Economic Consequences Research Articles

Typology analysis of cattle farms in Northeast Algeria: Potential for sustainable development

CONTEXTCurrently, local cattle breeds are facing numerous challenges, and their disappearance could have social, economic, and environmental consequences. OBJECTIVEThis study was conducted in the northeast of Algeria to understand the characteristics, constraints of production systems and examine the specific strategies implemented in farms to ensure their viability. METHODA total of 175 smallholder farmers who practice Algerian local cattle breeding were interviewed using a structured questionnaire. Typology construction was carried out through factor analysis of mixed data, followed by sequential agglomerative hierarchical and K-means clustering, to define distinct farmer types with common characteristics. RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONResults highlight three farm types. The first group, representing 54.9% (96/175Farms) of the farms studied, is characterized by low-resource breeders who raise small herds of local breeds in association with small ruminants. Type 2 (25.7%) (45/175) consists of crossbred, diversified, supported breeding with better technical performance. The intensification strategies adopted by breeders of this type have relegated local cattle to the background. The third type (19.4%) (34/175) includes cattle pastoral farms, with the predominance of the local cattle breed characterized by limited productivity. SIGNIFICANCEThis study highlights farm diversity, the necessity of government support, and specific policies to ensure the sustainability of local cattle breeding, with particular emphasis on pastoral breeding, which has the largest number of local cattle breeds.

Bovine respiratory disease (BRD) in postweaning calves with different prevention strategies and the impact on performance and health status

Bovine respiratory disease (BRD) is one of the most common causes of morbidity and mortality in bovine calves, especially around the weaning period, when the calves are usually moved from individual to group housing. BRD has negative perfor­mance and economic consequences that extend well beyond the actual event. Therefore, we aimed to compare BRD morbid­ity, mortality and growth in dairy and dairy beef cross-bred calves during the first commingle groups using 2 different BRD prevention strategies. We hypothesized that one or both pre­vention strategies would reduce BRD morbidity and mortality, resulting in better health status and performance in calves.

Pressure injury treatment by intermittent electrical stimulation (PROTECT-2): protocol for a multicenter randomized clinical trial

BackgroundPressure ulcers account for a substantial fraction of hospital-acquired pathology, with consequent morbidity and economic cost. Treatments are largely focused on preventing further injury, whereas interventions that facilitate healing remain limited. Intermittent electrical stimulation (IES) increases local blood flow and redistributes pressure from muscle-bone interfaces, thus potentially reducing ulcer progression and facilitating healing.MethodsThe Pressure Injury Treatment by Intermittent Electrical Stimulation (PROTECT-2) trial will be a parallel-arm multicenter randomized trial to test the hypothesis that IES combined with routine care reduces sacral and ischial pressure injury over time compared to routine care alone. We plan to enroll 548 patients across various centers. Hospitalized patients with stage 1 or stage 2 sacral or ischial pressure injuries will be randomized to IES and routine care or routine care alone. Wound stage will be followed until death, discharge, or the development of an exclusion criteria for up to 3 months. The primary endpoint will be pressure injury score measured over time.DiscussionSacral and ischial pressure injuries present a burden to hospitalized patients with both clinical and economic consequences. The PROTECT-2 trial will evaluate whether IES is an effective intervention and thus reduces progression of stage 1 and stage 2 sacral and ischial pressure injuries.Trial registrationClinicalTrials.gov NCT05085288 Registered October 20, 2021.

Economic Effectiveness and Forecasting of Scientific Activity in Azerbaijan

In the conditions of increasing international competition, sustainable development of the economy is considered to be one of the priority areas of scientific activities in the country. Since science and high technologies are the fundamental basis of innovative development, the strengthening of scientific, technical, and innovative potential for countries is considered as the goal of economic policy. In this context, the ability to achieve achievements related to scientific activity and to implement the obtained results becomes one of the factors that ensure the competitiveness of both the economy and fields and subjects in the global competitive environment. The effectiveness of scientific activity directly depends on the funding of research and development. The comparison of costs and results is closely related to the consideration of different time intervals between financing and the achievement of commercial results. Therefore, investments related to the commercialization of science appear as investments in the future. Thus, the application of the results of scientific activity to production, being considered an important factor of production intensification, ensures the increase of labor productivity, the reduction of production costs, and the improvement of the efficiency of capital investments. These, in turn, are the main conditions for the effectiveness of the integration of science and production. In the research, the effectiveness of scientific activity, the factors affecting it, the possibilities of expanding the application of scientific activity to production, and the forecast indicators of the volume of scientific and technical works shortly are determined.

