At the moment of independence, the Karamoja region of northeastern Uganda occupied a unique position within the Ugandan state. Local communities existed largely outside the sovereignty of the state and remained disinvested from its politico-economic institutions, and policymakers saw Karamoja as a problematic challenge to their agendas of development, security, and nation-building. I contend that, in the years surrounding Uganda's independence, government officials, rural communities, and a small emergent local elite fiercely debated Karamoja's place in the Ugandan state in state spaces such as government headquarters, trading centers, and barazas. Examining these contestations in state spaces allows us to map the indigenous political epistemologies of Karamoja against the epistemology of statehood and demonstrates the diversity of political thought that existed in Karamoja. A look at political debates in Karamoja at the moment of independence also sheds light on gaps within the historiographies of belonging and marginality in African states and addresses Karamoja's exclusion from the historiography of Uganda.

This study aimed to investigate vetch genotypes’ responses to moderate and severe drought stress and identify stress tolerance markers in arid conditions. Ten vetch genotypes (Vicia dassycarpa Ten., V. pannonica Crantz., V. michauxii Spereng., V. sativa-Ardebil, V. sativa-Dashtyar, V. sativa-Fereydonshahr, V. sativa-Mashhad, V. sativa-Semirom, V. sativa-Shahrekord and V. villosa Roth.) were cultivated under three water-deficit conditions: control, moderate and severe drought stress. These conditions represented maximum allowable depletion levels of 30, 50 and 85% of soil available water, applied after the six-leaf stage in the 2019–20 and 2020–21 growing seasons. The findings highlight the vetch's response to drought stress is influenced by stress severity and genotype. The result indicated a wide range of genetic diversity in agro-physiological traits among the studied vicia germplasm. Vicia dassycarpa Ten. shows highest straw yield and shorter days to flowering and maturity. Vicia michauxii Spreng. demonstrates high grain yield and advantageous traits like increased water content, photochemical efficiency of photosystem II, chlorophyll b, carotenoids and membrane stability index. It has lower soluble carbohydrate, DPPH (2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl) and proline content. Additionally, V. michauxii Spreng. exhibits superior agronomic traits such as more seeds per pod, per plant and higher 1000 seeds weight, serving as reliable markers for drought tolerance. The results emphasize V. dassycarpa Ten. for fodder and V. michauxii Spreng. for grain production in water-limited regions. Further research on gene expression related to drought tolerance traits should enhance our understanding of vetch.

In scenarios such as environmental data collection and traffic monitoring, timely responses to real-time situations are facilitated by persistently accessing nodes with revisiting constraints using unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). However, imbalanced task allocation may pose risks to the safety of UAVs and potentially lead to failures in monitoring tasks. For instance, continuous visits to nodes without replenishment may damage UAV batteries, while delays in recharging could result in missing task deadlines, ultimately causing task failures. Therefore, this study investigates the problem of achieving balanced multi-UAV path planning for persistent monitoring tasks, which has not been previously researched according to the authors’ knowledge. The main contribution of this study is the proposal of two novel indicators to assist in balancing task allocation regarding multi-UAV path planning for persistent monitoring. One of the indicators is namely the waiting factor, which reflects the urgency of a task node waiting to be accessed, and the other is the difficulty level which is introduced to measure the difficulty of tasks undertaken by a UAV. By minimizing differences in difficulty level among UAVs, we can ensure equilibrium in task allocation. For a single UAV, the ant colony initialized genetic algorithm (ACIGA) has been proposed to plan its path and obtain its difficulty level. For multiple UAVs, the K-means clustering algorithm has been improved based on difficulty levels to achieve balanced task allocation. Simulation experiments demonstrated that the difficulty level could effectively reflect the difficulty of tasks and that the proposed algorithms could enable UAVs to achieve balanced task allocation.

