Pediatric medications inflate healthcare-associated plastic waste because many are given as liquid suspensions due to a need for weight-based dosing. While chewable tablet formulations and stair-step dosing recommendations are available, they are underutilized. We demonstrate the potential of small changes to medication administration to decrease plastic waste.

In the face of populist challenges, citizens’ conceptions of democracy and process preferences are increasingly being studied, based on the assumption that democratic resilience is dependent on citizen support. However, the attitudes and behaviour of political elites are just as relevant. Elites were long assumed to lean towards an elite-centred, ‘institutional’ style of democracy. However, recent developments such as the rise of populism and political polarization suggest a different trend, as politicians themselves seem to be losing trust in institutions. We explore the actual distribution of legislators’ preferences in the process space today based on novel data from the United States and Germany, offering a comparative perspective. We measure process preferences on a continuum ranging from support for people-centred democracy to support for elite-centred democracy. Our findings demonstrate that the preferences of legislators in Germany are normally distributed along this continuum, while those of legislators in the more polarized United States lean towards a people-centred process. In both countries, control of government, seniority and electoral security are found to be important determinants of process preferences.

Lewy bodies (LBs) are the main pathological feature of the neurodegenerative diseases Parkinson’s disease and Dementia with LBs. Since their discovery over 100 years ago, it is only in the last three decades, that, a wealth of genetic, pathological and pre-clinical evidence puts the spotlight on accumulated α-Synuclein (α-Syn) as the main component of LBs and implicated as a driver of these diseases. This has catapulted clinical trials for these diseases focussing on strategies to remove, reduce, disaggregate and prevent propagation of α-Syn. Advances in technical approaches have started to build a bigger picture of the complexity of LBs extending beyond α-Syn. There is still much to be learned about the processes underlying the formation and structure of LBs and their relationship to neurodegeneration. This will likely impact upon how we target these diseases therapeutically, diagnose them and build clinical trials. Here, we will discuss LBs in the context of α-Syn and other features, modelling strategies and how to direct research moving forwards in order to get clinical results. A more complete understanding of LBs and potential novel targets that drive their formation will likely lead to better outcomes in LB diseases.

We define a notion of conditional inaccessibility of a decision between two actions represented by two utility functions defined in a finite probability space, where the decision is based on the order of the expected values of the two utility functions: a decision making Agent preferring the action with the higher expected utility. The conditional inaccessibility expresses that the decision cannot be obtained if the expectation values of the utility functions are calculated using the Jeffrey conditional probability defined by a prior and by partial evidence about the probability that determines the decision. Examples of conditionally inaccessible decisions are given, and it is shown that if a conditionally inaccessible decision exists in a probability space, then there exists a continuum number of conditionally inaccessible decisions in that probability space. Open questions and conjectures about the conditional inaccessibility of decisions are formulated. The results are interpreted as showing the crucial role of priors in Bayesian taming of epistemic uncertainties about probabilities that determine decisions based on utility maximizing.

Although democracy is at the core of the U.S.’s self-image, the laws granting civic rights have long been designed to exclude some Americans, highlighting a fundamental tension between the democratic ideal and group interest. Echoing past racial exclusions, contemporary felony disenfranchisement policies and a racially unjust criminal legal system combine to continue to disenfranchise Black Americans disproportionately. Public opinion on these policies presents opportunities for or barriers to reform, so we seek to understand public opposition to ending felony disenfranchisement. Using two recent national surveys from the American National Election Studies, we explore two explanations rooted in the social contexts from which relational civic rights consciousness emerges: one reflecting varied commitments to democratic norms and one rooted in racial threat. Even after controlling for politics, a commitment to democracy is associated with support for allowing those convicted of a felony to vote, while concerns about threats to White privilege are associated with opposition. Critically, the relationship appears conditional: commitments to democracy fail to produce support for voting rights among those who are preoccupied with maintaining White privilege. Implications for people’s support for the legal rights of others, for democracy and for legal change are discussed.

