An overview of circumstances in which twins take the place of their co-twin is presented. Various explanations and speculations are proposed for understanding twins’ willingness to do so in certain situations. This section is followed by reviews of timely twin research, namely single versus multiple embryo transfer; neurimaging of twins with periventricular nodular heterotopia; a twin dietary comparison; and a new book of twin-related readings from Hungary. The final portion of this article concerns human interest stories that both inform and entertain. They involve valedictorian and salutatorian twins; a mother delivering twins at age seventy; twins reunited by TikTok; a new film about twins with selective mutism; and twins becoming doctors.

We prove that the set of elementary tensors is weakly closed in the projective tensor product of two Banach spaces. As a result, we answer a question of Rodríguez and Rueda Zoca [‘Weak precompactness in projective tensor products’, Indag. Math. (N.S.) 35(1) (2024), 60–75], proving that if $(x_n) \subset X$ and $(y_n) \subset Y$ are two weakly null sequences such that $(x_n \otimes y_n)$ converges weakly in $X \widehat {\otimes }_\pi Y$, then $(x_n \otimes y_n)$ is also weakly null.

Providing source material for liturgical practice on a significant proportion of feast days in each sanctorale cycle, the Commune sanctorum liturgies had crucial daily importance for medieval Christians. Despite their frequent use, or perhaps because of this prosaic nature, the Commune sanctorum has rarely been considered as a liturgical phenomenon in its own right. Focusing on the Old Hispanic liturgy, this article explores the creation and presentation of the Commune sanctorum. We address systematically a question left unexamined in previous scholarship: where did the Commune sanctorum come from? We first survey the Old Hispanic material shared with other rites. Turning then to the Old Hispanic rite’s unique material, we examine materials found only in the Commons and those shared elsewhere in the rite. We set out a methodology for determining the direction of origin for such shared chants, demonstrating the importance of proper saints’ liturgies in the creation of the Commune sanctorum as well as the creative interest in producing new Commons materials. In addition to the origin of the Commune sanctorum, this article engages with manuscript presentation, asking how Commons materials were organized and how such presentations guided liturgical practitioners. A deeper understanding of the Commune sanctorum opens a window onto one of the foundational devotional experiences of Western Christendom.

Theological voluntarism is a family of metaethical views that share the claim that deontological statuses of actions are dependent on or identical with some divine feature. Adams's version of this theistic metaethical view is a divine command theory (DCT). According to Adams's DCT, the property being-morally-obligated is identical to the property being-commanded-by-God. Thus, a natural consequence of Adams's DCT is that an agent is morally obligated to do something just in case God commands that agent to do such a thing. From Adams's DCT, it follows that God is morally obligated to act just in case God commands himself to act. Quinn argued that commanding oneself is incoherent and, therefore, that God cannot be morally obligated to act. The claim that commanding oneself is incoherent has seldom been discussed in the divine command theory literature. This article is an attempt to change that. Here, I argue (contra Quinn) that that no constitutive rule (or condition of satisfaction) of self-commands is incoherent, from which it follows that self-commanding is not an incoherent speech act. I conclude that divine command theorists can, without the charge of incoherence, affirm that God can be morally obligated because God can command himself.

Who is held responsible when international organisations (IOs) fall short of public expectations? Scholarship on IO blame avoidance assumes that member states can hide behind IOs. As clarity of responsibility is assumed to be lacking in IOs, public responsibility attributions (PRA) will usually target the IO rather than individual member states. We argue, by contrast, that even in complex IOs such as the European Union (EU), clarity of responsibility is not always lacking. Therefore, whether the IO in general or individual member states become the main target of public blame attributions depends on the type of IO policy failure. In cases of failures to act and failures to comply, the responsibility of individual member states is comparatively easy to identify, and they thus become the main blame target. Only in cases of failures to perform clarity of responsibility is lacking, and the IO will become the main target of public blame attributions. To assess the plausibility of this‘failure hypothesis’, we study public blame attributions in two cases of EU foreign policy failures and two cases of EU environmental policy failures.

A new crinoid fauna has been discovered in the Upper Ordovician (Katian) Martinsburg Formation at a small shale quarry, locally known as the ‘Shale Bank,’ on the Shawangunk Ridge in Ulster County, NY. The assemblage, which is from a relatively low energy, offshore mud-bottom environment, includes four identified species, including a new species of glyptocrinid camerate, Pycnocrinus mohonkensis n. sp., described herein. Crinoid taxa in order of increasing branch density in the assemblage include (1) the dicyclic inadunate Merocrinus curtus with irregularly isotomous and heterotomous, non-pinnulate arms and a stout cylindrical column exceeding 700 mm; (2) the disparids Cincinnaticrinus varibrachialus, with heterotomous non pinnulate arms, and Ectenocrinus simplex, with extensively branched ramulate arms and meric columns of 460–500 mm; and (3) the camerate Pycnocrinus mohonkensis n. sp., with uniserial pinnulate arms and a somewhat shorter column. Some cylindrical stems with nodose and holomeric columnals are thought to belong to unknown camerate crinoids with pinnulate arms. Filtration theory is used to model food capture in the Martinsburg crinoids. Surprisingly, even densely pinnulate camerates were able to survive in this setting, suggesting that ambient currents attained velocities exceeding 25 cm/sec even in this offshore setting. Similar assemblages were widespread in eastern Laurentia during the Late Ordovician.

