Lithium has become one of the key raw materials for the energy transition due to the central role of lithium-ion batteries in electromobility, energy storage, and the integration of renewable energy sources. However, the rapid increase in demand reveals growing environmental, social, geopolitical, and market tensions. The aim of the paper is a critical synthesis of global lithium utilization from the perspective of challenges, technological innovations, and integrative strategies supporting a more sustainable material–energy system. A broad, systematic literature review covering the entire value chain was applied: resources, extraction, processing, end-use applications, second life of batteries, recycling, and governance. The analysis shows that the strategic importance of lithium arises from the increasing demand pressure from electric vehicles and stationary storage, while the sustainability of the current model is constrained by supply concentration, uneven control over downstream stages, the water–carbon footprint of extraction and processing, social conflicts, and incomplete integration of secondary loops. At the same time, innovations such as direct lithium extraction (DLE), recovery from geothermal brines, design for recycling, second life, and battery passports can partially alleviate these tensions, but they do not eliminate the need for primary supply in the short term. The conclusion of the work is that sustainable global lithium utilization requires simultaneous diversification of sources, development of circular value chains, and multi-level governance integrating resource security, environmental efficiency, and social legitimacy.

This study aims to analyze SARA-based horizontal conflicts from a national defense perspective and examine their potential as a strategic indicator in the early detection system of non-military threats. The research uses a qualitative approach with the library research method through the analysis of scientific literature, policy documents, and laws and regulations related to social conflicts, national security, and national defense. The results of the study show that SARA-based horizontal conflicts can be understood as non-military threats because they have the potential to undermine social cohesion, weaken state legitimacy, and disrupt national stability. In addition, identity-based conflicts have a developmental pattern that allows the emergence of early indicators such as social polarization, intolerance, and identity-based group mobilization. These findings are expected to enrich defense studies and support the strengthening of conflict prevention policies in order to maintain national security.

ABSTRACT This research examines social role conflicts and family adjustment among divorced Saudi women, a growing demographic shaped by recent social and legal reforms. Using a hybrid survey design with 170 divorced mothers combining quantitative and qualitative items, the study investigates social conflicts and coping strategies. Findings show women experience low to moderate social conflict (M = 2.54), with significant strain from primary caregiving and “peripheral fathering” – irregular or neglectful paternal involvement. Qualitative responses highlight socioeconomic hardships, including financial insecurity, limited employment, educational barriers, and inadequate housing, as key stressors. Women prioritize intrafamilial engagement over external domestic or professional help as their primary coping strategy. “Religious capital” emerged as a vital resource for post-divorce adaptation. The type of divorce agreement was significantly associated with varying conflict levels. Among coping strategies, only reliance on domestic help showed a statistically significant link to time since divorce (χ2 [2] = 6.10, p = .047), particularly within the first year. The findings call for policies including flexible employment, housing subsidies, and court-mandated co-parenting programs to support financial stability and child welfare. Future research should employ probability sampling and broaden regional coverage to enhance generalizability.

Resting metabolic rate (RMR) underpins energy allocation to survival, reproduction, and longevity, yet its drivers in highly structured social systems remain unclear. We measured RMR in 76 naked mole-rats (Heterocephalus glaber) from five colonies to test effects of body mass, sex, reproductive status, age, social rank, and colony stability in this eusocial mammal. Body mass was the strongest predictor of RMR. Nevertheless, absolute RMR values were far below those predicted for mammals of similar mass, confirming metabolic suppression in this strictly subterranean species. Social factors produced subtler patterns. Among non-breeders, males had slightly higher (but not significantly so) RMR than females despite similar body mass. Breeding females showed elevated RMR relative to non-breeding females, but not significantly so. Age and dominance rank did not influence RMR once body mass was controlled. Colony identity explained little variation overall, although one colony showed altered metabolic scaling after social conflict, suggesting colony-level metabolic plasticity associated with hierarchical instability.

