Alliant International University is a private, for-profit university with its main campus in San Diego and other campuses in California. The university is also known as Alliant. It offers programs in six California campuses – in San Francisco, San Diego, Los Angeles, Irvine, Sacramento, and Fresno. Its enrollment is approximately 4,000 students, of whom 95% are post-graduate.
The purpose of the paper is to explore the subject of phantom shipments, which are a relatively new and under-researched risk to transportation security that allows stealing or embezzling cargo by falsifying freight documentation and manipulating digital records. The study looks at the modalities of such schemes, structural weak points in the logistical network that permit such exploits and the ways in which the governance and technology can be used to enhance resilience to such security breaches. This study has conducted a conceptual analysis involving empirical data and the application of the theory of agency to analyse cases involving phantom shipment in logistics hubs in Asia, the Middle East and North America. The cases are analysed to find the typology of fraud, risk factors and vulnerability of transportation systems. Findings: The study recognises phantom shipments as a high-tech fraud of freight that includes the falsification of documentation, impersonation, and manipulation of data of the carrier. The scheming takes advantage of the lack of digitalisation, disjointed verification and boilerplate institutional accountability. To enhance the security of transportation, it is necessary to authenticate logistics participants, increase the real-time verification opportunities and use a model of governance in which the technological and procedural control is built in. This is because the research re-packages phantom shipment fraud as a challenge in transportation security and governance, instead of a logistical wastefulness. It offers a fresh conceptual basis to gain security around global freight networks by combining evidence related to the policy with technological recommendations based on case.
AfriVoices-KE is a large-scale multilingual speech dataset comprising approximately 3,000 hours of audio across five Kenyan languages: Dholuo, Kikuyu, Kalenjin, Maasai, and Somali. The dataset includes 750 hours of scripted speech and 2,250 hours of spontaneous speech, collected from 4,777 native speakers across diverse regions and demographics. This work addresses the critical underrepresentation of African languages in speech technology by providing a high-quality, linguistically diverse resource. Data collection followed a dual methodology: scripted recordings drew from compiled text corpora, translations, and domain-specific generated sentences spanning eleven domains relevant to the Kenyan context, while unscripted speech was elicited through textual and image prompts to capture natural linguistic variation and dialectal nuances. A customized mobile application enabled contributors to record using smartphones. Quality assurance operated at multiple layers, encompassing automated signal-to-noise ratio validation prior to recording and human review for content accuracy. Though the project encountered challenges common to low-resource settings, including unreliable infrastructure, device compatibility issues, and community trust barriers, these were mitigated through local mobilizers, stakeholder partnerships, and adaptive training protocols. AfriVoices-KE provides a foundational resource for developing inclusive automatic speech recognition and text-to-speech systems, while advancing the digital preservation of Kenya's linguistic heritage.
As intercultural marriages become increasingly common in the United States, it is crucial to examine the factors that affect their stability and satisfaction. This study explores how demographic factors, cultural orientation, and social support influence marital satisfaction in Eastern men-Western women couples. A total of 89 individuals participated in this study, with 48.3% male (69.7% Middle Eastern and 30.3% Asian) and 51.7% female (United Statesian-European). Cultural collectivism, social support, and level of education were significant positive predictors of marital satisfaction. Collectivism, particularly horizontal collectivism which reflects egalitarian interdependence, emerged as a significant positive predictor of marital satisfaction. While social support was the strongest predictor of marital satisfaction, collectivism was not a significant predictor when social support was included, although its association remained positive. Additionally, there were no significant gender differences in marital satisfaction. Findings suggest that clinicians working with Eastern-Western couples should examine how partners balance collectivistic expectations, including family involvement and relational interdependence, with individualistic preferences for autonomy and independence. This balance appears to meaningfully shape marital satisfaction. Future research should examine a wider range of intercultural couples to determine whether similar patterns emerge across different racial, religious, and socioeconomic groups. Understanding these intersections can help policymakers and practitioners develop culturally responsive relationship education and support programs tailored to the needs of diverse intercultural families.
Background: Although posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and pain commonly co-occur, interventions often target them separately. No studies have compared the impact of PTSD psychotherapy, pharmacotherapy, and their combination on pain.Objectives: This secondary analysis of a PTSD effectiveness trial examined the impact of PTSD treatments on pain complaints in 196 veterans randomized to three conditions: Prolonged Exposure plus placebo (PE + PLB), PE + Sertraline (PE + SERT), and SERT with enhanced medication management, overall and among those who reported clinically significant pain at baseline.Method: Linear mixed models assessed change on the Brief Pain Inventory (Pain Severity and Interference subscales) over 52 weeks across treatments in the overall sample, and in those with clinically significant baseline pain interference (≥ 5, n = 70) and baseline pain severity (≥ 5, n = 93).Results: Veterans overall, and those with clinically significant baseline pain interference and severity, showed significant reductions in pain interference and severity scores across time in all treatments. The PE + PLB group showed greater reductions in pain interference during treatment than SERT and PE + SERT. Veterans with clinically significant baseline pain severity showed significant reduction in pain severity across time in all treatments, with no evidence for differential rates across treatments.Conclusion: While it is uncertain reduced pain was due to the treatments themselves, lower scores for all treatments suggest that PTSD-focused treatments may reduce pain even without a specific pain focus. Research is needed to isolate, if present, mechanistic pathways between PTSD treatment and pain reduction.Trial registration: ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT01524133.
Suicide rates among Malawian men aged between 20- and 39-years have consistently outnumbered their female counterparts at a ratio of approximately 8:1, with depression being identified as the leading risk factor for suicide. This study aimed to assess the prevalence of depression and suicidal behavior among emerging adult male students at the University of Malawi (UNIMA). Emerging adulthood is an age group with numerous intersecting life challenges that can negatively impact mental health, and studies report university students to be at higher risk than the general population of developing mental disorders such as depression. This study employed a quantitative research method, using a cross-sectional correlational research design. Data were collected from 338 male undergraduates using a socio-demographic questionnaire, the Beck Depression Inventory – II (BDI-II) and the Suicide Behaviors Questionnaire – Revised (SBQ-R). Data were analyzed using Stata 17 and the study findings revealed a prevalence of 33.7% for depression and 18.1% for suicidal behavior risk among emerging adult male students of UNIMA, with no statistically significant association between depression scores and academic school or year of study. The study recommends institutionalized mental health screening, more accessible counselling services, and campus-wide suicide prevention programs within institutions of higher learning in Malawi.
