While contemporary historiography has comprehensively surveyed the doctrinal and disciplinary dimensions of sacramental penance in early modern Catholicism, the material culture of confessionals has received comparatively little attention. Focusing on the administration and regulation of confessional booths in the diocese of Verona, Northeastern Italy, during the late eighteenth century, this article argues that the administration of confessionals constituted a crucial intersection between sacred materiality and ecclesiastical governance. Through close examination of synodal constitutions, reports of pastoral visitations, and episcopal correspondence concerning the relocation, renovation, and installation of confessionals, it reconstructs the composite yet hitherto understudied social and cultural networks surrounding these objects. Besides helping us to better understand the vital role of sacred materiality in the experience and practice of early modern Catholicism, the article shows how the administration of confessionals emerged as a site of negotiation among diocesan authorities, parish clergy, and lay communities, revealing how the management of religious infrastructure served as a decisive interface between local pastoral practice and the expanding bureaucratic structures of eighteenth-century Catholic governance.

This article examines the late colonial performances of Adolphe Kisimba, a Congolese producer and performer who toured his show Mu Kongo – Mu Belgique to Belgium in early 1959. Developed under the auspices of the Belgian colonial state, this multimedia spectacular featured sketches, songs, a magic lantern light show, and a satirical “reverse ethnography” film of Belgian culture as narrated by Kisimba. This article traces Kisimba’s trajectory through state-sponsored shows such as Changwe Yetu, Spectacles Populaires, and the idiosyncratic Mu Kongo – Mu Belgique and argues that staged performance, and the international mobility that this art form inherently enables, served as a contested space in which Central Africans sought to redefine colonial hierarchies and through which they envisioned new professional horizons. The overlooked histories of Kisimba and late colonial African artists like him, this article suggests, offer new insights into African cultural negotiations and global outlooks before independence.

Stable carbon and oxygen isotopes in carbonate nodules were controlled by the type of vegetation (C3 or C4) and soil temperature, respectively. These signatures can reflect the paleoclimatic conditions during the formation of the carbonate nodules. Carbonate nodules were sampled along a soil chronosequence in southwestern Taiwan, representing different ages of shoreline changes associated with phases of marine transgression and regression. The stable carbon and oxygen isotopes in carbonate nodules were analyzed. The ages of the carbonate nodules were determined by radiocarbon (14C) dating. The climofunctions of mean annual precipitation and temperature were calculated to interpret the climatic conditions. The carbonate nodules were relictic pedofeatures that formed episodically under favorable pedogenic conditions between 4063 and 690 years before present (years BP). The δ13C values indicated a mixed vegetation of C3 and C4 plants, with a predominance of C4 plants (68.0 to 98%). The mean annual temperature estimated by the climofunction of δ18O value (12.3 to 14 °C) was lower than the present (24.7 °C). The mean annual precipitation (1036 to 1342 mm yr–1) calculated by the geochemical climofunction was lower than the present (1829 mm yr–1). The climate was drier and cooler during this period, and this may be due to a weaker East Asian Summer Monsoon, which favored calcification in the soils. The climatic conditions, as interpreted by the stable carbon and oxygen isotopes of carbonate nodules, were consistent with the calcification process.

Patient transfers provide a critical mechanism for enhancing care capacity and distributing patient load across hospitals and communities. Yet, during disasters and surge events, decisions about where to send patients are often made by Medical Operations Coordination Centers and similar centralized regional coordination bodies, with limited visibility into how transfers are unfolding across the broader hospital system. This study proposes a spatial-network framework, informed by a typology of patient transfers, that represents interhospital transfers as patient flows across a geographic network of hospitals. The framework provides tools to identify and interpret transfer patterns that coordination bodies need to enhance situational awareness and make timely, informed decisions at the local, regional, and state levels. Using inpatient discharge data from a Florida health agency, this study further demonstrates the framework’s applicability during a disaster and shows how administrative health data can be transformed into spatial networks that support interhospital transfer coordination decision-making.

