Visual word recognition is constrained by writing systems. The orthographic depth hypothesis (ODH) was proposed to account for phonological activation in various degrees depending on how transparent the grapheme–phoneme conversion rule is in a writing system. This current study extends the investigation of ODH in bilingualism to understand the cross-language cognitive processes in bi-script readers. In two cross-language masked priming experiments, we show asymmetrical cognate facilitation effects, which are typically reported as a result of shared phonology and/or orthography between languages, in addition to meaning equivalence. That is, with the same set of items, when the primes were Chinese and the targets English (Experiment 1), there was no cognate facilitation effect; however, when we switched the languages in prime–target pairs (Experiment 2), the cognate facilitation effects emerged. These results indicate that shared phonology across languages is not sufficient to induce cognate facilitation effects and that language-dependent processing mechanisms play a crucial role.

The Iberian Pyrite Belt contains one of the largest accumulations of massive sulphide deposits on Earth. Many of these deposits are hosted by latest Devonian black shales rich in terrestrial and marine palynomorphs. Among the marine fossils, the most abundantly reported species is Maranhites mosesii. By means of a multi-analytical methodology, including (1) biometry of specimens, (2) TOFSIMS imaging and spectral analysis of selected specimens and (3) host-rock geochemistry, we detected that cysts of M. mosesii are smaller and lighter in massive sulphide-generating environments than in coeval non-massive sulphide-generating environment. Cysts of M. mosesii sank after encystment and maturated in the seafloor of different subbasins affected by disparate anoxic conditions. The specimens that maturated in anoxic settings enriched in pollutants, like Arsenic (As) and Lead (Pb), were smaller and lighter than those from non-polluted anoxic environments. Their organic walls were also enriched in As. Neither the anoxia nor the pollutants prevented the proliferation of M. mosesii, as this was the most abundant phytoplanktonic species in all environments. To explain this, we suggest that this species developed a successful adaptive mechanism that might involve anaerobic metabolic interchange with the surrounding oxygen-depleted media and high levels of tolerance to stressors. Whatever the reason, it entails a causal relationship between cyst size and seafloor environmental conditions. In consequence, the biometry of M. mosesii can be envisaged as a promising vector for sulphide deposit exploration in the Iberian Pyrite Belt.

In recent decades, activists and leaders of government and nongovernment organizations have increasingly and explicitly called for greater attention to human dignity in their efforts to promote pro-social relations. In this study, we investigate whether appeals to this core human value actually influence how individuals act with regard to those who might be otherwise ignored or neglected. Using the digital advertising platform on Facebook, we randomly assign ads to over 90,000 adult American users to estimate the effects of dignity appeals on their likelihood of engaging with content concerning people facing homelessness or incarceration. Consistent with preregistered hypotheses and specifications, we find that adding dignity appeals increases the likelihood of positive reactions to such ads, but only when the vulnerable are considered less “blameworthy” for their situation.

Invasive Group B Streptococcus (GBS) infection caused by the highly virulent Sequence Type 283 (ST283) strain has been linked to consumption of raw freshwater fish. In late summer 2024, enhanced surveillance in Hong Kong detected a surge of invasive ST283 cases.

A retrospective case–control study was conducted involving all invasive GBS patients reported during August to September 2024. Data were collected through standardised interviewer-administered questionnaires. Cases were defined as patients infected with the ST283 strain, while controls had non-ST283 strains. A multivariate logistic regression analysis was conducted to determine the risk factors.

Among 170 invasive GBS patients, 131 (77%) were identified as cases and 39 (23%) as controls. Physical handling of raw freshwater fish was found to be the strongest risk factor for ST283 infection (adjusted odds ratio: 8.4, 95% confidence interval: 1.4–50.1).

This study represents the first epidemiological evidence specifically linking physical contact with raw freshwater fish to an increased risk of invasive GBS ST283 infection. Effective interdepartmental coordination, intensive public health education, active surveillance, and prompt environmental interventions effectively mitigated this large outbreak. The findings underscore the need for sustainable preventive strategies targeting high-risk fish handling practices, particularly during warm periods favouring environmental proliferation of ST283.

