ABSTRACT During the summer of 2023, I conducted an interview with Moshe (Bogie) Ya’alon, a veteran of over 30 years in key roles within the Israeli Defense Forces. As a leading authority on national security and intelligence, Ya’alon provided critical insights, particularly regarding the intelligence failures of the 1973 Yom Kippur War and how these failures inform present-day security dilemmas. Although this interview was conducted three months before the surprise Hamas attack on 7 October 2023, Ya’alon stressed the significance of lessons from previous conflicts and significant geopolitical developments. He also underscored the importance of cultural and emotional factors in intelligence failures and the dynamics of Israel’s relations with the Five Eyes alliance, offering insights that illuminate some of the challenges Israel would encounter three months later. This interview is part of an ongoing oral history project designed to gather diverse perspectives on intelligence and national security leadership in Israel, enhancing our understanding of the security dilemmas of the Middle East and the world of espionage.

Purpose This paper aims to explore the barriers and facilitators to psychosocial well-being among ethnic Nepali Bhutanese American older adults from the perspective of health care and service providers working with this population. Specifically, the authors aimed to understand health-care and service providers’ perceptions of the psychosocial well-being in this community and appropriate interventions. Design/methodology/approach Qualitative research methods were used to collect and analyze data in collaboration with a community-based organization. A total of ten participants were interviewed. Interviews were conducted in either English or Nepali, based on participant preference. An inductive thematic analysis approach was used to analyze the data. Findings Three major themes were generated from the analysis. The first two were in reference to perceived barriers to mental well-being among Bhutanese American older adults: isolation that older adults faced in the USA and shifting responsibilities and lifestyles that arose from the cultural and structural barriers in the USA. Throughout these themes, there was an understanding that acculturation threatened families’ connections to each other and impacted older adults’ connections with younger generations. The third theme, a perceived facilitator of well-being, was the power of storytelling to counteract feelings of isolation and disempowerment caused by shifting lifestyles felt by older adults, especially amid community events. Originality/value Bhutanese American older adults, many of whom have limited English proficiency, face numerous challenges, psychosocial stressors and factors contributing to well-being. Care for this population should prioritize dignity, empowerment and the incorporation of strengths within their narratives. Interventions and services tailored for older Bhutanese American adults need to be adapted to integrate multiple care systems.

ABSTRACT ‘Programa de Especialização Docente Brasil’ (PED Brasil) is a learning and professional development program in mathematics or science education for primary or secondary in-service schoolteachers. Designed to be a teacher education program that addresses issues related to educational quality and equity in racially, socially, and academically diverse Brazilian schools, PED Brasil intended to craft a program with a signature pedagogy that could be capable of shaping the ways of thinking and acting in the teaching profession. PED Brasil does it by integrating different dimensions of knowledge and demonstrating various aspects of professional practice, considering the democratic society we aim to build. In this paper, we analyse how PED Brasil has adopted Complex Instruction as its signature pedagogy.

PurposeFamily small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) represent a substantial part of many economies. In these organizations, close and informal relationships between employers and employees often foster a mutual understanding of each other’s needs, facilitating the negotiation of idiosyncratic deals (i-deals), special employment conditions tailored for individual employees. However, research on how i-deals are negotiated in family SMEs, especially regarding power dynamics and influence, remains limited. This study aims to identify the types of i-deals negotiated in family SMEs and explore the role of power and influence in these negotiations.Design/methodology/approachSemi-structured interviews were conducted with 45 employees and 15 employers from Spanish family SMEs. Data were analyzed using ATLAS.ti 8, and thematic analysis was performed.FindingsThe study concludes that task, flexibility, financial and development i-deals are particularly negotiated in family SMEs. It identifies that referent and expert power play an important role in initiating these negotiations. Furthermore, rational tactics are generally employed for negotiating work performance, soft tactics for employment-related aspects and hard tactics for work flexibility. Additionally, the study identified gender differences in the negotiation of i-deals.Research limitations/implicationsThis study enhances i-deal literature by highlighting the distinct characteristics of family SMEs and their impact on i-deal negotiations. The findings suggest that power dynamics and influence tactics in family SMEs differ from those in larger firms. Moreover, certain i-deals may encounter resistance due to concerns about organizational performance and economic implications. Understanding these factors is essential for developing effective negotiation strategies in family SMEs.Originality/valueThis study offers a dual perspective, analyzing the power and influence tactics used by both employees and employers in family SME i-deal negotiations and highlighting gendered dynamics in these processes.

