We analyse the $\Gamma$-convergence of general non-local convolution type functionals with varying densities depending on the space variable and on the symmetrized gradient. The limit is a local free-discontinuity functional, where the bulk term can be completely characterized in terms of an asymptotic cell formula. From that, we can deduce an homogenisation result in the stochastic setting.

Commercial application of embryo transfer in pig breeding is dependent on the storage of embryos. The aim of this study was to assess the embryo quality of in vitro-produced blastocysts after 3 h liquid storage at 37°C in CO2-free medium by evaluating morphology, in vitro developmental capacity and apoptosis. Blastocysts at days 5 and 6 post-fertilization were randomly allocated to the storage group (HEPES-buffered NCSU-23 medium including bovine serum albumin in a portable embryo transport incubator at 37°C) or a control group (porcine blastocyst medium in a conventional culture incubator). Thereafter, blastocysts were evaluated for morphology and stained to assess apoptosis straight after the 3 h storage period or after a further 24 h conventional incubation. There was no significant difference between the storage and control group after 3 h storage and the further 24 h conventional incubation for any of the parameters, nor for apoptosis straight after the 3 h storage. Embryos that reached the blastocyst stage at day 5 showed less apoptosis (6.6% vs 10.9%, P = 0.01) and a trend for a higher rate of developmental capacity (70.6% vs 51.5%, P = 0.089) than embryos reaching the blastocyst stage on day 6. In conclusion, in vitro-produced porcine blastocysts can be stored for 3 h at physiological temperature in transportable incubators using a CO2-independent medium without compromising quality.

Study abroad (SA) has long been regarded as a key component of internationalization efforts in higher education and much scholarship has investigated the practices and outcomes of SA from varied perspectives. More recently, scholars have paid growing attention to ways to increase the participation of historically marginalized students in SA, to design SA programs to meet those students’ needs, and to document their experiences abroad. Despite recent scholarship in these areas, relatively little research has employed an equity lens to address research on language-focused SA. This article puts forward language-focused SA as a possible venue to pursue equity and to provide quality education for all students, especially for historically underserved students. More specifically, we address three overarching questions: (1) What theoretical frameworks could be implemented to research SA through an equity lens?; (2) What methodological approaches could inform SA research with an equity lens?; and (3) What topics could be examined to research SA through an equity lens? Drawing on equity as a guiding principle, we discuss relevant research tasks that demonstrate specific ways to address these overarching questions in future research on language-focused SA.

Over the past 2 decades, several categorizations have been proposed for the abnormalities of the aortic root. These schemes have mostly been devoid of input from specialists of congenital cardiac disease. The aim of this review is to provide a classification, from the perspective of these specialists, based on an understanding of normal and abnormal morphogenesis and anatomy, with emphasis placed on the features of clinical and surgical relevance. We contend that the description of the congenitally malformed aortic root is simplified when approached in a fashion that recognizes the normal root to be made up of 3 leaflets, supported by their own sinuses, with the sinuses themselves separated by the interleaflet triangles. The malformed root, usually found in the setting of 3 sinuses, can also be found with 2 sinuses, and very rarely with 4 sinuses. This permits description of trisinuate, bisinuate, and quadrisinuate variants, respectively. This feature then provides the basis for classification of the anatomical and functional number of leaflets present. By offering standardized terms and definitions, we submit that our classification will be suitable for those working in all cardiac specialties, whether pediatric or adult. It is of equal value in the settings of acquired or congenital cardiac disease. Our recommendations will serve to amend and/or add to the existing International Paediatric and Congenital Cardiac Code, along with the Eleventh iteration of the International Classification of Diseases provided by the World Health Organization.

The title of this article is a riff off a publication of G. C. Harcourt’s 1974 piece, ‘The social consequences of inflation’. He wrote this in a period of the global economy that bears some strong similarities to our own contemporary phase when inflation is suddenly back in the global headlines. There is at least one significant difference: at that time, Harcourt highlighted inflation as the outcome of an excess of total demand in real terms over available supplies of goods and services when the potential workforces and existing stocks of capital goods were fully employed. Current inflationary pressures, by contrast, arise from the combination of specific sectoral supply bottlenecks, rising profit margins in oligopolistic global markets for food and fuel and financial speculation in these markets.

The first “R” from animal research ethics prescribes the replacement of animal experiments with animal-free alternatives. However, the question of when an animal-free method qualifies as an alternative to animal experiments remains unresolved.

Drawing lessons from another debate in which the word “alternative” is central, the ethical debate on alternatives to germline genome editing, this paper develops a general account of when something qualifies as an alternative to something. It proposes three ethically significant conditions that technique, method, or approach X must meet to qualify as an alternative to Y: (1) X must address the same problem as Y, under an appropriate description of that problem; (2) X must have a reasonable chance of success, compared to Y, in solving the problem; and (3) X must not be ethically unacceptable as a solution. If X meets all these conditions, its relative advantages and disadvantages determine whether it is preferable, indifferent, or dispreferable as an alternative to Y.

