Government Regulatory Agencies Research Articles

Drivers of owning more BPA

Bisphenol A (BPA) is a ubiquitous environmental toxin worldwide. Despite the many studies documenting the toxicity of this substance, it remains a popular choice for consumer products. The internet, magazine articles, and newspaper reports are replete with tips on how to avoid BPA exposure, which mostly spread contradictory and often unscientific information. Therefore, based on a comprehensive search of the available biomedical literature, we summarized several confounding factors that may be directly or indirectly related to human BPA exposure. We found that the unique properties of BPA materials (i.e. low cost, light-weight, resistance to corrosion, and water/air-tightness), lack of personal health and hygiene education, fear of BPA-substitutes (with yet unknown risks), inappropriate production, processing, and marketing of materials containing BPA, as well as the state of regulatory guidance are influencing the increased exposure to BPA. Besides, we detailed the disparities between scientifically derived safe dosages of BPA and those designated as “safe” by government regulatory agencies. Therefore, in addition to providing a current assessment of the states of academic research, government policies, and consumer behaviors, we make several reasonable and actionable recommendations for limiting human exposure to BPA through improved labeling, science-based dosage limits, and public awareness campaigns.

Social media and the spread of COVID-19 infodemic

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to investigate the social media application and the spread of COVID-19 infodemic in Nigeria.Design/methodology/approachA descriptive survey research design was used for this study. A total of 1,200 social media users, regardless of their professions, were randomly selected for the study betweenmid-June and July 2020. Stratified and purposive sampling techniques were used for this study. The questionnaire was designed using Google form and administered using WhatsApp and Telegram to social media users above 18 years old in Nigeria. The data generated was analyzed using descriptive (frequency count) and inferential (mean) statistics, and was presented in tables.FindingsIt was found that people make use of social media during COVID-19 pandemic for diverse reasons such as listening to announcement to be informed, knowing the necessary measures to take by those infected and spreading up-to-date information on the pandemic. Social media tools were highly used during the COVID-19 pandemic, especially WhatsApp and Zoom. Findings reflected that misinformation was spread on social media. This study also showed that the infodemic associated with COVID-19 is managed by confirming the source of the information before sharing it and trusting information from reliable sources.Research limitations/implicationsThe result of this research will contribute to the body of knowledge on social media application, fake news and the spread of COVID-19 infodemic in Nigeria and beyond.Practical implicationsInfodemic is a disaster in the health sector. The spread of infodemic is capable of misleading people, losing trust in government, health providers and health regulatory authorities. This study will help social media users to know how to properly manage social media infodemic during a pandemic or any health-related situations.Originality/valueThis study is novel as it approaches fake news from a COVID-19 perspective. Very few articles emanate from the developing countries in this area. This was because most of the narrative around fake news previously centered around the Western occurrences such as the Iraqi invasion by the USA, the US presidential elections and BREXIT. COVID-19 has demonstrated that the developing world is not immune from fake news as well. This study, therefore, assessed the management of infodemic associated with COVID-19 in Nigeria.

Research on Regulation of Internet Advertising Platform

As advertisement publishers, Internet advertising platforms are the main media and channels for Internet commercial paid advertisements. Management norms and control mechanisms act are the first barrier in actual governance activities. Interest-oriented Internet platforms have natural defects in the process of regulation. The Internet advertising platform has multiple identities such as participants in the public governance of Internet advertising, rule-makers, discourse system builders, advertising publishers, product development and operators, platform owners, and service providers. Internet advertising platforms need to strengthen their own regulations to improve advertising content review rules, advertising qualification access rules, operations and channel management mechanisms, and also need to strengthen their own self-discipline[1]. At the same time, government regulatory agencies and industry organizations need to strengthen the supervision of the platform, and the society and the media also need to strengthen supervision and participation.

Study on the Compliance Management of the Electricity Market in China Based on the Evolutionary Game Theory

China’s new round of power system reform has further released market vitality, making the power market more open and diversified. Meanwhile, China’s power market faces various risks and challenges incurred by this new reform, which further highlights the importance of the compliance management. However, the study on effective compliance management of China’s power market is missing, and the way to achieving effective compliance management is still unanswered. This paper tries to fill the research gap using the evolutionary game theory. We constructed a tripartite game model to analyze the strategic choices and influencing factors of power generators, compliance departments of the trading centre, and government regulatory agencies. Furthermore, simulation analysis was conducted based on evolutionary stable strategies. The results show that effective compliance management can be achieved without government supervision if the market mechanism is properly designed. In addition, the costs and profits of market participants and regulators are important factors influencing the effectiveness of compliance management. Our findings may arouse inspiration for the policy makers to construct an effective compliance management system.

