Suppose $\mathcal {H}$ is an admissible Heegaard diagram for a balanced sutured manifold $(M,\gamma )$. We prove that the number of generators of the associated sutured Heegaard Floer complex is an upper bound on the dimension of the sutured instanton homology $\mathit {SHI}(M,\gamma )$. It follows, in particular, that strong L-spaces are instanton L-spaces.

Socioeconomic disadvantage is a major correlate of low political participation. This association is among the most robust findings in political science. However, it is based largely on observational data. The causal effects of early-life disadvantage in particular are even less understood, because long-term data on the political consequences of randomized early-life anti-poverty interventions is nearly nonexistent. We leverage the Moving to Opportunity (MTO) experiment to test the long-term effect of moving out of disadvantaged neighborhoods—and thus out of deep poverty—on turnout. MTO is one of the most ambitious anti-poverty experiments ever implemented in the United States. Although MTO ameliorated children’s poverty long term, we find that, contrary to expectations, the intervention did not increase children’s likelihood of voting later in life. Additional tests show the program did not ameliorate their poverty enough to affect turnout. These findings speak to the complex relationship between neighborhood disadvantage and low political participation.

In the fields of agricultural, food and medical research, the potential impacts of tea on human health are of special interest because tea (Camellia sinensis (L.) Kuntze) is continuously consumed by many people in the world. The evaluation of the diversity of genotypes found in tea germplasm can aid in the improvement of the breeding programme. In this study, the genetic diversity of 30 tea genotypes from two commercial sites of tea production in Iran was investigated by using morphological and 12 ISSR markers. Morphological analysis showed that the diversity between samples of tea was limited, and the narrow matching range was calculated. In cluster analysis at level 0.63, samples were divided into four groups. The application of 12 ISSR primers produced 91 polymorphic bands. PIC test showed a range of 0.41–0.48. Based on the ISSR data, the matching range was obtained in the range of 0.24–0.93. In cluster analysis, samples at level 0.58 were divided into five groups. According to the results, it can be understood that these series of traits and primers can very well recognize genetic differences. Using these markers, genetic diversity was observed among tea genotypes, but this diversity was not such as to be able to separate genotypes of various regions from each other. The results showed that the tea genotypes in Iran had high genetic diversity. As a consequence, the findings of our study will help the development of tea germplasm conservation strategies and their sustainable use in breeding programmes.

Verbascum blattaria L., commonly known as moth mullein, naturalized in the USA that produces white or yellow flowers could be considered as a potential ornamental plant. However, genetic characterization using molecular markers and leaf morphology, colourimetric analysis and flowering of V. blattaria influenced by low temperature treatments was not investigated to evaluate as a potential horticultural and landscape plant use. The basal leaves developed during the rosette-growth stage were oblanceolate with an obtuse leaf apex and incisions at the margin. Leaves produced on the stem during the reproductive development were ovate or lanceolate with an obtuse or acute leaf apex. Regardless of the colour of the petiole and leaf blade during the rosette-growth stage, there were no differences in the sequences of nuclear ribosomal ITS and chloroplast interspacer. All plants produced creamy white flowers with a purplish base corolla. All leaves formed during the vegetative and reproductive development were glabrous. Numerous stalked glandular trichomes were observed in the sepal, pedicel and bracts. Seeds started to germinate in 10 days at 25°C and reached the plateau in 30 days after sowing. The earliest flowering occurred in 131 days when the plants received 20 days of low temperature treatment (CD) (20 CD), producing 76 flowers, the highest number compared to the number of flowers produced by plants that received 0, 40 and 60 CD. Plants that received 20 CD exhibited early flowering, probably because of the early transition from vegetative growth to reproductive development, as judged by the short stem to the first flower.

Teatr Ósmego Dnia (the Theatre of the Eighth Day), established in Poznań in 1964, was a part of Polish student theatre. Between 1976 and 1981, it became one of the most important companies in the history of the Polish theatre, producing several masterpieces. It also became a legendary grouping of democratic, anti-communist opposition. The persecution it was subjected to was caused by censorship, the secret police, and the administration at all levels. However, the members of the group managed to overcome everyday fear, face the totalitarian authorities openly, and create unforgettable artistic works. Four of them, who belonged to the group from the early 1970s, still maintain the ethical principles and artistic strategies adopted at that time, and thus now clash with the ideology of the current ruling administration, which is the right-wing Law and Justice Party.

