Copulas are helpful in studying joint distributions of two variables, in particular, when confounders are unobserved. However, most conventional copulas cannot model joint distributions where one variable does not increase or decrease in the other in a monotonic manner. For instance, suppose that two variables are linearly positively correlated for one type of unit and negatively for another type of unit. If the type is unobserved, we can observe only a mixture of both types. Seemingly, one variable tends to take either a high or low value (or a middle value) when the other variable is small (large), or vice versa. To address this issue, I consider an overlooked copula with trigonometric functions (Chesneau [2021, Applied Mathematics, 1(1), pp. 3–17]) that I name the “normal mode copula.” I apply the copula to a dataset about government formation and duration to demonstrate that the normal mode copula has better performance than other conventional copulas.

Existing empirical literature provides converging evidence that selective emigration enhances human capital accumulation in the world's poorest countries. However, the within-country distribution of such brain gain effects has received limited attention. Focusing on Senegal, we provide evidence that the brain gain mechanism primarily benefits the wealthiest regions that are internationally connected and have better access to education. Conversely, human capital responses are negligible in regions lacking international connectivity, and even negative in better connected regions with inadequate educational opportunities. These results extend to internal migration, implying that highly vulnerable populations are trapped in the least developed areas.

The field of developmental psychopathology tends to focus on the negative aspects of functioning. However, prosocial behavior and empathy-related responding – positive aspects of functioning– might relate to some aspects of psychopathology in meaningful ways. In this article, we review research on the relations of three types of developmental psychopathology– externalizing problems (EPs), internalizing problems (IPs), and Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) – to empathy-related responding (e.g., affective and cognitive empathy, sympathy, personal distress) and prosocial behavior. Empathy-related responding and prosocial behavior generally have been inversely related to EPs, although findings are sometimes reversed for young children and, for empathy, weak for reactive aggression. Some research indicates that children’s empathy (often measured as emotional contagion) and personal distress are positively related to IPs, suggesting that strong sensitivity to others’ emotions is harmful to some children. In contrast, prosocial behaviors are more consistently negatively related to IPs, although findings likely vary depending on the motivation for prosocial behavior and the recipient. Children with ASD are capable of prosocially and empathy-related responding, although parents report somewhat lower levels of these characteristics for ASD children compared to neurotypical peers. Issues in regard to measurement, motivation for prosociality, causal relations, and moderating and mediating factors are discussed.

Real-time and efficient path planning is critical for all robotic systems. In particular, it is of greater importance for industrial robots since the overall planning and execution time directly impact the cycle time and automation economics in production lines. While the problem may not be complex in static environments, classical approaches are inefficient in high-dimensional environments in terms of planning time and optimality. Collision checking poses another challenge in obtaining a real-time solution for path planning in complex environments. To address these issues, we propose an end-to-end learning-based framework viz., Path Planning and Collision checking Network (PPCNet). The PPCNet generates the path by computing waypoints sequentially using two networks: the first network generates a waypoint, and the second one determines whether the waypoint is on a collision-free segment of the path. The end-to-end training process is based on imitation learning that uses data aggregation from the experience of an expert planner to train the two networks, simultaneously. We utilize two approaches for training a network that efficiently approximates the exact geometrical collision checking function. Finally, the PPCNet is evaluated in two different simulation environments and a practical implementation on a robotic arm for a bin-picking application. Compared to the state-of-the-art path-planning methods, our results show significant improvement in performance by greatly reducing the planning time with comparable success rates and path lengths.

This study examines the relationship between online communication by the Proud Boys and their offline activities. We use a supervised machine learning model to analyze a novel dataset of Proud Boys Telegram messages, merged with US Crisis Monitor data of violent and nonviolent events in which group members participated over a 31-month period. Our analysis finds that intensifying expressions of grievances online predict participation in offline violence, whereas motivational appeals to group pride, morale, or solidarity share a reciprocal relationship with participation in offline events. This suggests a potential online messaging–offline action cycle, in which (a) nonviolent offline protests predict an increasing proportion of motivational messaging and (b) increases in the frequency and proportion of motivational appeals online, in turn, predict subsequent violent offline activities. Our findings offer useful theoretical insights for understanding the relationship between online speech and offline behavior.

This study examines the role of entrepreneurs’ multi-country resources and mobility in achieving transnational entrepreneurship survivability. Outlined by the Forms of Capital model through the context of transnational entrepreneurship, this research provides a layer of understanding on the individual-opportunity-venture nexus in entrepreneurship through to exploring the way individual resources contribute towards venture survivability in a dynamic environment. The findings indicate that there are four core configurations associated with long-term entrepreneurial survivability, with geographical mobility is present as the necessary condition in achieving the outcome of interest. Theory-wise, this study speaks to the discourse of individual-opportunity-venture nexus through the configurations revealed from the findings. Practice-wise, the configurations will be useful for transnational entrepreneurs and policymakers interested in developing policies to encourage transnational venture sustainability.

