Global mega-events like the Olympics, World Cup, and Eurovision Song Contest routinely enable and provide cover for extreme violence and suffering, including displacement, environmental destruction, war, and genocide, but the number of people who watch these events has never been higher. This article examines how people navigate the consumption of popular culture they know to be complicit in harm but nonetheless enjoy. The limited attention international relations has paid to the mechanics of complicity has primarily focused on the conditions that coerce people into complicity under oppressive or capitalist societies. It has overlooked the ways we willingly engage with popular culture we know implicates us in harm, not because we are coerced, but because we enjoy it. Introducing focus group data with Eurovision fans, I argue that the liberal enjoyment cultivated at international mega-events entices fans to ignore the violent politics these events are inexorably implicated in as contests between states. In an environment designed to keep people watching, fans wrestle with whether to set their politics aside, find compromises between enjoyment and political conviction, or forgo enjoyment altogether. Their choices reveal how enjoyment drives complicity in relation to popular culture that we do not always (want to) recognize as enabling harm.

We examine the convergence of ergodic averages along polynomials in Toeplitz systems and prove that it is possible for averages along one polynomial to converge, and along another to diverge. We also study the density of the polynomial orbits in Toeplitz systems—we show that it implies equidistribution of the polynomial orbits in the class of regular Toeplitz systems, but not in the class of strictly ergodic ones.

In this paper, I argue that reactive feelings such as betrayal and personal disappointment are not inherent to the attitude of trust. Instead, such feelings are better understood as responses to impairments in relationships. Trust, I propose, is a fully doxastic mechanism that fundamentally consists of the belief that the trustee will follow through on the norms constitutive of the relationship, such that a breach of trust directly calls only for an epistemic reassessment of the trustee’s trustworthiness. I further show that what warrants reactive feelings is not the mere fact of trust being broken, but whether, through the violation of trust, the person reveals a disregard for the relationship.

This paper highlights how fetal ultrasound scanning involves an intrusion upon the integrity of the pregnant person’s body and their psychological space. It contends that this intrusion has the potential to harm the pregnant people subjected to it in medical contexts as a result of the normative practices and interpretative frameworks associated with it. The socio-cultural practices associated with fetal ultrasound pathologize pregnant bodies and perpetuate logics in which pregnant people are subordinated, discredited, devalued, and policed within social relations as women and mothers-to-be. Further, the paper argues that the intrusion of fetal ultrasound is obscured in the medical monitoring of pregnancy where it is taken for granted as a benign aspect of routine antenatal care. Consequently, we contend that fetal ultrasound is a normalized and gendered intrusion that can cause epistemic harm, scaffold obstetric violence, and may sometimes constitute a form of obstetric violence in and of itself.

In magnetically confined fusion plasmas, the role played by zonal $E \times B$ flow shear layers in the suppression of turbulent transport is relatively well understood. However, less is understood about the role played by the weak shear regions that arise in the non-monotonic radial electric field profiles often associated with these shear layers. In electrostatic simulations from the global total-$f$ gyrokinetic particle-in-cell code XGC, we demonstrate how shearless regions with non-zero flow curvature form zonal ‘jets’ that, in conjunction with neighbouring regions of shear, can act as robust barriers to particle transport and turbulence spreading. By isolating quasi-coherent fluctuations radially localised to the zonal jets, we construct a map model for the Lagrangian dynamics of gyrokinetic test particles in the presence of drift waves. We identify the presence of shearless invariant tori in this model and verify that these tori act as partial phase-space transport barriers in the simulations. We also demonstrate how avalanches impinging on these shearless tori cause eddy detachment events that form ‘cold/warm core ring’ structures analogous to those found in oceanic jets, facilitating transport across the barriers without destroying them completely. We discuss how shearless tori may generically arise from tertiary instabilities or other types of discrete eigenmodes, suggesting their potential relevance to broader classes of turbulent fluctuations.

