Improving the competitiveness and marketability of locally-produced rice in Ghana

Irrigated rice has been grown over a number of decades in Ghana on state-sponsored government irrigation projects. Over the years these projects have received extensive state support, as the government has attempted, through various initiatives, to achieve food self-sufficiency. The emphasis on promoting domestic rice production was enhanced by the growing importance of rice in the diet of the urban population, combined with technical assistance provided by donors, such as the Chinese. In addition, the promotion of state-sponsored, input-intensive agriculture reflected the Ghanaian government's past adherence to socialist development models

Strategies to Reduce the Impact of Resource Consumption in the Ghanaian Construction Industry

With a growing priority on resolving environmental issues and managing resources more effectively in line with Sustainable Development Goal 12, this research aims to assess solutions to minimize resource consumption in the Ghanaian construction sector. In the Ghanaian cities of Accra and Kumasi, questionnaires were utilized to solicit responses from construction stakeholders. Mean score ranking was used to rank these techniques. A reliability analysis using Cronbach's alpha coefficient found a high level of internal consistency. A high level of agreement was found after testing using Kendall's concordance. A one-sample t-test was also employed to examine the relative importance of the variables. Properties should be built to be disassembled; sections of existing building structures should be reused; prefabricated components should be utilized for on-site assembly; demolition components should be re-used or recycled, and existing buildings should be renovated to prevent destruction. This research is valuable because it adds to a checklist of measures for minimizing the effect of resource consumption in the Ghanaian construction sector, as well as to the achievement of the SDG goal. Project managers, architects, engineers, subcontractors, and other key stakeholders are encouraged to use innovative approaches to decrease resource consumption

Strategies to Reduce the Impact of Resource Consumption in the Ghanaian Construction Industry

With a growing priority on resolving environmental issues and managing resources more effectively in line with Sustainable Development Goal 12, this research aims to assess solutions to minimize resource consumption in the Ghanaian construction sector. In the Ghanaian cities of Accra and Kumasi, questionnaires were utilized to solicit responses from construction stakeholders. Mean score ranking was used to rank these techniques. A reliability analysis using Cronbach's alpha coefficient found a high level of internal consistency. A high level of agreement was found after testing using Kendall's concordance. A one-sample t-test was also employed to examine the relative importance of the variables. Properties should be built to be disassembled; sections of existing building structures should be reused; prefabricated components should be utilized for on-site assembly; demolition components should be re-used or recycled, and existing buildings should be renovated to prevent destruction. This research is valuable because it adds to a checklist of measures for minimizing the effect of resource consumption in the Ghanaian construction sector, as well as to the achievement of the SDG goal. Project managers, architects, engineers, subcontractors, and other key stakeholders are encouraged to use innovative approaches to decrease resource consumption

Outage Detection via Real-time Social Stream Analysis: Leveraging the Power of Online Complaints

Over the past couple of years, Netflix has significantly expanded its online streaming offerings, which now encompass multiple delivery platforms and thousands of titles available for instant view. This paper documents the design and development of an outage detection system for the online services provided by Netflix. Unlike other internal quality control measures used at Netflix, this system uses only publicly available information: the tweets, or Twitter posts, that mention the word “Netflix,” and has been developed and deployed externally, on servers independent of the Netflix infrastructure. This paper discussed the system and provides assessment of the accuracy of its real-time detection and alert mechanisms

Volatile chemical emissions from fragranced baby products

Fragranced consumer products have been associated with adverse effects on human health. Babies are exposed to a variety of fragranced consumer products, which can emit numerous volatile organic compounds (VOCs), some considered potentially hazardous. However, fragranced baby products are exempt from disclosure of all ingredients. Consequently, parents and the public have little information on product emissions. This study investigates VOCs emitted from a range of fragranced baby products, including baby hair shampoos, body washes, lotions, creams, ointments, oils, hair sprays, and fragrance. The products were analysed using gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS) headspace analysis. Of the 42 baby products tested, 21 products made claims of green, organic, or all-natural. Results of the analysis found 684 VOCs emitted collectively from the 42 products, representing 228 different VOCs. Of these 684 VOCs, 207 are classified as potentially hazardous under federal regulations, representing 43 different VOCs. The most common VOCs emitted were limonene, acetaldehyde, ethanol, alpha-pinene, linalool, beta-myrcene, acetone, and beta-pinene. A comparison between ingredients emitted and ingredients listed reveals that only 5% of the 684 VOCs, including 12% of 207 potentially hazardous VOCs, were listed on the product label, safety data sheet, or website. More than 95% of both green and regular products emitted one or more potentially hazardous VOCs. Further, emissions of the most prevalent VOCs from green, organic, or all-natural products were not significantly different from regular products. Results from this study can help improve public awareness about emissions from baby products, with the aim to reduce pollutant exposure and potential adverse effects on babies

Navigating global finances : an in-depth analysis of foreign exchange exposure in multinational companies : insights from industry practitioners

PURPOSE: The primary objective of this study is to investigate the behavior of practitioners in the face of global finance challenges, with a specific focus on operating foreign exchange exposure.DESIGN/METHODOLOGY/APPROACH: The study relies on a survey conducted among 200 leading multinational companies listed in the Forbes 500.FINDINGS: The results obtained from the specialized questionnaire indicate that hedging is pursued, albeit not fully but partially.PRACTICAL IMPLICATIONS: In conclusion, the study supports the perspective that hedging Operating Foreign Exchange Exposure is not simple; rather, it is a complex undertaking.ORIGINALITY/VALUE: The research method is unique as it is based on a specific sample of top managers from 200 multinational companies.peer-reviewe

An Optimized Hybrid Encryption Framework for Smart Home Healthcare: Ensuring Data Confidentiality and Security