In the context of theological interpretations of disabilities, I am arguing for the concept of “strength in weakness.” So far, a “theology of weakness,” which portrays people with disabilities as pointedly illustrating universal human weakness, has played a very prominent role in the field. I argue that this theological interpretation of disabilities should not be the dominant one. I trace the alternative model of “strength in weakness” in discussing writings by the apostle Paul and describe how it is supported by the anthropological concept of intercorporeality. Yet first, the article discusses Stanley Hauerwas’s theology of disability, which is not only a very pointed theology of weakness but also repeatedly associates disabilities with suffering. Since at least the latter aspect is in contrast with widespread self-perceptions among people with disabilities, a theology of weakness amounts to a “narrative prosthesis” (David Mitchell and Sharon Snyder). By contrast, Paul suggests that weakness can allow for distinct strengths. To flesh out distinctive competences of people with intellectual disabilities, I then discuss Maurice Merleau-Ponty’s concept of intercorporeality. Intercorporeality denotes a human competence more generally, but I suggest that it is often partly eclipsed by social norms. However, people with intellectual disabilities often pay less attention to social norms, which helps explain a distinctive intercorporeal competence among people with intellectual disabilities. Reduced attention to social norms can imply a distinctive strength.

The radiocarbon (14C) dating method was applied to a survey of treasured items related to the ruins of the Imperial Residence in Anou, Nara Prefecture, which was one of the capitals of Japan during the 14th century. In this work, we dated two storage bags for Japanese musical instruments that are believed to be from the period of Emperor Go-Daigo who established the Southern Court. The 14C dating of these treasures proved that the musical instrument sacks are contemporaneous with the dating of the Imperial Residence ruins designated as an Important Cultural Property of Japan. In addition, there are limited surviving examples of silk fabrics from the Middle Ages compared to the Ancient and Early Modern periods, making this a valuable resource in the history of silk fabrics in Japan.

We present a method for estimating the ideology of political YouTube videos. The subfield of estimating ideology as a latent variable has often focused on traditional actors such as legislators, while more recent work has used social media data to estimate the ideology of ordinary users, political elites, and media sources. We build on this work to estimate the ideology of a political YouTube video. First, we start with a matrix of political Reddit posts linking to YouTube videos and apply correspondence analysis to place those videos in an ideological space. Second, we train a language model with those estimated ideologies as training labels, enabling us to estimate the ideologies of videos not posted on Reddit. These predicted ideologies are then validated against human labels. We demonstrate the utility of this method by applying it to the watch histories of survey respondents to evaluate the prevalence of echo chambers on YouTube in addition to the association between video ideology and viewer engagement. Our approach gives video-level scores based only on supplied text metadata, is scalable, and can be easily adjusted to account for changes in the ideological landscape.

Nutrition plays a pivotal role in health and disease prevention and management and through its interactions with social and personal factors, influences an individual's growth, development and life chances, as well as long-term health and longevity. These factors include amongst others, genetic inheritance, ethnicity, socio-cultural context, sex and gender. Although different interpretations exist, in general sex refers to the genetic, biological and physiological attributes that distinguish females, males and intersex whereas gender refers to socio-cultural and politically constructed roles and behaviours associated with a feminine, masculine or non-binary identity, which vary from society to society. Sex has implications for key biological processes involving food and nutrients as well as life-stage differences in nutritional requirements. Sex and gender may have implications in how individuals engage in different dietary behaviours and respond to nutrition interventions. The Irish Section Nutrition Society 2023 Conference sought to enhance understanding of the role of sex and gender in nutrition research; explore the influence of sex and gender on risk of non-communicable diseases and examine sex- and gender-specific considerations across the life course. This short editorial provides an overview and highlights of the conference.

Startups play a crucial role in advancing the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) through their innovative solutions that increasingly focus on sustainability. However, they face significant challenges in effectively assessing their contribution to the SDGs. In our study, by adopting an action-research methodology, we develop and introduce Prosper, i.e., a tailored social impact assessment (SIA) framework for startups. First, we conducted a comprehensive review of existing methods and standards for assessing social impact to establish an initial foundation of Prosper. Second, we refined Prosper based on an empirical validation on five startups. By embracing action research, we aim to empower startups with a robust and user-friendly tool, which facilitates SIA and representation. We also contribute to the literature aimed at overcoming the existing sustainability barriers for startups and to respond to the call for assisting them in reporting about SDGs. We also discuss practical implications and future research avenues.

A new species of the free-living nematode genus Trachactinolaimus, collected in natural habitats of northern Iran, is described, including morphological and molecular (28S-rDNA) data. Trachactinolaimus persicus sp. n. is characterized by its 1.95–2.44 mm long body, lip region weakly offset by depression and 18–20 μm wide, odontostyle 25–27 μm long, neck 540–636 μm long, pharyngeal expansion occupying one-half of the total neck length, bipartite uterus 2.6–3.9 body diameters long, vulva (V = 49–53) pore-like, tail long and filiform in both sexes (174–223 μm, c = 10.0–13.4, c’ = 5.9–7.0 in females, 165–196 μm, c = 10.7–13.8, c’ = 4.6–5.8 in males), spicules 68–75 μm long, and 12–14 almost contiguous ventromedian supplements with hiatus. Molecular data supports the monophyly of the genus and the hypothesis that Dorylaimidae are the sister group of actinolaims. The taxonomy of Trachactinolaimus is updated, including diagnosis, list of species, key to their identification, and a compendium of their main morphometrics. Dominiactinolaimus is regarded as its junior synonym.