ABSTRACT Crime-inequality nexus has been studied for years, yielding mixed results. This article argues that inequality of opportunity rather than income inequality should be used instead, since it captures the inequity component of income inequality, which causes social tensions and conflicts. This article firstly constructs an analytical framework for inequality of opportunity and crime, then CGSS dataset and provincial panel data from China are combined to model the crime – inequality of opportunity relationship. It is found that inequality of opportunity has a significant positive relationship with crime, rather, income inequality is insignificant. This crime-increasing effect diminishes in areas with higher education spending, higher marriage rate and lower migrant population. Mechanism analysis suggests that inequality of opportunity significantly impairs individuals’ health, social trust and increases their internet usage, potentially contributing to crime. This article enables new insight into what drives crime, it is consequently recommended alleviating inequality of opportunity, not income inequality alone.

ABSTRACT The proliferation of the asset form and its management through financial intermediaries has informed manifold transformations of contemporary capitalist societies. While scholarship acknowledges that these transformations are conflictuous, we currently lack a systematic understanding of the ways in which assets give rise to social conflicts. In this special issue, we introduce the notion of asset struggles to shed light on the various forms of conflicts that emerge around the asset form. Understanding assets as sites of value extraction, domination and contention, we identify three main forms of asset struggles. Contestation takes place between parties involved in the assetisation process, between social groups or factions owning or managing distinct forms of assets, and more broadly in societies where assetisation has reached such an extent that it transforms social structures and challenges the stability of political regimes. The contributions in this special issue shed light on various instances of such asset struggles, ranging from households to national economies, within and outside of the financial sector, with various forms of state involvement, and on topics as diverse as gender, climate change, housing, and infrastructure.

Social conflict between the Amungme and Kamoro traditional tribe and Freeport Indonesia company on environmental impact

Extant research has sparingly tackled the theme of emerging role transformation of physicians in an AI-driven healthcare environment, and the requisite AI competencies for sustaining their job performance. This research draws on the Job Demands–Resources (JD-R) framework as a sensitising analytical lens to conceptualise physician role transformation as changes in core work characteristics that generate job demands, the resulting adverse work outcomes as part of the health impairment pathway, and AI-related competencies as job resources that can buffer these impacts. While JD-R also encompasses a motivational pathway, this study deliberately centres on strain-related mechanisms considering the early and evolving stage of AI implementation in healthcare. We empirically explore these relationships through a theory-informed inductive qualitative designcomprising thirty-five physician interviews across various specialties and healthcare settings across eleven countries. Based upon systematic thematic analysis, we identified, five emergent role transformation dimensions of physicians, namely, ‘ AI Integrator’, ‘Data Steward’, ‘Workflow Architect’, ‘Ethical Guardian’, and ‘Reflective Practitioner’, and five adverse outcomes: “ Emotional Strain”, “Cognitive Fatigue’, ‘Performance Impairment’, ‘Role Uncertainty’, and ‘Social Role Conflict’. We further theorise five domain-specific AI competencies as buffering job resources , namely, ‘ AI Fluency’, ‘AI Clinical Competence’, ‘AI Risk Mitigation Competence’, ‘Responsible AI Leadership Competence’, and ‘ AI Relational Competence’. By operationalising role transformation and competence development within the JD-R framework, this study extends job design theory into AI-intensive healthcare contexts. Practically, the identified themes offer actionable guidance for healthcare workforce development, organisational support, and capability-building to ensure that physicians are prepared to navigate the new role and are well equipped in an increasingly AI-driven healthcare environment. • Conceptualises AI-driven physician role transformation as structured job demands within the JD–R framework. • Identifies five adverse work outcomes arising from AI-related work redesign via the health-impairment pathway. • Develops a taxonomy of five physician AI competencies as demand-specific job resources. • Empirically grounded in 35 physician interviews across eleven countries. • Extends JD–R theory by integrating AI-enabled work design with demand–resource matching logic.

