An Analysis of Liberia’s Vulnerability to Climate Change in the Context of Least Developed Countries (LDCs): A Review

Climate change is an alarming global challenge, particularly affecting the least developed countries (LDCs) including Liberia. These countries, located in regions prone to unpredictable temperature and precipitation changes, are facing significant challenges, particularly in climate-sensitive sectors such as mining and agriculture. LDCs need more resilience to adverse climate shocks but have limited capacity for adaptation compared to other developed and developing nations. This paper examines Liberia’s susceptibility to climate change as a least developed country, focusing on its exposure, sensitivity, and adaptive capacity. It provides an overview of LDCs and outlines the global distribution of carbon dioxide emissions. The paper also evaluates specific challenges that amplify Liberia’s vulnerability and constrain sustainable adaptation, providing insight into climate change’s existing and potential effects. The paper emphasizes the urgency of addressing climate impacts on Liberia and calls for concerted local and international efforts for effective and sustainable mitigation efforts. It provides recommendations for policy decisions and calls for further research on climate change mitigation and adaptation.

The Implications of Urbanization Processes in Developed Countries for Africa

Urbanization is the inevitable path of national economic development,and the level of urbanization development in most African countries is still low.By analyzing five typical developed countries in the United States,Britain,France,Germany,and Japan,this paper discusses the promoting factors and problems of the rapid urbanization development in their specific years,as well as the experiences and lessons that Africa can learn,so as to prevent Africa from taking the detour in the urbanization process of Western developed countries and promote the balanced regional development of various African countries.

Nutrition impacts of non-solid cooking fuel adoption on under-five children in developing countries

This paper examines the nutrition impacts of using non-solid cooking fuel on under-five children in developing countries.We draw on data from more than 1.12 million children in 62 developing countries from the Demographic and Health Surveys(DHS).Results from both fixed effects(FE)and instrumental variable(IV)estimates show that using non-solid cooking fuel significantly improves the nutrition outcomes of under-five children.Compared with their peers from households mainly using solid fuel,children from households mainly using non-solid fuel exhibit a lower probability of experiencing stunting(by 5.9 percentage points)and being underweight(by 1.2 percentage points).Our further investigation provides evidence for several underlying mechanisms,such as improved indoor air quality,induced reduction in children’s respiratory symptoms,benefits on maternal health,and reduction in maternal time spent on fuel collection or cooking.Heterogenous analyses suggest that the nutrition benefits of using non-solid cooking fuel are more prominent among boys,children above three years old,and those from households of lower socioeconomic status,rural areas,and Southeast Asia.

Metropolitan Housing Development in Urban Fringe Areas-A Case Study of Three Metropolitan Cities of South Africa: Johannesburg, Ekurhuleni and Tshwane

Purpose:The metropolitan cities of Johannesburg,Ekurhuleni and Tshwane play an important role in the economy of the Gauteng province in South Africa.The region constitutes to 22.4 percent of the total population of South Africa and has a strong presence and contributes in areas of manufacturing sector,financial and business services,retail and wholesale trade,etc.The rapid urban population,increase in the informal settlements and socio-economic opportunities has resulted in considerable urban sprawl in and around the urban fringe areas of these metropolitan cities.The urban fringe areas of these metros often come under the influence of rapid urbanization process and pressures.Coupled with the economical and potential land dynamics and lack of priority of spatial development guidelines,these areas attract rapid and haphazard development from communities and developers.Research Design/Methodology:This research is based on a qualitative approach through a comprehensive literature review that included content analysis of key documents on housing sector such as IDPs(Integrated Development Plans),Municipal Annual Reports,Growth Development Strategies,and among other sectoral documents on housing sector.Some of the key priority issues considered in the housing sector included:eradication of housing backlogs,spatial restructuring of housing,provision of choice in terms of location,tenure and housing typology.Findings:The current paper discusses the approaches of metropolitan housing development processes in three metropolitan cities of South Africa from Gauteng region,namely:Johannesburg,Ekurhuleni and Tshwane.The paper discusses the existing housing sectoral scenario along with the fringe areas in three cities with focus on:formal and informal settlements,housing segregation and the backlogs,current institutional arrangements,role of public private participation,and scope for alternate mechanisms.The paper concludes in discussion on sustainable development options for housing development in urban fringe areas.

