Adaptive network based fuzzy inference system efficientnet for autism spectrum disorder detection with optimization based pivotal region extraction.

With the rapid development of artificial intelligence (AI), various countries have introduced policies to address the social, economic, and ethical challenges brought by technological advancements. This study systematically evaluates the effectiveness of China's AI policies based on the Policy Model Consistency (PMC) method and conducts a comparative analysis with policies from developed countries in Europe and the United States. By constructing a multi-dimensional quantitative assessment system that encompasses indicators such as policy types, timeliness, content, fields, evaluation, tools, and effectiveness levels, this study fills a gap in the existing research on quantitative evaluation. Text mining and high-frequency word analysis revealed the core themes and focus areas of the policies, laying the groundwork for subsequent quantitative analysis. The study finds that China's AI policies have achieved significant results in promoting technological innovation, industrial development, and social transformation; however, shortcomings remain in legal protection, ethical regulation, cross-domain collaboration, and sustainable development issues. Further cross-national comparisons indicate that there are differences between China and developed countries in Europe and the United States in terms of AI policy design and implementation, particularly regarding the application of policy tools and the driving forces behind international collaboration. Based on the empirical analysis results using the PMC index model, this study proposes targeted policy optimization suggestions aimed at enhancing policy execution and adaptability. This study not only provides an innovative framework for the quantitative evaluation of AI policies but also offers theoretical support for the collaborative development of global AI policies.

ABSTRACT As a large cohort of owners in closely held small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) nears retirement, succession is becoming a systemic challenge with effects beyond individual firms. This paper reframes the ‘SME succession crisis’ as an institutional and developmental issue, arguing that ownership-transfer choices can either worsen or alleviate sustainability challenges. Through an integrative literature review, it synthesizes research on succession in closely held and family-owned firms, employee ownership (EO) models and sustainable development as a multidimensional objective spanning economic, social, and environmental outcomes. The review suggests EO can align with owners’ non-financial goals – continuity, legacy preservation, and protection of stakeholder relationships – while reducing market and governance frictions that often limit succession options. Empirical and institutional evidence links broad-based EO to greater employment stability during downturns and transitions, wealth-building opportunities with lower within-firm wage dispersion, and conditions supportive of innovation via incentive alignment and information sharing. EO may also reduce risks of working poverty by enabling asset accumulation without upfront worker capital and can produce local spillovers through stewardship, lower turnover, and participatory governance. This paper proposes a conceptual framework connecting succession pathways to sustainable development outcomes, identifying boundary conditions and outlining policy and research implications.

Within the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), particularly those addressing poverty reduction, food security, climate action, and sustainable land use, rural mobility is increasingly recognised as a critical development issue. While rural development policies have traditionally prioritised rural–urban migration, considerably less attention has been paid to rural-to-rural intra-migration, despite its growing significance across Sub-Saharan Africa. The review process was informed by guidance on systematic reviews in the social sciences and reported in line with the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines. 34 literature articles were selected and reviewed for this systematic literature review. The New Economics of Labour Migration theory is the main theory used for this systematic literature and is complemented by the Push–Pull theory of migration. This systematic literature review examines the demographic, socioeconomic, environmental, and institutional drivers of rural-to-rural migration, with particular reference to Zambia and the Southern African region. The main drivers of intra migration include the shortage of land and accessing family land, youth life needs and desires, poor weather, drought due to climate change effects, the need to expand agricultural areas and increased diversification strategies by households. It is also indicated that deforestation, agricultural expansion, and rural development are environmental and land use implications of rural migration. The findings outline the importance of sound policy responses and implementation that deal with climate change adaptation, land governance, and sustainable use of land, and support for rural diversification development for equitable, sustainable transformation of rural areas.

Artificial intelligence (AI) is being used in oncological drug development to address the high costs, low success rates, and long timelines that characterize traditional drug development pipelines. The use of machine learning (ML) and deep learning (DL) models in computer-aided drug design is constantly growing owing to their capacity to analyze large, heterogeneous datasets, their ability to capture nonlinear biological trends, and their integration of various molecular and clinical characteristics. AI applications accelerate target discovery by predicting protein structures, ranking disease-relevant genes, and assessing target drugability. AI can be used to conduct rapid searches of multiplexed chemical libraries, predict drug-target interactions, and optimize the pharmacological and physicochemical properties of drugs in virtual screening. Advanced neural network designs also aid in de novo drug design, which involves developing new molecular structures with therapeutic properties of interest. This review outlines how AI has been used for target identification, virtual screening, de novo molecular design, and, specifically, in cancer applications. It further discusses the major issues in AI-based drug development, such as data quality, model interpretation, computational constraints, and ethical and regulatory considerations, which remain essential obstacles to broader clinical translation.

