This symposium grew out of dissatisfaction with the existing theories of institutions. Notwithstanding significant progress in the analysis of the macro-institutions through which systemic rules and norms are established and the micro-institutions through which actors decide and implement transactions within the playing field thus defined, researchers working along one or the other dimension faced a critical and largely unanswered question: how to bridge the gap between these two institutional layers? The selected articles assembled in this issue came out of efforts to identify and understand within a unified theoretical framework the arrangements through which these layers interact. Building on contributions in economics and other social sciences as well as from in-depth empirical studies, these articles explore the relevance of the concept of ‘meso-institutions’ to designate and characterize the devices (e.g. regulatory agencies) and mechanisms (e.g. guidelines) that connect the macro- and micro-institutional layers.

Regardless of whether one is analyzing quantitative data from research involving generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) or more classical methods, testing for normality remains a necessary step in statistical analysis. Although over 60 methods have been proposed for assessing univariate normality, previous systematic reviews show that normality testing remains underreported in L2 research. This paper addresses this gap by first reviewing the concept of normality and its role in parametric statistical inference. We then examine 12 normality assessment methods including five graphical and seven analytical methods selected based on their prominence in statistical literature and availability in commonly used software. Each method is explained in terms of its underlying mechanism and sensitivity to specific forms of nonnormality, such as skewness, tail heaviness, and multimodality. In the second part of the study, we review 237 empirical articles published between 2020 and 2025 in ten selected L2-focused Q1 journals, using AI-assisted annotation. Our findings reveal inconsistencies in how graphical tests are reported, a tendency to rely on tests such as the Kolmogorov-Smirnov without explicit attention to sample size constraints, and limited justification provided for critical values of skewness and kurtosis. These results indicate some divergence between recommended statistical practices and the procedures for normality testing reported in the L2 publications examined. The paper concludes with actionable recommendations for selecting and interpreting normality tests in L2 research contexts.

Effective flood hazard communication is essential for improving public preparedness and response. However, traditional metrics, such as return periods (e.g., 100-year flood) or percentage probabilities, often lead to misinterpretation and reduced public engagement. This study introduces the Nines of Safety (NoS), a novel logarithmic-scale metric designed to improve the clarity and accessibility of flood risk communication. Inspired by reliability engineering and rooted in probabilistic theory, the NoS framework quantifies the probability of avoiding a flood event using the number of consecutive 9 s in its success rate (e.g., 90% = 1 NoS, 99% = 2 NoS), offering an intuitive and scalable measure for both technical and public audiences. This study operationalizes the NoS framework by integrating key geophysical indicators- – elevation, slope, land use and drainage density – and examines how these variables influence flood susceptibility over time. Additionally, it incorporates socioeconomic variables to reflect layered vulnerability, demonstrating that prolonged exposure amplifies risk and gradually erodes safety. A case-based application in Iowa City, Iowa, compares derived NoS scores with the Social Vulnerability Index and reveals a moderate inverse correlation (Pearson’s r = −0.52), supporting the framework’s validity for social risk assessment. The NoS framework offers potential to bridge the gap between technical assessment and community-level flood communication by providing a standardized, intuitive representation of safety probabilities. However, its validation remains limited to a single urban case study; future research should test its performance across diverse geographic and socioeconomic contexts.

In a sample of early post-menarchal female adolescents, this study examined sleep regularity in relation to depression symptoms, circadian rhythms, and chronotype preference. Sixty-six female adolescents, aged 11–14 and within fifteen months post-menarche, completed a one-week sleep and circadian rhythm assessment involving self-reported sleep behaviors, 24-h sleep monitoring using wrist actigraphy, and serial cortisol and 6-sulfatoxymelatonin collections for four days. Sleep regularity was operationalized as the probability of being in the same wake/sleep state at any two timepoints 24 h apart (i.e., sleep regularity index (SRI)). Reduced SRI was associated with higher depressive symptoms (F [1,273] = 18.65, p = < .0001), as were eveningness chronotype (F [1,273] = 21.13, p = < .0001), sleep duration (F [1,273] = 6.25, p = .01), and self-reported life stress (F [1,273] = 22.82, p = < .0001). The interaction between SRI and chronotype was also a predictor of increased depression (F [1,273] = 18.65, p = < .0001), such that eveningness and low sleep regularity predicted higher scores. Sleep regularity was not significantly associated with cortisol awakening response, cortisol slope, or overnight melatonin levels. Sleep regularity appears linked to altered mood in early post-menarchal girls. Further research linking sleep regularity to physiological processes governing sleep is warranted. Interventions targeting sleep regularity stand to improve mental health outcomes, as well as promote healthy developmental trajectories for affect regulation.