This study proposes an optimized hybrid encryption framework combining ECC-256r1 with AES-128 in EAX mode, tailored for smart home healthcare environments, and conducts a comprehensive investigation to validate its performance. Our framework addresses current limitations in securing sensitive health data and demonstrates resilience against emerging quantum computing threats. Through rigorous experimental evaluation, we show that the proposed configuration outperforms existing solutions by delivering unmatched security, processing speed, and energy efficiency. It employs a robust yet streamlined approach, meticulously designed to ensure simplicity and practicality, facilitating seamless integration into existing systems without imposing undue complexity. Our investigation affirms the framework's capability to resist common cybersecurity threats like MITM, replay, and Sybil attacks while proactively considering quantum resilience. The proposed method excels in processing speed (0.006 seconds for client and server) and energy efficiency (3.65W client, 95.4W server), offering a quantum-resistant security level comparable to AES-128. This represents a security-efficiency ratio of 21.33 bits per millisecond, a 25.6% improvement in client-side processing speed, and up to 44% reduction in server-side energy consumption compared to conventional RSA-2048 methods. These improvements enable real-time encryption of continuous health data streams in IoT environments, making it ideal for IoT devices where AES-128′s smaller footprint is advantageous. By prioritizing high-grade encryption alongside ease of use and implementation, the proposed framework presents a future-proof solution that anticipates the trajectory of cryptographic standards amid advancing quantum computing technologies, signifying a pivotal advancement in safeguarding IoT-driven healthcare data

A critical literature review of security and privacy in smart home healthcare schemes adopting IoT & blockchain: problems, challenges and solutions

Protecting private data in smart homes, a popular Internet-of-Things (IoT) application, remains a significant data security and privacy challenge due to the large-scale development and distributed nature of IoT networks. Recently, smart healthcare has leveraged smart home systems, thereby compounding security concerns in terms of the confidentiality of sensitive and private data and by extension the privacy of the data owner. However, PoA-based Blockchain DLT has emerged as a promising solution for protecting private data from indiscriminate use and thereby preserving the privacy of individuals residing in IoT-enabled smart homes. This review elicits some concerns, issues, and problems that have hindered the adoption of blockchain and IoT (BCoT) in some domains and suggests requisite solutions using the aging-in-place scenario. Implementation issues with BCoT were examined as well as the combined challenges BCoT can pose when utilised for security gains. The study discusses recent findings, opportunities, and barriers, and provide recommendations that could facilitate the continuous growth of blockchain application in healthcare. Lastly, the study then explored the potential of using a PoA-based permission blockchain with an applicable consent-based privacy model for decision-making in the information disclosure process, including the use of publisher-subscriber contracts for fine-grained access control to ensure secure data processing and sharing, as well as ethical trust in personal information disclosure, as a solution direction. The proposed authorisation framework could guarantee data ownership, conditional access management, scalable and tamper-proof data storage, and a more resilient system against threat models such as interception and insider attacks

Food insecurity in adults with severe mental illness living in Northern England: Peer research interview findings

Food insecurity means that a person does not have access to sufficient nutritiousfood for normal growth and health. Food insecurity can lead to many healthproblems such as obesity, heart disease, diabetes, and other long term healthconditions. People living with a severe mental illness are more likely to experiencefood insecurity than people without mental illness. Peer-ledin-depthinterviewswere conducted with adults with severe mental illness from Northern England,during which their experiences of food insecurity and strategies to tackle foodinsecurity were discussed. Interviews took place between March and December2022, with interviews being transcribed and analysed using deductive andinductive thematic analysis. Thirteen interviews were conducted, finding that foodinsecurity in adults with severe mental illness was often a long-standingissue.Unemployment, the cost-of-livingcrisis and fuel poverty impacted on experiencesof food insecurity. Difficulties accessing food banks such as transport, stigma,and the limited selection of available food was also discussed. Strategies to tacklefood insecurity centred on making food banks more accessible and improving thequality of available food. Future research should aim to eradicate food insecurityfor adults with severe mental illness, as limited research and action focuses onthis population group over and above ‘mental illness’ or ‘poor mental health’.Removing barriers to accessing food such as lack of transport, and providing foodwhich is of adequate nutritional quality, should be prioritised, as well as tacklingthe stigma and accessibility issues surrounding food banks use

Food insecurity in adults with severe mental illness living in Northern England: A co-produced cross-sectional study

This study aimed to explore food insecurity prevalence and experiences of adults with severe mental illness living in Northern England.MethodsThis mixed-methods cross-sectional study took place between March and October 2022. Participants were adults with self-reported severe mental illness living in Northern England. The survey included demographic, health, and financial questions. Food insecurity was measured using the US Department of Agriculture Adult Food Security measure. Quantitative data were analysed using descriptive statistics and binary logistic regression; and qualitative data using content analysis.ResultsIn total, 135 participants completed the survey, with a mean age of 44.7 years (SD: 14.1, range: 18–75 years). Participants were predominantly male (53.3%), white (88%) and from Yorkshire (50.4%). The food insecurity prevalence was 50.4% (n = 68). There was statistical significance in food insecurity status by region (p = 0.001); impacts of severe mental illness on activities of daily living (p = 0.02); and the Covid pandemic on food access (p < 0.001). The North West had the highest prevalence of food insecurity (73.3%); followed by the Humber and North East regions (66.7%); and Yorkshire (33.8%). In multivariable binary logistic regression, severe mental illness' impact on daily living was the only predictive variable for food insecurity (odds ratio = 4.618, 95% confidence interval: 1.071–19.924, p = 0.04).ConclusionThe prevalence of food insecurity in this study is higher than is reported in similar studies (41%). Mental health practitioners should routinely assess and monitor food insecurity in people living with severe mental illness. Further research should focus on food insecurity interventions in this population