This article examines how and why auxiliaries combine into complex verb constructions in Old West Germanic. It integrates findings from prior corpus studies on Old Dutch and Old English with original corpus research on Old Saxon, Old High German, and Early Middle High German up to 1150. The combined results indicate that all Old West Germanic varieties combine only two auxiliaries, with the finite auxiliary always being a modal. These finite modals could have scope over a wide range of potential auxiliaries, including passive, perfect, modal, aspectual, and causative auxiliaries, as well as perception verbs. The range of auxiliary combinations is shown to expand progressively over time and across regions. The article reveals that the combinatorial potential of auxiliaries relates to their degree of grammaticalization and the availability of a nonfinite verb form. This relationship is argued to be bidirectional: (a) the ongoing grammaticalization of auxiliaries creates and expands their combinatorial potential, while (b) the combination of auxiliaries into complex verb constructions in turn stimulates the emergence of auxiliaries as a category of their own. This implies that the combination of auxiliaries is not only a symptom of their grammaticalization but also a catalyst for further change.*

Wave interactions with magnetised particles underlie many plasma heating and current drive technologies. Typically, these interactions are modelled by bounce averaging the quasilinear Kennel–Engelmann diffusion tensor over the particle orbit. However, as an object derived in a two-dimensional space, the Kennel–Engelmann tensor does not fully respect the conservation of four-momentum required by the action conservation theorem, since it neglects the absorption of perpendicular momentum. This defect leads to incorrect predictions for the wave-induced cross-field particle transport. Here, we show how this defect can easily be fixed, by extending the tensor from two to four dimensions and matching the form required by four-momentum conservation. The resulting extended tensor, when bounce averaged, recovers the form of the diffusion paths required by action-angle Hamiltonian theory. Importantly, the extended tensor should be easily implementable in Fokker–Planck codes through a mild modification of the existing Kennel–Engelmann tensor.

This article presents an analysis of the relationship between urbanization as an ongoing process and economic development in medieval (c. AD 1250–1400) southern and midland England. It is proposed that understanding the distribution of pottery through network analysis provides a means of comprehending the role played by affective material relations in these processes. Rather than seeing pottery distributions as reflecting an overarching economic context, the author investigates how relations with pottery, and between pottery and other commodities, generated distinctive and situated modes of urban life. He proposes that the medieval economy was a patchwork rather than a coherent system. The study draws on Deleuze’s concept of the ‘virtual’ to examine how economic emergence and urbanization are open-ended and difference-making processes.

We study a family of Crump–Mode–Jagers branching processes in a random environment that explode, i.e. that grow infinitely large in finite time with positive probability. Building on recent work of Iyer and the author (‘On the structure of genealogical trees associated with explosive Crump–Mode–Jagers branching processes’, arXiv:2311.14664, 2023), we weaken certain assumptions required to prove that the branching process, at the time of explosion, contains a (unique) individual with infinite offspring. We then apply these results to super-linear preferential attachment models. In particular, we fill gaps in some of the cases analysed in Appendix A of the work of Iyer and the author and study a large range of previously unattainable cases.

We describe a rare and severe presentation of deglutition syncope, manifesting as complete heart block, along with newer therapeutic options, including cardioneural ablation and leadless pacing. Our 15-year-old patient presented with frequent syncope with swallowing, along with symptoms of orthostatic intolerance and anxiety. When standard non-pharmacologic and pharmacologic treatments were insufficient, cardioneural ablation resulted in improvement in syncope. Subsequent standard treatment of orthostatic intolerance has significantly improved the quality of life, including allowing her a more normal diet. The option of leadless pacing to prevent bradycardia during episodes of induced heart block has not yet been enacted due to her clinical improvement.

The Organization for the Harmonization of Business Law in Africa (OHADA) was developed to introduce simple, up-to-date business laws in its member states. It has various goals, including harmonizing business laws, attracting foreign investment in its member states and promoting broader economic integration across Africa. At its initial development stage, OHADA chose a path dependence route, which positively impacted the achievement of some of its initial goals. While OHADA has been widely praised for its efficient business laws, its commitment to path dependence is likely to create a trap for the organization, hindering its further progress. This article analyses the unification of law in African former colonies from the critical perspective of path dependence theory. It examines how OHADA’s legal choices have impacted its various objectives at different stages of its development. Ultimately, the article proposes that OHADA amend its legal framework to achieve its broader aspirations.

Whilst universities have long needed to balance competing demands, the situation seems to have been exacerbated in recent years, particularly in relation to funding, digital disruption and political interference. This article explores implications for the recruitment and development of higher-education leaders. Building on the concept of the ‘leadership pipeline’ we consider the passages that must be navigated on the way to becoming an effective academic leader, alongside associated (often competing) logics and identities. Through vignettes from an empirical study in a Danish university we illustrate the complexities of leadership transitions, leadership disconnections and logic misalignment in educational leadership. The discussion presents an ecosystems model that shows the interdependencies and interconnections between core functions of higher education and the internal and external context. The article concludes by considering implications for leadership recruitment and development, with a particular focus on identity work(spaces) and the need to embrace multiple logics. Through such interventions, it is suggested, it may be possible to foster the required levels of inclusion, collaboration and resilience in higher-education leadership to navigate the challenging path(s) ahead.

Legal cases in the policy area of religion—concerning religious exemptions, euthanasia, same-sex marriage, or religious education—are fiercely contested. Although democratic theory has long debated the role of religion in court, the normative challenges of religious strategic litigation have yet to be discussed. I conceptualize religious strategic litigation as a political practice in which groups take legal action based on norms concerning religion in order to pursue broader political agendas. Challenging the notion that religious strategic litigation is special, that is, that it raises particular concerns of democratic legitimacy, I argue that it shares its problematic features with strategic litigation in other policy areas. Democratic theory should focus on how strategic litigation in any policy area can potentially disempower citizens.

What grounds epistemic normativity? Or, in other words, why should agents follow epistemic norms? A popular view about the source of epistemic normativity is instrumentalism. This view holds that epistemic norms gain their authority by being conducive to other things we place value in, such as survival or practical reasoning. In this paper, I explore an alternative view, which is inspired by Christine Korsgaard’s account of the source of moral normativity. This view claims that the authority of epistemic norms is grounded in the self-identities of agents and thereby ultimately in the value of humanity. I will argue that the account sketched in this paper enjoys crucial advantages over alternative accounts that have been proposed in recent literature – in particular those that develop Kant-inspired accounts of epistemic normativity.

Scholars rightly argue that partiality towards one’s children hinders justice and that some expressions of partiality constitute illegitimate conferrals of advantage. Some have extended this critique to elite educational experiences as a form of unjust advantage conferral. In this paper, I argue that for Black parents, the pursuit of elite educational experiences for their children may function as legitimate partiality and advantage conferral. I motivate my argument in the corrective capability of elite education, both its ability to redress past exclusion and its potential to protect Black people from some societal disadvantage, as well as the operationalization of Blackness that suggests that educational advantage conferral might promote racial advancement. Ultimately, I argue, the provision of elite education for Black families remediates past injustices while mitigating present disparities in ways that redistribute opportunity towards educational justice.