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This study investigates skills mismatch in the agricultural labour market. Therefore, 336 agriculture employers and 654 agriculture employees were surveyed in Benin. Data were analysed using descriptive statistics and non-parametric tests. The findings showed that even though there is a good educational match for most employees, overeducation is more substantial than under education for upper agricultural high school diploma holders (DEAT) and agricultural tertiary education diploma holders. In addition, about 2% of agricultural high education diploma holders and 6.38% of DEAT holders had a job irrelevant to their field of study. The study further showed that agriculture graduates were under-skilled for the soft and digital skills under review. Moreover, training providers do not equip students with job search skills. These findings imply that vertical mismatch is more pronounced than horizontal mismatch. The study suggested a prioritisation of the implementation of training programmes based on the demand in terms of study level and field of study, an update of curricula by integrating the lacking soft, digital and job search skills, a settlement of a collaborative network between employers and training institutions, an implementation of mentoring programmes, and an investment of enterprises in the adequate training of youth as social responsability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

During the Arab Revolt against the British authorities in Palestine from 1936 to 1939, missionaries responded by organizing aid to relieve Arab local suffering, transforming their educational and medical mission to provide immediate relief. This article questions the image of missionaries as producers of expertise, both from a welfare and political activity point of view, in a place—the 'Holy Land'- where missionary activity was particularly intense and widespread. Two Protestant missions stand out for their immediate and systematic reaction to local suffering as agents situated at the margins. A close, comparative study of S. Ekblad (Swedish Jerusalem Society; Jerusalem), and E.D. Forster (Jerusalem and the East Mission, Hebron and the south of Palestine) uncover the complex relations between relief, religion and diplomacy during the anti-colonial Arab uprising. Colonial agents themselves, both actors addressed people within and beyond what their own organizations defined as target groups, proposing their own definitions of 'humanity' and 'humanitarian worker'. A closer look at their actions, at a micro (in a neighbourhood), meso (on a regional scale) and macro level reveals the political implications, the moral issues and challenges these two Protestant agents could pose to political governance during a period of turmoil. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Caring for patients with substance use disorders (SUD) is held in low regard and many clinicians resist treating them. To address this situation, numerous research projects assessed training program gaps and professional attitudes. In contrast, this study explored the actual clinical difficulties that a variety of hospital-based professionals encounter when treating patients with SUD. Methods: Qualitative multiple method design including: (1) individual semi-structured interviews with SUD experts and educators; (2) video-elicited, cross self-confrontation interviews with clinicians working in a specialist addiction unit; (3) paired semi-structured interviews with clinicians working in non-specialist units. Participants were recruited within one university hospital. Data collected at stages (1) and (3) relied on an interview guide and were analyzed using conventional content analyses. Data collected at stage (2) consisted of discussions of video recorded clinical interviews and were analyzed based on a participatory approach. Results: Twenty-three clinicians from seven hospital units participated. Forty-four difficulties were reported that we classified into six categories: knowledge-based; moral; technical; relational; identity-related; institutional. We identified seven cross-category themes as key features of SUD clinical complexity: exacerbation of patient characteristics; multiplication of medical issues; hybridity and specificity of medical discipline; experiences of stalemate, adversity, and role reversal. Conclusions: Our study, providing a comprehensive analysis of the difficulties of caring for patients with SUD, reveals a highly challenging clinical practice for a diversity of healthcare providers. They represent a complementary approach to addressing resistance as an important feature of a complex clinical system, and valuable material to discussing professional preparedness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research delves into the emerging paradigm of biocultural systems, focusing on the intricate social-ecological dynamics which created and maintained an ancient farming system, the European wood-pastures. Innovatively conceptualizing wood-pastures as biocultural systems, this study employs a network approach to unravel the complex interactions between human activities and the natural particularities within these environments. By using field surveys and interviews conducted in Transylvania, Romania, this research reconstructs the traditional social-ecological drivers behind the preservation of ancient wood-pastures and their Nature's Contributions to People (NCP). It identifies key variables and their centrality within the biocultural network, emphasizing that the rich natural values of wood-pastures are inextricably linked to management features. We employ RLQ and fourth corner analyses to investigate the interconnections among biophysical context, biocultural features (i.e. human made and natural features), and NCP, revealing significant correlations and gradients between the broad biophysical setting and the wood-pasture NCP. The findings underscore the importance of maintaining traditional management practices and stewardship to conserve the biodiversity and cultural heritage of wood-pastures. We contribute to a deeper comprehension of biocultural systems and offer insights for effective management and governance of traditional farming landscapes in Europe and beyond. