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Purpose: There are major gaps in our knowledge of hereditary ocular conditions in the Asia-Pacific population, which comprises approximately 60% of the world's population. Therefore, a concerted regional effort is urgently needed to close this critical knowledge gap and apply precision medicine technology to improve the quality of lives of these patients in the Asia-Pacific region., Design: Multi-national, multi-center collaborative network., Methods: The Research Standing Committee of the Asia-Pacific Academy of Ophthalmology and the Asia-Pacific Society of Eye Genetics fostered this research collaboration, which brings together renowned institutions and experts for inherited eye diseases in the Asia-Pacific region. The immediate priority of the network will be inherited retinal diseases (IRDs), where there is a lack of detailed characterization of these conditions and in the number of established registries., Results: The network comprises 55 members from 35 centers, spanning 12 countries and regions, including Australia, China, India, Indonesia, Japan, South Korea, Malaysia, Nepal, Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan, and Thailand. The steering committee comprises ophthalmologists with experience in consortia for eye diseases in the Asia-Pacific region, leading ophthalmologists and vision scientists in the field of IRDs internationally, and ophthalmic geneticists., Conclusions: The Asia Pacific Inherited Eye Disease (APIED) network aims to (1) improve genotyping capabilities and expertise to increase early and accurate genetic diagnosis of IRDs, (2) harmonise deep phenotyping practices and utilization of ontological terms, and (3) establish high-quality, multi-user, federated disease registries that will facilitate patient care, genetic counseling, and research of IRDs regionally and internationally., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors have no conflicts of interest to disclose., (Copyright © 2023 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Background: The use of a standardized national chronic noncommunicable disease (CNCD) registry is of immense benefit in addressing the CNCD burden in Trinidad and Tobago (T&T). This study seeks to assess the outcomes of a paper-based CNCD registry implemented in the primary health-care centers in South Trinidad. Methods: At the South-West Regional Health Authority, a standardized paper-based registry was implemented in 2017, at the 33 public primary health-care clinics. Following this, a CNCD Registry Assessment Survey was administered cross-sectionally to 94 end-users to evaluate the implementation outcomes of the registry. The outcome domains – feasibility, penetration, acceptability, sustainability, fidelity, uptake, and costs were analyzed using summary statistics. Results: Fifty-five percent of end-users responded. Most responses came from the primary care physicians 1 (50.0%) of County Caroni. Most respondents were from County Caroni, 19 (36.5%) and St. Patrick, 19 (36.5%). Ninety-one percent of end-users thought that the CNCD registry was easily adopted. For 85.9% of end-users, the registry had fidelity (85.9%); 84.2% thought it was well accepted; feasible (82.7%); easily penetrated (82.7%), and appropriate (76.0%). Forty-two percent thought that the cost of implementation was high, while 30.8% were neutral. Seventy-one percent thought that the paper-based CNCD registry should be sustained, and 94.2% of end-users thought that an electronic CNCD registry should be implemented. Conclusion: It is possible and feasible to implement a standardized paper-based registry. Through this process, we were able to define the prevalence of five CNCDs and two risk factors of overweight/obesity and smoking for the chronic disease clinic population. Subsequently, we would like to implement a digitized CNCD registry.

Background: The private healthcare sector has become an essential component of healthcare systems globally. This interest has increased with the universal health coverage agenda. However, in most low- and middle-income countries, few classificatory studies of the private hospital sector were carried out., Methods: This study describes the private hospital sector in a developing country setup and propose a typology that could facilitate the identification of its categories and the understanding of its organizational and strategic characteristics., Results: All private hospitals in Morocco as of December 31, 2021 including 397 facilities are included. Most hospitals are for-profit, poly-disciplinary, independent, commercial societies, have fewer than 30 beds or between 30 and 99 beds and are located in urban areas. Private hospitals have a median turnover of 9.8 million MAD and a median capital value of 2 million MAD. The clustering method identifies three main categories of private hospitals: for-profit hospitals with medium size and turnover, spread across the country but with a high concentration in large regions; not-for-profit hospitals, with medium to large size, high turnover, located in large regions and including university hospitals; and small for-profit hospitals with low turnover, independent ownership and wide distribution over the country. Three criteria have the most significant discriminatory power: ownership, size (beds, turnover) and mode of governance., Conclusions: Private hospitals in Morocco are organized into three types according to three similarity criteria including ownership, size and governance. These criteria might be used as the basis for a common typology of private hospitals in Morocco and possibly in other low- and middle-income countries with similar contexts., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

