Institutional Efforts Research Articles

Partnerships for improved food safety: MESPT's engagements in effective pesticides governance and management in selected counties in Kenya

Pesticides continue to receive criticism due to their adverse impacts on the environment and human health, a food safety concern emanating from pesticide residues in food and the occupational pesticide exposure risks on farms. This usage has elicited increased attention from policymakers, consumer organizations, and the private and public sectors, pushing the authorities to strengthen pesticide governance and compliance. For instance, the East Africa Community (EAC) has borrowed heavily from the United States and European Union in revising its pesticide standards, which are currently under adoption among the six member states. The Pest Control Products Board (PCPB) in Kenya is at the frontline in the domestication and adoption of the EAC standards by developing new bills and reviewing regulations guiding pesticide usage. Furthermore, with agriculture being a devolved function, counties have woken up and are exploring avenues for promoting the wise use of pesticides. Counties are leveraging partnerships and multi-stakeholder collaboration to efficiently strengthen the pesticide policy-practice nexus. Micro Enterprises Support Program Trust (MESPT), a development organization in Kenya, is closely partnering with and building the capacity of 21 county governments to improve food safety and increase sustainable agricultural productivity through good agricultural practices (GAP) initiatives. This paper reviews the deliberate programmatic interventions by MESPT in facilitating investments within food safety control systems by key sector players. Furthermore, the paper highlights institutional efforts to strengthen farmer organizations to comply with and adapt sustainable agricultural practices that promote the reduced and safe use of pesticides in production. Through MESPT interventions, County Governments have established a functional food safety coordination mechanism and surveillance system backed by legal infrastructure. Additionally, the private sector has been capacitated on food safety compliance, thus influencing smallholder farmers to meet market standards, especially for formal markets. Across the counties, multi-stakeholder collaborations have been strengthened, fueling timely discussions on pesticide compliance toward improved food safety.

Coping Profiles and Mental Health Outcomes in American University Students: A Latent Profile Analysis.

Research shows that person-centered statistics are useful for identifying coping profiles in adolescents and adults, including college students, where such studies are limited. This study aimed to discern coping profiles among American college students and examine associations with mental health outcomes. Participants completed the Brief COPE inventory, Depression, Anxiety, and Stress scale - 21 items (DASS-21), and a demographics form. Using latent profile analysis, we identified three latent profiles including: disengaged/low, approach, and avoidant copers. Participants assigned to the approach and disengaged/low coper profiles reported lower levels of stress, anxiety, and depression than members of the avoidant coper profile. Interestingly, approach and low copers reported similar levels of stress, anxiety, and depression. The results provide insight into the contribution of coping categories (e.g., problem-focused, avoidant, etc.) to mental health concerns and have the potential to support institutional efforts to improve university students' ability to cope with academic stressors.

Community-Engaged Research Projects in School Settings: Science Teachers’ Practices and Reflections

Community-engaged research (CER) is a justice-oriented research paradigm that emphasizes equitable and reciprocal knowledge co-production with community members and organizations, sharing power, benefits, contributions, and responsibilities among all participants. This study explores nine teachers’ cases of facilitating CER projects in their respective school settings, aimed to support students’ critical consciousness and action for environmental issues and injustices. This study contributes to educational research by adapting an existing framework for CER for environmental justice that can guide K-12 teaching and research on it. By analyzing data from teacher community meetings and individual interviews in the CER framework, this study articulates classroom practices that addressed the Distribution, Procedure, Recognition, and Transformation dimensions of CER, as well as the positive impacts and challenges of these implementations. The findings report teacher practices categorized by the CER dimensions they addressed (the what of the practices) and the instructional strategies they employed (the how of the practices). The findings also compare the frequency of these practices as an indicator of variation in teacher practices and illustrate this variation through three teachers’ CER cases. The findings also document the positive outcomes of CER in student empowerment, as well as the challenges related to time, resources, assessment, and stakeholder skepticism, underscoring the need for systemic support to enhance CER in school settings. The discussion focuses on the implications of these findings and ways to address the identified challenges through future research and institutional efforts.

