September 2026

Employee retention is a strategic concern in knowledge-intensive information technology (IT) organizations because the loss of skilled employees can disrupt organizational knowledge, project continuity, team cohesion and innovation. This study examines the relationship between transformational leadership and talent retention among IT employees in Coimbatore District, Tamil Nadu, India, with employee engagement examined as an explanatory mechanism. Drawing on transformational leadership theory and Social Exchange Theory, transformational leadership is represented by idealized influence, inspirational motivation, intellectual stimulation and individualized consideration. A quantitative, cross-sectional survey design was used with 379 valid responses obtained from IT employees through stratified sampling. Descriptive statistics, Pearson correlation, multiple regression, covariance-based structural equation modelling and Hayes PROCESS analyses were used. Transformational leadership was perceived moderately positively (M = 3.5008, SD = 0.54965), while talent retention was also relatively favourable (M = 3.5482, SD = 0.68869). Transformational leadership was significantly correlated with talent retention (r = .606, p < .001), and the full regression model explained 63.3% of the variance in talent retention (R² = .633; F = 91.296, p < .001). Intellectual stimulation (β = .204, p < .001) and individualized consideration (β = .144, p = .017) were significant positive unique predictors. Employee engagement significantly mediated the leadership–retention relationship: the bootstrapped indirect effect was .581, 95% CI (.452, .715), and approximately 77% of the total effect operated through engagement. In contrast, the interaction between leadership and engagement was not significant (b = .0368, p = .466), indicating no moderation. The findings suggest that IT organizations should develop leaders who stimulate employee thinking, provide individualized developmental support and deliberately cultivate engagement. Importantly, the article treats intention to stay as one component of the broader talent-retention construct rather than incorrectly equating the two.

Global health security is currently a burning issue worldwide. This is primarily because the world is faced with the spread of newly emergent and re-emergence of infectious microorganism. The term Biosecurity is broadly the policies and practices that protect against the deliberate misuse of biology to cause harm. It is a comprehensive and strategic framework of measures, protocols and policies aimed at preventing, managing and reducing risks caused by harmful fatal biological agents. It covers the different parameters starting from protecting and safeguard the agricultural aspects on the other way the environment considering the human health against pandemics and bioterrorism. It covers agriculture, food safety, ecological or environmental protection, different defence mechanisms against intentional bioterrorism or the major one are accidental outbreak. Level of Biosecurity are considered as isolation of new animals in farm level as national control and border controls in international level. The major strategies of Biosecurity include physical, structural and management measures such as controlling access, equipment disinfection and also continuous monitoring of pests.

Blood Zinc protoprophyrin (ZPP), serum total protein (TP) and total cholesterol (Tc) levels in auto mobile workshop workers in relation to lead toxicity were analyzed. In present study’s automobile workshop workers. Has the mean value of BPb was 15.76± 0.33 mg/dl while control was 8.20±0.15µg/dl control group exhibited man 11.5 ± 0.22 µg/dl. Workers exhibit significant Increase in BZPP corresponding to Increase in BPb level. TP levels in workshop workers showed significant decreased to controls but within reference range. Mean value of TP in workshop workers 6.9 ± 0.13g/dl and 7.71 ± 0.18g/l in controls. The serum total cholesterol level in workshop workers showed decreased compared to controls but within reference range. Mean value of TC in workshop workers 162.00 ±3.44 mg/dl and in control was 172.86 ± 4.32 mg/dl.