This article examines case studies and anecdotal narratives in which murderers used poisoned food as a weapon, and government officials used their epistemic authority to solve these crimes and bring the perpetrators to justice. Drawn from Zheng Ke’s 鄭克 (fl. 1124–1149) legal compendium Tortoise and Mirror for Judging Cases (Zheyu guijian 折獄龜鑑) and Hong Mai’s 洪邁 (1123–1202) anecdote collection Record of the Listener (Yijian zhi 夷堅志), these narratives reflected the violent threat that poisoners posed to the preservation of gender, familial, social, and political hierarchies. In the Mirror’s legal realm, astute officials used abductive reasoning to expose poisoning plots, thereby restoring the moral fabric of society; in Hong Mai’s Record poisoners are punished by imperial judges as well as by retributive mechanisms of cosmic justice. These six selected case narratives illustrate the permeability of the boundaries that divide the conceptual categories of food, medicine, and poison, and the connections amongst medical, legal, and socio-moral systems of knowledge.

A hyperbinary partition of the nonnegative integer n is a partition where every part is a power of $2$ and every power of $2$ appears at most twice. We give three applications of the length generating function for such partitions, denoted by $h_q(n)$. Morier-Genoud and Ovsienko defined the q-analogue of a rational number $[r/s]_q$ in various ways, most of which depend directly or indirectly on the continued fraction expansion of $r/s$. As our first application we show that $[r/s]_q=q\,h_q(n-1)/h_q(n)$ where $r/s$ occurs as the nth entry in the Calkin-Wilf enumeration of the non-negative rationals. Next we consider fence posets which are those which can be obtained from a sequence of chains by alternately pasting together maxima and minima. For every n we show there is a fence poset ${\cal F}(n)$ whose lattice of order ideals is isomorphic to the poset of hyperbinary partitions of n ordered by refinement. For our last application, Morier-Genoud and Ovsienko also showed that $[r/s]_q$ can be computed by taking products of certain matrices which are q-analogues of the standard generators for the special linear group $\operatorname {\mathrm {SL}}(2,{\mathbb Z})$. We express the entries of these products in terms of the polynomials $h_q(n)$.

We introduce the notions of u-amenability and hyper-u-amenability for countable Borel equivalence relations and we show that treeable, hyper-u-amenable countable Borel equivalence relations are hyperfinite. As corollaries of this result, we obtain that if a countable Borel equivalence relation is either:

1. 1. measure-hyperfinite and equal to the orbit equivalence relation of a free continuous action of a virtually free group on a $\sigma $-compact Polish space,

2. 2. treeable and equal to the orbit equivalence relation of a Borel action of an amenable group on a standard Borel space,

3. 3. treeable, amenable and Borel bounded,

then it is hyperfinite.

Anorexia nervosa (AN) is an eating disorder that is mediated by psychological and metabolic factors, yet it is unclear how these factors interact. The NAMA trial objective is to clarify the metabo–psychiatric interaction and identify how it affects AN patients’ behaviour. This randomised trial will recruit thirty-six treatment-naïve female AN patients, 13–18 years of age, and thirty-six matched healthy controls. Participants will undergo psychiatric assessments followed by 12-h overnight fasting. The next morning, baseline assessments of outcomes will be performed. Patients will be randomly allocated 1:1 to receive a mixture with calories or receive a mixture without calories. Healthy controls will also be allocated to receive mixtures with/without calories. Mixtures will be standardised for taste and appearance, and allocation will be masked. The primary outcome measure is resting-state functional MRI 60 min post-consumption of the mixture. Secondary outcomes include (1) blood samples to study markers reflecting metabolic states, hunger/satiety and stress responses, (2) psychometric evaluations of subjective experiences and (3) assessment, in a second meal 3 h later, of the effects of previous calorie intake on subsequent food consumption. This article describes the study protocol, including the analysis plan, for a randomised controlled trial to comprehensively evaluate the effects of calorie intake in AN. The trial will distinguish psychological and metabolic neuronal networks associated with food intake and uncover how their integration affects food intake and other hallmark symptoms in AN. The aim is to accelerate treatment development by identifying brain mechanisms that drive AN.

District-based elections are a central feature of local governance throughout the United States. Prior work has explored whether district-based elections impact racial/ethnic descriptive representation in local office; much less is known about the impacts of local district-based elections on other dimensions of representation. We consider another such dimension: socioeconomic class. To explore how district-based elections shape the composition of locally elected officials on class dimensions, we focus on city councils and study the dramatic shift towards district-based elections in California in the 2010s. We construct a statewide mapping of newly drawn council districts; we also draw on rich and partially hand-collected data on council candidates and members. We find that district-based elections increase the share of candidates and council members from lower-income and higher renter share neighborhoods, and lead to fewer members with business backgrounds.

