This paper highlights the fundamental importance of the family as a pre-political institution for moral education and a signaling mechanism for cooperation in Locke’s state of nature. Conjugal societies moderate children by teaching them to follow the law of nature. They also serve as signaling mechanisms that enable moderate individuals to trust others and collectively enforce the law of nature. The family, as a pre-political moderating institution, underpins the fragile peace in Locke’s state of nature. Contrary to common beliefs, I argue that the family makes Locke’s depiction of the state of nature more credible than Hobbes’s. This has significant implications: exegetically, it explains why individuals in Locke’s state of nature (imperfectly) follow the law of nature; normatively, it provides reasons to prefer Locke’s liberalism over Hobbes’s authoritarianism; and speculatively, it invites social contract theorists to seriously consider the extent to which liberal political institutions rely on informal institutions.

BaLa2Cu1−xBaxTi2O9 (x = 0.00, 0.15, and 0.30) ceramics were synthesized in polycrystalline form via the conventional solid-state reaction techniques in air. The crystal structure of the title compositions was characterized by room-temperature X-ray powder diffraction and analyzed using the Rietveld refinement method. All the compositions crystallize in the tetragonal symmetry of space group I4/mcm (No. 140) with cell volumes: 249.43(1) Å3 for x = 0.00, 249.42(1) Å3 for x = 0.15, and 250.05(1) Å3 for x = 0.30. The tilt system of the MO6 octahedra (M = Cu(Ba2)/Ti) corresponds to the notation a0a0c−. The MO6 octahedra share the corners via oxygen atoms in 3D. Along the c-axis, the octahedra are connected by O(1) atoms of (0, 0, 1/4) positions; while in the ab-plane, they are linked by O(2) atoms of (x, x + 1/2, 0) positions. The bond angle of M–O2–M is 168.6(7)° for x = 0.00, 168.6(6)° for x = 0.15, and 166.8(6)° for x = 0.30, whereas the bond angle of M–O1–M is constrained to be 180° by space group I4/mcm.

Guided by interviews with key protagonists and extensive archival research, this article reinterprets the escalation of the Colombian armed conflict during the critical period of the 1990s. It rejects conventional characterisations of the war as an ‘internal conflict’ and challenges dominant approaches based on state weakness and economic opportunity. Instead, the article situates the FARC’s rapid expansion against the background of the international political economy, linking the conflict’s escalation to changing social relations of production. Grounded in historical materialism, and particularly drawing on the concepts of uneven and combined development, passive revolution, crisis of authority, and war of movement, the article explains how the Colombian state’s reintegration into global capitalism deepened social fragmentation, displaced subaltern populations, generated new terrains of resistance, and provoked a spreading crisis of authority that the FARC strategically exploited. It is argued that the FARC’s expansion was not a symptom of criminal degeneration but a strategic political response enabled by Colombia’s passive revolutionary transformation within the uneven and combined dynamics of global capitalism. The article contributes to broader debates in security, international political economy, global development, historical sociology, and regional studies, inviting scholars to identify the underlying but not immediately visible dynamics shaping conflict and peace.

This article examines how Black business directories from the Jim Crow era provide insight into Black communal life and urban citizenship. These directories offered guidance and legibility to inhabitants of the USA’s new ‘Negro main streets’, while also inscribing Black urban identities into the spatial syntax of modernizing American cities. An analysis of over 200 directories across four eras shows how these publications created a space for Black urban citizenship to develop by including practical information; by highlighting community leaders, property ownership and contributions to local taxes; and by urging voter registration and government lobbying. This research suggests that Black business directories are a rich resource for understanding Black urban history.

Accurate assessment of an individual’s diet is vital to study the effect of diet on health. Image-based methods, which use images as input, may improve the reliability of dietary assessment. We developed an iOS application that uses computer vision to identify food from images. This study aimed to assess the accuracy of energy intake (EIapp) estimates from the application by comparing them to estimated energy expenditure (EE) and to the EI estimates from a validated dietary assessment tool, the 24-h recall (EIrecall). Participants were recruited from a randomised controlled trial called He Rourou Whai Painga. Participants recorded all intake over 7 d using the application, which provided a mean daily EI; this was compared to the EI estimated by two 24-h recalls. The EI from the application and the recalls were compared to EE, estimated using indirect calorimetry and wrist-worn accelerometry. EI estimates from the application and the 24-h recalls were lower than EE, with a mean bias of -1814 kJ (95% CI -3012 to -615, p = 0.005) and -1715 kJ (95% CI -3237 to -193, p = 0.029), respectively. The mean bias between EI from the application and the 24-h recall was 783 kJ (95% CI -875 to 2441, p = 0.33). This suggests that the EI estimates from the application are comparable to the 24-h recall method, a validated and widely used tool in nutritional research.

