The paper aims to present a critical analysis of the phenomenon and notion of exceptionalism in bioethics. The authors demonstrate that exceptionalism pertains to phenomena that are not (yet) entirely familiar to us and could potentially bear risks regarding their regulation. After an overview of the state of the art, we briefly describe the origins and evolution of the concept, compared to exception and exclusion. In the second step, they look at the overall development debates on genetic exceptionalism, compared to other bioethical debates on exceptionalism, before presenting a detailed analysis of a specific case of early regulation of genetic screening. In the last part, the authors explain the historical background behind the connection between exceptionalism and exclusion in these debates. Their main conclusion is that while the initial stage of the discussion is shaped by the concept of exceptionalism and awareness of risks of exclusion, the later development centers around exceptions that are needed in detailed regulatory procedures.

This article argues that the liturgical tradition of celebrating Christmas on 25 December travelled from the Latin West to the Greek East at the behest of Theodosius I upon his arrival in Constantinople in AD 380. From there it made its way to Cappadocia, Pontus and Syrian Antioch by means of travelling clerics who belonged to a pro-Nicene network. The essay also makes the larger methodological point that in late antiquity liturgical traditions did not travel of their own accord; rather, they were often carried by networks of travelling bishops and ‘radiated out’ from major sees to minor ones.

Arising of disasters by climate change had affected crop growth and yield, and then threaten local to global food security, particularly heat stress. Therefore, hazard assessment is essential to develop effective disaster risk management and adaptation interventions to ensure food security. In this study, the accumulated heat stress days (DAY), heat stress intensity (HSI) and heat degree-days (HDD) during the post-silking period of summer maize in The Huang-Huai-Hai Plain were investigated. Based on the optimal probability distribution function of HDD and information diffusion theory, we compute heat stress classification index and the possibility of heat stress, respectively. During 1981–2019, DAY, HSI and HDD were 11.8 d, 31.9°C and 23.6°Cd and increased by 0.67 d/decade, 0.10°C/decade and 3.14°Cd/decade, respectively. The threshold and hazard probability of mild, moderate and severe heat stress were 9.4, 19.4 and 34.2°Cd and 16.6, 9.3 and 4.5%, respectively. The heat stress hazard index (M) was 0.48, ranged from 0 to 0.77 during 1981 to 2019. M will increase in the future at all regions, particularly after 2060. Under SSP5-8.5 climate scenario, M ranged from 0.95 to 1.20 in 2080s, about two times than historical period. This could be used in optimizing agricultural management in summer maize production in order to combat heat stress under projected climate change.

With the increase of air transportation, some crossing waypoints (CWPs) are becoming bottlenecks in the operation of air traffic networks. This paper presents a CWP operation optimisation framework based on a two-stage optimisation method. First, we considered the interests of airlines and air traffic controllers and established a flight-level dynamic allocation model for the CWP to minimise the flight-level deviation and the number of flight conflicts. A multi-objective, self-adaptive differential evolution-local search hybrid algorithm was used to solve the model in a parallel computing manner. Subsequently, a flight conflict resolution algorithm based on the Monte-Carlo tree search was designed for flight conflicts that existed after the optimisation. Finally, based on real operation data, four experimental scenarios were constructed, and the air traffic operation simulation system was used for experimental validation. For daily traffic and 1.2 times peak traffic scenarios, the average flight-level deviation reduction rates after optimisation were 53% and 39%, and the successful flight conflict resolution rates reached 89% and 75%, respectively. The experimental results showed that this optimisation framework can effectively balance the number of flight conflicts with the efficiency of flight-level usage and directly improve the capacity of the CWP, which can be used as a reference for air traffic control auxiliary decision support systems.

Elaine Horwitz et al. (1986), in their seminal article that helped jumpstart our current interest in language anxiety, characterized this affective malady as composed of three elements: fear of negative evaluation, communication apprehension, and test anxiety. Notably, all three of these components are linked in different ways to learners’ perceptions about others’ assessment of their linguistic competence. Over the years since Horwitz et al.'s influential publication, research has only reinforced the idea that feedback provided to language learners has a powerful impact on their emotional well-being and levels of linguistic confidence. This article explores research on the various ways that learners can be supported via assessment practices and feedback techniques that not only counter the debilitating effects of language anxiety but also may even work preventatively to increase learner well-being. Among these is Appreciative Inquiry, a feedback technique that focuses on what learners are doing effectively, as well as other nondeficit, strengths-based approaches that concentrate on assets rather than fixing what is broken.

