Tax collection is difficult in low-income countries, and bureaucracies exist alongside non-state actors that extract revenue and provide services informally. Might weak states leverage these actors’ strengths to collect taxes, or should they invest in building fiscal capacity on their own? We conducted a field experiment in Lagos, Nigeria that randomly assigned market vendors to tax appeals delivered by state or non-state agents. Contrary to expectations, non-state actors were not effective messengers. Tax appeals delivered by representatives of marketplace associations, an important social intermediary in this context, were ineffective even at higher levels of trust and message credibility. Messages delivered by state agents, however, were sometimes effective in spurring registration and tax payments, especially among ethnic minorities. This study underlines the importance of social intermediaries in shaping the social contract, and it draws attention to the uneven effects of these kinds of institutions within populations.

We describe a training series using a scaffolded approach informed by Vygotsky’s Learning Theory to advance Hawai‘i -based faculty grant-writing skills. Sponsored by the Professional Development Core of the Center for Pacific Innovations, Knowledge, and Opportunities (PIKO) at the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa, the initiative includes a 2-week series of 1-hour introductory sessions on aspects of grant writing, a 3-session workshop to develop a specific aims page, and a 5-month training program in grant writing. Over three years, 202 Hawai‘i investigators attended at least one 1-hour introductory session, 62 completed the workshop on preparing specific aims, and 30 completed the 5-month training on grant writing. Participants rated all 3 programs as very useful. Of the 62 unique investigators who completed the Specific Aims Workshop, 21 (33%) submitted PIKO pilot grant applications, 4 (6%) submitted grants elsewhere, and 16 (30%) applied to the 5-month training on grant writing. The 30 GUMSHOE participants reported significant gains in their confidence in accomplishing 21 proposal-writing tasks and, as of May 2025, 26 (87%) submitted grants to the National Institutes of Health or another external funder. This scaffolded training approach is labor- and time-intensive for trainees and faculty mentors, but our outcomes demonstrate its success.

Most of what we know about organized criminal violence comes from research on illicit narcotics markets. Yet criminal groups also fight to capture markets for licit commodities, as evidenced by Sicilian lemons and Mexican avocados. When do organized criminal groups violently expand into markets for licit goods? We argue that rapid increases in the share of a good’s export value create opportunities for immediate profit and future market manipulation. These opportunities lead to violence as groups expand their territorial holdings and economic portfolio. We provide subnational evidence of our mechanism using data on avocado exports from Mexico, and address reverse causality with Google Trends data on the popularity of web searches for “avocado toast.” We also provide cross-national evidence by combining data from the Atlas of Economic Complexity, V-Dem, and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC). We find that increases in a country’s share of global export value for agricultural goods are associated with more homicides—but only where organized criminal groups are present.

This article offers a fresh account of the colonial processes that upended Muslim juridical regimes in South Asia between 1808 and 1885. Based on unexplored sources in Arabic and English, the discussion is set in the South Indian coastal towns of today’s Kerala and Tamilnad, where Muslims practiced Shafi‘i law and were not subject to continuous Muslim rule at any point in history. Given their longue-durée experience of non-Muslim rule, the Shafi‘i jurists had to rethink classical jurisprudential norms to empower the learned Muslims (the ‘ulama) as alternative sources of authority, so that they could elect and dismiss Islamic law judges (qazis) as their local leaders in the coastal towns. Qazis thus emerged and operated as a bastion of Shafi‘i power and Shafi‘i religious authority in the region. Once the British Empire claimed the mantle of the Mughal Empire that practiced Hanafi law, it could not as easily bring these Shafi‘is into its imperial fold. Their juridical autonomy provoked fears of political subversion for the British Empire in the wake of the 1857 rebellion, prompting its officials to bring the Shafi‘is under direct government control and reconfigure the community-elected qazis, which were the foci of Shafi‘i leadership.

