The tomato leafminer, Phthorimaea absoluta (synonym Tuta absoluta Meyrick, 1917), is a transboundary plant pest that poses a serious threat to global tomato cultivation and production, with significant negative social and environmental impact from increased insecticide usage for its management. We present three P. absoluta draft mitochondrial genomes (mitogenomes) from Malawi and South Africa, thereby increasing the mitogenome resources for this invasive agricultural pest. Comparative analysis with Spain, China, and Kenya samples revealed at least seven maternal lineages across its current invasive ranges, supporting multiple introductions as a major factor for the spread of invasive populations. Mitogenome results therefore identified unexpected diversity as compared to the use of the partial mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase subunit I (mtCOI/cox1) gene marker for the inference of P. absoluta invasion biology. The whole-genome sequencing approach further identified alternative mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) gene regions necessary to improve diversity estimates, and enables concurrent characterisation of insecticide resistance genes. Characterisation of the VSSG (Para) and AChE-1/ace-1 gene profiles that underpin pyrethroid and organophosphate (OP) resistances, respectively, confirmed co-introductions of pyrethroid and OP resistance genes into Malawian and South African populations. Our study highlights the need for additional P. absoluta mitogenome resources, especially from native populations that is needed for more accurate interpretations of introduction pathways and the development of future sustainable management strategies.

Despite symbolic boundaries between civil and criminal law, sociolegal scholars note their conceptual and operational overlap, or hybridity. Values (e.g., restoration vs. punishment) and practices (e.g., monetary compensation vs. incarceration) thought distinct to each manifest in both, and contact with one legal system can generate involvement with the other. Scholars typically attribute hybridity’s emergence to top-down mechanisms like legislation. This article presents interviews with sexual violence plaintiffs’ attorneys who describe their efforts to improve case outcomes by incorporating criminal legal artifacts like police reports, police evidence and criminal convictions into civil litigation and inserting civil legal artifacts, including costly evidence, victim support and monetary compensation, into criminal prosecutions. Building on organizational theories of boundary work, this article argues that attorneys, in taking purposive action to win their cases, blur distinctions between civil and criminal law from the bottom-up, a distinct mechanism through which civil-criminal hybridity emerges.

Insufficient sleep’s impact on cognitive and emotional function is well-documented, but its effects on social functioning remain understudied. This research investigates the influence of depressive symptoms on the relationship between sleep deprivation (SD) and social decision-making. Forty-two young adults were randomly assigned to either the SD or sleep control (SC) group. The SD group stayed awake in the laboratory, while the SC group had a normal night’s sleep at home. During the subsequent morning, participants completed a Trust Game (TG) in which a higher monetary offer distributed by them indicated more trust toward their partners. They also completed an Ultimatum Game (UG) in which a higher acceptance rate indicated more rational decision-making. The results revealed that depressive symptoms significantly moderated the effect of SD on trust in the TG. However, there was no interaction between group and depressive symptoms found in predicting acceptance rates in the UG. This study demonstrates that individuals with higher levels of depressive symptoms display less trust after SD, highlighting the role of depressive symptoms in modulating the impact of SD on social decision-making. Future research should explore sleep-related interventions targeting the psychosocial dysfunctions of individuals with depression.

Since its inception in 1831, the French Foreign Legion, a specialised unit within the ranks of the French military, has played a prominent role in the wars of both colonisation and decolonisation. This article seeks to trace the origins, development and eventual decline of an Italian and international ‘Legionary issue’ regarding the recruitment and employment of Italian volunteers in a foreign military force deployed in the French decolonisation war in Indochina. Through the examination of archival sources as well as autobiographical narratives by Italian legionnaires, this study offers a novel perspective on the interplay between Italy’s political, economic and sociocultural trends, the enlistment of Italian volunteers into the French Foreign Legion, and the evolution of Italo-French relations in the postwar period.