In recent years the lawfulness of certain types of sanctions and the question about the usefulness of sanctions in general have become topical and widely discussed issues. Of special significance is the expanding use by powerful states of unilateral coercive measures without Security Council authorisation, or beyond Security Council authorisation, to illustrate their displeasure with the domestic or foreign policies of certain members of the international community. Over time the nature of these measures has taken on diverse forms and their encroachment on human rights and freedoms has become a matter of international concern. This contribution examines the developments that have taken place in this context since the 2000 report of the Working Group on the negative impact of sanctions by focussing on the interventions by key United Nations bodies.

Growth faltering in children (low length for age or low weight for length) during the first 1,000 days of life (from conception to 2 years of age) influences short-term and long-term health and survival 1,2 . Interventions such as nutritional supplementation during pregnancy and the postnatal period could help prevent growth faltering, but programmatic action has been insufficient to eliminate the high burden of stunting and wasting in low- and middle-income countries. Identification of age windows and population subgroups on which to focus will benefit future preventive efforts. Here we use a population intervention effects analysis of 33 longitudinal cohorts (83,671 children, 662,763 measurements) and 30 separate exposures to show that improving maternal anthropometry and child condition at birth accounted for population increases in length-for-age z-scores of up to 0.40 and weight-for-length z-scores of up to 0.15 by 24 months of age. Boys had consistently higher risk of all forms of growth faltering than girls. Early postnatal growth faltering predisposed children to subsequent and persistent growth faltering. Children with multiple growth deficits exhibited higher mortality rates from birth to 2 years of age than children without growth deficits (hazard ratios 1.9 to 8.7). The importance of prenatal causes and severe consequences for children who experienced early growth faltering support a focus on pre-conception and pregnancy as a key opportunity for new preventive interventions., (© 2023. The Author(s).)

CKD affects about 850 million people worldwide and is projected to be the fifth leading cause of death by 2040. Individuals from low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) bear the bulk of CKD. They face challenges including lack of awareness among the general population, as well as health care providers, unique risk factors such as genetic predispositions, infectious diseases, and environmental toxins, limited availability and affordability of diagnostic tests and medications, and limited access to KRTs. The inadequate health system infrastructure, human resources, and financing mechanisms to support comprehensive and integrated kidney care worsen the situation. Overcoming these challenges needs concerted efforts toward early detection, intervention, and multidisciplinary follow-up, policy, collaboration, advocacy, and financing. To achieve this, there is need for individual governments to include kidney health among the key health priorities and build capacity toward resilient health care systems. Integrating kidney care using the roadmaps of well-established management systems for other chronic diseases, such as HIV, has the potential to expedite the widespread adoption of kidney health. The aim of this article is to provide an overview of the current state and future prospects of kidney care in LMICs, highlighting the main challenges, ongoing efforts, and opportunities for improvement. We present case studies of exemplary efforts from three continents of the world with the highest densities of LMICs and propose potential strategies for a sustainable solution., (Copyright © 2024 The Author(s). Published by Wolters Kluwer Health, Inc. on behalf of the American Society of Nephrology.)

Poverty is an important social determinant of health that is associated with increased risk of death 1-5 . Cash transfer programmes provide non-contributory monetary transfers to individuals or households, with or without behavioural conditions such as children's school attendance 6,7 . Over recent decades, cash transfer programmes have emerged as central components of poverty reduction strategies of many governments in low- and middle-income countries 6,7 . The effects of these programmes on adult and child mortality rates remains an important gap in the literature, however, with existing evidence limited to a few specific conditional cash transfer programmes, primarily in Latin America 8-14 . Here we evaluated the effects of large-scale, government-led cash transfer programmes on all-cause adult and child mortality using individual-level longitudinal mortality datasets from many low- and middle-income countries. We found that cash transfer programmes were associated with significant reductions in mortality among children under five years of age and women. Secondary heterogeneity analyses suggested similar effects for conditional and unconditional programmes, and larger effects for programmes that covered a larger share of the population and provided larger transfer amounts, and in countries with lower health expenditures, lower baseline life expectancy, and higher perceived regulatory quality. Our findings support the use of anti-poverty programmes such as cash transfers, which many countries have introduced or expanded during the COVID-19 pandemic, to improve population health., (© 2023. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Limited.)

