Influence Of Industry Research Articles

Analyzing the Diversity and Impacting Factors of Smoke-Free Legislation and Implementation in Mainland China: A Case Qualitative Research.

Since the ratification of the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control in 2005, mainland China has experienced notable delays in implementing the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control. This study aims to examine the legislation and implementation of smoke-free laws in different cities in mainland China, with a particular focus on identifying factors that contribute to these differences. Through a literature review and policy mapping, we gathered information on the variations in smoke-free laws' legislation and implementation across mainland China. To delve deeper into the local specifics of implementation and the factors contributing to these variations, qualitative interviews were conducted with 16 key stakeholders in two selected cities. This group included former policy makers, policy experts, enforcement officers, and public venue owners. Although the revision of Healthy Cities standards advocates for the enactment of smoking bans post-2021, less than half of these cities have implemented comprehensive smoke-free laws. This phenomenon can be partly attributed to the tobacco industry's significant influence in the legislative process and to policy makers' limited understanding of smoking rooms/areas being temporary measures without setting clear end dates for transition periods. We also identified inconsistent implementation across selected cities, attributed to inadequate coordination and workforce shortages. Our study reveals significant variations and delays in the adoption of smoke-free laws across different cities in mainland China. We identify key factors contributing to this disparity, underscoring the urgent need for targeted measures to address these challenges, such as setting up a coordinated department and promoting policy advocacy. This study reveals geographical disparities in the legislative progress and enforcement effectiveness of smoke-free laws in mainland China. Persistent interference from the tobacco industry has obstructed the establishment of comprehensive smoke-free laws. Additionally, policy makers' limited awareness of the harm caused by designated smoking areas, regional economic disparities, and inadequate interdepartmental coordination have impeded effective policy implementation. These findings underscore the urgent need to set enforcement goals aligned with local economic contexts and strengthen policy dialogue to empower policy makers and stakeholders to mitigate tobacco industry influence and achieve successful implementation.

Physician's prescription and pharmaceutical industry's influence - where have the ethics gone?

The relationship between physicians and the pharmaceutical industry has evolved significantly over the years, raising concerns about ethical practices in medical prescribing. This article explores the multifaceted influence of pharmaceutical companies on physician behaviour, highlighting how marketing strategies, financial incentives, and promotional activities can compromise the integrity of clinical decision-making. Through a comprehensive review of the literature, the article examines the implications of inculcating ethics in undergraduate medical programmes, so future healthcare professionals understand the importance of making evidence-based decisions. Furthermore, this article calls for a critical evaluation of existing regulatory frameworks and advocates for stronger ethical guidelines to ensure that physician prescriptions are based solely on patient needs rather than external pressures from the pharmaceutical industry. Ultimately, it emphasizes the importance of restoring ethical standards in medicine to safeguard patient welfare and maintain the sanctity of the physician-patient relationship. Keywords: Physician’s prescription, pharmaceutical industry, Ethics.

A Systematic Review to Explore the Role of Industry and Regulators on Minimally Invasive Aesthetics Education: A Tale of Two Cities.

The aesthetic medicine industry has seen significant growth due to technological advancements and increasing demand for minimally invasive procedures. This sector's influence on educational institutions is profound, often shaping curricula to align with industry standards. However, this focus can sometimes narrow educational scope, potentially compromising the broader intellectual and ethical development of medical professionals. This study employs a comprehensive literature review to examine the influence of the aesthetic medicine industry on medical education. A systematic search was conducted across academic databases including PubMed, Google Scholar, and ScienceDirect, focusing on articles published between January 2003 and December 2023. Inclusion criteria encompassed studies examining the impact of industry on medical education, financial relationships, ethical implications, and student outcomes. Out of 279 studies identified, 21 met the inclusion criteria. The analysis highlighted themes such as the need for a balanced curriculum integrating both theoretical and practical training, the impact of financial incentives on educational integrity, and the importance of ethical guidelines. The literature underscores the necessity for standardised curricula and enhanced regulatory oversight to ensure comprehensive and unbiased education. The aesthetic medicine industry's significant influence on medical education necessitates a balanced approach that integrates industry advancements with ethical and comprehensive educational practices. Addressing these challenges requires collaboration between academic institutions and industry partners, alongside stringent regulatory oversight. By ensuring educational integrity and fostering holistic training, the field can produce well-rounded professionals capable of ethical and effective practice in aesthetic medicine. This journal requires that authors assign a level of evidence to each article. For a full description of these Evidence-Based Medicine ratings, please refer to the Table of Contents or the online Instructions to Authors www.springer.com/00266 .