Despite the importance of the commercially harvested benthopelagic fish Beryx mollis, little information is available on their adult phase and reproduction. This is likely due to the low abundance of this species compared to Beryx splendens and Beryx decadactylus as well as misidentification of Beryx spp. In this study, early life stages of B. mollis were found in the southwest region off Sri Lanka during a survey with research vessel Dr Fridtjof Nansen in 2018, coinciding with the southwest monsoon period. As morphological characteristics of eggs and larval stages of the three Beryx spp. are very similar, visual identification to differentiate to species level has always been challenging. Therefore, in this study, DNA barcoding was carried out targeting the mitochondrial COI gene. Molecular analysis confirmed that the collected egg and larvae belonged to the B. mollis species due to their high identity (>99%) with reference to previously submitted adult B. mollis sequences in the GenBank. Phylogenetic analysis showed a closer evolutionary relationship among B. mollis and B. splendens than with B. decadactylus. To the best of our knowledge this is the first genetic and morphological confirmation of B. mollis egg and larvae worldwide and suggests the southwest coastal area in Sri Lanka, in the north central Indian Ocean, as a potential spawning ground for this species.

Since the 1970s, twin birth rates have increased sharply in developed countries. In Africa, where the rate is the highest globally, its evolution and variation are poorly understood. This article aims to estimate the twinning rate in sub-Saharan African (SSA) countries throughout 1986–2016 and analyze its spatial, temporal, and ethnic variations. It also seeks to identify social and demographic factors associated with a high probability of twin births and outline a forecast of the twinning rate. We used data from 174 Demographic and Health Surveys from 42 countries. We supplemented them with the UN World Population Prospects (WPP). The twinning rate was calculated by reporting the number of twin births per thousand total births. We used logistic regression to analyze the factors associated with twin births. We projected the twinning rate based on WPP. The overall SSA twinning rate is 17.4 per 1000, but it has changed very little over time, and we expect it will grow a little between 2015 and 2050, increasing at most from 17.4 per 1000 to 18.4 per 1000. We also show significant differences in the twinning rate in SSA according to mother ethnicity. Most ethnic groups with high twinning rates belong to the large Bantu ethnic family. SSA remains the ‘land of twins’, with the twinning rate changing slowly. However, specific health policies must target twin births in SSA to address the public health challenges they present.

We describe algebraically, diagrammatically, and in terms of weight vectors, the restriction of tensor powers of the standard representation of quantum $\mathfrak {sl}_2$ to a coideal subalgebra. We realize the category as a module category over the monoidal category of type $\pm 1$ representations in terms of string diagrams and via generators and relations. The idempotents projecting onto the quantized eigenspaces are described as type $B/D$ analogues of Jones–Wenzl projectors. As an application, we introduce and give recursive formulas for analogues of $\Theta$-networks.

Paradigm cases of disappointment occur when we fail to attain the object of our desire, or when doing so frustrates some of our other desires. However, some non-standard cases seem not to fit this pattern. We occasionally find ourselves disappointed despite perceiving that our desire has been fulfilled. Experiences of this sort are sometimes called ‘Dead Sea apples’. Such cases threaten the viability of theories that claim that fulfilling our desires always makes our lives go better for us. This paper considers what reflection on the nature of Dead Sea apples can teach us about the structure of desire and its relationship to well-being. I argue that this type of disappointment often occurs when we have a frustrated conjunctive desire that contains some satisfied conjuncts. The fact that the desire contains some satisfied conjuncts explains why we are prone to misidentifying it as fulfilled.

In the behavioral theory of the firm, decision-makers' interpretation of performance feedback information is the fundamental intermediate step between the evaluation of performance and the consequent strategic decision-making. However, such interpretations can be shaped or even distorted by the cognitive lens taken by decision-makers, such as their time concept in terms of biased cognitions of the importance and imminence of the future over the present. This study focuses on the role of a specific temporal bias (the time concept expressed in languages) in shaping the response to performance feedback. On the basis of the baseline proposition of a positive relationship between the underperformance duration (a temporal dimension of performance feedback) and acquisition behavior, we theorize and empirically examine how the future-time reference (FTR) of languages under different conditions shapes the way firms respond to repeated performance shortfalls. Using a sample of 12,309 firms from 12 countries between 2007 and 2019, we find that the FTR weakens the connection between the underperformance duration and subsequent acquisitions. Moreover, slack resources strengthen, whereas political stability weakens, this moderating effect of FTR on the underperformance duration–firm acquisition relationship.