Uganda, a democratic republic with a decentralized governance structure, has implemented policies aligned with its Vision 2040 to uplift community welfare as part of its transition to middle-income status. Despite government, and NGO efforts, challenges persist in achieving sustainable community livelihoods, highlighting the need for innovative approaches. Asset-based approaches represent a shift from deficit-oriented frameworks, focusing on mobilizing existing community strengths rather than addressing needs only. This paper investigates the impact of asset-based approaches on enhancing quality community livelihoods in Uganda, focusing on community assets like people, natural resources, technology, and knowledge. The paper used a cross-sectional, mixed-methods design, collecting data from 338 respondents in Kabaale Township, Buseruka Sub-County, to analyze the relationship between asset-based approaches and community well-being. Results indicate a strong, positive correlation between asset-based strategies and livelihood quality (r=0.833, p<0.01), suggesting that investments in community assets significantly improve socio-economic conditions. Factor analysis showed that people’s involvement in productive activities, access to natural resources, the adoption of technology, and knowledge on asset management are key components influencing community livelihoods. Regression analysis further revealed that asset-based approaches account for a substantial proportion of livelihood improvement variance (adjustedR² = 0.741). The paper concludes that asset-based approaches are critical to enhancing community resilience, self-sufficiency and livelihood outcomes and empower communities to become active agents of change within their socio-economic landscapes. It recommends a shift in community development practices towards asset mobilization and empowerment to foster sustainable growth, aligning with Uganda’s broader socio-economic goals.

The Koyli-Alpha Community Nature Reserve, located in northern Senegal, is a major site for ecological restoration and biodiversity conservation within the Great Green Wall zone. This study establishes a baseline assessment of the reserve’s woody vegetation based on 29 systematic sampling plots covering a cumulative area of 7.25 ha. Floristic composition, diversity, stand structure, and natural regeneration were analyzed. A total of nine species, belonging to three families and five genera, were recorded, including six species in the adult compartment and eight in the regeneration layer. The adult stand exhibited a strong oligodominance of Vachellia tortilis subsp. raddiana and Balanites aegyptiaca, which accounted for 95.4% of individuals, 97.5% of basal area, and 97.0% of canopy cover. Adult stand density reached 106.9 individuals•ha⁻¹, with a basal area of 3.00 m²•ha⁻¹ and canopy cover of 28.6%. Natural regeneration was relatively abundant (229.4 individuals•ha⁻¹) but remained dominated by the same species, which accounted for 90.1% of young individuals. Floristic richness was comparable to that reported by Kébé et al. (2020), despite differences in secondary species composition and stand density. These findings indicate an active but still poorly diversified regeneration dynamic. The conservation of less abundant species, monitoring of seedling survival and recruitment, and assessment of herbivory by reintroduced wildlife are essential for evaluating the reserve’s restoration trajectory. Establishing permanent monitoring plots inside and outside the reserve would further strengthen long-term ecological monitoring.

Diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA) is a dire emergency in patients with DM, but its severity and the triggering factors are not always plain and straightforward. We present the case of a middle aged man with known diabetes mellitus who presented with profound, life-threatening DKA with pH as low as 6.89, in the absence of an initially identifiable trigger. Beyond the acute resuscitation, the unusually severe presentation and the extraordinarily high insulin requirement during recovery raised clinical suspicion of an underlying autoimmune process, ultimately confirmed as Latent Autoimmune Diabetes in Adults (LADA) ¹.This case underscores the importance of looking beyond the obvious, both in the search for an underlying aetiology and in reconsidering an existing diagnosis when the clinical course does not fit the expected pattern.

Masculinity is not a fixed biological script but a socially learned and context-sensitive way of interpreting strength, responsibility, emotion, work, care and authority. In many organizations, however, masculine credibility continues to be associated with emotional restriction, invulnerability, extreme self-reliance, competitive dominance and uninterrupted work devotion. These expectations may reward some men in the short term while generating hidden costs for men, women, teams and organizations: silence, delayed help-seeking, burnout, poor-quality relationships, exclusion and leadership cultures in which appearing strong becomes more important than acting wisely. This conceptual research paper develops the Human+ Model, a strengths-based framework for a new, plural and accountable masculinity in organizational life. The study uses an integrative review of scholarship on masculinities, men’s mental health, leadership, psychological safety, workplace well-being and gender-transformative practice. It synthesizes this literature into eight mutually reinforcing dimensions: self-awareness, emotional literacy, conscious vulnerability, relational courage, reciprocity and care, purpose and ethical responsibility, integrated strength, and generative leadership. The model rejects both the idealization and the condemnation of masculinity. Instead, it distinguishes strength from domination, courage from emotional denial, autonomy from isolation, ambition from work addiction, and protection from control. The article presents a multilevel logic connecting individual identity, interpersonal behavior, team climate and organizational systems; formulates research propositions; proposes a Human+ Organizational Masculinity Index; and outlines practical interventions for leadership development and human-resource policy. The central argument is that healthier masculinities are not a concession that diminishes men. They are an expansion of human capacity. When men are permitted and expected to combine competence with care, authority with listening, and resilience with help-seeking, organizations gain more trustworthy leaders, safer teams and more sustainable performance.