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Inspired by the New Zealand Association for Research in Education (NZARE) Conference 2022, entitled 'The Mighty Triangle: The strength of the research-policy-practice triangle for addressing local, national, and global challenges' (), this article examines some of the relational complexities and specificities within the Aotearoa New Zealand early childhood education and care policy-research-practice triangle. This article problematises the notion of the 'mighty' triangle as a 'durable' structure by examining how each corner, side and angle is produced in the context of prevailing global neoliberal discourses. We argue that making sense of the complex dynamics within the Aotearoa ECE policy-research-practice triangle requires understanding the politics, relationships and dynamics of conflict and the struggle of those, directly and indirectly, involved in (and excluded) and influenced by the triangle. Therefore, the article critically engages with the 'impossibilities' and complexities of the ECE policy-research-practice triangle and takes a closer look at those impacted and/or marginalised by 'beautiful durable structures' of ECE triangle politics, particularly the voices of teachers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of South African Review of Sociology is the property of Taylor & Francis Ltd and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The present work is aimed to address the subject of CSR practice impact on corporate financial performance (measured via ROE), along with each of the CSR dimensions (social and environmental) respective effect, examined through the moderating effect of CSR committee, regarding a sample involving 473 European companies, observed over the time period ranging from 2015 to 2021. To test the moderating effect of the CSR committee and its respective characteristics on the relationship between CSR performance and financial performance of companies involving a CSR committee, we considered applying a panel-data based linear regression, administered through implementation of the Thomson Reuters ASSET4 database. Our findings show that CSR practices have a sustained positive and significant impact on the financial performance of companies. However, when examining the moderating effect, certain characteristics appear to be considered key factors for the proper functioning of the CSR committee, thereby improving the firm's financial performance. The findings of this study provide multiple contributions for policymakers to improve the valuation of companies and strengthen the mechanisms for ensuring the financial performance of companies and their sustainability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, large digital companies have been gobbling up hundreds of smaller highly innovative firms involved in the collection and the processing of data. Some regulators, academics and practitioners have expressed concerns that Big Tech might use the increased market power and the greater concentration of consumers' personal data stemming from data-driven mergers to harm consumers in the form of lower privacy protection. They wonder whether and to what extent the EU Commission and/or national competition authorities should take into account data protection considerations when reviewing transactions under the Merger Regulation and/or national merger control rules. The Commission's decisional practice points towards three possible routes for integrating privacy concerns into competition analysis. Given their respective shortcomings, we explore the possibility of using the German Federal Cartel Office's line of reasoning in its Facebook decision as a model for the incorporation of privacy considerations into EU data-driven merger analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Te Tiriti o Waitangi (Te Tiriti) signed in 1840 by the British Crown and a number of indigenous hapū (subtribes) collectively named Māori has been widely positioned as the foundation document for the colonial state of Aotearoa New Zealand. Devastating consequences of breaches of Te Tiriti form an injustice perpetuated through overt and covert institutional racism. Such racism undermines Māori sovereign status, harms the wellbeing of contemporary Māori, contradicts a justice aspired to among democratic nations, and diminishes the justification of ourselves as a just people. As authors the demand to eradicate such racism is influenced by many Māori leaders whose efforts to honour Te Tiriti have never waned. We describe Decol2020 as a creative collaboration among community and scholarly activists intent on transforming racism. We offer this paper as a contribution to how such collaborations may be invigorated wherever any institutionalized injustice requires redress. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The legitimisation of European institutions tends to be a primary issue of debate in European identity politics. Following the expansion of the EU competencies and the growth of Eurosceptic forces, the attention gained by the democratic accountability of the European institutions should encourage reflections on the role assigned to the European political parties. Although it is impossible to equate the functioning of European democracy with national experiences, party politics remains an essential component of any democratic regime. This study is the first attempt to observe the engagement of European political organisations in promoting a collective European identity. To schematise the analysis, three ideal types are presented to illustrate different models of European identitarian attachment. The critical discourse analysis (CDA) and discourse-historical approach (DHA) from the manifestos of the European Christian-conservative, Socialist and Liberal parties have identified the activism of the parties in promoting divergent European identities, highlighting the intermediate role that European political parties could play in linking the European institutions with citizens. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Canadian Journal of Art Therapy is the property of Taylor & Francis Ltd and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Sugar plantations have fundamentally shaped water use in Maui, Hawai'i for over 100 years, with tremendous resulting impacts on ecosystems and Native Hawaiian communities. In this paper, we build on literature on the plantationocene and the political lives of infrastructure to examine plantation irrigation infrastructure. We center Maui's vast water conveyance ditch system as a means of understanding how infrastructure continues plantation logics into the present, considering both the physical ditches themselves as well as the laws and politics which support continued water extraction. We also consider infrastructural futures, highlighting ongoing efforts of communities seeking water justice via infrastructural control. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aims to investigate the existing link between Total Quality Management (TQM) and Sustainability, consistent with the Triple Bottom Line (TBL) approach. For this purpose, a Systematic Literature Review (SLR) was carried out, which resulted in a corpus of 139 scientific articles covering the period from 1996 to 2023. Two research questions were answered: (1) What are the main research methodologies adopted in literature to analyze the relationship between TQM and Sustainability? (2) Which are the mostly used CSFs of TQM for achieving Sustainability? Based on this analysis, a thorough explanation of why TQM can be considered the catalyst of Sustainability is presented. The results indicate how four CSFs of TQM, which are Human Resources Management 'HRM', 'Process management', 'Customer Focus' and 'Continuous Improvement', recur and intersect with each other in literature. Finally, from a managerial perspective, this research represents a significant contribution in establishing the importance of a TQM-oriented management approach to achieve Sustainability, providing insights and understanding to guide managers/decision-makers to enhance sustainability in quality improvement