Why are some firms more successful than others in obtaining privileged treatment from their government? Trade policy, as an unusually targeted tool, offers a rich context to understand such questions of special-interest politics and corporate power. Studying decisions on anti-dumping petitions in the United States, we introduce a novel source of privileged treatment. We argue that firms with more linkages throughout the domestic economy enjoy a privileged political position. Benefits to these firms extend indirectly to a wider set of constituents, which allows firms to assemble broader coalitions and to portray protectionist policy as more than purely particularistic politics. We provide evidence for this argument by developing original measures of linkages between firms, derived from over 600,000 customer–supplier relationships among industries, matching them with data on anti-dumping petitions filed by US firms, written briefs filed by members of Congress on behalf of these firms, and the geographic distribution of industries. Our account identifies a new explanation of differences in the political influence of firms, underscores the relevance of domestic production networks in politics, and offers a novel perspective on cleavages and coalitions in trade politics. Our results also suggest that the expansion of global supply chains, long considered a hallmark of political power, has weakened the clout of some of the largest firms by limiting their domestic footprint.

If panpsychism is true then consciousness pervades the cosmos, and there exist many more conscious subjects than other worldviews contemplate. Panpsychism’s explanatory story about how human material composition and complexity grounds human consciousness seems to entail that there exist, notably, various conscious subjects within human organisms. Given the plausibility of the thesis that consciousness confers moral status – a thesis many panpsychists endorse – questions thus arise about the wellbeing of these inner subjects. In this article I raise the possibility that the lives of our inner subjects may not be morally suitable to a sophisticated centre of consciousness of the sort that likely exists, for example, inside various of our brain areas. Panpsychism, indeed, seems on the face of it to generate a good deal more suffering, in this way, than other worldviews. If that is correct, panpsychists who would embrace theism, and theists who would embrace panpsychism – for example pantheists – should be given serious pause. If panpsychism positively compounds the problem of evil, then one may have to choose between panpsychism and theism.

Mauritania is one of the African countries where the phenomenon of contemporary slavery is most prevalent today. The historical particularities inherent in this practice have been shaped by ethnocultural differences that still persist. The fight against this reality has been led by abolitionist initiatives that have emerged within civil society since the late 1970s. The most prominent organization in the fight against contemporary slavery in Mauritania is the Initiative for the Resurgence of the Abolitionist Movement, better known as IRA Mauritania. This article examines the history, action and socio-political impact of this organization through the unpublished testimonies of some of its protagonists – direct victims of this reality. The analysis of oral memory presented here, based on various historically silenced voices, raises new hypotheses about the historical crossroads currently faced by a country where the phenomenon of slavery is linked to other emerging issues such as migration crises, gender issues and the climate colonialism of the twenty-first century.

This issue represents a formal transition for the International Journal of Middle East Studies, as it is the first to bear our names as coeditors on its masthead. Transitions, however, are rarely quite so abrupt. The articles included in this issue were all guided through the editorial review process by the previous editorial team, led by Joel Gordon and Associate Editor Sarwar Alam. We are both honored to step in for the final stage of these works, and deeply grateful to Joel for his extraordinary dedication to ensuring that IJMES has published the best possible scholarship in our field for six years.

Loneliness is a major health concern for immigrant older adults. This study explores social influences on loneliness in neighbourhoods among immigrant older adults across five major urban centres in Ontario and Alberta, Canada. Data were collected from 435 older immigrants who participated in the Inclusive Communities for Older Immigrants (ICOI) Project. Data were analysed using multiple linear regression (MLR) to identify the influences of neighbourhood factors, family support, duration of residency in Canada, English proficiency, and gender. Results indicate that increased engagement in ethnic enclaves, not being reliant on transportation for social interactions, and perceptions of neighbourhood cohesion are associated with a significant reduction in loneliness. These associations remain significant after accounting for family support and language proficiency. This calls for further research into the interconnections among interpersonal factors, neighbourhood-level factors, and family and community-level support to address key influences on loneliness in this population.

