Decolonising gender knowledge in Sub-Saharan Africa: empirical insights and theoretical innovations from early career researchers—Introduction

This article introduces the Thematic Collection ‘Decolonising Gender Knowledge in Sub-Saharan Africa: Empirical Insights and Theoretical Innovations from Early Career Researchers’, edited by Alicia Bowman, Evelyn Garwe and Juliet Thondhlana. It highlights the under-representation of Global South scholars, particularly early career researchers (ECRs), in gender knowledge production in the region and advocates for grounding the study of gender in Africa in local realities and knowledge systems, in line with African feminist perspectives. Moreover, the article positions the collection as a powerful step towards decoloniality not simply by amplifying African perspectives, but by actively creating space for African scholars to shape the future of gender studies. The article discusses how the Thematic Collection fostered the co-production of knowledge by empowering African scholars to develop their own research questions and methodologies, free from Eurocentric constraints, thus promoting complete epistemic freedom. It also showcases the interdisciplinary nature of the Thematic Collection, spanning gender studies, higher education, and legal, labour, and urban studies. Overall, the introduction argues that, by centring the research of African ECRs, established power dynamics can be disrupted, and the dominance of Western-centric paradigms can be challenged

Fabriquer en Jordanie

The creation of Qualified Industrial Zones (QIZs) in Jordan at the end of the 1990s provided a new connection to the global economy. The tariff exemptions granted to garments exported to the American market favoured the emergence of a clothing industry ex-nihilo, positioning Jordan as an attractive production location in the global value chain (GVC). As both a political and economic construct, the QIZ sector has remained largely exogenous to the Jordanian economy. It depends on foreign capital, migrant labour and the import of input materials for production. Nevertheless, this paper shows that the garment industry today occupies a central role in economic policies in Jordan. First, to achieve a strategic reconfiguration of transnational logistics routes in a region fragmented by conflict. Second, to enhance local linkages and benefits from the export-oriented garment industry through so-called “jordanisation” policies. As this paper demonstrates, such policies have in fact reinforced the extraterritorial character of the clothing sector, perpetuating its exemption from national labour regulation and expanding the incentives granted to foreign investors. At the same time, the resulting strategic partnerships with multinational clothing producers have enhanced the scope of state action. Taken together, this paper advances an analysis of extra-territorialities of the global economy as central devices for performing the Jordanian nation state

Roles of hormones in regulating root growth–water interactions

Water stress presents a critical challenge affecting plant growth and agricultural productivity, with drought alone causing substantial yield losses. Roots serve as the primary site for water uptake, enabling plants to detect water stress by sensing changes in soil moisture levels. This initial perception prompts roots to initiate a spectrum of adaptive responses at morphological, anatomical, and biochemical levels. In addition to coping with severe water stress conditions such as drought, roots also respond to microscale variations in water availability within the rhizosphere as they navigate through soil, exhibiting responses such as hydrotropism, xerobranching, and hydropatterning. These adaptive responses are orchestrated by dynamic and sophisticated sensing and signalling mechanisms mediated by plant hormones at the cellular level. This review explores recent advances in our understanding of root responses to water stress, emphasizing the hormonal mechanisms underpinning these adaptations. Furthermore, it outlines future perspectives aimed at enhancing crop resilience to water stress through improved understanding and manipulation of root–water interactions

Target product profiles for digital health technologies including those with artificial intelligence: a systematic review

Digital health technologies (DHTs), including those incorporating artificial intelligence (AI), have the potential to improve healthcare access, efficiency, and quality, reducing gaps between healthcare capacity and demand. Despite prioritisation in health policy, the adoption of DHTs remains limited, especially for AI, in part due to complex system requirements. Target product profiles (TPPs) are documents outlining the characteristics necessary for medical technologies to be utilised in practice and offer a way to align DHTs’ research and development with health systems’ needs. This systematic review examines current DHT TPPs’ methodologies, stakeholders, and contents. A total of 14 TPPs were identified, most targeted at low- and middle-income settings and communicable diseases. Only one TPP outlined the requirements for an AI device specifically. In total, 248 different characteristics were reported across the TPPs identified and were consolidated down to 33 key characteristics. Some considerations for DHTs’ successful adoption, such as regulatory requirements or environmental sustainability, were reported inconsistently or not at all. There was little standardisation in TPP development or contents, and limited transparency in reporting. Our findings emphasise the need for guidelines for TPP development, could help inform these, and could be used as a basis to develop future DHT TPPs. Systematic Review Registration: https://www.researchprotocols.org/2024/1/e50568/authors

Unravelling the Data Puzzle: A Total Survey Error Perspective on Adult Learning and Education Participation in the UK