processes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of British Journal of Sociology of Education is the property of Taylor & Francis Ltd and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Background: Widespread cannabis consumption and recreational cannabis legalization is thought to have led to an increase in motor vehicle accidents, although there currently lacks ethical guidance for primary care practitioners on cannabis-impaired driving. Objective: The aim was to develop an ethical framework for primary care providers on cannabis-impaired driving. Methods: An ethical analysis in the form of a critical interpretive review was undertaken, using a systematic approach to determine the appropriate action to a given situation with evidence to substantiate its claims. The search strategy was designed to answer the research question: What are some ethical concerns for primary care providers to consider when cannabis-impaired driving is suspected? Four databases were searched in December 2021 using keywords related to cannabis, impaired driving, ethics, and primary care. The resulting evidence was synthesized as recommendations for primary care practice. Results: The ethical approach for primary care practitioners in addressing cannabis-impaired driving can be summarized as the duty to always inform, provide care through prevention and harm reduction strategies, and report when necessary. The prevention of cannabis-impaired driving should not fall on the sole responsibility of primary care practitioners. As this review offers a high-level discussion of the ethical considerations in cannabis-impaired driving, specific recommendations will depend upon the legal and policy designations of individual jurisdictions. Conclusion: Ultimately, the practitioner should manage cannabis-impaired driving in a way that fosters the therapeutic relationship in patient-centered care, through motivational discussions, collaboration with specialists, skills for self-management, patient empowerment, and support. Take-Home Points for Primary Care Practitioners in Cannabis-Impaired Driving • For patients who report driving frequently and using cannabis, the frequency of use, dosage, form of cannabis, tolerance levels, and withdrawal symptoms should be discussed, while informing the patient of the risks, harms, and legal consequences associated with cannabis-impaired driving. • The practitioner's primary responsibility in the cannabis-impaired driving context is to provide care to patients who drive and consume cannabis, which may include referring patients to mental health care to manage addictive or problematic behaviors associated with cannabis use. • Practitioners may have a duty to report cannabis-impaired driving to legal authorities (such as law enforcement) when the user engages in harmful behavior to themselves or others. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For Van Rensselaer Potter (1911–2001), Global Bio-Ethics is about building on the legacy of Aldo Leopold (1887–1948), one of the most notable forest managers of the twentieth century who brought to light the importance of pragmatism in the sciences and showed us a new way to proceed with environmental ethics. Following Richard Huxtable and Jonathan Ives's methodological 'Framework for Empirical Bioethics Research Projects' called 'Mapping, framing, shaping,' published in BMC Medicine Ethics (2019)), we propose operationalizing a framework for Global Bio-Ethics by hybridizing approaches in empirical bioethics and ecosystem management. We explain this framework using the metaphor of forest management. This mixed approach is articulated through three phases: (1) mapping the "landscape" to build a working theory, (2) framing the "scene" to prepare the fieldwork, and (3) shaping bioethics "tools" to stimulate cooperation. Applying this methodology, an adaptive management cycle is outlined to help ensure that political processes are sustainable and socially acceptable, still based on strategic and ethical thinking, but also capable of reshaping failing policies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this study is to analyse the impact of the armed conflict in Colombia on the environment, and in particular, terrorist attacks on the oil infrastructure and the phenomenon of oil spills in river basins in the department of Norte de Santander. The study covers the last decade, from 2010 to 2019, and is focused on one of the most violent departments in Colombia, through which the country's most important oil pipeline runs, connecting Caño Limón in Arauca and Coveñas in Sucre. Based on governmental and other reports, the papersituates these acts violence within within the wider dynamics ofarmed confllict. A model is also proposed pointing to the urgency of finding new variables and risk probability factors so that this threat to security in Colombia, currently as unpredictable as it is unresolved, may be effectively managed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Alongside the neoliberalisation of UK Higher Education (HE), the values of speed, competition, marketisation and individualism increasingly shape teaching and learning globally. This article takes seriously the feeling of unease expressed by lecturers and students in this context, proposing that posthumanism offers a theoretical, methodological and praxical means to challenge neoliberal logics and their effects. Through assemblages, diffractive analysis and an experimental film, we explore how module re-design and delivery around 'posthumanist project-based learning' (PBL) attends to materiality, embodiment, affect, ethicality, social justice and political transformation. We argue that by de-centring the human, posthumanist PBL alerts students, teachers and researchers to the 'trouble' that haunts educational experiences and centres an ethics of community that reshapes the boundaries of accountability. Our work indicates how posthumanism might offer new ways to engage in HE knowledge production – and position materiality, care and our common future as the drivers for teaching and learning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article presents an investigation carried out within the Regional Observatory Project for Quality and Equity in Latin America (ORACLE), an Erasmus + initiative financed by the European Union (with more than 35 Latin American Universities involved), conducted in 2018 and 2019 in the Institute of of Education (IE) at Universidad ORT Uruguay. The objective was to identify vulnerable groups and to gather information about the visibility and impact of the developed policies on quality of inclusion in higher education, as well as gathering data about possible improvements in the management system to achieve equity. The methodology approach is mixed. In terms of the visibility of inclusive practices in the postgraduate degrees, all bodies identify a positive impact, especially due to the access to scholarships, the blended modality of the courses, the ease of access to bibliography and learning resources, and the personalized accompaniment of teachers during all stages of their educational process at the Institute of Education. Some guidelines for new strategies to ensure quality for equity have been presented to other universities involved in the project and are being taken as an example of good inclusion practices in the region and for the joint development of equity management tools. