Geographical Settings Research Articles

Kibiro Indigenous Salt Making Technology and Uganda’s Economic War, 1972-1979

This paper examines the continuities and changes that characterised traditional salt-making technology at Kibiro during the 1972 economic war in Uganda and the influence of these technologies on the volume, quality, and benefits of mined salt. While Kibiro’s salt-making was not new in historical discourse, attention had largely been on its archaeology rather than its history. Using a historical qualitative approach, data was collected through oral interviews through purposeful snowballing, documentary review, and observations. The data were analysed using documentary analysis and narrative techniques. Results show the dynamics in the traditional salt making technology that provided a basis for appreciating how national changes can lead to unintended changes and benefits to the local communities without necessarily changing the production technology. The traditional salt-making technology exclusively done by women reveals the power of a woman salt miner to survive and support her household in an agriculturally barren geographical setting with trivial support from men due to cultural beliefs and practices

Summary of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases workshop on Alternative Therapies to Penicillin for the Treatment of Syphilis.

The dramatic increase in syphilis cases in the United States in recent years is a serious public health concern. Periodic shortages of benzathine penicillin (BPG), the mainstay of syphilis treatment, create challenges for management of syphilis in the U.S. and worldwide. The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) convened working groups of experts to assess the landscape of syphilis treatments for uncomplicated adult syphilis, syphilis in pregnant persons, congenital syphilis, and neurosyphilis. The working groups came together at a workshop entitled "Alternative Therapies to Penicillin for the Treatment of Syphilis" on February 13-14, 2024, to share their findings regarding promising alternative treatments, research gaps, and challenges. Discussions focused on utilizing existing antibiotics, with a preference for those with favorable safety profiles and demonstrated success against syphilis or other infectious diseases. Clinical research on alternative treatments is complicated by the high effectiveness of penicillin and by differences in clinical, physiological, cultural, and socioeconomic considerations across different patient populations and geographic settings. In addition, current diagnostic tests and tests-of-cure create challenges for clinical trial design. Various potential trial designs were discussed, focusing on subjects with different types and stages of disease. This summary of the workshop is presented to inform plans for future research, including clinical trials on alternatives to penicillin for the treatment of syphilis.

Gardening as a responsible leisure activity: The geography of Central European food self-provisioning

Recent research on food self-provisioning (FSP) has pointed to its material similarity with the practices of alternative food networks (AFNs) – a subject of enormous scholarly interest in the last two decades. Most of the limited research on FSP has so far focused on comparing gardeners with the non-gardening population in a single country and overlooked geographical differences in FSP practices. The objective of this article is to assess the differences in FSP in two Central European countries (Austria and Czechia) and between urban, suburban and rural areas. More specifically, we have analysed robust survey data on 1,284 households practising gardening with the objective of comparing FSP practices in different geographical settings in terms of time spent in the garden, motivations for growing food, the volume of vegetable production, the extent of mutual help and food sharing and fertiliser and pesticide use. The results reveal similarities rather than differences between geographical categories, despite a significant disparity in living standards between the two countries. Associating FSP with the quality of produce and a leisure activity rather than poverty or obligation, as well as proving its comparable relevance in both rural and urban areas and across international boundaries, contributes to bridging the gap between research on AFNs and FSP. It also demonstrates that food alternatives have significantly greater material significance in terms of volume of production and the number of participants than previously realised.

Does forecast-based financing (FbF) lower women's vulnerability to flooding?

