Food fraud and mislabeling represent persistent threats to food safety and public health, particularly in Sub Saharan Africa where fragmented supply chains, dominant informal markets, and limited regulatory capacity increase vulnerability to adulteration and misrepresentation. The growing complexity of global food systems has intensified the need for reliable authentication and traceability tools as integral components of preventive food safety frameworks. This review critically examines the current landscape of food authentication technologies in Sub Saharan Africa, with emphasis on their analytical performance, practical applicability, and integration into regulatory control systems. A systematic narrative review approach was adopted, guided by structured evidence synthesis principles. Peer reviewed literature published between 2010 and 2026 was analyzed across major scientific databases, focusing on spectroscopic, chromatographic, molecular, and isotopic analytical methods, alongside digital traceability systems and artificial intelligence-driven data analytics. The review employed thematic and comparative synthesis to evaluate technological effectiveness, adoption patterns, and regulatory relevance. The evidence indicates that spectroscopic techniques enable rapid screening, while chromatographic and molecular methods provide high precision confirmatory analysis. Isotope ratio analysis supports origin verification, while digital traceability systems, including blockchain-based ledgers, improve supply chain transparency, while artificial intelligence and machine learning tools function as analytical decision-support systems that enhance pattern recognition and predictive analytics for fraud detection. However, significant limitations persist, including inadequate context specific validation, high costs, limited infrastructure, and weak integration into preventive food safety systems. Technology adoption remains uneven, with concentration in urban laboratories and limited coverage in informal markets. Strengthening food authentication in Sub Saharan Africa requires coordinated investment in low cost technologies, context specific validation frameworks, and regulatory harmonization. Integrating authentication into risk-based food safety systems is essential for improving surveillance, enhancing consumer protection, and aligning regional practices with international standards.
This study investigates hydrogen production from water splitting on silica gel (SG) and zeolite NaY surfaces under thermal and combined radiation-thermal conditions. At 773 K, the maximum hydrogen yields on SG were 5.4 × 1017 molecules/g under thermal conditions and 7.8 × 1017 molecules/g under radiation-thermal conditions, while zeolite NaY exhibited hydrogen yields of 6.0 × 1017 and 11.6 × 1017 molecules/g, respectively. The hydrogen formation rates WT(H2), WRT(H2), and radiation-chemical yields G(H2) at 773 K for SG were 2.33 × 1014 molecules/g 2.45 × 1014 molecules/g, and 5.12 molecules/100 eV, respectively, whereas for zeolite NaY they reached 2.50 × 1014 molecules/g·s, 2.88 × 1014 molecules/g, and 6.45 molecules/100 eV. The activation energies for thermal and radiation–thermal processes were 50.5 and 41.5 kJ/mol for SG and 60.0 and 47.5 kJ/mol for NaY, respectively. Hydrogen production increased with surface filling (θ = 0-1), indicating that surface hydration and pore filling enhanced energy transfer and radical generation efficiency. With increasing numbers of water molecules per unit cell (ns), the adsorbed hydrogen yield Gads(H2) increased, whereas the total hydrogen yield Gtot(H2) decreased due to energy redistribution effects in confined water systems. A mechanistic model for hydrogen formation under thermal and radiation-thermal conditions is proposed, highlighting the potential of these heterogeneous catalytic materials for hydrogen generation and clean energy-related applications.
Bone-seeking aminophosphonate radiopharmaceuticals labeled with 177Lu are widely investigated for skeletal-targeted radionuclide therapy. However, direct comparative human dosimetry of 177Lu–EDTMP and 177Lu–DOTMP under harmonized computational conditions, incorporating bootstrap-based experimental uncertainty analysis, remains limited. Preclinical biodistribution data were extrapolated to humans using organ-mass scaling and processed within a unified voxel-based framework (IDAC-Dose 2.1) employing the ICRP Adult Male reference phantom and ICRP 107 decay data. Deterministic absorbed dose coefficients and organ-specific therapeutic indices were calculated for both compounds using a standardized computational workflow. Uncertainty propagation was implemented using parametric bootstrap resampling (10,000 iterations) based on the reported mean ± SD biodistribution data to quantify variability in absorbed dose estimates. Both compounds demonstrated prolonged skeletal residence times and dominant bone-surface irradiation. 177Lu–EDTMP delivered a modestly higher skeletal absorbed dose (∼15%) compared with 177Lu–DOTMP. However, substantially elevated renal and hepatic absorbed doses were observed with EDTMP (>160–200% relative increase). Therapeutic index analysis revealed comparable marrow selectivity but significantly improved kidney and liver sparing with DOTMP. Bootstrap-derived confidence intervals confirmed that inter-compound differences persisted beyond experimental variability. Under fully harmonized voxel-based computational conditions incorporating bootstrap-based experimental uncertainty analysis, 177Lu–DOTMP demonstrated skeletal targeting comparable to 177Lu–EDTMP while providing superior clearance-organ sparing. These findings highlight the value of standardized voxel-based comparative dosimetry and suggest that 177Lu–DOTMP may provide a more favorable therapeutic selectivity profile, pending clinical validation.
Tourism transport contributes approximately 8% of total GHG emissions of the World and 60% of that belongs to road transport. In this context, AI plays the crucial role in achieving net-zero emissions and promoting sustainable tourism development. Thus, this study aims to investigate the impacts of artificial intelligence, tourist arrivals, economic growth, recycling of municipal solid waste, and population density on GHG emissions generated from tourism transport in leading tourism economies over the period 1995 to 2020 by utilizing the CS-ARDL model. Results suggest that artificial intelligence and recycling of municipal solid waste are negatively associated with GHGs emissions in both short and long run and significantly contributing to their reduction. Contrary, tourism arrivals, economic growth, and population density are responsible for increasing GHG emissions in both the short and long run. Based on these empirical findings, AI-based applications, modeling mechanisms, and management strategies are proposed to support sustainable tourism development.
This study comprehensively investigates the temperature-dependent dielectric and electrical properties of lanthanum aluminate (LaAlO3) ceramics synthesized via the Pechini method. FE-SEM analysis revealed a porous, foam-like morphology composed of aggregated, non-uniform particles, while EDX confirmed the presence of La, Al, and O with carbon impurities. This work provides a detailed analysis of impedance, while the synthesis and structural characteristics were previously reported [1], AC conductivity, dielectric constant, epsilon r, and dielectric loss, tan(S), across the temperature range from 20oC to 245oC range with 15oC for each increase step, were investigated. Results show clear thermally activated AC conductivity, consistent with a hopping conduction model mediated by localized charge carriers, likely oxygen vacancies. Crucially, the activation energy, Ea, derived from the AC conduction (0.40 eV) is nearly identical to the Ea obtained from the dielectric relaxation process (0.41 eV). This equivalence provides strong evidence that the observed loss mechanism is directly controlled by the hopping motion of the same localized charge carriers. Furthermore, strong low-frequency dispersion in epsilon r and tan(S) is attributed to Maxwell-Wagner interfacial polarization. Analysis of the dielectric modulus confirms a non-Debye relaxation with a distribution of relaxation times, underscoring the influence of the LaAlO3 microstructure. These findings demonstrate that the Pechini method yields a material with reproducible and thermally stable dielectric characteristics, positioning LaAlO3 as a promising candidate for demanding high-frequency electronic applications.
