Search Results (22,202)

Rural communities face significant healthcare access barriers that contribute to persistent health disparities. Mobile health clinics (MHCs) have emerged as a promising strategy for expanding healthcare access, yet their effectiveness in rural settings remains understudied. The aim of this review was to examine the literature to determine what is known about access, health outcomes, and the cost-effectiveness of rural MHCs, specifically with regard to their impact on patient access and outcomes, return on investment (ROI)/financial, and program sustainability. We conducted a comprehensive search of peer-reviewed and grey literature sources. Systematic screening yielded 34 documents for full analysis. Thematic analysis was conducted across three domains: patient access, patient outcomes, and ROI/sustainability. All 34 documents provided data on patient access, with common themes including expanded service utilization, multi-service integration, overcoming geographic and transportation barriers, and improved healthcare affordability. Thirty-two documents addressed patient outcomes, reporting improvements in preventive care delivery, chronic disease management, and high patient satisfaction. Twenty-eight documents included ROI/sustainability information, with evidence suggesting cost-effectiveness particularly through emergency department visit avoidance and multi-service integration. Across the literature reviewed, the quality of evidence varied considerably, yet we concluded mobile health clinics demonstrate promise for expanding healthcare access and improving outcomes in rural populations. Key success factors include multi-service integration, diverse funding partnerships, technological integration, and strong community engagement. More rigorous research with longitudinal clinical outcome measures and robust economic analyses is needed. Full article

This study investigates the determinants of GDP per capita across 26 European Union member states over the period of 2006–2024, with a particular focus on entrepreneurship, institutional quality, and macroeconomic factors. Given the presence of long-run income differences across EU countries, the analysis explicitly accounts for structural heterogeneity in economic development and institutional capacity. To ensure robust estimation in the presence of cross-sectional dependence and slope heterogeneity, the study employs advanced panel econometric techniques, including tests for cross-sectional dependence, unit roots, and cointegration. Long-run relationships and short-run dynamics are estimated using the Cross-Sectionally Augmented Autoregressive Distributed Lag (CS-ARDL) model, complemented by robustness checks based on the Augmented Mean Group (AMG) and Common Correlated Effects Mean Group (CCEMG) estimators. In addition, the Method of Moments Quantile Regression (MMQR) is applied to capture heterogeneity across different points of the income distribution, thereby reflecting long-run income disparities among EU member states. The empirical results confirm the existence of a stable long-run equilibrium relationship among the variables. The baseline CS-ARDL estimates indicate that institutional quality, entrepreneurial activity, trade openness, and government expenditure exert positive and statistically significant effects on GDP per capita, while financial development exhibits a negative effect and foreign direct investment remains insignificant. In the short run, entrepreneurship and trade openness contribute positively to GDP per capita, whereas government expenditure and credit expansion generate contractionary effects. The robustness analysis using AMG and CCEMG estimators largely supports these findings, as the direction of the coefficients remains consistent across alternative specifications, although some variation in statistical significance is observed due to differences in the treatment of cross-sectional dependence and unobserved common factors. The MMQR results further reveal substantial heterogeneity across the income distribution, indicating that the effects of key determinants vary depending on countries’ long-run income levels. In particular, trade openness and institutional quality exert stronger positive effects in lower-income quantiles, while the adverse effects of excessive financial development are more pronounced in higher-income quantiles. Overall, the findings underscore the importance of promoting productive entrepreneurship, strengthening institutional frameworks, facilitating trade integration, and ensuring efficient financial intermediation to enhance GDP per capita within the European Union. The results also highlight the need for differentiated policy approaches that explicitly account for long-run income heterogeneity, structural differences, and varying institutional capacities across EU member states. Full article

