After Pakistan was hit with disastrous floods in 2022, health care needs and delivery were severely compromised. This prompted the Humanity Initiative, an organization of medical students from Karachi to conduct 15 medical camps, facilitating over 15 000 displaced individuals. The severity and extent of the natural disaster coupled with limited resources uncovered unique challenges. Assessment of interventions was based on objective evaluations and periodically conducted discussions, with essential findings focusing on flexibility, adaptability, active community involvement, and sustainable health goals. In conclusion, the response underscores the importance of coordinated action and emphasizes future disaster management strategies.

What is the origin of the Frente Amplio? While most contributions focus on party-building strategies and the electoral success of the Left, scholars have overlooked the previous process of party formation. This paper studies the Frente Amplio's formation in 1971 as a case of complete electoral coordination between extant parties, factions and individual left-wing politicians who understood the electoral inefficiencies of competing with each other. Making use of a historical narrative, our account complements other approaches, suggesting the critical role of electoral coordination, favoured by two systemic conditions (electoral stability and programmatic politics) that eased the process of party formation.

This paper examines an endogenous growth model that allows us to consider the dynamics and sustainability of debt, pollution, and growth. Debt evolves according to the financing adaptation and mitigation efforts and to the damages caused by pollution. Three types of features are important for our analysis: the technology through the negative effect of pollution on TFP; the fiscal policy; the initial level of pollution and debt with respect to capital. Indeed, if the initial level of pollution is too high, the economy is relegated to an endogenous tipping zone where pollution perpetually increases relatively to capital. If the effect of pollution on TFP is too strong, the economy cannot converge to a stable and sustainable long-run balanced growth path. If the income tax rates are high enough, we can converge to a stable balanced growth path with low pollution and high debt relative to capital. This sustainable equilibrium can even be characterized by higher growth and welfare. This last result underlines the role that tax policy can play in reconciling debt and environmental sustainability.

In 2021, the 44th session of the World Heritage Committee Meeting voted to list the Kaeng Krachan Forest Complex as a Natural World Heritage Site, seven years after it was first nominated for consideration by Thailand. A central point to the debate was concerns raised over human rights abuses relating to the Indigenous Karen people living inside the park boundaries. This paper undertakes an analysis of the World Heritage Committee discussion, unpacking key themes of Outstanding Universal Value, human rights, and the role of local communities to illustrate the impact that World Heritage – and the subsequent Authorized Heritage Discourse (AHD) it creates – can have on Indigenous communities.

How are LGBTQ+ issues represented within labor organizing and how are they linked to broader debates about inequality? We answered these questions by examining press releases, internal resolutions, and online resources from the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO) and the Pride at Work (PAW) constituency group. We find that they significantly differ in their approaches to symbolic and substantive representation and agenda setting. Across all three outcomes, PAW and the AFL-CIO vary in LGBTQ+ issue representation. The AFL-CIO engages in more symbolic representation but also devotes resources to collective action that can improve the lives of LGBTQ+ people. PAW places greater emphasis on the interconnectedness of LGBTQ+ and labor issues to mobilize LGBTQ+ people. Our findings highlight the marginal position of LGBTQ+ labor activism in the labor and LGBTQ+ movements, and they demonstrate the challenges associated with linking LGBTQ+ issues to broader debates about inequality in American politics.

This paper investigates the bidirectional relation between the Brazilian Central Bank communication and the yield curve. Using latent factors, observable macroeconomic variables, and observable variables representing Central Bank communication, we estimate a model that summarizes the yield curve. We find evidence of the effects of Brazilian Central Bank communication on the movements of the yield curve and the impact of the yield curve components in Brazilian Central Bank communication. In particular, Central Bank communication can shape yield curve curvature and slope. Additionally, we find a strong relation between Central Bank communication and the curvature of the yield curve. These results show that Central Bank communication impacts market players, making it a valuable instrument for monetary policy.

This research tackles the challenge of enhancing the engineering properties of kaolinite-rich clay through innovative and sustainable treatment approaches. The main aim was to investigate the effects of nano-materials such as calcium carbonate and silica on the plasticity, strength, compressibility, and microstructural behavior of kaolin. The experimental process involved blending kaolin with varying concentrations (0.5–2% by dry weight) of calcium carbonate and silica. Standard laboratory tests, such as Atterberg limits, unconfined compressive strength (UCS), and one-dimensional consolidation tests, were performed to evaluate changes in plasticity, mechanical strength, and compressibility. Microstructural analyses using X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), and Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) provided insights into the structural and surface modifications of the treated clay. The findings demonstrated a notable reduction in the plasticity index of kaolin as the nano-material content increased, with the optimal dosage identified at ~1% for both nano-materials. At this dosage, the UCS of the treated clay increased threefold, attributed to the formation of a nano-crystalline gel and improved particle interactions. Consolidation tests revealed a significant decrease in the compression index, while the hydraulic conductivity remained similar to that of untreated kaolin. Microstructural analysis confirmed the development of an aggregated-flocculated structure, enhanced pore connectivity, and increased surface area in the clay nano-composite. In summary, the incorporation of calcium carbonate and silica particles significantly enhanced the engineering characteristics of kaolinite-rich clay, highlighting their promise as sustainable alternatives for clay improvement. These results pave the way for broader applications of nano-materials in geotechnical engineering.

Why do organised criminal groups (OCGs) resort to dismemberment – a costly and resource-intensive practice – rather than simpler targeted killings? This article challenges the notion that such brutal violence is solely a byproduct of inter-criminal rivalries or efforts to conceal violence. Instead, we argue that dismemberments serve to entrench criminal governance regimes. By publicising these acts and/or the reasons behind them, criminal groups are demarcating the boundaries of acceptable behaviour and reinforcing their system of norms and punishments. Dismemberments serve as communicative violence targeting three audiences: rivals, group members and civilians. We demonstrate the logic of this argument through an original qualitative dataset of dismemberment cases in Barranquilla, Colombia, and multiple interviews gathered during over five years of fieldwork. This article contributes to understanding the mechanisms of extra-lethal violence that sustain criminal governance in Latin American cities.

This article explores the dynamics of court practice with regard to mercantile preinsolvency in later nineteenth- and early twentieth-century Belgium. In 1883, the Belgian legislature introduced the proceeding of concordat préventif, making it possible for insolvent entrepreneurs to remain outside the liquidation-oriented procedure of faillite. Instead, they could declare their financial problems and propose a scheme of payment to their creditors. Despite this goal, however, the 1883 law, along with subsequent laws of 1885 and 1887, imposed high majority voting requirements. Accordingly, in the Antwerp commercial court, the shortcomings of the legislation were amended to ameliorate its procedural and judicial practice. The new practices of the court resulted in higher rates of acceptance of applications. However, these success ratios were not evenly distributed among the groups of debtors who applied. Perceptions shared by both creditors and judges may have advantaged merchants, brokers, and entrepreneurs who belonged to the higher strata of the city’s business world.

This article presents the case of a 3-year-old boy whose primary symptom was hypoproteinemia. After evaluations at multiple hospitals, he was sequentially diagnosed with protein-losing enteropathy and constrictive pericarditis. Following pericardiectomy, his albumin levels returned to normal. Additionally, a review of several similar cases is provided, with the aim of aiding in the diagnosis of related conditions.