Poor Protection Research Articles

Intervention of large shareholders and corporate fraud – evidence from vertical interlock in corporate pyramids in an emerging economy

AbstractThrough using 17,995 firm‐year observations of all the Chinese A‐share listed firms from 2008 to 2016 as a sample, we document that firms with vertical interlock have a lower likelihood of committing corporate fraud. We further test the underlying mechanisms, and we find that the effect of vertical interlock on the occurrence of corporate fraud is more pronounced when firms operate in a region with poor legal protection; with the legal environment being enhanced in China, the effect of vertical interlock has become less significant; and the effect of vertical interlock is also more pronounced when firms exhibit poor information environment at the firm level. Our results in this paper imply that the role of large shareholders and legal protection are substitutes in an emerging economy, and even with rapid economic and legal development in China, large shareholders keep playing a positive role in controlling fraudulent behaviours in Chinese listed firms.

Assessing Predictors of Self-Care Behavior and Practices to Mitigate Air Pollution: A Cross-Sectional Study Among Undergraduate Students in Rawalpindi, Pakistan

Air pollution constitutes a pressing worldwide public health issue, and Pakistan is the fourth most polluted country, where nearly 99% of its populace breathes in the air quality that exceeds the WHO criteria. Embracing WHO-endorsed strategies can help in extending life expectancy by five years. This investigation was designed to delve into the factors influencing self-care behaviors and practices regarding air pollution based on Health Belief Model among undergraduate students. Methods: A questionnaire based on the Health Belief Model was used to conduct a cross sectional study on undergraduate students from Rawalpindi, Pakistan about their self-care and protection practices against air pollution. The questionnaire had seven sections and was validated. Non-probability convenience sampling was used. SPSS 26, Spearman’s correlation, and linear regression were used for data analysis. Results: The study enrolled 292 university students, with 189 (64.7%) being male and 103 (35.3%) females, and a mean age of 21.07±1.896. Findings revealed that 22.6% of respondents exhibited satisfactory self-care behavior, while 77.4% exhibited suboptimal behavior. In terms of self-care preventive practices, 58.6% scored poorly, with only 41.4% demonstrating good practices. Conclusions: The study's outcomes demonstrated poor self-care and protection practices among the participants. Factors such as perceived severity, perceived benefits, self-efficacy, and cues to action significantly influenced preventive behaviors. Whereas, perceived susceptibility and barriers were found insignificant. These findings underscore a notable association between Health Belief Model constructs and students' adoption of preventive measures against air pollution.

Primary care reforms in Central Asia – On the path to universal health coverage?

This article reviews progress in primary care reforms in the four Central Asian countries Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. It draws on the country monitoring work of the European Observatory on Health Systems and Policies, a review of the peer-reviewed literature and an analysis of data available in international databases. The retrieved information was organized according to key health system functions (governance, provision, financing and resource generation), as well as key aims of universal health coverage (access to and quality of primary care and financial protection). The article finds that the four countries have made substantial reforms in all of these areas, but that there is still some way to go towards universal health coverage. Key challenges are the overall lack of public funding for primary care, poor financial protection due to prescribed outpatient medications being generally outside of publicly funded benefits packages, the low status and salary of primary care workers, problems of access to primary care in rural areas, and underdeveloped quality monitoring and improvement systems.

Comparison of the Immunogenicity and Efficacy of rBCG-EPCP009, BCG Prime-EPCP009 Booster, and EPCP009 Protein Regimens as Tuberculosis Vaccine Candidates.

Bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG) is the only widely used prophylactic tuberculosis (TB) vaccine that can prevent severe TB in infants. However, it provides poor protection in adults, and therefore, there is ongoing research into new TB vaccines and immunization strategies with more durable immune effects. The recombinant BCG and BCG prime-protein booster are two important vaccine strategies that have recently been developed based on BCG and could improve immune responses. In this study, three immune strategies based on four protective antigens, namely, ESAT-6, CFP-10, nPPE18, and nPstS1, were applied to construct recombinant rBCG-EPCP009, EPCP009 subunit protein, and BCG prime-EPCP009 booster vaccine candidates. The short- and long-term immune effects after vaccination in Balb/c mice were evaluated based on humoral immunity, cellular immunity, and the ability of spleen cells to inhibit in vitro mycobacterial growth. At 8 and 12 weeks after the initial immunization, splenocytes from mice inoculated with the BCG prime-EPCP009 protein booster secreted higher levels of PPD- and EPCP009-specific IFN-γ, IL-2, TNF-α, IL-17, GM-CSF, and IL-12 and had a higher IFN-γ+CD4+ TEM:IL-2+CD8+ TCM cell ratio than splenocytes from mice inoculated with the rBCG-EPCP009 and EPCP009 proteins. In addition, the EPCPE009-specific IgG2a/IgG1 ratio was slightly higher in the BCG prime-EPCP009 protein booster group than in the other two groups. The in vitro mycobacterial inhibition assay showed that the splenocytes of mice from the BCG prime-EPCP009 protein booster group exhibited stronger inhibition of Mycobacterium tuberculosis (M. tuberculosis) growth than the splenocytes of mice from the other two groups. These results indicate that the BCG prime-EPCP009 protein booster exhibited superior immunogenicity and M. tuberculosis growth inhibition to the parental BCG, rBCG-EPCP009, and EPCP009 proteins under in vitro conditions. Thus, the BCG prime-EPCP009 protein booster may be important for the development of a more effective adult TB vaccine.

Research on water supply model, technology, and management mechanism for villages in China

China's village drinking water has poor protection of water sources, water purification technology and equipment, water supply pipeline network leakage rate, the high risk of secondary pollution, operation and management mechanism, and other issues. How to enhance China's village drinking water through the whole process of the amount of water and the ability to ensure water quality has become the current problem to be resolved urgently. The study summarizes China's village water supply model selection, conventional and non-conventional water sources of water supply key technologies and applications, as well as long-term management measures, and through the application of China's northwestern Gansu's Huanxian and southeastern Zhejiang's Shangyu District, summarizes the success of the experience of the different regional characteristics, and strengthens the leading demonstration. Relevant countermeasures and suggestions are put forward to realize the long-term operation of rural safe drinking water projects.

Protected and conserved coastal areas in Canada: insights with respect to Target 3 of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework

Despite coastal area being recognised as an important subcomponent in protected and conserved areas targets for over a decade, it has been orphaned in both national and international reporting. In this paper, we provide the first progress report on protected and conserved coastal area in Canada. While 13.6 per cent of Canada’s coastal area is protected and conserved, there is substantial variation across Canada’s three oceans and Great Lakes, jurisdictional authorities, and marine/terrestrial ecosystems. Importantly, Manitoba (37.3 per cent) and the Yukon (45.1 per cent) have already achieved the 30 per cent coastal protection target of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (KM-GBF). However, Newfoundland and Labrador (7 per cent) and the Northwest Territories (8 per cent) currently fall significantly short. Very poor protection is evident in several marine bioregions and terrestrial ecozones, including across the Arctic, the Newfoundland and Labrador Shelves (0.7 per cent) and the Hudson Bay Complex (5.1 per cent). The Great Lakes require urgent and focused conservation attention, with lakes Ontario (3.6 per cent) and Erie (3.7 per cent) exhibiting a dismal amount of coastal protected and conserved area. Our results highlight the importance of explicitly reporting on the status of coastal area protection and we outline several considerations that can be used by the global conservation community to support more effective coastal protection, accounting and reporting vis-à-vis Target 3 of the KM-GBF

Sound insulation in multi-family houses: Proposal of single number limits for acoustical protection and comfort

