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The use of tricycle waste collection services has become an essential component of solid waste management, particularly in densely populated and low-income communities. The growing demand for improved waste collection services has led to an increased focus on understanding households' willingness to pay for better service quality. This study explores the operation of tricycle waste operators, public involvement and households' willingness to pay for improved services.

This study employed a sequential mixed-methods approach, with a multi-stage sampling technique and randomly selected 385 respondents from five traditional communities in the Greater Kumasi Metropolitan Area (GKMA), Ghana, as a case study.

The study reveals that in the GKMA, waste management operates on a volume-based pricing system, where higher waste volumes result in increased disposal costs, encouraging waste reduction. However, regulatory gaps and inconsistent service delivery, particularly in low-income areas, impact efficiency and public health. Most households expressed a willingness to pay more for improved services, with factors such as education, employment status, household income and challenges with the current tricycle waste collection system positively influencing this willingness to pay.

This study provides the key factors influencing WTP for improved tricycle waste collection in Greater Kumasi, Ghana, to address the gaps in regulation, service inconsistencies and promote sustainable waste management practices.

In a context in which disabled people are stigmatized, the school-to-work transition threatens the occupational identity to which disabled individuals aspire. This study highlights how students with a disability face and react against identity threat, using identity management strategies and, specifically, identity threat responses when intending to integrate into the workplace.

Students in transition or having recently integrated into the workplace were interviewed to relate their transitioning experience, resulting in a qualitative study based on 31 semi-structured interviews.

The study reveals that identity threat is experienced during the school-to-work transition process and that disabled individuals do not remain passive but actively fight against it. The participants used four identity management strategies to attempt to counteract such threats. The strategies displayed include identity threat mechanisms such as identity-protection and identity-restructuring responses. The outcomes of these strategies are presented in terms of their positive and backlash effects.

This research contributes to the identity management literature and, more specifically, to the identity threat literature by showing how disabled individuals combine several identity threat responses, which they use as resources to reduce potential harm. New identity threat responses that are particularly crucial in a career management strategy are also highlighted.

We integrate trait, individual differences and substitutes for leadership theories to examine how leader trait anger influences leader vision and follower trust in the leader across high versus low levels of organizational formalization.

We obtained data from two independent multi-source samples from different occupations and countries. Sample 1: leader–follower dyads (n = 179) collected over three measurement periods from the Philippines; Sample 2: cross-correlational sample of leaders (n = 166), their manager (n = 166) and their followers (n = 610) from Australia.

We tested our hypotheses using PROCESS (Hayes, 2018) and found that leader trait anger influenced follower trust in the leader both directly and indirectly through leader vision (Samples 1 & 2). We also found that organizational formalization neutralized the effect of leader vision on follower trust in the leader (Sample 2).

While we used a time-lagged design in Sample 1, we cannot make strong causal claims as might be the case in an experimental study, for example.

Our results highlight the adverse effect of leader trait anger on perceptions of leader vision and follower trust in the leader, which we suggest should be considered in recruitment and promotion decisions. Our findings also suggest that high levels of organizational formalization may undermine the motivational effect of leader vision on followers, which should be considered in relation to organizational rules and procedures.

This research enhances our understanding of a previously unexplored boundary condition (i.e. organizational formalization) that appears to neutralize the motivational effect of leader vision. In addition, it highlights the ubiquitous effect of trait anger, in this case undermining the effectiveness of leader vision and trust in the leader, from two different observer perspectives (i.e. leaders’ followers and managers).

This study explores women’s experiences and perceptions of gender inclusivity in hackathons, aiming to understand how tailored equality initiatives can evolve into gender-neutral, merit-based environments.

Drawing on 43 semi-structured interviews with women participants, organizers and mentors at multiple hackathons, the research employs thematic analysis to identify key barriers, strategies and long-term opportunities for advancing inclusivity.

The study reveals that initially focused gender equality measures help restore balance and mitigate entrenched stereotypes. Over time, transitioning to gender-neutral policies sustains hackathons as dynamic innovation platforms. Continuous feedback mechanisms, targeted interventions and robust data analytics ensure that these policies evolve, thus enhancing both the diversity of participants and the quality of their solutions.

The findings guide hackathon organizers and stakeholders in implementing adaptable measures – such as short-term mentorship programs, regular feedback loops and bias-awareness training – that respond directly to participants’ experiences. These interventions not only address current disparities but also pave the way for long-term, skill-driven meritocracies in innovation ecosystems.

By informing more equitable innovation ecosystems, this research supports broader efforts to diversify STEM participation and improve gender equity.

Where previous research often treats inclusivity as an isolated concern, this study outlines a strategic, iterative pathway: from direct equality-focused actions to a genuinely merit-based context. By incorporating firsthand perspectives, it provides a nuanced, evidence-based framework that extends beyond broad recommendations.

This paper aims to provide a conceptual framework containing SERVQUAL original dimensions and add two additional dimensions: patient satisfaction and loyalty in the hospital SQ model that demonstrates the relationship between hospital service quality, patient satisfaction and loyalty from patients’ perspective.