While current discussions of insect production emphasize sustainability benefits, research on consumer attitudes toward livestock production reveals that animal welfare concerns often equal or exceed environmental considerations in purchasing decisions. This article examines trends in consumer attitudes toward farm animal welfare in North America and Europe to anticipate potential challenges to the emerging insect industry’s social license to operate and then applies those trends to black soldier fly production. The analysis suggests that as public awareness grows, welfare concerns will likely emerge as a determinant of industry acceptance. Proactively addressing the most emotionally salient welfare issues—particularly those involving visible suffering or perceived unnaturalness—represents a strategic investment in maintaining consumer trust.

One of the most robust empirical findings in political science is that in multiparty democracies cabinet ministries are distributed in rough proportion to parties’ legislative seat shares, a pattern known as Gamson’s Law. Yet existing research often overlooks the fact that portfolio and seat shares are compositional—mutually dependent parts of a whole. Standard methods treat them as unconstrained, risking bias, misleading uncertainty estimates, and flawed inference. Unfortunately, the most common strategy for handling compositions—the additive log-ratio (ALR) transformation combined with seemingly unrelated regression (SUR)—fails when the number and identity of compositional elements (like parties) vary across cases. We propose the isometric log-ratio (ILR) transformation—new to political science—as an alternative that both respects compositional geometry and adapts to differing compositional structures. Monte Carlo simulations show that ILR sharply outperforms standard approaches, reducing bias, improving coverage probability, and increasing statistical power. While we apply it to portfolio allocation, ILR provides a general solution for modeling compositional outcomes with other potential uses, including in electoral competition, where ALR+SUR has required strong assumptions or ad hoc adjustments. Using this improved methodology, we find that seat–portfolio proportionality is weaker overall than conventionally reported and varies substantially across governments.

Alors que les violations des droits des travailleurs ont été à l’origine du processus de juridicisation de la responsabilité sociale des entreprises (RSE) dont l’ultime étape a été de fonder la responsabilité juridique des entreprises donneuses d’ordres et sociétés mères, aucune allusion n’y est faite dans le texte de l’emblématique loi française du 27 mars 2017. Cette invisibilisation du travail s’est doublée de silences et d’ambiguïtés sur le rôle des représentants des travailleurs dans le processus de corégulation au cœur duquel se trouve le plan de vigilance. C’est pourquoi les syndicats ont dû s’imposer aux entreprises en utilisant les ressources de la loi de 2017 et des normes internationales de RSE pour faire reconnaitre leur légitimité à être associé comme partie prenante soit via la saisine du juge soit par la négociation collective transnationale.

Theoretical analysis of an energy barrier model for the electrical properties of a biological membrane yields new results. Discontinuities at the membrane-solution interfaces are crucial and receive careful attention, as does the polarization charge density due to electroneutral but polarized ion distributions. The topics explored include the equilibrium and time-dependent Nernst potential, the resting potential, the capacitance-resistance equation for membrane voltage, and large electrical effects on osmosis (bulk volume flow). The generalization of Nernst–Hartley salt diffusion to the diffusion of mixed salts as a necessary tool is accomplished. The electric field inside the membrane is especially strong at the membrane-solution interfaces. The analysis of the resting potential differs from the Goldman–Hodgkin–Katz formulation but predicts realistic numerical values for animal cells and also captures the effect of switching sodium and potassium ion permeabilities. An analysis of the physical basis of bulk water flow in the presence of impermeant and permeant ions, that is, Donnan osmosis, reveals large ion charge effects that have not previously been considered. The equation derived here for Donnan osmotic flow helps to explain why the action of the sodium pump is essential for the prevention of excessive osmotic stress on cellular membranes.

