The results of a ground-penetrating radar survey and multiproxy studies of the sediment cores collected from two lakes in the Valdai Highlands (East European Plain) provide new insights into the late glacial and Holocene environmental history of the region situated in the marginal zone of the last Scandinavian ice sheet. The cores were analyzed for organic carbon and nitrogen content, as well as for pollen and diatoms. The chronology of the cores is based on radiocarbon dates and pollen-based stratigraphy. The studied records document that vast dead ice masses and associated ice-dammed lakes existed in the Valdai Highlands area until ∼14 cal ka BP. Open tundra-steppe communities dominated the study area during the Oldest Dryas, Bølling, and Older Dryas (between ca. 17 and 14 cal ka BP), but dwarf birch (Betula nana), shrub alder (Alnus fruticosa), and willow (Salix) were also common. Scots pine forest (Pinus sylvestris) became common for a short interval during the Bølling warming (ca. 14.9 and 14.4 cal ka BP). The appearance of spruce (Picea) forest in the landscape occurred in the beginning of the Allerød warming (∼14 cal ka BP), but the open steppe-like plant communities remained common until the onset of the Holocene. The modern lake systems emerged at ∼10 cal ka BP, marked by an onset of organic-type sedimentation and the appearance of modern-type forests. The Mid-Holocene (∼8–4 cal ka BP) was the warmest time, as documented by the maximal distribution of temperate and broadleaved taxa in the region. The onset of agricultural land use and simultaneous trend of increasing lake trophic state and increasing paludification in the area is recorded at ∼2.5 cal ka BP.

An archaeological investigation at the western margin of the Cordillera de la Sal Formation in Catarpe (San Pedro de Atacama, northern Chile), revealed a series of pyrometallurgical furnaces from the Late period (AD 1400–1536). The furnaces, found at the Catarpe Túnel archaeological site, were used to reduce atacamite, clinoatacamite, brochantite, chrysocolla, and azurite to obtain unalloyed copper prills. Exceptional for the Atacama oasis and salt flats, Catarpe Túnel represents the only major archaeometallurgical site recorded in the area. Archaeometric analysis has determined the type of ore smelted, the composition of the metallic copper produced, and the characteristics of the fuel used by the operations. Although these operations are typical of the local metallurgical tradition, their proximity to a documented section of the Qhapaq Ñan and the Inka administrative center of Catarpe Este led us to wonder about the possible Tawantinsuyu influence in the region.

Banking supervisors rely on a set of indicators, such as the credit-to-Gross Domestic Product (GDP) gap, to evaluate the macro-financial environment and implement the countercyclical capital buffer. This paper proposes two supplementary indicators, based on forecast-based measures of the credit-to-GDP gap: forecast-augmented credit-to-GDP gaps and predicted credit-to-GDP gaps. While the former has already attracted attention from some banking supervisors, the latter represents a novel metric introduced here. These gaps are generated using singular spectrum analysis. We show that forecasting performance varies between countries and depends on credit market conditions. Furthermore, our results indicate that forecast-based credit-to-GDP gaps are effective in predicting the early stages of a credit boom.

Research shows that parenting plays an important role in the development of callous-unemotional (CU) traits in children. Yet, the specific aspects of positive parenting that may offer the strongest protection against the development of CU traits, as well as the potential role of child attachment to parent in this protection, remain poorly understood. This longitudinal multi-informant study aimed to investigate the mediating role of early mother–child attachment security in the prospective associations between three aspects of maternal sensitivity (positivity, attunement, availability) and subsequent CU traits in children. Maternal sensitivity and mother–child attachment security were observed in the home when children were 12 and 15 months old respectively. Child CU traits were reported by mothers, fathers, and teachers at age 4 years. Analyses revealed that maternal attunement was linked to lower levels of CU traits indirectly through the mediating role of attachment security. There was also a direct, non-mediated negative association between maternal availability and CU traits. Consistent with the notion of equifinality, these findings suggest that different aspects of parenting may be linked to child CU traits via distinct mechanisms, with some but not all of those mechanisms involving parent–child attachment.

This article explores the history of the Tibetan and Mongolian Morse codes, devised by the Nationalist government between 1934 and 1937, by situating them within the infrastructural and political transformations that took place in China and Tibet during these four years. On the one hand, it demonstrates that the engineering of Tibetan and Mongolian Morse codes coincided with the global emergence of shortwave radio telegraphy which, for the first time, enabled communications between geographically distinct regions, such as Tibet and China. On the other hand, it also shows that the codes were devised at a critical political moment in Sino-Tibetan relations: with the death of the Thirteenth Dalai Lama in 1933 and the subsequent political ascendance of the Ninth Panchen Lama, the government believed that the Tibetan and Mongolian Morse codes would help the party rule over the Buddhist frontiers through an alliance with the Ninth Panchen Lama. This plan ultimately failed, as the Panchen Lama died in 1937, before he could take control of Tibet. In short, the government-funded coding project offers a lens into pondering the infrastructural politics of state-building in China.