Effects of Urban Growth and Urbanization on the Social Environment: Case Study Old and Modern Cities of Yemen

Aim: This research was designed to study the effects of urban growth and urbanization on the social environment (Study of the state of growth and social changes in the old and modern cities of Yemen an example). Background: Yemenis have a rich history of urban centers, which have played a crucial role in trade, crafts, industries, and science. These cities have become distinct areas of cultural development, economic polarization, and cultural radiation. They are considered crucibles for social culturalintegration, nurseries for political growth, and areas for the development of national consciousness. The history of Yemen's cities and urban centers demonstrates the close link between trade, delivery routes, political governance centers, and city growth and development. Some Yemeni historical cities have played a vital role before Islam as political capitals, educators, and seaports. Cities have emerged as a result of the desire to coexist and achieve stability, reflecting spiritual, material, social, and political conditions. The growth of cities and architecture is a reflection of these changes. Methodology: The physical changes in the Republic of Yemen and the identification of the city of Aden were studied by reviewing the studies that monitored these changes and their social, economic and population effects. The study relied on secondary data in the first place. Conclusion: Yemen's population growth rate in 2004 was low at 3.01%, but it remains high due to economic and social developments and changes demographic factors such as fertility, mortality, and migration the growth rate was decreased at 2.20%. The 2004 General Population and Housing Census revealed that the resident population is spread across various governorates, with Ta'izz, Hodeidah, and Ibb having the highest proportions. The General Census of Population and Establishments revealed changes in the relative weight of the provincial population between the 1994 and 2004 censuses, with some governorates experiencing an increase in population relative to the population, while others experienced a decrease. The annual growth rate of the resident population was 3.0%, and the proportion of the young age group increased from 46.2% in 1994 to 51.5% in 2004. The gender ratio in Yemen is 104, with some governorates having a higher proportion of species due to urbanization (male than more than female), employment opportunities, or male labor migration. The Central Statistical Agency predicts that population growth will remain high over the next 20 years, with a natural increase rate of 3.01%. The proportion of married people in the population is higher for both sexes, possibly due to increased living costs and lack of adequate housing.

Reducing reflex first-line prescriptions in a surgical pathology laboratory: toward sustainable practice with positive economic and clinical effects.

In surgical pathology departments, reflex first-line techniques (RFLTs) are aimed at reducing workloads and addressing recent shortages of medical personnel. However, the impacts thereof on economic and diagnostic factors have been poorly addressed. Also, in the era of global warming, environmental considerations are crucial. This study assessed the economic and diagnostic efficacies of routine pathological RFLT and the quality of care and sustainability. Ten RFLTs of the Bordeaux University Hospital pathology department (six special stains, one cytology technique, and three immunohistochemical tests) were studied. First, a retrospective economic analysis evaluated the average cost of these RFLTs per slide and per year. Second, diagnostic relevance was prospectively surveyed. Third, the effects of changes made were analyzed over 2years. The ten RFLTs were associated with average annual costs of €46,708. Diagnostic relevance analysis indicated that most stains were unnecessary; only 17% were requested as second-line techniques. Elimination of 7/10 tests afforded annual cost savings of €22,522 and reduced the workload by 5568 tests/year, without compromising the workflow or diagnostic quality. Seven of ten RFLTs could be eliminated without compromising diagnostic quality or the workflow. This afforded not only financial benefits but also positive social and environmental impacts. We offer valuable insights into appropriate practices in surgical pathology laboratories. Collaboration between the medical and technical teams was crucial; other healthcare sectors would also benefit from our approach.