As a traditional energy and carbon intensive sector, it becomes imperative for the global paper industry to realize green development. This paper aims to provide guidance for the green transformation of global paper industry by evaluating the global paper industry green development level in a systematic and dynamic way. This paper employs text-mining method to develop paper industry green development evaluation indicator system and adopts market-extended LCA model and entropy-TOPSIS method to calculate the paper industry green development level of 48 countries/regions. The results show that during 2000–2030 the paper industry green development level of developing countries improves faster than developed countries, where those of developing and developed countries increase from 0.3369 to 0.3938 and from 0.5120 to 0.5517 respectively and the gap between them narrows from 0.1751 to 0.1579. The comparative analysis reveals that the paper industries of developed and developing countries are in different green development stages. Developing countries, represented by China, improve greatly in economic and social dimensions, but decline seriously in ecological dimension due to enlarging resource consumption and environmental damages. On the contrary, developed countries tend to saturate in economic and social dimensions and have been improving fast in ecological dimension, gradually realizing the decoupling of industrial economic development and environmental damages. To further promote the global paper industry green development, developing countries should focus on promoting the coordinated development between economic growth and environment protection and developed countries should play a leading role in the global green transformation by promoting optimal allocation of resources and cross-regional communications of green technologies. • A paper industry green development indicator system is developed based on text mining. • A global paper industry green development model is built with market-extended LCA. • Complex interactions among the indicators are internalized in the evaluation. • A spatial-temporal analysis is performed on global paper industry green development level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ecosystems generate a wide range of benefits for humans, including some market goods as well as other benefits that are not directly reflected in market activity 1 . Climate change will alter the distribution of ecosystems around the world and change the flow of these benefits 2,3 . However, the specific implications of ecosystem changes for human welfare remain unclear, as they depend on the nature of these changes, the value of the affected benefits and the extent to which communities rely on natural systems for their well-being 4 . Here we estimate country-level changes in economic production and the value of non-market ecosystem benefits resulting from climate-change-induced shifts in terrestrial vegetation cover, as projected by dynamic global vegetation models (DGVMs) driven by general circulation climate models. Our results show that the annual population-weighted mean global flow of non-market ecosystem benefits valued in the wealth accounts of the World Bank will be reduced by 9.2% in 2100 under the Shared Socioeconomic Pathway SSP2-6.0 with respect to the baseline no climate change scenario and that the global population-weighted average change in gross domestic product (GDP) by 2100 is -1.3% of the baseline GDP. Because lower-income countries are more reliant on natural capital, these GDP effects are regressive. Approximately 90% of these damages are borne by the poorest 50% of countries and regions, whereas the wealthiest 10% experience only 2% of these losses., (© 2023. The Author(s).)

In recent years the lawfulness of certain types of sanctions and the question about the usefulness of sanctions in general have become topical and widely discussed issues. Of special significance is the expanding use by powerful states of unilateral coercive measures without Security Council authorisation, or beyond Security Council authorisation, to illustrate their displeasure with the domestic or foreign policies of certain members of the international community. Over time the nature of these measures has taken on diverse forms and their encroachment on human rights and freedoms has become a matter of international concern. This contribution examines the developments that have taken place in this context since the 2000 report of the Working Group on the negative impact of sanctions by focussing on the interventions by key United Nations bodies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is a disparity between low and middle-income countries (LMICs) and high-income countries (HICs) in translating medical device innovations to the market, affecting health care service delivery. Whereas medical technologies developed in HICs face substantial challenges in getting to the bedside, there are at least clear pathways in most of the major markets, such as the UK, the EU, and the USA. Much less is known about the challenges that innovators of medical technologies face in LMICs. The aim of this study was to map out current bottlenecks in medical device innovation in Uganda, a LMIC in Sub-Saharan East Africa.A cross-sectional survey was carried out using a digital questionnaire. Twenty-one individuals completed the questionnaire, with the majority being medical device innovators (n = 12). Only one of these had undertaken all the innovation stages, up to clinical validation. Very few innovators had established companies, and/or acquired intellectual property. It is evident from similar studies that challenges in medical device translations are multidimensional, and hence interdisciplinary collaborations are key to accelerating translation processes, especially for LMICs., (© 2023. BioMed Central Ltd., part of Springer Nature.)

