Search Results (799)

The capacity of schools to address behavioral health concerns presents an emerging challenge, exacerbated by major shortages in the workforce. Schools across the U.S. are struggling to hire licensed behavioral health professionals, with additional barriers encountered when seeking to hire practitioners with experience in educational settings. In 2023, a school district in the suburbs of Columbus, Ohio, partnered with The Ohio State University to launch a “grow your own” policy pilot. The priorities focused on addressing workforce shortages and leveraging the experiences of current teachers/staff to support growing needs related to student mental health and well-being. More specifically, the district utilized COVID-19 relief funds to recruit, train, and transition 25 teachers/staff into school mental health positions by underwriting the costs of each professional’s Master of Social Work (MSW) degree. Here, we (a) describe the district–university partnership and the processes guiding the implementation of the “grow your own” model, (b) distill preliminary findings about district needs regarding behavioral health, and (c) explore facilitators, barriers, and outcomes associated with learning among participants in the program. The findings from a district-wide staff survey indicated a high level of need for individual counseling, crisis intervention, and small group interventions. Additionally, qualitative interviews revealed that learning among the program’s participants was facilitated by effective classroom strategies and specific learning experiences integral to the program’s design. These facilitators supported key learning outcomes, including general social work knowledge, self-awareness, and therapeutic skills that are foundational for engaging with students, parents/families, teachers/staff, and the broader school community. This innovative policy pilot and training model demonstrate how universities and local educational agencies can partner to address workforce development challenges at the intersection of behavioral health and education. Full article

Green innovation is an important driver for the sustainable development of the real economy and the realization of a green transformation. Previous studies have paid less attention to the relationship between dividend payments and the persistence of green innovation and neglected the mechanism of knowledge management on the relationship between the two. Using Chinese listed non-financial companies from 2007 to 2022, this paper empirically investigates the effect and mechanism of dividend payment on corporate green innovation persistence based on two perspectives: principal–agent theory and incentive theory, using Tobit and negative binomial models. It was found that there is a non-linear inverted U-shaped relationship between dividend payments and the persistence of green innovation. Dividend payments influence the persistence of green innovation through agency costs and knowledge management capabilities. Both independent director networks and knowledge spillovers have a positive impact on the relationship between the two. Based on firms’ characteristics, the inverted U-shaped relationship between dividend payment and green innovation persistence is found to be more significant for non-state-owned firms and high-tech firms. Depending on the shareholder type, the inverted U-shaped curve between dividend payments for shareholding managers and green innovation persistence is the steepest. This study enriches the relevant literature on green innovations. In addition, it provides companies with a reference for formulating appropriate dividend policies, improving knowledge management capabilities, and improving the persistence of green innovation at a firm level. Full article

In this work, the costs generated from the extraction of water from the wells of the operating body of the Potable Water Board of the Municipality of Villagrán, Guanajuato (JUMAPAV) were determined, in which the characteristics of each well were considered for evaluation and analysis. The unit costs were determined through the unit price analysis methodology proposed by the Regulation of the Law of Public Works and Related Services (RLOPSRM, 2012), the electromechanical efficiency of the wells was calculated and the influence on its value in energy costs and on the volume extracted was evaluated. Finally, the price of the agency’s fixed rate for 10 m³ of water was compared with the price obtained from the proposed analysis. Full article

This study investigates the relationship between economic policy uncertainty (EPU) and the cost of equity capital (CoEC). It also reveals the moderating role of managerial ability (MA) in the relationship between EPU and CoEC in Saudi Arabia. The study sample consists of listed non-financial firms in Tadawul from 2008 to 2019. We analyzed data using STATA, depending on Pearson correlation analysis, two independent sample t-tests, OLS regression, and OLS with robust standard errors clustered by firm. Our study shows a positive effect of EPU on the CoEC. In addition, the results confirm that MA mitigates the positive effect of EPU on the CoEC. This is the first research to investigate the influence of the relationship between EPU on CoEC in Saudi Arabia, one of the largest emerging economies in the Middle East and Gulf countries. Our findings motivate decision-makers to strengthen their MA and establish a safe and stable investment environment to ensure better financing and investment decisions during uncertain times. Lending agencies, investors, and other stakeholders should consider the MA of corporations when making investment decisions. Full article

