Bratteli–Vershik models of compact, invertible zero-dimensional systems have been well studied. We take up such a study for polygonal billiards on the hyperbolic plane, thus considering these models beyond zero-dimensions. We describe the associated Bratteli models and show that these billiard dynamics can be described by Vershik maps.

The grim realities of the COVID-19 pandemic have resuscitated discussions about the effectiveness of the flexibilities entrenched in the World Trade Organization Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) for improving access to medicines. This article revisits this vexed issue by examining whether a regional approach to implementing TRIPS obligations could deliver a better outcome for access, especially in low- and middle-income countries, where manufacturing capacity is almost non-existent. Using the East African Community (EAC) as a case study, the article critiques recommended implementation options under the EAC policy on TRIPS flexibilities, concluding that, if significantly implemented, these recommendations could yield a better outcome for access.

The distinctive features of the modern form of citizenship include, among other things, that it is both internally inclusive and externally exclusive; that it establishes legal equality so that membership of the state supersedes all other memberships and allegiances; and that it defines membership as independent of residence. These characteristics largely evolved during the “long nineteenth century”, the period between the French Revolution and the First World War. Similar to that of today, the historical situation in which citizenship evolved was one of intensified mobility. With the example of Sweden, this article finds that citizenship, in both its internal and external dimensions, was elaborated partly as a way to manage the mobility of the migrant poor. The contours of citizenship emerged as authorities aimed to control and direct the movement of the poor, which preceded control efforts. This has implications for our understanding of citizenship as well as of the state, and highlights the agency of migrants.

This study aimed to assess how Bacillus subtilis and Enterococcus faecium co-fermented feed (FF) affects the antioxidant capacity, muscle fibre types and muscle lipid profiles of finishing pigs. In this study, a total of 144 Duroc × Berkshire × Jiaxing Black finishing pigs were randomly assigned into three groups with four replicates (twelve pigs per replication). The three treatments were a basal diet (0 % FF), basal diet + 5 % FF and basal diet + 10 % FF, respectively. The experiment lasted 38 d after 4 d of acclimation. The study revealed that 10 % FF significantly increased the activity of superoxide dismutase (SOD) and catalase (CAT) compared with 0 % FF group, with mRNA levels of up-regulated antioxidant-related genes (GPX1, SOD1, SOD2 and CAT) in 10 % FF group. 10 % FF also significantly up-regulated the percentage of slow-twitch fibre and the mRNA expression of MyHC I, MyHC IIa and MyHC IIx, and slow MyHC protein expression while reducing MyHC IIb mRNA expression. Lipidomics analysis showed that 5 % FF and 10 % FF altered lipid profiles in longissimus thoracis. 10 % FF particularly led to an increase in the percentage of TAG. The Pearson correlation analysis indicated that certain molecular markers such as phosphatidic acid (PA) (49:4), Hex2Cer (d50:6), cardiolipin (CL) (72:8) and phosphatidylcholine (PC) (33:0e) could be used to indicate the characteristics of muscle fibres and were closely related to meat quality. Together, our findings suggest that 10 % FF improved antioxidant capacity, enhanced slow-twitch fibre percentage and altered muscle lipid profiles in finishing pigs.

This article examines how the Turkish political elites have responded to the uneven geographical distribution of physicians. This has been a chronic problem in health care provision, with physicians concentrated in the urban areas of western Anatolia at the cost of rural areas and the east, especially the Kurdish southeast. Successive Turkish governments have employed compulsory service laws as major policy tools to tackle this distribution problem. Legislative discussions about these laws have revolved around the idea of a unitary Turkey, the Turkish nation, and how to close the gap between the idealized imaginary of these and the defective reality. Drawing on Kojin Karatani’s mode-of-exchange framework, this study examines the legislative process on the distribution problem through the history of the post-Ottoman republic to the present. It identifies Turkish nationalism centered on state and on commodity exchange as two variants giving shape to the response to the problem. This analysis also contributes to our understanding of the weakness of social citizenship in Turkey. It is argued that Turkish nationalism—specifically, its state-centered version—operates by interpellating Turkish citizens as indebted to the nation-state, thereby hindering the development of the notion of the rights-bearing citizen.