Previous research shows that welfare cuts often cause distress amongst frontline workers. From the perspective of organisations implementing cuts, distressed caseworkers may hinder cost reductions and delay implementation. However, previous research has not analysed whether public agencies seek to reduce the moral distress experienced by their employees. This article examines the reorganisation of casework at the Swedish Social Insurance Agency (SSIA) between 2015 and 2020, after the introduction of a government target to reduce costs. The overarching argument is that the logic behind many organisational changes during this period was to relieve staff of any remorse for those who lost financial support. This was achieved by distancing SSIA staff from claimants, blurring caseworkers’ responsibilities and promoting an internal culture that presented stricter assessments as a democratic duty. This analysis suggests that research on social policy cuts should pay more attention to how public agencies manage the emotional lives of their employees.

This article examines the role played by Serbian demographers in the lead-up to the Yugoslav Wars. I argue that demographic research contributed to nationalist narratives and territorial claims. Demographers propagated concepts such as the ‘demographic threat’ posed by non-Serb populations, particularly Albanians and Bosnian Muslims, and the notion of ‘genocide’ against Serbs. They linked fertility, ethnicity and territory. By focusing on the most prominent Yugoslav/Serbian demographer, Miloš Macura, and the research institutions he set up, the article traces the radicalisation of demography during the 1980s. I argue that demographers used nationalism to reframe demographic processes in ethnic terms and thereby increase their status. The work of these demographers influenced political leaders and was widely disseminated to the public, shaping collective consciousness and preparing the ground for conflict. The analysis is based on contemporaneous expert literature, policy documents and archival information. It also highlights the role of international debates about the connection between demography and development.

Systematic reviews and meta-analyses are often considered the highest level in evidence hierarchies, and therefore are often drawn upon when considering changes in policy. Despite journals implementing measures aiming to enhance the quality of systematic reviews they publish, the authorship raise concerns about the quality of existing and ongoing systematic reviews, particularly relating to transparency and bias minimisation. Building on the current guidelines, standards and tools, we suggest a ‘meta checklist’ which aims to maximise methodologically sound, unbiased and reproducible reviews of the best scientific quality while considering feasibility throughout the process.

Dietary fibre can modify colostrum and milk composition in sows. Bile acids (BA) aid in fat digestion and lipid absorption and are important signalling molecules for the digestive tract. The aim of this study was to determine BA concentration in colostrum from sows fed two different sources of dietary fibre during gestation and lactation and from the intestinal digesta of their 4-6-days-old suckling offspring. Twenty sows were fed diets enriched with either 15% high-fermentable sugar beet pulp (SBP, n = 10) or 15% low-fermentable lignocellulose (LNC, n = 10). Sow colostrum, piglet gallbladder content, ileum and colon digesta were assessed for BA using high-performance liquid chromatography coupled to triple-quadrupole mass spectrometry. In colostrum, lithocholic acid and oxolithocholic acid were higher in sows fed SBP vs. LNC (p = 0.005 and p = 0.003, respectively), while 3α,7α,12α-trihydroxycholestanoic acid and glycohyodeoxycholic acid were higher in colostrum from sows fed LNC vs. SBP (p = 0.039, p = 0.002, respectively). In the piglet bile, cholic acid and taurodeoxycholic acid were higher in SBP vs. LNC group (p = 0.02, p = 0.001, respectively), while taurochenodeoxycholic acid was higher in LNC vs. SBP group (p = 0.035). In the piglet ileum digesta, lithocholic acid was higher in SBP vs. LNC (p = 0.015). In the piglet colon digesta, lithocholic acid and ursodeoxycholic acid were higher in SBP vs. LNC (p = 0.001 and p = 0.007, respectively). Addition of specific dietary fibres to sow diets differentially influences the BA in colostrum. Dietary fibres in sow diets can impact on the intestinal BA composition in piglets with a possible consequence on the digestive physiology and health in the offspring.