The adoption of the “Strategy for the Development of Education in the Russian Federation for the Period up to 2036 with a Perspective until 2040” raises the issues of appropriate development of personal and professional qualities of educators so that they are the subjects of the implementation of the planned strategy, and not formal executors. The article discusses the relationship between the processes of self-education and upbringing and lifelong learning through non-formal and informal education. The relevance of the work is related to the ongoing development of a strategy for the development of education in our country, which is focused on improving the system of academic (formal) education, while most of the professional competencies a person receives in the process of subsequent self-education and self-development throughout life. The purpose of the work is to consider the role of non-formal education and upbringing of the country population in the context of the adoption of the Strategy for the development of education in our country. It is based on the idea to construct formation of conformal education as a synthesis of academic and non-formal education (self-education). The novelty lies in the discussion of possible directions of self-education throughout life with periodic certification by authorized bodies and the need to resist negative ideologies and concepts in the process of educating new generations of students. With this in mind, a number of concepts and ideological provisions related to the formation of a patriotic and socially responsible personality are considered. A conformal cycle of lifelong knowledge renovation is presented, combining informal self-education and advanced training in academic educational institutions. The principle of education by means of the discipline taught is considered as the basic basis of interdisciplinary communication.

General Background: Work readiness is a central issue in human capital development, particularly in the context of Sustainable Development Goals and youth employment in emerging regions. Specific Background: In West Nusa Tenggara Province, open unemployment remains dominated by tertiary-educated graduates, indicating a mismatch between higher education outcomes and labor market demands among Generation Z fresh graduates. Knowledge Gap: Although prior studies have examined internship experience, work motivation, and grit separately, limited research has integrated these variables within a comprehensive model of work readiness grounded in Human Capital and Employability Capital theories. Aims: This study analyzes the relationships between internship experience, work motivation, and grit and their contribution to work readiness among 101 Gen Z fresh graduates using a quantitative survey and multiple linear regression. Results: The findings demonstrate that internship experience and grit have positive and statistically significant associations with work readiness, whereas work motivation does not show a significant partial relationship; collectively, the three variables significantly explain 53.3% of the variance in work readiness (R² = 0.533). Novelty: This study positions grit as the most dominant predictor within an integrated human capital framework combining experiential and psychological dimensions. Implications: The results underscore the importance of structured industry-relevant internship programs and the integration of grit-based character development in higher education curricula to strengthen graduate competitiveness in regional labor markets. Highlights: Practical workplace exposure shows a statistically significant positive association with graduate preparedness for employment. Psychological perseverance emerges as the strongest predictor within the regression model. The combined model accounts for 53.3% of variance in employment preparedness among respondents. Keywords: Gen Z, Grit, Work Readiness, Internship Experience, Work Motivation

The article is devoted to the initial stage of addressing the problems of the disintegrating Yugoslavia. It demonstrates how the West systematically dismantled the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (SFRY), exploiting accumulated economic development issues, inter-republican contradictions, and the national question, creating temporary organizations for this purpose. The first of these was the International Conference on the Former Yugoslavia, which spearheaded the process of dismantling the Federation.

Theatre for Development (TfD) has emerged as a powerful participatory methodology for catalyzing community transformation in Ghana, yet critical questions persist regarding how audience participation actually translates into sustained behavioral change and structural transformation. This article examines the role of audience participation in Ghanaian TfD projects through analysis of theoretical frameworks, established case studies, and recent student-led initiatives in local communities (2024–2025). Five key mechanisms of audience participation are identified: extended community entry, collaborative performance creation, interactive theatrical techniques, structured post-performance dialogue, and sustained engagement. Drawing on recent empirical evidence from four university-supervised TfD projects, all conducted by students from the Department of Theatre Arts at the University of Education Winneba, and reaching over 12,000 community members across diverse development issues; environmental sustainability, educational equity, public health, and economic empowerment, the study demonstrates that participatory theatre, when thoughtfully designed and implemented with authentic community partnerships and linkages to concrete resources, can contribute meaningfully to individual empowerment, community mobilization, and sustainable development outcomes. However, persistent challenges including power dynamics, resource constraints, facilitation capacity gaps, and sustainability limitations require deliberate strategies including inclusive facilitation, community control throughout project cycles, institutional alignment, and long-term commitment from practitioners, policymakers, and development institutions. The evidence suggests that TfD’s transformative potential can be realized by embracing participation as a technique of redistributing power to marginalized voices in development processes.

