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<b>Background:</b><b> </b>Despite advancements in smoking cessation interventions, few programs have demonstrated sustained effectiveness among low-income, underserved populations. The Communities Engaged and Advocating for a Smoke-free Environment (CEASE) program was developed to address this gap and support tobacco cessation in these communities. However, it remains unclear whether self-reported outcome measures in this context are in line with more objective outcome measures.<b> </b><b>Aims:</b><b> </b>This study aimed to validate self-reported quit rates using the Fagerström Test for Nicotine Dependence (FTND) as a gold standard outcome measure for evaluation of the effectiveness of the CEASE smoking cessation intervention compared to a self-help approach among low-income, underserved adult smokers. <b>Methods:</b><b> </b>A quasi-experimental design was employed to evaluate this community-based intervention. Although participants were initially assigned to three groups, this report focuses on two arms that show the major difference in the efficacy of the program: (1) the self-help group (reference; Arm 1) and (2) the in-person CEASE group (Arm 2). Outcomes included successful quitting, assessed through self-reports, and changes in FTND scores. To examine the concordance between these measures, we tested whether changes in FTND scores fully explained the relationship between the intervention and self-reported quitting. Potential confounders included demographic, socioeconomic, and health-related variables. Data were analyzed using regression and structural equation modeling (SEM). <b>Results:</b><b> </b>The majority of participants were Black Americans, followed by White individuals and those of other racial backgrounds. The CEASE intervention (Arm 2) demonstrated effectiveness in reducing nicotine dependence (measured by FTND) and increasing self-reported quit rates compared to the self-help group. Importantly, changes in FTND scores fully explained the effect of the CEASE intervention on self-reported quitting, highlighting the program’s impact on addiction severity. <b>Conclusion:</b><b> </b>Successful quitting measured using self-report is in line with the decline in nicotine addiction severity among low-income racial minority populations. CEASE holds promise as a scalable solution to address smoking disparities in underserved communities.

The purpose of this study was to examine the contributions of Beach Resorts to the development of coastal communities in the Central Region of Ghana. A mixed-method approach was adopted for the study. The population for this study comprised five communities selected from two municipalities and a district in the Central Region of Ghana (Brenu Akyinim and Elmina in the Komenda/Edina/Eguafo/Abrem Municipality (KEEA), Moree in Abura/Asebu/Kwamankese District (AAK) as well as Anomabo and Ekumfi Otuam in the Mfantseman Municipal Assembly) Sample Random and Purposive sampling techniques were used to select the communities’ and respondents (Community members, Government agencies, and Resort management) for the study. The main instruments used for the study were questionnaires, Focus Group discussions and interviews. 240 questionnaires were administered, 40 by tourists and 200 by the inhabitants of the study area. Eighteen opinion leaders and management leaders in the study areas were also interviewed. The quantitative data entry and analysis were done by using the SPSS software package. The qualitative data was analysed by the use of the interpretative technique based on the themes arrived at during the data collection from the focus group discussions. It was realized that beach Resorts are a force to reckon with because the communities benefit a lot from job creation, income, infrastructure development, improvement in aesthetics, improved sanitation and many more. Education and skill training of the youth in the coastal communities is very crucial if they are to be employed and be paid well. Some of them need foreign exposure to enlighten them about the need of foreign tourists to help manage the resort facilities very well and to make their services more competitive with beach resorts in other coastal regions in Ghana and Africa at large. It is recommended that the District Assemblies and Ghana Tourist Authority should institute policies to ensure that the education of the youth in the coastal communities (study areas) are given priority and also access to financial support be made available to the local investors. Beach resort owners should liaise with Ghana Tourism Authority and the Chiefs to establish a training institution to train and update the skill of those who work in the tourism sector.

This paper conceptualizes as well as theorizes how Professional Learning Communities (PLCs) demonstrate democratic principles using John Dewey’s philosophy of education and democracy. The study reviewed the meaning of democracy and its characteristics and highlighted PLCs as social spaces for building democracy in schools. Also, the study explored whether a relationship existed between PLCs and democracy as ideally conceived. The reason behind this exploration was to ascertain whether the environment created in schools and the activities of teachers in their PLC groups serve as core components of establishing PLCs. The study revealed that the formation and implementation of PLCs truly illuminate democratic principles because all teachers take an active part in discussions and deliberations in matters affecting them; members remain committed to the course of the group and the school system because they feel as part; respect and tolerate the views of others, especially minority views and; take part in the decision-making process of the group. The nurturing of these ideals develops informed democratic citizens who would be capable of influencing local, state, and national level decisions and policies. These principles could also be passed on to their students.

Al-Dawaimah is an ancient Canaanite Palestinian village, occupied in 1948 by Israel, and belongs to inframediterranean to thermomediterranean thermotype and arid, semi-arid, and dry ombrotype. The study presents, a region rich in many plant vascular, and it is part of the Palestinian coast, North Africa, the Negev and the Sinai desert, in addition to the mountainous hills of Palestine located west of the Hebron, Jordan River and the Dead Sea. The objective is to identify and update the flora and vegetation in the area of Al-Dawaimah and its neighboring areas in west Hebron of Palestine. Methodology: More than 270 plant specimens have been taken from Al-Dawaimah and surroundings areas, using Braun-Blanquet, Van der Maarel and Salvador River Martinez methods to study the flora, and phytosociological plants, and 214 x 10 plants plots distributed in area were studied. Result and discussion: Three different plant communities were identified, in different environments between arid, dry- subhumid ombrotype and infra-thermomediterranean thermotype, and different soils as (carbon substrates as brown ruinsenas and terra rossa lands, limestone and others), where more than 214 species of plants have been found, of which 45 (20.02%) are endemic species, and in Raunkiaer's life system, trees represent were, (86; 40.18% trees), (34; 15.88% shrubs), (51; 23.83% chamaephytes), (10; 4.67% geophytes), (16; 7.47% phanerophytes), and (12; 6.54% hemicryptophytes). Conclusion: In Al-Dawaimah area<b>,</b> syntaxonomical performance of these associations are: <i>Quercetalia ilicis</i> Br.-Bl. ex Molinier 1934. <i>Rhamno lycioidis-Quercion cocciferae</i> Rivas Goday ex Rivas-Martinez 1975. 1. <i>Rhamnus palaestinae- Quercetum calliprini</i> ass. nova., <i>Pistacio</i> <i>lentisci -Rhamnetalia alaterni</i> Rivas-Martínez 1975. 2. <i>Ceratonio siliquae -Pistacetum lentisci</i> ass. nova., <i>Junipero</i> <i>phoeniceae- Pinon acutisquamae</i> A.V. Pérez et Cabezudo in A.V. Pérez et al. 1988 corr. Rivas-Martinez. et al. 2002. <i>Pinetalia halepensis</i> Biondi et al. 2014. 3. <i>Junipero phoeniceae- Pinetum halepensis</i> ass. nova.