Impact of Antimicrobial Resistance in Health and Economic Outcomes: A Review

Background: Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) observed when microorganism adapt and multiply in the presence of drugs to which they are exposed. Antibiotic resistance is a global health problem, with the current trend of inappropriate and overuse of antibiotics predicted to cause 10 million deaths by 2050. However, resistant bacteria are multiplying worldwide, infecting healthy people, animals, and human environment, affecting countries with low- and middle-income countries. Although the discovery of antibiotics has saved many lives in recent years, increasing bacterial resistance to antibiotics threatens clinical and agricultural progress, and even treatable bacterial infections can be life-threatening. Strategies: In the present review we discuss the global burden of social and economic impact of antibiotic resistance, common mechanisms of antibiotic resistance, microbiological health and treatment resistance, patient attitudes, hospital and cancer outcomes. Summarize the impact of AMR. Potential strategies to overcome AMR such as Targeting antimicrobial-resistant enzymes, Targeting antimicrobial-resistant bacteria, Drug delivery systems, Physiochemical methods, Unconventional strategies. Conclusion: The devastating effect of antibiotic resistance is clear by way of the sudden boom inside the quantity of cases in which microorganism are immune to typically prescribed antibiotics in clinical practice. Although the superiority of bacterial resistance is growing, there is limited statistics at the impact of this hassle on the fitness and economic consequences of the clinical network.

Elucidating the Onset of Cross-Protective Immunity after Intranasal Vaccination with the Attenuated African Swine Fever Vaccine Candidate BA71ΔCD2

African swine fever (ASF) is a deadly disease of swine currently causing a worldwide pandemic, leading to severe economic consequences for the porcine industry. The control of disease spread is hampered by the limitation of available effective vaccines. Live attenuated vaccines (LAVs) are currently the most advanced vaccine prototypes, providing strong protection against ASF. However, the significant advances achieved using LAVs must be complemented with further studies to analyze vaccine-induced immunity. Here, we characterized the onset of cross-protective immunity triggered by the LAV candidate BA71ΔCD2. Intranasally vaccinated pigs were challenged with the virulent Georgia 2007/1 strain at days 3, 7 and 12 postvaccination. Only the animals vaccinated 12 days before the challenge had effectively controlled infection progression, showing low virus loads, minor clinical signs and a lack of the unbalanced inflammatory response characteristic of severe disease. Contrarily, the animals vaccinated 3 or 7 days before the challenge just showed a minor delay in disease progression. An analysis of the humoral response and whole blood transcriptome signatures demonstrated that the control of infection was associated with the presence of virus-specific IgG and a cytotoxic response before the challenge. These results contribute to our understanding of protective immunity induced by LAV-based vaccines, encouraging their use in emergency responses in ASF-affected areas.

A computational model of the effects of borrower default on the stability of P2P lending platforms

AbstractPeer-to-peer (P2P) lending has attracted scholarly attention because of its economic significance and potential to democratize access to finance. However, P2P lending platforms face many challenges and failures that we need to understand more clearly. We build a computational model to study how borrower default affects P2P platform lending. We show that borrower default disrupts the P2P network formation process and undermines platform stability. Moreover, we find that defaults increase the inequality in accessing funding and provide a rationale for using curation rules, widely used in P2P platforms, in contrast to P2P insurance, which fosters cascading defaults. We also address a new trend in P2P lending platforms in which large companies (institutional investors) play an increasingly important role. We find that the presence of large companies creates a denser network (more loans) but generates a trade-off between making the platform more resilient to cascading defaults and more dependent on specific players. Overall, we explain how borrower defaults affect platform stability and what makes a platform vulnerable, threatening its survival. We discuss research and managerial insights into platform stability and the economic effect of P2P lending platforms.