Forecast-based financing (FbF) is gaining traction globally in the humanitarian sector as a critical tool for reducing disaster risk. Global and national literature on FbF mainly shed light on the effectiveness in reducing household-level vulnerability without a particular focus on women's specific vulnerability. This study uses qualitative methods to analyze rural Bangladeshi women's riverine flood challenges and whether the FbF has reduced their vulnerability to flooding. The study was conducted in two distinct geographical settings in northern Bangladesh: Charland (river island) and Mainland, without flood embankment protection. The findings reveal that FbF cash assistance primarily aided rural women in reducing the financial vulnerability of their households. Spending the cash assistance on buying food and boat evacuation directly benefits women and men alike and reduces the need for taking loans. However, no spending was made on women's personal utility and safety needs before, during, and after the flood. Charland and Mainland females faced barriers to basic utility and hygiene services, with Charland women faring slightly better. Our findings suggest that existing rural socio-cultural norms, cash disbursement timing, and other factors influenced women's cash aid anticipatory action choices, and the humanitarian actors and recipients should coordinate to improve the situation.

Understanding of income and race disparities in hurricane evacuation is contingent upon study case and design

As hurricanes become more frequent and destructive, understanding evacuation decision-making is crucial to refining disaster response strategies. Several studies have explored how socioeconomic characteristics such as income and race impact evacuation behavior. Most of these studies focus on a single hurricane event with the geographic extent limited to one or two states, each using a distinct study design, making them difficult to compare. This raises the question of whether findings from isolated cases can be generalized across different hurricane scenarios and geographical settings under a similar study design and consistent parameter definitions. To address this gap, in this study, we conduct a comparative analysis to understand income and racial disparity across multiple hurricane events. The results indicate that, even with a consistent study design, disparities in evacuation among different socioeconomic groups vary on a case-by-case basis. Furthermore, we show that the study design significantly impacts the observed trends within a single case. This highlights the importance of avoiding generalized conclusions based on limited case studies. It further emphasizes how flawed study designs may fail to capture the complexities of real-world behaviors, thereby leading to suboptimal or ineffective policy recommendations or designs.

Geographic distribution of single motherhood in Nigeria: 2003 – 2018

The prevalence of single motherhood, associated with adverse maternal and child health outcomes, is now increasing rapidly across Nigerian states. The distribution of single mothers could vary widely across geographical settings in highly heterogeneous Nigerian states with diverse sociocultural, religious, and ethnic beliefs, which are some of the drivers of parenting styles. Using cross-sectional data from four waves of the Nigeria Demographic Health Survey, we analyzed the spatiotemporal patterns of single motherhood across Nigerian states. Within a Bayesian context, we considered a binomial likelihood for the single motherhood variable and included the categorical variables as linear effects. The metrical covariate, the age of the women, was modeled assuming a second-order random walk prior, while the state random effect was modeled using a Gaussian intrinsic conditional autoregressive prior. The findings indicate strong spatial clustering that shows a North-South divide over time, with high chances of single motherhood recorded in most southern states. These spatial distributions persisted after accounting for the observed covariates, indicating that the clustering serves as a proxy for other indicators that exert an unmatched influence on the prevalence of single motherhood across geographic settings. We found that Christian women are more prone to single motherhood compared with Muslim women. Similarly, educational attainment, household wealth index, urban residency, and ethnicity are predictors of single motherhood in Nigeria. Interventions to ease the burden of single motherhood in Nigeria could be more impactful if states in the southern fringe are given priority.

Postpartum Access to Health Care and Opioid Use Treatment: An Evaluation of a Medicaid Population.