Previously [‘Radicals and idempotents I, II’, Comm. Alg. 49(1) (2021), 73–84 and 50(11) (2022), 4791–4804], we have studied the interaction between radicals of rings and idempotents in general or those of particular types, for example, left semicentral. Here we carry out similar investigations for q-central idempotents, that is, those idempotents e satisfying the condition $(ea-eae)(be-ebe) = 0$ for all a, b.

The objective was to develop equations to predict carcass weight (CW), use CW to predict empty body weight (EBW); and carcass gain (CG) to predict empty body weight gain (EBWG) and retained energy (RE) in hair sheep. To generate the prediction models, a data set was composed of individual measurements from 569 sheep encompassing intact males (n = 416), castrated males (n = 51), and females (n = 102). Validation analyses were performed by using the Model Evaluation System (MES). The prediction equations for CW, EBW, and EBWG were not influenced by sex class (P > 0.05), and the following equations were generated, respectively: CW (kg) = − 0.234 (±1.1358) + 0.485 (±0.0387) × FBW; EBW (kg) = 1.367 (±0.5472) + 1.681 (±0.0210) × CW and EBWG (kg) = 0.004 (±0.0026) + 1.679 (±0.0758) × CG. There was an effect of sex class on the intercept (P = 0.0013) of the relationship between RE and CG: RE (MJ/day) = 1.448 (±0.0657) × EBW0.75 × CG0.797 (±0.0399); RE (MJ/day) = 1.522 (±0.0699) × EBW0.75 × CG0.797 (±0.0399) and RE (MJ/day) = 1.827 (±0.0739) × EBW0.75 × CG0.797 (±0.0399) for intact males, castrated males and females, respectively. This study highlights the importance of incorporating carcass information into EBW, EBWG, and RE predictions. Replacing empty body weight gain with carcass gain might be a suitable alternative to estimate the retained energy of hair sheep. In addition, the generated equations will provide support for meat production systems in carcass weight prediction.

“INTELLECTUAL LIGHTENING”: A tribute to John Harris through a collection of memories, imaginary books, fictional reviews, and an interview. John Harris’ impressive and diverse academic career is illustrated and remembered by his colleagues who each contribute with a special memory, story or fake book review, in order to thank John and to cherish the memories. A good philosopher, a kind person, a teacher, different aspects of his work are discussed.

This study investigated the caregiving capacity of older Chinese carers and discussed whether the Chinese government needs to offer more support to them. In-depth interviews were conducted with forty older respondents aged sixty years or over caring for frail or sick family members. It was found that most respondents demonstrated firm traditional Chinese values by treating relatives bound by blood or marriage as family members and exhibiting a strong obligation towards them. However, the older carers bore a considerable burden and suffered from deteriorating physical and mental health. The Chinese government needs to introduce a nationwide policy for carers, defining its main support and providing clear guidelines for the local government to tackle the caregiving pressures of older carers. Moreover, the concept of ‘common prosperity’ can be adopted as an empowerment strategy by encouraging poor older carers to seek external support without feeling ashamed or dependent on others.

This article contributes to the empirical and theoretical discourse on the ‘stability–instability paradox’, the idea that while possessing nuclear weapons deters cataclysmic all-out war, it simultaneously increases the likelihood of low-level conflict between nuclear dyads. It critiques the paradox’s dominant interpretation (red-line model), which places undue confidence in the nuclear stalemate – premised on mutually assured destruction – to prevent unintentional nuclear engagement and reduce the perceived risks associated with military actions that fall below the nuclear threshold. Recent scholarship has inadequately examined the unintentional consequences of the paradox in conflicts below the nuclear threshold, particularly those relating to the potential for aggression to escalate uncontrollably. The article employs empirically grounded fictional scenarios to illustrate and critically evaluate, rather than predict, the assumptions underpinning the red-line model of the stability–instability paradox in the context of future artificial intelligence (AI)-enabled warfare. It posits that the strategic cap purportedly offered by a nuclear stalemate is illusory and that low-level military aggression between nuclear-armed states increases the risk of unintentional nuclear detonation.

