The Chinese pangolin Manis pentadactyla is categorized as Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List, but the development of effective conservation strategies is hindered by a lack of data on its distribution range and population dynamics. In addition, standardized survey and analysis methods are required to facilitate the sharing of results and maximize conservation effectiveness. To fill these knowledge and methodological gaps, we investigated the occurrence of pangolin burrows in the subtropical forest ecosystem of Fujian, China. We surveyed a total of 70 transects across five land-cover types within the Fujian Junzifeng National Nature Reserve and detected 87 burrows. The majority of burrows (87%) were located in mixed conifer and broadleaf forests. We used six environmental variables in a generalized linear model to examine the relationship between the occurrence of burrows and environmental factors. The average model results from the best model set showed that the distribution of burrows was significantly influenced by forest type. For effective pangolin conservation, we recommend that local conservation authorities prioritize the protection of mixed conifer and broadleaf forests. Our findings support the local conservation of the Chinese pangolin and the standardization of surveys and conservation efforts across the species’ range.

The catchphrase “if you build it, they will come,” from the movie “Field of Dreams,” described an audacious plan to build a small baseball stadium in a remote cornfield. It could also describe the government infrastructure which has drawn in the ever-growing American health care business sector. A series of increasingly complex and expensive programs, first launched just after World War II, continue to provide essential funding and regulatory support for a multitude of private companies that have revolutionized medical care and, in the process, built an industry that represents more than 18% of the country’s economy. This parade of programs includes the Hill-Burton Act of 1946, Medicare and Medicaid in 1965, the initiation of the Human Genome Project in 1990, and 2010’s Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, all of which created platforms on which private entities rely to provide medical services and products. In the process, these private entities have made and continue to generate substantial profits. And while many of them have improved public wellbeing dramatically, many have also degraded the system’s integrity through fraud and anticompetitive behavior. In its role of keeping this huge and essential private enterprise on track, health law has become an indispensable part of the system, with health lawyers serving as the foundation of its effective operation.

The paper explores the accuracy of WiFi-Round Trip Timing (RTT) positioning in indoor environments. Filtering techniques are applied to WiFi-RTT positioning in indoor environments, enhanced by Residual Signal Strength Indicator (RSSI)-based outlier detection. A Genetic and Grid filter are compared with a Particle filter and single-epoch least-squares across a range of test scenarios. In static scenarios, 67% of trials had sub-metre accuracy and 90.5% had a root mean square error (RMSE) below 2 m. In Non-Line-of-Sight (NLOS) conditions, 38% of trials had sub-metre accuracy, whereas for environments with full Line-of-Sight (LOS) conditions, 95.2% of trials had sub-metre accuracy. In scenarios with motion, 22.2% of trials had sub-metre accuracy. RSSI-based outlier detection in NLOS conditions, provided an average improvement of 41.3% over no outlier detection across all algorithms in the static and 14% in the dynamic tests. The Genetic filter achieved a mean improvement of 49.2% in the static and 47% in the dynamic tests compared with least squares.

We demonstrate that there is almost universal historiographical consensus that Guaman Poma was an Indigenous elite, partly because all his various writings claimed he was and partly because his vast access to paper, print, and knowledge could have not possibly be accessed by a commoner. We trace many commoners in early seventeenth century Peru that, like Guaman Poma, mastered literacy, print culture, and vast knowledge, while claiming noble status. He was not alone. We also insist that his Coronica demonstrates profound changes in bottom-up indigenous political dialogue in the wake of the Toledan reforms of the 1570s. As claims now began to be supported by archival documentation, social mobility could no longer rely solely on charismatic authority and mobilization of witnesses. Guaman Poma repeatedly failed at producing archival documentation to back up his claims to nobility, testing the patience of multiple Indigenous communities and leading to a life of expulsion, itinerancy, and poverty that paradoxically helped to make his genealogical claims even more grandiose.

The International Seabed Authority (ISA) is tasked with regulating deep seabed mining (DSM) in areas beyond national jurisdiction for the benefit of all humankind. Unlike most international institutions, the ISA operates as a frontline resource regulator with direct authority over DSM contracts and activities. To effectively carry out its regulatory mandate, the ISA operates under a complex institutional structure involving the delegation of significant powers to non-plenary bodies and administrative actors. As decision-making shifts to bodies less directly linked to State consent, it becomes increasingly important to ensure that these actors remain accountable both to the States granting them authority and to those affected by their decisions. This article argues that there is a mismatch between the ISA’s decision-making structure and its systems of administrative accountability that lead to a problem of affected interests being disregarded. The article highlights the structural and practical barriers that lead to this and then turns to an examination of the process mechanisms that the ISA has put in place to ensure that its decisions are responsive to affected interests. Whilst the ISA has some positive ad hoc procedures in place, it does not consistently institutionalise core administrative law pillars such as transparency, meaningful consultation, and the opportunity for review of decisions. A challenge for the ISA is to identify the range of accountability relationships created by the DSM regime, and to develop clear and consistent standards of accountability that can address the problem of disregard.