In this study, we aimed to examine postpartum health care utilization and identify gaps in care among a postpartum Medicaid population of patients diagnosed with opioid use disorder (OUD) during pregnancy. We queried North Carolina Medicaid medical and pharmacy claims to identify individuals with a live delivery and evidence of OUD during pregnancy from 2015 to 2019. We examined any evidence of postpartum health care utilization and evidence of medications for OUD (MOUD) during postpartum. We also determined the impact that 4 factors may have had on these outcomes: type of Medicaid coverage (Medicaid for Pregnant Women as compared to other types of Medicaid coverage), rurality, race, and the prenatal use of MOUD. Descriptive statistics, Kaplan-Meier curves with log-rank tests, and negative binomial regression were used. Of the 6,186 individuals in the study, 84.5% were White, 29.6% lived in rural areas, and 35.0% had MPW coverage. Of the sample, 77.4% sought health care services during the postpartum period. In the multiple negative binomial regression model, individuals who were MPW beneficiaries, non-White, lived in rural areas, and had no evidence of prenatal MOUD all had significantly lower rates of postpartum health care utilization. Of the sample, 53.6% had evidence of MOUD utilization during the postpartum period. We found that patients with MPW continued MOUD at much lower rates compared to patients with other forms of Medicaid (86% versus 93% at 60 days; 57% versus 78% at 180 days, respectively). Limitations to this analysis are inherent to administrative claims data, such as misclassification of outcomes and covariates, as well as loss to follow-up. Significant gaps in health care use remain across type of Medicaid coverage, race, geographic setting, and prenatal care access.

Outcome of Pediatric Inflammatory Bowel Disease in Asian Children: A Multinational One-year Follow-up Study.

Epidemiological data on pediatric inflammatory bowel disease (PIBD) have been reported in Asian countries. However, short-term follow-up data, especially in Southeast Asian countries, are limited. Analyze and compare the baseline and 1-year follow-up (1FU) data for PIBD in Asian children. The multinational network included patients with PIBD (aged <19 years) in five Asian countries (Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Sri Lanka, and Thailand). The diagnosis of PIBD requires gastrointestinal endoscopy. The patients' demographics, clinical information, disease-related outcomes, and treatment data at 1FU were collected. In 1995-2021, 368 patients were enrolled (CD, 56.8%; UC, 38%; and IBD-unclassified, 5.2%). At 1FU, symptoms including diarrhea, bloody stools, and nausea/vomiting subsided in <3%, while abdominal pain persisted in 10.5% of patients with CD and 7.1% of patients with UC. Assessment endoscopy was performed at 1FU in 38% of CD and 31% of UC cases, of which 21% and 23% showed mucosal healing, respectively. Oral prednisolone was administered to 55.3% of patients at diagnosis and 26.8% at 1FU, while infliximab was administered to 2.5% and 7.2% of patients at diagnosis and 1FU, respectively. Independent factors of 1-year clinical remission for CD were oral prednisolone (odds ratio [OR], 0.20; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.06-0.68), antibiotic use (OR, 0.09; 95% CI, 0.01-0.54), and immunomodulator use (OR, 5.26; 95% CI, 1.52-18.22). A history of weight loss at diagnosis was the only independent risk factor of an IBD flare by 1FU (OR, 2.01; 95% CI, 1.12-3.63). The proportion of children with PIBD and abdominal pain at 1FU remained high. The rates of repeat endoscopy and infliximab use were suboptimal with high rates of systemic corticosteroid use. Quality improvement based on the aforementioned predictors may enhance PIBD care in this geographic region or similar settings.

Development and pilot of an interdisciplinary health education program to address health disparities for gender-diverse persons at the U.S./Mexico border

Purpose: Transgender and gender diverse (TGD) individuals face substantial barriers to health equity, which are magnified for TGD persons of color and those living in medically underserved areas. This article presents the development and pilot of an interdisciplinary health education program for TGD individuals in an underserved U.S./Mexico border community. Feasibility of the initiative and challenges of implementing such a program are discussed. Method: A health education program was developed and piloted through a collaboration between The University of Texas at El Paso and a community partner, Borderland Rainbow Center. The program trained graduate students from various health sciences to educate TGD community members, along with their friends, families, and allies, on gender-affirming care and resources. The program took place in El Paso, TX and southern NM, USA between March and October, 2023. Results: Examples of quantitative and qualitative data that were collected from this pilot program are provided. We present descriptive statistics of pre- versus post-survey data as a demonstration of feasibility and as an example of how such data may be structured in future studies that aim to incorporate more robust statistical analysis. Conclusion: The details of the program’s conceptualization and implementation can serve as a model for developing targeted health education interventions for TGD populations in diverse geographic and sociocultural settings. These interventions are critical as they address both community needs and student education to combat health inequities faced by underrepresented or marginalized groups.