New image, same tactics: global tobacco and vaping industry strategies to promote youth vaping.

E-cigarette use (or vaping) is widespread in young people and is a rapidly growing public health problem. While the tobacco and vaping industry has promoted vaping as a smoking cessation aid for adults, the industry has strategically targeted young people through marketing and appealing designs to orientate a new generation of consumers to use their products. These strategies are not new and replicate what we have previously seen employed by the tobacco industry in past decades to maintain and grow their tobacco profits. We review the evidence on tobacco and vaping industry interference, highlighting the calculated and strategic use of interference tactics as a discourse to curb tobacco control efforts. We demonstrate how these tried and tested strategies are now being purposefully re-used in the context of vaping. As Australia is currently undergoing significant policy reforms for the access and retail of vaping products, we also provide a case study of the industry response played out in this contemporary landscape. Government and public health advocates are in a key position to be one step ahead in proactively tackling the vaping crisis. We recommend that continued monitoring of industry activities and strategies, achieving political transparency and tightening loopholes in current regulations are all needed to identify and eliminate the tobacco and vaping industry's influence on policymaking. Given their previous track record, we emphasize the need to counter industry interference tactics with urgency to prevent a new generation of nicotine dependence and to support and protect future action in tobacco control.

Is India on a path to reduce the tobacco industry's influence in tobacco control? Insights from the Global Tobacco Industry Interference Index (2019-2023).

The tobacco industry (TI), driven by profit motives, consistently conceals health risks through deceptive strategies, notably in countries like India. These tactics create vulnerabilities that hinder effective tobacco control measures and enable the TI to exploit legal gaps. Understanding these TI strategies is essential for policymakers to take appropriate preventive and corrective measures in order to limit tobacco industry interference (TII) in policy-making. The study aims at understanding the trend of TII in India between 2019 and 2023. The secondary data from the Global Tobacco Industry Interference report, consisting of seven major domains of the TII index, viz. policy participation, corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities, industry benefits, unnecessary interaction, transparency, conflict of interest, and preventive measures, were retrieved. A composite score was obtained after adding scores of different domains, for each year. The findings of the study demonstrated an initial improvement in India's implementation of WHO FCTC Article 5.3, as evidenced by a decreasing score between 2019 and 2021. However, this trend halted in 2023, with data showing a slight increase in the score. When compared with other Asian countries, India shows marginal improvement in score than Cambodia, China, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Myanmar, Nepal, Philippines, Thailand, and South Korea. Some of the countries in the region, including India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Brunei, China, and Vietnam experienced a decline in TII. There has been a rise in CSR activities, forms of unnecessary interactions of TII with policymakers, and participation in policy development; however, improvements are observed in providing benefits to the TI, conflict of interest, and preventive measures. In order to fortify the regulatory framework, it is imperative to create awareness among stakeholders on conflict of interest, denormalize corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives by the TI, provision of a watchdog for TII in the country and "whole of government" approach in implementation of FCTC Article 5.3.

Ultra-Processed Food Intake and Increased Risk of Obesity: A Narrative Review.