This paper investigates the methodological discrepancies underlying the measurement of adult learning and education (ALE) participation in the UK by focusing on four major surveys—APiL, PIAAC, AES, and LFS. Grounded in the Total Survey Error (TSE) framework, we systematically examined the surveys’ documentation and compared their definitions, reference periods, and operationalization of ALE. Our review identified significant inconsistencies, including mismatched age ranges, divergent weighting schemes, and ambiguous question phrasing. These methodological differences potentially undermine data validity and complicate cross-survey comparisons. As a result, policymakers and researchers may be left with an uncertain evidence base for shaping adult education policies. To address these issues, we propose two scenarios: first, conducting qualitative interviews to refine how participation questions are conceptualized by adults, and second, implementing survey experiments to assess the effects of various reference periods, data collection modes, and question formats on reported participation rates. We suggest that strengthening the methodological foundations of ALE surveys can foster greater confidence in the reliability of adult education statistics, informing more nuanced policy interventions and advancing future research directions

Quantifying diagnostic intervals and routes to diagnosis for children and young people with cancer in the UK (Childhood Cancer Diagnosis study, CCD): a population-based observational study

Background: Childhood cancer is a global disease burden, with early diagnosis a priority. We quantified diagnostic intervals and referral routes for children and young people (CYP 0–18 years) diagnosed with cancer in the UK. Methods: All CYP diagnosed between September 2020–March 2023 were eligible. Demographic, referral, and symptom data were collected prospectively. Patient interval (PI), diagnostic interval (DI), and total diagnostic interval (TDI) were calculated. Findings: 1957 CYP (mean age 7.4 years, 55% male, 78% white) participated. Median PI, DI, and TDI were 1.1 (IQR 0.1–4.0; range 0–164), 1.7 (IQR 0.4–5.9; range 0–310), and 4.6 weeks (IQR 2.0–11.4; range 0–310), respectively. Intervals were unaffected by sex, ethnicity or deprivation index (IMD). Median TDI was longest in 15–18 years (8.7 weeks, IQR 3.0–17.4) and bone tumours (12.6 weeks, IQR 6.6–23.4) and shortest in under ones (3.7 weeks, IQR 1.0–8.1) and renal tumours (2.3 weeks, IQR 0.9–5.0). 74% (n = 1438) had 1–3 pre-diagnostic healthcare contacts; 67% (n = 1312) presented emergently, with a median of 4.0 (range 0–26) symptoms. CYP with Langerhans Cell Histiocytosis were most likely to have ≥4 visits when compared with leukaemia (adjusted OR 7.48, 95% CI 3.54–15.82), followed by central nervous system, bone, and soft tissue tumours. Interpretation: This study highlights equal access to diagnosis for sex, ethnicity and IMD, but disparities for age and diagnostic groups. These data will inform professional and public health strategies and health policy to accelerate diagnosis for all. Funding: National Institute for Health and Social Care Research (NIHR) DRF-2018-11-ST2-055

A novel self-curing active cold patch asphalt mixture: Performance evaluation and mechanism analysis

Cold patch asphalt mixtures (CPAMs) are increasingly favored for pothole repairs in asphalt pavements due to their environmental benefits and ease of construction. However, their low strength and durability have hindered broader application, necessitating the development of CPAMs with enhanced engineering performance. To address these challenges, this study proposes a novel self-curing active CPAM incorporating solvent naphtha (SN) as a diluent and polymerized methylene diphenyl diisocyanate (PMDI) as a polymer modifier. Various SN-to-PMDI ratios and SN-PMDI contents relative to virgin bitumen (VB) were evaluated to produce cold patch asphalt liquid (CPAL) and the corresponding CPAMs. Viscosity tests confirmed that SN effectively reduces VB viscosity, ensuring its workability. Specifically, adding 10 % SN reduced VB viscosity by approximately 30 %, while higher SN content (e.g., 30 %) significantly compromised mechanical performance. Mechanical evaluations, including Marshall stability, moisture susceptibility, crack resistance, freeze-thaw resistance, and rutting resistance, demonstrated that CPAM containing 20 % SN-PMDI with a 50:50 SN-to-PMDI ratio achieved excellent mechanical performance comparable to hot mix asphalt (HMA). Mechanism analysis through FTIR tests further revealed that PMDI reacts with atmospheric moisture, transforming isocyanate groups (-NCO) into carbamate groups (-NHCOO), and also interacts with hydroxyl groups on limestone aggregates, forming carbamate compounds, which contribute to a 20 % increase in strength development. Overall, this study introduces a novel approach for preparing high-performance CPAM, providing a promising solution for durable and efficient pothole repairs in practical engineering applications