In the US, engaging in scholarship and advocacy on Middle East issues, certainly on Palestine, has long attracted attacks from campus and off-campus organizations and individuals. However, a near consensus has emerged that the threats to academic freedom that we are witnessing today are unprecedented, as it is now the US government that is leading the assault. The weaponization of charges of antisemitism against those engaged in teaching about Palestine and/or in pro-Palestine advocacy has become a battering ram utilized by the political right to achieve a central goal: taming or destroying American higher education as a locus of critical inquiry and potential opposition to the Trump administration’s authoritarian project. What does the current moment mean for us as members of a Middle East studies community? How have the challenges we face evolved and how are today’s attacks different from those of the past? This essay addresses the evolution of these growing threats in the US as well as longer-standing threats in the Middle East North Africa (MENA) region in the context of the role and work of MESA’s Committee on Academic Freedom (CAF) in responding to them.

Since the euro crisis, national stereotypes have often been present in the political and media discourse on European Union (EU) economic governance. Yet, despite the frequency of such stereotypes in political rhetoric and media coverage, little is known about their prevalence in public opinion or in connection with citizen preferences on EU redistribution. This article examines the relationship between national stereotypes held by EU citizens and their policy preferences for EU redistribution. We conduct an observational survey in four countries capturing regional differences in the EU: Germany (Western Europe), Italy (Southern Europe), Romania (Eastern Europe), and Sweden (Northern Europe). Our findings show that, on average, individuals who attribute more positive economic stereotypes (e.g., trustworthy, hardworking, efficient) to other EU nationalities tend to be more supportive of general solidarity in the EU, reducing inequality between member states, and the establishment of an EU-wide welfare state. Conversely, those who attribute more negative economic stereotypes (e.g., corrupt, greedy, lazy) to other EU nationalities are less likely to support such redistributive measures. We also find substantial heterogeneity between country samples, which may reflect differences in economic standing within the EU and historical experiences with stereotypes. Taken together, the findings reveal that national stereotypes are not only widespread in public opinion but also systematically linked to preferences for redistribution. The study contributes to the public opinion literature on transnational solidarity by showing how enduring national stereotypes can precede and inform narratives of deservingness.

Some philosophers argue that pragmatist accounts of causation require accepting perspectivalism—the view that causation depends on an agent’s perspective. This paper critically evaluates this inference by examining Price’s arguments for perspectivalism and against Woodward’s view. I demonstrate that Price’s positive argument rests on an unacceptable premise, and drawing on Woodward’s work, I propose a pragmatist realist view of causation that survives Price’s criticisms. This pragmatist realism identifies causes through human concerns and practices, but treats the causal relation as objective and independent of agential perspectives. The paper concludes by showing Ismael’s perspectivalist view is consistent with pragmatist realism.

Advancements in precision agriculture have driven the development of using drones to apply herbicides, offering the potential to address challenges associated with current application methods and improve weed management. This review synthesizes current research on spray drones to develop broad-use recommendations and identify challenges and knowledge gaps. Although spray drones cannot carry a heavy herbicide load compared with ground-based (high-volume backpack or tractor-mounted) sprayers, studies have reported comparable or superior weed control in addition to herbicide cost savings by using drones. However, spray drone performance is highly sensitive to operational parameters, because spray distribution and coverage/deposition are strongly affected by flight height and speed, carrier volume, nozzle design, crop growth stage, weed, and weather conditions. The bell-shaped curve of a single-pass spray pattern, which results in most spray deposition occurring directly under the drone, coupled with advances in imaging, remote sensing, and machine learning, demonstrate the strong potential of using drones for site-specific weed management purposes. Vegetation indices, multispectral imagery, canopy height models, and Light Detection And Ranging (LiDAR) technology have enabled crop-weed discrimination, though accuracy varies with species, growth stage, and image resolution. Deep-learning models such as You Only Look Once (YOLO), Residual Neural Network (ResNet), and Mask Region-based Convolutional Neural Network (Mask R-CNN) are good at weed detection, they remain limited by the quality of training data and their accuracy is reduced when they must detect small, overlapping, or dense weed populations. Spray drone–based offline mapping has enabled substantial herbicide savings by delineating weed patches, whereas real-time weed detection is constrained by onboard processing limits, battery life, and lower spatial resolution at operational flight heights. Ground-based smart sprayers offer higher real-time detection precision but they lack the field accessibility advantages of spray drones. Despite their potential, spray drones face challenges that include limited payload, off-target movement of herbicides, short battery life, regulatory challenges, and extensive license and complex software and calibration requirements. The downwind spray drift potential from drone applications is greater than ground applications but smaller than it is from piloted vehicles. An upwind swath offset is an ideal best management practice for reducing off-target herbicide movement to susceptible areas from both piloted and drone equipment. Future research should evaluate spray drones within integrated weed management systems, focusing on preemergence and foliar-applied contact herbicides, adjuvant use, and environmental and operational interactions to develop spray drone–specific guidelines and optimize spray performance.