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and the social license to operate (SLO) are widespread global phenomena in mining-dependent countries. These self-regulated frameworks are used to ensure local ownership and as a response to conflict by mining companies. Over the past two decades, CSR in the mining industry has only been more prevalent in Africa and South Africa. Studies on CSR and SLO primarily focus on community perspectives. This paper interrogates how mining companies respond to civic social pressure by considering two cases that have experienced much conflict in South Africa. Based on eighteen in-depth interviews and an analysis of company and media reports, our case studies demonstrate that mining companies primarily use CSR and SLO to assert and maintain corporate control under the guise of promoting local ownership and sustainable mining. Such strategies provide temporary relief and gradually erode CSR and SLO’s legal and political imperatives.

Since its introduction in 1964, the World Medical Association’s Declaration of Helsinki—Ethical Principles for Medical Research Involving Human Subjects has enshrined the importance of safeguarding the well-being of human subjects in clinical research. The Declaration has undergone seven revisions, often in response to requests for clarification. I want to argue that the Declaration is in need of another revision in light of recent discoveries in placebo research.

The academic interest in popular entertainment was long retarded by a class attitude that regarded it as a cultural phenomenon of inferior quality. Those who researched it were collectors and enthusiasts rather than professional scholars. The disdain of the Frankfurt School was also a factor. In the 1960s, with the rise of leisure studies and a Marxist-inflected interest in working-class culture, this began to change. The study of popular forms is now an accepted, even dominant part of the humanities curriculum, though still occasionally tinged with apology.

This article examines the effect of racial attitudes on the electoral performance of the New Democratic Party (NDP). Since 2017, the NDP has been led by Jagmeet Singh, the first non-white leader of a nationally competitive Canadian political party. Voters’ racial attitudes and the race of party leaders have a significant effect on vote choice in the United States. Less is known about whether similar effects exist in Canadian elections. I show that NDP vote choice polarized on the basis of racial attitudes following Singh's ascension to party leader. Voters with cold feelings toward racial minorities were less likely to vote for the NDP in 2019 and 2021 than in comparable historical elections. In contrast, there is no significant difference between 2019/2021 and prior elections in support for the Liberals and Conservatives among such voters. These results suggest that racial attitudes are salient in Canadian elections and that national parties may face an electoral penalty when selecting non-white party leaders.

A growing body of literature has focused on how different states continuously “make race” by legitimizing certain racial categories while invisibilizing others. Much less has been written on the actual processes of transforming race into a bureaucratic category when implementing antiracist public policies. This article focuses on the recent use of verification commissions to validate the racial self-identification of potential beneficiaries of racial quotas at federal higher education institutions in Brazil. We argue that through their choices, particularly through their definition of what race is, of who can see race, and of how to see race, these commissions are transforming not only understandings about affirmative action’s aims but also understandings of race. The study focuses on three potential consequences of commission practices for Brazilian racial boundaries: the disciplining of racial identifications, the decontextualization of race, and the individualization of racial injustice.

Specialized geriatric services care for older adults (≥ 65 years of age) with dementia and other progressive neurological disorders, frailty, and mental health conditions were provided both virtually and in person during the pandemic. The objective of this study was to implement a software-enabled standardized self-report instrument – the interRAI Check-Up Self-Report – to remotely assess patients. A convergent, mixed-methods research design was employed. Staff found the instrument easy to use and the program-level metrics helpful for planning. Most patients urgently needed a geriatrician assessment (72%) and had moderate to severe cognitive (34%) and functional impairments (34%), depressive symptoms (53%), loneliness (57%), daily pain (32%), and distressed caregivers (46%). Implementation considerations include providing ongoing support and facilitating intersectoral collaboration. The Check Up enhanced the geriatric assessment process by creating a system to track all needs for immediate and future care at both the patient and program level.

Our imaginings seem to be similar to our perceiving and remembering episodes in that they all represent something. They all seem to have content. But what exactly is the structure and the source of the content of our imaginings? In this paper, I put forward an account of imaginative content. The main tenet of this account is that, when a subject tries to imagine a state of affairs by having some experience, their imagining has a counterfactual content. What the subject imagines is that perceiving the state of affairs would be, for them, like having that experience. I discuss three alternative views of imaginative content, and argue that none of them can account for two types of error in imagination. The proposed view, I suggest, can account for both types of error while, at the same time, preserving some intuitions which seem to motivate the alternative views.