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This article explores how policies that reduce barriers to entrepreneurship impact underrepresented groups differently depending on local norms and cultural beliefs. While prior studies suggest that underrepresented groups should benefit more than other groups do from policies lowering entry barriers, the empirical evidence is mixed. We argue that the absence of normative and cognitive support can undermine the effectiveness of these policies for underrepresented groups. To explore this, we leveraged the staggered rollout of a policy that reduced entry barriers to entrepreneurship in Mexico. The results show that while the policy increased the number of businesses founded by men, it had a small and statistically insignificant impact for women, thus exacerbating the gender gap in entrepreneurship. Further analyses suggest that while women were not more likely to become involved in entrepreneurship as founders, they did become engaged in alternative roles within new ventures, often leaving other forms of employment to enter unpaid work in businesses founded by men in their household. The effects of the policy on the gender gap in entrepreneurship and unpaid work were more pronounced in areas with a strong patriarchy logic and among married individuals. This research highlights the need to consider context in the design of policies intended to encourage entrepreneurship. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Prior research documents deleterious consequences of the annual clock change to daylight saving time in many contexts, but little is known about the effect the policy has on consumer behavior. While policy debates around ending seasonal clock changes continue, millions of consumers worldwide are potentially adversely affected by the time change. Drawing on the notions of sleepiness and self-control, the authors propose a framework of how the onset of daylight saving time increases unhealthy behavior. The hypotheses are tested via two studies cast in the difference-in-differences modeling framework capturing consumption before and after the time change and across consumers who experience the transition versus those who do not. Results of the first study suggest that the onset of daylight saving time increases calorie consumption from packaged snacks that are largely unhealthy, specifically in the evening and on cloudy days. The effect of the end of daylight saving time is not significant, suggesting an overall asymmetric effect of the time change on unhealthy behavior. Study 2 reveals that the onset of daylight saving time decreases fitness center visits, particularly for consumers without healthy consumption habits and with high transaction costs. Analysis of social media data suggests that consumers find the time change disruptive. Overall, the findings imply that public policy makers and businesses should find ways to support consumers around the onset of daylight saving time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper delves into the proliferation of non-practicing entities (NPEs), a hot topic in academia and public policy, especially in the United States. The common belief is that Europe is less exposed to NPEs due to a robust patent system, higher enforcement costs, and smaller damage awards. Yet, using a new database of NPE patent applications at the European Patent Office (EPO), the study uncovers that NPEs activity in Europe is arising: they own nearly 20,000 EPO patents, primarily in Electrical Engineering. Moreover, we contribute the literature investigating the heterogeneity of the NPE business model and its relationship with the characteristics and use of the patents they target. Our econometric analysis provides threefold original evidence. First, NPEs with higher propensity for litigation (i.e. "Litigation" NPEs) acquire patents with higher infringement risk but similar technological quality than practicing entities. Second, patent aggregators (i.e. "Portfolio" NPEs) and technology companies (i.e. "Technology" NPEs) acquire higher-quality patents compared to those acquired by practicing entities. Third, patent acquisitions by "Litigation" NPEs and "Portfolio" NPEs reduce the subsequent use of protected technologies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article investigates the transnational labor politics associated with the Europeanization of wage policy, based on process tracing of Irish minimum wage regulation reforms over the past two decades. The policy struggle in Ireland started as an employer-led domestic challenge to market-embedding regulation and was then affected by two EU interventions on wage policy: one with a de-regulatory orientation (during EU-IMF conditionality) and one with a re-regulatory one (with the approval of the EU minimum wage directive). Findings show that differences in collective action undertaken by employers and trade unions to influence wage policy at the national level can be explained by the intersection of each actor's preferences toward market-constraining or liberalizing labor regulation and their access to supranational (EU-level) institutions and support. This analysis contributes to debates on how transnational opportunity structures can alter labor's and employers' local power resources and strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Despite the existence of physical activity policies across many countries, insufficient physical activity remains a major global public health problem. Physical inactivity is an emergent