THE ROLE OF SUSTAINABILITY ACCOUNTING STANDARDS IN EVALUATING PERFORMANCE AND THEIR IMPACT ON ACCOUNTING DISCLOSURE (AN APPLIED STUDY IN SOME IRAQI BANKS)

Sustainability Accounting deals with banks as a social unit that affects and is influenced by society, so this society needs to know the social and environmental impacts in addition to the economic effects of companies ' activities transparently so the main objective of the study was to see the role of Sustainability Accounting Standards in evaluating performance and its impact on accounting disclosure, as it contributes to achieving transparency for published annual reports to be more reliable and credible, sustainability accounting also contributes to enhancing investor confidence in making investment decisions and attracting capital, and it was also concluded that banks are working to integrate their regular activities with social and economic goals And environmental protection to contribute to sustainable dev.

Assessing decadal- to centennial-scale nonstationary variability in meteorological drought trends

Abstract. There are indications that the reference climatology underlying meteorological drought has shown nonstationarity at seasonal, decadal, and centennial timescales, impacting the calculation of drought indices and potentially having ecological and economic consequences. Analyzing these trends in meteorological drought climatology beyond 100 years, a time frame which exceeds the available period of observation data, contributes to a better understanding of the nonstationary changes, ultimately determining whether they are within the range of natural variability or outside this range. To accomplish this, our study introduces a novel approach to integrate unevenly scaled tree-ring proxy data from the North American Seasonal Precipitation Atlas (NASPA) with instrumental precipitation datasets by first temporally downscaling the proxy data to produce a regular time series and then modeling climate nonstationarity while simultaneously correcting model-induced bias. This new modeling approach was applied to 14 sites across the continental United States using the 3-month standardized precipitation index (SPI) as a basis. The findings showed that certain locations have experienced recent rapid shifts towards drier or wetter conditions during the instrumental period compared to the past 1000 years, with drying trends generally found in the west and wetting trends in the east. This study also found that seasonal shifts have occurred in some regions recently, with seasonality changes most notable for southern gauges. We expect that our new approach provides a foundation for incorporating various datasets to examine nonstationary variability in long-term precipitation climatology and to confirm the spatial patterns noted here in greater detail.

A Comparative Study of the Tourism Carrying Capacity of the State of Baja California between 2019 and 2022

The purpose of this work is to conduct a comparative study of variations in the indicators of the tourism carrying capacity in the state of Baja California. It is crucial to consider that the state had to confront the COVID-19 pandemic, during which tourism was not deemed an essential activity. This circumstance generated numerous social, psychological, and economic effects, primarily. In this regard, the aim is to identify the consequences of organizing events that promote tourism, particularly concerning the opinions of business professionals in the region. This is a qualitative and longitudinal study; the initial phase took place in May 2019, while the second survey occurred in the summer of 2022. The statistical sample is non-probabilistic and based on convenience, comprising 320 tourism businesses. The findings indicate that the tourist destinations remained appealing, experiencing inflows just above the average and approaching their capacity limits. Significantly, there are areas for improvement in terms of their tourist load capacities across each of the dimensions studied, despite the global health crisis.

From party to pandemic – Frames and metaphors in the news coverage of the COVID-19 outbreak in Austria

Media framing facilitates people’s understanding of a threat and affects one’s emotional reaction. It therefore plays a vital role in both individual and societal responses to a public health crisis such as the COVID-19 pandemic. Using a combination of conceptual metaphor analysis and qualitative frame analysis, this article examines how three Austrian newspapers framed the initial national outbreak of COVID-19 in March 2020. The results show that at that early stage, media coverage was primarily concerned with the national government’s political actions to contain the disease. Only a few articles framed the situation in terms of personal experiences and possible economic or social consequences. As has been the case in research reporting on other health crises, metaphors of war, journeys, and natural disasters were used to conceptualize the coronavirus pandemic. Yet, overall, the tone remained neutral, as the media framing was clearly aimed at passing on information and conveying a sense of urgency while at the same time trying to avoid scare tactics.

