Current Crisis Research Articles

Looking Toward the Future of Integrated Care: History, Developments, and Opportunities

For almost five decades, the development and implementation of integrated care—the simultaneous combination of primary care with mental health and substance use care—has been a major challenge for the behavioral health care field. Integrated care is exceptionally important because many people with behavioral health conditions also have chronic physical health conditions. Early research findings in the mid-1980s showed that persons with mental illness are likely to develop chronic physical conditions earlier and more severely than other people. These findings precipitated efforts to understand this problem and to develop further appropriate integrated care solutions. Subsequently, the US Surgeon General made care integration a major focus of his landmark 1999 Report on Mental Health, as did the 2008 Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act and the 2010 Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. However, it was not until 2014, and later, that integrated care actually began to be implemented more broadly. This article reviews these major developmental milestones, examines current activities, and explores likely developments over the next several years. Major current issues include the response to the COVID-19 pandemic, adjusting to its effects on the behavioral health care workforce, and the growing realization that behavioral health care must address the social determinants of life. Likely developments over the next several years will include devising ways to address our workforce crisis, developing effective community interventions, and implementing population health management strategies; implementing the CMS Innovation in Behavioral Health Model; improving reimbursement practices; and exploring the potential of AI for integrated care. Implications for future service organization and training of behavioral health care providers also are discussed. Granted the severity of the current workforce crisis in behavioral health care, urgent efforts are needed to advance the deployment of integrated care in the short-term future.

Homelessness: A Public Health Perspective on a Present Crisis

Addressing increasing rates of homelessness is a matter of great importance in North America due to adverse consequences on health, particularly in marginalized populations. Rates of homelessness as well as associated health issues in unhoused populations have continued to play a considerable role in countless communities. Therefore, to pursue solutions to the current crisis of homelessness from a public health perspective, this article seeks to place multiple proposals for solutions in conversation. This article contends that to effectively address homelessness from a public health perspective a multi-faceted approach must be implemented, led by a coalition of leaders from a variety of disciplines, comprehensively addressing homelessness, and supporting the unhoused.

Enhancing the piezocatalytic performance for H2 evolution by constructing BiOCl/UiO-66 heterostructure

Developing highly efficient piezocatalytic system for hydrogen production is crucial in addressing the current energy crisis. Herein, we synthesized BiOCl/UiO-66 heterostructure piezocatalyst using facile one-step solvothermal method and evaluated its performance for piezocatalytic H2 evolution under ultrasonic vibration. Our findings reveal that BiOCl/UiO-66 heterostructure demonstrates excellent catalytic activity, yielding high piezocatalytic H2 evolution rate of 650.9 μmol g−1 h−1, significantly surpassing that of pure BiOCl (176.5 μmol g−1 h−1) and UiO-66 (352.6 μmol g−1 h−1). Furthermore, the BiOCl/UiO-66 presents good stability throughout cyclic experiments. The improved catalytic performance of BiOCl/UiO-66 is mainly attributed to the formation of heterostructure, which can induce more active sites and the strong piezoelectric field that aids in charge carriers separation. A possible mechanism of BiOCl/UiO-66 heterostructure is proposed. This work offers practical approach to boost the hydrogen production efficiency of Bi-based piezocatalyst.

Urban Biodiversity Index for Trees: A Climate Adaptation Measure for Cities Based on Tree Inventories

A historically large percentage of the world’s population has moved to urban areas in the past few decades, causing various negative effects for the environment, such as air, noise, water, and light pollution; land degradation; and biodiversity loss. Under the current climate crisis, cities are anticipated to play an essential part in adaptation strategies to extreme atmospheric events. This study aims at developing indicators at an urban scale that can highlight adaptation progress by investigating relevant data (especially in situ) and statistics at a pan-European level in support of the EU’s strategy for adapting to the impacts of climate change. The proposed indicator, Urban Biodiversity Indicator for Trees (UBI4T), which can be derived from city tree inventories, assesses one essential component of urban biodiversity by computing the proportion of native, alien, invasive, and toxic tree species spatially across a city. According to our findings (applying the UBI4T for Amsterdam and exploring its policy potential for Barcelona), the UBI4T can offer crucial information for decision and policy makers, as well as stakeholders of a city, with the aim of conducting dedicated and effective strategic initiatives to restore, improve, and protect nature in the urban environment, thus contributing to adaptation and resilience to extreme atmospheric events in cities.