Gaussian graphical models are useful tools for conditional independence structure inference of multivariate random variables. Unfortunately, Bayesian inference of latent graph structures is challenging due to exponential growth of $\mathcal{G}_n$, the set of all graphs in n vertices. One approach that has been proposed to tackle this problem is to limit search to subsets of $\mathcal{G}_n$. In this paper we study subsets that are vector subspaces with the cycle space $\mathcal{C}_n$ as the main example. We propose a novel prior on $\mathcal{C}_n$ based on linear combinations of cycle basis elements and present its theoretical properties. Using this prior, we implement a Markov chain Monte Carlo algorithm, and show that (i) posterior edge inclusion estimates computed with our technique are comparable to estimates from the standard technique despite searching a smaller graph space, and (ii) the vector space perspective enables straightforward implementation of MCMC algorithms.

Ronald P. Leow is Professor (Applied Linguistics) in the Department of Spanish and Portuguese and Language Program Director of Spanish Language Instruction at Georgetown University. He has initiated and published (over 100 articles and chapters) in several strands of research that include language curriculum development, research methodology, cognitive processes and depth of processing in language learning, (written and computerized) corrective feedback, textual enhancement, reactivity, and CALL. He has contributed to the field his 2015 Model of the L2 Learning Process in ISLA (in Explicit learning in the L2 classroom: A student-centered approach, Routledge) and his 2020 Feedback Processing Framework (in R. M. Manchón (Ed.), Writing and language learning. Advancing research agendas, John Benjamins) to provide a cognitive account for how L2 data and feedback are processed by L2 learners. His i10-index is 58 with over 6,500 citations.

This study argues, contrary to some opinions, that shadow performance existed in Iran from at least the tenth to the twentieth century. Through a textual analysis of newly discovered ancient texts, two plays specifically, this study shows how shadow performance originated in the Indian subcontinent, was transported from Iran to the historical region now known as Iraq, and then spread to Egypt, developing over time through its historical progression. This study also looks at the reasons for the decline of shadow performance in Iran, including the centuries-old Iranian Sufi criticism of the form and the establishment of the Safavid dynasty, which introduced Shiism as the official religion of Iran in the sixteenth century. Certain Iranian Sufisms considered shadow performance debaucherous until the fifteenth century. After the sixteenth century, influenced by the Turkish Karagöz, shadow performance was considered a theatrical form associated with Sunni infidels. Consequently, shadow performance was replaced with Muharram mourning rituals, ritualistic forms that reflect Shia identity.

A growing body of literature has emphasised the role of equity as a body of second order principles. These scholars argue that what makes equity distinct is that it assumes a particular outcome at common law, but then controls or disables one party's insistence on her legal entitlements. Where do equitable bars to relief fit within such accounts? This article argues that equitable bars to relief fit comfortably with the view that equity is second order law. This is for a simple reason: equity prevents the unjust exercise of legal entitlements. However, equitable rules are also amenable to being exercised unjustly. To prevent equitable rules being abused, equitable doctrines require some limited discretion to be built in. If this were not the case, then the general law would require a third set of rules to control equity and then a fourth set of rules to control those rules (ad infinitum).

This study expanded the Benevolent Childhood Experiences scale (termed the “BCEs-Original” scale) with 10 new multisystem items and identified a subset of items (termed the “BCEs-Revised” scale) that are systematically less commonly reported across samples. Total BCEs-Revised scores were tested against total BCEs-Original scores and three dimensions of childhood adversity (maltreatment, threat, and deprivation) as predictors of young adulthood mental health problems (depression, anxiety, and PTSD symptoms). Hypotheses expected stronger inverse associations of BCEs-Revised scores than BCEs-Original scores with all mental health problems. Participants were 1,746 U.S. young adults (M = 26.6 years, SD = 4.7, range = 19–35 years; 55.3% female, 42.4% male, 2.3% gender non-conforming; 67.0% White, 10.3% Asian, 8.6% Black, 8.4% Latine, 5.7% other) who completed a 20-item BCEs scale and well-validated instruments on childhood adversities and mental health problems. Compared to BCEs-Original scores, BCEs-Revised scores were significantly more strongly inversely associated with all mental health outcomes. Compared to childhood threat and deprivation, maltreatment was significantly more strongly associated with PTSD symptoms. After controlling for current depression symptoms, BCEs-Revised scores interacted with maltreatment to predict PTSD symptoms. Maltreatment and BCEs-Revised scores also influenced PTSD symptoms in person-oriented analyses. The BCEs-Revised scale has strong psychometric properties and unique strengths in research and practice. Implications for multisystem resilience are discussed.