Entomopathogenic nematodes (EPNs) from the genera Steinernema and Heterorhabditis are potent biocontrol agents. They kill insects through a unique symbiosis with pathogenic bacteria (Xenorhabdus or Photorhabdus), making them ideal for integrated pest management due to their broad host range and environmental safety. Despite high species diversity, genomic resources for these nematodes remain limited. The aim of this study was to characterise the nuclear and mitochondrial genomes of a newly described species, S. tarimense, and a putative novel Heterorhabditis species (strain XJ-55), both obtained from Xinjiang, China. A comprehensive genomic annotation and analysis were conducted to investigate the evolutionary origins of insect parasitism and the molecular adaptation mechanisms involved in host–parasite interactions. Through Illumina sequencing and de novo assembly, we obtained fragmented yet biologically informative genomes for both species. The assembly of S. tarimense reached a BUSCO completeness of 84.06% with an estimated genome size of 84.27 Mb, while that of Heterorhabditis sp. XJ-55 achieved 92.28% completeness with an estimated size of 75.11 Mb. Functional annotation revealed conserved metabolic profiles between the two species, with the Metabolism category being the most abundant. Mitochondrial genomes were successfully reconstructed using MitoZ and NOVOPlasty, resulting in a complete mitogenome of S. tarimense (13,836 bp) and a partial mitogenome of Heterorhabditis sp. XJ-55 (16,865 bp). Comparative mitogenomic analysis highlighted characteristic features such as pronounced A+T bias and distinct codon usage patterns, providing new evolutionary insights into these genera. These genomic resources establish a foundation for future comparative studies and functional investigations, with promising implications for enhancing the biological control efficacy of EPNs in sustainable agricultural systems.

An estimated 5% of cases of first-episode psychosis are due to rare and sometimes reversible causes that can be identified through diagnostic investigations that are currently less common in psychiatry, e.g. lumbar puncture, specialised brain imaging and genetic testing. The current clinical practice of the use of such technologies, however, raises several challenging ethical questions. Drawing on our multidisciplinary perspective spanning psychiatry, neurology, philosophy, neuroscience, sociology and medical ethics from three countries, we identify emerging ethical issues in the diagnosis of rare causes of psychosis. We group challenges thus: (a) diagnostic justice, (b) moral responsibility and (c) unintended consequences of diagnostic work-up. Justice challenges surrounded the role of (a) ‘luck’, (b) social capital and (c) prior psychiatric diagnoses in determining access to work-up. Moral responsibility challenges surround the extent to which (a) clinicians are expected to know the red flags and work-up for rare or ultra-rare causes; and (b) those running health systems should enable knowledgeable clinicians to provide the requisite work-up. Challenges related to unintended consequences include the risk of pursuing work-up of rare causes to reinforce (a) psychiatric exceptionalism and (b) paternalistic decision-making that doesn’t allow space for patient preferences. Finally, we reflect on unresolved issues and future directions.

This article examines the influential yet contested legacy of Mohammad-Karim Pirnia (1920–97), arguably the most influential figure in the historiography of Iranian architecture over the past six decades. At a time when Western scholarship dominated the field, Pirnia proposed a novel stylistic framework as an alternative to dynastic periodization, identifying six culturally grounded architectural styles, including the Pārti and Esfahāni. He also formulated five principles, such as mardomvāri (human orientation) and darungarāi (inwardness), as the shared spirit of Iranian architecture throughout history. Rather than repeating familiar critiques of Pirnia’s nationalist and regionally selective narrative, this article examines his methodology, arguing that his principles often functioned as normative ideals shaped by modernist concerns rather than empirical historical analysis. Nonetheless, it acknowledges Pirnia’s contribution to the introduction of indigenous terminology and greater attention to craft and construction techniques in architectural historiography.

State legislative turnover is one of the most commonly included measures in state and legislative politics. Yet, few states count legislative turnover or maintain records of internal shifts and those that do often have differences in how these records are maintained. To help resolve these differences we introduce SEAT, State Exits & Annual Turnover, a new dataset tracking legislative turnover in all 50 states spanning 30 years. In brief, we review the importance of turnover as a measure and offer insight into state legislative resources. In doing so, we illustrate the breadth of the data, demonstrate its usefulness, and offer a brief replication-extension. Focusing on annual turnover rates, we find numerous discrepancies with existing measures and state records. This release offers a more up to date understanding of turnover and its variation, as well as an inadvertent call for better records and measurements.

