What does violence against women in politics (VAWIP) look like in authoritarian regimes that are widely portrayed as stable and “peaceful”? Existing scholarship largely centers on democracies, leaving nondemocratic contexts understudied. This article addresses the gap by examining Kuwait, the Gulf’s most democratic monarchy, where women’s educational and professional gains are highlighted even as political contestation remains tightly controlled. Drawing on 35 in-depth interviews with politicians, bureaucrats, and activists, we theorize VAWIP as a core mechanism of women’s exclusion, enabled by the collusion of hollow formal institutions and patriarchal kinship networks. In this patriarchal peace, overt physical repression is rare, but women are governed through psychological harassment, semiotic attacks, and economic pressure that constrain their resources, competence, and visibility. Conversely, male respondents report low-risk political careers. Our analysis extends VAWIP research beyond democracies, generating hypotheses on how regime type and kin-based networks shape nonphysical coercion in ostensibly peaceful authoritarian regimes.

Party youth wings are a vital pipeline to power, but have been overlooked by gender scholars. We investigate the political socialization that youth wings offer their women members, focusing on gendered trends as regards two key political attitudes. We ask: Do women and men in youth wings differ in their acquisition of personal efficacy and electoral ambition? Using YOUMEM survey data from over 3,100 youth wing members in Australia, Austria, Germany, Italy, Spain and Sweden, we find that women are more likely than men to report increased desire to influence party policy and stand as candidates – the latter especially in center-right youth wings. In addition, the more exposed members are to the youth wing, the larger the gender gaps in the acquisition of efficacy and ambition. Our results suggest that, insofar as women’s political socialization is concerned, youth wings can be forces of renovation within their parties.

This paper addresses the simultaneous homogenization and dimension reduction of thin composite plates reinforced with rigid substructures, within the framework of non-linear elasticity. The reference (undeformed) configuration consists of a periodically perforated elastic matrix, where the holes are occupied by rigid inclusions. We first establish a decomposition of the deformation for such composite structures. Under the assumption that the thickness parameter $\delta$ is asymptotically smaller than the periodicity $\varepsilon$, we derive a reduced asymptotic model as both parameters tend to zero. Using rescaled unfolding operators, we characterize the limiting behaviour of the Green–St. Venant strain tensor. Through $\Gamma$-convergence, we obtain the homogenized limit energy and establish the existence of a minimizer. The resulting limit model is of constrained Kármán type, where the limiting displacement satisfies a first-order infinitesimal isometry constraint.

Although aortic valve regurgitation develops after device closure of the atrial septal defect, its mechanism remains unclear. We observed a paediatric patient who developed significant aortic regurgitation one year after the procedure. Although there was no contact between the aorta and the device immediately after deployment, they gradually came into close proximity. Multiple factors appeared to have contributed to this phenomenon, including a relatively large diameter of both the device and the aortic sinus compared to body size, and a rapid increase in the left atrial volume. Coupled with left atrial enlargement, the shrinkage of right atrial volume might also have affected the exacerbation of aortic regurgitation due to the geometrical change of the interatrial septum and the traction of the non-coronary aortic sinus in a few years after deployment. Importantly, the distance between the device and the aorta widened again, resulting in improvement of regurgitation. Aortic valve regurgitation after device placement may show a tendency to improve; therefore, careful judgement is required when considering the indication for aortic intervention.

With the term “decolonization” circulating widely and animating debates inside and outside the academy, how can we ensure that it retains analytic value? In this paper I show that the meanings that the term has acquired in practice complicate empirical analysis. Specifically, I contend that three problems emerge. First, the term’s usage in practical struggles leads a foregrounding of its normative power over analytic precision. Second, this tends to bracket ends, glossing any move away from colonial practices as decolonial, in turn affecting scholarly treatments. Third, the term’s usage often produces an analytic flattening, downplaying nuance, context, and historical specificity. Not inherent to the concept itself, these problems are stubbornly present, despite recent work that seeks to address them. To make the discussion concrete, I focus on political science interventions about a single world region: Central Asia. The relative newness of scholarly engagement with Central Asia’s colonial and decolonial experiences provides an opportunity for critical reflection.

Skinfold prediction equations (SF-PE) are used to estimate percent body fat (%BF), but it is unclear which SF-PE are most accurate among different age/sex groups. The purpose was to assess accuracy of estimating %BF from SF-PE in young, middle-age and older male and female adults and compare %BF from SF-PE to Inbody770 (IB770), a selected bioelectrical-impedance criterion reference. Two hundred two healthy males (n 96) and females (n 106) had %BF assessed from twelve SF-PE for females, thirteen SF-PE for males, and IB770. Repeated-measures 1-way ANOVA (P< 0·01) were employed for three age groups for males and females, and Bland–Altman plots were employed to evaluate the agreement between IB770 and SF-PE. Based on statistical assessment and Bland–Altman plots, similarity, agreement and accuracy observed in %BF between IB770 and SF-PE were determined. Consequently, based the following similar %BF comparisons between IB770 and SF-PE, the SF-PE recommended to use to estimate %BF in young males (YM), middle-age males (MM), older males (OM), young females (YF), middle-age females (MF) and older females (OF) are: (1) YM: IB770 = 16·2 %; Durnin 1974 (DW) = 16·3 %; Williams 1992 (W) = 16·2 %; Lean 1996 (L) = 16·6 %; (2) MM: IB770 = 19·7 %; W = 19·7 %; DW = 22·3 %; (3) OM: IB770 = 24·4 %; DW = 25·3 %; W = 22·4 %; (4) YF: IB770 = 24·9 %; Jackson 1985 (JP3b) = 23·8 %; (5) MF: IB770 = 25·2 %; Jackson 1980 = 25·0 %; JP3b = 26·1 % and (6) OF: IB770 = 36·6 %; Peterson 2003 = 36·2 %. Given that SF-PE underestimated, overestimated or accurately estimated %BF compared with IB770 emphasises the importance of using SF-PE that are appropriate for different age/sex groups and provide as accurate as possible estimates of %BF. Assessing %BF accurately is important given excessive %BF increases cardiometabolic disease risk.

According to various sources, Tenochtitlan was founded at the intersection of crags and caves from which two springs flowed. The east–west spring was known as “the fiery waters, the place where the waters burn” (tleatl atlatlayan), whereas the north–south spring was called “the blue and yellow waters” (matlalatl toxpalatl). The same metaphor of blue and yellow waters also appears in the early colonial sources in other contexts. It was associated with gods like Tlazolteotl or Tloque Nahuaque (identified with Tezcatlipoca), who cleansed people with these waters. Likewise, the blue and yellow waters rested in the hands of the tlatoani, who bathed his vassals in them. Finally, they played an essential role in the dedication of newborns to water, which the Spaniards likened to baptism. Although the presence of blue and yellow waters at the Mexica capital is often seen as a reinterpretation of the metaphor atl tlachinolli, “water, burnt land,” symbolizing war, other contexts featuring matlalatl toxpalatl are justice (in the ruler’s duties) and purification. This article proposes a unified interpretation of the Nahuatl metaphor matlalatl toxpalatl, suggesting that it symbolizes completeness, abundance, and the beginning of a new era, as well as carrying the Toltec heritage. Furthermore, this study embeds the metaphor in question in the Mesoamerican conceptual framework.