This study explores the relationships between group-affect tone, teams’ transactive memory systems (TMSs), and teams’ incremental creativity. Data were collected from 334 team members and 70 team leaders across 70 teams. Results indicate that positive group-affect tone enhances TMS, while negative group-affect tone impedes it. TMS positively impacts team incremental creativity. Additionally, both types of group-affect tone influence incremental creativity through TMS mediation. This research advances TMS theory and group-affect tone, substantiating the affect-cognition model and deepening the understanding of TMS’s role in incremental creativity.

The present study drew on data provided by 179 clergymen and 226 clergywomen to discuss the psychological type and temperaments profile of stipendiary parochial clergy serving in The Episcopal Church (USA) and to set this profile alongside 591 clergymen and 486 clergywomen serving in the Church of England. The data indicated a similar profile for Anglican clergy on both sides of the Atlantic, with preferences for introversion, intuition, feeling and judging. In terms of temperament, in the USA 41% of clergymen were SJ, 38% NF, 17% NT and 4% SP; 43% of clergywomen were NF, 41% SJ, 13% NT and 2% SP.

Federal law clerks play a vital role in the development and implementation of the law. Yet, women remain underrepresented in these positions. We suggest that one reason for this underrepresentation may be differences in hiring practices among judges in the federal judiciary. Specifically, we hypothesize that male judges and conservative judges may be less likely to hire female law clerks than female judges and liberal judges for two reasons. First, gendered attitudes held by judges may make some judges prone to hire women and/or others more resistant to these hires. Second, due to ideological asymmetries between the law clerk pool and judges in the federal judiciary, conservative judges and male judges may be less likely to hire women law clerks. Using data on clerks hired in the federal judiciary between 1995 and 2005, we find support for both mechanisms.1

Transmission electron microscopy-energy dispersive X-ray analysis (TEM-EDX) represents an effective tool for determining the stoichiometric composition of clay minerals, but the methodology is often hampered by analytical difficulties. Studies of beam-sensitive minerals, such as smectites, are associated with low count intensities and dynamic loss of cations (e.g. K+, Na+, and Al3+), which can lead to erroneous quantifications of composition. After exploring how to minimize cation migration by reducing the beam current density to <5 pA cm–2, the most reliable and consistent compositions were determined using 1 μm2 area measurements of particles acquired in normal TEM mode where the electron beam was parallel, the degree of specimen damage was at its minimum and good acquisition intensities (>10,000 cps) were acquired. Based on 528 TEM-EDX area analyses, the composition of Wyoming montmorillonites (SWy-1, SWy-2, and SWy-3) was studied in their natural and Ca-saturated states from thin (<50 nm thick) particle aggregates lying on lacey carbon films. Overall, the TEM-EDX results confirmed the heterogeneous charge distributions of montmorillonite at the particle and sample levels. The average composition per formula unit of SWy-1 to -3 was determined as: (Na0.12Ca0.04Mg0.03K0.02)(Si3.91Al0.09)(Al1.57Mg0.27Fe0.19)2.03 O10(OH)2 · nH2O, where the tetrahedral and octahedral layer charges are –0.09 and –0.19 per O10(OH)2, respectively, and the total layer charge ranges from –0.25 to –0.30 per O10(OH)2 (mean of –0.28). This study demonstrates how TEM-EDX can provide new insight into the natural heterogeneities of smectite chemistry as long as adequate calibration and specimen damage control procedures are implemented.