Given a Polish group G, let $E(G)$ be the right coset equivalence relation $G^{\omega }/c(G)$, where $c(G)$ is the group of all convergent sequences in G. The connected component of the identity of a Polish group G is denoted by $G_0$.

Let $G,H$ be locally compact abelian Polish groups. If $E(G)\leq _B E(H)$, then there is a continuous homomorphism $S:G_0\rightarrow H_0$ such that $\ker (S)$ is non-archimedean. The converse is also true when G is connected and compact.

For $n\in {\mathbb {N}}^+$, the partially ordered set $P(\omega )/\mbox {Fin}$ can be embedded into Borel equivalence relations between $E({\mathbb {R}}^n)$ and $E({\mathbb {T}}^n)$.

Studies show associations between prenatal maternal stress (PNMS) and child autism, with little attention paid to PNMS and autism in young adulthood. The broad autism phenotype (BAP), encompassing sub-clinical levels of autism, includes aloof personality, pragmatic language impairment and rigid personality. It remains unclear whether different aspects of PNMS explain variance in different BAP domains in young adult offspring. We recruited women who were pregnant during, or within 3 months of, the 1998 Quebec ice storm crisis, and assessed three aspects of their stress (i.e., objective hardship, subjective distress and cognitive appraisal). At age 19, the young adult offspring (n = 33, 22F / 11M) completed a BAP self-report. Linear and logistic regressions were implemented to examine associations between PNMS and BAP traits. Up to 21.4% of the variance in BAP total score and in BAP three domains tended to be explained by at least one aspect of maternal stress, For example, 16.8% of the variance in aloof personality tended to be explained by maternal objective hardship; 15.1% of the variance in pragmatic language impairment tended to be explained by maternal subjective distress; 20.0% of the variance in rigid personality tended to be explained by maternal objective hardship and 14.3% by maternal cognitive appraisal. Given the small sample size, the results should be interpreted with caution. In conclusion, this small prospective study suggests that different aspects of maternal stress could have differential effects on different components of BAP traits in young adults.

Recent case law has evidenced doctrinal ambiguity concerning whether State immunity precludes domestic courts’ jurisdiction when rights and interests of third-party States may be affected. This article posits that such confusion arises from a failure to recognize State immunity as a rule predicated on the sovereign status of the defendant. Through an analysis of State practice, the article contends that the concept of indirect impleading incorporated in the United Nations Convention on State Immunity does not challenge the status-based nature of this rule. Construing State immunity as a subject-matter rule erroneously conflates it with distinct doctrines, such as Monetary Gold and the act of State doctrine.

In this multi-centre study, the mid- to long-term efficacy and safety of the Amplatzer Piccolo Occluder in patent ductus arteriosus closure in premature and term infants as well as children were discussed. Methods. Between 2016 and 2021, 645 patients, 152 of whom were less than 1 month old, underwent ductus closure with the Piccolo device from five different centres in Turkey. The median age of the patients was 2.2 years, and the mean narrowest point of duct diameter was 1.8 mm. Sixty-two patients weighed ≤ 1.5 kg, 90 patients 1.5–3 kg, and the mean follow-up was 20.4 months. In 396, the duct was closed by the retrograde route. Ductal anatomy was Type A in 285, C in 72, E in 171, and F in 64 patients. Fluoroscopy duration was 6.2 min. The procedure success rate was 99.1%. Device embolisation occurred in 13 patients (2%), and 11 were retrieved with a snare. Cardiac perforation and death developed in one premature baby. The left pulmonary artery and the descending aorta stenosis were observed in 3 (0.4%) and in 5 patients (0.5%). Results. Piccolo device is safe and effective in closing ductus in all age groups. It has low profile for use in premature and newborn babies, a small embolisation risk, and a low residual shunt rate after closure. Conclusion. The Piccolo device can be considered as close an ideal occluder. The lower profile, smaller delivery catheter size, and symmetry of this device allow for a venous or arterial approach.