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As not all firms benefit to the same extent from regional competitiveness, this article investigates the influence of the regional context on the productivity of a sample of family and non-family manufacturing firms in Spain. Using a multilevel approach to account for the nested structure of the data, and a composite indicator of regional competitiveness, to capture the spatial endowment of tangible and intangible resources, we found family firms to be more sensitive to the regional context than non-family businesses. Cross-level interactions show that family firms achieve higher productivity gains from their location in more competitive regions than their non-family counterparts. This result is in line with our theoretical arguments postulating the unique social capital of family firms which allows them to benefit most from location advantages. Implications for regional and family business studies, as well as policymakers, are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, there has been a tidal wave of merger filings involving large digital firms acquiring low turnover but high value start-ups. The vast majority of those transactions have flown under the radar of EU and National Competition Authorities and, among the few which have been reviewed, none has been blocked. Competition scholars wonder whether there has been a systematic bias towards under-enforcement against acquisitions of start-ups by already dominant tech firms. Some Member States are calling for a reform of the EU merger control's notification system and an adaptation of the substantive test to effectively address cases of potentially predatory acquisitions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In 1928, the airship Italia, commanded by Umberto Nobile, crashed on the way back from the North Pole. The tragic outcome of his expedition interrupted the organization of significant Arctic explorations and generated a fracture between Mussolini's regime and polar studies. The Fascist regime implicitly expressed its shame for its role in the whole unfortunate expedition and the subject became taboo in the entire country. Almost ten years later, in 1937, Norway invited all countries that had previously undertaken polar expeditions to participate in the first International Polar Exhibition (Internasjonal utstilling for polarforskning), planned to be held from May 1940. Considering the polemics after the 1928 Arctic expedition, the Norwegians' eager efforts to solicit Italy's participation in the exhibition may appear surprizing. Therefore, this work aims to better understand these dynamics, seeing the uncertainties surrounding Italy's participation in the polar exhibition in light of Nobile's pivotal role in the organization of Fascist Italy's polar explorations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Biopolitics occupies a central role in contemporary debates over new political and governance strategies around the world. Based on the Hobbesian assumption of a "mutual relation between protection and obedience" the sovereign power of modern states seems to be founded with the purpose of the preservation and protection of life. But what happens if we look at the present pandemic, whereby governments are struggling against an "invisible enemy" to pursue this end, facing at the same time the problem of keeping up with the growth that sustains the wealth of our economies? Through the discussion of four contemporary, and often antagonistic, takes on biopolitics – Foucault's understanding of biopower; Agamben's critique of the logic of sovereignty; Esposito's concept of immunitas; and Mbembe's necropolitics – the aim of my paper will be to shed light on the theoretical implications of the pandemic for the foundations of political authority and the definition of modern sovereignty. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is increasing support, in international legal theory and advocacy, for water governance approaches that go beyond the technocratic, and recognise the reciprocal relatedness of water peoples and water places. Such an approach may seem logical within certain Indigenous law and belief systems, but can Western legal frameworks become more 'relational'? How can they evolve to be capable of meaningfully relating with Indigenous systems of law and governance for water? This article draws on a comprehensive survey of comparative legal developments affecting water across seven settler-colonial countries in Australasia and Latin America that attempt (or profess) to be relational. I critically evaluate these attempts against the 'yardstick' of relationality. In each jurisdiction there are unresolved calls for a social, cultural and constitutional transformation of some sort, in which Indigenous and environmental justice are key. The analysis here reveals the potential for constitutional law to drive relational water laws, although without place-based specificity and supporting institutions, resources and redistributions of power, constitutional approaches risk having little practical impact. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this paper is to reconstruct the debate on the international clearing mechanism from the pioneering proposals of the nineteenth century to the years of high theory, at the beginning of the 1940s, when several plans were defined to establish international clearing mechanisms, and the well-known John Maynard Keynes's International Clearing Union Plan was joined by other projects proposed by Paul Einzig and two German-born economists, Ernst Friedrich Schumacher and Hubert Ladenburg. As is well known, the Keynes plan was conceived as a response to the Nazi plan to establish a multilateral clearing system for regulating trade relations in the economic space of the countries occupied by the Third Reich. However, Keynes did not elaborate a plan radically opposed to the Nazi proposal, but shared its essential core. While being opposite sides of the conflict, both Nazi Germany and the British government proposed the same monetary order, based on multilateral clearing system, for the post-war world. The project of a new international monetary order based on the multilateral clearing system was not unanimously shared among the Allies: the United States moved on different lines confirming the centrality of gold in the post-war world order. Economic interests imposed the restoration of gold-exchange standard, based on the dollar supremacy and the Bretton Woods agreement, confirming the political success of Harry Dexter White's proposal, was a turning point in a spontaneous path towards a new international order based on clearing agreements. Keynes proposed an economically realistic solution, based on the experience of clearing agreements resulting from the collapse of the gold exchange standard, but his plan was politically unrealistic in the face of the interests of the United States superpower. Keynes did not accept a compromise, but was simply