Youth Violence in Urban Ethiopia: Forms, Risk Factors and Preventive Mechanisms in Hawassa and Shashemene Cities

Youth violence negatively impacts physical, emotional, and social well-being, hindering development, decision-making, learning, and relationships. Holistic and interdisciplinary approaches are needed to mitigate this issue. This research aims to investigate forms, risk factors, and preventive mechanisms of youth violence in Hawassa and Shashemene cities. The research utilized a cross-sectional descriptive design with a mixed-method approach. The study included 400 survey respondents, 16 focus group discussants across two sessions, and 7 in-depth interviewees. As the findings reveal, youth involvement in violence spans from perpetration to victimization. Among the total respondents, 289 self-reported that they have perpetrated various forms of physical, verbal, sexual, economic, and media violence within the past 12 months. The primary reported risk factors for youth violence include attitudes that condone violence (64.25%), insufficient parental control (59%), elevated rates of unemployment (67.25%), and a fragile rule of law (81.25%), which respectively represent the leading factor from the individual, relational, community, and societal risk domains as per the social-ecological model. The findings indicate that institutional and community-based efforts to address and mitigate the issue remain in their early stages. The study areas lack nearly all essential elements of youth violence prevention and intervention programs. The study concludes that youth violence is a more visible issue that affects both society and the youth in the study areas. Without preventive efforts, the highlighted risk factors may further increase the likelihood of youth engagement in violence. Thus, the study recommends the establishment of integrated and inclusive programs and strategies to effectively address the problem such as community awareness campaigns, parental counselling services, school-based interventions, and strengthening the capacity of relevant institutions among others

Behavioral Intentions and Academic Outcomes of Using Social Media in Nepalese Higher Education

The purpose of this study was to close the knowledge gaps about how college students’ use of social media impacts their capacity for cooperation and communication. To gather data, 250 university students were given a questionnaire survey on constructivism theory, technology acceptance model, and communication theory. Even though male students were not entirely satisfied with peer contact for collaborative learning, the behavioral intention results of students to use social media for online communication and collaborative learning reveal a beneficial effect on their academic efforts in higher education institutions. As a result, we need to have urged students to use social media for learning through their instructors at universities. Master’s degree students are less in agreement with the performance improvements made by social media. According to the study, social media and cooperative learning enhance student learning activities and enable them to exchange ideas, information, and expertise.

Institutional efforts and regional distribution of climate-smart agriculture initiatives in Ghana

Mapping climate-smart agriculture (CSA) initiatives enable countries to account for emissions and develop adaptation measures. While discourse on CSA implementation exists, developing countries lack empirical evidence to support intervention design. This study analyzes actor networks and assesses social benefits through a comprehensive review of 153 CSA projects across Ghana's 16 regions from 1971 to 2023. The Northern region hosted the highest concentration (17%) of CSA projects, followed by Upper West, Upper East, Bono, Eastern, and Ashanti regions, primarily focusing on drought adaptation. Crop production emerged as the dominant system (56%), with governmental entities leading 80.4% of initiatives. Regional variations show post-harvest loss reduction as the primary aim in southern regions, while forestry and aquaculture initiatives concentrate in Eastern and Western regions to address flood vulnerability in degraded landscapes. The study reveals spatial and temporal patterns in Ghana's CSA implementation, identifying gaps in coverage and stakeholder participation. These findings provide an evidence base for policymakers to optimize resource allocation, strengthen underserved regions' climate resilience, and align CSA initiatives with national sustainable development goals.

Multi-Label Feature Aware XGBoost Model For Student Performance Assessment Using Behavior Data in Online Learning Environment

In light of recent outbreaks like COVID19, the use of online-based learning streams (i.e., e-Learning systems) has increased significantly. Institutional efforts to boost student achievement have made precise predictions of academic success a priority. To analyze student sessions-streams and anticipate academic success, e-Learning platforms are starting to combine Datamining (DM) with Machine-Learning (ML) techniques. Recent research highlights the difficulties that ML-based methods have while dealing with unbalanced data. In tackling ensemble-learning, we combine several ML algorithms to select the most appropriate approach for the given data. Current ensemble-based approaches for predicting student achievement, nevertheless, don't do exceptionally well, particularly when it comes to multi-label classification, because they don't factor the relevance of features into their approaches. This study presents multi-label feature aware XGBoost (MLFA-XGB) method that improves upon the previously used ensemble-learning technique. The MLFA-XGB makes use of a robust cross-validation approach for gaining a deeper understanding of feature relationships. The experimental results demonstrate that in comparison with the state-of-the-art ensemble-based student achievement predictive approach, this suggested MLFA-XGB based approach provides much higher accuracy for prediction.