Critical discussion of empire and imperialism has become a key theme in international relations. Much confusion, however, is generated by a lack of consensus on the meaning of imperialism. This paper offers one avenue for clarifying the terms of debate by reconstructing the conceptual history of imperialism from its inception in the late nineteenth century to post-war IR theory. In its initial formulation at the turn of the twentieth century, the theory of imperialism sought to analyse the interplay of capitalist development and geopolitical conflict in the formation and reproduction of international hierarchies. Immediately after World War I, however, an intellectual counter-revolution narrowed the concept into a synonym of colonialism, or the formal rule and administration of subject territory. As anti-colonial struggles won independence in the post-war period, imperialism was increasingly understood as a thing of the past. The paper argues that this conceptual narrowing remains an obstacle to contemporary theorizing, and that a rereading of the classical theories can strengthen contemporary IR frameworks. A key implication of this argument is that renewing the theory of imperialism in IR entails a reintegration of political economy and security studies.

En 2021, avec l’adoption de la Loi modernisant le régime de santé et de sécurité du travail, le législateur québécois a introduit l’obligation pour tous les employeurs de prévenir les risques psychosociaux du travail (RPS). Le présent texte brossera un portrait de l’architecture du droit qui prend en compte les RPS du travail et leurs effets. Les autrices et auteur du texte mettront ensuite en dialogue les résultats de leur recherche respective, lesquelles traitent toutes de la santé mentale au travail, afin d’interroger l’effectivité du droit entourant la prise en charge des RPS. Ce texte sera l’occasion d’étudier le rôle, la marge de manœuvre et les pouvoirs de certains acteurs du monde du travail (gestionnaires, syndicats, organismes administratifs). Y seront détaillés des exemples de bonnes pratiques de même que les limites du cadre législatif, les défis qui demeurent et les perspectives d’amélioration en vue d’assurer un encadrement exhaustif et effectif des RPS.

Basé sur une recherche-action conduite en partenariat avec deux organismes de protection des droits des travailleurs non syndiqués, cet article compare deux modèles d’organisation du travail dans les entrepôts – celui de Dollarama et celui d’Amazon – et illustre comment l’un et l’autre fonctionnent grâce à l’exploitation d’une main-d’œuvre en bonne partie racisée. Emplois instables et peu protégés, pressions à la productivité fragilisant le corps et l’esprit, statuts migratoires précaires enfermant les individus dans des emplois usants et de piètre qualité – ces éléments interconnectés créent des espaces où le droit du travail peine à s’appliquer. Les résultats de l’enquête mettent en évidence les enjeux multiples découlant de la fragmentation des cadres réglementaires hérités de la période fordiste, trop souvent rendus caducs par la transformation des pratiques de gestion de la main-d’œuvre, et appellent, au profit des travailleurs les plus vulnérables, le développement d’une vision plus holistique du droit et de la réglementation.

Cet article examine l’effectivité des mesures législatives québécoises et ontariennes en matière de prévention du harcèlement psychologique au travail, en analysant leurs approches distinctes et certains de leurs effets. Le Québec a initialement appréhendé le droit à un milieu de travail exempt de harcèlement comme une condition minimale d’emploi, dans une approche centrée sur la réparation (prévention tertiaire). De son côté, l’Ontario a plutôt choisi d’aborder le harcèlement comme un risque pour la santé et la sécurité au travail (prévention primaire), sans prévoir de recours pour les victimes. Notre étude permet de constater que l’effectivité d’un régime législatif est renforcée lorsqu’elle intègre les trois niveaux de prévention en santé et sécurité du travail (primaire, secondaire, tertiaire). Les réformes québécoises de 2021 et 2024 vont en ce sens, en ajoutant des mesures davantage axées sur la prévention primaire, dans l’objectif d’assurer des milieux de travail exempts de harcèlement.