UUID: http://zoobank.org/23ca31e8-f572-4520-ba1d-891e3abb950d

In the past decade, interest has significantly increased regarding the medicinal and nutritional benefits of pomegranate (Punica granatum) peel. This study examined the effects of using pomegranate peel extract (PGE) alone and in combination with albendazole (ABZ) on ultrastructural and immunological changes in cystic echinococcosis in laboratory-infected mice. Results revealed that the smallest hydatid cyst size and weight (0.48 ± 0.47mm, 0.17 ± 0.18 gm) with the highest drug efficacy (56.2%) was detected in the PGE + ABZ group, which also exhibited marked histopathological improvement. Ultrastructural changes recorded by transmission electron microscopy including fragmentation of the nucleus, glycogen depletion, and multiple lysosomes in vacuolated cytoplasm were more often observed in PGE + ABZ group. IFN-γ levels were significantly increased in the group treated with ABZ, with a notable reduction following PGE treatment, whether administered alone or in combination with ABZ. Thus, PGE enhanced the therapeutic efficiency of ABZ, with improvement in histopathological and ultrastructural changes.

Fetal exposure to prenatal stress can increase risk for psychopathology but postnatal caregiving may offset risk. This study tests whether maternal sensitivity and the home environment during early childhood modify associations of prenatal stress with offspring behavior in a sample of 127 mother–child pairs (n = 127). Mothers reported on perceived stress during pregnancy. Maternal sensitivity was rated by coders during a parent–child free play task when children were 4 years old. One year later, mothers reported on the home environment, child internalizing and externalizing behaviors, and children completed an assessment of inhibitory control. As hypothesized, the early childhood caregiving environment modified associations of prenatal stress with child behavior. Specifically, prenatal stress was associated with more internalizing behaviors at lower levels of maternal sensitivity and in home environments that were lower in emotional support and cognitive stimulation, but not at mean or higher levels. Furthermore, prenatal stress was associated with lower inhibitory control only at lower levels of maternal sensitivity, but not at higher levels. Maternal sensitivity and an emotionally supportive and cognitively stimulating home environment in early childhood may be important factors that mitigate risk for mental health problems among children exposed to prenatal stress.

The Wichita and Affiliated Tribes have a long history of occupation in what is now known as Oklahoma. This includes evidence of habitations along Camp Creek and Sugar Creek near Anadarko in Caddo County. Here Wichita peoples camped, built grass houses and arbors, and held social gatherings leading up to and following the passing of the General Allotment Act in 1887. After allotment, communal camp and dance grounds were especially important focal points for community building. These places, such as the ichaskhah camp and dance ground discussed in this article, are critical to understanding the multigenerational connections between ancestral and living Wichita peoples. This history is also important to the community today. However, archaeological research of the Allotment period is exceptionally rare in this region. By using collaborative and Indigenous archaeological methodologies, this work documents the complexities of these places, challenging traditional assumptions of allotment-era cultural loss and assimilation.

Women with breast cancer show dissatisfaction with their appearance, a perception of loss of femininity and bodily integrity, and dissatisfaction with the outcome of the surgery. Body Appreciation (BA) is defined as positive attitudes toward one’s body, beyond satisfaction and dissatisfaction with one’s appearance. Although studies about the protective role of BA have increased, to the best of our knowledge, there are no published studies on the association between BA, body dissatisfaction, and distress in participants with breast cancer. The aims of this study are: (a) To analyze whether BA is a moderator of satisfaction with the body from before breast surgery to the one-year follow-up; and (b) to analyze whether BA is a moderator of distress from before breast surgery to the one-year follow-up. The sample consisted of 115 women diagnosed with breast cancer. Several hierarchical regression analyses were conducted. The results indicated that BA moderated the association between the appearance evaluation before the surgery and the appearance evaluation 12 months after the surgery. Although BA was a significative predictor of distress, it was not a moderator of distress from the moment before breast surgery to the one-year follow-up. This study highlights the importance of evaluating the construct of BA in participants with breast cancer using longitudinal designs and developing psychological interventions that focus on increasing BA.

For N integer $\ge 1$, K. Murty and D. Ramakrishnan defined the Nth Heisenberg curve, as the compactified quotient $X^{\prime }_N$ of the upper half-plane by a certain non-congruence subgroup of the modular group. They ask whether the Manin–Drinfeld principle holds, namely, if the divisors supported on the cusps of those curves are torsion in the Jacobian. We give a model over $\mathbf {Z}[\mu _N,1/N]$ of the Nth Heisenberg curve as covering of the Nth Fermat curve. We show that the Manin–Drinfeld principle holds for $N=3$, but not for $N=5$. We show that the description by generator and relations due to Rohrlich of the cuspidal subgroup of the Fermat curve is explained by the Heisenberg covering, together with a higher covering of a similar nature. The curves $X_N$ and the classical modular curves $X(n)$, for n even integer, both dominate $X(2)$, which produces a morphism between Jacobians $J_N\rightarrow J(n)$. We prove that the latter has image $0$ or an elliptic curve of j-invariant $0$. In passing, we give a description of the homology of $X^{\prime }_{N}$.

Let f and g be analytic functions on the open unit disk ${\mathbb D}$ such that $|f|=|g|$ on a set A. We give an alternative proof of the result of Perez that there exists c in the unit circle ${\mathbb T}$ such that $f=cg$ when A is the union of two lines in ${\mathbb D}$ intersecting at an angle that is an irrational multiple of $\pi $, and from this, deduce a sequential generalization of the result. Similarly, the same conclusion is valid when f and g are in the Nevanlinna class and A is the union of the unit circle and an interior circle, tangential or not. We also provide sequential versions of this result and analyze the case $A=r{\mathbb T}$. Finally, we examine the most general situation when there is equality on two distinct circles in the disk, proving a result or counterexample for each possible configuration.