This study aimed to investigate the potential association between the breeding values for somatic cell scores in milk (SCS) and polymorphisms in genes that encode for cytokines (CXCL8, TGF-β1 and IFN-γ) and CD4. These genes were selected because of their critical roles in immune regulation and their known involvement in mastitis-related inflammatory processes. To gain a comprehensive breeding perspective, the association study was conducted simultaneously with breeding values for productive traits in 558 Italian Simmental cows, a widespread dual-purpose dairy and beef bovine breed that is adaptable to harsh farming and breeding conditions.

The association analysis showed that only three of the nine chosen markers, one in IFN-γ and two in CD4, significantly associated with somatic cell breeding values, without effects on the other dairy traits. Only one of the two CD4 SNPs has been considered, being in linkage disequilibrium. The two remaining SNPs were grouped into three haplotypes (A–G, 88%; A–A, 5%; and T–G, 7%, respectively), and Haplotype-3 significantly affected the breeding values for SCS. The combination of Haplotype-1 with Haplotype-2 resulted in a significant decrease, while with Haplotype-3 led to a considerable improvement in SCS breeding values. It was noted that the functional haplotypic combinations examined did not significantly affect the production breeding values. This research could provide interesting polymorphisms for genomic evaluation of Italian Simmental dairy cows, increasing the accuracy of breeding values, assisting breeders in selecting animals with enhanced immune responses, minimising the economic impact of mastitis, and improving overall herd health and productivity.

Stephen Fonseca has been involved in medicolegal death investigation for over twenty-seven years, with a focus on forensic human identification and on education and professional development in forensic investigations and emergency management. He has co-authored several articles on forensic human identification. As a coroner in Canada, he led the development of a provincial forensic identification system to concurrently address recently reported and historical unsolved identification cases and managed the Identification and Disaster Response Unit (IDRU) in British Columbia for eight years. The IDRU was regionally recognized for the implementation of the multidisciplinary Identification Information Management Model, for which Stephen received the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal. He joined the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in 2013, initially working in the Middle East and thereafter supporting authorities primarily in Africa and globally with the implementation of well-functioning medico-legal systems and improvement of forensic identification in peacetime as well as during and after conflict, disasters and migration. He is currently the Head of the ICRC’s African Centre for Medicolegal Systems, a satellite hub of the Central Tracing Agency’s (CTA) Advisory Red Cross and Red Crescent Missing Persons Centre. Stephen leads the ICRC’s global Military Personnel Identification (MPI) Project, working with State armed forces around the world to develop global guidelines and implement measures to reduce the number of military personnel who become unaccounted for.

Vaughn Rossouw is an admitted Advocate of the High Court of South Africa. He holds an LLB and an LLM (cum laude) in public international law from the University of Pretoria, specializing in international humanitarian law (IHL) and human rights in military operations. Vaughn joined the ICRC in 2022 as Legal Adviser to the CTA’s African Centre for Medicolegal Systems, advising State authorities and stakeholders in the forensic science services sector on the applicable international and domestic legal frameworks with respect to missing persons and their families, and on the dignified management of the dead in armed conflict and other situations of violence. Vaughn was featured in the Review’s “Emerging Voices” issue of 2021 and has co-authored publications on transnational investigative approaches to address missing and deceased migrants in Southern Africa together with colleagues at the ICRC Pretoria Regional Delegation.