Despite increasing investments in digital transformation and sustainability initiatives, many organizations struggle to translate these efforts into measurable sustainable organizational performance, particularly in emerging economies, where resource constraints and institutional pressures persist. This study examines how digital capability and environmental strategy orientation contribute to sustainable organizational performance through the sequential mediating roles of environmental management accounting (EMA) integration and managerial decision quality. Drawing on dynamic capability theory and the natural resource-based view, this study proposes a moderated mediation model incorporating technology readiness and environmental regulatory pressure. Data were collected from 479 middle- and senior-level managers of ISO 14001-certified manufacturing firms in Pakistan and analyzed using partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM). The results indicate that both digital capability and environmental strategy orientation significantly enhance EMA integration, which in turn improves managerial decision quality and ultimately drives sustainable organizational performance. The findings confirm the presence of sequential mediation through EMA integration and decision quality. Furthermore, technology readiness strengthens the relationship between digital capability and EMA integration, whereas environmental regulatory pressure does not significantly moderate the relationship between environmental strategy orientation and EMA integration. This study contributes to the sustainability literature by introducing a novel sequential mediation mechanism linking digital and strategic capabilities to sustainability outcomes through accounting-based processes. It also provides empirical evidence offering practical insights for managers and policymakers aiming to enhance sustainability performance. The findings provide context-specific insights from an emerging economy and contribute to advancing organizational sustainability in line with SDGs 8, 12, and 13. Full article

The present study provides a high-frequency empirical assessment of the financial performance, volatility, and market integration of thematic sustainability-oriented equity funds, focusing on clean energy and environmental innovation indices. Specifically, the study compares the financial performance of representative thematic green equity funds, such as ICLN and QCLN, and an emerging-market benchmark (ECON) with conventional developed-market indices (SPY, QQQ, GSPC, and XLE) using daily stock prices from 2010 to 2025. The analysis employs a transparent and replicable framework based on daily logarithmic and cumulative returns and incorporates the compound annual growth rate (CAGR), Sharpe and Sortino ratios, beta estimation, correlation analysis, and maximum drawdown. The research frequency is appropriate for a thorough analysis of short-term market structures and performance. The results indicate that sustainability-oriented equity indices exhibit higher volatility, deeper drawdowns, and greater sensitivity to broad market movements than conventional benchmarks. Sustainability-focused equity indices that emphasize clean energy exhibit higher market sensitivity (betas above 1) and strong correlations with traditional equity indices. Correlation and beta estimates suggest a high degree of integration with traditional equity markets, implying limited diversification benefits within an equity-only framework. Periods of relative outperformance appear to be associated with favorable policy conditions and energy market dynamics, but are not consistently sustained over the sample period. In addition, the overall results suggest that sustainability investments generate substantial environmental and social externalities. Risk-adjusted performance measures suggest weaker historical performance over the sample period relative to conventional benchmarks. These findings should be interpreted as a comparative historical assessment rather than a structural risk model. From a policy perspective, the findings suggest that stable and credible regulatory frameworks, including long-term climate policy support and investment-enabling institutions, may be important for improving the financial resilience and long-term viability of green equity instruments. From a sustainability transition perspective, the observed volatility and market dependence of sustainability-oriented equity indices may constrain their effectiveness as standalone market-based financing mechanisms without complementary institutional and policy support. Full article

As a novel tool for predicting stock trends, hypergraphs are used to effectively represent high-order relationships among stocks, capturing symmetric dependencies inherent in market interactions. However, the instability of hyperedges limits their ability to capture dynamic stock changes, and existing methods neglect the influence of time decay on feature importance. To address these challenges, a hybrid hypergraph–dynamic graph attention network based on temporal decay attention and conditional aggregation for stock trend prediction, namely HDGAN, is developed. Specifically, we utilize dynamic graphs to capture the dynamic relationships among stocks, which mitigates the instability of the hyperedge structure in dynamic markets. A temporal decay attention mechanism is designed to identify important feature points in the evolution of stock prices, and then a conditional aggregation method is proposed to aggregate information from different pathways. Extensive experiments on A-share, NASDAQ, and NYSE datasets demonstrate HDGAN outperforms other state-of-the-art methods in stock trend prediction and investment return. Full article