Enhancing participatory governance in biosphere reserves through co-creation of transdisciplinary and intergenerational knowledge

In the context of the current global climate and biodiversity crisis, urgent action is needed to improve participatory and co-productive governance in territories under sustainability directives, such as biosphere reserves. These territories comprise a global network with the potential to apply and replicate sustainability actions, improve livelihoods, and boost climate change resilience while reducing impacts on the environment and the biodiversity in all continents. In the biosphere reserves network’s 50 years of existence, progress and setbacks have been reported in different regions around the world, and there is an urgent need to envision alternative futures. In this contribution, we describe the results and reflections of our ‘Open Academy’ that enhanced the participatory governance in La Campana–Peñuelas Biosphere Reserve in Central Chile. We crossed the traditional assessment with the principles of transdisciplinary and intergenerational knowledge co-creation. The results show that the traditional performance assessment shows a generally poor performance and reveals the weaknesses of the governance system of the reserve’s management. The extraction of water by mining and agroindustry, uncontrolled urbanization, wildfires, weak social participation, and low integration of indigenous communities are crucial issues for the performance of biosphere reserves. On the other hand, these territories have the potential as models toward post-extractive economies. Enhancing participatory governance, biosphere reserves shall serve as a) agents for configuring the future as an eco-social pact with the territory; b) pilot test areas for alternative futures; and c) places to promote the social collective as a conscious agent of the future.

Advancements in biomass conversion: Copper-catalyzed anaerobic dehydrogenation of 5-hydroxymethylfurfural to 2,5-diformylfuran

Developing cost-effective and inherently safe methods for accelerating the sustainable production of value-added chemicals from biomass presents a promising solution to the current energy crisis. This study introduces heterogeneous copper species anchored on a γ-Al2O3 catalyst (Cu/γ-Al2O3) with high dispersibility and small Cu particle size, synthesized via a straightforward incipient-wetness impregnation method. This method facilitates the selective anaerobic dehydrogenation of 5-hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF) into 2,5-diformylfuran (DFF) in the absence of any oxidant or hydrogen acceptor. An HMF conversion of 69.8 % and a DFF yield of 44.9 % were attained at 130 °C over a 12-h period. Extensive characterizations were conducted to elucidate the correlation between the catalyst’s structure and its dehydrogenation activity. The findings indicated that strong L-acid sites, elevated Cu dispersions, small Cu particle size and an increased number of Cu+ active sites were conducive to enhanced dehydrogenation reactivity. The Cu/γ-Al2O3 catalyst demonstrated superior catalytic efficiency and stability. A possible reaction mechanism is suggested, integrating DFT calculations with experimental observations. This research offers valuable insights into the selective conversion of HMF to DFF and encourages further exploration into the dehydrogenation of biomass alcohols into high-value chemicals under oxidant-free conditions.

