Establishing the invariance property of an instrument (e.g., a questionnaire or test) is a key step for establishing its measurement validity. Measurement invariance is typically assessed by differential item functioning (DIF) analysis, i.e., detecting DIF items whose response distribution depends not only on the latent trait measured by the instrument but also on the group membership. DIF analysis is confounded by the group difference in the latent trait distributions. Many DIF analyses require knowing several anchor items that are DIF-free in order to draw inferences on whether each of the rest is a DIF item, where the anchor items are used to identify the latent trait distributions. When no prior information on anchor items is available, or some anchor items are misspecified, item purification methods and regularized estimation methods can be used. The former iteratively purifies the anchor set by a stepwise model selection procedure, and the latter selects the DIF-free items by a LASSO-type regularization approach. Unfortunately, unlike the methods based on a correctly specified anchor set, these methods are not guaranteed to provide valid statistical inference (e.g., confidence intervals and p-values). In this paper, we propose a new method for DIF analysis under a multiple indicators and multiple causes (MIMIC) model for DIF. This method adopts a minimal $L_1$\documentclass[12pt]{minimal}\usepackage{amsmath}\usepackage{wasysym}\usepackage{amsfonts}\usepackage{amssymb}\usepackage{amsbsy}\usepackage{mathrsfs}\usepackage{upgreek}\setlength{\oddsidemargin}{-69pt}\begin{document}$$L_1$$\end{document} norm condition for identifying the latent trait distributions. Without requiring prior knowledge about an anchor set, it can accurately estimate the DIF effects of individual items and further draw valid statistical inferences for quantifying the uncertainty. Specifically, the inference results allow us to control the type-I error for DIF detection, which may not be possible with item purification and regularized estimation methods. We conduct simulation studies to evaluate the performance of the proposed method and compare it with the anchor-set-based likelihood ratio test approach and the LASSO approach. The proposed method is applied to analysing the three personality scales of the Eysenck personality questionnaire-revised (EPQ-R).

This article examines the development of Catholic places of worship in Ireland from the initial relaxation of the penal laws in 1778 to the passage of An Act for the Relief of His Majesty’s Roman Catholic Subjects, popularly known as the Act of in 1829. Focusing on parish chapels, three distinct forms are identified — the ‘transitional chapel’, the ‘improved chapel’ and the ‘grand chapel’ or ‘great chapel’. Many of these chapels have been reworked, replaced or demolished, and therefore a range of sources have been used to examine this important period of Catholic infrastructural development, including drawings, written descriptions and analysis of the surviving built fabric. This period of Catholic architecture has been largely overshadowed in the historiography by the more extensive and elaborate buildings constructed in the second half of the nineteenth century. The chapels built during the earlier period are varied in design and scale, ranging from the grandeur of the ‘Metropolitan chapel’ (called the Pro-Cathedral until November 2025) on Dublin’s Marlborough Street to modest cruciform chapels with minimal external decoration in the rural landscape. This article examines the architectural strategies used in both urban and rural contexts to assert a recognisable Catholic architectural identity in public space while negotiating a precarious and uncertain legal environment during a period of considerable political instability. Finally, it examines the increasing use of professional architectural expertise in order to participate in a culture of ecclesiastical building and to express the institutional capacity of the Catholic church emerging from the legal restrictions of the penal laws.

Item calibration is a technique to estimate characteristics of questions (called items) for achievement tests. In computerized tests, item calibration is an important tool for maintaining, updating and developing new items for an item bank. To efficiently sample examinees with specific ability levels for this calibration, we use optimal design theory assuming that the probability to answer correctly follows an item response model. Locally optimal unrestricted designs have usually a few design points for ability. In practice, it is hard to sample examinees from a population with these specific ability levels due to unavailability or limited availability of examinees. To counter this problem, we use the concept of optimal restricted designs and show that this concept naturally fits to item calibration. We prove an equivalence theorem needed to verify optimality of a design. Locally optimal restricted designs provide intervals of ability levels for optimal calibration of an item. When assuming a two-parameter logistic model, several scenarios with D-optimal restricted designs are presented for calibration of a single item and simultaneous calibration of several items. These scenarios show that the naive way to sample examinees around unrestricted design points is not optimal.

