We study finite orbits of non-elementary groups of automorphisms of compact projective surfaces. We prove that if the surface and the group are defined over a number field $\mathbf {k}$ and the group contains parabolic elements, then the set of finite orbits is not Zariski dense, except in certain very rigid situations, known as Kummer examples. Related results are also established when $\mathbf {k} = \mathbf {C}$. An application is given to the description of ‘canonical vector heights’ associated to such automorphism groups.

Emilio Comba, a leading Waldensian historian in the nineteenth century, was a strong advocate for nation-building in post-unification Italy. This article examines the relationship between Comba's “making Italians” endeavors and his historical writings, focusing mainly on his appropriation of the preceding confessional framework. As a fervent nationalist and evangelical pastor, Comba believed that true Risorgimento required not only political independence but also a religious reform of the Italian nation that would restore Italians to the original Religion of Christ. He envisioned this national reform as a realization of both liberty and the Gospel within the universal history of the Christian religion. Comba employed historical writings to support his claims, attempting to demonstrate how Italy was a perennially Protestant nation on the one hand and to serve as a magistra vitae for fellow citizens on the other. This article argues that Comba relied on a genealogical narrative structure inherited from the early modern protestant historiography in presenting his national history. By recasting its composition according to a category of the nation, he transformed a confessional genealogy of the true church into a national one. From a broader perspective, this article calls for further reflection on the role that the early modern intellectual framework played in the process of modern nation-building.

Heritable thoracic aortic aneurysms are complex conditions characterised by the dilation or rupture of the thoracic aorta, often occurring as an autosomal-dominant disorder associated with life-threatening complications. In this case report, we present a de novo variant, MFAP5 c.236_237insA (p.N79Kfs9), which is implicated in the development of inherited thoracic aortic aneurysm. The proband, a 15-year-old male, presented with recurrent cough, dull chest pain, chest distress, vomiting, and reduced activity tolerance, leading to the diagnosis of heritable thoracic aortic aneurysms. Whole-exome sequencing identified a novel heterozygous variant in MFAP5 (NM_003480, c.236_237insA, and p.N79Kfs9). MutationTester and PolyPhen-s predicted this variant to be damaging and disease-causing (probability = 1), while the SFIT score indicated protein damage (0.001). Structural analysis using the AlphaFold Protein structure database revealed that this mutation disrupted the N-linked glycosylation site, resulting in a frameshift, amino acid sequence alteration, and truncation of an essential protein site. To our knowledge, this is the first case report describing a young patient with heritable thoracic aortic aneurysm carrying the novel MFAP5 c.236_237insA (p.N79Kfs*9) variant. This variant represents the third identified mutation site associated with heritable thoracic aortic aneurysm. Given the high mortality and morbidity rates associated with thoracic aortic aneurysms, the prevention of severe and fatal complications is crucial in the clinical management of this condition. Our case highlights the importance of whole-exome sequencing and genetic screening in identifying potential pathogenic or likely pathogenic variants, particularly in early-onset patients with aortic dilation, to inform appropriate management strategies.

Medicines optimisation ensures that people get the best possible outcomes from their medicines. As those with severe mental illness (SMI) are frequently prescribed psychotropic medicines with potentially significant side-effects, poor adherence to treatment and physical morbidity are common. This results in suboptimal symptom control, physical health problems and negative health outcomes. The specialist mental health pharmacist (SMHP) is best placed to provide leadership for medicines optimisation in the inpatient mental health setting. By adopting a patient-centred approach to providing information, improving adherence, screening, initiating and maintaining medicines, and supporting self-advocacy, the SMHP can ensure the patients’ experience of taking medicines is optimised. As there is currently limited understanding of what a baseline clinical pharmacy service in a mental health setting looks like, we aim to outline a framework for pharmacist-led medicines optimisation for those with SMI. This framework is suitable to be scaled and adapted to other settings.

This article is the second part of a detailed historical assessment of historical scholarship and training at the Department of History of the Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife. It assesses the contemporary situations of historical scholarship and training in the Department vis-à-vis the personalities, programs/courses, and prospects and challenges of the Department over the years. It provides brief profiles of the current academic staff of the Department, the undergraduate and graduate programs and courses, as well as legacies of the founding fathers of the Department. It is shown in the article that the Department of History at Ife has excelled in all areas of historical scholarship and training in the last sixty years of its existence in spite of its challenges. The article concludes that the Department of History at OAU, Ile-Ife, has good potential for greater achievements in historical scholarship and training in the future.