This research conducted a thorough literature review using specific keywords and electronic databases, adhering to Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines. Through analysis, the key dimensions of service quality in Indian hospitals were identified, with the addition of patient satisfaction and loyalty as variables. Of 1,000 initially downloaded papers, 497 were included.

While many researchers rely on the SERVQUAL model, some introduce new or modified dimensions, often renaming existing ones. This study identifies the RATER factors as the main dimensions patients use to evaluate hospital services. This study finds a positive relationship between service quality, patient satisfaction and loyalty.

An understanding of how health-care service quality dimensions, directly and indirectly, affect patient satisfaction and loyalty is important for hospital marketing managers. This study helps them take action to improve patient satisfaction, which encourages patients to be loyal.

This research provides a comprehensive framework for measuring health-care service quality, combining SERVQUAL dimensions and new variables. This study offers useful insights for academics and health-care professionals, promoting more accurate measurement and enhancement of service quality. The use of PRISMA in this context is also innovative, as it is less common in administrative health-care research.

A health learning program relying on the scientific method was designed to promote reducing the intake of foods high in sugar, sodium and saturated fat in a group of school-aged children.

The scientific method was a core approach for creating intervention activities. We conducted mixed-methods research consisting of a quasi-experimental study and supplemented with a qualitative study.

After the intervention, mean scores of knowledge (F = 16.052, p < 0.05) and intrinsic motivation of the intervention group (IG) were significantly increased (t = 4.277, p < 0.05). Although basic science process skills before and after intervention were not significantly different, it found positive correlations with intrinsic motivation, extrinsic motivation and dietary behavior.

The selected sample size is relatively small. The intervention program should be repeated with larger and more diverse students to ensure the effectiveness of this program.

This intervention program relying on the scientific method evokes the knowledge of grade 5–6 students about good diet and nutrition, emphasizing reducing the intake of foods high in sugar, sodium and saturated fat. Teachers should also observe and encourage students to steadily drive healthy food consumption behaviors according to the theoretical behavior change stage at least during their time at school.

The developed program could be a feasible option for teachers to integrate into the lessons in the classroom. This program also motivates students’ healthy food consumption.

The impact of digital technology in the wider travel field has been substantial and significant, changing both the competitive landscape of businesses and the behavior of travelers. However, we are now on the cusp of new digital developments encompassing cloud computing, blockchain, internet of things (IoT) and above all, artificial intelligence (AI), which are predicted to disrupt the business and consumer sides of several industries – travel included. This study aims to frame this upcoming digital transformation in travel within a human-centered approach where the critical understanding of digital humanism principles will enrich social scientists’ research agenda in the coming years.

The viewpoint follows a structure based on (i) setting the scene for the rise of digital transformation, (ii) the historical perspective on digital transformation in travel, (iii) the pandemic’s impact and (iv) future development and research agenda.

It is only by fostering a human-centered digital transformation perspective that social science researchers in travel can realize the “high-tech for high-touch” promise of fostering a human-to-human encounter empowered and possibly hampered, by digital technologies. This work proposes to start from the concepts of digital technology control, participation, education and ethics to design a research agenda with a 2050 horizon.

This work has been designed to shift the attention of researchers toward a human-centered digital transformation approach to reflect on the human-machine relationship for a better society. Due to its inner characteristics the travel field can foster a reflection on this topic by reaffirming the centrality of human beings and their authorship in the travel product creation.

数字技术在更广泛的旅游领域产生了巨大而显著的影响, 改变了企业的竞争图景和游客行为。然而, 我们现在正处于新的数字发展的风口浪尖, 包括云计算、区块链、物联网以及最重要的人工智能, 预计这些技术将颠覆包括旅游业在内的多个行业的企业端和消费端。这项研究建议将即将到来的旅行数字化转型纳入以人为本的方法, 对数字人文主义原则的批判性理解将丰富社会科学家未来几年的研究议程。

该观点遵循基于以下方面的一种结构, (i)为数字化转型的兴起设定场景, （ii）旅行数字化转型的历史视角, (iii)疫情的影响和（iv）未来发展和研究议程。

只有培养以人为中心的数字化转型视角, 旅游领域的社会科学研究人员才能实现“高科技换高品质”的承诺, 培养一种被数字技术赋能但也可能受到阻碍的人与人之间的接触。这项工作建议从数字技术控制、参与、教育和伦理的概念出发, 设计一个2050年的研究议程。

这项工作旨在将研究人员的注意力转移到以人为中心的数字化转型方法上, 以反思更美好社会的人机关系。由于旅游领域的内在特征, 它可以通过重申人在旅游产品创造中的中心地位和作者身份来促进对这一主题的反思。

El impacto de la tecnología digital en el ámbito de los viajes en general ha sido sustancial y significativo, cambiando tanto el panorama competitivo de las empresas como el comportamiento de los viajeros. Sin embargo, en la actualidad estamos en la cúspide de nuevos desarrollos digitales que abarcan la nube informática, blockchain, IoT y, sobre todo, la inteligencia artificial, que se prevé que alteren los aspectos comerciales y de consumo de varias industrias, incluidos los viajes. Esta investigación propone enmarcar esta próxima transformación digital en los viajes dentro de un enfoque centrado en el ser humano, donde la comprensión crítica de los principios del humanismo digital enriquecerá la agenda de investigación de los científicos sociales en los próximos años.

