This article analyses the contribution of Mīrzā Āqāsī (1197–1265/1783–1849) to the political theology literature of the Qajar period and, consequently, to the dynamics and tensions between Sufism and power in Iranian Shi‘i society. Āqāsī was the first minister of the Qajar king Muḥammad Shāh (r. 1250–1264/1834–1848) and the author of an important political treatise titled Chahār-i faṣl-i sulṭānī va shīam-i farūkhī (The Four Royal Discourses and the Nobles’ Principles of Conduct). This treatise presents several original features, particularly regarding the classical views on the spiritual and political hierarchy in Islam, as well as within the context of the culture of authority in a Shi‘i setting. These views are expressed by Āqāsī in a partially initiatory mode, which renders their interpretation complex and open.

How do Euroskeptic parties adjust their rhetoric when the European Union expands its fiscal and redistributive role? We address this question by examining the impact of the next-generation EU (NGEU) program on parliamentary debates in Italy, the largest beneficiary of EU recovery funds. Drawing on an original dataset of over 700 hand-coded parliamentary statements covering 30 debates in the Italian Chamber of Deputies (2018–2024), we show that the launch of NGEU coincided with a measurable increase in supportive rhetoric toward the EU, especially among parties with Euroskeptic profiles, a shift that is not solely attributable to changes in government status. Our findings suggest that EU-level redistributive policies can contribute to altering, at least temporarily, domestic party discourse in parliament, pointing to the domestic political relevance of fiscal integration

The effect of tab orientation on the mixing characteristics of a Mach 1.6 circular jet issuing from a convergent-divergent (C-D) nozzle is studied experimentally. The tabs used in this study are triangular tabs with sharp and truncated vertices positioned upright and in inverse orientations, along diametrically opposite locations at the nozzle exit. Mixing characteristics of the jet operated at nozzle pressure ratios (NPRs) 3 to 6, in step 1, were studied. For inverse triangular and inverse truncated triangular tabs, a maximum core length reduction of about 87% is achieved at NPR 3. The corresponding core length reductions caused by the upright triangular and truncated triangular, and rectangular tabs are 71, 81 and 84%, respectively. It is found that the jet mixing is strongly influenced by the combined effect of tab geometry, tip effectand the pressure gradient at the nozzle exit. The pressure distribution in the directions along and perpendicular to the tab, at different axial locations, was used to discern the evolution and spread of the jet. The pressure profiles for all tab geometries show that the jet spread perpendicular to the tab is more than that along the tab at all the NPRs studied. The shadowgraph images of the jets show that the waves present in the controlled jet are weaker than those in the uncontrolled jet.

Theodicies attempt to explain why evil and suffering might exist in a world governed by an omnipotent, omniscient, and wholly good God. Some theodicies focus on pointing out benefits that suffering seems necessary for, though in many cases the benefits are primarily for someone other than the sufferer. Some philosophers find it morally objectionable for God to let one person suffer in order to benefit someone else, and this is thought to be a weakness of some otherwise promising theodicies. I discuss two moral concerns in this context: a mere-means-to-an-end concern and a concern about horrendous evils remaining undefeated. I argue that incorporating a doctrine of reincarnation may help some theodicies resolve both of these moral concerns, giving theodicists reason to turn towards such doctrines.

Between 2023 and 2024, the Endangered Archaeology in the Middle East and North Africa (EAMENA) project and the Libyan Department of Antiquities (DoA) collaborated to apply the newly-developed EAMENA Machine Learning Automated Change Detection (MLACD) method to a series of case studies across Libya. The first of these case studies concerns the region of Lefakat, south of Benghazi, which is facing rapid urbanization, placing heritage sites under immediate threat. An initial desk-based assessment was conducted to identify archaeological sites and apply the MLACD method. Following the remote sensing analyses, a team of Libyan archaeologists from the DoA conducted fieldwork to verify and validate the results. The work involved archaeological and condition assessments of the sites. The remote sensing and fieldwork survey documented 30 archaeological sites, primarily dating from the Roman period, recording new information about these sites. The threats affecting them related primarily to urbanization and vegetation growth, looting and rubbish dumping. The approach highlighted in this article combines advanced remote sensing technologies with fieldwork validation, providing a robust framework for monitoring and safeguarding archaeological sites.

This article aims to explain how passive participles used as prenominal modifiers developed their eventive nature throughout the history of English. It is argued that prenominal participles first expressed stative result states in Old English (OE) and came to express perfect result states later on. The locus of required resultativity in participles was the inner aspect head in OE, while in Early Middle English (EME), it shifted to the outer aspect head. This shift was triggered by the loss of OE aspectual prefixes, which generally functioned to perfectivize or transitivize the verb by affecting its (internal) argument and assigning a change-of-state meaning to the verb. This shift rendered participial formation to be less constrained, as a result of which, it became possible for prenominal participles to express perfect resultative meanings, which in turn gave rise to their eventive meanings.

This article provides a detailed description of an undocumented use of zaìshì 在勢 as a deontic adverb in Late Qing and Early Republican Chinese literature. This word commonly functions as a verb (“to hold power”) or a nominalized verb (“one who holds power”), but its use as a preposed deontic adverb, meaning “under these circumstances”, is not attested in earlier Chinese texts and has no cognates in other Sinitic languages. The author analyses the syntax and semantics of zaìshì in a large corpus of medieval Chinese texts and early Chinese translations of foreign literature. The article then suggests that the preposed deontic adverb zaìshì emerged as the result of the appropriation of linguistic elements present in classical literature but whose use had been restricted to classical forms of literary composition.

We propose a one-to-many matching estimator of the average treatment effect based on propensity scores estimated by isotonic regression. This approach is predicated on the assumption of monotonicity in the propensity score function, a condition that can be justified in many economic applications. We show that the nature of the isotonic estimator can help us to fix many problems of existing matching methods, including efficiency, choice of the number of matches, choice of tuning parameters, robustness to propensity score misspecification, and bootstrap validity. As a by-product, a uniformly consistent isotonic estimator is developed for our proposed matching method.

Cross-functional coordination is common in contemporary work and requires professionals with different expertise and roles to cooperate to complete tasks. However, conflicts can exist between functions. This study focuses on a specific factor that impedes cross-functional coordination – status–authority asymmetry, where professionals with lower status are assigned functional authority to supervise higher-status professionals and demand their compliance with particular processes or tasks. The existing literature suggests strategies for the low-status group to elicit the high-status group’s compliance; however, neither approach is cost-effective. We identify new opportunities in the digital age and investigate how low-status professionals can utilize digital technology to improve cross-functional coordination. We conducted a 17-month ethnographic study in a Chinese hospital to determine how low-status pharmacists obtain compliance from high-status doctors in the prescription review process. We propose that contingent exploitation (i.e., strategically restricted utilization of digital technology) is an effective strategy to achieve the low-status function’s purposes. Through strategic configuration of process streamlining, knowledge imprinting, and compliance enforcement, the low-status group can exert functional authority without evoking fierce resistance from the high-status group. This study contributes to the literature on cross-functional coordination and extends our understanding of technological adaptation in a cross-functional context.