Are shifting party-union relationships impacting the vote intentions of union members in Canada? By analyzing voting intentions within the Canadian labour movement, the findings illuminate the complexity of union members’ electoral behaviour and the strategic opportunities for parties vying for their votes. The authors find that while union members continue to be more likely than the average voter to support the NDP, this support is nuanced by factors such as union type, gender, education, age, and income. Notably, the study finds that the Conservatives have made significant inroads among construction union members and those with college education, challenging traditional assumptions about Canadian labour politics.

This article is concerned with the history of eugenic sterilisation in Britain through the 1920s and 1930s. In this period, the Eugenics Society mounted an active but ultimately unsuccessful campaign to legalise the voluntary surgical sterilisation of various categories of people, including those deemed ‘mentally deficient’ or ‘defective’. We take as our explicit focus the propaganda produced and disseminated by the Eugenics Society as part of this campaign, and especially the various kinds of data mobilised therein. The parliamentary defeat of the Society’s Sterilisation Bill in July 1931 marks, we argue, a significant shift in the tactics of the campaign. Before this, the Eugenics Society framed sterilisation as a promising method for eradicating, or at least significantly reducing the incidence of, inherited ‘mental defect’. Subsequently, they came to emphasise the inequality of access to sterilisation between rich and poor, (re)positioning theirs as an egalitarian campaign aimed at extending a form of reproductive agency to the disadvantaged. These distinct phases of the campaign were each supported by different kinds of propaganda material, which in turn centred on very different types of data. As the campaign evolved, the numbers and quantitative rhetoric which typified earlier propaganda materials gave way to a more qualitative approach, which notably included the selective incorporation of the voices of people living with hereditary ‘defects’. In addition to exposing a rupture in the Eugenics Society’s propagandistic data practices, this episode underscores the need to further incorporate disabled dialogues and perspectives into our histories of eugenics.

Surgical sterilisation practices significantly increased in contraceptive capacity as the twentieth century unfolded. Despite this prolific uptake, sterilisation is markedly absent from histories of birth control and family planning and instead has remained addressed within histories of eugenics and coercion. The purpose of this article is twofold: firstly, to demonstrate a voluntary, contraceptive history of sterilisation that is distinct from, though connected to, involuntary and eugenic sterilisation; and secondly, to explain the integral role that individual doctors and their private practice played in the rise of contraceptive sterilisation in twentieth-century Australia. Through a combination of archival material and oral history interviews with twentieth-century practitioners of tubal ligation and vasectomy, this article reframes the history of surgical sterilisation, situating it firmly within the history of birth control.

The automation of assembly operations with industrial robots is pivotal in modern manufacturing, particularly for multispecies, low-volume, and customized production. Traditional programing methods are time-consuming and lack adaptability to complex, variable environments. Reinforcement learning-based assembly tasks have shown success in simulation environments, but face challenges like the simulation-to-reality gap and safety concerns when transferred to real-world applications. This article addresses these challenges by proposing a low-cost, image-segmentation-driven deep reinforcement learning strategy tailored for insertion tasks, such as the assembly of peg-in-hole components in satellite manufacturing, which involve extensive contact interactions. Our approach integrates visual and forces feedback into a prior dueling deep Q-network for insertion skill learning, enabling precise alignment of components. To bridge the simulation-to-reality gap, we transform the raw image input space into a canonical space based on image segmentation. Specifically, we employ a segmentation model based on U-net, pretrained in simulation and fine-tuned with real-world data, significantly reducing the need for labor-intensive real image segment labels. To handle the frequent contact inherent in peg-in-hole tasks, we integrated safety protections and impedance control into the training process, providing active compliance and reducing the risk of assembly failures. Our approach was evaluated in both simulated and real robotic environments, demonstrating robust performance in handling camera position errors and varying ambient light intensities and different lighting colors. Finally, the algorithm was validated in a real satellite assembly scenario, achieving a success rate of 15 out of 20 tests.

We study density properties of orbits for a hypercyclic operator T on a separable Banach space X, and show that exactly one of the following four cases holds: (1) every vector in X is asymptotic to zero with density one; (2) generic vectors in X are distributionally irregular of type $1$; (3) generic vectors in X are distributionally irregular of type $2\frac {1}{2}$ and no hypercyclic vector is distributionally irregular of type $1$; (4) every hypercyclic vector in X is divergent to infinity with density one. We also present some examples concerned with weighted backward shifts on $\ell ^p$ to show that all the above four cases can occur. Furthermore, we show that similar results hold for $C_0$-semigroups.