Legumes are key to improving food security due to their nutritional value. In Togo, however, the diversity of local legumes, particularly Kersting’s groundnut (Macrotyloma geocarpum), is rapidly declining. The ethnobotanical survey aimed to assess the geographical distribution, varietal diversity, uses, and sociodemographic characteristics of Kersting's groundnut producers in the five administratives regions and four big agroecological zones of Togo. Semi-structured interviews, group discussions, and field visits were conducted. A total of 238 producers were identified across 132 villages. Descriptive statistics, correlation and correspondence analysis were used to explore relationships between varietal diversity, socio-demographic factors, and regional uses. The crop was found to be most prevalent in northern Togo, particularly the Kara region (60.5%), which belongs to the dry savannah zone. In contrast, production is almost nonexistent in the coastal and subequatorial southern regions. Most producers were women (56.7%), and 47% reported having no formal education. The number of varieties grown per household was positively correlated with farming experience. Varietal preferences varied by gender and ethnic group. While consumption and sale remain the primary motivations for cultivation, ritual and medicinal uses were significantly associated with ethnic groups and regions. These findings underscore the combined influence of ecological conditions and ethnocultural heritage on varietal distribution. They offer a valuable basis for developing strategies to conserve and promote Kersting’s groundnut in Togo.

The intellectual legacy of Cappelletti and Calamandrei – envisioning judicial review as an instrument of social justice – the post-war project of substantive legality – groundwork for the Integration through Law project – the EU’s neoliberal turn – the European Court of Justice’s entrenched market constitutionalism – the elusive goal of a Social Europe

In this paper we unveil novel monotonicity conditions applicable to Mean Field Games through the exploration of finite dimensional canonical transformations. Our findings contribute to establishing new global well-posedness results for the associated master equations, also in the case of potentially degenerate idiosyncratic noise. Additionally, we show that recent advancements in global well-posedness results, specifically those related to displacement semi-monotone and anti-monotone data, can be easily obtained as a consequence of our main results.

This brief paper aims to consider the impact of Israel’s settler-colonial measures on workers in the West Bank of the occupied Palestinian territories (oPt) after October 2023. Although the ongoing war has been waged on the Gaza Strip, with devastating repercussions for lives and livelihoods in the Strip, Israeli colonial measures in the West Bank have had a grave impact on all segments of Palestinian society, including workers. These measures include: First; closure of the Israeli labor market in the face of tens of thousands of Palestinian workers. Second, broadening the system of movement restrictions within the West Bank which led to disruptions in local production and trade thus damaging private sector operations. Third; Israel’s continued withholding of Palestinian custom duty revenues with adverse impacts on workers in general but particularly public sector workers. To assess the impact of these measures, the paper utilizes a number of indices to assess the situation of these workers; including labor supply, unemployment, wage levels, distribution across sectors, informality, and workers’ rights. The paper finds a grave deterioration in the situation of workers in the labor market at all levels, with dire repercussions for workers and their families.

Jackfruit waste, though abundant in tropical regions, is underutilized due to its low biodegradability, limiting its potential for bioenergy production. This study investigated the impact of co-digesting jackfruit (JF) waste with cow dung (CW) and poultry manure (PM) on biogas production and digestate quality for use as fertilizer. Anaerobic co-digestion was conducted at 37 °C using a water bath, with five treatments: 75% JF:25% PM, 50% JF:50% PM, 75% JF:25% CW, 50% JF:50% CW, and 100% JF (control), each replicated three times. Biogas production was measured using the water displacement method, while digestate nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), and potassium (K) contents were analyzed using calorimetric, modified Olsen-P, and flame photometric methods, respectively. Results showed that the 75% JF:25% PM mixture achieved the highest biogas yield (373.0 mL/gVS), followed by 50% JF:50% PM (339.3 mL/gVS), while 100% JF produced significantly less (82.3 mL/gVS). The 50% JF:50% PM digestate had the highest nutrient content, with N, P, and K levels of 45.44, 28.42, and 32.57 g/kg, respectively, all significantly higher than the 100% JF digestate (p ≤ 0.05). To meet the nitrogen requirement for maize (50 kg N ha−1), 1.089 t of 50% JF:50% PM digestate per hectare would be needed, generating 43.2 m3 of biogas, equivalent to 864 MJ of energy, replacing 26.78 t of firewood. The study concludes that co-digesting jackfruit waste with poultry manure and cow dung enhances biogas yield and digestate quality, supporting sustainable waste management, renewable energy, and soil fertility. Adoption of co-digestion by farmers and biogas operators should be encouraged through policies and training. Future research should focus on efficient and cost-effective pre-treatment methods to improve jackfruit waste biodegradability and process efficiency.