feature of complex systems; it results from a wide range of factors at multiple levels that interact to influence behavior. Traditional approaches to public policy often fail within complex systems, largely due to unpredictability in how the system will respond. Adaptive policies, which are designed to allow for uncertainty about future system behavior and to change over time, may offer a promising solution. In this paper, we introduce the concept of adaptive policies and illustrate how this innovative approach to policy making may be beneficial for reducing physical inactivity. Design: Drawing on existing literature and guiding principles for policy making, we provide 3 examples to illustrate how the concept of adaptive policies can be applied to address physical inactivity. Discussion: The examples illustrate how changes to the way policies and interventions are developed, implemented, and evaluated could help to overcome some of the limitations in existing practices. A key challenge will be engaging policymakers to take a broader perspective of the physical activity system, develop policies that are designed to be adaptable across a range of different future scenarios, and embrace uncertainty and long-term adaptability. Conclusion: Adaptive policies may support decision makers globally to achieve the widespread and sustained changes necessary to increase population levels of physical activity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article titled "WHEN NONPROFIT ORGANIZATIONS DETRACT VALUE FROM SOCIETY: A REJOINDER" by Gamble and Munoz examines the potential negative impact of some tax-exempt nonprofit organizations (TENPOs) on society. The authors identify 12 factors that contribute to this value detraction, including government policies and choices made by TENPO managers. They argue that the benefits of tax-exempt status and tax-deductible donations do not outweigh the lost tax revenues. However, the analysis has some limitations, such as a lack of clarity in defining TENPOs and a failure to estimate the value provided by TENPOs compared to lost tax revenues. The text also critiques the article for not considering the value provided by TENPOs and the impact of corporate tax avoidance and evasion. It emphasizes the importance of diverse approaches to organizing and governing, and acknowledges the valuable work of TENPOs in areas like education, diversity, healthcare, and poverty alleviation. The article concludes by calling for further research and policy changes related to TENPOs and tax exemption. [Extracted from the article]

Despite the growing evidence that many firms operate several multisided platforms (MSPs) simultaneously, we lack a comprehensive understanding of the managerial and public policy challenges involved. We examine the determinants and consequences of centralization decisions for firms managing MSP portfolios. A starting point is that on top of the indirect network effects and matching needs between user groups of the same MSP, in an MSP portfolio there are indirect network effects and matching needs across sides of the different MSPs managed by the firm. These additional interdependencies can amplify the effects of cross-selling and data-sharing in such portfolios. Our analysis suggests the higher relevance of a centralized design of an MSP portfolio due to the coordination benefits when indirect network effects and matching needs intensify the payoffs from cross-selling and data-sharing in MSP portfolios. We also explain how a more centralized design of such portfolios enables a broad set of pricing strategies, barriers to imitation, and acquisitions, and discuss managerial and public policy implications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Inclusive design considers usability first: to design with the needs of everyone to decrease the mismatch between the end-user and the design object. In advertising, the mismatch may be in the opportunity to process an advertisement due to design strategies (i.e., executional ad cues). Based on the Motivation-Opportunity-Ability model of information processing, we focus on legibility as an important but underexplored encoding issue that can enhance consumers' opportunity to process ads based on visual clarity and lead to perceptual fluency effects. Visual acuity declines with age, so legibility is particularly important for older adults and those with vision loss. In line with recommended accessibility guidelines, we manipulated two advertising design factors believed to impact legibility—color contrast and font style—in the supers of a video advertisement for a pharmaceutical drug and tested the communication outcomes (cognition, persuasion). Across three studies with three different-aged populations, we show that legibility was positively related to awareness of information in the supers and to positive perceptions of the advertisement. In line with accessibility guidelines, legibility was rated the highest for most people in the high-color contrast sans serif font supers. Implications for theory, accessibility and older people, and public policy are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Population-level physical activity increases are improbable without intersectoral collaboration across government levels and sectors to develop and implement physical activity promotion policies. This study aims to provide information about the development of the Interaction between National and Local Government Levels in Development and Implementation of Physical Activity Policies Tool (INTEGRATE PA-Pol). A framework was created to examine the development and implementation of national and subnational physical activity policies and the (mis)alignment between government levels. Methods: The work was conducted in 3 phases: (1) a scoping review was carried out to identify local government physical activity promotion policies and instruments for assessing them, (2) an expert group designed 6 questionnaires, and (3) cognitive response testing was employed for validity testing and item modification with a panel of research and policy experts. Results: The INTEGRATE PA-Pol Tool consists of 6 questionnaires assessing how national and subnational governments collaborate to develop and implement physical activity promotion policies. Conclusion: This tool can assist in better understanding the development and implementation of a public policy monitoring system that will allow for benchmarking and priority setting to comprehend how physical activity promotion policies are designed and executed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: National physical activity (PA) policy processes are only beginning to be studied in Latin America, and little attention has focused at the subnational level. This study examined national–subnational relations in the policy process (agenda setting, policy formulation, adoption, implementation, and evaluation) in selected Latin American countries. Methods: The Global Observatory for Physical Activity's (GoPA!) INTEGRATE-PA-Pol tool was applied in Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, and Mexico. Data were collected in matched pairs of the capital plus one noncapital city among national and subnational policymakers (n = 27), previously identified by the GoPA! Country Contacts. PA policy development and implementation were assessed using descriptive statistics. Results: Twenty-three (response rate = 85.2%) informants provided data, mainly from the health sector (52.2%), followed by the sport (26.1%), transport (13.0%), and education (8.7%) sectors. Most informants reported that their countries had a current PA policy embedded within noncommunicable diseases prevention plans (46.2%), other plans (46.2%), or obesity prevention/management/control plans (7.7%). Respondents at the subnational level rated PA promotion as central (64.3%), while the national-level role was important but not central (75.0%). National and subnational policymakers indicated low-to-little involvement in the other level's PA policy processes across the 5 policy stages. Conclusions: This study demonstrated that collecting national and subnational PA policy data across countries with the active collaboration of the GoPA! network was feasible. We also successfully identified governmental interactions throughout the PA policy process, suggesting suboptimal engagement between national and subnational levels. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study evaluates the efficiency of economic support policies implemented by OECD countries during the COVID-19 pandemic from January 2020 to December 2021, using Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA). Distinguished from prior research, this study comprehensively considers both economic policy and public health perspectives. The results of this analysis can be summarized as follows: Firstly, government effectiveness was found to positively influence policy efficiency, underscoring the critical role of citizens' trust in government policy execution in shaping policy outcomes. Secondly, nations with a high Universal Health Coverage (UHC) Service Index exhibited lower efficiency. Further examination of this finding revealed that countries with superior healthcare coverage experienced fewer COVID-19-related deaths, albeit with less robust economic performance. In these countries, despite the high quality of medical coverage and economic responses, the outcomes did not proportionately align with their efforts. Drawing from these insights, we present policy recommendations to enhance the effectiveness of government responses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

How the government subsidies will change the performance of firm's innovative projects has long been debated. We attempt to narrow this gap from a dynamic perspective by employing Chinese A-share listed firms as a sample. Based on the novel innovation index, we studied the impact of government subsidies on the persistence of firm innovation. Findings show that total government subsidies promote the persistence of overall firm innovation. However, when we divided the total government subsidies into technological subsidies and non-technological subsidies, we found that technological subsidies cast an inhibitory effect on the persistence of self-sustaining firm innovation. In further analysis, we discover that 'self-sustaining firm innovation investment replacement' phenomenon can explain the crowding-out effect of technological subsidies on self-sustaining firm innovation persistence. Based on empirical evidence, we also observed that the substitution of private innovation investment by technological subsidies may result in management costs. These findings offer a theoretical foundation for further enhancing the effectiveness of government subsidy policies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Retos: Nuevas Perspectivas de Educación Física, Deporte y Recreación is the property of Federacion Espanola de Asociaciones de Docentes de Educacion Fisica 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.)

