Social distancing and stay-at-home measures provided scientists with a natural experiment to study social phenomena that hinge precisely on human mobility and contact — including criminal activity. A study by Center for the U.S. and Mexico experts and co-authors explores the relationship between COVID-19 and criminal activity in Mexico.
Sean Fiorella, Tony Payan, Daniel Potter, Rodrigo Montes de OcaJuly 23, 2023
Gun shows are public gatherings where licensed gun dealers and private gun owners use formal and informal venues to exchange information or sell and buy firearms, accessories, and ammunition. A major challenge is that gun shows, unlike established business locations, can be considered gray zones where regulatory loopholes facilitate the movement of legal firearms to illegal domains both domestically and internationally.
The author proposes a model that explains how stressors such as constant uncertainty and legal vulnerability can affect the mental health of undocumented immigrants — and how, paradoxically, they can also make migrant communities more resilient. Learn more in Current Opinion in Psychology.
It now seems technically feasible to culture human embryos beyond the “fourteen‐day limit,” which has the potential to increase scientific understanding of human development and perhaps improve infertility treatments. Robust stakeholder engagement preceded adoption of the fourteen‐day limit and should arguably be part of efforts to reassess it, write the authors.
Kirstin R.W. Matthews, Ana S. Iltis, Daniel S. Wagner, Nuria Gallego Marquez, Jason Scott Robert, Inmaculada de Melo-Martín, Marieke Bigg, Sarah Franklin, Soren Holm, Ingrid Metzler, Matteo A. Molè, Jochen Taupitz, Giuseppe Testa, Jeremy SugarmanFebruary 26, 2021
Largely informal networks of binational cooperation between government actors are effective, but depend on the determination and ability of individuals to create and maintain them. As a result, this form of binational cooperation is vulnerable to variables in personality and changing political winds.
U.S. studies suggest that the Uber ride-sharing service may reduce alcohol-related driving fatalities. This study, published in the Journal of Epidemiology & Community Health, examines the effect of Uber on traffic deaths in South Africa, where driving fatalities are twice the global average and over 60 percent are alcohol-related.
Jonathan Yinhao Huang, Farhan Majid, Mark DakuJanuary 18, 2019
The policy and regulatory frameworks for hydraulic fracturing in Texas and Spain are examined to determine the possible trade-offs between water security and energy security. Environmental Science & Policy: https://bit.ly/2NMr9WY.
Regina M. Buono, Beatriz Mayor, Elena López-GunnDecember 6, 2018
The authors examine the relationship between market competition and the use of surgical services for cancer to test the theory that market competition promotes patient access and health care delivery.
Marcelo Cerullo, Clara Lee, Anaeze C. Offodile IIDecember 1, 2018
The connection between Texas H.B. 810, which allows clinics to provide investigational stem cell treatments to certain patients, and a deregulation movement to increase patient access to unproven stem cell treatments is described in this report.