This research examines the impact of Climate Adaptation Policies(CAP) on Tourism Resilience(TR), a key issue for the sustainable development of tourism. Existing research has focused on temperature and precipitation, overlooking the role of CAP in shaping TR. Using panel data from 278 Chinese cities (2000-2022), this study applies the entropy method within the Drivers-Pressures-State-Impact-Response framework to measure TR. The research explores how CAP affect TR, focusing on Advanced Industrial Structure and Total Factor Productivity in Tourism. The findings show that: (1) CAP significantly enhance TR in urban areas; (2) the impact is stronger in regions with higher economic development and technological capacity; (3) CAP have positive and negative spillover effects on TR at distances of 0-50 kilometers and 75-100 kilometers, respectively. This study provides insights for promoting sustainable urban tourism development.

Constrained by resource endowment, the traditional cobalt supply chain model oriented towards efficiency maximization struggles to effectively respond to sudden risks such as supply disruptions. Therefore, enhancing cobalt supply chain resilience (CSCR) is becoming a critical issue for the sustainable development of the mineral industry sector. However, it remains unclear whether environmental regulation (ER) has an impact on CSCR. This study constructs a theoretical framework for analyzing the influence of ER on CSCR and employs econometric methods to conduct an empirical examination using a sample of 22 representative countries (regions) with accessible data. The research findings are as follows: (1) ER can significantly enhance CSCR, and this conclusion remains valid after a series of robustness tests. (2) ER functions through three channels: First, it drives green technological innovation and enhances the internal production capacity of the supply chain. Second, it guides the diversification of import sources and optimize the structure of the supply chain network. Third, it attracts high-quality foreign direct investment, leverage capital spillover effects, and enhance the vitality of the supply chain system. (3) Political stability plays a positive moderating role in the above process: A stable institutional environment can enhance the resilience dividend of ER. (4) the impact of ER is heterogeneous across different economic scales and the locations of supply chain. The research provides a new resilience theoretical perspective for understanding the relationship between environmental policies and resource security, and offers data support for coordinating ecological environment governance and stable mineral supply.

Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) poses a great developmental issue particularly in communication, social interaction, and adaptive functioning areas where such children need consistent and specialized caregiving. The lack of diagnostic centers, the insufficiency of professional care, the lack of knowledge, and social stigma are limiting factors in the effective management of ASD in Pakistan, where the primary caregiver of the child is the parent. The objectives of the present studies are to identify the specific challenges faced by parents of children with ASD in Pakistan, to explore the coping mechanisms employed by parents to manage these challenges, to evaluate the effectiveness of existing parental support system in Pakistan, to assess the impact of parental support on the developmental outcomes of children with ASD, to investigate the role of socio-cultural factors in shaping parental support system, to Provide evidence-based recommendations to enhance parental support structures for families of children with ASD in Pakistan. The current research utilized the qualitative research design in its attempt to investigate the role of parental support system in the development of children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) in Pakistan. Qualitative approach was chosen to ensure that parents lived experience, perceptions and coping strategies were captured in their socio-cultural background. The research was done in the selected urban and semi-urban regions of Pakistan. The research on special education centers, therapy clinics, and community-based organizations offering services to children with ASD were the sources of data collection. The target group was the parents or primary caregivers of children who had ASD. The sample comprised of mothers and fathers who were taking care of a child with ASD over a period of at least one year. The parents of children with severe co-occurring physical disabilities were not included in the research. Participants with pertinent experience in caregiving were chosen by using a purposive sampling method. This approach allowed incorporating parents having different socioeconomic and educational statuses. The data collection process would go on until data saturation is attained, usually 15-25 participants. The data were gathered by using semi-structured, in-depth interviews. The interview guide was formulated against the objectives and conceptual framework of the study. Interviews were done in either English or Urdu and they took about 45-60 minutes.

In response to the growing importance of English language proficiency in professional contexts, teacher training for widely used standardized proficiency test such as Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) has become increasingly essential. Despite the growing number of training, there remains limited understanding of how teachers perceive these programs and what challenges they face in applying the training outcomes to their daily practices. This study aimed to examine teachers’ perceptions of a TOEFL preparation training program and the challenges they encountered in applying its outcomes. An explanatory mixed-methods design was employed, involving 40 teachers from elementary, junior high, and high school levels at an Islamic boarding school in Indonesia. Quantitative data on teachers’ perceptions of the training program and qualitative data on the challenges they experienced were collected through a questionnaire combining closed- and open-ended items. The quantitative data were analyzed descriptively to illustrate the levels of teachers’ knowledge and perceptions, while the qualitative data were analyzed using a thematic approach. The findings revealed that teachers generally held positive perceptions toward the TOEFL preparation training program. However, several challenges emerged in applying the training outcomes, including institutional and environmental challenges, teacher-related challenges, and issues of professional development and sustainability.