Socio-technical challenges and prospects of residential solar PV diffusion in Ghana: Insights from regime and intermediary actors

This study seeks to broaden the understanding of factors influencing the diffusion of residential solar PV in Ghana by examining the socio-technical challenges confronting this sector from the perspective of regime and intermediary actors. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with focal persons at the Energy Commission, Land Use and Spatial Planning Authority (LUSPA), 18 licensed solar home system (SHS) companies, and 15 real estate developers in Accra. The study uncovers compliance and mediation-based interactions between the intermediary and regime actors. Significant regime support for residential solar PV exists through incentives such as capital subsidies, net-metering schemes, and partnerships with financial institutions to provide soft loans for residential solar investments. Nonetheless, policy-regulation incoherence, a sectoral dichotomy between energy and urban planning, fragmented institutional efforts, inadequate access to long-term finance, and limited awareness/technical know-how of SHS emerged as the key challenges to residential solar PV diffusion in Ghana. Resolving these challenges requires synergies between the regime and intermediary actors to enact conducive regulatory frameworks and coordinate the activities of all actors to facilitate residential solar PV uptake in Ghana. The study also posits that the transition from a fossil-dependent regime to a low-carbon one not only requires a re-direction of financial incentives to technological niches but also to user-based intermediaries.

Provisioning food and medicine from public forests in the United States

Forests contribute to the nutritional and medicinal needs of billions of people worldwide. In the United States, the extent and impacts of provisioning forest foods are not fittingly understood. This study seeks to elucidate the scope and scale of forest food harvest. Using publicly available data, hunting surveys and proprietary data from the Wild Harvest Initiative®, we provide estimates of the amount of foods and medicines from wild-harvested flora and fauna, and meat produced from domesticated livestock grazed on public forest lands. The evidence strongly supports the assertion that large volumes of forest-dependent fauna and flora contribute to the health and well-being of a substantial portion of the country's population. Each year, >255 thousand metric tons of forest foods and medicines are harvested across public lands of the United States. Our findings are relevant to the global challenge of providing more nutritional food to a growing population through ecologically sustainable sources. The study provides more clarity to the importance of wild flora and fauna harvesting in the United States. The case of the State of Alaska, which codifies subsistence harvesting in its constitution, exemplifies the potential benefits of recognizing the importance of these natural resources to its residents. Concerted institutional efforts recognizing the importance of forest food and medicines to people and communities would shed more light on these natural resources and could lead to improved land management and food security.

Community Participation Based Education Financing Strategy at TPQ Al Birru Purwokerto Indonesia

This study aims to analyze the strategy of education financing based on community participation and institutional efforts in realizing active community participation. This study is important to do because there are quite a few Al-Qur'an Education Parks that tend to be left behind due to weak financing. Community participation is considered appropriate for strengthening education financing as a form of just democracy which means that the community has the right to get quality education and is also obliged to provide costs. This study is a qualitative descriptive field study involving TPQ administrators, guardians of students, and related parties as informants. The results of this study indicate that active community participation can maintain the stability of education financing at TPQ Al Birru by involving guardians of students, Muslimat pengajian selasaan, cooperative institutions, and mosque administrators. In addition, active community participation cannot be separated from the role of leaders and figures who are able to embrace and educate the community to realize the importance of Al-Qur'an education so that it gives rise to a sense of ownership and responsibility for the sustainability of the institution.

Overcoming Obstacles to Broader Impacts Implementation

Broader Impacts (BI), or the potential for academic research to benefit society, are an important and growing function of higher education. Government agencies and private foundations increasingly expect researchers to clearly articulate BI in addition to intellectual contributions to their fields. In response to these expectations and the University of Notre Dame’s (ND) mission, the Center for Broader Impacts was established in 2022 to simultaneously enhance institutional efforts to support competitive research proposal development and contribute to the overall societal impact of ND by collaborating with faculty, campus units, and external partners to design, implement, and evaluate effective BI opportunities for a wide range of audiences. Drawing from expertise across a variety of faculty and staff practitioners, as well as discussions the authors participated in with seven other diverse universities as members of the Center for Advancing Research Impact in Society’s (ARIS) Program to Enhance Organizational Research Infrastructure Capacity (ORIC) Cohort 5 training sessions, this article helps inform BI practitioners in higher education of potential obstacles, opportunities, and approaches to supporting researchers across their own campuses and communities, while also highlighting nuances of working with researchers for BI partners. An example model for a sustainable approach to BI programming is also offered in the context of the future of BI.