Modern society is under the illusion that calculation and measurement amounts to control. Heidegger’s critique of the enchantment of modernity shows how the machinations of power are inhibiting the course of evolving change. People cannot reflect on the real failures of the many iterations of the polycrisis and learn from them. This failure to notice failure is at the core of the metacrisis. Modern society is under the illusion that progress as continuous exponential growth can proceed with its onward trajectory without having a profound impact on resources, pollution, socio-cultural and ecological well-being. Education remains entrapped within the enchantment of modernity, and continues to prioritise the calculation and control easily imposed on STEM subjects, and the development of rationality as “progress” over and above a more wholistic approach to education. But the pace of planetary cycles and laws of thermodynamics bind humanity as much as they do other species. Understanding how finance supercharges the economic growth cycle will help us to re-evaluate and learn from the failures of the metacrisis, and transition to a calmer, slow economic system and more egalitarian future.

Dietary patterns are increasingly recognised as crucial factors influencing the progression of metabolic-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD). This study aimed to explore the association between dietary patterns and MASLD risk among adults, using latent class analysis (LCA), to our knowledge, for the first time in this context. This cross-sectional study included 8549 adults from the general population. Dietary intake data were collected using a validated FFQ and analysed with Nutritionist IV software. A 3-step LCA was applied to determine distinct dietary patterns among participants using micro- and macronutrients. Liver fibrosis severity was evaluated using a validated non-invasive marker, FIB-4 Score. Our analysis identified three distinct dietary patterns, each significantly associated with the severity of liver fibrosis. Class 1 (high-volume, high-fibre/mineral-rich pattern) was associated with the lowest risk of liver fibrosis. Compared with Class 1, participants in Class 2 (moderate volume, low-fibre/high-Na/mineral-poor pattern) (OR = 1·24; P = 0·002) and Class 3 (restricted volume, nutrient-depleted pattern) (OR = 1·13; P = 0·027) had significantly higher odds of moderate-to-high liver fibrosis risk. Class-specific regression analysis showed that age and smoking were the most consistent predictors of fibrosis risk across all patterns. Dietary patterns rich in antioxidants, fibre and essential micronutrients appear effective in reducing the risk of liver fibrosis. Further longitudinal studies are required to confirm these findings and determine practical clinical applications.

We determine spatially-bounded rogue waves in the Davey–Stewartson I equation. We show that these rogue waves can be obtained when a single or multiple internal parameters in the higher-order rational solution of the Davey–Stewartson I equation are real and large, and the order-index vector of this higher-order rational solution has even length and comprises pairs of the form $(2n, 2n+1)$, where $n$ is a positive integer. Under these conditions and another nondegeneracy condition on the root curve of a certain double-real-variable polynomial, the higher-order rational solution will exhibit spatially-bounded rogue waves that arise from a uniform background with some time-varying lumps on it, reach high amplitude in limited space, and then disappear into the same background again. The crests of these rogue waves form a single or multiple closed curves that are generically disconnected from each other on the spatial plane, and are analytically predicted by the root curve mentioned above. We also derive uniformly-valid asymptotic approximations for these spatially-bounded rogue waves in the large-parameter regime. Near the crests of these rogue waves, these asymptotic approximations reduce to simple expressions. Our asymptotic approximations of these rogue waves are compared to true solutions, and good agreement is demonstrated.

The rights of Deaf persons need to be respected in order to prevent discrimination and ensure equality in Kenya’s criminal courts. Inclusive communication in the country’s criminal justice system is key and can only occur when information that is passed and received is understood by both the Deaf and hearing parties. The aim of this article is to determine how Deaf people can be supported and accommodated in order to ensure their effective participation at all levels of Kenya’s criminal justice system. With the backdrop of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, the author contends that the State has an obligation to put in place reasonable accommodation and other accessibility measures that go beyond the provision of mere sign language interpretation, if the right to participation of Deaf witnesses is to be fully realized in the country’s criminal justice system.

Transverse mode instability (TMI) is a primary limitation for power scaling in high-brightness fiber lasers. This paper reports observation of the TMI effect in the process of supercontinuum generation, and demonstrates a 993 W linearly polarized supercontinuum ranging from 800 to 2000 nm through an amplifier-based structure. To mitigate TMI, three strategies are implemented: repetition rate doubling to reduce peak power and mitigate the thermal loading; reducing the bending radius of the gain fiber to suppress higher-order modes; optimizing the polarization extinction ratio of the pre-amplifier. TMI-induced beam quality degradation and power-scaling limitation resemble those of conventional fiber lasers. In particular, burr-like spectral fluctuations in supercontinuum sources are observed upon the onset of TMI. This work deepens the understanding of TMI mechanisms in broadband laser systems and offers critical guidance for power scaling of high-power supercontinuum sources.