Sesame (Sesamum indicum L.) is an important oilseed crop that, valued for its edible seeds, could serve as a genuine source of income for farmers. However, its cultivation is threatened by numerous pathogens which limit its yield. This study aims to improve sesame crop productivity by identifying pathological constraints affecting the agronomic performance of farmers' seed varieties from a major production area in Côte d’Ivoire. Sesame samples were collected from producers in ten villages. The pH and moisture content of these seeds were determined. Seed-deteriorating fungi were then identified, and sensitivity tests against Sclerotium rolfsii and Alternaria sp. were conducted. The results obtained revealed that seed moisture content ranged from 1.45% to 5.82%, with a slightly acidic pH ranging from 5.24 to 5.91. Three fungal spoilage species were isolated from the seeds as epiphytic microflora, namely Aspergillus sp. (66.6%), Alternaria sp. (50%), and Sclerotium rolfsii (25%), whilst four (4) fungal species were identified in the endophytic microflora, namely Aspergillus sp. (50.67 per cent), Mucor sp. (30%), Phoma sp. (13.33%) and Penicillium sp. (06%) were isolated from the seeds. With regard to susceptibility tests, the plants grown in holes inoculated with Sclerotium rolfsii and Alternaria sp. showed symptoms of disease, unlike the control plants, which appeared healthy. The average weight of 1,000 grains was 2.51 g for the control plants and 1.31 g for the inoculated plants. The control plants produced an average of 16 grains per capsule, compared with 7 grains and 6 grains for plants inoculated with Sclerotium rolfsii and Alternaria sp. respectively. Plants inoculated with Alternaria sp. and Sclerotium rolfsii produced an average of 21 and 19 capsules respectively, compared with an average of 42 capsules for the controls. Furthermore, accessions A4 and A5 were the least susceptible to attacks by Sclerotium rolfsii and Alternaria sp., respectively.

In this paper, the existence problem for Nash equilibrium is restated as a fixed point problem for a multivalued mapping in a generalized b-metric strategy profile space with metric contractivity rather than the traditional topological properties of compactness, convexity, and continuity. The strategy space is endowed with a complete b-metric with constant s≥1, and the set-valued best response mapping Bis closed and bounded-valued with Pompeiu-Hausdorff contraction property H_d (B,(x)B(y) )≤λd(x,y). The central result establishes the compatibility threshold s√λ<1, at which Bhas a unique fixed point identical to a Nash equilibrium. The bound provides the trade-off between the level of contraction and the magnification caused by relaxing the triangle inequality, reverting to the well-known condition λ<1 when s=1. Based on this existence result, the article provides a geometric rate of convergence for best response iterations, a perturbation stability result for best response correspondences that are uniformly close, and a Tykhonov-type well-posedness result with extra assumptions. A two-person game with true set-valued best responses is solved analytically as an example for validating the assumptions, with some sensitivity analysis of the threshold s√λ<1. Contribution The contribution is methodological in that it finds sufficient conditions for equilibrium existence using metric completeness and contractivity without depending mainly on convexity and upper semicontinuity, and incorporates best response sensitivity explicitly.