defeated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While recent years have seen the rapid growth of off-grid solar power, ten per cent of the world's population, the majority in sub-Saharan Africa, still lack access to electricity. Meanwhile, standalone solar home systems using pay as you go (PAYGO) mobile money have been proposed as a key solution to meeting the target of universal access to energy under Sustainable Development Goal 7. These systems are being deployed in various regions of the global South, including East Africa and to a lesser extent West Africa. I investigate how through PAYGO, off-grid solar electricity in sub-Saharan Africa is being transformed into a cash flow, a financial asset and a conduit for consumer debt. In so doing I analyse evolving relationships between some of the key actors and institutions involved in this process, including mobile banking platforms such as M-Pesa, 'next generation utilities' such as M-KOPA and BBOXX, and powerful mobile network operators such as Safaricom and MTN. Theoretically I conceptualise energy access as a new frontier of 'electricity capital', a developing field from political economy and energy geography, which is concerned with the way in which technological developments in the electricity sector are reconfiguring relationships between different institutions of the state, industry, finance, and users. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

I apply a financial citizenship lens to the Pakistani banking sector to consider how inclusive finance resolves the issue of uneven financial access. For this, I draw attention to how inclusive finance is a form of shadow banking. The case of Pakistan shows that policies of inclusive finance create a heterogeneous formal financial space. Institutionalized forms of inclusive finance result in a banking system that offers uneven access to finance because it contains separate parts for different clients. Such a system is defined by mainstream commercial banks based on a traditional bank intermediation model on the one hand, and inclusive finance based on a disintermediated, or shadow banking model, on the other. My study uses the example of two deposit-taking microfinance banks to show how contemporary financial systems in the Global South tend to contain an "outside" as well as an "inside". As such, I draw attention to how shadow banks shape inclusive finance and limit financial citizenship, causing uneven access to finance, characterized by inequities in (1) rates, (2) requirements, and (3) surveillance. These inequities complicate and limit financial citizenship in spaces where shadow banking subsumes inclusive finance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The invisible hand of private global enterprises in the political and economic landscape of Africa's rentier states best exemplifies the extent to which Multinational Corporations (MNCs) now personify the variant/competing strategic resource-seeking interests of two fronts, i.e., (i) the emerging economy MNCs [BRICS nations, with China and Russia in particular] and (ii) the EU (European Union) and North American states. We have also seen from these fronts, a growing prioritization of economic/political hegemonies over mutually-beneficial bilateral relationships that ensure shared economic development and stability (with respect to ideals, such as good governance, human rights, and democracy) in the Global South. Inadvertently, this has emboldened the proliferation of oligarchs and shadow states whose resilience is contingent upon the existence of autocratic infrastructure, inequality, and a shrinking democratic space. In rentier states, such as the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), positive spillovers (in both development and economic terms) have been dwindling—notwithstanding the ubiquity of private global enterprises therein. Using the Rentier State theory and the Agency thesis, the article explores the operations of MNCs in Africa. Through a content analysis of literature on global capital, institutions, and the role of multinationals in resource rich states, the article focuses on the DRC to highlight what we know and do not know on the negative side of globalization. Some of the negative outcomes of the unregulated power of private global enterprises (as discussed in the article) include their involvement in electoral process interferences, authoritarian collaborations, the establishment of oligopolies, shadow states, etc., to the detriment of equitable development (within rentier states), and a salience of inequities within the global natural resource trade. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article is the introduction to the special issue looking at organised business in the international arena to gain better understanding of the role of this group of actors. The international strategies of national business interest associations and transnational business interest associations have largely been overlooked by business historians with a focus on multinational enterprise and global historians studying international organisations and international non-governmental organisations. The article explores in broad terms the historical development of these actors, their representation in the existing literature – historical as well as political and social scientific – before turning to some new research perspectives and the contributions of the articles in the special issue to this research agenda. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research into the effectiveness of cooperative learning for students who encounter barriers to participation and learning, and for those who show resistance to cooperative learning, produces poor results because learning strategies do not always incorporate the essential elements of cooperative learning. For this reason, in this study we intend to show how the factors of competence for cooperative learning evolved over 6 terms in base teams, in students with resistance to cooperative learning and in one student diagnosed with ADHD. This was a longitudinal case study where qualitative research instruments were used, carried out in a rural classroom. The results show how the base teams (class-group) evolved, how the resistant students and the ADHD student evolved, and offer pointers to cooperative proposals that should be developed in a class-group, considering the different learning needs of students. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article focuses on Atarraya, a participatory performance piece by Carolina Caycedo in collaboration with ; a group of social organisations affected by hydroelectric and mining megaprojects in Colombia. It argues that oral history-informed art practices offer an alternative space to communicate painful experiences and demand better futures, engaging broader and more diverse audiences. By analyzing the performative elements of Atarraya, such as the inclusion of human and non-human voices, the article shows how in the face of the transitional justice system in Colombia, it is necessary to understand listening as a critical component of oral history-informed performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim was to document the effects of hippotherapy on the 12 life habits of children with various disabilities. A systematic review using PRISMA guidelines was conducted to identify relevant studies. Five databases were consulted. Inclusion criteria were: 2-to-18 years old; therapy provided by a PT, OT or SLP/SLT; variables relevant to life habits as defined by the Human Development Model – Disability Creation Process. Quality was analyzed using a quantitative studies critical review form developed by the McMaster University Occupational Therapy Evidence-Based Practice Research Group. Levels of evidence were evaluated using the Oxford Centre for Evidence-Based Medicine guidelines. The investigations' overall quality ratings were excellent (n = 5 studies), acceptable (n = 10) and poor (n = 8); the evidence levels were 2/high (n = 2), 3/moderate (n = 3) and 4/low (n = 18). This systematic review suggests an observable connection between hippotherapy and improvements in three habits (mobility, communication, interpersonal relationships). The findings provide support for hippotherapy as a therapy with a positive impact on three categories of life habits. Further research is warranted for education, housing, nutrition, personal care and recreation (only 3 studies), as well as community and spiritual life, employment, physical fitness and psychological well-being and responsibility (no studies). Occupational, physical and speech language therapists must continue to intervene with children with developmental delays related to various diagnoses as demonstrated by 15 studies involving hippotherapy rated from acceptable to excellent quality. Given improvements, therapists should pursue hippotherapy in mobility, communication, interpersonal relationships, as established specifically by five studies with moderate to high evidence. Given three studies in hippotherapy, therapists are encouraged to document improvement in other life habits such as education, housing, nutrition, personal care and recreation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyzes recent developments within the tiny house niche from a sustainability transition perspective through a case study in Quebec, Canada. The methods include documentation of tiny house developments and semi-structured interviews. The main findings are that most tiny houses in Quebec are being built as conventional, single-use, low-density, single-family detached home developments on greenfield in remote locations. Thus, recent developments in the tiny house niche resulted in incremental rather than radical changes to the housing regime practices. Furthermore, rural municipalities facing devitalisation are more prone to accepting greenfield development for their short-term benefits, while medium cities and municipalities in metropolitan areas are only planning to authorise tiny houses as accessory dwelling units as part of an infill development strategy. This suggests that tiny houses are contributing to a pattern of uneven geographical development. Interviews point at two systemic barriers that explain why tiny houses are developed in this way: the political economy of housing and sustainable urban planning policies and regulations. In the discussion, we suggest actions at the municipal, provincial and federal levels to use the enthusiasm for tiny houses to further an urban sustainability transition agenda. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

"Self-preferencing" refers to a conduct of a large provider of core platform services which consists in favouring one's own products and services over those offered by competitors on the same platform. Drawing on the experience acquired through its various antitrust investigations into the conducts of Big Tech, the European Commission, in its its "proposal for the Digital Market Act", has put forward the concept of "gatekeeper". If adopted, this regulatory instrument which aims at ensuring fairness and transparency in the EU digital markets, would enable the Commission to qualify as such any large core platform service on the basis of narrowly defined objectives criteria and submit it to a set of prohibitions and obligations. By opting for such an approach, the Commission would be able to switch from an ex-post assessment of a gatekeepers' self-preferencing practices to an ex-ante one. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is well-recognized that hyperuricemia is a common abnormality among individuals with metabolic syndrome. The objective of this study was to determine whether hyperuricemia is associated with the metabolically obese normal-weight (MONW) and metabolically healthy obese (MHO) phenotypes. Men and women equal or greater than 18 years of age were enrolled in a cross-sectional study. Normal-weight subjects were allocated into the MONW or healthy normal-weight (HNW) groups; while obese individuals were divided into the MHO and metabolically unhealthy obese (MUO) subgroups. MONW phenotype was defined by body mass index (BMI) <25.0 kg/m2 accompanied by at least one cardiovascular risk factor (hyperglycemia, elevated blood pressure, hypertriglyceridemia, and low high-density lipoprotein cholesterol), and MHO phenotype was considered in obese subjects (BMI ≥30 kg/m2) without metabolic abnormalities. A total of 567 individuals were enrolled; of them, normal-weight subjects were allocated into the MONW (n = 101) and control (n = 72) groups, whereas obese individuals into the MHO (n = 61) and MUO (n = 333) groups. The multiple logistic regression analysis adjusted by age, gender, and body mass index revealed that hyperuricemia is significantly associated with MONW (OR = 5.14; 95% CI: 1.37–19.29) and MHO (OR = 0.34; 95% CI: 0.14–0.82) phenotypes. Results of our study showed that hyperuricemia is associated with both MONW and MHO phenotypes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is already a substantial body of literature examining the participation issues in Marine Spatial Planning (MSP). This paper addresses these issues in the French MSP process. Using qualitative materials, it examines the participation process from four perspectives: structural, contextual, organisational, methodological. It shows that public participation in the French MSP system is still mostly procedural. Also, in most other EU countries, participation is used as a tool for resolving conflicts about use of the sea as well as to build acceptability for marine renewable energy projects. Whatever the role participation plays, it requires a critical attention in MSP processes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The effect of basic needs and motivational climate has been widely examined in recent years in the field of achievement motivation. Nevertheless, recent studies indicate the need to consider students' (with or without special needs) social goals (e.g. affiliation, recognition, status and responsibility goals) in order to achieve a better understanding of teenagers' motivation to engage in physical activities such as physical education (PE) and sports. The study aimed to test a theoretical model combining concepts of three motivational theories and to verify if the model varies according to students' type of class (ordinary or special). This correlational study was conducted in four public