Mature microRNAs are generated in a series of sequential processing steps, creating multiple opportunities for regulatory bottlenecks. In this issue of Genes & Development, Shang and colleagues (doi:10.1101/gad.353316.125) dissect microRNA biogenesis by cluster assistance in human cells, demonstrating that ERH and SAFB2 have distinct functions in the processing of suboptimal hairpins. Beyond resolving the mechanistic dependencies on ERH and SAFB2, the study demonstrates that cluster assistance has been co-opted into a feedback mechanism to regulate DGCR8 levels and Microprocessor stability, elevating cluster assistance from a descriptive phenomenon to a physiologically integrated miRNA regulatory pathway.

This study investigates how effectively Higher Educational Institutions (HEIs) in India, particularly in the Lucknow region, prepare engineering and management students with employability skills. While situated in a specific regional context, the research offers broader theoretical and practical insights into curriculum–industry alignment, pedagogical disparities between disciplines, and the role of institutional support in skill development—issues relevant to HEIs in emerging economies worldwide. Using a mixed-methods approach, the research combines quantitative survey data and qualitative feedback from students and educators. The survey assessed students’ perceptions of curriculum emphasis on employability-related skills-technical, soft, and practical using a Likert scale. Data analysis included descriptive statistics, comparative analysis, and t-tests, while qualitative responses were thematically coded. Findings indicate that students generally have a positive self-perception regarding soft skills such as teamwork, social interaction, self-concept, and self-control. However, they express low confidence in job search skills like resume writing and interview preparation. Notably, 55% of students felt inadequately prepared by their academic curriculum for current industry demands, indicating a misalignment between academic training and market expectations. While students reported supportive teacher engagement in areas like communication, self-management, and independent learning, gaps remain in problem-solving, creativity, and ICT proficiency. This research is among the first post-NEP 2020 studies focusing on employability in the Lucknow region. It highlights the need for HEIs—especially engineering programs—to integrate more hands-on learning, internships, industry partnerships, and career support compared to management curricula to enhance graduate employability.

Aging is a developmental issue just like any other stage of human life-span. Everyone is expected to grow old except sudden death occurs. Therefore, as aging manifests, one is not expected to be strong and agile as before. Due to such changes, one may grow old with a lot of worries, tension, distress and stress. This study investigated relationship between social support and psychological well-being among the elderly persons in terms of their age, marital status and their income in Oyo State. Stratified probability sampling was employed to obtain representative of retirees totaling 330 samples. Perceived Social Support (r = 0.86) and Adapted Oxford Happiness (r = 0.91) scales were used to collect data. The inferential statistics of Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) was used to analyse the data. There was a significant difference in the perceived social support and psychological well-being of older persons on the basis of age {F(3,326) = 8.976}. Also, significant difference was established in the perceived social support and the psychological well-being of the elderly persons on the basis of marital status {F(2,327) = 10.254} and, a significant difference was confirmed in the perceived social support of the elderly persons on the basis of educational level {F(3,326) = 7.653}. Pathways were recommended for experts in home management, home economics, policy makers and researchers to support the elderly persons whose health conditions are fragile.

Considering the importance of sustainable activities of corporations in the 21st century and environmental friendly accounting practice vis-à-vis economic growth, some factors impact on the Phenomena-Corporate Sustainability Disclosure. This study sought to empirically assess the moderating effect of these institutional factors on the relationship between firm characteristics and corporate sustainability disclosure for 10 years (2011-2020). This study relied extensively on secondary source and the data was specifically gathered from the annual reports of the listed health companies in Nigeria under study. The regression output on the relationship between firm characteristics and CSD (MODEL1) revealed that firm size and performance alone are relatively not enough to determine CSD, evidenced from R2 of 57%. The regression output of the effect of firm characteristics and institutional factor put together on CSD (MODEL 2) revealed an R2 of 92%, which implies that firm size, performance, board size and institutional factors together are very good determinants of CSD, evidenced from significant p-value of 0.000 which is less than significance value of 0.05. The effect of interaction between firm characteristics and institutional factor on CSD (MODEL 3) showed an R2 of 93%. This means that the interaction variable could explain up to 93% variation in CSD. This is further substantiated by a significant p-value of 0.000 which is less that significance value of 0.05. In conclusion, institutional factor moderates the relationship between firm characteristics and CSD. Therefore, policy makers in Nigeria related to sustainability development issues like NESREA should consider the importance of institutional factors in the study and introduce laws that mandate CSD like other part of the countries.

