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We know that civil wars have negative and long-term consequences for public trust in state institutions. However, few studies have examined the post-peace challenges of rebuilding trust in state institutions. In this study, we utilise the case of Colombia to explore the impact of civil wars on the institutional trust of the police. We find that perspectives on abuse, punishment, and corruption are significant predictors of trust in the Colombian police. Further, we find that when we test all three phenomena together, perceptions of police abuse and experience with bribery are the key drivers of trust of police in Colombia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Chlorophyll from peppermint (mentha spicata) was evaluated as a natural dye sensitizer in TiO2 solar cells. The final photoconversion efficiency depended on the solvent used as chlorophyll dispersant and the technique used to sensitize the mesoporous TiO2 film. Evaluated sensitization techniques included pipetting, immersion, and electrophoresis. Best solar cell performance was obtained using methanol as solvent simultaneously with electrophoresis. A short circuit current density (Jsc) of 0.174 mA/cm2 and an open circuit voltage (Voc) of 0.508 V were obtained. The photoconversion efficiency reached 0.39 %. However, sensitizing by the pipetting technique allowed a photoconversion efficiency of 0.35 % with better reproducibility. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this work, a study of a characterization technique based on open circuit voltage decay is carried out to obtain the recombination resistance of mobile charge carriers and ionic migration in triple cation perovskite solar cells. The devices were fabricated with the structure FTO/TiO2/Cs0.05FA1−XMAXPb(I1−XBrX)3/spiroOMetad/Au. An equivalent circuit, created in Ngspice, was developed adjusting the capacitance and resistance values to fit the experimental open circuit voltage (Voc) decay curves observed. The aim of this study is to associate the perovskite ionic migration with the Voc characteristic time of charge transport in triple cation perovskite solar cells. Thus, an analysis of the open circuit voltage transient behavior was made by taking measurements of the photovoltage as a function of time. The results indicate that the technique shows charge recombination while the device is illuminated. In addition, an enhancement of the recombination resistance when increasing the FA+ concentration was observed. Finally, the transient behavior was associated with MA+, FA+, Cs+ and I− migration, obtaining an ionic mobility in the range between 10−10 to 10−12 cm2 (Vs)−1. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hernán Flom's book, "The Informal Regulation of Criminal Markets in Latin America," explores how weakly institutionalized democracies in Latin American metropolitan areas control drug markets and maintain order. Flom examines four key cases in Brazil and Argentina to compare the factors that influence the governance of illicit market regimes. He develops a typology categorizing regulatory structures based on their operation and argues that political turnover, political fragmentation, and police autonomy are crucial factors in determining the nature of engagement with criminal groups. Flom's research, theoretical contributions, and methodological considerations make this work a valuable resource for scholars in criminology, political science, and Latin American studies. [Extracted from the article]

Where do newly formed rebel parties run their candidates for local elections? Most work on rebel parties examines the factors that explain rebel party success on the national level. However, few studies look at where rebel parties run candidates in elections and at the local level. We develop a dataset to analyze the activity of FARC (Fuerzas Alternative Revolucionaria del Común) in the 2019 local elections in Colombia. Using both a Firth Logit regression and Zero-Inflated Negative Binomial model, we found that former rebel parties are more likely to candidates in locations where they have had a historical presence, where ideologically similar parties also ran candidates, where there is a larger field of candidates, and in areas with less institutionalized elections. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]