Dissipative Structure Analysis and Ecological Disorganization: A Critique Drawn from Ecological Marxist and Treadmill-of-Production Approaches

Among environmental sociologists, ecological Marxists argue that there is an association between capitalism and ecological destruction/disorganization. This argument suggests that capitalism and nature are in contradiction with one another, so that the expansion of capitalism necessarily results in the destruction of nature. Green criminologists expand on this point and argue that ecological disorganization generates legal and illegal green crimes and injustice. This capitalism–nature association suggests that solving the current ecological crisis would require replacing capitalism. In contrast, the dissipative structure analysis (DSA) argues that capitalist nations pass through phases of development and that as advanced capitalist nations age, the level of ecological destruction they cause becomes attenuated. If true, this outcome suggests that capitalism might solve the problem of ecological destruction by aging. This article reviews these two theoretical arguments, exposes the limitation of the dissipative structure argument, and suggests that future research is required to completely address dissipative structure assumptions. A major limitation of the dissipative structure analysis is its failure to account for the effect of developing capitalist nations on the expansion of ecological disorganization. Trend charts are employed to illustrate the limitations of the DSA hypothesis concerning reduced ecological disorganization.

Current Economic Crisis Effect on the Rural Community (By Ritigaha Arawa Village in Rideemaliyadda Divisional Secretariat in Badulla District Sri Lanka)

Today, Sri Lanka has faced to an economic crisis, and even everyone is suffering from it. COVID pandemic was a reason to expand the crisis, but the economic policy fallowed by Sri Lanka was the main reason for the crisis. The Sri Lankan government announced Sri Lanka as an economically bankrupt country, and Sri Lanka has also stopped the resettlement of foreign loans. Exports, import restrictions, organic policy, taxation, inflation, and a lack of investors are the main reasons for spreading the crisis. The rural community is the most suffering unit of society and the objective of this paper is to examine the effect of the current economic crisis on this community. Mix methodology was used, and questionnaires, discussion, direct observations, and field visits were used to collect the data. Day to day life has been lost to the rural community with the economic crisis, and their income is not enough to fulfill their basic needs. As a result of it, some students have stopped their education, and many young people are suffering their lives with the crisis. Lost job opportunities, and the increasing price of goods are reasons to spreading malnutrition in the rural community,and the crisis has spread all over the rural community in Sri Lanka.

Frontiers in Acute Pain Management: Emerging Concepts in Pain Pathways and the Role of VX-548 as a Novel NaV1.8 Inhibitor: A Narrative Review.

Despite ongoing research into alternative postsurgical pain treatments, opioids remain widely used analgesics regardless of associated adverse effects, including dependence and overdose, as demonstrated throughout the current opioid crisis. This is likely related to a failure in proving the efficacy of alternative analgesics in clinical trials, despite strong evidence supporting the potential for effective analgesia through in vitro studies. While NaV1.7 and NaV1.8 channels have shown to be key components of pain perception, studies regarding pharmacological agents utilizing these channels as targets have largely failed to demonstrate the efficacy of these proposed analgesics when compared to current multimodal pain treatment regimens. However, the novel NaV1.8 channel inhibitor, VX-548 has surpassed previously studied NaV1.8 inhibitors in clinical trials and continues to hold promise of a novel efficacious analgesic to potentially be utilized in multimodal pain treatment on postsurgical patients. Additionally, NaV1.8 is encoded by the SCN10A, which has been shown to be minimally expressed in the brain, suggesting a lower likelihood of adverse effects in the CNS, including dependence and abuse. Novel pharmacologic analgesics that are efficacious without the significant side effects associated with opioids have lacked meaningful development. However, recent clinical trials have shown promising results in the safety and efficacy of the pharmacological agent VX-548. Still, more clinical trials directly comparing the efficacy of VX-548 to standard of care post-surgical drugs, including opioids like morphine and hydromorphone are needed to demonstrate the long-term viability of the agent replacing current opioids with an unfavorable side effect profile.