This discussion paper argues that both the use of Cronbach’s alpha as a reliability estimate and as a measure of internal consistency suffer from major problems. First, alpha always has a value, which cannot be equal to the test score’s reliability given the interitem covariance matrix and the usual assumptions about measurement error. Second, in practice, alpha is used more often as a measure of the test’s internal consistency than as an estimate of reliability. However, it can be shown easily that alpha is unrelated to the internal structure of the test. It is further discussed that statistics based on a single test administration do not convey much information about the accuracy of individuals’ test performance. The paper ends with a list of conclusions about the usefulness of alpha.

This article explores the idea that constitutional scholars may be thought of as constitutional actors analogous to integrity institutions and examines the normative implications of conceiving of constitutional scholars in this way. One implication of such an analogy is to strengthen academic freedom and protect the integrity and independence of constitutional scholarship. Moreover, viewing constitutional scholars as constitutional actors also sharpens our understanding of the ethical obligations of constitutional scholarship: of ‘academic self-awareness’ and of ‘decisional’ and ‘institutional’ independence. This duty of independence may be equally important to the public standing, expert status and integrity of the constitutional law discipline in this highly politicised populist moment.

Retinylidene proteins are retinal-binding light-sensitive proteins found in organisms ranging from microbes to human. Microbial opsins have been utilized in optogenetics, while animal opsins are essential for vision and light-dependent metabolic functions. However, retinylidene proteins have hydrophobic transmembrane (TM) domains, which makes them challenging to study. In this structural and functional bioinformatics study, I use the QTY (glutamine, threonine, tyrosine) code to design water-soluble QTY analogues of retinylidene proteins, including nine human and three microbial opsins. I provide superpositions of the AlphaFold3-predicted hydrophobic native proteins and their water-soluble QTY analogues, and experimentally determined structures when available. I also provide a comparison of surface hydrophobicity of the variants. Despite significant changes to the protein sequence (35.53–50.24% in the TM domain), protein characteristics and structures are well preserved. Furthermore, I run molecular dynamics (MD) simulations of native and QTY-designed OPN2 (rhodopsin) and analyze their response to the isomerization of 11-cis-retinal to all-trans-retinal. The results show that the QTY analogue has similar functional behavior to the native protein. The findings of this study indicate that the QTY code can be used as a robust tool to design water-soluble retinylidene proteins. These have potential applications in protein studies, therapeutic treatments, and bioengineering.

The assumption of latent monotonicity in item response theory models for dichotomous data cannot be evaluated directly, but observable consequences such as manifest monotonicity facilitate the assessment of latent monotonicity in real data. Standard methods for evaluating manifest monotonicity typically produce a test statistic that is geared toward falsification, which can only provide indirect support in favor of manifest monotonicity. We propose the use of Bayes factors to quantify the degree of support available in the data in favor of manifest monotonicity or against manifest monotonicity. Through the use of informative hypotheses, this procedure can also be used to determine the support for manifest monotonicity over substantively or statistically relevant alternatives to manifest monotonicity, rendering the procedure highly flexible. The performance of the procedure is evaluated using a simulation study, and the application of the procedure is illustrated using empirical data.

We provide a framework for motivating and diagnosing the functional form in the structural part of nonlinear or linear structural equation models when the measurement model is a correctly specified linear confirmatory factor model. A mathematical population-based analysis provides asymptotic identification results for conditional expectations of a coordinate of an endogenous latent variable given exogenous and possibly other endogenous latent variables, and theoretically well-founded estimates of this conditional expectation are suggested. Simulation studies show that these estimators behave well compared to presently available alternatives. Practically, we recommend the estimator using Bartlett factor scores as input to classical non-parametric regression methods.

What are epiphanies, and might they be of use in doing philosophy? This essay explores how a great deal of philosophy – and in particular ethics – adopts methods that make no room for epiphanies and the insights they can provide.