The prevalence of obesity has become a global health concern, with significant impacts on quality of life and mortality rates. Recent research has highlighted the role of ultra-processed foods (UPFs) in driving the obesity epidemic. UPFs undergo extensive processing, often containing high levels of sugars, fats, and additives, while lacking essential nutrients. Studies have linked UPF consumption to obesity and cardiometabolic diseases, underscoring the importance of dietary patterns rich in whole foods. Thus, the aim of this narrative review is to elucidate the correlation between ultra-processed foods and the increased trend of obesity and its related complications. These foods, prevalent in modern diets, contribute to nutritional deficiencies and excessive caloric intake, exacerbating obesity rates. Lifestyle factors such as busy schedules and quick meal management further drive UPF consumption, disrupting hunger regulation and promoting overeating. UPF consumption correlates with adverse health outcomes, including dyslipidemia, hypertension, and insulin resistance. Promoting whole, minimally processed foods and implementing school-based nutrition education programs are crucial steps. Also, numerous challenges exist, including unequal access to healthy foods, the industry's influence, and behavioral barriers to dietary change. Future research should explore innovative approaches, such as nutrigenomics and digital health technologies, to personalize interventions and evaluate policy effectiveness. Collaboration across disciplines and sectors will be vital to develop comprehensive solutions and improve public health outcomes globally.

The Limits to Food and Beverage Industry Influence over Fiscal and Regulatory Policy in Latin America.

Little is known about the political, institutional, and social contexts contributing to a decline in food and beverage industry power and influence over fiscal (soda taxes) and regulatory (sales/advertising restrictions and food labels) policy. This article addresses this issue by exploring why Mexico and Chile eventually saw such a decline in the food and beverage industry's influence whereas Brazil was not as successful. I argue that in Mexico and Chile, these outcomes are explained by shifts in presidential, congressional, and bureaucratic interests in pursuing policies that went against industry preferences. This article took a qualitative methodological approach to comparative historical research. Policymakers' interest in pursuing stronger food and beverage regulations were shaped by economic and public health concerns, new electoral contexts, epidemiological information, and normative beliefs. In Mexico, the infiltration of nutrition researchers within government facilitated this process. In contrast, Brazil's government was divided about pursuing regulatory policies, with presidents favoring partnerships with industry to implement a popular anti-hunger program; industry's power endured there with limited progress in policy reforms. Governments can eventually overcome industry power and policy influence, but it depends on a whole government commitment to reform.

The Influence of Halal Industry on Increasing Economic Growth in Islamic Countries

<p><em>This</em><em> study aims to analyze the halal industry's influence on economic growth in Islamic countries. The research gap in this study is that previous studies have indicated a diverse influence of halal industry variables on economic growth. Therefore, this study aims to provide a deeper understanding of the role of the halal industry in enhancing economic growth in Islamic countries. This study is quantitative research using secondary data categorized as panel data. The data consist of annual figures on Islamic Finance, Halal Food, Halal Travel, Halal Fashion, Halal Media and Recreation, and Economic Growth from 2014 to 2020 in 10 Islamic countries, obtained from the State of the Global Islamic Economy (SGIE) Report and the World Bank. The data analysis technique used is Panel VECM.</em> <em>The study results show that only the Islamic Finance variable positively affects economic growth in the short term. In contrast, the other variables show no effect or a negative effect on economic growth.</em></p><p><em> </em></p>

Attitudes and Exposure to Illicit Tobacco in England, 2022.

The United Kingdom has achieved reductions in illicit tobacco (IT) market size and share. However, there remains a 17.7% tobacco duty gap, contributing to health inequalities. In January 2024, the UK government announced a new strategy to control IT, along with provision of new funding. A representative cross-sectional survey of adults in England ran in April 2022 to evaluate attitudes and exposure to IT. Tobacco smokers were asked questions about encounters with IT, while all participants answered questions on knowledge and perspectives on IT. Of 262 tobacco smokers, 18.3% (95% CI 13.8% to 23.6%) had come across IT in the past year. Men had four times the odds of encountering IT recently than women. Among 1767 adults responding to questions on IT, two-thirds agreed IT harmed children, and more than half agreed IT was linked to organized crime. Younger adults, smokers, and those in lower socioeconomic groups were less likely to agree IT was harmful. Exposure to IT, especially among younger males, remains a concern. While most of the public acknowledge its harm, this is not universal, and some population groups are less likely to do so. The study highlights persistent exposure to IT in England, especially among younger males, and varying perceptions of IT harm across socioeconomic groups. Tackling IT requires collaboration between health and enforcement agencies, independent of the tobacco industry's influence. Strategies should include components that shift demand for IT and denormalize its presence in communities, particularly in lower socioeconomic areas with higher smoking prevalence.