Discovery of a Stone Circle (Cairn Circle) at Sree Krishna College Guruvayur: A Link to South India’s Stone Age Heritage

Megalithic monuments are found extensively across Kerala, offering significant insights into the ancient societies that once thrived in the region. These structures—comprising umbrella stones, rock-cut caves, menhirs, dolmens, port-holed cists, and stone circles— represent a sophisticated ritual landscape spanning various districts. The Thrissur district, particularly near Kunnamkulam and Kandanassery, hosts several important prehistoric sites within a 15-kilometer radius, such as burial caves in Kattakambal, Kandanassery, and Kakkad, as well as the Kudakkallu Parambu at Cheramanangad and the Ariyannur Umbrellas. This paper introduces a newly discovered megalithic site at Sree Krishna College, Guruvayur, featuring a stone circle or cairn circle—the first of its kind documented at this location. The study explores the site’s geographical setting, structural characteristics, and cultural significance, contributing to a more comprehensive understanding of Kerala's megalithic heritage.

Quantitative assessment and dynamic characteristic measurement of regional resilience: From the perspective of post-earthquakes effects

Strong geological disasters have caused persistent losses in society, economy, and ecological environments. Given the unique geographical settings of the stricken areas, their resilience is prone to damage or even loss. Comprehensive risk assessment of natural disasters is the core content and important foundation for building regional resilience. Therefore, conducting dynamic characteristics analysis of resilience in mountainous disaster areas impacted by strong earthquake geological disasters is vital for ensuring the region's high-quality and sustainable development. This article takes the 51 stricken areas of Wenchuan earthquake as the research object. To this end, social, economic and ecological environmental data from 2008 to 2020 was hereby collected. Initially, a regional resilience assessment system based on "socio-economic-ecological environment" was established, considering the long-term and spatial heterogeneity of geological disasters. Secondly, the regional resilience assessment model was constructed using Spectral clustering-genetic algorithm-improved entropy weight method. Following that, the dynamic characteristics of regional resilience were quantitatively analyzed from two aspects, including change velocity state and change rate trend. Finally, based on the regional resilience characteristics, differentiated resilience enhancement strategies were proposed. Collectively, the results revealed that: (1) From a geological disaster standpoint, the risk in post-earthquake disaster areas exhibited a strikingly rapid decline, with the spatial distribution of geological disaster risk being notably higher in the central areas and diminishing towards the peripheries. (2) Overall, the regional resilience of the 51 stricken areas showed a "V-shaped" trend, with a significant upturn since 2012. (3) From the perspective of dynamic characteristics, more counties (cities) presented an upward trend. (4) The 51 stricken areas were hereby divided into the "benchmarking type", the "declination type", the "backward type", and the "potential type". In conclusion, the current study enhances the technical framework for evaluating regional resilience and provides technical support for the construction of resilient cities.

A Comparative Study of Factors Influencing ADAS Acceptance in Belgium and Vietnam

This paper focuses on the acceptance of ADASs in the traffic safety and human factor domain. More specifically, it examines the predictive validity of the Unified Model of Driver Acceptance (UMDA) for an ADAS bundle that includes forward collision warning, headway monitoring and warning, and lane-keeping assistance in Belgium and Vietnam, two substantially different geographical, socio-cultural, and macroeconomic settings. All systems in the studied ADAS bundle are located at the Society of Automotive Engineer (SAE)-level 0 of automation. We found moderate acceptance towards such an ADAS bundle in both countries, and respondents held rather positive opinions about system-specific characteristics. In terms of predictive validity, the UMDA scored quite well in both countries, though better in Belgium than in Vietnam. Macroeconomic factors and socio-cultural characteristics could explain these differences between the two countries. Policymakers are encouraged to prioritise initiatives that stimulate the purchase and use of the ADAS, rather than on measures meant to influence the underlying decisional balance.