In recent years, the deterioration of infrastructure facilities, such as bridges, has caused several problems. Currently, human inspectors conduct periodic inspections to identify damaged areas. However, this process is expensive and time-consuming. Therefore, robotic inspection has received significant attention. This study focused on magnet-wheeled inspection robots operating along complex multilevel paths. The movement from the bottom to the top surface of the flanges was particularly difficult, similar to that of an overhanging steel plate. As the motor drives the robot wheel, gravity and anti-torque interfere with the robot’s movement along its path. However, static analysis shows that the impact can be reduced depending on the robot’s posture relative to that of the flange. Therefore, a magnetic-wheeled robot with a posture-changing pushing mechanism is proposed. This study confirms that the proposed robot can travel along its path using a pushing mechanism while carrying a 1.0 kg weight. Therefore, the robot’s ability to conduct inspections while carrying heavy equipment, such as inspection devices, was confirmed.

Bullying is a public health concern that results in diminished well-being for children and adolescents. One approach that lawmakers have taken to address bullying is enacting anti-bullying laws, which require school districts to establish bullying prevention policies. In this study, researchers used standard legal epidemiology methods to systematically retrieve and analyze anti-bullying laws in the United States (US). While they found that every US state and the District of Columbia has a school anti-bullying law, there is wide variation in their scope and requirements. Some jurisdictions specified requirements that school districts must implement in their anti-bullying policies, while others deferred policy enactment entirely to school districts. Given the differences in requirements and scoping afforded in anti-bullying laws, understanding the important components included in such policies can help provide policymakers and practitioners with information about bullying prevention strategies across jurisdictions.

Pollen morphology, viability and in vitro germination are vital parameters for taxonomic classification, hybridization, artificial pollination and improving seed set in crop breeding. In the present study, we investigated the pollen morphological characteristics of four marigold genotypes using scanning electron microscopy, assessed pollen viability using Alexander’s stain and acetocarmine and evaluated in vitro germination under a light microscope using media supplemented with varying concentrations of sucrose and polyethylene glycol (PEG). Pollen grains were medium-sized (25–50 µm) and exhibited suboblate to oblate-spheroidal shapes, with a polar/equatorial ratio ranging from 0.84 to 0.88. All genotypes displayed tricolporate pollen grains with three colpi and endoaperture, and their aperture lengths were between 3.88 and 4.90 µm. Significant genotypic differences were observed in pollen viability, with the highest values recorded in IIHRMY 1-4 (96.66 ± 0.34%) using acetocarmine and in IIHRMY 2-1 (96.42 ± 0.51%) using Alexander’s stain. The optimal germination medium contained 15% sucrose and 15% PEG, with IIHRMY 1-4 exhibiting the highest pollen germination rate (54.09 ± 1.15%), followed by IIHRMY 2-1 (47.05 ± 1.27%). These findings offer valuable insights for marigold breeding programmes, particularly in selecting genotypes for efficient cross-pollination and hybrid development.

Trisomy 21 is the most common chromosomal anomaly worldwide, and nearly half of the affected individuals are born with CHD, making cardiac complications a leading cause of morbidity and mortality in this population. Over the past century, the management of CHD in patients with Trisomy 21 has evolved dramatically, shaped by shifting societal attitudes, advances in diagnostic and surgical techniques, and landmark legal and ethical milestones. Historically, children with Trisomy 21 faced significant barriers to cardiac care, including delayed referrals and denial of surgical intervention, often rooted in discrimination rather than medical evidence. However, improvements in perioperative management and early surgical repair have led to survival outcomes for many forms of CHD that now approach those of the general population. Despite these advances, challenges persist, particularly in access to heart transplantation, where disparities in referral and eligibility remain. This review provides a historical overview of the evolution of CHD management in individuals with Trisomy 21, highlighting key medical, ethical, and societal developments that have shaped current standards of care.