Electricity infrastructure is widely regarded as a fundamental prerequisite for supporting sustainable industrial development and driving corporate digital transformation under energy constraints. Taking the quasi-natural experiment of changes in electricity supply resulting from the cross-regional power transmission of the Three Gorges Project, and using data from China’s A-share listed manufacturing companies over the period 2000 to 2023, this paper constructs a multi-period difference-in-differences model to investigate whether improvements in electricity infrastructure promote corporate digital transformation and to examine their potential role in supporting sustainable economic development. The empirical results indicate that improvements in electricity infrastructure significantly enhance the level of corporate digital transformation. In the mechanism analysis, the alleviation of financing constraints and the increase in R&D investment play important mediating roles in the process through which electricity infrastructure affects corporate digital transformation. Further heterogeneity analysis reveals that the above effects are more pronounced in non-STAR Market enterprises, labor-intensive enterprises, asset-intensive enterprises, state-owned enterprises, and regions characterized by relatively lower levels of marketization. This study reveals the intrinsic relationship between electricity infrastructure and corporate digital transformation at the micro level, provides empirical evidence for understanding how energy infrastructure supports sustainable digital transformation and enhances long-term economic resilience, and offers policy implications for promoting the coordinated development of energy security and the digital economy. Full article

This paper describes the thermal and energy performance of three roof configurations: a conventional concrete slab, a BIPV system, and a BIPV system equipped with passive aluminum fins. Three-dimensional transient finite element simulations were carried out under field-measured 24 h meteorological boundary conditions characteristic of hot climates. The objective of this study is to quantify the impact of PV integration and passive cooling strategies on heat transfer behavior and building energy performance. The BIPV roof achieved a 38.4% lower residual temperature than the concrete slab at 19:00, indicating superior heat dissipation. The addition of passive fins reduced module temperature by up to 10–12 °C and decreased peak roof temperature by up to 12%. This temperature reduction decreased electrical losses from 13.2% to 10.4%, resulting in a 21% relative reduction in temperature-induced losses. The predicted temperature ranges (≈60–75 °C under peak conditions) are consistent with values reported in experimental and numerical studies of BIPV systems in hot climates, supporting the physical realism of the model. Convective heat transfer was represented using effective coefficients, providing a computationally efficient engineering approximation of air-side heat exchange. Despite construction cost increases of up to 38%, PV integration achieved competitive payback periods of approximately 8.5–9 months under hot climate conditions. This economic assessment is based on a simple payback approach using an incremental cost formulation, where the photovoltaic system replaces the conventional concrete roof, reducing the effective investment. This study introduces a reproducible 3D transient FEM methodology for evaluating BIPV roofs under field-measured climatic boundary conditions. The framework explicitly couples geometry-resolved passive cooling, full-day thermal evolution, and temperature-dependent electrical losses, providing a physically consistent basis for assessing BIPV design alternatives in hot climates. Full article

The synergistic and mutually reinforcing relationship between the development of the new energy industry and comprehensive land consolidation is crucial for integrating ecologically fragile areas into the national “dual carbon” goals and supporting regional high-quality development. Based on a systematic literature review, field investigations in typical regions, and multi-case comparative analysis, this paper analyzes the challenges and opportunities for the new energy industry in ecologically fragile areas as well as the mutually reinforcing mechanisms between new energy industry development and land consolidation. On this basis, it explores pathways for comprehensive land consolidation in coordination with new energy development. Building on local practices, it further identifies five typical models. The results show the following: (1) The development of the new energy industry in ecologically fragile areas faces multiple challenges, including a fragile ecological environment, inadequate infrastructure, a mismatch between resource supply and demand, and land use conflicts. Against the backdrop of the energy transition, breakthroughs in key technologies, and the guidance of territorial spatial planning, the value of wind and solar resources in these areas are becoming increasingly prominent, offering broad prospects for the new energy industry. (2) The development of the new energy industry and comprehensive land consolidation in ecologically fragile areas are mutually reinforcing. Factors such as resource endowment, ecological constraints, new quality productive forces, and investment and financing mechanisms interact and integrate with each other, resulting in diversified synergistic pathways. (3) Based on the priorities of new energy industry development and the primary objectives of consolidation, five models are identified: Ecological Restoration-led Model, Resource Development-led Model, Industrial Collaboration-led Model, Technological Innovation-led Model and Integrated Development Model. Each model has distinct priorities and applicable scenarios. This study will provide a reference for new energy development and sustainable development in ecologically fragile areas, including desertified and Gobi desert areas, coal mining subsidence areas, and areas rich in wind, solar, and hydropower resources. Full article