Environment policies have evolved over the years around the world, in part due to growing awareness among the population of the challenges posed by climate change. The decentralization of policymaking, administrative and political responsibilities to the subnational levels of administration may also have played a part to the extent that it creates room for bottom-up policy experimentation and citizen participation in policy design, including in areas related to the environment, that may influence people's preferences and attitudes and ultimately government policy. To shed light on these linkages, this paper provides cross-country empirical evidence based on national accounts data that decentralization is associated with higher government spending on environment-related programmes, as well as higher collection of environmental taxes in the advanced economies, controlling for conventional public finance covariates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Grounded in the identity-behaviour theory, the research examines the relationship between family power structure and married women's subjective well-being (SWB). Utilizing a sample size of 6,924 from the China Family Panel Studies in 2014, our investigation, employing both the OLS and ordinal logit models, reveals that a wife's SWB is dependent on her husband's predominant role in significant family matters. To mitigate potential endogeneity concerns, we apply the instrument variable approach to ensure the robustness of our findings. Our results underscore that this dependence effect is particularly prominent among those women adhering to traditional gender beliefs (i.e. men dominate the outside and women the inside). These outcomes shed light on the prevailing influence of traditional cultural norms on the SWB of married women, thereby furnishing a foundation for government to formulate policies aimed at fostering women's empowerment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study analyzes how changes in various aspects of excise tax systems, including minimum price laws and differential price tiers for excise taxation jointly rather than independently, influence firms' pricing decisions. We apply our model to Indonesia, where the tobacco excise tax system is complex, with several excise tax tiers within and across cigarette types. We use a comprehensive database of prices over the past decade for all cigarettes manufactured and sold in Indonesia, obtained from Indonesian Customs. We find that the impact of excise taxes on prices hides important effects of other pricing policies that are typically ignored in research, which either focus on the independent impacts of excise tax or do not distinguish between cigarette types. Specifically, minimum price policies have a larger impact than excise taxes on pricing decisions for machine-made clove cigarettes (kretek), while excise tax changes have a larger effect on prices for machine-made, non-clove (white) cigarettes. For cigarette types and brands that are more likely to feature a relatively more elastic demand (hand-rolled kretek), companies keep prices close to the minimum price. The results imply that a multi-tiered tobacco excise tax system likely generates distortions that limit government policies' effectiveness in reducing tobacco consumption. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Retos: Nuevas Perspectivas de Educación Física, Deporte y Recreación is the property of Federacion Espanola de Asociaciones de Docentes de Educacion Fisica 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.)