The Freight and Logistics Industry's Influence on Economic Growth: The Bangladesh Perspective

The Freight and Logistics Industry's Influence on Economic Growth: The Bangladesh Perspective

Central Industries in the Ecuadorian Input–Output Network. An Application of Social Network Analysis

The present study identifies the most influential industries in Ecuador according to the Input–Output Table for 2019. For this purpose, four weighted centrality indices are used from Social Network Analysis: Degree Centrality, Closeness Centrality, Betweenness Centrality, and Alpha Centrality. The results suggest that wholesale and retail trade, transportation, and professional activities are the most influential in the Ecuadorian economy due to their high centrality in commercial relationships. According to Chenery and Watanabe's methodology, all are base sectors, that is, they mainly are supply-driven. So, these centrality measures highlight the relevance of sectors based on their forward linkages. This result is not surprising. The theory of shock diffusion suggests that productive shocks on high centrality sectors can spread cascading effects downstream and generate aggregate fluctuations.

National Cultural Connotation in Japanese Anime --Taking Detective Conan as an Example

Japanese animation enjoys a high international reputation, and the animation industry is one of the most influential industries in Japan. It not only entertains the public, but also spreads Japanese national cultural values. Among them, Detective Conan has been broadcasted continuously for more than 20 years and is one of the most influential phenomenal anime works in Japan. Culture is the root and soul of a country, which can unite social consensus and enhance the sense of national identity. One of the major reasons for the great success of Detective Conan is its close integration with Japanese national culture. This paper takes Detective Conan as an example, selects the case of combining the anime plot with Japanese national culture, and analyses the mapping of Japanese animation on Japanese national culture. It helps to improve the knowledge of Japanese culture, and also provides a direction for the development of Chinas animation industry.

Artificial Intelligence in Acoustics of Library Functioning in Ukraine

The purpose of the study is to outline achievements, prospects for transformation and identify obstacles to the implementation of systems, elements of artificial intelligence (AI) and the algorithm for overcoming them in national library and information institutions. Research methodology: the principles of systematicity, generalisation, objectivity, and general methods of scientific research – analysis, synthesis, comparison, analytical monitoring of AI elements in libraries of the country – are applied. The scientific novelty of the work is to highlight, with an emphasis on key aspects, the obstacles to the addition of AI intellectual resources to the work of libraries in the realities of today. Conclusions. The article reflects the developments, main areas of use and reasons for limiting the intensive integration of AI systems and elements into library practice. Features of the application of AI components, practical potential of ultra-high-frequency technologies in national libraries. The above-mentioned practice in libraries is especially relevant during martial law and the times of profound changes. It will facilitate public access to information and self-education; access to advanced technological developments; allow further steps in the formation of a new digitalisation focus of libraries and modification of library activities; thoroughly form an approach to the vectors of the industry's influence on society; innovations in the model of library-user relations, taking into account civilisation challenges. The studied trends in the addition of intelligent systems and elements of artificial intelligence will contribute to the voluntarisation of technological proposals in library and information institutions. As a result of the study, the issue of compatibility of adding intellectual components to the work of the library industry with the realities of the country and the corresponding algorithm of actions for the long-term is considered. Key words: library, systems and elements of artificial intelligence, innovative technologies, transformation of intellectual resources, challenges of AI implementation in library practice.

Modeling the local geography of country music concerts in U.S. urban areas: insights from big data analysis of live music events

Music cities leverage live music as a tool for urban revitalization. Identifying influential industries in U.S. urban areas that have shaped the country music landscape can provide valuable insights into the role of the music industry in urban development. The ‘big data’ of country music concerts obtained from Spotify were examined to discern the relative importance of food and transportation services in explaining the spatial distribution of country music concerts from 2009 to 2019. Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) and Geographically Weighted Regression (GWR) analyses show that both food and transportation services have a positive relationship with country music concerts. The analysis also reveals that the majority of country music concerts occurred in urbanized areas. Although country music has successfully spread throughout the entire country, there are distinctive regional clusters in large cities such as Nashville, Dallas, New York City, and Austin. The result also indicates the strength of GWR in improving and sustaining the explanatory power of models. The GWR was implemented to execute four models separately considering different explanatory variables and a comparative analysis of the model performance then suggested that food service appears to perform best, whilst bus service performs better than train service and air service. These findings highlight the roles of food and transportation service facilities that have made country music — a form of Southern culture visible in the urban landscape. This study encourages music cities to harness the potential of big data's power to foster vibrant industrial ecosystems in urban environments.