Construction companies’ compliance to personal protective equipment on junior staff in Nigeria: issues and solutions

PurposeThe frequent occurrence of hazards, especially on junior staff in developing countries, is a major setback on project delivery. This is because the safety of the construction workers' environment influences their performance. Although a range of literature has addressed safety measures on construction sites, how far is their compliance with personal protective equipment (PPE) on junior staff is yet to receive in-depth studies in Nigeria. Therefore, this study investigated the level of Nigerian construction companies' compliance and proffered possible solutions that intend to improve the implementation of PPE on junior staff.Design/methodology/approachThe data were collected via observation and face-to-face interviews among the selected companies' staff in Lagos and Abuja. The interview is to determine their perceptions regarding compliance with PPE on construction sites.FindingsFindings show that compliance with PPE on junior staff, especially the indigenous construction companies, is poor. This is because monitoring and enforcement are lax by government regulatory agencies. Also, findings show that many international construction companies ensure that junior workers obey site safety measures those mitigate the chance of hazard occurrence during construction as a policy.Research limitations/implicationsThis paper data collection is limited to Abuja and Lagos, and a phenomenology type of qualitative research was employed, but this does not weaken the robustness. Future research is needed to consider adopting a mixed-methods approach.Practical implicationsAs part of this paper's implications, findings recommended that the construction company's safety regulations and policies should be robust and enriched to mitigate site-related hazards via a framework or mechanism, but the government agencies/ministries need to give the enabling direction, strict monitoring and enforcement of PPE on junior staff. This paper intends to stir up the appropriate government authorities for possibly passing the Labour, Safety, Health and Welfare Bill 2012 (updated in 2016) Act into law.Originality/valueThis study demonstrates that the government agencies concern with approval and enforcement of construction site safety needs to reawaken to their responsibilities because of the lax implementation in many sites, especially in indigenous construction sites.

Global evaluation of the use of glycaemic impact measurements to food or nutrient intake.

Measures of glycaemic impact (e.g. postprandial glucose (PPG), oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT) and glycaemic index (GI)) are used by government health and regulatory agencies and public health associations around the world. The objective of this global review was to identify similarities and differences in the use of glycaemic impact measures for potential considerations for harmonisation. A literature and internet search was conducted to identify country government agencies and health associations that provide guidance or recommendations for PPG, OGTT, GI and glycaemic load. Based on this global review, the use of GI for food labelling (e.g. low GI) is limited and its use is voluntary. The application of OGTT as a diagnostic measurement of diabetes and gestational diabetes is widely used and in a consistent manner among the different regions of the world. Time-specific (e.g. 2 h) PPG is commonly used as a target not to exceed in individuals with diabetes and gestational diabetes. PPG is used by regulatory agencies for the substantiation of food labelling. There are differences, however, among regulatory agencies in the specific measure of PPG (i.e. PPG AUC v. peak PPG). Maximum targets for 2-h PPG for individuals with diabetes and gestational diabetes, ranging between 6 and 10 mmol/l, across countries suggest a potential consideration to harmonise PPG targets. There is general consistency in the use and/or target levels of glycaemic impact measures; however, there is a potential need to investigate harmonisation strategies on certain aspects of glycaemic impact measures.

Technologies and Applications Toward Preservation of Cells in a Dry State for Therapies.

Cell-based therapeutics promise to transform the treatment of a wide range of diseases, many of which, up to this point, are incurable. During the past decade, an increasing number of cell therapies have been approved by government regulatory agencies in the United States, Europe, and Japan. Thousands of clinical trials based on live cell therapies are now taking place around the world. But most of these live cell therapies face temporal and/or spatial distances between manufacture and administration, posing a risk of degradation in potency. Cryopreservation has become the predominant biobanking approach to maintain the product's safety and efficacy during transportation and storage. However, the necessity of cryogenic shipment and storage could limit patient access to these emerging therapies and increase the costs of logistics. In the (bio)pharmaceutical industries, freeze-drying and desiccation are established preservation procedures for manufacturing small molecule drugs, liposomes, and monoclonal antibodies. Over the past two decades, there has been a growing body of research exploring the freeze-drying or drying of mammalian cells, with varying degrees of success. This article provides an overview of the technologies that were adopted or developed in these pioneering studies, paving the road toward the preservation of cell-based therapeutics in a dry state for biomanufacturing.