This account is then applied to the question of whether animal-free research methods qualify as alternatives to animal research. Doing so breaks down the debate around this question into more focused (ethical and other) issues and illustrates the potential of the account.

This research note assesses participatory health governance practices for HIV and AIDS in Brazil. By extension, we also evaluate municipal democratic governance to public health outcomes. We draw from a unique dataset on municipal HIV/AIDS prevalence and participatory health governance from 2006–17 for all 5,570 Brazilian municipalities. We use negative binomial regression and coarsened exact matching with treatment effects to estimate the influence of community health governance institutions on HIV/AIDS prevalence. Municipalities with participatory health councils experience 14% lower HIV/AIDS prevalence than other municipalities, all else equal. Family Health Program coverage, municipal state capacity, and municipal per capita health spending are also associated with systematically lower HIV/AIDS prevalence. We conclude that participatory health governance may combat HIV and AIDS through municipal spending, education, and community mobilization. Municipal health councils can facilitate these strategies and offer opportunities for improving well-being around the world.

We investigate the feasibility of cyber risk transfer through insurance-linked securities (ILS). On the investor side, we elicit the preferred characteristics of cyber ILS and the corresponding return expectations. We then estimate the cost of equity of insurers and compare it to the Rate on Line expected by investors to match demand and supply in the cyber ILS market. Our results show that cyber ILS will work for both cedents and investors if the cyber risk is sufficiently well understood. Thus, challenges related to cyber risk modeling need to be overcome before a meaningful cyber ILS market may emerge.

This paper focuses on the little-known but important cave-sanctuary of Zar Trypa on Mount Ossa (modern Kissavos) in north-eastern Thessaly. In 1910, research conducted at the site uncovered remains of votives from the Classical, Hellenistic and Roman periods, including a group of eight inscriptions dedicated to the Nymphs. Despite this remarkable epigraphic assemblage, the site was not investigated beyond a single excavation season and today is largely unknown. Consequently, the Zar Trypa cave and its finds have never featured prominently in the discussion of Thessalian religion or of Greek ‘natural’ sanctuaries. Combining archival studies, on-site observations and GIS-based methods of landscape archaeology, this paper sets out to re-assess the surviving archaeological evidence from the Zar Trypa cave, to examine the spatial setting of ritual activity at the site, and to place the cave in the context of Mount Ossa's natural environment and ancient settlement pattern. Drawing on the methodological framework of ‘lived religion’, this assessment not only contributes towards our understanding of ancient religious experiences at the Zar Trypa cave, but also addresses broader questions such as the significance and meaning of ‘sacred travel’ in pre-Christian antiquity.

In addition to interest in undergraduate research, political science increasingly recognizes the value of civically engaged research for various educational, professional, and civic outcomes. With limited time and steep tradeoffs, instructors must find ways to cleverly combine undergraduate research experiences with the broader normative civic-education responsibilities of political science and higher education. This article presents a course design that allows instructors to leverage their classroom for both civic education and undergraduate research without the need for previously developed community partnerships that are common to most engaged research and learning. Our approach brings together undergraduate research and community engagement through course design.

As Nigeria grew as an independent nation, the role of the Church Missionary Society (CMS) began to evolve, reflecting the needs of a burgeoning multi-ethnic society. This transformation is particularly evident in the Diocese on the Niger – the first indigenous Anglican diocese in Western Africa – a topic of debate within various factions of the Church of Nigeria, Anglican Communion. These contentions – centred on historical accuracy, heritage and primacy – mirror broader socio-political disputes concerning the Igbo people’s history and reveal postwar ethnocentric trends in Nigeria. We propose that the strategic positioning of the Diocese on the Niger was part of the CMS mission’s expansion plan into Islamic-dominated Western and Northern Nigeria. Igboland, with its geographical significance and potential as a fertile ground for the gospel, was a deliberate choice. The debates around these contested viewpoints and legacies epitomize the societal disputes over historical interpretation and its theological implications – extending beyond the events themselves and prompting reflection on the embodiment of Christ’s teachings in navigating socio-political complexities. These discussions go beyond religious or geographical disagreements – they symbolize a broader struggle to understand and interpret the past.

We introduce a category of filtered F-isocrystals and construct a symbol map from Milnor K-theory to the group of 1-extensions of filtered F-isocrystals. We show that our symbol map is compatible with the syntomic symbol map to the log syntomic cohomology by Kato and Tsuji. These are fundamental materials in our computations of syntomic regulators which we work in other papers.