ABSTRACT Kathleen Folbigg spent 20 years in jail, wrongly convicted for smothering her four infant children. An unprecedented second judicial Inquiry found they died naturally. New genetic and psychiatric evidence unlocked the wrongful conviction, but it was always questionable. A Symposium held by the AAFS (Victorian Branch) detailed the timeline of the numerous events, then identified and discussed the issues. What were the failings and why were they missed? What part did expert witnesses, judges and lawyers play in this wrongful conviction? Did the prosecution appeal to misogyny? How did the first Inquiry get it so wrong? How did it fail to correctly understand the genetics? Was Ms Folbigg treated disrespectfully, and if so, what did that mean about fact finding? How did the failures of disclosure affect the original conviction and its various appeals? What explains the NSW Court of Appeal’s decision to reject an appeal based on jury misbehaviour during Ms Folbigg’s trial? Should we be more careful about the language we use in criminal trials? There was general agreement that the frailties of Kathleen Folbigg’s convictions were readily visible from the beginning. Will the criminal justice system learn the lessons that emerge from this case?

ABSTRACT This experimental research work investigates the role of polyurethane foam adhesive (PFA) in evaluating the unconfined compressive strength (UCS) of three different types of sands with varying maximum particle sizes (Dmax = 4.00 mm, 2.00 mm, and 0.63 mm) mixed with different proportions of fly ash (FA = 0%, 5%, 10%, and 15%). Moreover, this study includes the influence of the polymer percentages (PFc = 2%, 4%, 6%, and 8%) and particle size characteristics on the UCS of the tested materials. The obtained results indicate a significant increase in the UCS and ductility at a particular fly ash content (FA = 5%), where the increment of the polyurethane foam content from PFc = 2% to 8% induces an increasing of the UCS from 1.64 MPa to 5.28 MPa (a 3.2% increase). It is found that higher values of PFc = 8% and FA = 15% exhibit noticeable improvements and stabilization of the strength properties in the tested mixtures. Additionally, the UCS of the enhanced mixtures can be predicted using a newly introduced parameter called the polymer factor index (IPF), which considers the porosity and PFA content properties. The PFA-enhanced sand-fly ash mixtures offer a promising and innovative solution in many geotechnical engineering applications due to their reliable mechanical performances.

ABSTRACT Citizen Science Projects (CSP) are emerging as innovative approaches to urban research and practice. This paper reports on the data-driven CSP ‘Colouring Dresden’ in Germany through the lens of Critical Data Studies (CDS). CDS-scholars urge CSP-partners to be aware of the ‘political nature’ of their projects. However, this claim requires some conceptual specification. In case of ‘Colouring Dresden’, the paper adopts a micro-oriented approach that emphasizes two key areas of reflection: 1) situating the CSP in institutionalized politics in Dresden and 2) paying more attention to the selectivity of the project agenda (‘framing selectively’). The paper ends with a suggestion for future research and practice.

ABSTRACT Recent academic discourses highlight borders as dynamic forces influencing life beyond territorial demarcations. This paper examines belonging and citizenship by looking at the case of Bengali-speaking Muslim women who married across the India-Bangladesh border. Initially, clandestine visits helped to sustain kinship ties, but increasing border enforcement and emphasis on documentation have resulted in regulated journeys with the help of passports. Building on the politics of belonging and translocational positionality framework, this paper emphasises the fluidity of their belonging, reflecting the border’s nature, and addresses the ambivalence in navigating citizenship and belonging. Ethnographically looking at West Bengal’s border villages, the paper analyses how the sense of belonging in a borderland is complex, ambivalent and shaped by personal experiences and not solely contingent upon the possession of legal-bureaucratic documentation. This study enriches discourses on borders and belonging by looking at the layers of negotiation in borderlands, challenging straightforward notions of belonging.