Digital psychiatry in low-and-middle-income countries:New developments and the way forward

Low-and middle-income countries(LMICs)bear the greater share of the global mental health burden but are ill-equipped to deal with it because of severe resource constraints leading to a large treatment gap.The remote provision of mental health services by digital means can effectively augment conventional services in LMICs to reduce the treatment gap.Digital psychiatry in LMICs has always lagged behind high-income countries,but there have been encouraging developments in the last decade.There is increasing research on the efficacy of digital psychiatric interventions.However,the evidence is not adequate to conclude that digital psychiatric interventions are invariably effective in LMICs.A striking development has been the rise in mobile and smartphone ownership in LMICs,which has driven the increasing use of mobile technologies to deliver mental health services.An innovative use of mobile technologies has been to optimize task-shifting,which involves delivering mental healthcare services in community settings using non-specialist health professionals.Emerging evidence from LMICs shows that it is possible to use digital tools to train non-specialist workers effectively and ensure that the psychosocial interventions they deliver are efficacious.Despite these promising developments,many barriers such as service costs,underdeveloped infrastructure,lack of trained professionals,and significant disparities in access to digital services impede the progress of digital psychiatry in LMICs.To overcome these barriers,digital psychiatric services in LMICs should address contextual factors influencing the delivery of digital services,ensure collaboration between different stakeholders,and focus on reducing the digital divide.

Food Security in Developing Countries: Factors and Mitigation

Since 1976, eradicating hunger has become one of the priority objectives of the United Nations, which is included in the Charter of Human Rights;the right to get adequate food. The qualification of food security in time and space must analyze not only the three components it covers but also the relationships that these three components maintain. Climate change contributes to food insecurity, but it is not the only factor. To address food insecurity in various forms, greater food security must be combined with improved sustainable agricultural practices with minimal strain on the environment. This review of literature insists on the principles of food security, which in particular allows a better understanding of food insecurity in developing countries and favors a greater contribution of agriculture and food systems in general to nutritional progress.

Employment and development levels in rural areas of the Russian Federation

The development of agro-industrial complex is important for ensuring national food security and national health.The development of rural areas is subject to the development of agriculture and local infrastructure,as well as the availability of various services.This study selected 15 indicators in 2021 to analyze the employment and development levels in rural areas of 71 regions of the Russian Federation using the analytical grouping method.The results indicated that 20 regions(Group 1)had the highest percentage of rural population(33.10%).The percentage of population engaged in agriculture had the highest value(12.40%)in 31 regions(Group 2).Moreover,20 regions(Group 3)had the highest investments in fixed assets at the expense of municipal budget(11.80 USD/person).Increasing the investments in fixed assets carried out from the budget of the municipality can improve the employment level in rural areas.Then,we used cluster analysis to divide 14 regions of the Volga Federal District in the Russian Federation into 3 clusters.Cluster 1 covered Kirov Region and Republic of Mari El;Cluster 2 included Ulyanovsk Region,Saratov Region,Nizhny Novgorod Region,Perm Territory,Orenburg Region,Chuvash Region,and Republic of Mordovia;and Cluster 3 contained Republic of Tatarstan,Samara Region,Udmurtian Republic,Penza Region,and Republic of Bashkortostan.Results indicated that the 2 regions of Cluster 1 need to increase the availability of resources and natural gas and improve the investment attractiveness of rural areas.The 7 regions of Cluster 2 needed to develop infrastructure,public services,and agricultural production.We found the highest employment level in rural areas,the largest investments in fixed assets at the expense of municipal budget,the largest residential building area per 10,000 persons,and the largest individual residential building area in the 5 regions of Cluster 3.This study makes it possible to draw up a comprehensive regional development program and proves the need for the development of rural areas,which is especially important for the sustainable development of the Russian Federation.

Challenges to establishing and maintaining kidney transplantation programs in developing countries:What are the coping strategies?

Kidney transplantation(KT)is the optimal form of renal replacement therapy for patients with end-stage renal diseases.However,this health service is not available to all patients,especially in developing countries.The deceased donor KT programs are mostly absent,and the living donor KT centers are scarce.Single-center studies presenting experiences from developing countries usually report a variety of challenges.This review addresses these challenges and the opposing strategies by reviewing the single-center experiences of developing countries.The financial challenges hamper the infrastructural and material availability,coverage of transplant costs,and qualification of medical personnel.The sociocultural challenges influence organ donation,equity of beneficence,and regular follow-up work.Low interests and motives for transplantation may result from high medicolegal responsibilities in KT practice,intense potential psychosocial burdens,complex qualification protocols,and low productivity or compensation for KT practice.Low medical literacy about KT advantages is prevalent among clinicians,patients,and the public.The inefficient organizational and regulatory oversight is translated into inefficient healthcare systems,absent national KT programs and registries,uncoordinated job descriptions and qualification protocols,uncoordinated on-site investigations with regulatory constraints,and the prevalence of commercial KT practices.These challenges resulted in noticeable differences between KT services in developed and developing countries.The coping strategies can be summarized in two main mechanisms:The first mechanism is maximizing the available resources by increasing the rates of living kidney donation,promoting the expertise of medical personnel,reducing material consumption,and supporting the establishment and maintenance of KT programs.The latter warrants the expansion of the public sector and the elimination of non-ethical KT practices.The second mechanism is recruiting external resources,including financial,experience,and training agreements.

