Fossils and more recent remains of dead organisms serve as natural archives of Earth’s recent and ancient history. It is often the case that small or fragmented specimens, especially microvertebrate bones, go unstudied. Accurate identification of such remains to a specific taxonomic level can help address a wide range of questions spanning paleontology, paleoecology, zooarchaeology, ecology, conservation science, forensics, and biogeography. Geometric morphometrics demonstrates significant potential for identifying fragmented lizard fossils to at least the family level based on shape differentiation. Our proof-of-concept study using lizard maxillae of extant species within the Pacific Northwest, USA, accurately identified fragmented maxillae with as few as six comparative specimens per genus. These findings establish a framework for addressing taxonomic challenges in fragmented bone specimen identification for taxa whose curated comparative specimens are small in number and unequal in representation.

We investigate a specific class of irreducible, level-dependent, discrete-time, GI/M/1-type Markov chains. The transition matrices possess a block lower-Hessenberg structure, which shows asymptotic convergence along the rows as the level approaches infinity. Criteria are presented for recurrence, transience, positive recurrence, geometric ergodicity, and geometric transience in terms of elements of the transition matrices. These criteria are established by employing drift functions and matrix-generating functions. Furthermore, we discuss the extension of the main results to the continuous-time case.

Author of Il Regno del Sud (1946), an influential first-hand history of the Kingdom of Italy that was set up in Allied territory after the 1943 armistice, Agostino degli Espinosa did much to shape Italian memory of the Allied occupation of Italy. In this article I examine for the first time degli Espinosa’s doubts about Italy’s postwar future, which appear in the margins of his history, and which come to the fore in his fiction. I argue that the critical re-evaluation of the work of this emblematic but understudied figure can shed light on Italy’s divided memories of the Second World War and the Allied occupation.

Radio frequency (RF) coaxial connectors are crucial in high-speed digital systems for data transmission. Connectors applied in harsh environments will be degraded over time, affecting the signal integrity. At present, a suitable equalization technology is of substantial value for enhancing the quality of high-speed signal transmission. However, there is limited research focusing on specific equalization designs for degraded connectors. In this current work, based on the theoretical analysis, simulations validation and experimental testing, an equivalent circuit model of the degraded connector was developed. Furthermore, an equalization structure consisting of series resistance and capacitance was proposed. The transmission loss caused by the connector degradation was compensated effectively using this method. Meanwhile, eye diagram characteristics were improved significantly at the receiver where zero timing jitter and an almost full eye opening were achieved. Equalization enhances the eye opening factor by over 50% compared to the uncompensated system. This paper integrates electrical contact theory with high-speed equalization design. Tools and guidance were provided through the proposed modeling techniques for studying equalization effects of this degraded connector system in designs and applications.

A new species of Pseudocorax (Lamniformes, Pseudocoracidae), Pseudocorax heteroserratus n. sp., is described from the upper Maastrichtian phosphates of Morocco. This novel taxon is recognized by a large sample of isolated teeth collected from the upper Couche III layer at the Sidi Chennane quarry in the Oulad Abdoun Basin, Khouribga Province, Morocco. P. heteroserratus is differentiated from other Pseudocorax species by bearing a mesiodistally elongated tooth base, broad crown, and highly variable serrations. The variability in number and extent of serrations along the carinae ranges from completely absent to fully serrated and finely to coarsely serrated, raising speculation on broader Pseudocorax phylogenetics and as to whether the genesis of serrations within Pseudocorax occurred in a singular progressive event or rather from two distinct events. The morphological variability within the new species highlights the importance of large sample sizes in selachian odontological studies using isolated teeth.

UUID: http://zoobank.org/a8e2d349-5b2e-4fdd-9e3e-a93a290bf875

Shorter, warmer winters linked to climate change are inviting the northwards expansion of mosquito species (Diptera: Culicidae) and the pathogens they vector. Monitoring can play an important role in helping to mitigate the health impacts of mosquito-borne disease due to changes in regional mosquito species composition. To update the inventory of mosquito species currently residing in Nova Scotia, we sampled adult mosquitoes from 60 locations using Centers for Disease Control and Prevention light traps and collected mosquito larvae from 232 water sources across nine ecozones from May to October in 2021 and 2022. Of the 12 652 mosquitoes collected, we identified 35 species, including eight species not previously recorded in the province: Aedes aurifer (Coquillett), Aedes decticus Howard et al., Aedes pionips Dyar, Aedes hendersoni Cockerell, Aedes sticticus (Meigen), Culiseta minnesotae Barr, Culiseta melanura (Coquillett), and Culex salinarius Coquillett. We have also observed the province-wide expansion of Aedes japonicus (Theobald) since the species’ first detection in Nova Scotia in 2007. Overall, vector species are being detected more frequently in Nova Scotia, highlighting potential changes in disease dynamics as climate change progresses and furthering the need for continued monitoring.

