Background: While parental presence during pediatric dental procedures has been extensively debated, the influence of sibling presence remains largely unexplored. Siblings may provide comfort and assurance to the child through familiarity and modelling, but they can also act as a source of distraction or disrupt clinical setting. This study will help to understand the pediatric dentist’s perspectives on this underexplored aspect which can help develop balanced approaches for managing family involvement in the operatory. Aim: To assess the self-reported attitudes, experiences and clinical observations of pediatric dentists regarding parental and sibling presence in the dental operatory during pediatric dental procedures, using an online questionnaire-based survey. Methodology: The study was conducted as a cross sectional, questionnaire-based survey among 200 licensed pediatric dentists and pediatric dentistry postgraduate residents in Kerala. Participants were invited to complete a structured, self-administered online questionnaire designed to assess their attitudes towards parental and sibling presence during pediatric dental procedures. Responses were collected anonymously and analyzed using descriptive statistics to summarize trends, while inferential statistics will be applied to evaluate associations between demographic/ professional characteristics and attitudes. Results: Among 200 pediatric dental practitioners, parental presence was commonly permitted and largely perceived to enhance child cooperation and communication, particularly during invasive and behavioral management procedures. Sibling presence was more selectively allowed, considered most beneficial for preschool-aged children and during non-invasive care. While many dentists reported occasional negative impacts of family presence, favorable perceptions significantly influenced clinical practice (p < 0.001). Practice setting, but not years of experience, was associated with allowing sibling presence.

Background: Cultural competence is increasingly recognized as a vital component of nursing practice, particularly in multicultural healthcare environments such as Saudi Arabia, where expatriates comprise the majority of the nursing workforce. Objective: To examine the relationship between nurses’ cultural competence and their perceptions of patient-centered care in a tertiary hospital in Riyadh. Methods: A descriptive correlational design was employed. A total of 166 nurses were surveyed using the Nurse Cultural Competence Scale (NCCS) and the Individualized Care Scale–Nurse (ICS-Nurse). Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, chi-square tests, and Pearson correlation. Results: Nurses demonstrated moderate cultural competence (mean = 2.85, SD = 1.09) and high perceptions of patient-centered care (mean = 3.96, SD = 0.86). A weak positive correlation was observed between cultural competence and patient-centered care (r = 0.1285, p = 0.099). Nationality significantly influenced both cultural competence (χ² = 64.750, p < 0.001) and patient-centered care perceptions (χ² = 69.935, p < 0.001), while sex, educational attainment, and years of expertise showed no significant associations. Conclusion: Cultural competence modestly influences nurses’ perceptions of patient-centered care. Ongoing training programs and organizational policies that emphasize cultural awareness and communication are essential to enhance care quality in diverse healthcare settings.

Background: Preterm birth is a major contributor to perinatal morbidity and mortality, with substantial immediate and long-term consequences for newborns. The present study was undertaken to assess the association between multiple pregnancy and preterm birth and to compare gestational age at delivery between singleton and multiple pregnancies among women attending a tertiary-care hospital in Bangladesh. Methods: This hospital-based observational study was conducted at the Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Dhaka Medical College Hospital, Dhaka, Bangladesh, from January to June 2019 among 60 pregnant women. Sociodemographic and pregnancy-related data were collected, and preterm birth was defined as delivery before 37 completed weeks. Data were analyzed using frequencies, percentages, and the chi-square test, with p<0.05 considered statistically significant. Results: Among 60 participants, most were aged 21–25 years (35.0%), urban residents (56.7%), had secondary education (41.7%), and were multigravida (55.0%). Singleton pregnancies comprised 75.0%, while multiple pregnancies comprised 25.0%. Overall, 41.7% delivered preterm, predominantly at 32–36 weeks (28.3%). Preterm birth was significantly higher in multiple than singleton pregnancies (80.0% vs. 28.9%, p<0.001), with multiple pregnancies showing a greater concentration of deliveries before 37 weeks. Conclusion: Multiple pregnancy was significantly associated with an increased risk of preterm birth and earlier gestational age at delivery.