Anesthetic Neurotoxicity in Children

The clinical pediatric anesthesiology community has been greatly affected by a growing body of research suggesting that sedative drugs and anesthetic agents may have long lasting detrimental neurocognitive effects in children. Various animal models have indicated apoptotic brain cell death and neurocognitive impairment following anesthetic exposure in early life. Although these studies cannot be directly extrapolated to anesthesia in children, parents and governmental regulatory agencies have been paying attention nonetheless. Adding to the evidence are a number of human epidemiologic studies that have documented neurologic deficits and cognitive decline following early anesthetic exposure. 1-4 Clinical studies in children exposed to general anesthesia have assessed outcome measures including academic performance or school readiness, validated neuropsychologic testing, and educational interventions for neurodevelopmental or behavioral problems.

The impact of e-commerce platform merchants’ reputation on consumer decision making

By crawling Meituan take-out merchant data, this paper studies the influence of e-commerce platform merchants’ reputation on consumer decision making. The empirical results show that the merchant reputation based on the overall score of merchants has a significant impact on consumers’ purchase decision and then affects the monthly sales volume of merchants. At the same time, brand merchants have higher monthly sales than ordinary merchants, and a series of food safety guarantee measures such as food safety insurance purchase and food material publicity also significantly affect monthly sales. In addition, the overall score of platform merchants has a marginal diminishing effect on monthly sales. Based on the empirical research conclusions, this paper also puts forward relevant countermeasures and suggestions for Meituan platform merchants and government regulatory authorities.

Land Tenure and Its Influence on Agriculture in Artisanal Gold-Mining Zones of Sikasso Region, Mali

Land tenure is a major determinant of the types of land use in a region or area and, by extension, affects its conservation. Most of the land that falls under public or communal land-tenure systems in developing countries such as Mali faces numerous challenges among them being natural resource overexploitation. This is mainly because the land is openly accessible to all people around it, and thus the tendency to overexploit the land resources leading to degradation, and food and environmental insecurity. In Mali, land ownership falls under three categories: Public or Government, Communal and Private. This study was undertaken to assess the land ownership types in Yanfolia District, Mali, a gold-mining area that lies some 170 km southern east of capital district of Bamako and upstream of Selingué dam on Sankarini River. A social survey of 200 households was done using a structured questionnaire. Additional research instruments were focus group discussion, key informant interviews and observation check-lists. The data was analyzed using both descriptive and inferential statistics. The study findings indicated that most of the land under gold-mining was owned by the government followed by community and finally private. There were significant associations between size of land under gold-mining and land tenure types: communal land (χ2 = 30.52; p = 0.000); private land (χ2 = 65.09; p = 0.000) and public or government land (χ2 = 177; p = 0.000). Gold-mining takes place mostly on lands classified under public/government and communal compared to that which takes place on lands classified as private. It is recommended that the relevant Malian governmental regulatory and enforcement agencies implement and enforce existing environmental laws with respect to land and environment. These agencies should adopt participatory and sustainable approaches to land and natural resources management for improved food and environmental security.

Financial inclusion Growth in Haryana

The present study was undertaken to develop a composite index (Index of Financial inclusion) that shows a general overview of Haryana and ranks different districts of Haryana based on this index. The Wroclaw Taxonomic method was used to construct the financial inclusion index as it addresses assumptions regarding various developmental indicators themselves and their weighting. A further comparison was made between the financial inclusion index for 2010 and 2018 to examine growth over the last decade. The findings showed that financial inclusion in Haryana moved up to firm from above average. However, the state was still finding it difficult to attain its key financial inclusion indicators. The study also found a higher disparity between high and low categories of the stage of development. Only two districts, Gurugram and Panchkula, have higher financial inclusion in all districts of Haryana. Government and other regulatory authorities should expand the network of bank branches and ATMs, especially in rural areas, to have easy access and availability of bank services.

Do industries influence government regulatory agencies?

Do industries influence government regulatory agencies?

The Effect of Sponsorship Disclosure in YouTube Product Reviews

Facing the rising trend of sponsored product reviews posted on social media, government regulatory agencies have published industry guidelines requiring disclosure of sponsorship in social media product reviews. However, research about the effects of online product review sponsorship disclosures, especially in the social media context, is still limited. To address this problem, the current study tested the effects of sponsorship disclosure in YouTube product reviews on consumers’ persuasion knowledge and attitudinal responses to the product, brand, and the reviewer. Persuasion Knowledge Model and expectancy violations theory were applied to form the theoretical foundation for the study hypotheses. Results from an online experiment revealed: (1) sponsorship disclosure increased consumers’ perceived persuasive intent and appropriateness of a sponsored product review but not their perceived effectiveness of the content; (2) sponsorship disclosure had no significant effect on viewers’ attitudes toward the reviewed product, brand, or the reviewer; and (3) viewers’ expectancy moderated the effects of sponsorship disclosure on persuasion knowledge. Implications of the study findings and limitations and suggestions for future research are discussed.

