In 2008, Tóth and Vető defined the self-repelling random walk with directed edges as a non-Markovian random walk on $\unicode{x2124}$: in this model, the probability that the walk moves from a point of $\unicode{x2124}$ to a given neighbor depends on the number of previous crossings of the directed edge from the initial point to the target, called the local time of the edge. Tóth and Vető found that this model exhibited very peculiar behavior, as the process formed by the local times of all the edges, evaluated at a stopping time of a certain type and suitably renormalized, converges to a deterministic process, instead of a random one as in similar models. In this work, we study the fluctuations of the local times process around its deterministic limit, about which nothing was previously known. We prove that these fluctuations converge in the Skorokhod $M_1$ topology, as well as in the uniform topology away from the discontinuities of the limit, but not in the most classical Skorokhod topology. We also prove the convergence of the fluctuations of the aforementioned stopping times.

In coffee breeding, selection of mother plants based on the yield potential, resistance to diseases and pest and bean quality are considered as the important criteria. Hence, utilisation and evaluation of coffee germplasm is the crucial step in the improvement process. With this background, an experiment was conducted to study the genetic diversity of 41 Arabica coffee genotypes in India during 2020–2021 and 2021–2022. Study reveals that, the analysis of variance revealed significant differences among the genotypes for all the characters studied indicating the presence of variability. Relatively higher values for GCV were observed for number of secondaries per primary (29.77 and 24.84%), total nodes per primary (30.07 and 26.62%), bearing nodes per primary (35.72 and 29.03%), number of flower buds per primary (40.79 and 33.68%), number of fruits per primary (49.64 and 36.39%) and per cent ‘A’ grade bean (37.47 and 37.83%) than PCV indicating the influence of environmental variations is less and prevalence of additive gene action. Similarly, high magnitude of heritability (>80%) combined with a strong genetic advance as per cent of mean (>20%) was established for most of the growth and yield attributing traits including caffeine content and per cent ‘A’ grade bean (100%) during both the years of study 2020–2021 and 2021–2022, respectively indicated better scope for genetic improvement in these character through simple selection. The variability observed among the genotypes should be further confirmed by using the molecular markers.

Plotinus’ understanding of self is formulated largely in dialogue with the Stoics. In early works he categorically rejects the Stoic notion of the hēgemonikon (‘leading part’ or ‘commanding faculty’) of the soul. In this paper, I show how, in light of a general dissatisfaction with the Stoic account of self articulated in his early work, Plotinus deals with the Stoic notion of oikeiōsis (‘appropriation’). I argue that Plotinus’ understanding of oikeiōsis develops across the period during which he uses it. In his middle writings, Plotinus engages with Stoic oikeiōsis by exploring how it functions in contexts related to selfhood. In his later writings, he shows, on the one hand, how the concept of oikeiōsis can be Platonized, such as to account for the relation of the self to the Good, and, on the other, how the Stoic understanding of oikeiōsis is untenable for many of the same reasons that he rejects the Stoic notion of the hēgemonikon. Ultimately, Plotinus thinks that Stoic understandings of the hēgemonikon and oikeiōsis are untenable because they lead to something that could be characterized as ‘selfishness’.

This article further develops and illustrates the argument that relationships between individuals help to explain the success of human rights advocacy in international institutions. Drawing from advocacy theory and socio-legal studies, I shift the attention from collective forms of advocacy to the importance of interpersonal relationships of advocates with individuals in international institutions to influence the development of human rights. I introduce a framework consisting of three analytical steps – mapping the key actors in a network, process-tracing, and biographical research – and apply the framework to three cases of norm development by a United Nations human rights treaty body. My findings highlight the power of interpersonal relationships for the making of human rights, and they inform scholarship on transnational elites, human rights advocacy, and the politics of international law.

In his Imagines, Philostratus the Elder stages a scintillating play with several levels of representation and suggests that his verbal account can give the reader access to the pictures described and even the scenes depicted in the pictures. But does Philostratus actually immerse us in the paintings? This is a claim often made by scholars; however, an embodied and enactive analysis of the Imagines alerts us to various features that, instead of immersing us, highlight Philostratus’ rhetorical brilliance. The Imagines are not so much an ecphrasis in the sense of the Progymnasmata (that is, defined by enargeia) as a meditation on their ecphrastic practice. In general, the reference to another representation endows the ecphrasis of artwork with a reflexivity that tends to push the goal of making the hearer see something in the background.

The objective of this paper was to characterize bycatch in an experimental fishery for Patagonian toothfish in Ecuador during 2017–2021. Diversity was analysed using Shannon, Margalef, Simpson, and Dominance indices. Bycatch representativity was calculated as the difference percentage between the target catch and non-target, in weight. The bycatch comprised 51 taxa and was composed primarily of fish. In addition, 12 species of pelagic habits (i.e. fishes and sharks) were also captured during the deployment/retrieval of fishing gear. The most frequent species (by number of individuals) were chimaeras (Hydrolagus melanophasma), grenadiers (Antimora rostrata, Coryphaenoides delsolari, and Coryphaenoides armatus), and sharks (Etmopterus granulosus and Centroscymnus owstonii). The diversity was medium low, according to the Shannon indices (0.5–1.8), with a negative trend for dominance and a positive trend for equitability.