Wastewater manholes are crucial infrastructure components in sewage systems. They provide necessary access points for inspection and maintenance. However, limited studies were conducted on the life-cycle cost analysis of manholes. The primary objective of this study is to compute and compare the Life-Cycle Unit Cost (LCUC) of cement concrete and polymer concrete manholes to identify a cost-effective alternative for public agencies. To achieve the objective, this study analyzed commonly used 1.83 m diameter manhole data; 343 cement concrete manhole and 88 polymer concrete manhole cost data were collected from the Clark County Water Reclamation District (CCWRD), Las Vegas, Nevada, United States. The results show that the initial costs of polymer concrete are higher than those of traditional cement concrete. Statistical tests were conducted to determine the group differences. The findings show that the LCUCs of polymer concrete manholes are significantly cost-effective when compared to traditional cement concrete manholes. Public agencies can utilize polymer concrete manholes to save costs in future water and wastewater pipeline manhole construction projects. Full article

This study provides an overview of trends and evolution in International Organization for Standardization (ISO) implementation in healthcare over the past three decades, useful for researchers, practitioners, and policymakers in the sector. As an additional contribution, we propose the NU-index, which allows the evaluation of authors’ scientific output in a comprehensive way that will be valuable for researchers, institutions, and funding agencies seeking to assess researcher performance more accurately and understandably. A bibliometric analysis of 476 scientific articles from the Scopus Database was conducted, examining the scientific output, key authors, high-impact journals, and frequent keywords using VOSviewer, Bibliometrix library, and statistical analysis. Results reveal a significant increase in publications on ISO standards in healthcare since 2009, particularly in areas such as telemedicine, artificial intelligence, and information security. The emergence of ISO 11073 (health informatics) and ISO 13606 (electronic health records) highlights a growing trend towards information and communication technologies. Despite reported implementation barriers, such as lack of top management commitment and associated costs, adoption of these standards is increasing due to the demand for high-quality healthcare services and the need to comply with regulatory requirements. Full article

The paper demonstrates the effectiveness of the SNOWED dataset, specifically designed for identifying water bodies in Sentinel-2 images, in developing a remote sensing system based on deep neural networks. For this purpose, a system is implemented for monitoring the Po River, Italy’s most important watercourse. By leveraging the SNOWED dataset, a simple U-Net neural model is trained to segment satellite images and distinguish, in general, water and land regions. After verifying its performance in segmenting the SNOWED validation set, the trained neural network is employed to measure the area of water regions along the Po River, a task that involves segmenting a large number of images that are quite different from those in SNOWED. It is clearly shown that SNOWED-based water area measurements describe the river status, in terms of flood or drought periods, with a surprisingly good accordance with water level measurements provided by 23 in situ gauge stations (official measurements managed by the Interregional Agency for the Po). Consequently, the sensing system is used to take measurements at 100 “virtual” gauge stations along the Po River, over the 10-year period (2015–2024) covered by the Sentinel-2 satellites of the Copernicus Programme. In this way, an overall space-time monitoring of the Po River is obtained, with a spatial resolution unattainable, in a cost-effective way, by local physical sensors. Altogether, the obtained results demonstrate not only the usefulness of the SNOWED dataset for deep learning-based satellite sensing, but also the ability of such sensing systems to effectively complement traditional in situ sensing stations, providing precious tools for environmental monitoring, especially of locations difficult to reach, and permitting the reconstruction of historical data related to floods and draughts. Although physical monitoring stations are designed for rapid monitoring and prevention of flood or other disasters, the developed tool for remote sensing of water bodies could help decision makers to define long-term policies to reduce specific risks in areas not covered by physical monitoring or to define medium- to long-term strategies such as dam construction or infrastructure design. Full article