Nationwide ranger-based survey reveals the widespread decline of the Iberian rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus algirus) in Spain

Purpose Influencer marketing has become a pervasive strategy targeting adolescent consumers. While previous research has demonstrated its effectiveness in fostering product desire, such heightened desire may also cause intrapersonal conflict and interpersonal conflict. This study aims to investigate these unintended consequences. Design/methodology/approach Two cross-sectional surveys of adolescents aged 14–18 examined links between exposure to marketing by favorite influencers and product-related cognitions. Study 1 (n = 599) focused on cravings, post-purchase dissonance and social conflict drawn from the impulsive-buying literature. Study 2 (n = 594) investigated associations with affect-driven impulsive purchasing and adolescent compulsive buying. Findings Perceived exposure to influencer marketing was positively associated with impulsive-buying tendencies and related conflict. Study 1 found that higher exposure predicted stronger cravings and in turn greater post-purchase dissonance and increased social conflict. Study 2 showed that exposure was also linked to affect-driven impulsive and compulsive buying. These effects were stronger among adolescents who viewed influencers as friends or idols, underscoring the moderating role of parasocial relationships and wishful identification. Research limitations/implications The findings contribute to ongoing debates on adolescent consumer protection and offer guidance for designing evidence-based educational programs that empower adolescents to critically reflect on influencer marketing and its impact on their purchase intentions and behavior. Originality/value This research advances understanding of the psychological and behavioral correlates of influencer marketing among adolescents and underscores the potential of influencer–follower dynamics to function as a stressor in consumer decision-making.

Within the social structure, the social environment and individuals have been in constant interaction. People have been influenced by society or have influenced the group in terms of behaviour, attitudes, actions, and emotions. Therefore, social psychology addresses the explanation of social behaviour and the emotional and behavioural elements that individuals acquire within the social structure. This study aims to evaluate scenes from the 2019 film "The Farewell," directed by Lulu Wang, from a social psychological perspective using visual elements and film clips. To this end, the study employs document analysis as part of a qualitative research design. The film utilises social psychological concepts in its subject matter. Quotations from the dialogue in the film's scenes have been used to create codes for social perception, cultural differences, social role expectations, collective consciousness, belonging and identity conflict, emotional suppression, coping with grief, conformity behaviour, social influence, and avoidance of loneliness. Indeed, throughout the film, the character experiences cultural and emotional fluctuations.

Social conflict-related loss represents a critical dimension of bereavement, arising in contexts of organized violence, political repression, and structural injustice, where loss is often intertwined with ongoing social and legal struggles. This study systematically reviewed and synthesized the literature on conflict-related loss using an integrated mixed-methods design. A systematic search of PubMed, Web of Science, and Scopus identified studies published through May 2025, of which twenty met inclusion criteria. Findings indicate that individuals frequently experience co-occurring Prolonged Grief Disorder, Posttraumatic Stress Disorder, depression, and anxiety. Coping processes operate at both individual and collective levels, with legal action, commemorative practices, and community organizing serving as key mechanisms for meaning-making and long-term integration of loss. Furthermore, politicized contexts, collective identity, and justice-related processes were found to fundamentally shape grief experiences. Overall, the findings highlight the importance of integrating mental health, social, and sociolegal perspectives to understand bereavement in contexts of social conflict.

ABSTRACT This research explores the sustainability of marriage, understood as long-term unions with high marital quality, by analyzing the styles of marital relationships in Switzerland. Using longitudinal representative data from the survey 'Social stratification, cohesion and conflict in contemporary families', we analyzed a subsample of 343 couples (1,029 observations) across three waves over 20 years. Cluster analysis identified five styles of marital relationship: Companionship, Bastion, Cocoon, Parallel and Association, based on several dimensions of family life. These styles were then linked to indicators of marital quality-marital satisfaction, relationship problems, and thoughts of separation, using multilevel mixed-effects regression models. Results show that couples who belong to the Companionship style, characterized by mutual commitment, external openness, and gender equality, report significantly higher marital quality. The Companionship style becomes more prevalent over time, as couples who initially developed Cocoon and Bastion styles (Institutional marriage) gradually switch to this style. In contrast, Association and Parallel styles (Individualistic marriage) remain relatively stable over time and are consistently associated with lower marital quality. These findings highlight the importance of relational dynamics within couples in maintaining sustainable marriages and demonstrate the predictive value of marital relationships over time.