Chrono-nutrition is an emerging field that examines how the frequency and timing of meals impact health. Previous research shows inconsistency in the relationship between chrono-nutritional components and cardiometabolic health. We investigated cross-sectional associations between these components and cardiometabolic health in 825 Iranian adults aged 20–59 years. Dietary data, including the number of eating occasions, meal timing and meal irregularity of energy intake, were collected using three 24-h dietary recalls. Anthropometric measurements, blood pressure and laboratory tests (fasting plasma glucose, lipid profile, insulin, uric acid and C-reactive protein) were conducted. Insulin resistance and sensitivity (homeostatic model assessment for insulin resistance, homeostatic model assessment for insulin sensitivity), the TAG-glucose, the lipid accommodation product and BMI were calculated. The demographic and morning-evening questionnaire was completed. General linear regression was used to assess associations between chrono-nutritional components and outcomes. Interactions with age and BMI were examined in all associations. Chrono-nutrition components were not significantly related to cardiometabolic risk factors in the total population. However, a lower number of eating occasions was associated with an increased LDL-cholesterol:HDL-cholesterol ratio (β (95 % CI): 0·26 (0·06, 0·48)) among overweight and obese participants. Additionally, less irregularity in breakfast energy intake was associated with a lower total cholesterol:HDL-cholesterol ratio (–0·37 (–0·95, –0·18)) and a lower LDL-cholesterol:HDL-cholesterol ratio (–0·32 (–0·79, –0·13)) among participants with a normal BMI (all P< 0·05). The study concluded that more frequent meals and regular energy intake might enhance cardiometabolic health cross-sectionally, highlighting the need for prospective studies to further investigate these associations and the mediating role of BMI.

Understanding the water use of drought-tolerant crops of the drought-prone Mediterranean regions is important for sustainable agriculture. The aim of this study was to evaluate the yield and yield responses of amaranth (Amaranthus hybridus L.) to different irrigation strategies conducted in 2019 and 2020 under Mediterranean climatic conditions using surface drip (SD) and subsurface drip (SSD) systems. Strategies investigated were: regulated deficit irrigation (RDI), conventional deficit irrigation (DI25, DI50, DI75), full irrigation (FI) and rainfed treatment. The highest grain yield was observed in FI treatments; RDI treatments produced 5% lower grain yield than the FI treatments, although the RDI treatments resulted in water savings of 23 and 21% for SD and SSD systems, respectively. DI treatments resulted in lower leaf water potential (LWP) and higher crop water-stress index (CWSI) compared to FI in both systems values. The results showed that optimum irrigation conditions to obtain the highest amaranth grain yields were associated with an LWP of −1.0 MPa and an average CWSI of about 0.25. The FI treatments under SSD systems had the highest grain production, followed by FI under SD and RDI under both the drip systems. Under SD and SSD systems, RDI saved 23 and 21% water, respectively, and produced a yield statistically comparable to that of FI. The SSD methods generated higher net income than SD. From these results it can be concluded that both RDI and DI75 could be a good alternative to FI under the conditions of water scarcity in the Mediterranean region.

In this article, we demystify the South African Defence Force’s 32 Battalion and de-exceptionalize the apartheid military by connecting it to other colonial military communities, and apartheid governance more broadly. Drawing on oral history, autoethnography, and archival documents, we demonstrate the highly unequal, yet mutual, reliance of white authorities and elite Black women in the haphazard and improvised nature of apartheid military rule. Most women arrived at the unit's base, Buffalo, as Angolan refugees, where white military authorities fixated on their domestic and family lives. We examine the practical workings of military rule by considering three nodes of social surveillance and control. Elite Black women, known as “block leaders,” served as intermediaries, actively participating in the mechanics of military rule while also using their position to advocate for their community. Finally, we consider the ingrained violent patriarchal nature of life in the community by highlighting the nature of women's precariousness and labor.

We prove the existence of solutions to the Kuramoto–Sivashinsky equation with low regularity data in function spaces based on the Wiener algebra and in pseudomeasure spaces. In any spatial dimension, we allow the data to have its antiderivative in the Wiener algebra. In one spatial dimension, we also allow data that are in a pseudomeasure space of negative order. In two spatial dimensions, we also allow data that are in a pseudomeasure space one derivative more regular than in the one-dimensional case. In the course of carrying out the existence arguments, we show a parabolic gain of regularity of the solutions as compared to the data. Subsequently, we show that the solutions are in fact analytic at any positive time in the interval of existence.