A double nightmare of racist violence in bande dessinée and film: Cauchemar Blanc (Moebius, 1974 and Kassovitz, 1991)

The following article offers a comparative, contextualized analysis of two versions of Cauchemar Blanc: its initial iteration as a bande dessinée published in 1974 by Moebius and its cinematic adaptation in 1991 by Mathieu Kassovitz. By analyzing the aesthetic and discursive strategies used, the study demonstrates how the authors use visual media to expose the pervasiveness of racism in France. Though Kassovitz remains faithful to the original, his adaptation intensifies Moebius's critique of French attitudes toward immigration and the ethnic diversification of society through the addition of humor, which functions as a call for collective action and sociopolitical reform. A comparative analysis of the film and comic within their historical contexts reveals the aesthetic and political nuances of transitioning between mediums and highlights evolving discursive strategies used by Left-leaning artists between the mid-1970s and early 1990s, emphasizing the persistence of racism in France despite institutional efforts against it.

A Composite Counternarrative of Discrimination as a Social Determinant of Health: Black College Women's Experiences of Gendered Racism.

Discrimination is a social determinant of health (SDOH) that negatively affects racially minoritized students and patients. Nurses and nurse educators must understand discrimination, including nuanced and intersecting ways that it negatively affects academic and health outcomes. In-depth interviews were conducted with 12 Black women at a primarily White institution in the Southeast United States. The interview guide, informed by critical race and intersectionality theories, explored experiences of gendered racism, particularly in the students' social environments. Narrative analysis was conducted, then a composite counternarrative was composed to portray experiences of gendered racism across multiple levels, including intrapersonal, interpersonal, and institutional. The composite narrative revealed experiences of multi-leveled gendered racial microaggressions that shape the daily lived experiences of Black college women students. Three main themes emerged: Limited Autonomy, Differential Treatment and Differential Assumptions, and Differential Access to Power and Resources. Gendered racism differs from White women's experiences of sexism and Black men's experiences of racism. Institutional efforts to support Black college women must be intentional in addressing the unique ways they experience discrimination in various settings on campus. Nurses' and nurse educators' understanding of gendered racism as a SDOH may ease the hesitancy in addressing health inequities. [Journal of Psychosocial Nursing and Mental Health Services, xx(x), xx-xx.].

Kontribusi Lembaga Filantropi Islam Berbasis ZIS untuk Meningkatkan Kesejahteraan Masyarakat di Desa Adipura Kencana Kecamatan Sungai Bahar Kabupaten Muaro Jambi

This research explores the contribution of ZIS-based Islamic philanthropic institutions in improving community welfare in Adipura Kencana Village, Sungai Bahar Sub-district, Muaro Jambi District. The aim of this study is to understand the contributions, impacts, and efforts of ZIS-based Islamic philanthropic institutions in supporting business capital assistance programs in Sungai Bahar Sub-district, Muaro Jambi District. This research employs a descriptive qualitative method, using both primary and secondary data. Data collection techniques include observation, interviews, and documentation, while data analysis is conducted using domain, taxonomic, and componential analyses. The results indicate that direct fund distribution by the institution significantly strengthens the relationship and sense of kinship between the community and the philanthropic institution. Through direct interaction with the community, prospective aid recipients are more open in expressing their concerns and needs, making the assistance provided by the philanthropic institution highly beneficial. The community feels a considerable positive impact from the presence of Islamic philanthropic institutions managing zakat in their area, as many individuals are able to improve their welfare through productive enterprises thanks to the assistance provided by the institution. The institution carefully selects aid recipients to ensure that assistance reaches those who truly need it. However, some community members still feel they belong in the less-privileged category yet have not received assistance from the institution.