Navigating organizational change: sequential vs simultaneous approaches to innovation management in modern enterprises

Purpose This study aims to explore the relationship between innovation and strategic management in contemporary enterprises, emphasizing the navigation of organizational change for sustainable competitive advantage. This study addresses the challenge of adapting to dynamic environments and the critical role of leadership, organizational culture and collaboration in successful innovation management. Design/methodology/approach The authors used the typology research design and comparative analysis to explore the principles and strategies underlying different innovation approaches. This study examines their impact on organizational structures, resource allocation and the integration of technological advancements with managerial practices. Findings The authors developed a typology of two innovation management models. The sequential approach emphasizes phased and incremental innovation, while the simultaneous approach advocates for dynamic and comprehensive integration of innovation across the organization. Each model presents distinct advantages and challenges, underscoring the need for a tailored approach based on the enterprise’s context and objectives. Mature companies may benefit from the sequential approach to gradually evolve their innovation, while new and high-tech-intensive companies can leverage the simultaneous approach for dynamic and continuous innovation. Research limitations/implications Future research should examine local bodies and trade unions’ perception on the energy crisis’ impact toward rural entrepreneurship. Practical implications The findings are useful to Greek and European policymakers and rural micro-entrepreneurs as the experience of dealing with several previous crises can be a useful tool when dealing with current and future crises. Originality/value This study enhances understanding of the complex interplay between organizational innovation and strategy. The authors recommend further exploration of emerging technologies, cultural values, collaboration, sustainable practices and changing customer behavior to boost innovation capabilities and achieve success.

Challenging agricultural norms and diversifying actors: Building transformative public policy for equitable food systems

Food systems governance regimes have long been spaces of “thick legitimacy” (Montenegro de Wit & Iles, 2016), where embedded norms benefit pro­duc­tivist agricultural practices. Within governance regimes, the science-policy interface and the scien­tists who occupy this space are integral in today’s public policy processes. Often treated as objective science, technical disciplines have become a power­ful source of legitimatizing in decision making. Without the contextualization of lived experience or diverse ways of knowing, these siloed spaces can lead policymakers towards an action bias (e.g., a rush to short-term solutions) that neglects the underlying causes and concerns of our current crises. Current governance arrangements in the science-policy interface demonstrate the bias toward technical science (e.g. economics) and short-term solutions. However, by challenging productivist agriculture norms reformed public policy processes may shift from a space of repres­sion to one of possibility. This reform can happen through investigatiing dominant actor coalitions and identifying tools to reconfigure these power arrangements. Public policy theory, such as the advocacy coalition framework (ACF), helps organ­ize relations within current agricultural policy arenas. The work of practitioners and other disci­plines offer tools that can support transformative action by food systems advocates in the pursuit of changing the way public policy is made. In part, understanding how power is organized and who may influence policy processes is critical to change. This reflective essay ends with tools and strategies for those wishing to engage governments in this shift. The proposed tools and strategies focus on how people (e.g. policy champions), processes (e.g. policy leverage points), and partnerships (e.g. ally­ship) generate ways in which advocates can, and do, engage governments in transformative change.

Caracterización de experiencias significativas de educación ambiental en Colombia: Un análisis descriptivo de la identificación de tendencias para el desarrollo sustentable

The current environmental crisis, resulting from humanity's subjugation and domination of nature, has significantly contributed to the decline of ecological biodiversity worldwide. In the case of Colombia, the main causes of biodiversity loss include land-use changes, urbanization, among others. This underscores the urgent need to strengthen environmental education (EE) in the country to promote a sustainable environmental culture in harmony with nature. Accordingly, this research aims to characterize environmental education experiences in Colombia based on the database "Experiencias significativas de Educación Ambiental – Listado Minambiente" Data processing was conducted using the statistical software STATA, with the goal of identifying educational trends related to environmental issues at the national level. The results reveal progress in the field of EE, highlighting a higher proportion of initiatives that adopt a naturalistic teaching model. Likewise, there is a prevalence of institutional initiatives over community ones. The results suggest that community initiatives tend to align with a systemic teaching model, while institutional initiatives prioritize the naturalistic perspective. Additionally, it was observed that community participation is sometimes conditioned by sectoral and non-sectoral entities in the country. Finally, the conclusions reaffirm the need for Colombian institutions to continue working on appropriate environmental education indicators that allow for the measurement and dissemination of EE experiences at the national level. Furthermore, the importance of strengthening systemic EE models is emphasized, as they promote the social re-appropriation of the environment through cultural changes.