An Experimental Study of Network-based Language Learning in Less-developed Areas

The advent of the Age of Information brings about bright prospects to Network-based Language Learning(NBLL).The thesis adopts the Engagement Theory as guided principles.The purpose is to use the novel NBLL model effectively with the help of modern technology especially in less-developed areas.This thesis focuses on network-based experimental study.The research shows that the students under NBLL environment have cultivated the capabilities in information collection,computer operation,and information evaluation,as well as the abilities in problem solving,reasoning with criticism,and cooperating with others.

Challenges Brought about by Rapid Changes in Chinese Diets: Comparison with Developed Countries and Implications for Further Improvement

Given developments in urbanization, agricultural, and technological practices, the diet and lifestyle of developed countries has changed dramatically over the course of the last century[1].

Women’s Awareness and Attitudes towards Labor Analgesia Influencing Practice between Developed and Developing Countries

Childbirth experience is one of the most intense pain that majority of women will endure during their lifetime. Concerns about pain in labor remain a hot topic, and its popularity gets more common day by day as more women become aware of their rights to achieve a better quality of care during labor. There are various non-pharmacologic (transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation, hydrotherapy, intradermal water injections and acupuncture) and pharmacologic treatments (nitrous oxide, opioids and regional analgesia techniques: spinal, epidural and combined epidural analgesia) available today. Among these, epidural analgesia offers the most effective form of pain relief and is considered to be the gold standard of labor analgesia. Despite having labor analgesic services, most women still go through painful labor due to lack of knowledge regarding it, particularly in developing countries. The main source of information regarding pain reliefs is from friends and relatives, revealing the lack of information from caregiver’s side. So this study reflects that there is a wide gap in the communication between pregnant women and obstetricians. It supports the fact that obstetricians through the practice of routinely offering labor analgesia can significantly improve the maternal and perinatal outcomes of pregnancy. Provision of standardized epidural analgesia information at an appropriate time in their pregnancy may benefit them by the practice of mutual decision-making. Thus, it may prevent women from making a difficult choice of cesarean section to avoid the fear of painful labor.

The Development Trend of Developed Countries to Invest in Education of Disadvantaged Groups and the Enlightenment to Our Country

Educational investment is the material basis for developing intelligence and educational cause and also an important factor for the development of economic and society.This paper argues that educational investment is an important strategy to solve the problem of disadvantaged groups in our country,and hopes that through the analysis of the structure and the trend for educational investment in developed countries,and it can provide reference and valuable suggestions for our country.

RURAL INDUSTRIAL DEVELOPMENT IN CHINA'S LESS DEVELOPED AREAS: A CASE STUDY OF HENAN PROVINCE

Since the early 1980s, China's rural industry has gained rapid growth. However. the development of China's rural industry, like the development of the national economy as a whole, is characterized by great regional imbalance. From the economically developed coastal areas to. The hinterland and western frontier areas, the level of rural industrialization ebbs progressively. How to narrow down this imbalance and to speed up the development of rural industry in the less developed areas is one of the most important tasks in China's economic reform and development. The paper adopts an approach of combining statistical data analysis with typical case study to this research with special reference to Henan Province.

Construction of Talent Training System in Marine Cultural Industry in Developed Countries and Its Enlightenment to China

Construction of talent training system in marine cultural industry in developed countries was introduced firstly,and then the enlightenment of talent training in marine cultural industry in developed countries to China was analyzed,such as changing the development consciousness of marine cultural industry,strengthening the construction of professional teaching staff in marine cultural industry,and innovating the talent training modes of marine cultural industry.

Response of Land Use Planning in Less Developed Areas to Economic Globalization

Under the background of economic globalization, the development mechanisms of various regions face potential deep transformation, and the effective participation of less developed areas in China in economic globalization is of great significance to the sustainable development of Chinese economy and society. In this study, we summarized the characteristics and influences of economic globalization from the aspects of industrial recombination and transfer, competition, economic relevance and development modes, and analysed the opportunities and challenges of land use in less developed areas brought by economic globalization. Afterwards, based on the major problems of land use planning management in the middle of Jiangsu Province, we put forward some suggestion including management of planning process, balanced development of ecology and economy, strengtheningn planing use zoning, spatial agglomeration and protecting cultural diversity to response to economic globalization.