3.E. Scientific session: Environmental Health Tracking Systems: a tool for planetary health

Abstract Planetary health offers a good framework for better understanding the interconnection between human health and environmental changes, promoting effective cross-sector actions and partnerships, and ensuring policy coherence. Effective implementation of this conceptual framework requires monitoring and reporting on indicators relevant to planetary health that capture the scope, spatial and temporal scales of changes in natural systems that affect human health and well-being. An approach in that sense are the environmental public health tracking systems (EPHT), which imply the ongoing collection, integration, analysis, and interpretation of data at the same spatiotemporal scale about environmental hazards, and related human exposure and health effects, maintaining appropriate data protection measures. It aims to provide public-health decision makers with timely, accurate and systematic data for quantifying health impacts related to environmental factors. EPHT system are proposed as an essential tool for designing and monitoring policies and actions that prevent and reduce environmental health burdens (EHB) efficiently and cost-effectively, and as an alerting system against present and future climatic and health crisis. Pursuing such goals requires the use of health information systems that enable the monitoring and assessing of environmental health in multiple dimensions, considering specificities across different geographical and cultural settings. EPHT system requires defining a rationale on how to select the dimensions and indicators to be included. Common challenges for defining those indicators are related to the availability of data recording, data standardization, and the linkage, integration and sharing of databases. In parallel, it is also important to define a decision aiding tools in which evidence and data are understandable and inform about the extent to which specific policy goals are attained, tailoring such tools to the specific settings. Present session attends to answers to those challenges by sharing experiences from different contexts and countries Key messages • EPHT systems represent an effective tool for progressing in achieving planetary health goals and as a surveillance alerting system for future health crisis. • Adjusting EH data quality recording and analysis in EPHT systems is essential for improving resources assignment, and the effectiveness of healthy policies in reducing EHB.

84 Methods to screen caregivers for previous and current substance use in the paediatric office: A scoping review

Abstract Background Paediatric healthcare providers have been shown to miss opportunities to screen caregivers for substance use. Individuals who use or have used substances face general healthcare barriers and may disengage with the system to avoid stigma or discrimination. Poorly worded or administered substance use screening practices by paediatricians could lead to retraumatization or judgment of caregivers that may affect the ability to continue providing healthcare to the child. There is limited information in the literature regarding best approaches for screening caregivers for substance use in paediatrics. Objectives The unique objective of this review was to identify current methods for, approaches to, and acceptability of caregiver substance use screening in paediatric offices. Design/Methods Searches were performed in CINAHL, PsycInfo, MEDLINE, and Social Sciences Abstracts databases with results limited from 2000 to 2023. Keywords included “perinatal”, “postnatal” “paediatric OR paediatric”, “substance use” OR “substance abuse” OR substances OR “alcohol use” OR “alcohol abuse” OR “addiction”, AND “screening”. Studies must have been conducted in Canada, the USA, Australia, or Scandinavia. Literature that was published in a language other than English, described screening caregivers for substance use using biological samples, or that focused solely on screening pregnant caregivers for substance use was excluded. Individual approaches to and provider and patient perspectives on screening were identified. Three authors completed title, abstract, and full text screening in Covidence screening software. Qualitative thematic coding identified geographical setting, the specific paediatric clinical setting, substances for which each study screened, characteristics of the participants, method of screening, and feedback related to acceptability, outcomes, or methods of screening. Results Practitioners used standardized and informal substance use screening tools. This review found that paediatric practitioners reported gaps in guidance on how best to screen caregivers for substance use and a desire for more improvement. Lack of guidance made it uncomfortable to screen caregivers. Increased comfort with screening was noted when a social needs survey was used as guidance. Caregivers were generally highly comfortable being screened for substance use and felt it was an acceptable action for paediatricians to undertake. However, the input of families in caregiver substance use screening methods was otherwise lacking. Substance use questions were often paired with questions asking caregivers to rate acceptability while other studies simply used the openness of being approached or absence of objections as acceptance of being screened. None of the studies identified in this review included the ability for families to participate more fully in screening acceptability or design. Conclusion Family engagement in research regarding the ideal acceptability and design of screening methods is lacking while paediatric healthcare providers continue to be uncomfortable screening caregivers for substance use and wish for improved methods that facilitate trust with families. Further research into the design of trauma-informed caregiver substance use screening in paediatric settings may be needed.