high schools in the province of Quebec (Canada). A sample of 277 students aged 13–16 years (Mage = 13.55, SD = 0.89, boys = 61.2%) from regular (50.2%) and special education (49.8%) classes completed a questionnaire that assessed five constructs: basic psychological needs, perceived motivational climate, social goals in PE, and overall attitudes towards PE and physical activity (PA) using self-reported questionnaires. Path analyses and invariance testing were performed to verify the presence of class-type differences. In contrast to students from regular classes, those from special classes reported higher autonomy and relatedness in PE. These students also perceived a lower mastery climate and a higher performance climate, and they reported pursuing more recognition and status goals. Results partially supported our theoretical model: motivational climate → need satisfaction → social goals → attitudes. In addition to the expected relationships, positive paths were significant between dimensions of the motivational climate and students' adoption of social goals (mastery climate → responsibility and affiliation goals; performance climate → recognition and status goals; relatedness-support → affiliation goals) and attitudes (mastery climate → PE attitudes), and between need satisfaction and students' goals (autonomy → status goal) and attitudes (competence → PE and PA attitudes). The final model was invariant across groups, except for the relationship between students' need for autonomy and their adoption of social affiliation goals. In fact, this relationship was positive and significant only for students from special classes. The research sheds light on the mechanisms underlying social goals, while emphasizing the importance of promoting a motivational climate that fulfils students' basic psychological needs in both regular and special PE classes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study sets out to investigate the usefulness of cataloging Italian meteorite museum collections using a national standard. This investigation follows a case-study design, with an in-depth analysis of the meteorite collection preserved at the Museum of Planetary Sciences in Prato, Italy, which has been recently cataloged using the BN-PL (Beni Naturalistici–Planetologia, Naturalistic Heritage–Planetology) standard promoted by the Istituto Centrale per il Catalogo e la Documentazione (ICCD, Central Institute for Cataloging and Documentation). ICCD is a part of the Italian Ministry of Culture. The catalog cards were published in open access on the General Catalog of the Cultural Heritage (). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this study was to investigate students' perceptions of responsibility in the context of physical education. 17 6th-grade students (7 boys and 10 girls) from 9 Greek elementary schools were interviewed. Theory and data driven thematic analysis was conducted. The Teaching Personal and Social Responsibility (TPSR) model provided a conceptual framework to guide data analysis. Most of the students' values, motives, attitudes, intentions, and experiences reflected the foundational responsibility goals included in the TPSR model; however, students' awareness of more advanced manifestations of responsibility in physical education was weaker. Findings shed light on Greek students' perceptions of responsibility in physical education (PE) classes and other settings. The TPSR model provided a relevant framework for describing and interpreting students' perceptions of responsibility. However, there was a marked discrepancy between students' perceived values of responsibility and their reported experiences. Implications for promoting responsibility in physical education are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Humanitarian interventions and state sovereignty are hard to reconcile and have long been regarded as mutually exclusive. Disciplinary approaches dedicated to their relation focus on a changing meaning of sovereignty, no longer understood as absolute power within a delimited territory, but rather as responsibility. This article argues that two ideas of sovereignty clash in instances of humanitarian intervention. This normative and conceptual overlaying has the ironic result of a sovereignty void. The process of delegitimizing absolute sovereignty happens by constructing legitimacy around norms of protection. After the existing sovereign structure is delegitimized we temporarily witness a 'before the state' political intermezzo. Until a new organisational unit is settled, these temporarily 'widowed' sovereignties can be regarded as pre-Westphalian arrangements, about to morph into states. In the process of restructuring the state, there are three types of arrangements that result when the new authority is installed – (1) a new state, by coupling a new authority with a new territorial delineation, (2) a new authority structure over the same territory or (3) status-quo exits. Humanitarian interventions since the nineteenth century until R2P are analyzed, looking for evidence provided in the documents preceding intervention – like protocols, treaties and resolutions concluded by the intervening powers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article discusses how a merit-based scheme for selecting and hiring teachers in Mexico has been implemented. In so doing, the Advocacy Coalition Framework (Sabatier and Jenkins-Smith 1988) was used, showing that a pluralist approach can be relevant to a more comprehensive understanding of the policy implementation process in a corporatist context. Two coalitions were identified; however, despite their formation and their relative power of influence, they were rather limited in putting their policy beliefs into practice. This allowed a deeper analysis of the factors constraining policy implementation. It was found that top level pacts need to be revised in the light of the complex nature of policies regarding teachers' professional development. Furthermore, technical issues as well as a coherent normative framework seem to be taken into account more seriously, which may disentangle the conflicting goals of teacher professionalism policies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Environmental management issues have become a global concern and many governments have developed policies that include environmental regulations. Under this framework, companies have become responding to the demands of all different parties to legitimize their actions. Studies have increased in the field of environmental reporting, but unfortunately, this does not indicate an increase in companies' awareness of the factors that determine the preparation of sustainability reports and the disclosure of environmental information. This paper uses the qualitative research technique to study the factors influencing environmental information disclosure. A structural analysis approach is applied to establish the interrelationship between the various factors. From our analysis, it has been found that profitability, gender diversity and board independence are the important and critical factors that influence environmental information disclosure. At the end of the research, technical use restrictions