Prior research indicates that language stimuli, when co-presented with sensory inputs, can enhance perceptual discrimination. However, whether this facilitation is unique to spoken language as opposed to non-verbal auditory stimuli, such as musical patterns, remains unclear. To address this question, we used difficult-to-discriminate tactile stimulus patterns and paired them repeatedly either with specific verbal, language-like labels or with matched musical sequences. Crucially, we implemented a within-subject learning design with well-matched stimuli counterbalanced across subjects. This approach involved pairing specific tactile patterns with either linguistic labels or matched sequences of musical tones and exposing all subjects to both conditions. Participants’ discrimination ability of the tactile patterns presented in isolation was evaluated both before and after associative learning. Results demonstrated that after 5 days of learning, only the tactile pattern sets associated with language stimuli – not those paired with musical sequences – showed significant improvement in discrimination. These results indicate that spoken language may indeed have an advantage over other forms of auditory input in facilitating perceptual discrimination. We discuss the underlying mechanisms of this observed perceptual advantage.

A spline is an assignment of polynomials to the vertices of a graph whose edges are labeled by ideals, where the difference of two polynomials labeling adjacent vertices must belong to the corresponding ideal. The set of splines forms a ring. We consider spline rings where the underlying graph is the Cayley graph of a symmetric group generated by a collection of transpositions. These rings generalize the GKM construction for equivariant cohomology rings of flag, regular semisimple Hessenberg and permutohedral varieties. These cohomology rings carry two actions of the symmetric group $S_n$ whose graded characters are both of general interest in algebraic combinatorics. In this paper, we generalize the graded $S_n$-representations from the cohomologies of the above varieties to splines on Cayley graphs of $S_n$ and then (1) give explicit module and ring generators for whenever the $S_n$-generating set is minimal, (2) give a combinatorial characterization of when graded pieces of one $S_n$-representation is trivial, and (3) compute the first degree piece of both graded characters for all generating sets.

While a role of language in the development of Theory of Mind (ToM) is well established, the interplay with a child’s ability to understand structured scenarios remains unclear. A new scale (Pictorial Theory of Mind Scale), assessing true and false belief comprehension at different levels of linguistic complexity, was used to explore language effects on ToM while accounting for scenario comprehension. Thirty-nine children (aged 4–6 years; 53.8% female) participated in this study. Results showed that 46.8% of 4- to 6-year-olds can understand false beliefs from picture-based scenarios with limited language output. Both language and scenario comprehension contributed to ToM in first-order false beliefs, whereas only scenario comprehension predicted true beliefs. In contrast, only language predicted second-order false beliefs, highlighting their different roles in ToM development.

The article is concerned with contemporary changes in the spatialization of the Russian-Finnish borderland as an example of re-bordering politics. The main material is a long-term ethnographic study in the territory of former Finnish Karelia, ceded by Finland to the Soviet Union following World War II. By extending the historical context of bilateral relations between the USSR (later Russia) and Finland, the article questions the implications of changing international relations regimes for situational forms of borderwork. The article contributes to the debate on contemporary border practices and the contradictory effects of foreign diplomacy by combining institutional and situational approaches to border territoriality and by focusing on border memory and heritage as resources of local identity and instruments of soft power. Examining the successive shifts of de- and re-bordering regimes in the Russian-Finnish borderlands from the late Soviet period to the present, the article demonstrates the unforeseen impact of foreign relations on local life and memory.

In this article, I consider the 2012–13 productions of The Magic Flute in Lagos, Nigeria, by the Musical Society of Nigeria (MUSON), as a means of rethinking broad conceptions of opera performance in postcolonial Africa. I explore the extent to which visual representation in this production creates cultural contact, exchange and hybridity, affording a pathway for experiencing opera from both Western and African perspectives without homogenisation or a clash of differences. Arguing against notions of race that pit Africa against the West, this study privileges Achille Mbembe’s writings on Afropolitanism as a framework for examining the multiple modes of meaning and identity created through this production. By scrutinising the textuality of visual elements and conceiving them as sites of localised ideological or identity struggles, I argue specifically that opera in Nigeria requires a critical framework that moves beyond notions of ‘whiteness’ and indigenisation. I will show that this staging invokes indigenous knowledge from Nigerian traditional religious and socio-cultural conceptions. In other words, mixed codes of visual elements operate as cultural signifiers that perpetuate an Afropolitan identity through which audiences interact with this art form.

This article explores a unique case of Jewish–Muslim cohabitation in colonial Algeria: the harat in the town of Sétif. Families from different religious communities shared communal facilities, private spaces and everyday activities in these housing complexes. At the same time, these neighbours arrived in the city under different historical conditions, possessed different legal statuses and occupied different positions in colonial society. Through a study of the setting, architecture and oral traditions of the harat, this article shows that being neighbours in colonial Algeria fostered a locally grounded sense of cohesion in an age when abstract forms of belonging gained ground.