Trichinellosis is a re-emerging worldwide foodborne zoonosis. Oxidative stress is one of the most common detrimental effects caused by trichinellosis. In addition, Trichinella infection poses an infinite and major challenge to the host’s immune system. Resistance and side effects limit the efficiency of the existing anti-trichinella medication. Given that concern, this work aimed to investigate the anti-helminthic, antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and immunomodulatory effects of resveratrol and zinc during both phases of Trichinella spiralis infection. Sixty-four Swiss albino mice were divided into four equal groups: non-infected control, infected control, infected and treated with resveratrol, and infected and treated with zinc. Animals were sacrificed on the 7th and 35th days post-infection for intestinal and muscular phase assessments. Drug efficacy was assessed by biochemical, parasitological, histopathological, immunological, and immunohistochemical assays. Resveratrol and zinc can be promising antiparasitic, antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and immunomodulatory agents, as evidenced by the significant decrease in parasite burden, the significant improvement of liver and kidney function parameters, the increase in total antioxidant capacity (TAC), the reduction of malondialdehyde (MDA) level, the increase in nuclear factor (erythroid-derived 2)-like-2 factor expression, and the improvement in histopathological findings. Moreover, both drugs enhanced the immune system and restored the disturbed immune balance by increasing the interleukin 12 (IL-12) level. In conclusion, resveratrol and zinc provide protection for the host against oxidative harm and the detrimental effects produced by the host’s defense response during Trichinella spiralis infection, making them promising natural alternatives for the treatment of trichinellosis.

We define higher semiadditive algebraic K-theory, a variant of algebraic K-theory that takes into account higher semiadditive structure, as enjoyed for example by the $\mathrm {K}(n)$- and $\mathrm {T}(n)$-local categories. We prove that it satisfies a form of the redshift conjecture. Namely, that if $R$ is a ring spectrum of height $\leq n$, then its semiadditive K-theory is of height $\leq n+1$. Under further hypothesis on $R$, which are satisfied for example by the Lubin–Tate spectrum $\mathrm {E}_n$, we show that its semiadditive algebraic K-theory is of height exactly $n+1$. Finally, we connect semiadditive K-theory to $\mathrm {T}(n+1)$-localized K-theory, showing that they coincide for any $p$-invertible ring spectrum and for the completed Johnson–Wilson spectrum $\widehat {\mathrm {E}(n)}$.

Although several studies have revealed that fractional order controllers usually outperform conventional integer-order control solutions, fractional order controllers are not yet widely applied in industrial applications due to their complex mathematical background. In this paper, further improvements of a simple weighted sum feedback design are introduced that imitates the behavior of a fractional order controller but is free from its various formal restrictions. The proposed control solution has the main characteristics of a fractional order controller, such as finite memory length, excellent transient response with no overshoot and robust behavior, but it is placed into a much simpler mathematical framework. In the current paper, a simple derivative term was incorporated in the design which made the controller’s output more stable by completely eliminating output chattering. The proposed control method was developed for a general second-order system. It was tested in a fixed point iteration-based adaptive control scenario, through simulations using a robotic example and on experimental basis as well, utilizing a simple one-degree-of-freedom electromechanical system. The presented experiments are the first systematic investigations of the fixed point iteration-based adaptive control method.

In this article, I offer a novel and in-depth account of how, for Kant, free speech is the mechanism that moves a society closer to justice. I argue that the criticism of the legislator preserved by free speech must also be the result of collective agreement. I further argue that structural features of judgements of taste and the sensus communis give guidance for how we should communicate publicly to succeed at the aims Kant has laid out, as judgements of taste, like politics, belong fundamentally to a transitional sphere between nature and freedom.

Temperature is among the key factors impacting the establishment and spread of invasive pests. The tomato leafminer Tuta absoluta (Meyrick) (Lepidoptera: Gelechiidae) is one of the major pests attacking Solanaceae plants and is known to possess overwintering capacities. However, the cold hardiness of T. absoluta pupae is poorly documented. In this study, we investigated the effect of constant temperature and stepwise cooling on T. absoluta pupae under laboratory conditions. For this purpose, bioassays on pupal development under constant temperature (5°C) for 30, 60 and 90 days, and stepwise changes in temperature (11, 10 and 8°C; in this order every 30 days), were assessed. We found that exposure to 5°C for 30 and 60 days did not affect the post-cooling emergence time of adults compared to the control. Pupae completed their development after 60 days of cold exposure at 5°C, but more adults emerged after 30 than 60 days. Even though alive pupae were observed after 90 days of cold exposure at 5°C, no adults emerged. External colours of pupae depended on the duration of cold periods, and green pupae obtained after 30 and 60 days were found to be positively correlated with the emergence of adults. When pupae were kept at 11°C for 30 days, 47% emerged, and when the temperature was changed to 10, only 12% of pupae emerged for the period 31–60 days. However, the decrease of the temperature to 8°C yielded no emergence for the period 61–90 days. Our study provides useful information to better understand the population dynamics of overwintering T. absoluta, and to underpin the development of monitoring and control strategies for the pest.

Many countries use employer-sponsored visas to regulate migrant worker recruitment. By tying each sponsored migrant to a single employer, employer-sponsored visas have contributed to problems of workers being underpaid and mistreated. Through a critical assessment of temporary visas in Australia, particularly the Temporary Skill Shortage visa, and an analysis of relevant Australian and international literature, we argue that employer-sponsored visas are fundamentally flawed in their design and should be replaced. We consider various alternative options to employer sponsorship for regulating migrant worker recruitment before proposing the creation of a ‘mobility visa’, which would allow migrant workers to move freely between employers. We argue a mobility visa is a superior model for protecting worker equity and voice while also helping to address labour market needs.