This paper presents the design of a nonlinear adaptive flight control system for the Cessna Citation X longitudinal dynamics. The aircraft pitch rate is controlled using a combination of recursive least squares-based nonlinear dynamic inversion and an adaptive neural network controller. The recursive least squares algorithm provides online parameter estimates to support the inversion, while the neural network compensates for residual modeling errors through online weight adaptation. To enhance robustness and ensure stability, a fixed-gain proportional integral derivative controller is integrated into the control structure. Unlike conventional gain-scheduled controllers, where PID gains vary with flight condition, the proposed adaptive controller uses a single baseline set of fixed gains. The adaptive component updates the control action online, enabling the same controller configuration to operate effectively across all 64 cruise conditions without any gain scheduling. A systematic tuning methodology is introduced for initialising the recursive least squares, selecting forgetting factors and applying covariance resets to ensure accurate adaptation. The controller is able to track a pitch-rate reference model that satisfies longitudinal flight quality requirements. Robustness is assessed under realistic disturbances, including wind gusts, Dryden turbulence, actuator loss-of-effectiveness and actuator noise. Simulation results demonstrate that the controller achieves precise reference tracking while maintaining Level 1 flight qualities. Stability is formally guaranteed using Lyapunov-based analysis. The findings highlight the ability of the designed hybrid adaptive controller to overcome limitations of linearisation, gain scheduling and estimator sensitivity, forecasting a practical and certifiable method for the integration of intelligent adaptive flight control systems into commercial aircraft.

We conducted a single-center prospective cohort study in Ontario, Canada, to assess concomitant pulmonary embolism (PE) in hyperacute stroke. Stroke CT angiography was modified to start at the diaphragm in order to include the chest. Primary outcome of PE was reported by cardiothoracic/chest radiologists. 12/208 stroke patients had an acute PE (5.8%), all of which were clinically asymptomatic, despite imaging in some showing right-heart strain. None had cancer and only half had a patent foramen ovale. Patients with PE tended to have more severe stroke, large vessel occlusion and worse outcomes. The implications and management of these findings require further exploration.

A new breed of prophets – intermediaries and pastoral bros of an AI industry with metaphysical aspirations – has surfaced on the global stage during troubled times. They make great promises, offer predictions and warnings, and stake out directions for humanity. This article argues that they do so by invoking the implicit collective memory of the apocalyptic imaginary known from ancient Jewish apocalyptic writings and, more specifically, by reenacting what we call prophetic memory. Through close readings in the tradition of biblical exegesis coupled with philosophical and critical hermeneutics, we trace strong AI narratives of doom and salvation to a range of media forms such as Twitter/X postings, books, interviews, journalistic feature articles, and reporting. Through these media, AI prophets speak of the end times while simultaneously offering a new beginning for humankind, not unlike the ancient prophets of the Hebrew Bible. Prophetic memory, we submit, is furthermore a mode of ‘collective future thought’ and an instantiation of the ‘remembering-imagining-system’. While its purpose is to create stability for a particular vision for the future, there is also a productive ambivalence of order and disorder at work within the apocalyptic AI imaginary. To question this ambiguous yet extremely powerful fixture on the human horizon, there is a need, we argue, for bothering the political-religious dimensions of the hegemonic AI imaginary and for scrutinizing how the AI industry founds its power base on the clout of prophetic memory – in a time of crisis in which many look for guidance and direction.