We consider the minimum spanning tree problem on a weighted complete bipartite graph $K_{n_R, n_B}$ whose $n=n_R+n_B$ vertices are random, i.i.d. uniformly distributed points in the unit cube in $d$ dimensions and edge weights are the $p$-th power of their Euclidean distance, with $p\gt 0$. In the large $n$ limit with $n_R/n \to \alpha _R$ and $0\lt \alpha _R\lt 1$, we show that the maximum vertex degree of the tree grows logarithmically, in contrast with the classical, non-bipartite, case, where a uniform bound holds depending on $d$ only. Despite this difference, for $p\lt d$, we are able to prove that the total edge costs normalized by the rate $n^{1-p/d}$ converge to a limiting constant that can be represented as a series of integrals, thus extending a classical result of Avram and Bertsimas to the bipartite case and confirming a conjecture of Riva, Caracciolo and Malatesta.

If states are permitted to create and maintain a military force, by what means are they permitted to do so? This article argues that a theory of just recruitment should incorporate a concern for moral risk. Since the military is a morally risky profession for its members, recruitment policies should be evaluated in terms of how they distribute moral risk within a community. We show how common military recruitment practices exacerbate and concentrate moral risk exposure, using the UK as a case study. We argue that the British state wrongs its citizens by subjecting them to excessively morally risky recruitment practices. Since, we argue, this risk exposure cannot be justified by appealing to the benefits of a military career for recruits, our argument calls for reform of existing practices. Our method of evaluation is generalizable and therefore can be used to assess other states’ practices.

A meta-porphyritic granitoid in the Makrohar Granulite Belt, Central India contains extensive myrmekite. This work evaluates the controls of fluid in relation to deformation and the formation of myrmekite all along the periphery of an alkali-feldspar megacryst. Two different myrmekite morphologies are present: (1) vermicular intergrowth of plagioclase (An38–39) and quartz (Myr1); and (2) polygonal aggregates of coarse plagioclase (An45–46) and quartz (Myr2). Petrographic features suggest that myrmekite Myr1 nucleates on alkali-feldspar and plagioclase porphyroclasts and the myrmekite front moved into the alkali feldspar by replacing it; and that myrmekite Myr2 and the secondary biotite which replaces plagioclase porphyroclasts and garnet form together. Deformation had a decisive role in forming the polygonal aggregates of Myr2, however field and microtextural features do not support any significant control of deformation during the formation of Myr1. Reaction modelling and a mass-balance calculation suggest that Ca and Na are added to, and K is removed from, the alkali feldspar during the myrmekite formation at nearly constant Si and Al. However, the secondary biotite-forming reaction, consumes K and releases Ca. Interpretation of the reaction textures in different isothermal–isobaric sections of μK2O–μCaO in the KCFASH system suggest that CaO and K2O moved in opposite directions for myrmekitisation and along their respective chemical potential gradients created between the sites of formation of myrmekite and secondary biotite. The feedback mechanism which operated between the two reaction sites was controlled by infiltration of brine-rich fluid in the meta-granitoid during a regional hydration event (550–600oC and 5–6 kbar). Volume reduction of ~10% during the formation Myr1 and Myr2 drew the brine-rich fluid towards the alkali feldspar and thus facilitated the process of myrmekite formation. Variation in the morphology of quartz in the myrmekite is attributed to the cooling of the complex.

We explore a simple model of network dynamics which has previously been applied to the study of information flow in the context of epidemic spreading. A random rooted network is constructed that evolves according to the following rule: at a constant rate, pairs of nodes (i, j) are randomly chosen to interact, with an edge drawn from i to j (and any other out-edge from i deleted) if j is strictly closer to the root with respect to graph distance. We characterise the dynamics of this random network in the limit of large size, showing that it instantaneously forms a tree with long branches that immediately collapse to depth two, then it slowly rearranges itself to a star-like configuration. This curious behaviour has consequences for the study of the epidemic models in which this information network was first proposed.