This article examines women’s storytelling and nanga (harp) performances in nineteenth- and twentiethcentury western Uganda to investigate how these songs shaped community identity and norms. Drawing on musical recordings, archival sources, and interviews, this article demonstrates that these performances functioned as important public histories, teaching audiences about past famines, droughts, climate change, and cattle events. These narratives both chronicled regional histories and provided the shared intellectual material from which community norms and a shared identity could be articulated. Extant scholarship has focused overwhelmingly on how male intellectuals contributed to ideas of race, nation, or ethnicity. This article thus provides an important alternative by showing how women produced histories that contributed to group identity—yet this historical production occurred through musical performances rather than in books, tracts, or petitions. In doing so, this article reintegrates western Ugandan women into narratives of imperial encounters and intellectual history.

This case describes a 32-year-old adult male who was incidentally diagnosed with isolated dextrocardia, Double inlet left ventricle (l-looped), l-transposed great arteries with subpulmonary stenosis during evaluation for an orbital abscess. This case highlights protective factors that enabled this patient’s survival into adulthood without cardiac surgeries or medications despite single ventricle physiology, namely his “self-banded” pulmonary flow.

Judges in Vietnam have increasingly been called upon by the state and society to resolve new social and economic problems. However, the expansion of judicial authority presents a problem for Vietnam’s authoritarian government, which wants courts that can resolve social problems without challenging state interests. This study draws on empirical research to explore whether judges in Vietnam’s authoritarian polity can harness legal reasoning to extend their authority. It uses a novel theoretical framework based on systems theory to understand how judges determine who is entitled to benefit from the law, which norms are appropriate to particular cases, and how such norms might direct them to reach decisions. Data from case studies and interviews with judges reveal that courts in Vietnam are increasingly using legal reasoning to manage the interaction between legal and extralegal norms, which is a decision-making process with the potential to expand judicial authority over socially significant disputes.

In 1782, Zhang Peifang, then serving as magistrate in Sizhou, Anhui, returned briefly to his family home in a small village in central Shanxi. While there, he visited a local temple, the Guangyu Shrine, where villagers typically made prayers concerning childbirth, and then penned an inscription in which he makes an elaborate argument about the identity of the temple goddess. Zhang’s stele inscription is an interpretive powerhouse of classical erudition, but moves to a surprising conclusion that reveals complex issues of agency imbricated into the scholar-official’s role as negotiator between the canonical values of the imperial state and the informal institutions and practices of local communities. The inscription records valuable details concerning local religious practices and gender roles, analysis of which can provide nuance to our understanding of the dynamic social tensions below the surface of Watson’s “standardization model.”

Integrating metabolic syndrome (MetS) screening procedures into routine care remains challenging. Traditional anthropometric and body composition assessments, while useful, have drawbacks that limit their application. However, automated anthropometrics produced from smartphone scanning applications may offer a solution. This study aimed to determine whether smartphone-derived anthropometrics could effectively predict both MetS and its severity. A total of 281 participants underwent a MetS screening assessment to determine fasting blood pressure, lipids, glucose and waist circumference and completed a smartphone scanning assessment (MeThreeSixty®) to collect digital anthropometrics. Actual MetS classification and MetS severity (MetSindex), a continuous estimate of MetS progression, were determined using MetS screening data. Then, least absolute shrinkage and selection operator regression was used to develop a new MetSindex prediction equation in a subset of participants (n 226), which was subsequently tested in the remaining participants (n 55), and MetS classification was predicted from the retained variables using logistic regression. The following equation was produced: Smartphone-predicted MetSindex: −0·8880 + 0·1493(medication use = 1; 0 = no medication use) + 0·0089(weight) + 0·0079(bust circumf.) + 0·0140 (thigh circumf.) – 0·6247(appendage-to-trunk circumf. index), where medication use includes medications for hypertension, dyslipidaemia or hyperglycaemia. The newly developed MetSindex prediction model demonstrated equivalence with actual MetSindex and revealed acceptable agreement (R2:0·72; root mean squared error: 0·42; se of the estimate: 0·22) when evaluated in the testing sample (n 55), although proportional bias was observed (P < 0·001). Smartphone-predicted MetS classification demonstrated acceptable diagnostic performance with an accuracy of 92·7 % and an AUC of 0·89. Smartphone scanning applications can accurately assess MetS prevalence and severity, presenting new possibilities for health screening beyond clinical environments.