P-731 Into a green (r)evolution in fertility centers: a forerunner experience

Abstract Study question Is it possible to redefine an everyday clinical routine at the fertility centers in order to reduce the environmental impact? Summary answer A fundamental improvement in the reduction of waste is the elimination of all unnecessary disposable tools, especially during embryo transfer. What is known already Pollution and related climate changes have a major impact on global health. While the mission of healthcare systems is to guarantee health among people, emissions from the health care setting significantly contribute to climate change. Recent publications have called for an emergency action to reduce the healthcare environmental footprint. The International Federation of Gynaecology and Obstetrics (FIGO) states that the current climate crisis implies an imminent health risk even to reproductive health. An immediately reduceable source of greenhouse emissions could reside in inappropriate and avoidable tests, procedures, tools and treatments used in clinical practice. Study design, size, duration This is a retrospective observational study in which all outpatient, surgical and laboratory procedures, that are part of the daily clinical routine at our fertility center, were analysed during a one-week period and evaluated to be strictly necessary or not. In particular, as for surgical activity, in the mentioned week, all embryo transfer (ET) and oocyte retrieval (OR) waste production was analysed. Participants/materials, setting, methods During the week of 18-24 September 2023, waste production from 80 ETs and 56 ORs procedures was analysed. The environmental impact of all unnecessary tests, procedures and tools was assessed in terms of energy-, time- and money-saving, waste production and potential harm to the patients. In particular, the amount of packaging unnecessarily produced each week was weighed. Main results and the role of chance In consideration of the high number of procedures performed at our fertility center, the amount of waste related to the surgical activity was estimated as too high. Regarding ETs, the estimated total waste for a single procedure is 0.6692 kg, 0.5749 kg being product waste, 0.0943 kg being packaging waste. Concerning ORs, the estimated total waste for a single procedure is 0.7563 kg, 0.6495 kg being product waste, 0.1068 kg being packaging waste. This waste can be reduced by eliminating extra-packaging for the ET and OR set (from «one pack for each item» to «all in one»). A significant role in environmental pollution is also played by plastic surgical drapes and physician’s coats, used to cover patients and operators to guarantee both protection and comfort. These plastic garments have several drawbacks, including difficult or unfeasible sterilisation as well as their disposable use, huge environmental impact and cost in their manufacture. A proposed solution is to avoid the use of unnecessary disposable tools, such as the plastic sterile physician’s coat, 2 out of 3 plastic sterile cloths to cover the patients and the plastic syringe during the embryo transfer. Limitations, reasons for caution The main limitation of the proposed solution is healthcare workers’ compliance. In fact, their willingness to participate in eventual future educational events and procedural changes is unknown. Another limitation is that it is not clear whether the removal of unnecessary facilities will lead to a real reduction in environmental damage. Wider implications of the findings Eliminating unnecessary materials during surgery seems to have a huge positive impact on waste reduction. Our future plan is to lead a prospective study to compare waste management, production and recycling differentiation of a selected week after the procedural changes and awareness-raising events with the already assessed week. Trial registration number Not applicable

Lack of autonomy and professional recognition as major factors for burnout in midwives: A systematic mixed-method review.