Since the emergence of the Thule culture (AD 1200), dog sledding has been perceived as a central means of transportation in traditional Inuit life in the Arctic. However, there is an absence of research concerning Inuit dog-sled technology and the tradition of the craft. This study investigates the Inuit dog-sled technocomplex using enskilment methodologiesby employing experimental and ethno-archaeological observations to explore the relationship between knowledge and technical practice. It involves the reconstruction of a historical West Greenlandic dog sled, shedding light on carpentry techniques and construction processes. This method emphasizes the interaction between humans, technology, and time, providing essential practical data for future archaeological and historical research, particularly for comprehending fragmented archaeological remains. By focusing on process rather than end product, this research provides insight into understanding Inuit dog sled technology and the complexity of the practice. The connection between artifacts and materially situated practice is demonstrated through the reconstruction of a dog sled, which illustrates the value of physicality in enskilment. It highlights how experimental archaeology can improve our insights into the historical and prehistoric Arctic societies’ technologies, economies, and practices.

This article argues that the statement in John 5.2, ‘There is (ἔστιν) in Jerusalem […] a pool […] which has five porticoes’, offers internal evidence for dating the Gospel prior to 70 ce, when Jerusalem was destroyed. Scholars usually discard the use of the present tense ‘is’ as a mere instance of the historic present, but this view is untenable, as I show by discussing the most recent grammatical studies concerning the historic present. Moreover, I argue that the formula ‘There is in …’ (ἔστιν δὲ ἐν) followed by a location (in the dative), with an architectural structure as the subject, is a formula that has been used since Herodotus’ time in geographic and topographic descriptions that assume the existence of this structure at the time of writing. I subsequently demonstrate that the colonnaded pool complex of Bethzatha had likely been destroyed and/or dismantled during the First Jewish Revolt, when the Bezetha area, where the pool was located, was twice destroyed and was also stripped bare of timber to construct the Roman earthworks that were thrown up against the walls of Jerusalem to help the Romans take the city. Archaeological reports on this neighbourhood confirm its desolation after 70 ce, and Eusebius’ description of the pool confirms the disappearance of its porticoes. Finally, I draw attention to the unanimous depiction of Jerusalem in Flavian and post-Flavian literature as a city entirely destroyed, burned down and reduced to ashes. This means that if the Gospel’s author describes the colonnaded Pool of Bethzatha as still standing, then the Gospel must have been written (and edited) prior to 70 ce.

The widespread use of artificial intelligence technologies in border management throughout the European Union has significant human rights implications that extend beyond the commonly examined issues of privacy, non-discrimination and data protection. This article explores these overlooked impacts through three critical frameworks: the erosion of freedom of thought, the disempowerment of individuals and the politicization of human dignity. In uncovering these dynamics, the article argues for a broader conception of human rights to prevent their gradual erosion and safeguard the core principle of protecting human dignity.

For the purposes of assessing tax, section 170 of the Income Tax Assessment Act 1936 (Cth) permits the Commissioner to determine that the taxpayer has committed fraud or evasion. The taxpayer then bears the onus of showing that they have not. There is no requirement that the Commissioner show that such determination is correct, nor to support it with evidence. The Commissioner may, if they wish, do nothing more than put the taxpayer to proof by tendering their assessment as evidence. This article sets out in detail how the reversal of the onus of proof in cases arising from the Commissioner’s determination of fraud or evasion offends the principle of procedural fairness, as well as the principles of certainty and prospectivity. This paper also extends that analysis to disputes arising out of the commissioner’s determination of tax avoidance under Part IVA of the Income Tax Assessment Act 1936 (Cth). This paper further considers whether general administrative law principles, in particular the Briginshaw Principle, may obviate some of the concerns regarding the reversal of the onus of proof. It is contended that the reversal of the onus of proof in cases arising out of the Commissioner’s determination of fraud or evasion under section 170 and tax avoidance under Part IVA significantly offend fundamental tenets of the rule of law, namely, the principles of procedural fairness, certainty and prospectivity. It is further contended that requiring the Commissioner to adduce evidence to support the opinion or allowing the Commissioner’s determination to be judicially examined would obviate the offence to the rule of law.

