ABSTRACT The education sector has been increasingly affected by legal discourse, new managerialism, litigation, burgeoning regulation and accountability involving inspections and audits, and rises in lawsuits. These processes have been described as juridification and have complex effects. In this paper we focus on juridification’s impact on preschool governance during times of increased privatisation in Sweden. We aim to unpack links between juridification and privatisation by analysing the multifaceted issues of how law, litigation and legal discourse become manifested and are navigated by various actors in local preschool quasi-market governance. The results show how intricate connections between juridification and privatisation tend to make public and private relations more legalistic, contract-based and competitive. Juridification and privatisation also increase conformity in terms of, for instance, pedagogical profiles, practices and organisational structures. In addition, these inter-related processes promote and largely benefit corporate group formation and expansion as legal knowledge and economic resources to navigate local preschool quasi-market governance become increasingly essential. This starkly contrasts with the core ostensible objectives of privatisation and marketisation reforms – to promote diversity, pluralism, and a wide range of preschool options for parents.

ABSTRACT A new soybean cultivar, ‘Soramizuki,’ was developed by crossing ‘Fukuyutaka A1 gou’ with ‘UA4805’ to integrate the high-yield characteristics of a US cultivar into a Japanese cultivar. While the high yield and yield stability of ‘Soramizuki’ have been confirmed, the specific high-yielding factors were previously unknown. This study compared the yield and yield components of ‘Soramizuki,’ ‘UA4805,’ and ‘Sachiyutaka A1 gou’ in experimental fields during 2021 and 2023. In these two-year experiments, ‘Soramizuki’ demonstrated a significantly higher yield than ‘Sachiyutaka A1 gou.’ Despite a significant yield decrease in ‘UA4805’ in 2023 due to stink bug damage, it showed the highest yield among the three cultivars in 2021. Both ‘Soramizuki’ and ‘UA4805’ exhibited more total nodes, pods per node, and seeds per pod compared to ‘Sachiyutaka A1 gou.’ These differences were attributed to a higher node increase rate, a larger number of blooms per node, and a higher ratio of pods with three seed cavities. Additionally, ‘Soramizuki’ and ‘UA4805’ had greater dry matter weight per plant than ‘Sachiyutaka A1 gou,’ though there were no variations in the harvest index. The light interception ratio per leaf area in the upper canopy was lower in both ‘Soramizuki’ and ‘UA4805.’ These results suggest that the high-yielding traits of ‘Soramizuki’ are derived from the US cultivar ‘UA4805.’

ABSTRACT This paper examines biology-inspired costly signaling explanations when applied to human conduct. Such explanations are part of a trend in the human behavioral sciences to investigate elements of human behavior as outcomes of quasi-Darwinian processes. The paper addresses four methodological concerns. The first worry is that quite often the requisite empirical support, in terms of population dynamics, appears to be missing. Second, fairly plausible alternative explanations are not considered or too easily disregarded. Third, the mechanism that is supposed to cause reproduction and spread in a population is insufficiently spelled out. Fourth, and more specifically, it is often unclear how exactly false signaling (cheating) would be selected against.

ABSTRACT Out-of-pocket health payments are payments made by households at a point of use of health services. Researchers often use single-level logistic models to examine factors associated with impoverishment due to health payments. However, single-level models fail to account for neighborhood correlation which exist in complex survey data. The paper compares spatial multilevel to standard multilevel and single-level logistic models in terms of performance of model estimates and fit. It uses data from Malawi integrated household survey collected from 12,447 households and simulated data. Mean squared error and percentage bias were used to compare performance. Deviance Information Criterion was used to assess model fit. The results show that spatial multilevel and standard multilevel models provide similar fixed parameter estimates when both within and between neighborhood correlation exist in data while single-level model provides biased estimates and poor fit. Households with at least one chronically ill member, at least one hospitalized member or located in rural areas were significantly more likely to face impoverishment. Researchers using complex survey data should be cautious as both within and between neighborhood correlation may exist in data and failure to account for spatial correlation may lead to biased estimates consequently wrong conclusions.

ABSTRACT The present paper aims to examine how teachers contribute to social cohesion in terms of the three dimensions: social relations, group identification, and the common good. A qualitative study was conducted using interviews with teachers and students and observations in two Dutch secondary schools with diverse student populations. The results showed that the dimension most often addressed was the dimension of social relations, and teachers seemed to focus on individual students more than on the group as a whole. Bridging home and school, and group formation were main themes in the dimension of group identification. The main theme in the dimension of the common good was teacher practices with regard to rules, in which fairness was an important topic for students. The three dimensions of social cohesion are inter-related and should be considered alongside each other when schools are committed to strengthening social cohesion.