We introduce a slice-based quaternionic analog of wavelet sets in the right- quaternionic Hilbert space $L^{2}(\mathbb {R}^{d},\mathbb {H})$. Using a slice-quaternionic Fourier transform, we characterize boundedness and Parseval tightness of affine systems generated by $\widehat {\psi }=(2\pi )^{-d/2}\chi _{E}q$ via translation and dilation multiplicity conditions on E. These results extend the classical frame wavelet-set theory of Dai et al. (2003, J. Comput. Appl. Math. 155, 69–82) to the quaternionic setting under a natural slice-phase restriction. Several dyadic, directional, and multiwavelet examples illustrate the framework and provide the first systematic construction of quaternionic wavelet sets.

Replacing soiled bed linens is a common practice in intensive care units . We identified dust-driven transmission of carbapenem-resistant Acinetobacter baumannii correlated with changing bed linens by air sampling and genome-based analysis. This uncovers a hidden airborne route, which needs to be considered to design countermeasures against multidrug-resistant organisms.

La Marmotta is one of the best-preserved Early Neolithic lakeshore settlements in the Mediterranean, yet its chronology has remained poorly defined. Previous interpretations relied mainly on decoration-based ceramic classifications and a limited radiocarbon dataset, hindering our understanding of the site’s occupational dynamics and its role in the wider European Neolithic. This study presents a revised chronological framework grounded in 35 radiocarbon determinations, including 22 new dates on short-lived botanical remains and selected wooden artifacts. The samples were carefully selected from well-documented contexts to minimise post-depositional disturbance and analyzed using Bayesian modeling. Radiocarbon results were interpreted in parallel with a detailed reassessment of ceramic artifacts and decorations. This integrated approach suggests that ceramic variability does not reflect a succession of different phases, but rather the cultural diversity of a single, dynamic community.

Despite the burgeoning international literature on the history of sexual violence, the topic of incest has received limited attention from historians. This article examines hitherto restricted archival files on thirty-seven offenders who were convicted of incest in the independent Irish state under the Punishment of Incest Act 1908 and, in doing so, provides a rare glimpse into exploitative sexual practices within Irish families in the decades after independence. The findings show that incest perpetrators were effectively a male preserve and that incest was almost always an abusive relationship that persisted over an extended period of time. The article also reveals that victims were invariably younger than offenders, some incest offenses involved alcohol, violence, and threats, many cases resulted in pregnancy, motherless children appear to have been vulnerable, and most of these crimes were premeditated and non-consensual. The article concludes by capturing the limitations of the 1908 Act in neglecting to cover sexual acts other than vaginal intercourse and embrace a broader range of family relationships.

Through the examination of a criminal trial that took place in Vienna in January and February 1968, this article explores postwar Austria’s treatment of pornography. It argues that the 1950 law criminalizing pornography in Austria was a product of the Second Republic’s consensus-driven politics and emphasis on international obligations under a 1923 international treaty against obscenity. The spectacle of the presiding judge berating defendants on trial in 1968 sparked public outrage and calls for legal reform. The Austrian government strove to liberalize the country’s obscenity laws but soon abandoned these efforts. Through a comparison to Denmark and West Germany, the article suggests that the failure of legislative reform in Austria resulted from an emphasis on political consensus and on international law, as well as the terms of the debate over pornography after the 1968 trial, focused on restraining judicial power rather than artistic liberties and free speech.

On 28 May 2025, the Higher Court of Appeal in Hamm (Germany) delivered a pioneering judgment in the case Lliuya v. RWE. The Court confirmed that German private nuisance law was applicable in the transnational context, and that the greenhouse gas emissions of the energy company RWE contributed to climate change and its adverse impacts. Based on the evidence provided, the Court concluded that the normative threshold of ‘imminence’ of a future, first-time property impairment was not reached. This article assesses the Court’s reasoning and the challenges it faced in determining ‘imminence’, considering conflicting scientific evidence. Against the backdrop of a legal and scientific analysis, the article argues that the physical laws underpinning climate change, and the scientific assessments of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, form a baseline of ‘best available science’ for the legal assessment of climate risks. Case-specific evidence that deviates from this baseline requires careful consideration. Furthermore, the legal interpretation of causally relevant evidence must depend on whether the science provides a qualitative or a quantitative statement.