In a financialized world where we are all conscripted to be competitive players, the category of cheating takes on new political and cultural potency and has become key to reactionary ideology. This speculative essay moves beyond the conventional framing of cheating as the exceptional malfeasance of bad economic actors, as well as beyond the claim that capitalism’s drive to profit encourages dishonesty and manipulation (thought that is indeed true). Rather, it proposes we recognize cheating at capitalism’s ideological and operational core, not its periphery. By examining imperialism’s ‘Great Game’, the links between game theory and neoliberalism, and the role of recursive rule-breaking in the history of finance, we can triangulate the normalization of cheating within the dominant economic paradigm. This essay approaches cheating as a discursive formation entangled with financial power. Such an approach can help us recognize some elements of the rise of reactionary, far-right, and fascistic sentiment and politics today. These in many cases revolve around a rhetoric of cheating that misrecognizes the culprits, targeting poor and precarious minorities rather than those at the commanding heights of the economy.

Hemiplegia, the paralysis of one side of the body, is a common effect of stroke and provides unique challenges for afflicted individuals, including asymmetric body strength and limited mobility, especially in the sit-to-stand (STS) motion. Reducing weight-bearing asymmetry during STS is important for improving mobility outcomes of hemiplegic patients. To address this concern, a semi-wearable STS assistive robot is proposed to provide assistive force and motion guidance during the STS motion. It is a planar 2-DoF assistive robot attached near the hip, designed to reduce weight-bearing asymmetry and facilitate correct execution of the STS motion by guiding the user along a target STS path and constraining pelvic motion in the frontal plane, controlled using a single worn IMU. The method for generating unique target STS paths and assistive robot design is presented. Experiments on healthy test subjects with the motion of one leg constrained were conducted to determine the changes and correlations in force and motion parameters when using the assistive robot during STS. The assistive robot improved rising STS asymmetry in some test subjects and reduced stabilization weight-bearing asymmetry in all test subjects. Motion data showed that the assistive robot facilitated hip translation and tilt toward the test subjects’ constrained side, while a counter trunk tilt toward the unconstrained side was observed. The results of the experiments suggest that more active control of the hip position and tilt and providing real-time feedback during the STS motion could further improve the function of the robot.

As the number of digitized archives increases, so does attention to archival research as a useful qualitative method. This article presents a pilot project in an undergraduate political science methods course at the University of Toronto Mississauga designed to familiarize and engage students with digital archival research in an entertaining way. In collaboration with the campus library, students were invited to imagine themselves as rookie detectives and investigate a “cold case” of a potential Unidentified Flying Object encounter in Canada during the Cold War. They explored a digital archive curated explicitly for this purpose and made available in the course’s online learning-management system, with related documents and photographs accessible from the Library and Archives Canada; visited the library that presented archival research; and answered questions relevant to the case. Results from a subsequent participants’ self-assessing survey indicate that this assignment was beneficial in enhancing student comprehension of archival research. This suggests that such innovative pedagogical activities can render topics like methods more appealing and learning about them more enjoyable.

Theatre reviews have long shaped artistic discourse, but their role in capturing the cultural depth of global majority theatre is seldom addressed. HOME X, a collaboration between East Asian artists in London and Hong Kong, highlights the rich interactions between theatre, diasporic identity, and Chinese literary traditions. However, its British theatre reviews largely ignored these cultural references, prioritizing the production’s technological aspect over HOME X’s deep-rooted engagement with Chinese literature including mythology, fable, poetry, and the novel. This article foregrounds the cultural and literary depth of HOME X, and contrasts it with the limited lens of existing British theatre reviews, further drawing on such theories as Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak’s concept of ‘epistemic violence’ and Ric Knowles’s ‘new interculturalism’ to address the controversies surrounding such reviews. It thus argues for a more inclusive and culturally aware approach to reviewing East and South East Asian (ESEA) performances in an era when global majority theatre practices and audience are visibly increasing.