Unveiling the antibacterial and antioxidant potential of leaf extracts: recent findings.

L., a member of the Araliaceae family, is a commonly known decorative plant with recognized medicinal activities. In this study, the ethanolic extract from leaves was investigated for its total polyphenolic and flavonoid contents, as well as its antioxidant and antibacterial properties.

Healthcare Stakeholders' Perspectives on Challenges in the Provision of Quality Primary Healthcare for People with Disabilities in Three Regions of Guatemala: A Qualitative Study.

It is estimated that 3.75 billion people worldwide lack access to healthcare services. Marginalized populations, such as people with disabilities, are at greater risk of exclusion.

Health service needs and perspectives of a rainforest conserving community in Papua New Guinea's Ramu lowlands: a combined clinical and rapid anthropological assessment with parallel treatment of urgent cases.

Objectives: Determine community needs and perspectives as part of planning health service incorporation into Wanang Conservation Area, in support of locally driven sustainable development.

Design: Clinical and rapid anthropological assessment (individual primary care assessments, key informant (KI) interviews, focus groups (FGs), ethnography) with treatment of urgent cases.

Setting: Wanang (pop.

Out-of-pocket expenditure among patients with diabetes in Bangladesh: A nation-wide population-based study.

Background And Objectives: Diabetes has become one of the fastest growing public health emergencies worldwide. The objective of this study was to estimate the average annual out-of-pocket cost of diabetes treatment as well as to find out the catastrophic health expenditure (CHE) and their determinants in Bangladeshi context.

Data And Methods: The study utilised data from the most recent nationally representative Household Income and Expenditure Survey 2016-2017.

Equity assessment of maternal and child healthcare benefits utilization and distribution in public healthcare facilities in Bangladesh: a benefit incidence analysis.

Background: The distribution of healthcare services should be based on the needs of the population, regardless of their ability to pay. Achieving universal health coverage implies first ensuring that people of all income levels have access to quality healthcare, and then allocating resources reasonably considering individual need. Hence, this study aims to understand how public benefits in Bangladesh are currently distributed among wealth quintiles considering different layers of healthcare facilities and to assess the distributional impact of public benefits.

Land tenure, food security, gender and urbanization in Northern Ghana.

Links between land tenure and food and nutritional insecurity are receiving increased attention. Nevertheless, urban and periurban dwellers face challenges in accessing land to produce food for subsistence and sale. An ethnographic study and food and nutrition insecurity survey were conducted between October 2013 and November 2014 in Tamale, Northern Region of Ghana, to explore the dynamic and recursive links between land access, food access and the ability to maintain resources to meet long-term needs.

Disability and other identities?-how do they intersect?

This paper addresses intersectionality and disability in global contexts. Disability as a category of identity is often omitted in rhetoric about intersectionality, which usually considers race and gender, with some consideration of other identities. However, disability like other identities is socially constructed, and liable to misrepresentation and is often siloed from other issues and experiences.

Using intersectionality to study gender and antimicrobial resistance in low- and middle-income countries.

Different sexes and genders experience differentiated risks of acquiring infections, including drug-resistant infections, and of becoming ill. Different genders also have different health-seeking behaviours that shape their likelihood of having access to and appropriately using and administering antimicrobials. Consequently, they are distinctly affected by antimicrobial resistance (AMR).

Green bond vs. Islamic bond: Which one is more environmentally friendly?

This research investigates the dynamic dependence and causality relationship of the S&P Kensho Clean Energy (CE) and Cleantech (CT) indices with two green bond indices, including the S&P Green Bond Index (GB) and Green Bond Select (GBS) indices, and four Islamic bond indices, including A-, AA-, AAA-, and BBB-graded Sukuk Indices. In the long- and medium-term, the dependence of CE and CT on Sukuk and green bond indices strengthens under normal or bearish market conditions based on quantile cross-spectral (coherency). Overall, among all alternative financing instruments, AA- and A-rated Sukuk indices and GBS indices have higher coherency with CE and CT.

Conducting Social Science Research During Epidemics and Pandemics: Lessons Learnt.

The COVID-19 pandemic has had a significant impact on how field-based research is being conducted globally. Given the challenges of undertaking fieldwork during epidemics and the need for mixed methods research to address the social, political, and economic issues related to epidemics, there is a small but growing body of evidence in this area. To contribute to the logistical and ethical considerations for conducting research during a pandemic, we draw on the challenges and lessons learnt from adapting methods for two research studies conducted in 2021 during the COVID-19 pandemic in low- and middle-income country (LMIC) settings: (1) in-person research in Uganda and (2) combined remote and in-person research in South and Southeast Asia.

Impact of economic shocks on mental health during COVID-19: A longitudinal study of adult residents of Indian metropolitan cities.

