Let $\{Y_{n}$, $n \geq 1\}$ be a critical branching process with immigration having finite variance for the offspring number of particles and finite mean for the immigrating number of particles. In this paper we study lower deviation probabilities for $Y_{n}$. More precisely, assuming that $k,n \to \infty$ so that $k={\mathrm{o}} (n)$, we investigate the asymptotics of $\mathbb P(Y_{n} \leq k )$ and $\mathbb P(Y_{n} = k )$. Our results clarify the role of the moment conditions in the local limit theorem for $Y_n$ proved by Mellein (1982).

Constraint answer set programming (CASP) is a hybrid paradigm that enriches answer set programming (ASP) with numerical constraint processing, a crucial requirement for many real-world applications. However, the specification of constraints in most CASP solvers aligns more closely with the expressiveness and semantics of the numerical back-end than the ASP paradigm. In the latter, numerical attributes are represented with predicates, and this allows for declaring default values, leaving the attribute undefined, making non-deterministic assignments with choice rules or using aggregated values. In CASP, most (if not all) of these features are lost once we switch to a constraint-based representation of those same attributes. In this paper, we present the flingo language (and tool) that incorporates the aforementioned expressiveness inside the numerical constraints, and we illustrate its use with several examples. Based on previous work that established its semantic foundations, we also present a translation from the newly introduced flingo syntax to regular CASP programs following the clingcon input format.

Singh’s account explains cultural super-attractors via subjective selection. I extend it to healing rituals and dietary practices, including fasting calendars, sacred or taboo foods, detox narratives, probiotic beliefs, and ceremonial eating. I map these packages to complexity and robustness, specify control-seeking and hedonic mechanisms, derive testable predictions, and outline cross-cultural studies that distinguish satisfaction from objective efficacy for public health.

Understanding confidence in one’s knowledge has been a longstanding goal in judgment and decision-making research. This study takes an initial step toward identifying the psychological and behavioral consequences of unjustified confidence—confidence not supported by actual knowledge—by examining its associations with multiple psychological and behavioral variables within the domain of sports betting. A sample of 997 participants completed either a knowledge-confidence or forecasting-confidence assessment, followed by measures of empowerment, decisiveness, openness to information, risk taking, information search, and information use. Psychologically, unjustified confidence was related to greater feelings of empowerment and decisiveness, but unrelated to openness to information. Behaviorally, unjustified confidence was related to greater risk taking and information search, but showed little consistent relationship with information use. These patterns were largely consistent across knowledge and forecasting tasks, with only minor variations. Multiple regression analyses revealed distinct predictor patterns for different behavioral outcomes, suggesting that confidence’s role varies across decision-making behaviors. These findings provide an extensive examination of multiple theorized consequences of confidence within a single domain, identifying which relationships warrant experimental investigation and suggesting that understanding confidence’s causal effects will require nuanced, behavior-specific models.

This commentary enriches Singh’s subjective selection framework by focusing on the nature of goals. It considers their origins (biology, ecology, culture) and varying salience, allowing the model to account for both highly instrumental actions and seemingly goal-demoted behaviors like ritual, thus broadening its applicability.

Let G be a connected Lie group and $\mathrm {Sub}_G$ be the space of closed subgroups of G equipped with the Chabauty topology. In this article, we investigate the existence of invariant random subgroups of G supported on various orbits of the conjugation action of G on $\mathrm {Sub}_G$.

Wlezien offers a compelling framework of policy “inputs” and “outputs” to better understand policy responsiveness. Building on this framework, I argue that inequality in policy influence is central to understanding policy responsiveness and must be treated as a first-order concern: disparities in political power complicate both sides of the “inputs” and “outputs” equation. Disadvantaged groups face barriers in signaling preferences and shaping policy agendas, while policymakers respond unequally across groups. These inequalities challenge how we measure responsiveness and question whether aggregate measures capture democratic quality when preferences are polarized along entrenched social cleavages. Institutional reforms designed to improve representation – from public comment periods to the Voting Rights Act – may serve their stated goals while simultaneously producing unintended consequences for equitable responsiveness. I contend that scholars must ask not just whether policy responds to public opinion, but whose opinion it follows. Responsiveness may be necessary but insufficient for democratic legitimacy if one does not reckon with unequal political power.

While rates of youth homelessness appear to be increasing across different countries, young people experiencing homelessness face particularly critical situations, with a notably high prevalence of mental health problems and extended histories of stressful life events. This article analyzes the life trajectories and current health and needs of 392 individuals experiencing homelessness (207 men and 185 women) in the city of Madrid (Spain). People who had first experienced homelessness during their youth (under the age of 30) were, on average, younger but had experienced longer and more frequent episodes of homelessness. They had also been exposed to multiple stressful life events early in life and had a higher prevalence of victimization and criminal justice involvement throughout their lives. Likewise, youth-onset homelessness was associated with lower use of healthcare services, increased rates of mental health diagnoses and suicide attempts, and more symptoms of anxiety, depression, and substance dependence. The ongoing adversity experienced by individuals who experienced youth-onset homelessness suggests that social support systems may be failing to address the needs of vulnerable families and children. These deficiencies may contribute to the intergenerational transmission of poverty and disadvantage, and lead to situations of greater hardship for people experiencing youth-onset homelessness.

In “On Policy Responsiveness,” Wlezien provides a realist account of policy responsiveness. While recognizing it as a democratic good, he identifies the many obstacles that must be overcome and conditions that must be met to achieve it. Wlezien suggests that “it may be surprising that we observe any representation at all,” considering the many conditions that must be met to achieve it. This raises an important and challenging question, which we expand upon here: what is an appropriate level of responsiveness to expect from democratic systems and what level of observed policy congruence might we deem surprising and/or sufficient? The question of an appropriate counterfactual, apart from being crucial to guide research and hypothesis testing, also creates this fruitful opportunity for collaboration and discussion between a normative political theorist (Scudder) and an empirical political scientist (Grillos). Here, we identify two sources of counterfactual thinking, one normative and one empirical, to provide a benchmark against which we can judge observed levels of policy responsiveness.

Quantitative studies of policy responsiveness are liable to overstate the fairness and quality of democratic governance, because they neglect to account for forms of capture and distortion by powerful groups that are more difficult to operationalize and measure. The field essay by Christopher Wlezien that surveys these studies is comprehensive and generally fair, but it nevertheless shares the blind spots of that literature as a whole, and therefore dismisses realist skepticism (such as that of Achen and Bartels) too quickly. By properly situating this literature within broader discussions of democratic values and political equality, this response aims to recenter the big picture – and highlight what may be concealed when we give too much weight to policy responsiveness.

This paper investigates the feasibility of using mycelium colonization to upcycle household waste, specifically cat litter and spent coffee grounds, into large-scale screening elements through 3D printing and toolpath-informed design. The study introduces a composite that repurposes cat litter, a household waste that is typically sent directly to landfill, as a substrate for fungal growth within additively manufactured forms. By eliminating casting molds and employing continuous fractal toolpaths, the fabrication approach reduces secondary material waste while enabling space-filling, intricate geometries with parametrically controlled spacing that supports mycelium growth. This process extends existing biofabrication precedents through increasing geometric complexity. The research develops a repeatable workflow integrating material circularity, mycelium colonization, 3D printing, and computational fractal design to support scalable biofabrication. Prototypes were produced and evaluated at three incremental scales: 9 cm, 15.24 cm, and 22.86 cm. This work contributes to the biodesign community by demonstrating a resource-efficient method for transforming cat litter into biodegradable screening panels within a circular material system.