This paper studies the dynamic extraction problem of an exhaustible common-pool resource. We build on classical closed-economy growth models with intertemporally maximizing, infinitely lived dynasties exhibiting a constant population growth rate. Utility is obtained from periodic consumption based on the fixed-rate capital and the extraction of the resource, and from the amenity values derived from the standing resource stock. The resource contributes to both consumptive and amenity utilities, while different generations are interconnected by intergenerational altruism. Dynamic allocation of the natural resource is determined by a benevolent social planner. This allows us to examine intra-generational inequity issues in combination with the intergenerational concerns. We demonstrate how the optimal allocation of the resource depends on the population growth, wealth level, inequality, ecological vulnerability of the resource and rivalry on the amenity value. Our results highlight the trade-offs between reducing the degree of inequality and preserving the ecological values of the resource.

Previous studies have reported comorbidities of autoimmune thyroid disorders (AITD), including Hashimoto’s disease (HT) and Graves’ disease (GD), and celiac disease (CeD), as well as the possible beneficial effects of a gluten-free diet (GFD) on AITD. Nonetheless, it remains uncertain whether there is a genetic causal relationship between AITD and CeD, while the beneficial effects on a GFD are controversial. This study aim to explore the causal relationship between CeD and AITD, particularly with HT, and to determine whether a GFD is beneficial for AITD. We performed a two-sample Mendelian Randomization (MR) analysis on data from the largest meta-analysis summary statistics of AITD, CeD and GFD. Genetic instrumental variables were established by pinpointing single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) that relate to corresponding factors. In assessing sensitivity and heterogeneity, we conducted examinations of MR Egger, weighted median, simple mode, weighted mode, and MR Egger intercept tests. HT was found to play a pathogenic role in increasing the risk of CeD (ORIVW = 1.544 [95%CI 1.153-2.068], p = 0.00355), and our Mendelian randomization study does not support genetic liability related to CeD with GD (Graves’ disease) and GFD with AITD. This study supports the positive correlation between HT risk and CeD risk, while GFD has no protective effect on AITD and may exert its effect through other mechanisms. These findings provide valuable insights into potential targets for disease intervention and treatment at the genetic level.

Understanding how to increase government revenue via taxation is a core puzzle in state development. Taxation is critical for states to fund public goods, and may have positive spillover effects on citizen-state relations. We argue that tax compliance will be higher when governments employ community-level, rather than individual-level, interventions. To test whether it is more effective to focus such interventions on top-down (TD) enforcement or bottom-up (BU) quasi-voluntary compliance, we ran a multi-arm field experiment in 128 markets in Malawi. We find that the BU intervention significantly increased tax compliance by 40%. The TD intervention had a less robust effect on compliance, although not significantly different from that in the BU group. The BU intervention, but not the TD, also increased trust in government, satisfaction with services, and political engagement. The results show that community-level tax interventions can increase compliance and that quasi-voluntary approaches can positively reshape citizen-state relations.

Identifying use-related residues from stone artefacts has become increasingly important in determining starchy plant exploitation over time and in different locales. Standard methods for processing residues samples are widely available but there is no clear consensus on suitable methods for attributing unknown starch grains to known plant taxa. We revisit the case study of a flaked stone artefact (K/76/S29B) recovered from Phase 1 (c. 10,000 ka) at Kuk Swamp in Papua New Guinea (PNG). Starch grains from taro (Colocasia esculenta) were identified in the residue extraction, but there were other grains that could not be attributed a plant origin at that time. The new analysis applied robust statistical methods, categorial attributes and expert input. In addition to C. esculenta, kudzu bean (Pueraria montana var. lobata) was identified, representing the earliest use of kudzu bean in the PNG highlands. Importantly, we also determined that starch grains from C. esculenta and Dioscorea esculenta are morphologically indistinguishable. We turned to other attributes of potential contributing plant taxa in determining distinguishing features: habit/growing requirements; the sedimentary context of the archaeological find; and environmental settings. Cultural use of both plants, artefacts and artefact technologies can be critical elements in confident identification outcomes, as exemplified here.