Pension systems increasingly require active involvement from their participants for retirement planning. This leads to the need for a proper level of financial literacy to foster decision-making. Based on the Chilean Social Protection Survey and the Regional Development Index data, specific characteristics related to the region of residence, such as the quality of life, access to job opportunities, and available connectivity tools, are seen to have a positive impact on pension knowledge. Hence, these regional level results provide inputs to policymakers for developing appropriate policies regarding pension knowledge.

This article presents a novel argument against an application of evidential scientism to religious belief. In particular, our target is those arguments at whose core lies the claim that it ought to be the case that, if one holds religious beliefs, then those beliefs are based on the best scientific evidence. Moreover, rather than focussing on the philosophical puzzles that usually fall within the purview of philosophers of religion, we are interested in the mundane beliefs of ordinary believers about their everyday interactions with God. Our argument combines recent work on epistemic partiality in close personal relationships with insights from analytic theology on the personal nature of believer's relationships with God. We argue that it's inappropriate for believers who take themselves to have a personal relationship with God to base their religious beliefs about God's nature on scientific evidence. In particular, it's precisely because these believers are in a personal relationship with God that it's sometimes inappropriate for them to form their beliefs about God's nature on the basis of scientific evidence.

After protracted conflicts, Afghanistan and Iran agreed on a treaty in 1973 to share the waters of the Helmand River. However, this legal arrangement became a source of controversy over its equitable and reasonable utilization principle. The 1973 Helmand River Water Treaty reflects a history of legal and political controversy and strongly contrasting views, with some labelling it the “worst” treaty and others the “best”. This paper scrutinizes the history of legal arrangements of the Helmand River within its underlying political context to search for evidence of the aforementioned equitable and reasonable utilization principle. The findings indicate that the 1973 Treaty provides a grey space for legality and illegality, being a greatly restricted instrument to uphold the principle of equity. Examination of the principle of equity in the 1973 Treaty contributes to developing constructive controversy over the Helmand River and offers valuable lessons for other international watercourses facing similar challenges.

In the late 18th century, the discovery of “A Letter to My Husband” (Jiwai shu), attributed to a woman named Yunzhen, caused great excitement in Beijing. Focusing on the question of how the mysterious letter captured the imagination of the literati, this article employs the strategy of contextualized reading to tease out social and cultural milieus and the textures of sentimentality of its readers. It suggests that the letter's resonating power rests on its dual nature: a self-expression of a talented and exemplary wife and a chronicle of the time when the entanglement of female talent, wifely virtue, marital love, and family tension became integral to the lives of the literati.

For the first time in history, the United States surpassed 100 000 overdose-related deaths in a 12-month period, driven by synthetic opioids such as fentanyl. Also, for the first time, potential chemical weapons are readily available on the streets and the dark web. Opioids represent a rare trifecta, used for licit pain management, as an illicit drug of abuse, and with potential use as a weapon of terror. Community-based Response to Drug Overdose (CReDO) is an initiative to unite agencies, disciplines, government, and private partners in 1 coordinated opioid emergencies response plan under nationwide standards, and can be integrated into the disaster medicine discipline due to the risk of mass casualty incidents involving fentanyl or its derivatives. Attention to the opioid crisis through CReDO will save lives by promoting information sharing between disciplines, shortened response time to overdose clusters, community collaboration to identify criminal distribution networks, and holistic approaches to addiction.

Nearly 60 complete or fragmentary slate backings from iron-ore mirrors have been found in pre-Columbian funerary contexts in northern Costa Rica, including a couple that bear Maya hieroglyphic inscriptions. With the exception of a single example dating between a.d. 800 and 1550, these slate objects typically occur in contexts dating from 300 b.c. to a.d. 500–600. Recent geochemical analyses indicate foreign production of these artifacts, likely in the Maya area, where slate-backed iron-ore mirrors were related to power, shamanism, and divination, and were manufactured by highly specialized artisans working under the patronage of members of the elite, particularly in the Classic period. In this article we address the question of when, how, and why mirrors from Mesoamerica made their way to Costa Rica and, ultimately, into the funerary contexts from which they have been recovered. To that end, we analyze the regions, contexts, style, and chronology of these Costa Rican examples and compare them with contemporary styles and contexts in the Maya area, including a reinterpretation of one mirror-back presenting hieroglyphic inscriptions. Finally, we explore potential distribution routes and the potential mechanisms of exchange that existed between these distant, yet somehow related areas.