Predicting normalized difference vegetation index using a deep attention network with bidirectional GRU: a hybrid parametric optimization approach

AbstractScalable and accurate normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) prediction is necessary to track the status of vegetation and the environment and to support proper ecological management. Herein, we present an innovative deep-learning approach to improve NDVI prediction performances by considering enhanced temporal modeling and hybrid optimization processes. The analysis is based on a core model that integrates a Bidirectional Gated Recurrent Unit (BiGRU) with the profound attention feature since the primary research incorporates the capability of complex temporal in addition to NDVI-time series value. The model performs better through a dual algorithm combining the waterwheel plant algorithm (WWPA) and statistical fractal search (SFS) named WWPASFS-BiGRU. The proposed approach is evaluated using real-world NDVI datasets, demonstrating its capability to outperform traditional models and state-of-the-art deep learning methods. Key performance metrics highlight the model’s accuracy, with a root mean square error (RMSE) as low as 0.00011, reflecting its superior predictive ability. Comparative experiments showcase the robustness of our model across different environmental conditions and geographical settings, affirming its applicability in diverse ecological forecasting scenarios. Additionally, extensive statistical validation, including ANOVA and Wilcoxon tests, confirms the model’s consistency and reliability. The effectiveness of the WWPASFS-BiGRU model is illustrated through applications in predicting NDVI trends across regions in Saudi Arabia, providing critical insights for ecosystem management and sustainable development planning.

Analysis of the Spatiotemporal Distribution Characteristics and Influencing Factors of High-Grade Cultural Heritage in the Region Surrounding Mount Song

Situated in central China, the region surrounding Mount Song is a pivotal area within the Central Plains, renowned for its extensive and high-grade cultural heritage. This study aims to analyze the spatiotemporal distribution of this heritage using advanced spatial pattern analysis methods, including the Average Nearest Neighbor Ratio and Kernel Density Estimation within ArcGIS. Our findings reveal a distinct continuity in temporal distribution and a pronounced clustering in spatial terms. By investigating the underlying factors such as the geographical setting, historical political capitals, cultural and religious influences, water transportation systems, and traditional Fengshan ceremonies, this research elucidates the dynamics shaping this distribution. This study’s outcomes provide essential insights for policymakers and stakeholders involved in the protection and revitalization of cultural heritage, ensuring informed decision making for sustainable cultural conservation.

Exploiting PV System Performance: A Combined Approach Using MPPT, IoT, Cleaning, Cooling, and Neural Networks

This paper investigates the effects of three foremost methodologies—Maximum Power Point Tracking (MPPT), Internet of Things (IoT)-driven cleaning and cooling, and Neural Network Training (NNT)—on improving the efficacy of solar photovoltaic (PV) systems. Solar photovoltaic systems have considerable complications in sustaining maximum performance due to environmental conditions such as dust collection, temperature variations, and an insufficient energy management. A new control method is presented to challenge these difficulties, including MPPT, IoT-based cleaning and cooling, and NNT for the real-time optimization of PV systems. The simulation findings indicate a substantial increase in power production when both technologies are used together. Power generation is improved throughout a 24-hour period, especially during periods of low solar irradiation, by the coordinated use of MPPT, IoT, cleaning, and cooling techniques. The IoT-controlled technology enhances power production by 7–9% across many operating situations, especially in advantageous geographic settings, while simultaneously decreasing energy consumption. NNT dynamically modifies system settings in real-time, exceeding conventional optimization methods. The results underscore the potential of MPPT, IoT, cleaning, cooling, and NNT to markedly enhance the efficiency and productivity of solar PV systems, tackling the primary concerns of dust collection, elevated temperatures, and suboptimal energy management.