The open burning of sugarcane residue is commonly used as a low-cost and fast method during pre-harvest and post-harvest periods. However, this practice releases various pollutants, including dioxins. This study aims to predict polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins and dibenzofurans (PCDD/Fs or dioxins) emissions using the grey model (GM (1,1)) and to map the annual flux spatial distribution at the provincial level from 2023 to 2028. An annual emission inventory at the provincial level was developed using the activity rate of dry crop residue from national agencies and literature, following the guidelines set by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). Emission distributions from 2016 to 2022 were then mapped. The average PCDD/F emission values show significant variation among the provinces, averaging 309 pg TEQ/year. Spatially, regions with intensive sugarcane production, such as Lampung and East Java consistently show high emissions, often exceeding 400 pg/m². Emissions calculated using the UNEP emission factor tend to be higher compared to other factors, due to its generic nature and lack of regional specificity. Emission predictions using GM (1,1) indicate that North Sumatra is expected to experience a steady increase in PCDD/Fs emissions, whereas South Sumatra and Lampung are projected are projected to see a slight decline. This forecast assumes no changes in regional intervention strategies. Most regions in Java Island show a gradual increase in emissions, except for East Java, which is predicted to have a slight decline from 416 pg/year in 2023 to 397 pg/year in 2028. Additionally, regions such as Gorontalo and parts of East Java are projected to remain ‘hotspots’ with consistently high emissions, highlighting the need for targeted interventions. To address emission hotspots, this study emphasizes the need for cleaner agricultural practices, enhanced enforcement of environmental regulations, and the integration of advanced monitoring technologies to mitigate the environmental and health impacts of PCDD/F emissions in Indonesia. Future studies should consider developing monthly emissions profiles to better account for local agricultural practices and seasonal conditions. The emission data generated in this study, which include both spatial and temporal distributions, are valuable for air quality modeling studies and can help assess the impact of current and future emissions on ambient air quality. Full article

In recent years, the registration-based IPO system has been gradually introduced and promoted in China’s capital market, and its implementation effect has attracted considerable attention. This paper focuses on companies that were first listed between 2019 and 2021. We empirically investigate the impact of the registration system reform on enterprise innovation using the staggered difference-in-differences model, with R&D investment as the measure of enterprise innovation. The findings demonstrate that, in comparison to companies listed via the approval system, those listed via the registration system exhibit a higher level of R&D investment in the three years following listing. This suggests that the reform of the registration system effectively stimulates an increase in R&D investment among IPO companies. Furthermore, the reform of the registration system has been found to significantly promote the R&D investment of IPO companies on the STAR Market (i.e., the Science and Technology Innovation Board), while having no significant impact on the R&D investment of IPO companies on the ChiNext Market (i.e., the Growth Enterprise Board). Further analysis indicates that the registration system reform encourages IPO firms to increase R&D investment by reducing agency costs, alleviating financing constraints, and accumulating human capital. This study elucidates the impact of registration system reform on enterprise innovation and its mechanism and provides novel empirical evidence for the evaluation of the effect of registration system reform pilot. Full article

As the concept of balancing environmental protection and maintaining sustainable economic development has been widely recognized, the green bond is assuming an increasingly significant role within China’s financial market. We utilize the data from China’s A-share listed enterprises that issued bonds in the period 2010 to 2021 and try to examine whether and how green bond issuance facilitates the spillover effect of green technology innovation in industry. The results show that: (1) Green bond issuance can generate a spillover effect, greatly enhancing green technology innovation within the industry. (2) The spillover effect of green technology innovation from green bond issuance within an industry is more pronounced for state-owned enterprises, and relatively weaker for enterprises in Northeast China in the same industry. Relative to non-high-pollution industries, high-pollution industries reinforce the spillover effect. (3) Financing cost and agency cost are important influencing mechanisms for green bond issuance to improve peer enterprises’ level of green technology innovation. Overall, the results provide theoretical support for encouraging the market for green bonds to maintain their development over the long term and for effectively promoting the transformation of the economy and society to a green and low carbon one. Full article

In recent years, investing based on ESG performance has become a mainstream investment strategy in the market. In this context, this study selected A-share listed companies from 2010 to 2022 as samples and adopted a panel fixed-effect model to empirically test the impact and mechanism of ESG performance on continuous innovation. The research showed that ESG performance could significantly promote corporate continuous innovation. The mechanism tests found it worked mainly through the channels of alleviating financing constraints, increasing social trust, reducing agency costs, focusing on human capital, and enhancing social capital. Heterogeneity tests found that this effect was more significant for state-owned enterprises, weak marketization, and epidemic shocks. Further research showed that ESG exhibited a more significant level of sustained innovation in the growth and maturity stages. And ESG performance had a significant contribution to corporate innovation resilience. The conclusions of this study enrich the research in the field of ESG performance and corporate continuous innovation and provide empirical evidence for strengthening sustainable development strategies. Full article