The Cold War is often depicted in binary terms: communists against anti-communists, the left against the right, or the free world versus the communist world. However, during the latter part of the Cold War, particularly following the 1979 war between China and Vietnam, earlier Cold War binaries no longer applied, and new alliances were established. These alliances often brought people with the same enemies together, despite having little in common ideologically. This article examines the historical circumstances and Cold War geographies of ethnic Khmu anti-Lao PDR and anti-Vietnamese insurgents, including their alliances with right-wing governments in Thailand and the communist People’s Republic of China (PRC). As neutralists, these Khmu occupied a political space rarely discussed in relation to the Cold War. Although the PRC provided training, weapons, and supplies to the neutralist Khmu between 1979 and 1983, later their political leader, General Kong Le, had a falling out with the Chinese, and the PRC stopped supporting his largely ethnic minority soldiers. However, up until 1989, the Thai government continued to allow the Khmu to maintain bases in Thailand for launching military operations inside Laos, until the Thai government adopted the “Battlefield to Marketplace” policy. Some Khmu continued resisting inside northwestern Laos during the early 1990s, but with declining numbers of soldiers and decreased outside support, armed resistance ended in 2003. It is critical that the geographies and alliances of the later Cold War be differentiated from those of the earlier years of the Cold War. This transnational insurgency deserves attention.

Miocene lacustrine clay deposits formed in the Şile region of Türkiye rest unconformably on Cretaceous andesite, basaltic andesite, basalts and rare dacites. Factors controlling the genesis of this sequence include: (1) sediment provenance, (2) tectonic uplift and climatic regimes during syn- and post-depositional times, (3) burial diagenesis and (4) changes from surface weathering alterations (i.e. oxidation and hydrolysis reactions) in the critical zone. Clay minerals are dominated by kaolinite and illite, with their relative abundances varying in relation to the proximity of coal seams, stratigraphic sequence and in an overlying sand-rich fluvial deposit. Variations in the mineral abundances reveals cyclothem-like sequences with patterns of fining upwards (i.e. increasing clay mineral abundance) capped by thin coal seams. The Clay Mineral Alteration Index values for the Şile clay sequence indicate a slight trend of decreasing chemical weathering intensity up-section, which is consistent with regional geological data for terrain uplifting and a drying climate during the Miocene. Critical zone processes have modified the mineral and chemical assemblages, as evidenced by the appearance of iron oxides putatively formed from recent oxidation of the ferrous minerals siderite and pyrite, which are not found in the upper sections. Taken together, the evidence indicates that the clay minerals are derived from a combination of prior weathering of basement rocks, diagenesis after deposition and modern critical-zone weathering. The degree of each process is dependent on depositional history, stratigraphic position and depth below the land surface, all under the changing influences of tectonic uplift and regional climate. The Şile deposits provide an economical clay resource that could be important to the ceramics industry of Türkiye.

To investigate the effects of activating/inhibiting AmelSmo on the olfactory genes and signalling pathways of Apis mellifera ligustica, as well as the potential regulatory mechanisms involved. Transcriptomic sequencing was performed on Apis mellifera ligustica antennae using Illumina HiSeq platform following administration of cyclopamine (inhibitor) and purmorphamine (agonist). Differential gene expression analysis, coupled with GO and KEGG pathway annotations, facilitated the identification of olfactory receptor genes. The reliability of transcriptome data was subsequently validated through quantitative real–time–polymerase chain reaction analysis. Transcriptomic analysis revealed 12,356 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) between inhibitor and control groups, with 276 genes showing significant differential expression. Similarly, 12,356 DEGs were identified between the agonist and control groups, among which 672 genes exhibited significant differential expression. The GO annotation revealed that the DEGs in the inhibitor group and the agonist group were mainly enriched in the biological process such as cellular process, metabolic process, and biological regulation; in cellular component, enrichment was mainly observed in cell, cell part, and organelle; and in molecular function, the main enrichment was in binding and catalytic activity. KEGG pathway analysis indicated that DEGs from both groups were primarily enriched in signal transduction pathways. Among the DEGs, three olfactory receptor genes were identified in the inhibitor group: odorant receptor 19, odorant receptor 22, and odorant receptor 5. The agonist group exhibited two olfactory receptor genes: odorant receptor 109 and odorant receptor 26. All these olfactory receptor genes demonstrated downregulated expression patterns. Transcriptomic sequencing analysis identified five olfactory receptor genes. The changes in gene expression levels suggest that the activation or inhibition of AmelSmo may regulate the expression of olfactory receptors via the Hedgehog signalling pathway. It is speculated that AmelSmo may play a regulatory role in the olfactory system of bees.

All orthodox believers accept that ‘God’s ways are not our ways’ and that ‘the peace of God passes all understanding’. The sceptical theist tries to apply these principles to the mystery of evil in the world, by arguing that we cannot tell what the divine purpose might be in the sufferings that we cannot explain. There is a danger that an undisciplined putting of evil into the fog of mystery might free our understanding too much from rational constraint. I argue that by combining sceptical theism with the way that Peter van Inwagen deploys the fact of our fallen nature to explain Divine withdrawal, we can give a rational account of the limitations there are on how we can judge God’s justice.