New England and Literary Tradition: Emily Dickinson and Robert Frost

This study explores how New England's cultural, historical, and environmental contexts have deeply influenced its literary tradition. By analyzing works from notable New England authors like Emily Dickinson and Robert Frost, the research investigates how the region's unique characteristics impact American literature's themes and storytelling styles. The paper establishes a theoretical foundation based on regionalism and sense of place theory to guide the in-depth analysis of literary texts. The main focus is on themes such as nature, morality, and community life that define New England's literary identity. This examination reveals the significant influence of the region on its writers. It contributes to a broader understanding of how geographical settings shape literary creativity.

“Someone Who Is Going to Preserve Your Surname and Clan Name”: A Sesotho Cultural Perspective on Male Partner Involvement in Maternal and Newborn Care in the Free State, South Africa

In the global public health discourse, involving men in maternal and neonatal health is regarded as crucial for positive outcomes in both health and development. In South Africa, health interventions designed to promote male partner involvement among low-income indigenous populations have been framed within social constructivist notions of masculinities and have produced mixed outcomes. This has necessitated calls to explore alternative approaches, including the need to decolonise men and masculinities studies in Africa. As part of one phase of formative research for a mixed-method project aimed at adapting a male involvement intervention for the context of Sesotho-speaking men and women in the Free State, we applied a multi-site case study research design and collected qualitative data using focus group discussions and key informant interviews. Verbatim-recorded transcripts were translated, transcribed, and thematically analysed with NVIVO 14. The results indicate that customary practices in pregnancy, delivery, and newborn care are not static and vary between families based on belief systems, socioeconomic status, geographical setting (peri-urban/rural), and kinship networks of care. Therefore, these practices and beliefs should be understood, affirmed, and contested within the complex African-centred material and immaterial worldviews on personhood in which they were generated, transmitted, rejected, or adopted. It is recommended that a decolonised approach to male partner involvement in this context must be cognisant of the intersections of racial and gendered power relations, contestations in beliefs and practices, the resilient effect of colonialism on indigenous gender systems, as well as contemporary global entanglements that inform North–South power relations on the best practices in maternal and newborn health in the public health sector in South Africa.

Enhancing land cover classification via deep ensemble network

The rapid adoption of drones has transformed industries such as agriculture, environmental monitoring, surveillance, and disaster management by enabling more efficient data collection and analysis. However, existing UAV-based image scene classification techniques face limitations, particularly in handling dynamic scenes, varying environmental conditions, and accurately identifying small or partially obscured objects. These challenges necessitate more advanced and robust methods for land cover classification. In response, this study explores ensemble learning (EL) as a powerful alternative to traditional machine learning approaches. By integrating predictions from multiple models, EL enhances accuracy, precision, and robustness in UAV-based land use and land cover classification. This research introduces a two-phase approach combining data preprocessing with feature extraction using three advanced ensemble models DenseNet201, EfficientNetV2S, and Xception employing transfer learning. These models were selected based on their higher performance during preliminary evaluations. Furthermore, a soft attention mechanism is incorporated into the ensembled network to optimize feature selection, resulting in improved classification outcomes. The proposed model achieved an accuracy of 97 %, precision of 96 %, recall of 96 %, and an F1-score of 97 % on UAV image datasets. Comparative analysis reveals a 4.2 % accuracy improvement with the ensembled models and a 1 % boost with the advanced hybrid models. This work significantly advances UAV image scene classification, offering a practical solution to enhance decision-making precision in various applications. The ensemble system demonstrates its effectiveness in remote sensing applications, especially in land cover analysis across diverse geographical and environmental settings.