Temporal storm surge clustering refers to a series of events affecting the same region within a short period of time, which can strongly influence coastal flooding impacts and erosion. Here, we analyze global storm surge clustering from tide gauges and a state-of-the-art global model hindcast to identify geographical hotspots of extreme storm surge clusters and assess event frequencies. We study the spatial distribution as well as the contribution of different event intensities to clustering. On average, globally, 92% of coastal locations show significant temporal clustering for 1-year return period events, and 25% for 5-year return level events, although notable spatial differences exist. Our results reveal two distinct clustering regimes: (i) short timescale clustering, where events occur in rapid succession (intra-annual), and (ii) long timescales (inter-annual), providing varying recovery times between events. We also test the validity of assuming a Poisson distribution, commonly used in storm surge frequency analyses. Our results show that >80% of the stations analyzed do not follow a Poisson distribution, at least when including events that are not the most extreme but exceeded, for example, the 1-year return level. These findings offer insights into temporal clustering dynamics of storm surges and their implications for coastal hazard assessments.

Understanding microbial adaptations to the extreme conditions of space is crucial for both astronaut health and the integrity of spacecraft materials. This study comparatively analyses the cosmic radiation resistance and growth responses to simulated microgravity (SMG) of a wild-type strain and an International Space Station (ISS) isolate of Penicillium rubens. Resistance to helium- and iron-ion radiation was determined, alongside growth under SMG using clinorotation. The results revealed that the ISS isolate exhibited higher resistance to both helium- and iron-ion radiation than the wild-type strain, suggesting adaptive mechanisms that enhance survival in space environments. Additionally, while the ISS isolate demonstrated significantly increased growth in SMG compared to normal gravity conditions, the wild-type strain showed no difference between the two conditions. These findings indicate that prolonged exposure to the space environment may select for traits that enhance resistance to cosmic radiation and alter growth dynamics under microgravity. Such adaptations could have implications for microbial monitoring in space habitats, planetary protection policies, and potential biotechnological applications in space. Further investigations into the genetic and metabolic differences between both strains may provide deeper insights into fungal adaptation to space environments.

This article examines local credit markets and debt networks in Austria during the eighteenth century. Since professional financial institutions were inaccessible to the wider population, orphans who had inherited were a source of credit alongside kin or local institutions. Reasons for borrowing included investments, taxes or deferred payments. Events in the life-course, such as marriage and inheritance, could trigger debt relations, which were thus closely intertwined with other social relations and structured by legal practice. Guardians were appointed to administer the inheritance of children who had lost one or both of their parents, to invest it profitably and to prevent misuse by their (step-)parents or local authorities. They were often relatives or local dignitaries whose personal networks were crucial in allocating capital, and wealthy orphans could extend credit to a large number of people. Using a sample of mortgage deeds and guardianship accounts, we examine the practices of guardianship and local credit, such as the reasons for lending and borrowing, the investment strategies of guardians and the conditions and securitization of credit within and outside kinship and in varying familial constellations. In addition, we look at the position of different groups within local credit networks using social network analysis.

A sustainable pathway for valorizing the growing volume of lignin-rich organic feedstocks (LRFs) in emerging economies is to convert them into biochar to sequester carbon and improve soil fertility. However, biochar derived from such LRF may not always show favorable outcomes during soil application. Their interaction with the soil–plant–microbial ecosystem is very complex, and comparative investigations with other common types of biochars are lacking. This study investigated the impact of walnut shell biochar (WSB) and wood chip biochar (WCB) on soil biological properties and crop yield during the growth of Solanum lycopersicum L., and compared them with those of plant waste biochar (PWB) derived from agricultural plant residues. Among biochar variants, only PWB (1% w/w) has increased tomato yield compared to unamended soil. It also showed better carbon mineralization that stemmed from its higher degradability, lower carbon content, and higher H/C ratio. In contrast, WSB showed a relatively higher hydrophobicity, carbonization, and aromaticity that reduced its accessibility to soil microorganisms. Despite these characteristics and higher ash content, WSB did not lower soil enzyme and microbial activity, unlike WCB. At the same time, WSB did not improve crop yield. Mixing WSB (3% w/w) with soil has slightly enhanced the soil carbon stabilization. The high carbon recalcitrance of LRF may necessitate longer aging in soil compared with PWB to showcase any measurable (short/long) benefits to crop yield and soil characteristics.