This article analyses the development of management, performance and methodological adaptation within the Porto Sul Social Incubator (ISPS), an outreach project of the State University of Santa Cruz (UESC), developed in partnership with Bahia Mineração (BAMIN) between 2023 and the first half of 2026. This is an applied, descriptive and analytical study employing both qualitative and quantitative approaches, conducted through a case study, documentary research and a literature review. Management plans, reports, activity records, spreadsheets, training materials and institutional dashboards were analysed. The results recorded 653 mobilisation activities, reaching 8,645 people across 28 communities, with 16 entrepreneurs selected and 18 training topics delivered. A substantial increase in advisory sessions was observed, from seven in 2023 to 22 in 2025, accompanied by an increase in average participation. Methodological adaptations were also identified, including the replacement of a formal public call with invitation letters, cohort restructuring, the expansion of training content and the introduction of complementary activities. The study concludes that the ISPS underwent progressive organisational structuring, intensified participant support and demonstrated adaptive capacity, although more systematic indicators of participant retention and enterprise outcomes are still required.

Créés dans un contexte de crise agro-foncière, les arrangements fonciers connaissent une évolution notable. Ces pratiques régissent les relations socio-économiques des agriculteurs de la Sous-Préfecture de Boguédia. Cet article met en lumière les enjeux des arrangements de marchés fonciers entre les populations locales et les populations non autochtones et migrantes. La recherche qualitative a été menée par observation directe, des entretiens semi-directifs et l’analyse documentaire. Cette étude a mobilisé comme outils de collecte de données, des guides d'entretien, une grille d'observation et une grille de recherche. Les résultats démontrent l'imbrication de l'économie morale et de l'économie de marché dans les transactions foncières à Boguédia. Face à la rareté des terres et aux difficultés administratives liées à la vente des terres des populations allochtones et allogènes, les acteurs privilégient d'autres formes d'arrangements (location, métayage, gage, prêt et tontine des terres) issues de l'économie morale. Ces arrangements reposent sur la confiance, le contrôle social, la solidarité et la résilience des acteurs impliqués. Ils permettent non seulement aux migrants d'accéder individuellement ou collectivement à la terre pour une période déterminée, mais engendrent également de nouveaux conflits fonciers intercommunautaires. Toutefois, ces conflits fonciers liés aux nouveaux arrangements contribuent à la restructuration de la société et de ses mécanismes de régulation.

Background: Managerial and economic decisions are routinely made under incomplete, vague, or ambiguous information that classical probability theory is not always well suited to represent, particularly when the uncertainty involved is epistemic or linguistic rather than purely a matter of chance. Methods: This is a conceptual review paper. It develops a taxonomy of uncertainty types relevant to managerial and economic decision-making, sets out the formal apparatus of possibility theory, and reviews methods for constructing possibility distributions, applying this apparatus to established managerial and economic decision problems drawn from the literature. Results: Only aleatory (chance-based) uncertainty is naturally suited to probabilistic treatment; epistemic, linguistic, model, completeness, value, recognition, and decision-related uncertainty are common in business practice but poorly served by forced probability estimates. Possibility theory, through crisp, fuzzy, and interval restrictions and six practical construction methods, applies directly to risk assessment, strategic planning, resource allocation, project scheduling, supplier selection, and negotiation, and to consumer behaviour, firm production decisions, macroeconomic forecasting, and investment decisions under Knightian uncertainty. Conclusion: Possibility theory merits a routine, taught place alongside probability theory in applied managerial and economic decision analysis, reserved specifically for uncertainty that is vague, judgement-based, and non-frequentist in character.

This study aims to contribute to the analysis of food consumption in Niger. It is a descriptive cross-sectional study that included 845 households distributed according to their place of residence (urban, rural, and pastoral). The methodology used consisted of a series of surveys. The first survey (a focus group) was conducted to determine the seasonality of food products, their origin, and their use by households. In a second phase, a food survey was carried out to determine food consumption norms by incorporating the national food balance according to the method proposed by AGHRYMET (2004). The results showed that in Niger, food seasonality follows a distinct seasonal pattern. Six of the eight months of the dry season (October to March) showed varying levels of availability of the products most frequently found in the population's diet. Foods primarily imported (fruits and vegetables) exhibit a particular seasonality, changing differently from other staple foods. Regarding food consumption standards, the study revealed that average food intake varies from 316.80 ± 42.55 kg to 299.38 ± 40.86 kg per person per year in urban, rural, and pastoral areas, respectively. The seasonality of food groups and food consumption standards are key factors to consider in ensuring a better food and nutritional situation for the population.