IoT-based entrepreneurial opportunities in smart transportation: a multidimensional framework

PurposeThe Internet of Things (IoT), as one of the new digital technologies, has created wide applications in various industries, and one of the most influential industries of this technology is the transportation industry. By integrating the IoT with the transportation industry, there will be dramatic changes in the industry, and it will provide many entrepreneurial opportunities for entrepreneurs to develop new businesses. Opportunity identification is at the heart of the entrepreneurial process, and entrepreneurs identify innovative goods or services to enter a new market by identifying, evaluating, and exploiting opportunities. Despite the desire of transportation managers to invest in the IoT and the increase in research in this area, limited research has focused on IoT-based entrepreneurial opportunities in the transportation industry. Therefore, the present study aims to identify IoT-based entrepreneurial opportunities in the transportation industry and examine their importance.Design/methodology/approachTo achieve the research objective, the authors applied a mixed approach. First, adapting the lens of the industry value chain theory, a comprehensive literature review, besides a qualitative approach including semi-structured interviews with experts and thematic analysis, was conducted to identify the entrepreneurial opportunities. The identified opportunities were confirmed in the second stage using a quantitative survey method, including the Student t-test and factor analysis. Finally, the identified opportunities were weighted and ranked using the best worst method (BWM).FindingsEntrepreneurial opportunities are classified into five main categories, including “smart vehicles”, “business partners/smart transportation supply side”, “supporting services”, “infrastructures”, and “smart transport management and control”. The infrastructures group of opportunities ranked the highest amongst the identified groups.Originality/valueThis study adds to the digital entrepreneurship opportunity recognition literature by addressing opportunities in a smart industry propelled by digital technologies, including developing new products or new applications of the available technologies. Additionally, inspired by the industry value chain theory, this article develops a framework including various digital entrepreneurial opportunity networks which are necessary to add value to any industry and, thus, could be applied by entrepreneurs to recognize opportunities for new intermediaries to enter other digital-based industries. Finally, the present study identifies the IoT-based entrepreneurial opportunities in the smart transportation industry and prioritizes them, providing practical insights regarding the creation of entrepreneurial ecosystems in the field of smart transportation for entrepreneurs and policymakers.

Green financing and renewable resources for China's sustainable growth: Assessing macroeconomic industry impact

How green finance and renewable resource efficiency support China's sustainable development goals. China prioritizes sustainable development due to its fast growth and environmental issues. This research explores how green finance and renewable resource efficiency affect China's sustainable development goals. Economic and environmental changes from 1988 through 2020 are analyzed. A linear regression model assesses the macroeconomic industry's influence on China's sustainable development. The model analyzes how green technology investments, renewable energy use, and environmental legislation affect China's sustainable economic trajectory. China's sustainable development ambitions depend on green financing and renewable resource efficiency. Green technology investments are linked to sustainable economic growth. Wind and solar energy use also support China's long-term sustainable economic development. This research highlights the relevance of green finance and renewable resource efficiency in China's sustainable development goals. According to the study, environmental concerns in economic policies and practices help countries reconcile economic progress with environmental sustainability.

A Comparison of Indonesian and Dutch Generation-Z Preference Shift from Global Fashion Brands to Locals after Covid-19 Pandemic