Did Facebook Cheat?: A Test Case of Antitrust Ethics

AbstractCiting corporate concentration and lax enforcement since the Reagan era, the Biden administration has declared a new era of aggressive antitrust prosecution, bringing antimonopoly actions against tech giants such as Meta, Google, and Amazon. But what’s so bad about monopoly or corporate concentration? The standard answer appeals to economic consequences, such as higher prices or deadweight losses. This paper offers a different framework. It argues monopolizing can be a form of cheating, which is a wrong that attaches to means, not just ends; an athlete who cheats but loses still does wrong. In particular, this paper argues that certain market-controlling strategies constitute a form of cheating I call ‘structural cheating,’ best illustrated by the metaphor of creating an unlevel playing field: rather than compete fairly on merits such as product quality and price, a firm that acquires rivals biases the market in its favor, thereby entrenching a dominant position that effectively forces would-be competitors to compete uphill. By framing (alleged) antitrust violations as cheating, while using the FTC’s lawsuit against Facebook (now Meta) as a test case, this paper provides a needed corrective to those citing market success as evidence of merit or skill. A further upshot is the structural cheating account better explains the distinctively problematic features of social media market concentration than Heath’s Market Failures Approach. More generally, this paper provides a normative lens for analyzing fair market competition and shows why it’s not only winning or losing that counts in capitalism, but how one plays the game.

The impact of household registration system reform: evidence from China

ABSTRACT We construct a DSGE model with three sectors: households which are divided into urban registered residents and non-urban residents, firm, and government, calibrate and estimate the model with data of China. This study aims to evaluate the impact of household registration system (HRS) reform of China, and provides a theoretical thought to understand this reform. Impulse response analysis and counterfactual simulation show the short-term and long-term effects of the reform on output, consumption, and labour supply. The shock (1%) in public goods consumption increases labour supply and private consumption of non-urban registered residents by 0.21% and 0.42%, decreases by about 0.13% and 0.14% in urban registered residents, and increases in overall labour supply, consumption, and output levels by approximately 0.08%, 0.26% and 0.36%, respectively. While the impact of wage level increases labour supply and private consumption of non-urban registered residents by about 0.03% and 0.6%, about 0.03% and 0.25% of urban registered residents. This leads to increases of overall labour supply, consumption, and output levels by approximately 0.03%, 0.28% and 0.12%, respectively. Transfer payment shocks has a very weak effect. Overall, the economic effects of the household registration system reform policy are significant.

The Effects of Oil Price on Energy Production and the Ecuadorian Economy

Through an empirical analysis of the impact of variations in the international price of oil on the economic production of different strategic sectors and on energy production from various sources in Ecuador, the study seeks to show evidence on the economic effects of the price of oil. in a Latin American economy strongly linked to oil production. For this, relevant data were collected on production in different economic sectors, on the type of ownership in oil production and on energy production in various energy sources in Ecuador and statistical analyzes were carried out to evaluate the relationships between these and the international oil price. The results indicate that the effect of the oil price varies between the economic sectors of Ecuador. Some sectors, such as financial services and construction, show positive responses, while others, such as agriculture and fishing, appear less affected. The oil and mining sector in Ecuador is strongly linked to variations in the price of oil. The positive and significant response of the Oil and Mines GDP underlines the sensitivity of this sector to changes in international prices. Furthermore, energy production in Ecuador exhibits heterogeneous responses to variations in the price of oil. Forms of energy such as wind, solar, and thermal energy show positive and significant responses, while hydropower presents a negative response in some periods. Positive responses in forms of energy such as wind, solar, and thermal may indicate that the increase in the price of oil positively influences investment decisions in these energy sources. The study provides a significant contribution to the field of energy economics in oil-exporting countries and, particularly, in developing countries, as well as highlights the importance of energy diversification for these types of economies.

