This paper explores the (de-)routinisation of employment structure in developing countries, through the case of Morocco. We investigate employment (de-)routinisation from an often-overlooked perspective, aiming to elucidate the interplay between the dynamics of occupational employment composition by the level of routine tasks intensity and two structural aspects: premature deindustrialisation and the prevalence of informal labour.

Our findings, based on tertile analysis and regressions, do not fully support the hypothesis of employment structure de-routinisation. At the same time, we could not identify a clear process of routinisation similar to that observed in developing countries undergoing the first stage of the traditional structural transformation process. Rather, we identified an inverted U-shaped pattern in the dynamics of occupational employment, indicative of a rise in intermediate routine-intensive occupations.

We emphasise two key factors, with opposite effects that have contributed to this atypical pattern: The first aspect is premature deindustrialisation, which according to our shift-share decomposition, has adversely affected highly routine-intensive jobs, contrasting with the routinisation trend observed in countries that have experienced a more traditional process of structural transformation. The influence of premature deindustrialisation in terms of de-routinisation is somewhat mitigated by the increasing prevalence of occupations demanding intermediate routine tasks, particularly within the services and construction sector. Regarding the second structural aspect – the prevalence of informal labour – our three-way interaction model indicates a lower susceptibility of informal jobs to de-routinisation compared to their formal counterparts within the same industry. Consequently, the prevalence of informal employment has slowed down the process of de-routinisation of employment structure.

Obesity rates in Colombia are increasing, with variations among racial and ethnic groups. Studies on adult obesity often address socio-economic status, gender, and education but neglect racial-ethnic influences, notably in areas like Quibdó. Therefore, based on the theory of triadic influence, we conducted a qualitative study to identify biobehavioural, social, and cultural phenomena that, from the perspectives of the participants, influence the onset of obesity in Afro-Colombian and indigenous in Quibdó in 2022. The stratification variables were race, ethnicity (Afro-Colombian and Indigenous), and educational level (secondary or higher). Based on a literature review of qualitative studies that commonly explored food culture, nutritional status, and physical activity in analysing obesity within racial and ethnic populations, we incorporated these categories into our research methodology through semi-structured interviews. A framework analysis was used as a qualitative methodology to organise and analyse the collected data. We conducted 21 semi-structured interviews, 13 with the Afro-Colombian population and eight with indigenous inhabitants. The results indicate that cultural beliefs, forced displacement/migration, and alterations in public order have resulted in changes in food security, food culture, and physical activity practices, affecting the onset of obesity. Notably, distinctions in cultural beliefs regarding food culture and health as factors influencing obesity were observed between Afro-Colombians and the Indigenous populations; however, educational differences within the same racial ethnic group were not predominant. Findings indicate obesity is influenced by cultural, social, and biobehavioural factors, especially in regions with racial-ethnic communities facing complex conditions, necessitating targeted racial-ethnic public health policies.

Postemergence (POST) herbicides that control troublesome weeds during hybrid bermudagrass establishment via sprigs are limited due to potential turfgrass phytotoxicity and herbicide-resistant weeds. Research experiments were conducted in Blacksburg, VA, and Hope, AR, in 2016 and 2023 to evaluate herbicide programs to control goosegrass and smooth crabgrass and the response of hybrid bermudagrass sprigs to POST herbicides applied 3 to 5 wk after establishment (WAE). Another study was conducted to assess the tolerance of ‘Latitude 36’, ‘Tahoma 31’, and ‘TifTuf’ hybrid bermudagrass sprigs to POST herbicides applied 4 to 5 WAE. Thiencarbazone + foramsulfuron + halosulfuron did not injure hybrid bermudagrass > 6% across four cultivars and a total of 10 site-yr but reduced goosegrass and smooth crabgrass cover equivalent to the best-performing treatments. Topramezone + metribuzin injured turfgrass > 25% at 14 d after treatment (DAT), but tank mixing with thiencarbazone + foramsulfuron + halosulfuron reduced injury by 5% to 22%. Quinclorac injured hybrid bermudagrass 17% to 58%, depending on site, which was more than most other treatments. Mesotrione-, quinclorac-, or topramezone-based programs injured hybrid bermudagrass and also reduced turfgrass cover, the dark green color index, and the normalized difference vegetation index, but turfgrass recovered by 28 DAT. Results suggest that turfgrass managers have a variety of herbicides that can control smooth crabgrass and goosegrass during hybrid bermudagrass sprig establishment, but the margin of selectivity is relatively low for mesotrione, quinclorac, and topramezone and may be dependent on herbicide rate or hybrid bermudagrass cultivar.