T₁-Dark Rim as a Marker of New and Chronic Active Multiple Sclerosis Lesions: A Serial Study With Frequent 7T MRI

Background and Purpose: Chronic active multiple sclerosis (MS) lesions represent a particularly destructive subset of lesions on pathology. However, their imaging correlates, including paramagnetic rim lesions (PRLs) detected on susceptibility-weighted imaging, lack sensitivity and are difficult to implement in clinical practice. This exploratory, longitudinal study investigates the prevalence and temporal dynamics of a novel imaging marker, T 1-dark rims, and their relationship with PRLs observed on quantitative susceptibility mapping (QSM). Methods: Four untreated people with MS underwent 7-Tesla MRI scanning six times over a period of 36 weeks. New and pre-existing lesions were analyzed for the presence and temporal evolution of T 1-dark and QSM rims. Quantitative T 1 values were derived using B 1 maps, and the relationship between rim status and lesion size was evaluated. Results:Of the 159 baseline lesions, 22 (14%) had T 1-dark rims, 11 (7%) had QSM rims, and five lesions had both. T 1-dark and QSM rims showed temporal changes, with T 1-dark rims preceding new QSM rim appearance in three out of four (75%) lesions. Eleven out of 20 (55%) newly formed lesions had T 1-dark rims, with a T 1-dark rim present in all new lesions over 100 mm 3. Small new lesions lacked discernible rims, but their overall T 1 values aligned with those of larger lesion T 1-dark rims implying shared pathological processes. Conclusions: T 1-dark rims were more common than QSM rims, with greater prevalence in newly formed lesions. We propose they represent edema and inflammation associated with early stages of chronic active lesion formation visible despite, not because of, iron accumulation

Public water risk concerns triggered by energy-transition-mineral mining

The intensifying demand for energy transition minerals (ETMs) has triggered global concern over water-related issues in mining regions. However, localized and generalizable metrics are lacking to help companies and governments manage social licenses to operate (SLO). In this study, we propose an analytical method that combines digital media data from the Global Database of Events, Language, and Tone (GDELT) with high-resolution mining data to analyze social awareness. LightGBM with Shapley additive explanations models are introduced to uncover key factors influencing public sentiment. This approach was applied to analyze media attention and public sentiment on five categories of water issues across 12 mineral types and 511 mines from 2016 to 2023. Our findings show a 40% increase in water-related events linked to ETM mining since 2020. Regions such as East and Southeast Asia, and Central and South America exhibit rising but negative sentiment, while public discontent in Southern Africa remains consistently high. Cobalt, platinum, and vanadium have the most negative sentiment, particularly concerning water quality and pollution. Manganese shows the most negative sentiment due to concerns over drought and desertification. Model results indicate that the Goldstein scale of events, which reflects the magnitude of cooperation or conflict, was the most influential factor in shaping public sentiment. Precipitation has a significant positive impact on sentiment in drought- and flood-related events, while higher runoff improved sentiment in drought events but negatively affected flood- and water quality-related events. Socio-economic factors, such as educational expenditure and unemployment rates, also demonstrated varied effects across categories. Finally, this study introduces the water sentiment index (WSI) as a proxy for water-related SLO concerns, offering a new tool to track social awareness in ETM regions and providing actionable insights for policymakers and stakeholders to mitigate social risks and ensure sustainable mining practices

The ten harmful myths of psychiatry

Psychiatry has powerfully influenced how mental health issues are conceptualised and addressed internationally. Many people report benefits from mental health assessment and treatment, but other individuals report being harmed by the mental health system. In this regard, mental health services are distinct from other areas of health care. For example, no other area of medicine has an equivalent of a psychiatric survivor movement. This article identifies ten embedded assumptions within psychiatry, which may account for some of these negative experiences. They are myths, in the sense of being beliefs which are widely held, often unnoticed and un-challenged, and routinely applied as if universally true despite being either wholly untrue or only sometimes true. They are also harmful, both in creating direct damage and in consuming patient, clinician, and societal resources which could be better spent in other ways. The myths are: Mental health problems are individual; Mental ill-health is fundamentally biological; A clinician knows what is in the patient’s best interests; A clinician can predict the patient’s future; Diagnosis is fact; Treatment is always justified; Patients need to be trained for social roles; Side effects are peripheral; Improvement is always due to treatment; and Supporting recovery is ‘business as usual’. Approaches to developing new knowledge about mental health are then proposed: learning from people living with mental health issues and not using services; developing a salutogenic knowledge base about wellness to balance our current pathogenic knowledge base about illness; and using standpoint epistemologies to develop more inclusive approaches to knowledge creation