The marriage of women pregnant out of wedlock has received attention in several studies, yet research specifically discussing community leaders’ views on this practice from the perspective of ‘urf in Minangkabau society remains limited. This study aims to analyze the practice of marriage among women pregnant out of wedlock in Nagari Paninggahan, Junjung Sirih Subdistrict, Solok Regency, examine community leaders’ views on this practice, and analyze it from the perspective of ‘urf as one of the considerations in Islamic law. This study used a qualitative approach with a case study design, involving customary leaders, Islamic religious scholars, niniak mamak, bundo kanduang, and community members selected through purposive sampling. Data were collected through observation, in-depth interviews, and documentation, and were then analyzed using the interactive analysis technique of Miles, Huberman, and Saldaña, which includes data reduction, data display, and conclusion drawing. The results show that the practice of marriage among women pregnant out of wedlock in Nagari Paninggahan is carried out as a form of social and customary resolution to preserve family honor, protect women and children, and prevent social conflict within the community. The majority of community leaders support this practice because it is viewed as bringing greater benefit than allowing the problem to develop without resolution. This finding contributes to the development of Islamic family law studies based on local wisdom and broadens understanding of the relationship between custom and Islamic law in Minangkabau society. The conclusion of this study emphasizes the importance of synergy between customary and religious approaches in resolving social problems in society. The practical implications of this study indicate the need to strengthen moral guidance and religious education for the younger generation as a preventive effort against similar social problems.

Negative interactions between humans and large carnivores represent one of the main challenges for the conservation of these species due to the social conflict they can generate. In the case of brown bears (Ursus arctos), these interactions include visits of bears to human settlements, a type of event increasingly reported in recent years and often associated with conflicts. In this study, we collected 73 events of bear visits to human settlements between 2009 and 2021 in the Cantabrian population. These events were mainly caused by young individuals, occurring mostly at night and during the summer, when bears were primarily attracted by fruit trees available in human settlements. The affected settlements were located in areas of high habitat quality, close to breeding cores, and with a high intensity of bear damage. Within these areas, human settlements with bear visits differed from nearby ones by having a larger perimeter, a shorter distance to forest patches, and greater surrounding terrain ruggedness. Our study provides a basis for understanding the patterns and drivers of these particular human-large carnivore interactions and offers valuable insights to update and improve management strategies aimed at preventing such events, mitigating associated conflicts and promoting successful coexistence.

Islamic inheritance law has a strong normative foundation and regulates inheritance distribution in detail to achieve justice and legal certainty. However, in Indonesian social practice, its implementation often deviates from normative provisions due to legal system plurality and socio-cultural factors. This research aims to analyze the gap between Islamic inheritance law norms (das sollen) and inheritance distribution practices in society (das sein), as well as identify the influencing factors. The research employs an empirical juridical approach with data collection techniques through interviews with community members and religious leaders in Bukik Sikumpa, Lareh Sago Halaban District, Lima Puluh Kota Regency, West Sumatra. The results of the study show that the practice of inheritance distribution tends to be based on family deliberation, local customs, and consideration of the economic condition of the heirs, so that they do not fully follow the provisions of faraidh. The construction of the thought of community leaders also shows that Islamic inheritance law serves more as a normative reference than a binding primary guideline. From a legal sociology perspective, this phenomenon is influenced by the dominance of legal culture, the applicability of customary law as living law, and the low internalization of Islamic inheritance law in society. Social harmonization and conflict avoidance further reinforce the tendency to deviate from legal norms. Therefore, the effectiveness of Islamic inheritance law depends on the alignment between legal norms and living social values. This research emphasizes the need for an integrative approach between Islamic law and social reality to achieve inheritance law harmonization in Indonesia.