In this paper, the acoustical quality in apartment housing is studied. The purpose is to find out to what extent occupants are annoyed by indoor noise and to compare the annoyance with measured airborne and impact sound insulation. The occupants in 38 building cases in Sweden, grouped into different construction categories, were asked in a questionnaire to rate their annoyance for a variety of potentially disturbing sound sources. In total, 1230 individual responses were used for the statistical analyses. The result shows that on average, the occupants are quite satisfied and reported low annoyance. This is taken as an indication that the present National legislation for sound insulation, airborne sound insulation included, works well. However, annoyance from footstep of walking neighbours is an exception, causing significantly greater annoyance compared to any other source, especially among occupants in lightweight buildings. The commonly used impact sound insulation descriptors are unable to match subjective experience. In combination with the sensitivity of lightweight floors to low-frequency sounds, improper building designs are likely to result in poor noise protection for the occupants. To overcome this issue, a new single number quantity taking frequencies as low as 25 Hz into account is suggested.

CaIn2S4 nanosheets and SnO2 nanoflowers co-sensitized TiO2 nanotubes photoanode for continuous and efficient photocathodic protection of Q235 carbon steel

To solve the problem of poor photocathodic protection (PCP) effect of pure TiO2 nanotubes (NTs) on Q235 carbon steel (CS), CaIn2S4 nanosheets (NSs) and SnO2 nanoflowers (NFs) co-sensitized TiO2 NTs were prepared by anodization, hydrothermal and solvothermal method. Results showed that the absorption edge of CaIn2S4/SnO2/TiO2 NTs extended to 540 nm, indicating the utilization efficiency of visible light was greatly improved. Under light, the CaIn2S4/SnO2/TiO2 NTs exhibited an open circuit potential drop of 530 mV vs. SCE and a photocurrent density of 624 μA cm−2, which was 23 and 48 times that of TiO2 NTs, respectively. The PCP properties of CaIn2S4/SnO2/TiO2 NTs were better than that of TiO2 NTs because the separation and transfer efficiency of electrons and holes were promoted due to the heterojunction structure formed between TiO2, SnO2 and CaIn2S4. Furthermore, the CaIn2S4/SnO2/TiO2 NTs could also provide time-delay protection up to 10 h in the dark state. Obviously, CaIn2S4/SnO2/TiO2 NTs have excellent electron storage capacity and could provide efficient and continuous protection, which may be due to the presence of SnO2 NFs. This work provides an effective strategy of designing more efficient photoanodes for PCP of metals.

Evaluation of Three Candidate Live-Attenuated Salmonella enterica Serovar Typhimurium Vaccines to Prevent Non-Typhoidal Salmonella Infection in an Infant Mouse Model.

Nontyphoidal Salmonella enterica (NTS) is a leading cause of foodborne illness worldwide, including in the United States, where infants show the highest incidence amongst all age groups. S. enterica serovar Typhimurium is one of the most frequently isolated serovars from NTS infections. We have developed several candidate live-attenuated S. Typhimurium vaccines to prevent NTS infection. The goal of the current study was to assess three live S. Typhimurium vaccine strains (CVD 1921, CVD 1921 ∆htrA and CVD 1926, which have two, three and four gene deletions, respectively) with various levels of reactogenicity and immunogenicity in infant BALB/c mice to predict how they would perform following peroral immunization of infants. We first tested intranasal immunization of 14-day-old mice with three doses delivered at 1-week intervals and evaluated antibody responses and protection against lethal infection with wild-type S. Typhimurium. The vaccines were administered to 14-day-old mice via the peroral route at 1- or 2-week intervals and to 28-day-old mice at 2-week intervals. The three vaccine strains were immunogenic following intranasal immunization of infant mice with vaccine efficacies of 80% (CVD 1921), 63% (CVD 1921 ∆htrA) and 31% (CVD 1926). In contrast, peroral immunization of 14-day-old mice yielded much poorer protection against lethal infection and only immunization of 28-day-old mice at 2-week intervals showed similar protective capacity as intranasal administration (CVD 1921: 83%, CVD 1921 ∆htrA: 43% and CVD 1926: 58%). CVD 1921 was consistently more protective than both CVD 1921 ∆htrA and CVD 1926, regardless of the route of vaccination, immunization schedule and age of mice. Anti-LPS serum IgG responses were similar between the three strains and did not correlate with protection. Due to previously observed reactogenicity of CVD 1921, CVD 1921 ∆htrA and CVD 1926 are our preferred vaccines, but these data show that further improvements would need to be made to achieve suitable protection in young infants when using peroral immunization.