This study aims to examine differences in vocabulary performance among Arabic-speaking children ages 1;6-3;6, using a three-domain theoretical framework (biological/genetic, developmental, and social/environmental factors), with particular focus on how these factors differ based on the presence of parental concerns. Data were collected from 874 parents of Palestinian Arabic-speaking children aged 18-36 months using the online Palestinian Arabic Communicative Development Inventory (PA-CDI). An accompanying background questionnaire was used to gather information on five potential risk factors. Children with parental concerns demonstrated significantly lower vocabulary performance across all age groups. The proportion of concerned parents decreased as vocabulary percentile increased. All five examined risk factors correlated significantly with vocabulary performance. Parental concerns emerged as the strongest predictor overall. For children without parental concerns, onset of speaking was the only significant predictor, while for children with concerns, word combination abilities were the sole significant predictor. Our findings highlight the validity of parental concerns as indicators of potential language difficulties and underscore the importance of early language milestones in predicting vocabulary performance. Word combination abilities, in particular, seem valuable for identifying children with persistent language difficulties. The PA-CDI, combined with background variables, shows promise as an effective clinical tool for early identification of children at risk for language delays in Arabic-speaking populations. What is already known on this subject Research has consistently demonstrated the validity and importance of parental concerns in identifying children's developmental issues, particularly in the early detection of DLD. Previous studies have established that parental observations can be as reliable as quality developmental screening tests. Early language milestones, including onset of speaking and word combinations, have been identified as significant predictors of vocabulary development. Risk factors for language development have been categorised into three domains: biological/genetic factors (family history, health conditions), developmental indicators (delayed milestones), and social/environmental factors. The CDI has emerged as a valuable tool for assessing vocabulary development and identifying children at risk for DLD across various languages. What this study adds to existing knowledge This study reveals that parental concerns emerge as the strongest predictor of vocabulary performance in Arabic, an understudied language in this context, accounting for 27.2% of variance in language development. For the first time, we demonstrate differential predictive patterns between children with and without parental concerns: Onset of speaking predicts performance for children without concerns, while word combination abilities serve as the sole significant predictor for children with concerns. The study validates a three-domain framework in Arabic-speaking populations and shows that subjective factors demonstrate significantly stronger relationships with vocabulary performance than objective indicators, challenging traditional assumptions about measurement reliability. What are the potential or actual clinical implications of this work? These findings highlight the value of considering parental perspectives alongside standardised assessments to gain a comprehensive understanding of children's linguistic abilities in Arabic-speaking populations. Healthcare professionals should recognise that parental reports, when systematically collected, may provide more sensitive indicators of language development than traditional objective measures. Clinical assessment protocols should be restructured to give greater weight to structured parental observations. Word combination abilities, in particular, seem valuable for identifying children with persistent language difficulties. The PA-CDI, combined with background variables, shows promise as an effective clinical tool for early identification of children at risk for language delays in Arabic-speaking populations.

With the development of rapid resistance, new modes of action for pesticides are needed for insect control, such as RNA interference (RNAi)-based biopesticides targeting essential genes. To explore the function of Argonaute-1 (Ago-1) and potential microRNAs (miRNAs) in ovarian development and their impact on rapid resistance in important storage pest Tribolium castaneum, we knocked down Ago-1 and observed the development of ovarian and insecticide susceptibility. Our results indicated that Ago-1 had a relatively high transcriptional level of adult female T. castaneum during the sexual maturation period. RNAi experiment showed that Ago-1 knockdown significantly decreased the expression levels of ovarian development-related genes and disrupted ovarian development and the morphology was atrophied. Reproductive experiments showed that the egg laying rate of female beetles was close to zero, while the fertility of male beetles was not affected. The lipid droplet of the beetles in dsAgo-1 group was significantly higher than dsEGFP group, which may be due to ovarian abnormalities caused by nutrient deficiency. The quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) results showed that the expression level of Ago-1 significantly increased after different pesticide treatments, and knocking down significantly increased the mortality rate of beetles treated with pesticides. The results indicate that Ago-1 is indispensable for normal ovarian development in T. castaneum and helps to address the issue of resistance development by enhancing insecticide susceptibility. © 2025 Society of Chemical Industry.

Spatio-temporal heterogeneity and drivers of landscape aesthetics and ecosystem services in the Bohai Rim urban agglomeration under urbanization.