In the context of China’s rapid urbanization and rural land marketization reforms, the entry of rural collectively owned commercial construction land into the market (ERCCCLM) coexists with the traditional government-led land expropriation, forming a dual land supply system. China’s dual-structure land ownership system—where urban land belongs to the state and rural land to rural collectives—aims to balance land market allocation efficiency with government regulation for public interests. However, significant differences exist between the two patterns in terms of revenue distribution, risk-bearing, and institutional constraints. Consequently, stakeholders including rural collective economic organizations, farmers, local governments, and development companies face dilemmas in selecting land supply patterns, thereby limiting land resource allocation efficiency. The research employs multidimensional economic analysis to systematically compare the ERCCCLM and land expropriation patterns, establishing a land supply pattern selection mechanism with land market price and compensation for expropriation as key variables. First, the expenditure and revenue of stakeholders in both patterns were clarified based on relevant documents, and investment revenue models were constructed. Second, through comparative analysis of revenue formation mechanisms across land supply patterns and sensitivity analysis of multi-scenario calculations, the land market price and compensation for expropriation are identified as key variables determining economic revenue. The findings indicate that when the land market price exceeds compensation for expropriation, ERCCCLM generates higher economic revenue for the rural collective economic organization and farmer. Conversely, when the land market price is equal to or lower than the compensation for expropriation, land expropriation provides more stable revenue. The land expropriation and ERCCCLM examined in this research represent a unique land expropriation and utilization system exclusive to China. The proposed selection mechanism improves land market distribution efficiency and informs policy discussions on optimizing land supply patterns, ensuring a balance between market efficiency and stakeholder equity. Full article

This study addresses the sustainable supply chain network design (SSCND) problem by integrating economic and environmental dimensions through a multi-objective, multi-echelon stochastic mathematical model. The proposed model focuses on simultaneously optimizing total cost, carbon emissions, water footprint, and renewable energy utilization. Strategic solar energy investment alongside facility location and sizing decisions are considered under uncertain conditions. Initially, a multi-product stochastic model is developed and solved utilizing the augmented epsilon constraint (AUGMECON2) method to obtain Pareto-optimal solutions for small-scale instances. For validation purposes, the exact solutions obtained using AUGMECON2 were used as the benchmark for the small-scale instance, while the proposed hybrid NSGA-II algorithm generated near-optimal solutions with deviations of 0.30%, 1.53%, 0.03%, and 0.0006% for total cost, carbon emissions, renewable energy use, and water footprint, respectively. Compared with the cost-oriented solution, the renewable energy-focused solution increased total cost by 76.33% while reducing the water footprint by 6.36% and carbon emissions by 3.57%. For medium- and large-scale instances, where exact solutions became computationally impractical, the hybrid NSGA-II algorithm remained applicable and generated feasible Pareto solutions within 59.05 s and 309.62 s, respectively. Overall, the presented framework provides a scalable decision-support tool for sustainable supply chain planning under uncertainty. Full article

The Disability Royal Commission in Australia has reinforced concerns that segregated employment settings can increase risks of exploitation, violence and abuse, including within Australian Disability Enterprises (ADEs), strengthening the case for community-based employment options for people with intellectual disability. This qualitative study examined how features of supported employment might inform the design of an inclusive job guarantee (JG) model. Drawing on 77 interviews with supported employees and staff, we identified enabling conditions that support wellbeing and participation (including customised roles, structured routines, peer connection, and holistic support), alongside structural constraints that can limit inclusion and progression. While participants and staff described clear well-being benefits from supported employment, they also highlighted frustrations associated with disconnection from the wider community, low pay, and limited pathways to advancement or transition. Given that transition rates between supported and mainstream employment remain very low, the findings emphasise that any JG model seeking to include people with intellectual disability will need investment in supports and credible transition pathways. This paper concludes by outlining how these design implications intersect with the broader economic logic of unemployment and what an inclusive JG could contribute as part of a wider disability employment reform agenda. Full article