A geographic information system (GIS) is a tool and technology capable of addressing the effects and challenges of natural disasters, particularly flash floods. GIS applications are used to generate flood risk maps to tackle flood issues. However, various challenges and problems arise when employing GIS to manage flash flood disasters in Shah Alam, Malaysia. Hence, this study aims to identify these challenges and gaps in GIS utilisation by Malaysian agencies for flash flood management in Shah Alam. Using the quadruple helix model technique, informal interviews were conducted as part of the study’s qualitative methodology. Five respondents were chosen from each of the four main sectors for primary data collection: government, academia, business, and community/NGO. The data were analysed using Taguette qualitative theme analysis. The findings reveal that the primary challenges lie in government management, particularly in providing equipment and access to GIS for all stakeholders, including the public. This challenge is attributed to the high costs and complexity associated with GIS data usage, limiting accessibility. Furthermore, there is a lack of expertise and research on GIS in Malaysian universities concerning flash flood management. The government should take proactive steps to improve flash flood management in Shah Alam, Malaysia, in order to solve these issues. Specifically, GIS training should be given to stakeholders, particularly those in the government and academic sectors, in order to develop GIS specialists who will be necessary for efficient flood management in Malaysia. Full article

Objectives: To address urgent staffing shortages, hospitals increasingly rely on agency labor. Given that staffing can significantly impact hospital performance, the aim of this study was to understand the organizational and market factors associated with agency labor utilization in US hospitals. Methods: Utilizing concepts from the Resource Dependence Theory (RDT), data for the calendar year 2022 for short-term acute care in United States hospitals (n = 2756) were analyzed with logistic regression analysis. We explored total agency labor expense (operationalized as a dichotomous variable at the 75th and 90th percentiles) in the presence of numerous organizational and market independent variables. Results: The results revealed that as markets become less complex (as measured by market concentration), the level of agency labor expense increases (β: 0.843, p < 0.001), while our chosen variables related to munificence (rural location; β: −1.634, p < 0.001) and dynamism (Medicare payor mix; β: −0.025, p < 0.001) were negatively associated with an increase in total agency labor expense. Conclusions: In general, our results appear to support the tenets of the RDT. We find that increased use of agency labor in hospitals is predicated on the hospital having the financial resources and flexibility to be able to afford the higher cost of agency labor. Full article

This paper establishes a multivariate function model for natural human load-carrying walking in some typical scenarios such as college equipment and material relocation by students and a large amount of identical freight relocation in commercial activities. For classified material relocation needs and constraints, we obtain the relationship between walking speed and load weight for a single person, as well as the time cost for different round trips. By establishing an integer programming model with the minimum total transportation time cost and shelf life as the objective function and the requirements of negative weight and speed as the constraint conditions, we reach the optimal item allocation methods considering time cost and shelf life. We discover that there is an approximate linear relationship between the change in natural walking speed and travel time when the load is small, thus obtaining the time cost of student transportation under different round-trip situations. The Monte Carlo simulation algorithm, which is more efficient compared with other methods such as the integer programming method, is used to obtain the optimal allocation scheme that meets the efficiency and quality requirements. The analysis methods and results can be used as guidance for task scheduling optimization for material relocation in educational organizations as well as commercial agencies. Full article

Biosimilars are a new category of medicines that have revolutionized the treatment of patients with life-threatening conditions, such as cancer and autoimmune diseases. A biosimilar is a biological product that is very similar to an already approved biological medicine that is used as its reference. These medicines go through less clinical studies than their reference product and therefore the cost of their development process is significantly lower, giving patients access to them more quickly and at a more affordable price. However, due to the structural complexity and inherent degree of variability of these products, it is very difficult to develop biosimilar medicines that are exactly the same as the reference product. Thus, it is extremely important to define strict controls to guarantee that these minor differences are not clinically significant in terms of safety and efficacy. Like any other medicine, biosimilars have to go through a complex approval process, which involves a thorough assessment by regulatory authorities to ensure these products meet the necessary standards of quality, safety, and efficacy before being placed on the market. Due to their nature and complexity, the approval process of biosimilar medicines contains some unique and specific considerations. This review aims to address the regulatory framework of biosimilar medicines, their development process and the approval requirements by the European Medicines Agency (EMA) and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Full article