Does Quality of Care Differ When HIV Patients Are Treated by Non-Specialist and Specialist HIV Healthcare Providers in Developed Countries? A Systematic Narrative Review

Introduction: In developed countries, HIV care is mostly provided by trained specialist healthcare professionals. Due to the increasing demand for HIV care, pressure on healthcare providers to reduce cost and the current global economic constraints, many developed countries are searching for alternative HIV care models. This review aims to consider whether HIV treatment and care can be provided as effectively and safely by doctors and nurses with no HIV-specialist training compared to those with HIV-specialist training. Methods: Three electronic bibliographic databases MEDLINE, EMBASE and the Cochrane Library were searched for studies conducted between January 1996 and March 2015. Manual searches of reference lists of all relevant reports retrieved from the electronic databases were conducted. All comparative studies examining the quality of HIV care provided by different types of healthcare providers in developed countries were included. Results: Nine observational studies involving 27,015 patients were included in the review. Eight studies were conducted in the USA and one study in Switzerland. Healthcare providers with HIV-related expertise and or training and those without HIV-related expertise or training who collaborated with providers with HIV-related expertise and or training outperformed other healthcare providers in many virological, immunological and ART-related outcomes. Conclusion: This review found moderate quality evidence that HIV care can be provided effectively by non-HIV specialists if they have access to HIV specialists or experts for advice and support.

Modem Economic Diplomacy： Evidence from Developed Countries

Nowadays, globalization has become an essential tool for cooperation in the world and it is remarkable in many aspects, characterized by economic interdependence of states. Economical diplomacy became a precious element in foreign mutual relation. This paper discusses the evidence of modern economic diplomacy within an environment of economic interdependence and how it is seen in third world countries. The paper investigates also the relation between Africa continent and the rest of the world as well. The predominant actors in this modern economic diplomacy are developed countries. As we may all expect, countries will expect that their economic diplomacy and commercial diplomacy will serve their national interest in the economic and business sphere. With the increasing complexity of international economic relation, the traditional state-to-state diplomacy is no longer accurate and has been fragmented making more complex due to the growth of non-state actors in the international economic relations. What is the role of those non-state actors in international economic and diplomatic cooperation？ The participation of these non-state actors in the modern economic diplomacy will be discussed in this paper as well.

A Summary of the Developments Regarding the Economic Regime Implemented in Developed and Developing Countries

Since the developments regarding the economic regime in developed countries follow a different path as opposed to those in developing countries, in this article, these two groups of countries will be examined separately. Priority will be given to investigate the economic regime in developed countries due to historical and theoretical reasons. Today, both in developed and developing countries the economic activities basically are taken up by the private sector, nevertheless the government contributes to these activities through intervention, guidance, protectionism, and investment. Still the level of government intervention, protection and public investments in developed countries appears to be at the minimum. The role of government in developing countries, however, seems to be more significant. The gravity of the government＇s role depends on the degree of development for the countries concerned In the countries where the level of development is low, the role of government increases, in other words, the improvement in development decreases the role government.

Empirical Study on Factors Influencing Farmland Circulation in Economically Developed Areas

Farmland circulation is the foundation of development of regional farmland market.With the aid of survey data of Jiangsu Province and using Heckman two-stage method,this paper analyzed factors influencing farmland circulation from supply and demand of land.Results showed that non-agricultural employment,social security level,and regional economic development level are key factors.In view of these factors,it is recommended to improve rural labor quality,establish perfect rural social security system,and constantly improve rural security level,which are fundamental ways to promoting farmland circulation and improve circulation market.

Feasibility and Challenges of 5G Network Deployment in Least Developed Countries (LDC)

Growing client population, ever-increasing service demand, and complexity of services are the driving factors for the mobile operators for a paradigm shift in their core technology and radio access networks. 5G mobile network is the result of this paradigm shift and currently under deployment in many developed countries such as United States, United Kingdom, South Korea, Japan, and China—to name a few. However, most of the Least Developed Countries (LDCs) have very recently been implemented 4G mobile networks for which the overall role out phase is still not complete. In this paper, we investigate how feasible it is for LDCs to emphasize on a possible deployment of 5G networks at the moment. At first, we take a holistic approach to show the major technical challenges LDCs are likely to face while deploying the 5G mobile networks. Then we argue that various security aspects of 5G networks are an ongoing issue and LDCs are not technologically competent to handle many security glitches of 5G networks. At the same time, we show that most of the use cases of 5G networks are not applicable in the context of many LDCs (at least at the present time). Finally, this paper concludes that the start of the 5G network deployment in LDCs would take much longer time than expected.