Background: The causal impact of income shocks on mental well-being in developing countries is an under-researched area. The COVID-19 pandemic, along with the economic recession caused by the lockdowns to reduce transmission, provides a natural experimental setting to examine the causal impact of a decline in monthly per capita expenditure (MPCE) on mental health of the general population in India during the pandemic.

Aim: To evaluate the impact of income shocks on mental health of adults in metro cities during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Risk perception of Ebola virus disease and COVID-19 among transport drivers living in Ugandan border districts.

Background: Cross-border movements between districts bordering Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) are common due to the interdependence between populations on either side, though this increases the risk of the international spread of infectious diseases. Due to the nature of their work, boda boda drivers (motorcycle taxis), taxis and truck drivers continue to cross the border during epidemics. However, perceived risk of contracting and spreading communicable diseases may be influenced by several factors such as the level of education, packaging and perception of health care messages, limited interaction with local socio-cultural dynamics or personal experiences.

Can using energy resources productively and promoting good governance boost carbon productivity? An economic growth-environmental degradation decoupling analysis on 116 global countries.

Decoupling economic growth from environmental pollution for promoting low-carbon growth has become a global objective. Though the previous studies have mostly analyzed how environmental pollution can be reduced, not much emphasis was given to assessing how economic growth can be enhanced while limiting environmental damages in tandem. Hence, this study examines how carbon productivity is determined by energy productivity improvement, good governance, financial development, financial globalization, and international trade using data from 116 global economies.

A whole system approach to childhood obesity: how a supportive environment was created in the city of Brighton and Hove, United Kingdom.

Unlabelled: Childhood obesity is a growing global challenge, and no country has yet reversed the upward trend in prevalence. The causes are multifaceted, spanning individual, societal, environmental, and political spheres. This makes finding solutions complex as traditional linear models of treatment and effect have proven only minimally successful or unfeasible at the population level.

Digital divide and access to online education: new evidence from Tamil Nadu, India.

The pandemic and the long closure of educational institutions have changed the learning and teaching practices across the globe. A massive and unplanned shift towards online education with unequal access to digital infrastructure deepens the existing digital divide and socio-economic inequalities. Tamil Nadu Covid Pulse Survey shows the state's commitment to strengthening evidence-based policymaking and continuing its welfare tradition including its efforts to provide uninterrupted education during the crisis.

Offshoring the scarring causes and effects of environmental challenges faced by the advanced world: an empirical evidence.

In contemplating the prospects of advanced world countries, researchers stand divided among two groups: one group crying "melting of glaciers" and the group denying global warming as a significant concern while reaping the fruits of growth. One persistent concern for the other group is much desirable economic growth at the cost of environmental degradation, which is now reaching a scale where the global climate is become not only unsustainable but also causing a significant threat to our existence. In our opinion, environmental degradation should be taken very seriously now, particularly by pointing out the necessary variables causing it so that effective policy designs are formulated.

Role of health facility governing committees in strengthening social accountability to improve the health system in Tanzania: protocol for a participatory action research study.

Introduction: Social accountability is important for improving the delivery of health services and empowering citizens. The government of Tanzania has transferred authority to plan, budget and manage financial resources to the lower health facilities since 2017. Health facility governing committees (HFGCs) therefore play a pivotal role in ensuring social accountability.

Applying the 'Candidacy' Model to understand access to key nutrition, food & health services in LMIC contexts: a qualitative study in Odisha, India.

In order to make progress towards Sustainable Development Goal 2 - Zero Hunger - we must acquire a better understanding of what continues to hamper achieving food security, particularly in contexts where progress has been achieved, but has then faltered. This article investigates access to nutrition and food services in three of the Indian state of Odisha's traditionally poorer districts, where a large number of the state's most marginalised populations live. Semi-structured interviews were carried out in 11 villages.

An overlooked market: loose cigarettes, informal vendors and their implications for tobacco taxation.

Objective: To examine the features of markets for loose cigarettes in several low-income and middle-income countries and their effects on tobacco control policies, particularly taxation.

Design: An analysis of survey data targeting people who smoke in two African, one Southeast Asian and two South Asian countries and retailers across 16 African countries to study loose cigarette markets and examine how prices in these markets move relative to the prices for cigarette packs.

Results: Markets for loose cigarettes are large, and their consumer base tends to differ from the wider population of people who smoke.

Environmental impact of globalization: The case of central and Eastern European emerging economies.

Against the backdrop of piling environmental concerns in the modern era of globalization, this study aims to check the validity of the Pollution Haven Hypothesis (PHH) in Eastern European emerging countries and the relevance of globalization. The study targets to reduce the lack of consensus on the globalization-economic complexity-environment in European countries. Besides, we also intend to explore the existence of an N-shaped economic complexity-related Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC) controlling for the bearing of renewable energy on environmental degradation.