammonio)butane-1-sulfonate (TAPABS)), was developed from the non-edible fatty acid (Z)− 15-tetracosenoic acid (UC24:1) by a simple and effective method. ESI-MS, 1HNMR, and 13C NMR were used for their structural analyses. In alkali- and polymer-free systems, 0.5 g/L concentration of each surfactant could reduce the interfacial tension between Daqing crude oil and simulated formation groundwater to ultra-low value (1.971 × 10−3, 4.44 × 10−3 and 6.538 × 10−4 mN/m for TAPAA, TAPAHPS and TAPABS, respectively). These surfactants also demonstrated strong electrolyte tolerance, up to 2000 mg/L and 200 g/L of Ca2+ and NaCl, respectively. They were also structurally thermal stable up to 75 °C and biodegradable. This work consolidates our hypothesis that ultra-long chain (UC24:1) bio-based zwitterionic surfactants are of greater use than short-chain surfactants or traditional alkali-surfactant-polymer (ASP) systems for EOR applications, as they show strong interfacial activity at lower dosages in alkali- and polymer-free systems.

Environmental criteria when assessing the effectiveness of projects and development programs: Ensuring sustainability and economic security

Currently, the study of environmental criteria when assessing the effectiveness of development projects and programs has deep relevance in the modern environment of sustainable development discourse. At its core, the theme is a cross-cutting issue where environmental imperatives converge with socio-economic needs, embodying the imperative to combine environmental protection with economic prosperity. Understanding the environmental criteria embedded in project evaluation is critical because of the inherent interdependencies between human activities and ecological systems. Moreover, the study of environmental criteria contributes to a more detailed understanding of the dynamics of sustainability, outlining pathways towards sustainable and regenerative development trajectories. Sustainable development depends on reconciling environmental integrity with socio- economic progress, which requires the adoption of holistic approaches that go beyond simple mitigation of environmental impacts. By clarifying environmental thresholds and tipping points associated with development projects and programs, integrating environmental criteria facilitates the identification of sustainability bottlenecks and the formulation of adaptive management strategies.