The aim of this study was to review the existing evidence on burnout levels in midwives and the main related factors. Mixed studies systematic review. PubMed, Scopus and Web of Science were sourced from 2018 and 2023. Inclusion criteria: quantitative cross-sectional or qualitative articles published in English within the last 5 years. studies with undergraduate or trainee midwives, studies examining the factors in a pandemic setting and those not answering the research question. Potential risk of bias was assessed using the Mixed Methods Assessment Tool (MMAT). A convergent synthesis design was followed through a thematic synthesis using Thomas and Harden's three-step method: inductive coding of the text, development of descriptive themes and generation of analytical themes. Qualitative approaches adopted exploratory descriptive studies and participatory action research. Thirty-six studies were included, with a total of 17,364 participants. There were higher levels of burnout in midwives who were single, under 35-40 years of age, with less than 10 years of experience and those with young children. Stress, anxiety and depression, as well as the emotional impact of traumatic events, have been described as related psychological factors. Although extrinsic work factors such as shifts, workload, pay and interpersonal relationships increase burnout, intrinsic factors such as lack of autonomy and recognition are the main factors related to it. What problem did the study address? Burnout among healthcare workers has been recognized as a global crisis requiring urgent attention, specifically in midwives. What were the main findings? There is a persistent shortage of midwives that is attributed in part to chronic retention difficulties related to job burnout expressed by these professionals. Where and on whom will the research have an impact? We seek to address the paucity of research on burnout in midwives in the current crisis in the profession. Work factors such as lack of autonomy or recognition in the profession carry an associated risk of burnout and job attrition. Understanding the factors that contribute to burnout will enable healthcare organizations to reduce the current problem. PREFERRED: Reporting items for systematic review and meta-analyses (PRISMA). No patient or public contribution.

The Monies will not Answer: Mary Wollstonecraft and Catrina Davies on property, freedom and precarity

ABSTRACT This paper explores the writing, and lives, of two women, Wollstonecraft and the contemporary writer Catrina Davies. It focuses on their experience of trying to live independent, creative and worthwhile lives under social and economic conditions of precarity and debt which curtail their aspirations to freedom. Wollstonecraft’s critique of property relations and of commercial society echoes through Davies’s experience of navigating the current housing crisis and struggling to make a decent income from her writing. In Newington Green in the 1780s and a coastal Cornish village in the 2010s, the paper explores what it means for women’s freedom when the monies will not answer.

Nationalism and Economic Development in Lebanon: Challenges and Opportunities for Unity and Integration

Lebanon is a small country on the shores of the Mediterranean Sea, known as a country with a strategic position geographically and politically. It was a divided country full of endless conflicts. This paper analyses the obstacles and opportunities to build Lebanese nationalism to realize the nation's integrity. Lebanon's main obstacles are the heterogeneity of society, foreign interference, and intergroup affiliations with other countries. At the same time, the foremost opportunity to build Lebanese nationalism is that they have the same language and culture, namely Arabic. Strong nationalism is the capital to build lasting political stability. This research is qualitative research that will collect specific qualitative data to create generalizations. Arabic as a language, identity, and culture is the most vital cohesive factor that unites the country and originates Lebanese nationalism. The problem of building Lebanese nationalism is mainly dependent on a strong government that can control the people. The challenge is that the ruling government comes from a minority religion, namely Maronite Christians dealing with Sunni and Shia Muslims and other Christian groups. Hence, a strategy is needed to create common interests that can be accepted by all groups, namely economic development amid the current Lebanese financial crisis. Received: 20 March 2024 / Accepted: 30 June 2024 / Published: 02 July 2024

Historia, cuidados y género: discusiones y agendas futuras para la investigación historiográfica

The article presents a general, though not exhaustive, overview of the notion of care and its presence and relevance in gender historiography, examining how historical research can inform and shape new discussions. A bibliographic and narrative review methodology is used, comparing selected studies based on their contributions and scope. Given that care is a transdisciplinary issue with significant heuristic potential, both historical topics and those from other branches of the humanities and social sciences are considered. Care is understood here both as an affective and a labor disposition, and it is from these dimensions that the main debates and problems are presented, focusing specifically on those that have had the greatest presence in gender and history studies: domestic work, feminized professions that care for others, affective communities, and maternal love. In the context of the current care crisis, it is concluded that the topic needs to be viewed broadly and its contributions revalued from a critical gender theory perspective, also considering a historiographic perspective sensitive to contexts and capable of interpretive flexibility. The article focuses on the main academic discussions held in North America and European countries, aiming to contribute to understanding the theoretical and applied scope of care and acknowledging that there is still much ground to cover. The conclusions offer an overview of the thematic lines and theoretical assumptions that could enrich future historiographical research agendas on care.