Resilient Operation Planning for CubeSat Using Reinforcement Learning

This study proposes an autonomous operation procedure for a CubeSat by applying reinforcement learning based on resilient engineering. The CubeSat requires rapid judgment in every visible window based on a sufficient understanding of the health conditions of the satellite from limited telemetry data due to the limited communication performance and poor protection functions from the harsh environment. This study first performs a risk analysis by using System Theoretic Process Analysis (STPA) to evaluate the risk scenario of the Cube-Sat. In order to successfully operate the missions while avoiding the risk scenarios, reinforcement learning is applied to learn adequate behaviors according to the satellite situations such as the temperature and voltage of the installed battery, the sunlight and eclipse phase and the mission progress and plan. Through numerical examples, the validity of the proposed method is illustrated.

Global lessons for strengthening breastfeeding as a key pillar of food security.

Breastfeeding is identified as a central pillar of food security by the World Health Organization, however globally significant challenges remain in achieving breastfeeding targets for early initiation, exclusive breastfeeding for 6 months, and continued breastfeeding for 2 years and beyond. Inadequate support in health systems, poor maternity protections and workplace policies, and insufficient regulation of commercial milk formulas, among other barriers, continue to undermine this key pillar across nations. This paper highlights the central importance of breastfeeding for food security across diverse global settings by examining three case studies: Honduras, Pakistan and the USA. The cases highlight the complex layering and intersections of key challenges that threaten breastfeeding in the era of pandemics, the climate crisis, conflict and global inequality. Lessons drawn from these case studies, combined with additional insights, reinforce the importance of multisectorial collaboration to scale up investment in creating equitable, enabling environments for breastfeeding. These structural and systems approaches can successfully strengthen the breastfeeding ecosystem to ensure greater first food system resilience in the face of global crises, which compound maternal and infant vulnerabilities. Additionally, the cases add urgency for greater attention to prioritizing breastfeeding and incorporating IYCF-E protocols into disaster preparedness and management into the policy agenda, as well as ensuring that first food security is considered in energy policy. An integrated approach to policy change is necessary to recognize and strengthen breastfeeding as a pivotal part of ensuring food security across the globe.

The construction of social credit system and corporate innovation: Evidence from China

Under the background of the construction of a social credit system (CSCS) in China, personalized trust established on emotion and identity is evolving toward generalized trust based on recorded credit information. Using the pilot cities of the CSCS in China, we employ a difference-in-differences identification strategy to examine whether the CSCS affects corporate innovation. We find that pilot cities of the CSCS significantly promote corporate innovation, and the impact of the pilot cities of the CSCS on exploitative innovation is stronger compared with that on exploratory innovation. We further show that the impact of the CSCS on corporate innovation is more significant in firms with low availability of capital for innovation projects, firms with long supply chain distances, and firms in areas with poor protection of intellectual property rights. Finally, we document that CSCS promote cooperative innovation and improve innovation efficiency. Overall, our research helps with a further understanding of the connotation of social trust in China and provides a reference for credit system construction in other economies in the Asia Pacific region.