Consideration of losses and legal issues related to negative radiation rumours in Korea.

Agonistic behaviors are crucial and common among animals due to their importance in securing an individual's fitness, and neural signaling molecules are known to mediate these behaviors. Stenopus, a genus of shrimp-like decapod crustaceans characterized by a pair of enlarged pereiopods, exhibits prominent agonistic behaviors when encountering conspecifics of the same sex owing to its monogamous social structure. These shrimps represent another potentially excellent model organism for investigating the neural signaling basis of agonistic behaviors in crustaceans aside from traditional models. Yet, their underpinning molecular aspects have never been studied. Using S. hispidus and S. cyanoscelis as representatives, the present study is the first that systematically examines the genetics of agonistic behaviors in Stenopus. Three organs, including (1) antennae + antennules, (2) central nervous system, and (3) eyestalk ganglia, were RNA-sequenced to identify the differentially expressed genes (DEGs) and pathways potentially conserved in winners and losers of Stenopus after fighting interactions. Our results suggested that Stenopus agonistic interactions might be systemic activities involving the simultaneous modulation and interplay of multiple signaling cascades, organismal systems, and metabolic pathways. In particular, winners and losers typically exhibited enriched gene ontologies involved in neural signaling, and sensory and behavioral processes. Regarding enriched pathways, while those related to glycan biosynthesis and metabolism were enriched in winners, cholesterol metabolism and one-carbon pool by folate were enriched in losers. These different sets of pathways suggested that while fighting interactions in Stenopus were injurious to both combatants, the damage in losers appeared to be more traumatic. Furthermore, four neural signaling systems, including dopamine, acetylcholine, octopamine, and glutamate, were identified as potentially major mediators of agonistic behaviors and fighting interactions in both Stenopus species, with the first two appearing to be relatively more important. A comparison of the neural signaling systems involved in mediating aggression among pan-crustaceans suggested that Stenopus appeared to stand out by its seemingly major reliance on dopamine and acetylcholine, as opposed to the primarily serotonin-based regulation of aggression observed in most examined pan-crustaceans. The different metabolic responses between winners and losers in Stenopus highlight the profound, asymmetric physiological costs of social conflict at the molecular level. Furthermore, their unique reliance on dopamine and acetylcholine reveals diverse evolutionary trajectories in the neuroendocrine regulation of aggression, providing new insights into the current paradigms of invertebrate social behavior.

ABSTRACT This project examined civic and political discussions within four WeChat groups during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2022, drawing on non-participant observation and textual analysis. The groups included a residential group and a purchase group in Shanghai, an alum group with members mainly in China, and a class group with members in mainland China, Hong Kong, Macao, and overseas. Results showed that civic and political discussions in the groups were responses to members’ experiences and observations of social injustices and conflicts in Chinese society. The discussions tended to follow an agenda-setting pattern and generally dissipated without sustained escalation. Censorship by WeChat appeared limited in the private groups, whereas self-censorship appeared more frequently. The progressive or subversive impact of online political discussions and mis/disinformation on the members appeared limited. Based on observations from the four groups and previous literature, this project theorizes that multiple macro- and micro-level factors influence the processes and consequences of netizens’ civic and political discussions, including political systems, rising nationalism, and motivations to use WeChat. These discussions do not translate into sustained or coordinated political mobilization, although some social mobilization may emerge within or through these platforms.

ABSTRACT The Ottoman (Tanzimat) reforms reshaped sovereignty by eroding the divide between askeri (ruler) and reaya (ruled) and enabling participation in governance. The issue was incorporating non-Muslims into the institutions of a Sunni Islamic empire. Debates centered on which administrative, military, and political bodies they could enter and whether inclusion should be based on merit, quotas, or population ratios. This article analyzes the population nisbet kaidesi (ratio rule), promoted by the Great Powers, imposed after 1878, and extended empire-wide after 1895. Designed to limit social and religious conflict, the rule differed from other arrangements by restricting non-Muslims to lower-level positions and proportions.