In the last few years, corporations have been called upon to take public positions on myriad issues unconnected to core business concerns. Demands for public statements may arise from various stakeholders, as well as from the general public and the media. Sometimes such statements are uncontroversial, but other times, firms find themselves in a no-win position, in which both silence and voice will offend some core constituency. Crafting meaningful public-facing statements becomes a major challenge. In this article, we ask whether these corporations should adopt some form of express upfront policy on when they will and when they will not speak out. One place to start is to consider the approach of some universities, which have come to resemble large corporations in some ways. In particular, should for-profit corporations adopt something akin to the University of Chicago's 1967 Kalven Report on the University's Role in Political and Social Action? This report adopts the position that as a general matter the University will not speak on social and political issues of the day, with exceptions for those that directly affect the University's operations. In answering this question, we discuss the similarities and differences between publicly held for-profit corporations and universities and outline the factors that can guide these corporations in deciding whether to adopt such a policy, what such a policy would look like, and how it might differ from the Kalven Report. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article analyses the legal mechanisms and tools for combating corruption in the system of law enforcement agencies of Ukraine in the National Police. It is determined that corruption remains a serious problem for the democratic development of Ukraine and undermines public confidence in state institutions. This is especially true of law enforcement agencies, on whose activities public order and security depend. The author emphasises the importance of legal acts regulating the work of the police and implementing anti-corruption measures. The author outlines the key problems in anti-corruption activities, including insufficient internal control, imperfect legislative framework and the need to harmonise it with European standards. Particular attention is paid to the role of such documents as the Law of Ukraine 'On Prevention of Corruption' and the ethical rules of conduct for police officers, which lay the legal basis for the fight against corruption. The introduction of an electronic asset and income declaration system, control over conflicts of interest, and ethical behaviour of police officers are important tools for preventing abuse. Attention is focused on the role of civil society organizations and the media in shaping public control over the activities of law enforcement agencies. Public oversight and openness of the police are critical for increasing public trust and reducing corruption risks. It was determined that the basis for the formation of anti-corruption policy in the National Police is international standards, as well as laws of Ukraine, which determine the principles of corruption prevention. In particular, the role of special anti-corruption bodies that monitor the implementation of legislation and investigate corruption cases is important. Such cooperation between state institutions allows us to create a more effective and coordinated system of c ombating corruption. The author concludes that to effectively combat corruption, it is necessary not only to improve the legislative framework, but also to ensure its proper implementation, through training and raising the legal culture of police officers. Only through a comprehensive approach can we achieve a significant reduction in the level of corruption in the law enforcement sys tem and increase its efficiency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article points out that there is a common belief that harassment is sexual harassment, although in reality the term has a much broader meaning. Harassment is a problem of a global nature, which manifests itself in various spheres of social interaction and takes place in the life of every country. It is emphasized that the national legislation of many countries makes it possible to effectively combat harassment at the workplace and prevent this shameful phenomenon. The definition of the concept of harassment and measures to combat it are established in the relevant general anti-discrimination laws, in labor legislation and subordinate legal acts, which contributes to the effective implementation of national state policies on the prevention and counteraction of discrimination in the field of work. Attention is drawn to the fact that currently the term «harassment» is not used in Ukrainian legislation. However, the closest semantic equivalent of this term is the concept of «sexual harassment», the definition of which is contained in the Law of Ukraine «On Ensuring Equal Rights and Opportunities of Women and Men». The legal regulation of anti-harassment, in particular in labor relations, in Ukraine is based on normative legal acts that belong to different branch es of law. It is emphasized that the Code of Labor Laws of Ukraine does not contain direct regulations on the prohibition of sexual harassment (harassment) at the workplace. This Code does not contain special norms that would determine the procedural issues of establishing the fact of sexual harassment, its fixation, proof, investigation and specifics of disciplinary responsibility for committing harassment. Despite the absence of the regulatory concept of «harassment» in Ukrainian legislation, in Ukraine, victims of sexual harassment at the workplace are provided with legal tools to protect their rights and interests. These tools range from filing sexual harassment complaints with authorized entities to criminal