Mechanism of dendrite segregation on corrosion behaviour of antique cast low Sn bronze

The local corrosion behaviour and the mechanism of a low-Sn bronze alloy segregation area were studied. The results showed that segregation has a higher Sn content but a lower surface potential than the dendritic stem, forming a microregion galvanic couple, which not only induces corrosion initiation, but also accelerates the corrosion of the segregation region. In contrast, the corrosion products of the dendrites were mainly Cu2O and SnO2, while the segregation gradually changed from Cu2O and SnO2 to Cu(OH)2, Cu2(OH)2CO3 and Cu2(OH)3Cl, which provided poor protection against local metals. The late pitting effect also accelerated corrosion in the segregated area.

Trajectory time prediction and dataset publishing mechanism based on deep learning and differential privacy

In order to solve the problems of inaccurate trajectory time prediction and poor privacy protection of dataset publishing mechanism, the study adds deep learning models into the trajectory time prediction model and designs the SLDeep model. Its performance is compared with LRD, STTM and DeepTTE models for experiments, and the results show that the SLDeep model. The lowest mean absolute error value was 116.357, indicating that it outperformed the other models. The study designed the Travelet publishing mechanism by incorporating differential privacy methods into the publishing mechanism, and compared it with Li’s and Hua’s publishing mechanisms for experiments. The results show that the mutual information index value of Travelet publishing mechanism is 0.06, which is better than Li’s and Hua’s publishing mechanisms. The experimental results show that the performance of the trajectory time prediction model incorporating deep learning and the dataset publishing mechanism incorporating differential privacy methods has been greatly improved, which can provide new ideas to obtain a more accurate and all-round trajectory big data management system.

Application of ergonomic interventions in the informal sectors of India

A large proportion of the labor force in India (90%) is directly employed in the informal sector, which is notably higher than in othercountries. Most employees work on a contract or temporary basis. Labor laws are generally not applicable to informal sectors.Among them, there is a lack of awareness of occupational safety and health, which includes less attention to industrial hygiene, poorhousekeeping, and poor employee protection. In 2001, the problem of integrating the informal economy with the formal economy waswidely discussed at the International Labor Conference. We need to include one more issue: work comfort applications in the informalsectors. Many of these workers suffer from various types of work-related disorders. It is noted that through the use of low-cost measures, their conditions can be improved. Several interventions have been developed and applied across various informal sectors in India through an ergonomics-involved approach. A detailed study was conducted to determine the effectiveness of these interventions. It is necessary and important to apply precise interventions and find out the behavioral approaches of users to the use of interventions. As the informal sector grows steadily in various developing countries, ensuring the comfort of workers is becoming a challenge in these parts of the world. Surprisingly, low-cost health interventions can increase the productivity of the informal sector by up to 30%. Workrelated musculoskeletal disease (WMSD) is also prevented. Proper implementation of ergonomic interventions can ultimately improve the occupational health of informal workers as well as the nation's economy.

Unrestricted Solar Energetic Particle Access to the Moon While Within the Terrestrial Magnetotail

AbstractThis study presents observations of Solar Energetic Particle (SEP) protons that have penetrated Earth's magnetotail to reach the lunar environment. We apply data from Wind as an upstream monitor and compare to observations from THEMIS‐ARTEMIS within the tail to show clear signatures of SEPs at the Moon during two events. Combining modeling and data analysis, we show that SEPs above energies of ∼25 keV gain access to the Moon's position deep within the magnetotail through field lines that are open on one end to the solar wind. These results contradict previous studies that have suggested that the magnetotail is effective in shielding the Moon from SEPs with energies up to 1 GeV. Instead, we highlight that Earth's magnetosphere provides poor protection to the Moon from SEPs, which irradiate the lunar surface even within the tail. Our results have important implications regarding the safety of astronauts during upcoming lunar missions.

