This research, with a qualitative approach, is based on a literature review and a press analysis related to mergers, acquisitions and dissolutions of Higher Education Institutions in South America. Our findings evidence a gap in the academic literature for analyzing and understanding these processes. The literature on the subject is scarce; however, the press has recorded them in a constant way. While in the past this phenomenon was mainly among public universities, currently it is a fundamentally private trend. The main reasons to carry out this process by Higher Education Institutions are those related to geographic expansion or positioning (for merger processes), absorption and concentration of institutions by groups of interest (for merger processes, acquisition) and, the crisis resulting from the financial-administrative management of the institutions, as well as the non-compliance with national and international quality standards designed by accreditation agencies and institutions (for dissolution processes). On the contrary of some literature results, in any of the processes the search for prestige or reputation by the institutions was detected as a reason.

A large number of publications devoted to a new class of materials - high-entropy alloys (HEA), is associated with their unique chemical, physical and mechanical properties both in cast materials and in various classes of coatings and refractory compounds. As a result of the research, the features of solid-soluble high-entropy alloys based on BCC and FCC phases have been revealed. These include the role of the most refractory element in the formation of the lattice parameter, the relationship of distortion with elastic deformation, and the contribution of the enthalpy of mixing to the strength and modulus of elasticity. This made it possible, on the basis of Hooke's law, to propose a formula for determining the hardness of the HEA based on the BCC and FCC phases. Based on the fact that with an increase in temperature in high-entropy alloys, the values of the modulus of elasticity, distortion and enthalpy of mixing will obey the same laws, a formula is proposed for determining the yield strength depending on the test temperature of solid-soluble HEA based on BCC and FCC phases. A formula based on the role of the most fusible metal in the alloy is proposed to calculate the melting point of solid-soluble materials.

 Distance education (DE) has recently become a noteworthy study topic in the public education system. From the Web of Science database, 5719 articles discussing DE and published in the period of 2011–2023 were acquired. By analyzing the overall characteristics, co-citation, and keyword co-occurrence of the selected articles, which utilized Cite Space software, the history of DE could be systematically grasped, thereby reasonably predict the emphases of future development. We found that the number of papers relevant to DE had been rapidly growing since 2018. USA, China, and Turkey are the top three countries where most authors or teams were located. The map of keyword cooccurrence showed that the previous DE research mainly focused on telelearning, adult learning, and distributed learning environment. The recent burst words emerging are used to determine that distance education will continue to be studied in the field with high explosive keywords such as visual tracking, technology acceptance model, and user interface. This will provide suggestions and directions for the development of distance education.

The creation of points where law, politics and education policies take intersection is a very complex and dynamic environment determined by philosophical shifts, economic problems, and social dynamics. This study dissects various complicated challenges facing the process of the framing of educational policies and their implementation which have become rampant due to the rapid political transformations. The researched evaluation is applied via both qualitative and quantitative methods, including juridical research, case and best practices studies and surveys, with the descriptive nature of the research as the main tool. The heart of the essay is three main themes - the contention between the rigidity of the academic standards and the holistic growth of students, its possible effects when students are too identified with a test-centric approach as their knowledge is sacrificed for their test scores, and the inclusion of rights and protections for underrepresented populations even when faced with a government’s resistance. Similarly, the research examines the perils of creating legislation too quickly, especially, because of unexpected side effects and interpretation conflicts. Findings show profound demographic differentials over districts which implies the designing and implementation of policies need to be modified accordingly. Unless a certain policy brings the best outcomes in the learning process, then nobody should choose it even if it means disrupting student well-being and decreasing their involvement. It is also emblematic of how cross-party cooperation and stakeholders’ understanding are important aspects of fairly dealing with complicated policy environments.

The rapid shift to online learning during COVID-19 posed challenges for students. This investigation explored these hurdles and suggested effective solutions using mixed methods. By combining a literature review, interviews, surveys, and the analytic hierarchy process (AHP), the study identified five key challenges: lack of practical experience, disruptions in learning environments, condensed assessments, technology and financial constraints, and health and mental well-being concerns. Notably, it found differences in priorities among students across academic years. Freshmen struggled with the absence of hands-on courses, sophomores with workload demands, and upperclassmen with mental health challenges. The research also discussed preferred strategies for resolution, emphasizing independent learning methods, managing distractions, and adjusting assessments. By providing tailored insights, this study aimed to enhance online learning. Governments and universities should support practical work, prioritize student well-being, improve digital infrastructure, adapt assessments, foster innovation, and ensure resilience.

By reviewing US state-level panel data on infrastructure spending and on per capita income inequality from 1950 to 2010, this paper sets out to test whether an empirical link exists between infrastructure and inequality. Panel regressions with fixed effects show that an increase in the growth rate of spending on highways and higher education in a given decade correlates negatively with Gini indices at the end of the decade, thus suggesting a causal effect from growth in infrastructure spending to a reduction in inequality through better access to education and opportunities for employment. More significantly, this relationship is more pronounced with inequality at the bottom 40 percent of the income distribution. In addition, infrastructure expenditures on highways are shown to be more effective at reducing inequality. By carrying out a counterfactual experiment, the results show that those US states with a significantly higher bottom Gini coefficient in 2010 had underinvested in infrastructure during the previous decade. From a policy-making perspective, new innovations in finance for infrastructure investments are developed, for the US, other industrially advanced countries and also for developing economies.