The number of published scientific paper grows rapidly each year, totaling more than 2.9 million annually. New methodologies and systems have been developed to analyze scientific production and performance indicators from large quantities of data available from the scientific databases, such as Web of Science or Scopus. In this paper, we analyzed the international scientific production and co-authorship patterns for the most productive authors from Serbia based on the obtained Web of Science dataset in the period 2006–2013. We performed bibliometric and scientometric analyses together with statistical and collaboration network analysis, to reveal the causes of extraordinary publishing performance of some authors. For such authors, we found significant inequality in distribution of papers over journals and countries of co-authors, using Gini coefficient and Lorenz curves. Most of the papers belong to multidisciplinary, interdisciplinary, and the field of applied sciences. We have discovered three specific collaboration patterns that lead to high productivity in international collaboration. First pattern corresponds to mega-authorship papers with hundreds of co-authors gathered in specific research groups. The other two collaboration patterns were found in mathematics and multidisciplinary science, mainly application of graph theory and computational methods in physical chemistry. The former pattern results in a star-shaped collaboration network with mostly individual collaborators. The latter pattern includes multiple actors with high betweenness centrality measure and identified brokerage roles. The results are compared with the later period 2014–2023, where high scientific production has been observed in some other fields, such as biology and food science and technology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• A selective paper-based antibody-free COVID-19 assay. • The enzymatic activity of the virus-related 3CL protease is applied for detection. • All our tests were validated against PCR tests displaying similar selectivity and sensitivity. • Our sensor displays an ultrafast detection turnover of ca. 1 min. • No instruments are required to perform the simple colorimetric diagnosis. COVID-19 is caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). SARS-CoV-2 has led to high mortality worldwide, with social and financial effects expected to persist for years to come. Since asymptomatic individuals cause a large portion of transmission, actions taken to curb the COVID-19 pandemic mostly rely on procedures aimed at detecting viral-related molecules in infected carriers. Currently, leading available detection methods fall short in reliability or point-of-care mass screening applicability. Here, we present an unprecedented antibody-free smart pH paper-based seconds-long detection platform against the virus-related enzyme 3CLpro as a saliva biomarker of SARS-CoV-2 infection. The selective proteolytic activity of 3CLpro is directly detected from native saliva using a peptide substrate-embedded pH-paper platform. 3CLpro presence in infected individuals leads to an ultrafast pH-drop in the paper matrix, thus leading to a sharp color change as direct means of detection. Ultrafast detection, simplicity, no requirement of surface chemistry by sensitive biomolecules, long-term stability, and point-of-care compatibility for COVID-19 mass screening were demonstrated. Forty-two subjects were tested, exhibiting highly sensitive and specific detection of SARS-CoV-2 infection. Finally, we foresee that this universal approach could be implemented for the multiplexed detection of other viral infections by detecting specific viral proteases. Importantly, since our approach does not require immune-specific antibodies for specific detection, the overall platform is extremely cost-efficient, less than 2 USD cents per assay, and suitable for the worldwide mass screening of viral infections, particularly in remote and developing world locations. Moreover, we propose an extremely easy-to-use and produce practical test strip design. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This document discusses the importance of foreign direct investment (FDI) in promoting growth and development in emerging economies. It acknowledges that FDI can have both positive and negative effects, but overall it is seen as a vital tool for economic acceleration. The document highlights the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on global FDI patterns, particularly in emerging economies. It introduces a special issue that includes eight papers examining various aspects of FDI inflows and outflows in the context of COVID-19. The papers cover topics such as the factors influencing FDI, the effects of the pandemic on FDI, and the relationship between FDI and economic growth. The document concludes by expressing gratitude to the reviewers and editors involved in publishing the special issue. [Extracted from the article]