Value of Mass Media in Food Safety Information Disclosure from the Perspective of Big Data

The advent of big data infrastructure has promoted the development of media forms and content. Food safety information disclosure (FSID) is an effective solution to regulate food safety issues. The mass media, government regulatory agencies, and food companies jointly participate in the disclosure of food safety information. Due to social responsibilities and common interests, a tripartite game relationship is formed. After an evolutionary game model was established with China as an example, the mass media’s participation in food safety information disclosure can affect the public’s decision-making, and true disclosure can promote the process and effectiveness; however, false disclosure will have adverse effects on all three parties. The application of big data technology doubles the positive and negative effects. Therefore, the government needs to strengthen the supervision of the mass media’s participation, and food companies need to actively provide correct disclosure information. The media should strengthen their management and use big data rationally, formulate corresponding disclosure strategies, and coordinate the three parties to promote food safety information disclosure.

Strategies and Approaches of Companies in Portugal and Spain in Complying with the REACH Regulation

The implementation of the Registration, Evaluation, Authorization, and Restriction of Chemicals (REACH) regulation had been viewed to be the most ambitious chemicals legislation in the world and had placed a great challenge among the European Union (EU) member states. While government regulatory agencies were focused on how they can successfully implement and enforce the legislation, the industries’ concern was to guarantee the compliance with the regulation. Despite the progress, implementation of the regulation still experienced significant problems in the quality of the information provided by companies in their registration dossiers. Given that the success of the REACH process depended primarily on the adequate and reliable information supplied by industries, there was a need to document and manage the knowledge gained and generated since its implementation. Data from survey questionnaires revealed that major issues and concerns identified by industries consisted of communication problems among participants in the implementation of the Substance Information Exchange Forum (SIEF), failure to reach an agreement on the sharing of existing data, testing cost and lack of response from suppliers in the use of substance and correction of errors in the safety data sheet. To address these issues and concerns, the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) implemented the SIEF for EU-based chemical industries to form consortiums and jointly carry out registration and dossier submission. Participants identified SIEF as the best practice enabling companies to complete their registration and dossier submission, as well as the most efficient method in complying with REACH regulation.

不确定性事件、投资者关注与股市异质特征——以COVID-19概念股为例

适应性市场假说试图将有效市场假说和行为经济学两大思想流派融为一体。在有限关注理论框架下研究不确定性事件概念股的异质特征是适应性市场假说极具现实意义的话题。文章基于开源大数据构建投资者关注的代理变量，研究COVID-19事件的发生及其信息扩散影响COVID-19概念股的异质特征行为。结果显示，COVID-19不确定性事件的发生显著拉低了概念股的收益率，增加了概念股的波动性，影响半衰期分别为0.79天和2.96天。进一步研究发现，投资者对COVID-19事件关注度显著地正向影响了概念股的收益率，但对概念股波动率的影响不显著；投资者市场关注度的宏观经济维度与COVID-19概念股的收益率和波动率均不具有显著关系。但是中观行业维度和微观个体维度关注度的作用是显著的，且均与COVID-19概念股的收益率显著正相关，与波动率显著负相关，主要影响“宅经济”。此外，不确定性事件、投资者关注对各概念股板块的影响具有异质性。文章从不确定性事件概念股视角为适应性市场假说提供了有限关注理论的经验证据，同时亦为股票市场应对突发不确定性事件、维护金融安全以及促进实体经济复苏提供了参考依据。

Interplay between coopetition and institutions: How Japanese airlines enhance bargaining power

Organisations engage in coopetition, the simultaneous pursuit of competitive and cooperative activities, because of various environmental factors. The concept of coopetition continues to gain attention as global competition increases. However, the analysis of the influence of institutional elements on coopetition has been limited. This study bridges this gap. We use a case study to examine the coopetition framework among competing Japanese airlines formed to negotiate with major institutional elements: a monopolistic supplier and a government regulatory authority. First, this study identifies the mechanisms through which institutions promote coopetition. The findings point to coercive isomorphism and external hazard as influential institutional mechanisms; through coercive isomorphism, the shared benefits increase, and the cost of cooperation is reduced; through external hazard, organisations are encouraged to unite, and coopetition is promoted. Second, the study identifies the mechanisms through which organisations in coopetition enhance their bargaining power. Specifically, we find two sources of enhanced bargaining power: intensified pressure as a larger group and improved persuasiveness with consensus. These findings have important implications for the theory and management of co-operative organisations, such as for the interaction between co-operatives and institutions, since the coopetition framework we analysed has characteristics close to the values and principles of co-operatives.