Issues of ‘disability’ and ‘ageing’ are usually approached separately in theorising, activism and policy making. Yet people with disabilities age and many people will experience disability if they live long enough. Human rights approaches to disability enshrined in the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) are not often applied to older people experiencing disability. This article presents findings of a systematic qualitative analysis of reports made by 28 European states to the UN Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, the independent body that monitors CRPD implementation, focusing particularly on Article 19 CRPD (‘Living independently and being included in the community’). While states’ reports refer to older people or ageing in different contexts, their approach can be characterised as ambivalent. Reports tend to constitute older people experiencing disability as ‘older’ rather than ‘disabled’; they do not demonstrate a thorough engagement with disability experienced in older age, and display a limited focus on people ageing with lifelong disability. Several reports detail exclusions of ‘older people’ from disability supports to live in the community and some exclude impairments associated with ageing from definitions of what ‘disability’ is. The reports provide almost no evidence of consultation with organisations working on ageing. The article concludes that while the CRPD’s potential to contribute to realising rights for older people with disabilities is under-recognised among scholars and non-governmental organisations, the fact that states refer to older people in their reporting under the CRPD provides a starting point for more engagement.

Research on platform power indicates a preference alignment between consumers and platforms against regulation. However, recent scandals have changed public opinion toward platforms and undermined their structural coalition with consumers. I argue that amid the techlash, platforms need to actively mobilize the public and face an uphill battle in doing so. Based on the outside lobbying literature, I expect that platforms’ success in reframing the debate and signaling public discontent to policymakers depends on the perceptibility of the target audience (the bonding surface) and the characteristics of competing interest groups. I test my expectations by analyzing platform outside lobbying against the 2019 European Copyright Directive. I combine process-tracing and time-series analysis with textual data. A comparison between the German and French debates revealed that platform outside lobbying failed because negative media reporting, public opinion, and a creative economy dominated by small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in France provided a favorable bonding surface for the frames of pro-copyright groups. Pro-copyright groups could credibly criticize platforms’ exploitative practices and demand fair artist remuneration, while platforms’ frames did not stick. This study demonstrates that claims of structural platform power are exaggerated and that careful attention needs to be paid to lobbying dynamics.

Enhanced dietary Ca intake linearly increases intestinal Ca absorption in pigs, but not in broilers, suggesting potential differences in whole body Ca homeostasis. To determine the role of kidney in Ca homeostasis in these species, we varied in growing pigs in experiment (Exp) 1, the dietary Ca content 2·0 v. 9·6 g/kg and phytase 0 v. 500 FTU/kg, in broilers, in Exp 2 the dietary Ca/retainable P from 1·3 to 2·8 and phytase 0 v. 1000 FTU/kg, and in Exp 3 dietary Ca/P from 0·50 to 1·75. Increasing dietary Ca reduced renal mRNA expression of Ca-related transporters (TRPV5, TRPV6, CaBP-D28k and NCX1) and tight junctions (CLDN-12 and −16) in pigs, indicating Ca reabsorption was reduced to maintain Ca homeostasis. In broilers (Exp 2), high dietary Ca increased renal TRPV6, CaBP-D28k and CLDN-2 mRNA, indicating an increased capacity for Ca reabsorption. Moreover, the effect of dietary Ca was enhanced by inclusion of dietary phytase in pigs but reduced in broilers. Furthermore, increasing dietary Ca upregulated inorganic phosphate transporter 1 (PiT-1), while phytase downregulated xenotropic and polytropic retrovirus receptor 1 (XPR1) mRNA expression in pigs; in broilers, dietary Ca downregulated renal mRNA expression of Na-dependent phosphate transporter IIa (NaPi-IIa), PiT-1, PiT-2 and XPR1, while phytase downregulated NaPi-IIa but upregulated PiT-2 and XPR1 mRNA expression. In Exp 3, Ca/P effect on transporter mRNA expression was largely consistent with Exp 2. In conclusion of this study, together with previously measured data about Ca and P homeostasis, in pigs the kidneys play a more regulatory role in Ca homeostasis than in broilers where the intestine is more important for regulation.