An Analytical Exploration of Factors Contributing to Increasing Turnover and Employee Retention Challenges in a Private Educational Institution

This study examines the factors contributing to increasing turnover and retention challenges in a private educational institution in the Philippines. Using a mixed-methods approach, quantitative data were gathered using a descriptive-correlational methodology, while semi-structured interviews with current and former employees were used to acquire qualitative insights. Results reveal a very high level of turnover intention among respondents, with compensation and benefits and leadership and management found as the most significant factors, followed by work environment and culture and external factors. Age, marital status, and work status all show varying degrees of significance when it comes to perceived primary factors, while gender and length of service showed no significant influence on all the factors of turnover intention. Findings suggest the importance of addressing compensation and benefits, leadership and management, and work environment and external factor issues to enhance retention efforts in educational institutions.

Peran Humas dalam Organisasi Sosial

Public relations plays an important role in an organization. The engineering and management roles are the two primary responsibilities frequently identified in studies of public relations operations. Technician work covers all aspects of the art of public relations, including writing, editing, photographing, producing communications, organizing events, and corresponding by telephone with the media. media The methodology of this research is a type of literature study or literature review research. One way to conduct literature research is to collect references from several previous studies, which are then combined to produce findings. In modern practice, public relations cannot only be viewed as an institutional effort. It is everyone's responsibility to use public relations or public relations strategies to build effective interpersonal communication. different. This understanding of organizational management needs to be supported by advocacy for the establishment of a public relations division that can be relied on to manage organizational communication problems. Public relations plays an important role in an organization. The function of public relations is management in creating, maintaining and improving positive, harmonious and beneficial relationships between organizations and the general public. These relationships have the power to determine the success or failure of an organization. This is in line with the positive role played by public relations. As a result, the existence of public relations can influence the success or failure of an organization.

Pharmacotherapy of acute ST-elevation myocardial infarction and the pharmacist's role, part 2: Complications, postrevascularization care, and quality improvement.

In an effort to expedite the publication of articles, AJHP is posting manuscripts online as soon as possible after acceptance. Accepted manuscripts have been peer-reviewed and copyedited, but are posted online before technical formatting and author proofing. These manuscripts are not the final version of record and will be replaced with the final article (formatted per AJHP style and proofed by the authors) at a later time. Key pharmacotherapeutic modalities and considerations for the patient with ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) across the later phases of inpatient care are reviewed. Published descriptions and validation of clinical pharmacist roles specific to the acute management of STEMI are limited. This high-risk period from presentation through revascularization, stabilization, and hospital discharge involves complex pharmacotherapeutic decision points, many operational medication needs, and multiple layers of quality oversight. A companion article reviewed STEMI pharmacotherapy from emergency department presentation through revascularization. Herein we complete the pharmacotherapy review for the STEMI patient across the inpatient phases of care, including the management of peri-infarction complications with vasoactive and antiarrhythmic agents, considerations for postrevascularization antithrombotics, and assessments of supportive therapies and secondary prevention. Key guideline recommendations and literature developments are summarized from the clinical pharmacist's perspective alongside suggested pharmacist roles and responsibilities. Considerations for successful hospital discharge after STEMI and pharmacist involvement in associated institutional quality improvement efforts are also provided. We aim to support inpatient pharmacy departments in advancing clinical services for this critical patient population and call for further research delineating pharmacists' impact on patient and institutional STEMI outcomes.

Pharmacotherapy of acute ST-elevation myocardial infarction and the pharmacist's role, part 1: Patient presentation through revascularization.