We consider a bivariate normal distribution with linear correlation ρ whose random components are discretized according to two assigned sets of thresholds. On the resulting bivariate ordinal random variable, one can compute Goodman and Kruskal’s gamma coefficient,γ which is a common measure of ordinal association. Given the known analytical monotonic relationship between Pearson’s ρ and Kendall’s rank correlation τ for the bivariate normal distribution, and since in the continuous case, Kendall’s τ coincides with Goodman and Kruskal’s γ, the change of this association measure before and after discretization is worth studying. We consider several experimental settings obtained by varying the two sets of thresholds, or, equivalently, the marginal distributions of the final ordinal variables. This study, confirming previous findings, shows how the gamma coefficient is always larger in absolute value than Kendall’s rank correlation; this discrepancy lessens when the number of categories increases or, given the same number of categories, when using equally probable categories. Based on these results, a proposal is suggested to build a bivariate ordinal variable with assigned margins and Goodman and Kruskal’s γ by ordinalizing a bivariate normal distribution. Illustrative examples employing artificial and real data are provided.

In this paper we study the statistical relations between three latent trait models for accuracies and response times: the hierarchical model (HM) of van der Linden (Psychometrika 72(3):287–308, 2007), the signed residual time model (SM) proposed by Maris and van der Maas (Psychometrika 77(4):615–633, 2012), and the drift diffusion model (DM) as proposed by Tuerlinckx and De Boeck (Psychometrika 70(4):629–650, 2005). One important distinction between these models is that the HM and the DM either assume or imply that accuracies and response times are independent given the latent trait variables, while the SM does not. In this paper we investigate the impact of this conditional independence property—or a lack thereof—on the manifest probability distribution for accuracies and response times. We will find that the manifest distributions of the latent trait models share several important features, such as the dependency between accuracy and response time, but we also find important differences, such as in what function of response time is being modeled. Our method for characterizing the manifest probability distributions is related to the Dutch identity (Holland in Psychometrika 55(6):5–18, 1990).

One of the world's most enduring and successful cultural diplomacy organizations, the British Council (BC) has played a prominent role in promoting and exporting British theatre, literature, and language across the globe since its founding in 1934. A key component of the BC's self-proclaimed remit of “forging links between Britain and other countries through cultural exchange,” the organization's Drama Division has over its lifetime worked to sponsor and facilitate the overseas touring of a significant number of British theatrical enterprises, exporting both large-scale national company productions with substantial casts and a repertoire of shows, as well as individual actors, directors, and academics embarking on speaking tours. From the stage, renowned actors and star names such as Laurence Olivier, Ralph Richardson, Vivien Leigh, Peggy Ashcroft, and John Gielgud were routinely chosen by the BC to appear in series of “theatrical manifestations,” serving in dual capacities both as actors in productions and ambassadors for a nation—the word “manifestation” being the BC's own preferred terminology used to refer to the export of a cultural event during the middle of the past century. Yet unlike comparable accounts of the relationship between the Arts Council and theatre, we possess no systematic study of the BC's involvement in this field, meaning that fundamental questions about the nature, range, and impact of the BC's cultural activity remain unanswered. Indeed, until comparatively recently, the history of the BC has failed to generate much scholarly interest at all, but the nature of its imbrication within British theatrical culture in particular remains severely occluded.

Response times on test items are easily collected in modern computerized testing. When collecting both (binary) responses and (continuous) response times on test items, it is possible to measure the accuracy and speed of test takers. To study the relationships between these two constructs, the model is extended with a multivariate multilevel regression structure which allows the incorporation of covariates to explain the variance in speed and accuracy between individuals and groups of test takers. A Bayesian approach with Markov chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) computation enables straightforward estimation of all model parameters. Model-specific implementations of a Bayes factor (BF) and deviance information criterium (DIC) for model selection are proposed which are easily calculated as byproducts of the MCMC computation. Both results from simulation studies and real-data examples are given to illustrate several novel analyses possible with this modeling framework.

Ceremonies, such as weddings, funerals, graduations, coronations, presidential inaugurations, and many other celebratory occasions play a central role in human life and society. But while their importance is emphasised in sociology and anthropology, as well as in Chinese, African and other philosophical traditions, ceremonies have received far less attention in Western philosophy, and when discussed are often, though not universally, dismissed as over-elaborate, or expressions of superstition. In this paper I will consider the nature and value of ceremonies, exploring both the positive and negative roles of ceremonies in human life, as well as considering how ceremonies can help us think about individual and group values.