The crystal structure of Form A of dequalinium chloride has been solved and refined using synchrotron X-ray powder diffraction data, and optimized using density functional theory techniques. Dequalinium chloride Form A crystallizes in space group P42212 (#94) with a = 26.2671(8), c = 9.1119(4) Å, V = 6,286.9(4) Å3, and Z = 8 at 298 K. Despite the conventional representation of the cation, the ring N atoms are not positively charged. The positive charges are distributed on the ring carbon atoms ortho and para to these N atoms. The central decyl chain conformation is more kinked than the all-trans that might be expected in the solid state, but contains only one unusual torsion angle. The crystal structure consists of an array of dequalinium cations, with chloride anions located in regions between the cations. There are short stacks of roughly parallel rings in multiple directions. There is only one classical hydrogen bond in the structure, N–H···Cl between one of the amino groups and one of the chloride anions. Several C–H···Cl hydrogen bonds are prominent, involving ring, chain, and methyl hydrogen atoms as donors. Particularly noteworthy are the hydrogen bonds from the first and second C atoms at each end of the decyl chain. The powder pattern has been submitted to the International Centre for Diffraction Data (ICDD) for inclusion in the Powder Diffraction File™ (PDF®).

In this paper, we study partitions of totally positive integral elements $ \alpha $ in a real quadratic field $ K $. We prove that for a fixed integer $ m \geq 1 $, an element with $ m $ partition exists in almost all $ K $. We also obtain an upper bound for the norm of $\alpha$ that can be represented as a sum of indecomposables in at most $m$ ways, completely characterize the $\alpha$’s represented in exactly $2$ ways, and subsequently apply this result to complete the search for fields containing an element with $ m $ partitions for $ 1 \leq m \leq 7 $.

This article reports on a scoping review of legislation, policy, and guidance for England on care-planning co-production within dementia care. Systematic searching of online repositories uncovered nineteen documents, and synthesis revealed seven key categories representing practice requirements and recommendations: ‘person-centred care plan’, ‘accessibility and support’, ‘involvement of person with dementia’, ‘involvement of partners-in-care’, ‘decision-making’, ‘treatment goals and outcomes’, and ‘care plan review’. Findings validate the premise that care-planning should always be co-produced with people affected by dementia as experts-by-experience, and support practice principles previously identified by this group within the empirical literature. Health and social care professionals can use this learning to improve care-planning practice. However, a disconnect persists between national expectations for service providers to co-produce care-planning and users’ reported experiences, with many expressing dissatisfaction at being treated as passive recipients. Consequently care-planning co-production stills needs a stronger evidence base and more practical support to achieve statutory guidance ambitions.

While scholarship on the Bible’s reception in the United States has frequently engaged with modern translations of the text, the popularity of abridged Bibles during the first half of the twentieth century represents an overlooked chapter of this history. This essay takes up one of these shortened Bibles, The Living Bible (1928), edited by the lawyer and back-to-the-land advocate Bolton Hall, as a window into the larger significance of these abbreviated versions for American religious history. Though not a biblical scholar or clergyman, Hall was confident that he had successfully condensed the substance of the canon into a text a third of its size, which he proudly proclaimed as the first “readable” Bible. Together with Hall’s other abridgment projects and his advocacy for single-tax proposals, this Bible reflects a larger optimism in this period about the power of simplification—what the historians Kenneth Cmiel and John Durham Peters aptly call the “culture of happy summary.” This article examines Hall’s condensed canon in relationship to his advocacy for the simplification of government and his abridgment of other classics by Henry George and Leo Tolstoy as artifacts of a hope shared by many in this period that the truths of an increasingly complex world could be reduced without remainder.