prosecution of the perpetrators. The legislation of Ukraine on combating sexual harassment at work is part of the anti-discrimination legislation, which is currently dynamically developing and adapting to modern needs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Revealing interdisciplinary patterns is a cornerstone for the continued evolution of research, education, and societal progress, providing a scaffold upon which to build a more collaborative and integrated approach to knowledge creation. This study presents a novel approach to identifying and analyzing the critical year for interdisciplinary citations (CYIC), which was defined as the year in which qualitative change in interdisciplinary knowledge flow occurred. We conducted two experiments using a Chinese paper dataset spanning 106 disciplines from 1992 to 2022, with the first to pinpoint the occurrence of CYICs and the second to examine three patterns of interdisciplinarity following these CYICs. Our findings revealed that 85% of disciplines exhibit CYICs, often corresponding with a transition from unidirectional output to reciprocal knowledge cooperation. Furthermore, we found that datasets after CYICs are generally characterized by increased interdisciplinarity of knowledge, albeit without a corresponding rise in the interdisciplinarity of disciplines or interdisciplinary diversity. Our results suggest that policy shifts and societal needs are pivotal in driving the formation of interdisciplinary collaborations, as exemplified by the surge in mutual interdisciplinary citations in response to China's poverty alleviation efforts and western development policies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Health communication research applies communication science to develop generalizable knowledge capable of improving the health and well-being of individuals and communities. But to what extent does the knowledge generated by the health communication field actually achieve public health impact? To answer this question, we discuss the application of health communication science and research within a tobacco regulatory science framework. We describe three areas in which health communication research funded by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Center for Tobacco Products (CTP) contributed to 1) youth tobacco prevention campaigns, 2) cigarette health warnings, and 3) regulation of labeling, advertising, and marketing claims. These examples demonstrate how communication regulatory science achieves public health impact in the real world by informing national policies, regulatory actions, and public health practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The primary resources available to social workers are themselves, with building and using effective relationships central to the social work task. More than a decade of austerity policies has impacted how social workers practice. The current barriers to relationship-based practice in work with adults are such that we are experiencing a relational recession – that is the inability to practice in a way that prioritises the relationship. The present article will evaluate two key barriers to relationship-based social work: 1) The current context of austerity and new care management, 2) The emotional demands of the role. Practice can emerge from the relational recession through a shift from case management supervision, towards a supervisory relationship which replicates the conditions required for relationship-based practice to flourish. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is a sedimented understanding that developing digital abilities is key for today's knowledge society. Accordingly, governments have invested vastly in formal education aimed at developing them. Policies and directives driving this venture need to be examined. Otherwise, their potential risks being thwarted. By means of a post-foundational discourse analysis, six moments central to the political enablement of Chile's State Technical Formation Centres underwent a synchronic heuristic discourse analysis as understood under relational-ontology. These Centres are part of Chile's tertiary Technical and Vocational Education and Training system and were created as a means for the State to regain presence within such a system. Findings show unquestioned facts which lead to the articulation of two prominent myths. Added, two salient discourses are articulated to the myth: education is either articulated with statements that would frame education as a right or with development statements. Furthermore, despite these documents articulating today's world as being driven by information and technological developments, there is no mention, definition or even acknowledgement of digital abilities. Accordingly, the development of these rhetorically articulated indispensable abilities, within these Centres, is left to chance. Findings shed light on how mythification of discourses can lead to hindering consequences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pad Thai, an innovation of Chinese kway teow through Thai-ization that became an iconic national dish of Thailand, played a significant role in shaping national identity and constructing the country's national image. This study explored the relationship between nationalist policies and the localization of kway teow during the Phibunsongkhram government (1938-1944), which contributed to the popularity of kway teow in Thailand's lower class in terms of both production and consumption. The examination of government policies and recipes revealed that Thais infused their emotions and the sense of national identity into the production and consumption of kway teow, thereby enhancing the bond between individuals and the nation and laying a more solid base for the implementation of nationalist policies. The innovation of Pad Thai was one such nationalist policy that was disseminated top-down by the Phibunsongkhram government, making it a national food of Thailand by highlighting its Thai characteristics and including it in its National Nutrition Project. However, Pad Thai was not purely a national Thai dish; rather, it was one that existed in Thais' imagination. In revealing the nature of national cuisine and its importance in nation-building, this study's findings contribute to the significant role of localizing Chinese food in Thai nation-building. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research explores the challenges of using spatial justice as a basis for public policy and urban planning. Philosophical principles of justice are useful for systematic reasoning but lack objective criteria for evaluating spatial justice. We propose a framework based on criteria from social psychology – strict equality, need, merit, and entitlement – to a territorial perspective to determine the most appropriate distribution of amenities. We aim to provide a foundation for policy evaluation and urban interventions based on a selected spatial justice criterion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Historically, public and political discourse around people who nonmedically use opioids has largely been rendered via a deficits-oriented lens, presenting this population as weak, disinterested, and deviant,and thus undesirable and ill-positioned for wellness and communal integration. These narratives, and subsequent policies used to engage people who use opioids, are intermittently formed and disrupted by geopolitical changes, as public and institutional attitudes, often driven by racial and class-related considerations, shift. As part of what we term the crimedical cycle, a population's behaviors fluctuate between periods of medicalization and criminalization. Strengths-based theory, an offshoot of 'positive psychology' that helps contextualize the crimedical cycle, emphasizes the value of recognizing and affirming the inherent and learned skills that individuals possess and can leverage toward self-actualization. A strengths-based orientation and approach to clinical praxis is particularly critical in improving the health and well-being of populations, namely those who nonmedically use opioids, that are highly criminalized and disenfranchized through social and public policy. However, strengths-based theory is underdeveloped in addiction medicine, despite it having deep roots in the treatment field. This ongoing omission engenders narratives around opioid use that congeal to propel the stigmatization, over-policing, economic marginalization, and poor health of those who use opioids. This article discusses the historical trajectory of views and attitudes on opioid use and presents a model that advances strengths-based approaches to engaging this population. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One may wonder why countries have used different public policies to cope with the Covid-19 pandemic. We argue that social trust could be the missing link in explaining why these public policies vary in stringency. Based on the logic of game theory, we draw the hypothesis that more social trust in a society means that less stringent policies are needed to abate the COVID-19 pandemic. Empirical results at both country and individual levels confirm this hypothesis. The implications for public policy stemming from these findings suggest the necessity of addressing initiatives like Team Europe's 2020 package launched by the European External Action Service (EEAS) to combat Covid-19 in non-EU nations. The more social trust in a society, the higher the likelihood of informal cooperation. Thus, less stringent policies are needed to abate the COVID-19 pandemic. In perspective, policymakers are likely to encounter fewer compliance issues and more cooperative behavior in countries with high levels of trust when confronting future crises. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

New freight routes are being planned and emerging globally, but often rely on government subsidies to enhance their competitiveness during the initial promotional phase. This study proposes a multi-stage game framework to explore the influence mechanism of behavioral strategies among three stakeholders: shipper, carrier, and government. Based on the assessment of shippers' route choice preferences, we examine the dynamic evolution of carriers' and governments' behavioral strategies in the practical context of bounded rationality and dynamic learning. We theoretically derive the evolutionary paths and stable outcomes of dynamic systems across eight scenarios encompassing all the possible practical values to be taken, which provide broader and more valuable decision support for new route promotion. Finally, the feasibility and validity of the proposed model are verified by the actual case of the New International Land-Sea Trade Corridor. The findings indicate that government subsidies are not always effective and provide a precise subsidy range that can incentivize carriers to switch to the new route. Moreover, the study clarifies the impact of key factors such as subsidy, tax, route reliability, transportation time, and time value of cargo on the promotion of new routes through numerical simulation, and provides feasible management recommendations for government and route operations. • Investigate the interaction of behavioral strategies in the freight transport system. • Propose a multi-stage game framework for the promotion of new freight routes. • Reveal possible evolutionary paths and stabilization outcomes for the dynamic system. • Identify the impact of government policy and route features on evolutionary dynamics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The frequency of news reporting about scientific topics is positively related to public