The transition to a circular economy creates winners and losers, challenging the assumption that green growth is inherently inclusive. While environmental benefits are documented, the distributional consequences remain poorly understood. This study analyzes how socioeconomic and labor inequalities shape the effectiveness of circular economy policies. Using panel data from 90 countries (2019–2024) combined with global governance indicators, we employ fixed-effects models, instrumental variables, and configurational analysis (fsQCA) to identify causal mechanisms. The results reveal a critical institutional threshold: circular economy policies reduce inequality only in countries with high institutional quality (WGI > 1.39). In contexts with weak institutions or positive Skill Structure Balance (SSB), these policies are regressive. Social protection and digital financial inclusion moderate these effects, acting as buffers against distributional risks. These findings challenge the “automatic social benefits” narrative, suggesting that environmental ambition requires parallel investments in institutional capacity and human capital to achieve a just transition. Full article

Given the energy-intensive operations and considerable carbon emissions of offshore oil and gas platforms (OOGPs) in deep-sea regions, adopting floating offshore wind farms (FOWFs) as power sources offers substantial benefits. However, the expenses associated with dynamic submarine cables constitute a substantial portion of the capital expenditure (CAPEX) for this hybrid system, highlighting the crucial need for optimization in the power collection system design. In this study, we present a mixed-integer quadratic programming (MIQP) model designed to reduce both the costs of investment and power losses associated with dynamic submarine cables, taking into account the influence of the wake effect in local wind conditions. Due to the complexity of this problem, we employ the Benders’ decomposition method to reformulate it into a master problem and a slave problem. Additionally, two valid inequalities are specifically incorporated into the master problem to accelerate the solution process. These constraints are derived from a heuristic combination of various cable connection configurations and a greedy-based spanning tree structure. Through multiple case studies, we first demonstrate the accuracy and rapid convergence of our method. Furthermore, we reveal that as the wind farm grows in size, the influence of the wake effect becomes increasingly pronounced. Full article

This study explores the environmental justice issues associated with landfill compensation policies in Bantargebang, Indonesia. Although compensation programs have been implemented for many years, communities living near landfills continue to experience ongoing environmental damage and significant health concerns. Using a qualitative descriptive method, this research explores systemic barriers through in-depth interviews, observations, and water quality analysis. The findings indicate that labeling the program as “Social Assistance” within the Local Government Information System (SIPD) redefines ecological compensation as a fixed form of charity, rather than as a mechanism for genuine environmental restitution. Laboratory data show severe bacteriological contamination, with Total Coliform levels reaching 95%, forcing residents to bear substantial “hidden costs” for clean water, perpetuating a cycle of financial dependence. The growing normalization of health hazards is evident in over 5000 annual cases of acute respiratory infections, and the deadly landslide in March 2026, in which claimed seven lives and injured six others. These incidents underscore the failure of existing remediation approaches to safeguard human dignity and well-being. To address these shortcomings, this study proposes the adoption of an Integrated Compensation Model based on Green Social Work. This model emphasizes structural investment, spatial risk-based indices using quantitative data, and budget coding adjustments within the SIPD. This approach highlights the urgent need to move beyond temporary charitable assistance and instead pursue meaningful environmental justice, while positioning social workers as “Social-Ecological Brokers” who help restore dignity and well-being in communities often treated as “sacrifice zones.” Full article

Responding to rapid urbanization, this study examines the trade-offs and synergies of ecosystem services (ESs) at the county scale in the Zhengzhou metropolitan area and constructs an ecological security pattern. Using the InVEST model, we quantified carbon storage (CS), soil conservation (SC), habitat quality (HQ), water yield (WY), and food production (FP). We then analyzed their trade-offs and synergies using the geographically weighted regression model, identified driving factors with an optimal parameter-based geographical detector model, detected ecosystem service bundles via a Self-organizing map model, and constructed an ecological security pattern based on circuit theory. The results showed that: (1) From 2003 to 2023, ES spatial distribution remained stable overall, with weak trade-offs and synergies. Locally, WY and HQ declined, while SC and FP increased. (2) Slope and DEM enhanced SC, whereas urban expansion consistently weakened CS, HQ, and FP. Moreover, slope played an increasingly prominent role in regulating WY. (3) Key synergistic bundles with stable spatiotemporal distribution were identified as ecological sources, leading to the construction of ecological security pattern characterized by “four districts, one corridor, and one belt.” This provides a framework for integrating ecological space protection and restoration into urban development. Full article