Twenty-four-hour physical activity patterns associated with depressive symptoms: a cross-sectional study using big data-machine learning approach

BackgroundDepression is a global burden with profound personal and economic consequences. Previous studies have reported that the amount of physical activity is associated with depression. However, the relationship between the temporal patterns of physical activity and depressive symptoms is poorly understood. In this exploratory study, we hypothesize that a particular temporal pattern of daily physical activity could be associated with depressive symptoms and might be a better marker than the total amount of physical activity.MethodsTo address the hypothesis, we investigated the association between depressive symptoms and daily dominant activity behaviors based on 24-h temporal patterns of physical activity. We conducted a cross-sectional study on NHANES 2011–2012 data collected from the noninstitutionalized civilian resident population of the United States. The number of participants that had the whole set of physical activity data collected by the accelerometer is 6613. Among 6613 participants, 4242 participants had complete demography and Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9) questionnaire, a tool to quantify depressive symptoms. The association between activity-count behaviors and depressive symptoms was analyzed using multivariable logistic regression to adjust for confounding factors in sequential models.ResultsWe identified four physical activity-count behaviors based on five physical activity-counting patterns classified by unsupervised machine learning. Regarding PHQ-9 scores, we found that evening dominant behavior was positively associated with depressive symptoms compared to morning dominant behavior as the control group.ConclusionsOur results might contribute to monitoring and identifying individuals with latent depressive symptoms, emphasizing the importance of nuanced activity patterns and their probability of assessing depressive symptoms effectively.

Developing indicators for the social benefits of university-industry collaborations

This paper focuses on the social benefits of university-industry collaborations (UICs) based on the cases of winners of the Industry-Academia Collaboration Prize presented by the UK Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC) (2010–2023). The research question, which concerns the social and environmental benefits of UICs, has received little attention in the literature, as it focuses mainly on their economic effects. Taking the framework approach to thematic analysis, a list of thematic indicators, which serve as benchmark criteria for evaluating the social impact of UICs in medical, pharmaceutical and chemical industries, is developed. The use of a case study to identify indicators via this approach is appropriate for generating in-depth insights into the characteristics of UICs that have considerable societal impacts. Knowledge creation and contribution to training and improved skills levels constitute the main social benefits of UICs in the three industries cited above. Our findings have practical and theoretical implications, as they emphasize the importance of UICs in fulfilling a specific function in society, namely, facilitating research and developing skills that make the world a better place.

ENERGY AND POWER PARAMETERS OF ROLLING PROFILES FOR WHEEL RIMS WITH REDUCED METAL INTENSITY AND TAPERED SEATS

Analysis of experimental data on rolling asymmetric thin-walled sections with reduced metal consumption can be useful in identifying the features and prospects of application of profiles with reduced metal intensity, allowing obtaining significant economic and technological effects in production. The most mass-produced lightweight rim profiles 7.0-20-03 and 8.5-20-03 were studied to find the energy and power parameters. Rolling force, motor voltage current, revolutions and strip temperature were determined. The experimental data obtained indicate the possibility of mass production of high-performance rolled products for the automotive industry.

One Year Outcomes of Preserflo Microshunt for Primary Open Angle Glaucoma: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis.

This systematic review and meta-analysis concludes that the PreserFlo Microshunt glaucoma drainage device significantly reduces intraocular pressure in primary open-angle glaucoma patients at 12 months post insertion. A systematic review and meta-analysis on the effect of the PRESERFLO™ MicroShunt (PF-MS) on intraocular pressure (IOP) at 12 months has been conducted. The Pubmed/MEDLINE, Embase, CENTRAL, Google Scholar, Scopus and Web of Science databases were searched. Inclusion criteria required a diagnosis of open-angle glaucoma, PF-MS insertion, and examination of IOP over time. Meta-analyses were conducted on the primary outcome of IOP and the secondary outcome of glaucoma medication regime. Adverse events were also noted. Fourteen studies were identified for inclusion in the meta-analyses, of which none had a high risk of bias. The meta-analyses found a significant mean reduction in IOP of 9.07mmHg (95% CI 7.88 - 10.25; P<0.0001) and a significant mean reduction in mean glaucoma medication requirement of 2.37 medications (95% CI 2.15 - 2.60); P<0.0001). Hypotony and hyphaema are common early complications. The PF-MS device significantly reduced both IOP and glaucoma medication requirement at 12 months post insertion in individuals with open-angle glaucoma without a significant adverse event burden. Further research is required to determine the economic and environmental effects of widely implementing the PF-MS device into clinical practice.