Autonomous shipping is revolutionising the maritime industry. While scholarship has begun to explore the legal obstacles to the global operation of autonomous vessels under the existing legal framework, little attention has been paid to theoretical problems posed by law enforcement against those vessels under that framework. This article offers an account of law enforcement challenges posed by different categories of maritime autonomous surface ships as segmented by the key State actors’ enforcement powers (i.e. coastal and flag States) under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. The study concludes that a reconceptualisation of law enforcement vis-à-vis autonomous ships is required, reexamining the presumption of physicality. The article suggests that it is necessary to reevaluate the suitability of the ‘genuine link’ doctrine, shifting towards a shore-based Remote Operations Centre rule or devising international agreements that envisage dynamic or fluid enforcement mechanisms. This would necessitate a transition from the traditional view of jurisdiction based on person/object/flag of registration to a model of enforcement based on convenience.

The debate over whether, when, and by whom reparations should be paid for climate-related loss and damage has been central to the struggle over the role of international law in responding to climate change. The push for climate reparations is an attempt to have international law treat the harm caused by climate change with the same gravity as issues such as the damage caused by war, gross violations of human rights, or injury to the economic interests of foreign investors. At stake in that struggle is a broader question that goes to the heart of the global political economy: who should bear the social costs of industrialization and technological development on a global scale?

On 21 May 2024, the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS) delivered its Advisory Opinion on Climate Change and International Law (Advisory Opinion) regarding the obligations of States Parties to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) in respect of climate change. ITLOS made several methodological choices to answer the request for the Advisory Opinion, but none were more decisive than its extensive use of external rules and scientific materials to interpret both the questions presented and the relevant UNCLOS provisions. This article provides an account of the ways in which ITLOS engaged with legal and scientific external resources throughout its decision. The final section discusses some concerns raised by this interpretative approach, including unresolved questions related to the criteria for using external rules under the principle of systemic integration, and the justification for the role that scientific information plays in shaping the content of certain UNCLOS obligations as applied to climate change. These issues are important given the influence that the Advisory Opinion will have on future debates and negotiations, and because they are ultimately linked to the need for a sound theoretical foundation for using legal and non-legal external materials in treaty interpretation.

Prison has long been recognized as a racialized institution in America, where race determines myriad aspects of life—from where individuals sleep to those with whom they live, eat, and socialize during incarceration. However, there is little evidence on how to effectively remediate prisons’ deep racial divisions—a question that is imperative given that interracial animus in prisons can be both a result and a determinant of racial conflict and violence. In this study, we argue that higher education in prison has significant potential to improve racial attitudes and foster racial integration by providing a “contrasting context” for interracial interaction in the classroom within an otherwise racially segregated institution. Using administrative data on college-level course completion, an original longitudinal survey of prison college students, and in-depth qualitative interviews with prison college alumni, we show evidence of shifts in racial attitudes and self-reported behavior as students move through their college career. Our results demonstrate the potential for prison higher education to shift race-based norms and offer a framework through which to analyze prison education that prioritizes outcomes of interest beyond recidivism.

The Hanna Neumann conjecture (HNC) for a free group G predicts that $\overline{\chi}(U\cap V)\leqslant \overline{\chi} (U)\overline{\chi}(V)$ for all finitely generated subgroups U and V, where $\overline{\chi}(H) = \max\{-\chi(H),0\}$ denotes the reduced Euler characteristic of H. A strengthened version of the HNC was proved independently by Friedman and Mineyev in 2011. Recently, Antolín and Jaikin-Zapirain introduced the $L^2$-Hall property and showed that if G is a hyperbolic limit group that satisfies this property, then G satisfies the HNC. Antolín and Jaikin-Zapirain established the $L^2$-Hall property for free and surface groups, which Brown and Kharlampovich extended to all limit groups. In this paper, we prove the $L^2$-Hall property for graphs of free groups with cyclic edge groups that are hyperbolic relative to virtually abelian subgroups. We also give another proof of the $L^2$-Hall property for limit groups. As a corollary, we show that all these groups satisfy a strengthened version of the HNC.

Possession of a chattel is sufficient to create a title to it. This article considers the nature and justification of these titles. It argues that popular justifications of possessory title fall short and offers a more appealing justification. The article then seeks to resolve, in light of that justification, three ongoing doctrinal controversies about a possessory title’s nature: whether it continues to exist after possession of the chattel is lost; whether it is transferable; and whether it includes a right that others not interfere with a possessor’s use of the chattel.

This article contends that anthropogenic sea-level rise seriously undermines the exercise of self-determination by peoples living in Small Island Developing States (SIDS). Moreover, it argues that the effects of this would be severely exacerbated if the international community were to reject the possibility of statehood enduring notwithstanding total submergence, the complete loss of inhabitable land or the mass exodus of extant populations. In support of the claims made by several SIDS themselves, this article provides an analysis focused upon the relationship between the law of State continuity, on the one hand, and the peremptory norm of self-determination on the other. Ultimately, this analysis advances an understanding of State continuity and sea-level rise that favours existential resilience, making any future losses of statehood contingent upon voluntary dissolution by affected States.