Appeals after the Appellate Body

AbstractThe Appellate Body (AB) of the World Trade Organization (WTO) has not heard an appeal since 2019. This article explores how adjudicators and member states have navigated WTO dispute settlement in this post-AB world. It begins by providing an overview of dispute settlement practice from 2020 to 2022, including by cataloguing appeals into the void, appeals to arbitration, and appeals forewent. It explains the incentives created by the lack of a functioning appeals mechanism and provides background on the alternative appeals procedure agreed to among a subset of WTO members: the Multi-Party Interim Arbitration Arrangement (MPIA). Moreover, it closely examines five WTO disputes: Colombia–Frozen Fries, Turkey–Pharmaceutical Products, EU–Steel Safeguards, Thailand–Cigarettes, and Costa Rica–Avocados. Through these five disputes, the article examines the circumstances in which members have agreed to binding appeals arbitration even absent formally committing to the MPIA, the circumstances in which members have appealed to arbitration or foregone such appeals, and whether facilitated negotiations present a workable alternative to an effective appeals mechanism. Finally, this article closely analyzes the reasoning of two appeals arbitration awards issued to date – Colombia–Frozen Fries and Turkey–Pharmaceutical Products – with a special focus on how those awards depart from AB precedent and what those departures can tell us about the current crisis.

In situ fabrication of 2D Ti3C2/1T&2H-MoS2/TiO2 photocatalyst for sulfamethazine degradation

Sunlight-driven photocatalysis is a very appealing approach for solving the current energy crisis because it will not cause secondary pollution. Titanium dioxide (TiO2) has attracted much attention in the field of photocatalysis due to its simple preparation, environmental friendliness and easy modification. However, reducing the band gap and expanding the light absorption range to reduce the carrier recombination rate of TiO2 is still a huge challenge. Herein, we report a two-dimensional (2D) Ti3C2/1 T&2 H-MoS2/TiO2 photocatalyst obtained by in situ growth of a 1 T&2 H-MoS2/TiO2 Z-scheme heterojunction on a highly conductive Ti3C2 MXene surface. The spectral response range of the resulting Ti3C2/1 T&2 H-MoS2/TiO2 (Ti3C2:1 T&2 H-MoS2:TiO2= 1:10:10) photocatalyst was broadened to 696 nm and the band gap was reduced to 1.83 eV, which was responsible for the strong light-harvesting capacity and improved charge separation. The activity of the Ti3C2/1 T&2 H-MoS2/TiO2 photocatalyst was evaluated by photocatalytic degradation of sulfamethazine (SMZ). The degradation rate of SMZ reached 99.8 % after 90 min of illumination. These results demonstrate that the combination of Ti3C2 MXene and heterojunction is a feasible strategy to enhance the light-harvesting capacity and charge transport in photocatalytic reaction.

Theorizing Climate Change and the Built Environment in the Islamic World

This special issue of IJIA focuses on the impact of the current climate crisis on built environments in the Islamic world. Covering a diverse number of chronological and geographical contexts, the articles herein consider the effects of climate change on structured landscapes through the lenses of material, design, and architectural practice. They also address the numerous cultural, sociopolitical, and economic discourses that inform the ways in which societies over time and space have solved the complex problems of living in a climatically unstable world. Utilizing architectures of the past, present, and future as spaces of discussion, this special issue highlights the complexities of living in conditions of climatic precarity. In doing so, it demonstrates that built environments can provide important discursive terrains in the Islamic world for understanding the interconnected nature of concepts like ‘climate’, ‘nature’, and ‘environment’ as contextually specific ideas that reflect individual, climate-informed identities.