Compliant interaction between robots and the environment is crucial for completing contact-rich tasks. However, obtaining and implementing optimal interaction behavior in complex unknown environments remains a challenge. This article develops a hybrid impedance and admittance control (HIAC) scheme for robots subjected to the second-order unknown environment. To obtain the second-order target impedance model that represents the optimal interaction behavior without the accurate environment dynamics and acceleration feedback, an impedance adaptation method with virtual inertia is proposed. Since impedance control and admittance control have complementary structures and result in unsatisfactory performance in a wide range of environmental stiffness due to their fixed causality, a hybrid system framework suitable for the second-order environment is proposed to generate a series of intermediate controllers which interpolate between the responses of impedance and admittance controls by using a switching controller and adjusting its switching duty cycle. In addition, the optimal intermediate controller is selected using a mapping of the optimal duty cycle to provide the optimal implementation performance for the target impedance model. The proposed HIAC scheme can achieve the desired interaction and impedance implementation performance while ensuring system stability. Simulation and experimental studies are performed to verify the effectiveness of our scheme with a 2-DOF manipulator and a 7-DOF Franka EMIKA panda robot, respectively.

Noting a curious link between Andrews’ even-odd crank and the Stanley rank, we adopt a combinatorial approach building on the map of conjugation and continue the study of integer partitions with parts separated by parity. Our motivation is twofold. Firstly, we derive results for certain restricted partitions with even parts below odd parts. These include a Franklin-type involution proving a parametrized identity that generalizes Andrews’ bivariate generating function, and two families of Andrews–Beck type congruences. Secondly, we introduce several new subsets of partitions that are stable (i.e. invariant under conjugation) and explore their connections with three third-order mock theta functions $\omega (q)$, $\nu (q)$, and $\psi ^{(3)}(q)$, introduced by Ramanujan and Watson.

Tea (Camellia sinensis (L.) Kuntze) leaves are an important beverage crop due to their high caffeine content. Although the north of Iran is the main region for high-quality tea plants, there is no document on variations of phenotypic traits of different accessions. The present study was to assess the biodiversity of 12 tea accessions originating from four tea main sites in Iran (Langroud, Siahkal, Kobijar and Bazkiaguorab) using multivariate analysis. Two-year-old tea plants were cultivated in a completely randomized design with five replicates in a greenhouse. One year after plant establishment, phenotypic characteristics were studied. The tea accessions showed different responses in chlorophyll and total ash contents. The highest and lowest amount of caffeine in tea accessions was found in Kobijar A7 and Langroud A2, respectively. Epicatechin was obtained in a 6.48–15.44 mg g−1 range, and the maximum variability was found in epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG), differing from 0.94 to 21.03 mg g−1. Langroud A2 and Bazkiaguorab A11 contained the maximum EGCG and the total polyphenolic content in Bazkiaguorab was greater than other accessions. Heat map analysis showed the maximum variability of EGCG, catechin, and GA among the accessions. The main essential oil compounds were 2-pentyl furan followed by hexanal, gamma-terpinene, octane, ortho-cymene, terpinen-4-ol, alpha-copaene and E-caryophyllene. In conclusion, changes in phytochemical traits caused by genetics and origin can significantly alter the quality of tea compounds. The results of this study can be utilized as raw materials in future breeding projects to improve new cultivars with superior characteristics.

Because states must rebut the presumption of responsibility, all prisoner deaths must be investigated. These investigations frequently illustrate the tip of an iceberg of rights abuses and systemic hazards but have largely escaped analysis in prison-monitoring scholarship. Focusing on suicides, we assemble some of the first evidence illustrating how the staff of the Prisons and Probation Ombudsman, who investigate prisoner deaths in England and Wales, seek to prevent further deaths. Ombudsman investigations are widely regarded as ineffective, yet there are competing constructions regarding why this is and what could be done to improve outcomes. As a result of organizational norms and constraints, ombudsman staff have offered narrow accounts of prisoner suicides, focusing on the failure of frontline staff to comply with prison policies. By contrast, prison staff and coroners have focused on systemic hazards or “accidents waiting to happen,” including imprisoning people with severe mental illness, illegal drugs, unsafe facilities, and inadequate staffing. These differing constructions lock penal actors into an unproductive cycle of blame shifting that contributes to high suicide numbers. We reconceptualize prisoner deaths as occurring at the intersection of systemic hazards, organizational contexts, and individual errors. We hope that this reconceptualization facilitates broader investigations that are more likely to prevent prisoner deaths.