The covid-19 pandemic which outbroke four years ago has shifted how people live, work, and shop. Governments restrictions have made people develop new habits that can be done from home. Fashion industry as one of the most influential industries in Indonesia, as well as something that was always being traded offline, becomes one of the impacted areas. The less bodily experience of fashion online shopping and more cost-conscious consumers made this industry experienced a dip especially in 2019 and 2020. However, preliminary findings suggest that this condition benefits local fashion businesses which have been operating online since before this problem emerged. Therefore, this study is conducted to investigate the post-covid-19 pandemic preferences of generation-Z consumers regarding local and global fashion brands, focusing on a cross-cultural comparison between Indonesia and the Netherlands. The research aims to understand the factors influencing Generation-Z’s fashion brand preferences and explore potential differences between the two countries. This study is done using quantitative method with online questionnaires tool distributed to a sample of generation-Z consumers from two universities in Indonesia and Netherlands. Then, the data is processed using partial least square-structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM). Results show that generation-Z of both countries prefer local fashion brands compared to global ones. The difference between the two countries is Indonesian participants emphasize the importance of brands interactivity, while the impact of it to Dutch participants is less significant. The study’s implications highlight the evolving Generation-Z consumer behavior after the pandemic especially the shift of preference to local fashion brands. Understanding these preferences can assist fashion business owners and marketing teams in tailoring their strategies to cater the current needs and values of Generation-Z consumers. Furthermore, the cross-cultural comparison sheds light for fashion business owners who are planning to expand their markets to developed countries with similar characteristics as Netherlands.

Nutrition policy reforms to address the double burden of malnutrition in Zambia: A prospective policy analysis.

The evolution of nutrition patterns in Zambia has resulted in the coexistence of undernutrition and overnutrition in the same population, the double burden of malnutrition. While Zambia has strong policies addressing undernutrition and stunting, these do not adequately address food environment drivers of the double burden of malnutrition and the adolescent age group, hence the need for nutrition policy reforms. We conducted a theory-based qualitative prospective policy analysis involving in-depth interviews with nutrition policy stakeholders and policy documents review to examine the feasibility of introducing nutrition policy options that address the double burden of malnutrition among adolescents to identify barriers and facilitators to such policy reforms. Using the multiple streams theory, we categorized the barriers and facilitators to prospective policy reforms into those related to the problem, policy solutions, and politics stream. Using a life course approach in nutrition programming could facilitate policy reforms as adolescence is one of the critical invention points in a person's lifecycle. Another key facilitator of policy reform was the availability of institutional infrastructure that could be leveraged to deliver adolescent-focused policies. However, the lack of evidence on the burden and long-term impacts of adolescent nutrition problems, the food industry's strong influence over governments' policy agenda setting, and the lack of public awareness to demand better nutrition were perceived as critical barriers to policy reforms. In addition, the use of the individual responsibility framing for nutrition problems was dominant among stakeholders. As a result, stakeholders did not perceive legislative nutrition policy options that effectively address food environment drivers of the double burden of malnutrition to be feasible for the Zambian context. Policy entrepreneurs are required to broker policy reforms that will get legislative policy options on the government's agenda as they can help raise public support and re-engineer the framing of nutrition problems and their solutions in Zambia.

Data-Driven Modeling Methods and Techniques for Pharmaceutical Processes

As one of the most influential industries in public health and the global economy, the pharmaceutical industry is facing multiple challenges in drug research, development and manufacturing. With recent developments in artificial intelligence and machine learning, data-driven modeling methods and techniques have enabled fast and accurate modeling for drug molecular design, retrosynthetic analysis, chemical reaction outcome prediction, manufacturing process optimization, and many other aspects in the pharmaceutical industry. This article provides a review of data-driven methods applied in pharmaceutical processes, based on the mathematical and algorithmic principles behind the modeling methods. Different statistical tools, such as multivariate tools, Bayesian inferences, and machine learning approaches, i.e., unsupervised learning, supervised learning (including deep learning) and reinforcement learning, are presented. Various applications in the pharmaceutical processes, as well as the connections from statistics and machine learning methods, are discussed in the narrative procedures of introducing different types of data-driven models. Afterwards, two case studies, including dynamic reaction data modeling and catalyst-kinetics prediction of cross-coupling reactions, are presented to illustrate the power and advantages of different data-driven models. We also discussed current challenges and future perspectives of data-driven modeling methods, emphasizing the integration of data-driven and mechanistic models, as well as multi-scale modeling.

Sustainable Building and Its Comparative Analysis with Conventional Building

Sustainable Building and Its Comparative Analysis with Conventional Building