We examined a zooarchaeological assemblage from Badger Island, a 12.4 km2 landbridge island in the Furneaux Group, Bass Strait, south-eastern Australia. The accumulation consisted of Pleistocene and Holocene strata that were rich in mammal remains. Small mammal remains were accumulated by owls, whereas large mammal remains were accumulated by people and/or autochthonous mortality. The Pleistocene fauna was dominated by grassland mammals, particularly Mastacomys fuscus (Broad-toothed Rat), but these gradually declined and were largely replaced by forest–woodland dwelling mammals in the Holocene. The same pattern of faunal change has been observed on the large main island of Tasmania (∼65,000 km2), suggesting changes observed at Beeton Rockshelter are representative of the region. Because all of the Furneaux Group Islands were united as one landmass in the past, the fossil fauna observed in Beeton Rockshelter is relevant to conservation-oriented mammal-restoration initiatives, which are being considered throughout the entire Furneaux Group.

Although financial stressors are implicated as risk factors for suicidal behavior, these associations might be confounded by other factors. Furthermore, a move toward high-risk subgroup definition is necessary. The authors used Swedish national registry data to examine the associations between receipt of social welfare, unemployment benefits, or early retirement (N = 627,745−2,260,753) with suicidal behavior in Cox proportional hazards models. They applied co-relative models to improve causal inference, and examined interactions with aggregate genetic risk for suicidality. All three exposures were associated with elevated suicidal behavior risk. Initial hazard ratios for suicide attempt ranged from 1.37−3.86, were similar for suicide death, and declined after controlling for psychopathology and time elapsed after exposure. Age at registration differentially impacted risk of suicidal behavior. Aggregate genetic liability for suicidality was associated with risk, but its effect was not moderated by financial stress. Financial stressors are associated with suicidal behavior risk even after controlling for psychopathology. Associations are attributable in part to familial confounding, though a potentially causal pathway was observed in most cases. Suicidality risk varied as a function of sex and age at exposure; these findings could be used to identify subgroups at high risk who warrant targeted prevention.

Efficiency is a crucial factor in productivity growth and the optimal allocation of resources in the economy; therefore, measuring inefficiency is particularly important. This paper provides a comprehensive review of the latest developments in distance functions and the measurement of inefficiency within the stochastic frontier framework. Recent advances in several related areas are reviewed and evaluated, including various approaches to measuring inefficiency using distance functions, advancements in modeling inefficiency within the stochastic frontier framework, and the most common estimation techniques. A practical guide is provided on when these methods can be applied and how to implement them. The radial, hyperbolic, and directional measures of inefficiency are discussed and assessed. The development of modeling inefficiency concerning its temporal behavior, classification, and determinants is also examined. To ensure the use of appropriate estimation techniques, recent advancements in the most common estimation techniques are reviewed. This paper also addresses the importance of maintaining the theoretical regularity applied by neoclassical microeconomic theory when it is violated, as well as the econometric regularity when variables are non-stationary. Without regularity, inefficiency results can be extremely misleading. The paper discusses significant challenges related to estimation issues that must be managed in future applications. These challenges include the inaccurate choice of functional form, ignoring the possibility of heterogeneity and heteroskedasticity, and suffering from the endogeneity problem. The paper also examines various approaches to addressing these issues, as well as potentially productive areas for future research.

Mark Goldie is a towering figure in the historiography of early modern England, with a wide body of work concerning the origins and formations of political and religious institutions, including nascent party groups. His essays and edited collections inform most other accounts of the period, and his cohort of influential supervisees is legion within academia.