Design and development of quality traceability system for circulation of Chinese herbal medicine based on blockchain and NB-IOT

The safety of traditional Chinese medicine is an important issue of people's livelihood in China. The traceability process on the quality of traditional Chinese medicine is characterized by long duration, many links, and complex circulation process of traditional Chinese medicine, so the establishment and improvement of traceability system is key to the modernized development of traditional Chinese medicine. The circulation traceability system of Chinese medicinal materials, as an important part of traceability system for Chinese traditional medicine, is built according to the GSP standard by using the block chain technology to ensure the security of information circulation and the low energy consumption of NB-IOT technology, build a safe and reliable system with wide coverage and low cost technology, and provide safe and reliable technical support for the data collection and transmission. The Internet and cloud platform are used to collect, fill in and review the information in the circulation process of medicinal materials in real time. The third-party real-time validation is carried out by relying on the matter-linked sensing equipment to improve the accuracy of source information. The big data are fully used to build a portrait of integrity, crack down on counterfeit products, and maintain the brand image of authentic medicinal materials. System objects include medicinal materials distributors, government regulatory agencies and consumers, etc. By controlling each link of the drug circulation at different levels, the system strictly complies with the supply standard of traditional Chinese medicine, so as to form the information loop of the drug circulation and realize the whole-process supervision of the drug circulation. The system has user-friendly operation interface, comprehensive functions, simple and easy to use, with good portability and expansibility, which can promote all the people to participate in tracing the source, so as to develop a green and ecological chain for Chinese medicinal materials.

Cutaneous Radiation Injuries: Models, Assessment and Treatments.

Many cases of human exposures to high-dose radiation have been documented, including individuals exposed during the detonation of atomic bombs in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, nuclear power plant disasters (e.g., Chernobyl), as well as industrial and medical accidents. For many of these exposures, injuries to the skin have been present and have played a significant role in the progression of the injuries and survivability from the radiation exposure. There are also instances of radiation-induced skin complications in routine clinical radiotherapy and radiation diagnostic imaging procedures. In response to the threat of a radiological or nuclear mass casualty incident, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services tasked the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) with identifying and funding early- to mid-stage medical countermeasure (MCM) development to treat radiation-induced injuries, including those to the skin. To appropriately assess the severity of radiation-induced skin injuries and determine efficacy of different approaches to mitigate/treat them, it is necessary to develop animal models that appropriately simulate what is seen in humans who have been exposed. In addition, it is important to understand the techniques that are used in other clinical indications (e.g., thermal burns, diabetic ulcers, etc.) to accurately assess the extent of skin injury and progression of healing. For these reasons, the NIAID partnered with two other U.S. Government funding and regulatory agencies, the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), to identify state-of-the-art methods in assessment of skin injuries, explore animal models to better understand radiation-induced cutaneous damage and investigate treatment approaches. A two-day workshop was convened in May 2019 highlighting talks from 28 subject matter experts across five scientific sessions. This report provides an overview of information that was presented and the subsequent guided discussions.

Cutaneous Radiation Injuries: Models, Assessment and Treatments.

Many cases of human exposures to high-dose radiation have been documented, including individuals exposed during the detonation of atomic bombs in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, nuclear power plant disasters (e.g., Chernobyl), as well as industrial and medical accidents. For many of these exposures, injuries to the skin have been present and have played a significant role in the progression of the injuries and survivability from the radiation exposure. There are also instances of radiation-induced skin complications in routine clinical radiotherapy and radiation diagnostic imaging procedures. In response to the threat of a radiological or nuclear mass casualty incident, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services tasked the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) with identifying and funding early- to mid-stage medical countermeasure (MCM) development to treat radiation-induced injuries, including those to the skin. To appropriately assess the severity of radiation-induced skin injuries and determine efficacy of different approaches to mitigate/treat them, it is necessary to develop animal models that appropriately simulate what is seen in humans who have been exposed. In addition, it is important to understand the techniques that are used in other clinical indications (e.g., thermal burns, diabetic ulcers, etc.) to accurately assess the extent of skin injury and progression of healing. For these reasons, the NIAID partnered with two other U.S. Government funding and regulatory agencies, the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), to identify state-of-the-art methods in assessment of skin injuries, explore animal models to better understand radiation-induced cutaneous damage and investigate treatment approaches. A two-day workshop was convened in May 2019 highlighting talks from 28 subject matter experts across five scientific sessions. This report provides an overview of information that was presented and the subsequent guided discussions.