For a post-critically finite branched covering of the sphere that is a subdivision map of a finite subdivision rule, we define non-expanding spines which determine the existence of a Levy cycle in a non-exhaustive semi-decidable algorithm. Especially when a finite subdivision rule has polynomial growth of edge subdivisions, the algorithm terminates very quickly, and the existence of a Levy cycle is equivalent to the existence of a Thurston obstruction. To show the equivalence between Levy and Thurston obstructions, we generalize the arcs intersecting obstruction theorem by Pilgrim and Tan [Combining rational maps and controlling obstructions. Ergod. Th. & Dynam. Sys. 18(1) (1998), 221–245] to a graph intersecting obstruction theorem. As a corollary, we prove that for a pair of post-critically finite polynomials, if at least one polynomial has core entropy zero, then their mating has a Levy cycle if and only if the mating has a Thurston obstruction.

Recent work on crime fiction has highlighted the genre’s increasingly transnational focus and the growing number of migrant detectives. Matsotsi, a little-known Nyanja text published in Zambia in the early 1960s, provides a much earlier example of this figure in Sergeant Balala, an Angolan detective fighting to contain the tsotsi menace in Johannesburg, South Africa. Matsotsi, however, does more than point to cross-border detection as a means of elucidating transnational relationships. Shonga and Zulu’s text manipulates the genres of the detective novel and the bildungsroman to tell a story about the relationships among the individual, the state, and the wider region at a key moment in southern African history, when Zambia and Malawi were on the cusp of independence. Although African language writing has often been considered too localized to be used for nationalist purposes, here it is mobilized for the purpose of state-making in a transnational context.

This study aims to increase understanding of the values and outcomes of teacher action research in conservatoire education. Teacher action research has been found to stimulate both professional development and improvement of teaching practice. A multiple-case study design was employed to examine teachers’ activities and their perceptions of the value of action research. Findings from the cross-case analysis include teachers’ perceptions of action research as a way to stimulate the advancement of both their teaching practice and their professional development. Constructive collaborations and self-reflections related to teacher action research were found to reinforce their learning and teaching.

Prior research based on Swedish data suggests that collective optimism, as measured by monthly incidence of suicides, correlates inversely with selection in utero against male twins in a population. We test this finding in the US, which reports the highest suicide rate of all high-income countries, and examine whether monthly changes in overall suicides precede changes in the ratio of male twin to male singleton live births. Consistent with prior work, we also examine as a key independent variable, suicides among women aged 15−49 years. We retrieved monthly data on suicides and the ratio of male twin to singleton live births from CDC WONDER, 2003 to 2019, and applied Box-Jenkins iterative time-series routines to detect and remove autocorrelation from both series. Results indicate that a 1% increase in monthly change in overall suicides precedes a 0.005 unit decline in male twin live births ratio 6 months later (coefficient = −.005, p value = .004). Results remain robust to use of suicides among reproductive-aged women as the independent variable (coefficient = −.0012, p value = .014). Our study lends external validity to prior research and supports the notion that a decline in collective optimism corresponds with greater selection in utero.

This article reconstructs and analyses the conceptual history of “the people” [Folket] in modern Danish history. It applies qualitative and quantitative methods to analyze new data and archival materials and provides a detailed study of the construction, development and central role of populist conceptions of “the people” in the constitutional struggles between 1830 and 1920 that transformed Denmark from an absolute monarchy into a parliamentary democracy. I argue that these populist conceptualizations of “the people” shaped and fostered the emergence of the ideas and practices of parliamentary democracy as “the people’s rule” [Folkestyre]. This case study thereby challenges contemporary assumptions about an inherently adversarial relationship between populism and democracy. Moreover, it makes a number of empirical and analytical contributions to the existing historiography, as well as the literature on the construction of “the people,” democracy and populism.

The presence of obstacles in the propagation path is a critical factor in air-to-ground (AG) communication. The behavior of wireless signal propagation depends on several variables, such as frequency, building height, elevation angle, and street design. This paper aims to compare the three established line of sight (LOS) probability model based on actual site data, including the building geometry in suburban environment. The comparison between these three models using the site data provide a guideline for selecting the LOS probability model based on the optimistic and pessimistic predictions. The shadowing loss was evaluated at frequencies 2 and 3.5 GHz with an elevation angle of 20° in two suburban locations at Universiti Tun Hussein Onn Malaysia. Three prediction models, ITU-R P.1410-5, Holis and Pechac, and Pang et al., available in the literature were used to identify and compare the line-of-sight probability. By focusing on the shadowing model in suburban area, the guideline for optimizing LOS communications or navigation in these challenging environments can be developed. The finding highlights the importance of considering building height in AG communication for network performance evaluation and design.