of interpretive structural modeling were discussed, and then proposals for developing the research were discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is a growing volume of literature on corporate governance and sustainability. Despite this, the relationship between corporate governance (CG) and carbon emissions performance (CEP) is an unresolved issue. This motivates us to examine the impact of CG on CEP, using a sample of all Australian firms that have participated in the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP) questionnaire survey. This study employs fixed-effects modelling for an unbalanced panel of 425 firm-year observations from 2010–2018. We find that firms with higher board independence and the presence of an environmental committee show enhanced CEP. Further, frequency of board meetings and gender diversity lead to improved CEP. However, ownership concentration does not appear to improve CEP. Our article provides valuable insight for corporate directors and regulators to help them recognize the vital role that board meetings, board gender diversity, board independence, and the presence of an environmental committee play in driving the carbon performance of companies. They can also use these results to identify positive elements of CG that may deserve additional regulatory focus to achieve carbon policy objectives. This study contributes to the increasing literature on the association between CG and climate change and presents a new direction for related research on whether and how CEP is influenced by CG. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The opening of the Mexican revolution in 1910 created opportunities for Mexico's small industrial working class to push forward its demands and desires. Although the revolution came late and initially from above in the Yucatán, workers in the region's Ferrocarriles Unidos de Yucatan (FUY), took advantage to create spaces of relative freedom and power for themselves through both individual and collective resistance. Using the company's personnel records, the article traces both processes, the former through individual conflicts (mostly in the shadows), the latter through three great railroad strikes in different moments of the critical henequén market for the peninsula, movements that progressively shook the region, 1911, 1922, and 1935. Taking advantage of a favorable labor market with a scarcity of skilled workers, railroad workers won spaces of comparative freedom and increasingly powerful unions. Eventually they even won union control over the company, but they also lost some of their ability to control their own unions. On balance, the combination of individual and collective resistance gave Yucatecan railroad workers a much better life and work world than before the revolution, somewhat akin to other Mexican industrial workers engaged in their own labor struggles during this period. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite the importance of the stigma construct for the rehabilitation of people with severe mental illness, there are still no scales that offer a measurement for public stigma in Spanish with good psychometric properties. The aim of this paper is to refine and improve an existing scale to measure public stigma towards people with severe mental illness among the Spanish population. We also intended to decrease the number of items in order to facilitate its applicability. 402 college students (73% women) responded to the attributional questionnaire (AQ27) in two subsamples. Exploratory and confirmatory factorial analysis with high cutoffs were conducted. The convergent validity with the resource allocation questionnaire was also tested. We have obtained a parsimonious tool, with 14 items and four factors, and some reliable psychometric indexes and convergent validity. The factors obtained were dangerousness-fear, lack of solidarity, coercion and avoidance. These results improve the findings from other studies that try to validate the AQ27 in other languages. We discuss the different factors that should be considered in the estimation of public stigma and the necessity to implement programmes to reduce it to enable recovery. Since the public stigma of mental illness is an obstacle to recovery and rehabilitation, reliable instruments are needed to assess it. A parsimonious instrument in Spanish with good psychometric characteristics for measuring public stigma is obtained. Using exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis, a questionnaire of 14 items is obtained. Four factors constitute the instrument: "dangerousness-fear", "coercion", "lack of solidarity", and "avoidance". [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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The off-label and unlicensed use of drugs in neonatology is a widespread reality in all the NICUs. Several explanations may be given to justify the extension of this phenomenon and, among them, the lack of ad hoc clinical trials in neonatal subpopulation and the freedom to cure worldwide recognized to relatives and physicians. It is well known that adverse effects are more frequent, more serious and more underreported when medicines are used unauthorized or off-label, being physicians in theory responsible for the newborn physical damage. To avoid this responsability, we believe that a shared legal framework may be helpfull where the informative process on risks/benefits ratio for the newborn has a pivotal role. The National and International Scientific Societies should promote a common guidelines also for the informations on drug effects to be supplied to relatives. But at the same time EMA has to implement its strong policy towards the mandatory request on trials, for every new drug, on specific neonatal and pediatric subpopulations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Physical activity levels and participation in sport-related activities is, in many cases, decreasing. This decrease has been associated with the quality of physical education, which in turn may be determined by the motivational climate. This article aims to provide practical applications, derived from self-determination theory, that may help physical education teachers foster a self-determined motivational climate that leads to engagement in physical education, physical activity, and sport activities across age groups. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article, we describe how Louis-Joseph Lebret's work, propelled by his human-centred spirituality, contributed to the development of an approach aimed at the transformation of social and economic structures, so as to achieve integral human development. We discuss too the connections between Lebret's legacy and the advancement of Integral Human Development within the Catholic Church. Finally drawing on a relational ontology (and the way it is expressed in the idea of a relational community in Catholic Social Teaching), we address the similarities and differences between the approaches to human development which were adopted in, respectively, the Catholic Church and the United Nations, which is another central institution with which Lebret interacted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]