From a neuroscientific point of view, one of the unique archetypes of substance use disorders is its road to relapse, in which the reward system plays a crucial role. Studies on the neurobiology of substance use disorders have highlighted the central role of a protein belonging to the Fos family of transcription factors, ΔFosB. Relying on the roles ΔFosB plays in the pathophysiology of substance use disorders, we endeavour to present some evidence demonstrating that N-acetylcysteine, a low-cost and well-tolerated over-the-counter medicine, may influence the downstream pathway of ΔFosB, thereby serving as a treatment strategy to mitigate the risk of relapse in cases of substance use.

Anthony Kitchin, the bishop of Llandaff between 1545 and 1563, is traditionally seen as a self-serving careerist, an unprincipled hypocrite, and a pastoral failure. He was one of only two Marian Catholic bishops to serve under Elizabeth I, and Eamon Duffy memorably jests that he ‘would doubtless have become a Hindu if required, providing he was allowed to hold on to the see of Llandaff’. But re-evaluating Kitchin’s career uncovers a man with a consistent stance that was not unusual amongst his peers, and reveals that the Elizabethan government retained serious hopes of bringing numerous Marian bishops, not just Kitchin, into conformity. Still more striking, while Kitchin has been reviled as a hypocrite for swearing the 1559 oath of supremacy, there is persuasive evidence that he did not in fact swear that oath, keeping his see only through a contingent and awkward compromise with the Elizabethan state, and that the details of this compromise were conveniently forgotten, perhaps even deliberately suppressed. Re-evaluating Kitchin significantly advances our understanding of the period by contributing to the extensive and developing historiography on Catholic conscience and loyalty to the crown, helping problematize binary distinctions between zealous Catholic resistance and craven conformity.

Using a national audit of mayors in the United States, this paper examines responsiveness to Latine lesbian and gay constituents who request that their city issue an LGBTQ pride proclamation. Drawing on theories of intersectionality, descriptive representation, and political institutions, we articulate the conditions under which mayors are responsive to public-facing constituency service requests to issue LGBTQ pride proclamations. We find that mayors are more responsive to requests from lesbian couples than gay couples. In addition, baseline responsiveness to our inquiry was influenced by mayors’ identity characteristics. LGBTQ mayors were more likely to respond than non-LGBTQ mayors, but Latine mayors were less likely to respond than non-Latine mayors. In addition, mayors who represent cities where nondiscrimination ordinances protect LGBT people from discrimination were more responsive than mayors who represent cities where LGBT people are not protected from discrimination. These findings demonstrate how intersectional frameworks can advance audit experiments and that shared descriptive characteristics do not inevitably translate into responsiveness, a common assumption in single-axis studies of representation.

U.S. states are sovereign entities and can’t declare bankruptcy as cities and municipalities. This paper examines the impact of a switch in sovereign bankruptcy rules that allows declaring bankruptcy from an economics model perspective. Allowing bankruptcy increases ex-ante risks for the government to refuse repayment, but provides ex-post benefits of reducing default costs and saving federal bailouts. This paper provides a simple framework to analyze this tradeoff. Event analysis shows that an unexpected switch in bankruptcy rules that allows for bankruptcy would decrease government debt-to-GDP ratio by 9.2 percentage points, increase consumption by 0.69 percent, but increase spread by 1.1 percentage points.

This paper examines the significance of divination in traditional African medicine, highlighting its impact on patient trust, perception and health outcomes. Through critical reflections, this paper interrogates the power dynamics, epistemological assumptions and ontological commitments underlying traditional medical practices, exposing the complex interplay between divination, health and wellness. By exploring the intersection of traditional medicine and modern healthcare in Africa, this research aims to deepen our understanding of divination’s role in promoting holistic well-being. This reflection concludes by suggesting ways to integrate traditional medicine into modern healthcare practices, emphasizing the importance of recognizing and respecting indigenous beliefs and practices. Ultimately, this research contributes to the growing body of literature on traditional medicine and its potential to enhance healthcare delivery in Africa.