Human-centric uncertainty remains one of the most persistent yet least quantified sources of risk in aviation maintenance. Although established safety frameworks such as SMS (safety management system), STAMP (Systems-Theoretic Accident Model and Processes), and FRAM (Functional Resonance Analysis Method) have advanced systemic oversight, they fall short in capturing the dynamic, context-dependent variability of human performance in real time. This study introduces the uncertainty quantification in aircraft maintenance (UQAM) framework – a novel, predictive safety tool designed to measure and manage operational uncertainty at the task level. The integrated uncertainty equation (IUE) is central to the model, a mathematical formulation that synthesises eight empirically derived uncertainty factors into a single, actionable score. Using a mixed-methods design, the research draws on thematic analysis of 49 semi-structured interviews with licensed maintenance engineers, followed by a 12-month field validation across four distinct maintenance tasks. Results demonstrate that the IUE effectively distinguishes between low, moderate and high-risk scenarios while remaining sensitive to procedural anomalies, diagnostic ambiguity and environmental complexity. Heatmap visualisations further enable supervisory teams to identify dominant uncertainty drivers and implement targeted interventions. UQAM enhances predictive governance, supports real-time decision-making and advances the evolution of next-generation safety systems in high-reliability aviation environments by embedding quantitative uncertainty metrics into existing safety architectures.

Equitable access to medicines is vital for people with disabilities to receive effective, affordable, and quality treatment, helping preserve functionality, prevent further disability, and promote social and economic inclusion. This paper explores the specific medicine needs of people with disabilities in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), focusing on the European Union’s (EU) extraterritorial legal obligations under the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD). As the first regional international organization to accede to a UN human rights treaty, the EU offers a unique case for examining how international legal commitments extend beyond its borders. The paper outlines a legal framework based on the CRPD to assess the EU’s responsibilities for ensuring access to medicines globally. This framework is applied to two case studies: the EU’s internal joint COVID-19 vaccine procurement strategy and its external BioNTainer initiative for vaccine production in Africa under Team Europe. The analysis finds that the EU falls short of its CRPD obligations, particularly in areas of technology transfer and intellectual property sharing, which are essential for equitable global vaccine access. The paper concludes that the EU’s current actions do not fulfill its human rights commitments to people with disabilities in LMICs.

The concept of parity due to Fitzpatrick, Pejsachowicz and Rabier is a central tool in the abstract bifurcation theory of nonlinear Fredholm operators. In this paper, we relate the parity to the Evans function, which is widely used in the stability analysis for traveling wave solutions to evolutionary PDEs.

In contrast, we use Evans function as a flexible tool yielding general sufficient condition for local bifurcations of specific bounded entire solutions to (Carathéodory) differential equations. These bifurcations are intrinsically nonautonomous in the sense that the assumptions implying them cannot be fulfilled for autonomous or periodic temporal forcings. In addition, we demonstrate that Evans functions are strictly related to the dichotomy spectrum and hyperbolicity, which play a crucial role in studying the existence of bounded solutions on the whole real line and therefore the recent field of nonautonomous bifurcation theory. Finally, by means of non-trivial examples we illustrate the applicability of our methods.

Word processing during reading is known to be influenced by lexical features, especially word length, frequency, and predictability. This study examined the relative importance of these features in word processing during second language (L2) English reading. We used data from an eye-tracking corpus and applied a machine-learning approach to model word-level eye-tracking measures and identify key predictors. Predictors comprised several lexical features, including length, frequency, and predictability (e.g., surprisal). Additionally, sentence, passage, and reader characteristics were considered for comparison. The analysis found that word length was the most important variable across several eye-tracking measures. However, for certain measures, word frequency and predictability were more important than length, and in some cases, reader characteristics such as proficiency were more significant than lexical features. These findings highlight the complexity of word processing during reading, the shared processes between first language (L1) and L2 reading, and their potential to refine models of eye-movement control.

This study applies Bayesian chronological modeling to 16 new AMS radiocarbon dates on short-lived botanical remains and wood-charcoal recovered from the archaeological site Ahatsistari, a seventeenth-century Huron-Wendat village located in Simcoe County in Ontario, Canada. The modeled radiocarbon dates provide an independent time frame for understanding site phase and sequence, compatibility with historically documented events of a known date, and assessment of the socioeconomic and political influences affecting the composition of European trade good assemblages from different sites. We argue that Ahatsistari is likely Carhagouha, the principal village of the northern Attignawantan who were members of the Huron-Wendat Confederacy, and home to Samuel de Champlain and Joseph Le Caron from 1615 to 1616. In addition, Ahatsistari is contemporary with the archaeological site Warminster, which is believed to be Champlain’s Cahiagué. Radiocarbon dates from the archaeological sites of Ahatsistari, Warminster, and Ball are consistent with earlier suppositions for the beginning and end of Glass Bead Period 2 (AD 1600–1625), whereas differences in the composition of the glass trade bead assemblages speak to the prominent role of Ahatsistari in trade with the French and to variable trade relations among other early seventeenth-century Huron-Wendat villages.