Industrial harmony is a precondition for economic productivity, and the manner in which a legal system channels and resolves conflict between capital and labour is accordingly a matter of first-order national importance. Nigeria has, over the past five decades, constructed a multi-tiered statutory framework for the resolution of industrial disputes, anchored in the Trade Disputes Act, the Trade Unions Act, the National Industrial Court Act and, since 2010, the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (Third Alteration) Act. That framework contemplates a graduated sequence of dispute-resolution mechanisms (internal negotiation and collective bargaining, mediation, statutory conciliation, arbitration before the Industrial Arbitration Panel, and ultimately adjudication before the National Industrial Court) undergirded by stringent statutory preconditions for the lawful exercise of the right to strike or lockout. This article undertakes a comprehensive doctrinal appraisal of that framework. It traces the statutory and institutional architecture of dispute resolution, situates the regulation of strikes and lock-outs (including the contentious statutory concept of 'essential services') within Nigeria's obligations under core International Labour Organisation Conventions, and critically evaluates the framework's principal strengths and weaknesses in light of decided cases and the accumulated scholarly commentary. The article contends that while the post-2010 constitutional entrenchment of the National Industrial Court has considerably strengthened the adjudicatory limb of the framework, the conciliation-and-arbitration limb inherited from 1976 remains slow, executive-dominated and doctrinally out of step with international best practice, and that the statutory conception of essential services operates, in practice, as a near-total prohibition on the right to strike. The article concludes with concrete recommendations for legislative reform.

The challenges associated with the evolving energy systems call for an intelligent DC energy management system (EMS) crucial for enhanced efficiency, improved reliability, and cooperative energy sharing. This paper presents a strategy of EMS for a DC microgrid with energy-sharing capability through a cooperative battery bank model by employing a SIMULINK/MATLAB simulation. Each nanogrid of the microgrid cluster utilizes an energy flow switching circuit to connect its PV array, DC load, and individual battery unit. The proposed microgrid comprises four nanogrids having individual battery units linked together via switches and a communication link, forming a cooperative bank model. By taking into account the instantaneous PV-load imbalance, the EMS regulates the energy flow at each nanogrid, while allows for energy sharing between nanogrids determined by the state-of-charge (SOC) of the battery bank. The simulated results validate the exactness of the presented method. Furthermore, the approach is simple in terms of both the system’s framework and its management, and also extendable to any number of nanogirds’ cluster using an array of switches for the interconnection among them and their batteries.

This study examines the socio-ecological conflicts and usage dynamics between shellfish farmers and small-scale artisanal fishermen in the Bizerte Lagoon, Tunisia. Using a qualitative approach based on ten semi-structured interviews conducted in 2026, alongside direct field observations and institutional analysis, we investigate the root causes of the structural tensions that culminated in a severe episode of vandalism in November 2019, where mussel-farming installations in Menzel Abderrahmane were systematically destroyed. Our findings reveal three primary dimensions of conflict: (1) a causal dispute regarding the origins of lagoon pollution, where fishermen blame shellfish farming for ecological degradation while farmers point to external industrial and domestic waste; (2) unequal institutional recognition, with both groups feeling abandoned by state authorities; and (3) a clash of incompatible temporalities between historical, traditional fishing rights and modern, long-term aquaculture investments. Rather than a mere material resource competition, this situation represents a profound conflict of recognition. We propose a shared governance framework based on marine spatial planning, collaborative environmental co-diagnosis, and the establishment of permanent multi-stakeholder mediation platforms to transition from destructive conflict toward sustainable, integrated coastal zone management.

Accurate estimation of Downward Longwave Radiation (DLR) is essential for climate modeling, hydrology, agriculture, and renewable energy applications, yet the reliability of widely used empirical DLR models across different climatic zones remains uncertain. This study evaluated eleven existing clear-sky DLR empirical models and developed five new locally calibrated regression models for Ibadan and Makurdi, within the Guinea Savannah climatic zone of Nigeria. Forty years (1984-2023) of monthly mean air temperature, relative humidity, and DLR data were used, with thirty-two years for model development and eight years for validation. Model performance was assessed using Mean Bias Error, Root Mean Square Error, Mean Percentage Error, t-statistic, Index of Agreement, and correlation coefficient, followed by a composite ranking procedure. Results showed that, among existing models, Kruk et al., performed best at Ibadan while Idso was most suitable for Makurdi. Among the newly developed models, the modified Guest model gave the highest accuracy at Ibadan, while the modified Dilley and O'Brien model performed best at Makurdi, with all modified models outperforming their existing counterparts. Seasonal analysis revealed that DLR was consistently higher during the rainy season, driven predominantly by atmospheric water vapour and cloud cover rather than temperature. These findings demonstrate that site-specific calibration substantially improves DLR estimation accuracy and provide validated, region-appropriate models recommended for practical application across the Guinea Savannah climatic zone of Nigeria in the absence of direct pyrgeometer measurements.