This article argues that the concept of dualism has ceased to operate as a reliable indicator of, or guide to, the relationships between domestic and international laws in the UK’s constitutional order. Dualism, it is argued, provides only a partial account of the complex interactions between domestic and international laws, cannot accommodate the hybrid products of interactions with European legal orders and ignores the post-“incorporation” processes of domestication through which international and domestic norms are reconciled. The connections between domestic and international laws are – in contrast to dualism’s binary simplicity – multi-dimensional and interconnected with the UK’s (recently turbulent) constitutional politics.

In Tuscany, music is employed by park authorities, as well as cultural and conservation organisations, to attract visitors to natural and protected areas. This article examines the benefits of incorporating music performances within these natural settings, highlighting improvements in management, income generation for maintenance and conservation, increased visitor numbers, and enhanced environmental awareness. Through qualitative interviews and the analysis of four case studies, this article explores how integrating musical performances into ecotourism activities can foster a sense of place and stewardship among visitors and local communities.

Maritime security challenges are intensifying globally, from armed attacks on shipping in the Red Sea to critical infrastructure sabotage and environmental threats from shadow fleets. These developments have led some to question whether the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) remains ‘fit for purpose’. This article reframes that debate, suggesting that maritime security operates through a complex assemblage of institutions and mechanisms. In this context, UNCLOS is best understood not as a monolithic ‘constitution’, but as one important site in a more complex and dynamic system of maritime security governance. It examines how the United Nations (UN) system, regional organisations and informal arrangements collectively address maritime security challenges, revealing both the strengths and limitations of this diverse governance landscape. The analysis shows that while this complexity enables flexible responses to varied challenges, it also creates coordination problems and accountability gaps. Rather than calling for a revision of UNCLOS, the article proposes three pathways for recalibrating the system: establishing a dedicated UN maritime security body; addressing interface conflicts through targeted interventions; and selectively formalising successful informal mechanisms.

In this paper, I want to challenge the rationalist-compatibilist intuition that for freedom to be a rational two-way power, the relation to reasons cannot be a mere necessary condition for the actualization of the power. To this end, I discuss Crusius’s voluntarist conception as a historical case study.

According to Crusius, any choice of an action, as the activity of freedom, requires not only the evaluation of the available options but also something like the ‘active embrace’ of an option as a necessary condition. It will become clear that this ‘active embrace’ is Crusius’ way of expressing the incompatibilist idea that there is no necessary, determining connection between judgement and choice. This conception of freedom has the advantage over rationalist-compatibilist approaches that it is much better suited to account for the case of choosing between equally good options. This case is crucial to us as rational agents when it comes to the question of what to make of one’s life, what career to choose. In my view then, that Crusius’s approach can account for this case is a reason that strongly speaks in favor of his conception of freedom.

Cyprian of Carthage’s On the Lapsed, written in the aftermath of the third-century Decian persecution, contains several stories of the eucharist attacking apostate Christians. These Christians claimed they had been admitted to the eucharist by local, highly esteemed martyrs and confessors. Cyprian, who had fled during the persecution and been unpopular since the day of his election, could not afford to confront this group directly. Instead, he crafted a text that conjured up an autonomous eucharist that policed itself against unworthy intruders. Moreover, he used the graphic language of bodily suffering and dismemberment to scramble the boundaries between lapsed Christian, bishop, and martyr, essentially reconfiguring himself as a martyr.

The shuhūr sanah, also called the Shuhur era, was a solar calendar used in Deccan India in the pre-modern and early modern periods. Scholars have long assumed that the calendar was instituted in the early fourteenth century, sometime in 1344–1345 CE, although, to date, no primary evidence from the fourteenth century has been examined to substantiate this inaugural date or explain the circumstances that led to the genesis of the calendar. In the present article, I discuss a 1333–1334 CE Persian epigraph from Daulatabad that uses the phrase shuhūr sanah and argue that the calendar was instituted during a period of economic, administrative, and agricultural uncertainty in the reign of the Delhi Sultan Muhammad bin Tughluq (r. 1325–1351). In so doing, I re-date the inauguration of the calendar to a decade prior to what has been assumed thus far and posit a new theory about the calendar’s longevity in the Deccan. More broadly, I examine the historiography and the historical usage of the Shuhur era in the Persianate epigraphic corpus. The survey reveals how the Shuhur era was used to make public-facing pronouncements and also clarifies the limits of the calendar’s usage. The calendar was popular in the late sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries; after this period, it was phased out by other calendrical systems preferred by the Mughal (1526–1857) and the Maratha (1674–1818) empires, who came to control the Deccan.