ABSTRACT The growing complexity of care and healthcare workforce shortages in the Netherlands necessitates exploring interprofessional collaboration (IPC). However, the predominant single-professional education may result in a professional identity (PI) among healthcare students, which may not support successful IPC. Internships in student-run interprofessional learning wards (SR-IPLW) could foster interprofessional identity (IPI) development. There is a need for a better understanding of the intricacies involved in learning to work collaboratively, particularly when undergraduates are still shaping their professional identities. Our aim, therefore, was to identify facilitators and barriers for interprofessional education (IPE), IPC, and identity development among 21 healthcare students during a 20-week clinical placement on a SR-IPLW in rehabilitation medicine. An action-based prospective study using grounded theory analysis of nine focus groups across three semesters identified 17 theoretical codes. These codes are elaborated in a conceptual model highlighting facilitators and barriers for IPC and identity development, emphasizing the importance of fostering feelings of relatedness, competence, and autonomy. There are indications that professional and interprofessional identities changed during the internship. Implications for preceptors are delineated, showing the importance of personal relationships and elements of a positive learning climate.

ABSTRACT Driven by the demand to address complex societal issues, stakeholders from higher education and society increasingly form multi-stakeholder networks. Despite their potential, realising such networks proves complex, often yielding elusive outcomes. To explore how multi-stakeholder networks navigate these complexities, this configurative literature review analyses 17 cases, revealing patterns in university-community interactions across network formation, implementation, and outcomes. Two primary modes emerged: the Centralised (or University-Centred) mode, characterised by university dominance, and the Polycentric (or Collaborative) mode, emphasising cooperative relationships. Existing on a continuum rather than as distinct categories, these modes provide a framework to interpret collaborative- and decision-making processes that occur within multi-stakeholder networks, shaping what is recognised as knowledge, and identifying who benefits most. This modal awareness enhances the potential of multi-stakeholder networks in higher education. Future research could explore the multiplicity of community perspectives. Our study serves as a stepping stone for advancing multi-stakeholder network theory and practice.

ABSTRACT The Standards, Measurements and Testing (SMT) protocol is widely used to fractionate phosphorus (P); however, it lacks the focus on defining the solubility of P-fractions, which is usually performed independently. In this paper, the addition of a separate pre-wash step with H2O as a first step prior to the SMT protocol was tested to account for the solubility of P. Results were compared to a control unmodified SMT experiment. The differences in P-fractions were analyzed to determine the origin of the readily available P (soluble P). Six different dairy processing waste treatment products were investigated in the form of sludge, hydrochar, and ash. Water-soluble P (WSP) was correlated with weakly bound calcium (Ca), aluminum (Al) and iron (Fe). However, the SMT protocol failed to correctly identify the different pools of P as unexpected correlations were found between P and Ca, Al and Fe. Moreover, large concentrations of organic P were present in ashes (>10 mg P g−1). The organic P fraction included substantial amounts of Fe that correlated highly with P (R2 = 0.84). No association between WSP and any of the pools of P defined by SMT was detected, with the exception of total P and inorganic P. The paper concludes that SMT erroneously classifies P into different discrete fractions across various recycled P-products with fertilizer potential. A critical reevaluation of the SMT protocol is recommended, by abandoning the categorization of P into discrete pools and switching to solvent-based categories referring to the chemicals used in each extraction.

ABSTRACT This article explores the methodological possibilities that a graffiti dataset offers to a spatio-temporal analysis of peace and conflict. Leveraging our original visual dataset of Belfast’s changing muralscape, the analysis unpacks how messages painted on walls offer a lens into evolving local sentiments, politics, unity, and divisions. We suggest that tracking changes in graffiti across time offers methodological innovation in understanding contested spaces, and, when used as a foundational method, a dataset enhances researcher understanding of violence, avoidance, memorialisation and publicly debated social issues, paving the way for further research on graffiti as a lens for understanding complex societal phenomena.

ABSTRACT The functionalization of a gold surface with 3-aminopropyl-triethoxysilane (APTES) enhances the performance of fiber optic-based plasmonic sensors. Using the aqueous phase deposition (APD) method, APTES concentrations of 1–4% were tested. FTIR analysis showed increased amine (-NH₂) absorption with ammonium ions interacting electrostatically with Au, which improved particle rearrangement, reduced porosity, and increased surface compactness at higher concentrations. These changes enhanced the refractive index, shifted the SPR wavelength to the right, and deepened the transmittance curves. The addition of APTES significantly improved sensor performance, with sensor sensitivity increasing to 2088 nm/RIU with 4% APTES compared to 1484 nm/RIU without APTES.