Introducing the International Guiding Statement on alternatives to solitary confinement.

Based on the reflections of a multidisciplinary group of experts, Physicians for Human Rights Israel and Antigone worked on the International Guiding Statement on Alternatives to Solitary Confinement, proposing global guidelines for reducing and finally overcoming the use of solitary confinement in prisons.

Driving Factors of Agricultural Virtual Water Trade between China and the Belt and Road Countries.

China proposed the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), an unprecedented development strategy in terms of scope and scale, to increase the connectivity with the rest of the world by infrastructure development and trade activities. Recently, more attention has been directed to the environmental implications of the international trade activities under this initiative, which contributes to the development of a green, i.e. environmentally friendly, partnership. This study examines the evolution of virtual water trade in relation to agricultural products between China and BRI countries during 2000-2016. The Logarithmic Mean Divisia Index (LMDI) method is adopted for uncovering the driving factors underlying the trade imbalance, as well as the major virtual water exports. Results reveal that China has experienced the shift from a net virtual water exporter to a net importer. At the regional level, Southeastern Asia and Southern Asia are the major net virtual water exporters to China, and Eastern Asia is the major importer. For the selected export countries, an increase in proportion of trade in relation to domestic production significantly contributes to their virtual water export, while water intensity could decrease virtual water export for most export countries. As for the driving forces behind the imbalance of virtual water trade, trade structure was an obvious positive effect, while the effects of water intensity, product structure, and trade scale shifted in favor of virtual water outflows from BRI countries to China in 2008. Massive global water loss has incurred, indicating the inefficiency of this partnership in relation to freshwater. A closer trade relationship is established between China and BRI countries, and relevant environment implications are identified. Policy implications are proposed in terms of trade structure, relationship of trade and domestic production, and international cooperation. This study provides valuable insights into the equity and sustainability of historic trade activities with respect to freshwater resources.

Ensuring migrants' right to health? Case of undocumented children in Israel.

After 18 years of providing government-subsidised medical insurance for children of undocumented migrants, the Israeli Ministry of Health (MOH) decided in 2018 to abruptly reverse its policy. Many children will have access to medical care only in cases of emergency. The policy change is set to potentially impact several thousands of children currently living or born in Israel. The non-profit, humanitarian sector is already seeing the impact on undocumented migrant children, with dozens of families reaching out to Physicians for Human Rights Israel to seek help accessing care for their children. These policy changes seem to be politically motivated, aiming to exclude undocumented communities from the public healthcare system as part of a general strategy of encouraging them to leave Israel. Such actions are antithetical to public health, human rights and medical ethics considerations. The Israeli Medical Association is beginning to challenge the stance of the MOH. To conform to international guidelines-both legal and medical-government ministries and relevant official bodies must follow the advice of the medical community to ensure respect for the right to health.

Water footprint characteristic of less developed water-rich regions: Case of Yunnan, China.

Rapid industrialization and urbanization pose pressure on water resources in China. Virtual water trade proves to be an increasingly useful tool in water stress alleviation for water-scarce regions, while bringing opportunities and challenges for less developed water-rich regions. In this study, Yunnan, a typical province in southwest China, was selected as the case study area to explore its potential in socio-economic development in the context of water sustainability. Both input-output analysis and structural decomposition analysis on Yunnan's water footprint for the period of 2002-2012 were performed at not only an aggregated level but also a sectoral level. Results show that although the virtual water content of all economic sectors decreased due to technological progress, Yunnan's total water footprint still increased as a result of economic scale expansion. From the sectoral perspective, sectors with large water footprints include construction sector, agriculture sector, food manufacturing & processing sector, and service sector, while metal products sector and food manufacturing & processing sector were the major virtual water exporters, and textile & clothing sector and construction sector were the major importers. Based on local conditions, policy suggestions were proposed, including economic structure and efficiency optimization, technology promotion and appropriate virtual water trade scheme. This study provides valuable insights for regions facing "resource curse" by exploring potential socio-economic progress while ensuring water security.

Obstetrical complications, social class and type of schizophrenia.

The emerging neurodevelopmental model posits that prenatal and perinatal factors can play an etiological role in schizophrenia. Consistently, the research on obstetrical complications (OCs) reports an association with the development of more severe schizophrenic symptoms. Low socioeconomic status (SES) has also been linked to both limited prenatal healthcare and to worse prognosis of schizophrenic symptoms. A large sample (n=437) of patients from a state hospital population in the U. S. was screened for study variables. A sequential analysis was conducted, first applying cross tabulations using the chi-square test, and then building separate logit models for poor and nonpoor patients. The cross tabulations indicated an association between OCs and negative symptoms for poor schizophrenic patients, but not for nonpoor patients. Multivariate logit models further supported this result. This is the first study to examine the interaction of OCs, schizophrenic symptomatology and SES of origin.