El presente trabajo presenta una estructura basada en (i) el establecimiento del escenario para el auge de la transformación digital, (ii) la perspectiva histórica de la transformación digital en los viajes, (iii) el impacto de la pandemia y (iv) el desarrollo futuro y líneas de investigación.

Únicamente si se fomenta una perspectiva de transformación digital centrada en el ser humano podrán los investigadores de las ciencias sociales en el ámbito de los viajes hacer realidad la promesa de “alta tecnología para un alto contacto”, promoviendo un encuentro entre seres humanos potenciado, y posiblemente obstaculizado, por las tecnologías digitales. Este trabajo propone partir de los conceptos de control de la tecnología digital, participación, educación y ética para diseñar una agenda de investigación con horizonte 2050.

Este trabajo ha sido diseñado para desplazar la atención de los investigadores hacia un enfoque de transformación digital centrado en el ser humano para reflexionar sobre la relación ser humano-máquina para una sociedad mejor. Por sus características internas, el ámbito de los viajes puede propiciar una reflexión sobre este tema reafirmando la centralidad del ser humano y su autoría en la creación del producto turístico.

The purpose of this study is to analyze the seasonal spatiotemporal climate variability in the Borena zone of Ethiopia and its effects on agriculture and livestock production. By examining these climate variables in relation to global sea surface temperatures (SST) and atmospheric pressure systems, the study seeks to understand the underlying mechanisms driving local climate variability. Furthermore, it assesses how these climate variations impact crop yields, particularly wheat and livestock production, providing valuable insights for developing effective adaptation strategies and policies to enhance food security and economic stability in the region.

The design and methodology of this study involve a multifaceted approach to analyzing seasonal spatiotemporal climate variability in the Borena zone of Ethiopia. The research uses advanced statistical techniques, including rotated empirical orthogonal function (EOF) and rotated principal component analysis (RPCA), to identify and quantify significant patterns in seasonal rainfall, temperature and drought indices over the period from 1981 to 2022. These methods are used to reveal the spatiotemporal variations and trends in climate variables. To understand the causal mechanisms behind these variations, the study correlates seasonal rainfall data with global SST and examines atmospheric pressure systems and wind vectors. In addition, the impact of climate variability on agricultural and livestock production is assessed by linking observed climate patterns with changes in crop yields, particularly wheat and livestock productivity. This comprehensive approach integrates statistical analysis with environmental and agricultural data to provide a detailed understanding of climate dynamics and their practical implications.

The findings of this study reveal significant seasonal spatiotemporal climate variability in the Borena zone of Ethiopia, characterized by notable patterns and trends in rainfall, temperature and drought indices from 1981 to 2022. The analysis identified that over 84% of the annual rainfall occurs during the March to May (MAM) and September to November (SON) seasons, with MAM contributing approximately 53% and SON over 31%, highlighting these as the primary rainfall periods. Significant spatiotemporal variations were observed, with northwestern (35.4%), southern (34.9%) and northeastern (19.3%) are dominant variability parts of the zone during MAM season, similarly southeastern (48.7%), and northcentral (37.8%) are dominant variability parts of the zone during SON season. Trends indicating that certain subregions experience more pronounced changes in climate variables in both seasons. Correlation with global SST and an examination of atmospheric pressure systems elucidated the mechanisms driving these variations, with significant correlation with the southern and central part of Indian Ocean. This study also found that fluctuations in climate variables significantly impact crop production, particularly wheat and livestock productivity in the region, underscoring the need for adaptive strategies to mitigate adverse effects on agriculture and food security.

The implications of this study highlight the need for robust adaptation strategies to mitigate the effects of climate variability. Detailed research on seasonal climate patterns and the specific behaviors of livestock and crops is essential. Gaining a thorough understanding of these dynamics is critical for developing resilient adaptation strategies tailored to the unique ecological and economic context of the Borana zone. Future research should focus on seasonal climate variations and their implications to guide sustainable development and livelihood adjustments in the region.

This study offers significant originality and value by providing a detailed analysis of seasonal spatiotemporal climate variability in the Borena zone of Ethiopia, using advanced statistical techniques such as rotated EOF and RPCA. By integrating these methods with global SST data and atmospheric pressure systems, the research delivers a nuanced understanding of how global climatic factors influence local weather patterns. The study’s novel approach not only identifies key trends and patterns in climate variables over an extensive historical period but also links these findings to practical outcomes in crop and livestock production. This connection is crucial for developing targeted adaptation strategies and policies, thereby offering actionable insights for enhancing agricultural practices and food security in the region. The originality of this work lies in its comprehensive analysis and practical relevance, making it a valuable contribution to both climate science and regional agricultural planning.