interest as well as to public support for science funding and public policy change. This correlation can also have positive impacts on individual scientific careers depending on the chosen subject area of research. Analysis of a public news database shows the frequency and trends in news reporting of several popular research areas in the aquatic sciences. The frequency of appearance of topics in the news varies over more than three orders of magnitude. Temporal trends in reporting vary from steeply increasing (+25% per year) to declining (−4% per year). Suggestions are offered concerning the framing of research topics and overall better communication of research findings to journalists and the general public. This understanding may increase news prominence, public interest, science funding, and policy change in aquatic research areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Peri-urban areas provide multiple ecosystem services, but face critical challenges, including deforestation, unplanned urban sprawl, and environmental pollution and degradation. To address these issues, environmental public policy instruments have been implemented. This paper aims to investigate the social ecological trajectories of a peri-urban area of Mexico City and the role of environmental public policy instruments in addressing land use change. Focusing on four watersheds of the southern periphery of the city, we analyze land use change drivers through neural networks and Markov chains, and we develop two land use scenarios for the next 20 years: one characterized by business as usual and another with a more restrictive land use regime. Our findings show that infrastructure drivers are the most critical factor overall, when combined with the historical social ecological trajectory of the study area. The impact of environmental public policy instruments on future trajectories demonstrates their potential to decrease deforestation. The results provide insights for the integrated territorial planning of peri-urban areas with similar social ecological dynamics and developing context. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Urban periphery watersheds play a crucial role in providing diverse ecosystem services, especially hydrological services (HES), for society at different temporal and spatial scales; moreover, local populations directly influence ecosystem functionality through their decisions and actions. The interactions between social and ecological factors create social–ecological systems (SESs), whose trajectories continuously change in response to internal factors such as land use cover change (LUCC) and external factors such as climate change (CC). This situation influences the vulnerability of SESs in terms of exposure, sensitivity and adaptation capacity. In this study, the social–ecological vulnerability (SEV) of the periphery of Mexico City was investigated based on the Collaborative Protocol for Ecosystem Services Assessment and Social–ecological Vulnerability Mapping (ECOSER) and a quantitative method approach. For this purpose, spatial analysis was performed using the ecological and social spatial data for LUCC tendencies calculated for 1999–2019 and projected for short-term CC scenarios and using LUCC calculated for 2039 in trend-based (TREND) and restrictive (REST) scenarios. The results reveal that increases in the SEV in 2039 will be related to important decreases in the HES; furthermore, the REST scenario suggests decreases in the SEV due to decreases in the HES, assuming that environmental public policy instruments will be preserved in this region. The present work aims to contribute to decision-making for HES preservation at local and regional scales and to help develop adaptation strategies under LUCC and CC scenarios. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aimed to understand nurses' perceptions of COVID‐19‐related policies and risks during the outbreak of COVID‐19 in Hong Kong and to determine how their perceptions influenced their mental health status. A web‐based online survey among Hong Kong nurses was conducted. The questionnaire included a self‐designed 5‐point Likert scale with 17 items to assess the nurses' perceptions of COVID‐19‐related policies and risks, as well as the Davidson Trauma Scale (DTS), the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS), the Patient Health Questionnaire‐2 (PHQ‐2) and the Generalised Anxiety Disorder scale (GAD) for measurement of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), stress, depression and anxiety, respectively. Of 592 nurses enrolled, 30.6% had PTSD (DTS total score ≥40), and 80.4%, 19.9% and 16.4% had moderate‐to‐high levels of stress (PSS‐10 score ≥14), depression (PHQ‐2 score ≥3) and anxiety (GAD score ≥3), respectively. The top three concerned aspects were 'worried about themselves and friends to suffer this disease' (84.5%), 'insufficient number of isolation wards' (81.8%) and 'insufficient number of personal protective equipment' (74.3%). Logistic regression analyses showed that more negative perception on 'personal protective equipment in the healthcare institutions', 'the confidence in HK's control of COVID‐19', 'worried about themselves and friends to suffer this disease' and 'self‐perceived risk of infection' indicated higher severity of the four mental health problems (all p < 0.01). The perception on 'public gathering ban', 'the number of isolation wards' and 'expected time to control COVID‐19' were significantly associated with PTSD and stress (all p < 0.05). Nurses' perception on government policies and COVID‐19 risks played an important role in predicting their mental health status. Policy makers should be aware of nurses' psychological responses and provide timely and targeted emotional support to nurses amid and after the COVID‐19 pandemic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]