Investigation on Combination of Airflow Disturbance and Sprinkler Irrigation for Horticultural Crop Frost Protection

Frost tends to be detrimental to the growth and development of horticultural crops, leading to yield or quality reduction with sizable economic losses. Therefore, it is very important to develop frost protection technology for horticultural crops. In this study, the development of frost protection technology is reviewed, and the research of mechanized frost protection technology in recent years is analyzed. In view of the poor frost protection effect of some single mechanized frost protection technology, the combination frost protection technology is put forward. The combination frost protection technology with airflow disturbance and sprinkler irrigation is discussed and analyzed.

MAES implementation in Greece: Geodiversity

The present study aims to support the Mapping and Assessment of Ecosystems and their Services (MAES) implementation in Greece, by synthesizing an indicator that could be used for abiotic attribute assessments and specifically for geodiversity. Such an indicator can be used not only for reporting obligations under EU initiatives but also for identifying “conservation hotspots”. Such areas, characterized by rich geodiversity, are important for supporting biodiversity and other ecosystem services. In addition, identification and mapping of threats to those areas, due to natural or anthropogenic processes, can be used for the introduction or reformation of protective environmental legislation. The geodiversity indicator has been compiled using geological, geomorphological, climatic, pedological and hydrological data layers, while threats to geodiversity have been produced by integrating the sub-indices of erosion, protection level, land degradation, mineral and/or ore extraction activity, and the concentration of wildfire ignition sites. Finally, a bivariate map highlights geodiversity “hotspots” in Greece, which were found to correspond in most cases with locations of rich geodiversity and poor protection from adverse natural or human induced processes, mainly due to the lack of protective legislation. The study's outcomes provide a baseline for scientifically informed decisions for conservation, management and spatial planning, while simultaneously complying with EU and national legislation and strategies for nature conservation and integrated development.

URGENSI PERLINDUNGAN HUKUM TERHADAP ANAK DI KABUPATEN ACEH BARAT DAYA

This study aims to analyze and examine the urgency of legal protection for children in Aceh Barat Daya district. Violence against children, sexual abuse of children, trafficking of children to be exploited as commercial sex workers, neglect of children, and killing of children are still common. This can prove that child protection in Indonesia is still very weak so that it must receive special attention from both the state, government, local government, parents, families and the community around the child. The large number of criminal cases against children in Aceh Barat Daya district indicates that the application of legal protection for children is still very weak, thus legal protection for children in Aceh Barat Daya district is an urgent matter. The method used in analyzing and reviewing is research on normative juridical law, namely research whose object is normative law in the form of legal principles and the legal system, in which this research describes the urgency of legal protection for children in Aceh Barat Daya district. The number of cases of criminal acts against children that occurred in Southwest Aceh district adds to the black list of poor legal protection for children in Indonesia. Therefore the protection of children in Aceh Barat Daya district is an urgent matter.

Recombinant human adenovirus type 5 based vaccine candidates against GIIa- and GIIb-genotype porcine epidemic diarrhea virus induce robust humoral and cellular response in mice

Porcine epidemic diarrhea virus (PEDV) is a porcine enteropathogenic coronavirus causing severe watery diarrhea, vomiting, dehydration, and death in piglets. However, most commercial vaccines are developed based on the GI genotype strains, and have poor immune protection against the currently dominant GII genotype strains. Therefore, four novel replication-deficient human adenovirus 5-vectored vaccines expressing codon-optimized forms of the GIIa and GIIb strain spike and S1 glycoproteins were constructed, and their immunogenicity was evaluated in mice by intramuscular (IM) injection. All the recombinant adenoviruses generated robust immune responses, and the immunogenicity of recombinant adenoviruses against the GIIa strain was stronger than that of recombinant adenoviruses against the GIIb strain. Moreover, Ad-XT-tPA-Sopt-vaccinated mice elicited optimal immune effects. In contrast, mice immunized with Ad-XT-tPA-Sopt by oral gavage did not induce strong immune responses. Overall, IM administration of Ad-XT-tPA-Sopt is a promising strategy against PEDV, and this study provides useful information for developing viral vector-based vaccines.