In an effort to expedite the publication of articles, AJHP is posting manuscripts online as soon as possible after acceptance. Accepted manuscripts have been peer-reviewed and copyedited, but are posted online before technical formatting and author proofing. These manuscripts are not the final version of record and will be replaced with the final article (formatted per AJHP style and proofed by the authors) at a later time. Key pharmacotherapeutic modalities and considerations for the patient with ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) across the critical initial phases of care are reviewed. Despite established value in the emergency department (ED), cardiac care, and intensive care settings, there is currently little published literature describing or supporting clinical pharmacist roles in the acute management of STEMI. The high-risk period from hospital presentation through revascularization and stabilization involves complex pharmacotherapeutic decision points, many operational medication needs, and multiple layers of quality oversight. While rife with opportunities for pharmacists to optimize care, this timeframe appears inconsistently targeted by clinical pharmacy services, which may halt after ED evaluation and then resume upon postcatheterization cardiac unit admission. Herein we review the key pharmacotherapeutic modalities and considerations for the patient with STEMI across the critical initial phases of care. These include supportive therapies prior to revascularization, the host of antithrombotics involved in revascularization by percutaneous coronary intervention and/or fibrinolysis, and other periprocedural medications. Important practice guidelines and clinical resources are summarized from the clinical pharmacist perspective, and roles and responsibilities of the responding pharmacist are suggested. A companion article will extend the review to periprocedural adverse event management, key early decision-making regarding long-term risk reduction, and pharmacist involvement in institutional quality improvement efforts. We aim to support inpatient pharmacy departments in advancing clinical services for this critical patient population, and we call for further research delineating pharmacist impact on patient and institutional STEMI outcomes. Patients presenting with STEMI rapidly traverse multiple phases of care and receive a host of antithrombotic and supportive medications during acute management, presenting many important pharmacotherapeutic decision points and roles for pharmacists.

A qualitative study of patient competence for patient engagement in their safety——from the perspective of nurses and patients

ObjectivesTo describe the essential competencies required for patient engagement in their own safety.MethodWe adopted a phenomenological approach in qualitative research to conduct semi-structured interviews with nurses (n = 14) and adult patients (n = 13) from different departments. By deeply exploring their experiences and feelings about patient engagement in patient safety, we sought to understand their views on the qualities that patients need to possess in order to participate in their own safety.ResultsFrom the interviews, we identified six major themes, including competence of information sharing, competence of taking patient engagement as responsibility and right, competence of making equal communication, competence of maintaining trust relationship with health personnels, competence of accepting non-punitive safety culture, need of resource support, five of them showed essential competences for patients and one of them showed patients’ need for promoting their engagement.ConclusionThe findings of this study show necessary competence and needs in patient engagement process of patient, offer a foundational reference for constructing a measurement tool for patient engagement in patient safety competence in the future, so that medical staff and patients can provide reference for the future targeted construction of patient competence improvement programs. At the same time, improving patient competence and engagement to better achieve safety goals requires the joint efforts of patients, medical staff, medical institutions, the government, and society.

ALICENET – an Italian network of automated lidar ceilometers for four-dimensional aerosol monitoring: infrastructure, data processing, and applications

Abstract. ​​​​​​​Vertically resolved information on aerosol particles represents a key aspect in many atmospheric studies, including aerosol–climate interactions and aerosol impacts on air quality and human health. This information is primarily derived by lidar active remote sensing, in particular with extensive networks currently in operation worldwide. In Italy, the Institute of Atmospheric Sciences and Climate (ISAC) of the National Research Council (CNR) established the ALICENET network of automated lidar ceilometers (ALCs) in 2015. Since then, ALICENET has grown as a cooperative effort of Italian institutions dealing with atmospheric science and monitoring, and it currently includes instruments run by regional environmental protection agencies, universities, research centres, and private companies. In the current configuration, the network makes use of both single-channel ALCs and dual-channel, polarisation-sensitive-system ALCs (referred to as PLCs). The systems operate in very different environments (urban, coastal, mountainous, and volcanic areas) from northern to southern Italy, thus allowing the continuous monitoring of the aerosol vertical distribution across the country. ALICENET also contributes to the EUMETNET programme E-PROFILE, filling an Italian observational gap compared to other EU member states, which generally run extended ALC networks through national meteorological services. In this work, we present the ALICENET infrastructure and the specifically developed data processing centralised at CNR-ISAC, converting raw instrumental data into quantitative, quality-controlled information on aerosol properties ranging from attenuated backscatter to aerosol mass and vertical stratifications. This setup allows us to get insights into the 4D aerosol field over Italy with applications from near-real-time monitoring to long-term analyses, examples of which are reported in this work. Specific comparisons of the ALICENET products to independent measurements obtained with different techniques, such as particulate matter (PM) concentrations from in situ samplers and aerosol optical depth (AOD) from sun photometers, are also included here, revealing the good performances of the ALICENET algorithms. Overall, ALICENET represents a valuable resource to extend the current aerosol observational capabilities in Italy and in the Mediterranean area, and it contributes to bridging the gap between atmospheric science and its application to specific sectors, among which are air quality, solar energy, and aviation safety.