The research assessed waste-based briquettes consumption compared to conventional fuels in the Andes. Laboratory tests were conducted together with on-field analysis in Colquencha (Bolivia). The laboratory study shows that the performances of briquettes are better in terms of PM2.5 (933.4 ± 50.8 mg kg−1) and CO emissions (22.89 ± 2.40 g kg−1) compared to animal dung (6265.7 ± 1273.5 mgPM2.5 kg−1 and 48.10 ± 12.50 gCO kg−1), although the boiling time increased due to the lower fuel consumption rate and firepower compared to shrubs. The social survey organized with 150 Bolivian citizens suggested that low-income households are not able to pay for an alternative fuel: about 40% would pay less than 4 USD per month, while methane use for cooking is positively correlated with the income level (r = 0.244, p < 0.05). On field analysis suggested that local cookstoves are not appropriate for briquettes combustion since indoor air pollution overcomes 30 ppm of CO and 10 mgPM2.5 m-3. On balance, local small manufactures can be the main target for selling waste-based briquettes to reduce shrubs and wood consumption. However, briquettes production costs seem not yet competitive to natural easy-to-obtain fuels (i.e., animal dung). The research encourages the use of cellulosic and biomass waste-based briquettes in the Andean area for cooking, heating, or manufacturing and strongly advises policy-makers to introduce economic incentives for the recovery of secondary raw materials. • Analysis of waste-based briquettes use in Andean areas were conducted. • Laboratory analysis, social surveys, and on field evaluations are the methods. • Briquettes can be employed for reducing about 30% of the conventional fuels. • The research encourages the employment of waste-based briquettes in the Andes. • Incentives to briquettes production and consumption should be introduced. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Floods kill numerous people every year in both developed and developing countries. The transfer of research findings from the academic community to practitioners, policy-makers and citizens may reduce the impact of floods on mortality. This systematic review analyzes 44 scientific articles extracted from WOS and SCOPUS databases written in English, published between 2010 and 2020, and focuses on flood fatalities. The first main finding of this review is the classification of drivers of flood mortality into two groups: the first group relates to the environment, and the second group relates to the fatalities. The second main finding is the identification of strategies to practically cope with the identified drivers of flood fatalities. The main shortcomings of the review concern (a) the unavailability of papers based on flood fatality occurrence in developing countries and (b) the absence of data focusing on people who have survived floods. This review amplifies useful findings, best practices and lessons learned that can be useful for administrators, risk managers, and teachers of primary and secondary schools to mitigate the impact of future floods on human life. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Plant food production generates a lot of by-products (BPs). These BPs are majorly discarded into the environment, polluting it, or into landfills where they just decompose, providing no benefit and taking up storage space, causing financial costs. These plant BPs are biodegradable, but reusing them may provide a better outcome and profit. The vast majority of plant-based food BPs are polysaccharide polymers like gums, lignin, cellulose, and their derivatives. It is possible to utilize plant food production waste, like banana peels, leaves, pseudostems, and inflorescences, to produce bioethanol, single-cell protein, cellulase, citric acid, lactic acid, amylase, cosmetics, fodder additives, fertilizers, biodegradable fibers, sanitary pads, bio-films, pulp and paper, natural fiber-based composites, bio-sorbents, bio-plastic, and bio-electricity in the agro-industry, pharmaceutical, bio-medical, and bio-engineering fields. Moreover, the use of banana BPs seems to be a way of dealing with many issues in underdeveloped countries, providing a clean and ecological solution. The suggested idea might not only reduce the use of plastic but also mitigate waste pollution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The world is accelerating globalization and urbanization; thus, planning plays an irreplaceable role in the macro development, especially in sustainable development. Planning research is important in turning theories of planning into urban practices. This research based on the theory that planning research is crucial, as it represents that planning-related activities improve processes in urbanization. However, the current understanding of the importance of planning research is limited. There is no research on the interaction between planning research and macro national development to support the importance of planning or its research. This study uses 750,000 articles on urban planning fields from WoS from 1950 to the present. Firstly, the study concludes the investment pattern changes of the global planning research. Over the past 70 years, the total number and diversity of countries engaged in planning research have grown rapidly, and developing countries have gradually integrated into the mainstream research community and become the main contributors. Secondly, the investment intensity and characteristics of planning research are consistent with the speed and characteristics of urbanization, which proves that to some extent, the demand of urbanization development drives the investment of planning research. Then, according to the different characteristics of planning research investment in different countries, this paper summarizes the main investment characteristics of major countries, analyzes the development rule behind the investment characteristics, and predicts the interaction with the international political and economic pattern. By analyzing the relationship between planning research intensity and urbanization, it is found that the investment intensity of planning research has a time rule with urbanization and has different interactions in different stages of urbanization development. It was found that the intensity of planning research was strongly correlated with HDI, and the amount of research was crucial. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]