Despite the affinity of monism and monotheism—and despite monism’s recent philosophical renaissance—few have defended the conjunction of the two claims, of what we might call ‘theistic monism’. I argue, first, that monism and monotheism are consistent, and second, that each one provides good reasons to accept the other one. Monotheists, qua monotheists, have good reason to be monists; and monists, qua monists, have good reason to be monotheists. There should be much greater overlap between the monist camp and the monotheist camp than there is at present.

Fostering diversity in political science careers is important. Undergraduate research experiences, coupled with an emphasis on career diversity, have the potential to increase relevant knowledge about and buoy tendencies toward pursuing a PhD among students from diverse backgrounds. This article describes components of a US National Science Foundation–funded Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) program that highlighted career diversity. We find evidence of positive shifts in awareness of career opportunities for those with doctoral degrees alongside sustained interest in pursuing a PhD. We conclude that an emphasis on career diversity can be a useful component of efforts to shape students’ attitudes and inclinations toward a PhD.

Counting independent sets in graphs and hypergraphs under a variety of restrictions is a classical question with a long history. It is the subject of the celebrated container method which found numerous spectacular applications over the years. We consider the question of how many independent sets we can have in a graph under structural restrictions. We show that any $n$-vertex graph with independence number $\alpha$ without $bK_a$ as an induced subgraph has at most $n^{O(1)} \cdot \alpha ^{O(\alpha )}$ independent sets. This substantially improves the trivial upper bound of $n^{\alpha },$ whenever $\alpha \le n^{o(1)}$ and gives a characterisation of graphs forbidding which allows for such an improvement. It is also in general tight up to a constant in the exponent since there exist triangle-free graphs with $\alpha ^{\Omega (\alpha )}$ independent sets. We also prove that if one in addition assumes the ground graph is chi-bounded one can improve the bound to $n^{O(1)} \cdot 2^{O(\alpha )}$ which is tight up to a constant factor in the exponent.

This review essay focuses on the intimate, yet contingent, historical relationships between capitalism, democracy and the welfare state in the OECD region. Six landmark studies, published over the past decade, are reviewed: Daron Acemoglu and James A. Robinson’s Why Nations Fail: The Origins of Power, Prosperity and Poverty and The Narrow Corridor: How Nations Struggle for Liberty; Thomas Piketty’s Capital and Ideology; Torben Iversen and David Soskice’s Democracy and Prosperity: Reinventing Capitalism through a Turbulent Century; Peter H. Lindert’s Making Social Spending Work; and Ayşe Buğra’s Social Policy in Capitalist History. All these books reveal the independent effect of historical political factors on the rise of the welfare state across advanced capitalist democracies. Contrary to received wisdom, the central argument put forward is that there is no trade-off between capitalism and democracy and, more importantly, that the welfare state has become an existentially important lubricant buttressing both advanced capitalism and liberal democracy.

In recent years, the Sultanate of Oman has made strides in telehealth services to improve healthcare access for underserved patients, specifically through telephone consultations and digital appointment scheduling. However, the lack of technological infrastructure, insufficient training for healthcare providers and the absence of a unified digital system limit its full potential. As a result, patients in remote areas experience delays in diagnosis and treatment.

This paper investigates the collusive and competitive effects of algorithmic price recommendations on market outcomes. These recommendations are often non-binding and common in many markets. We develop a theoretical framework and derive two algorithms that recommend collusive pricing strategies. Utilizing a laboratory experiment, we find that sellers condition their prices on the recommendation of the algorithms. The algorithm with a soft punishment strategy lowers market prices and has a pro-competitive effect. The algorithm that recommends a subgame perfect equilibrium strategy increases the range of market outcomes, including more collusive ones.

We study the timelike asymptotics for global solutions to a scalar quasilinear wave equation satisfying the weak null condition. Given a global solution u to the scalar wave equation with sufficiently small $C_c^\infty $ initial data, we derive an asymptotic formula for this global solution inside the light cone (i.e. for $|x|<t$). It involves the scattering data obtained in the author’s asymptotic completeness result in [75]. Using this asymptotic formula, we prove that u must vanish under some decaying assumptions on u or its scattering data, provided that the wave equation violates the null condition.

Current evidence underscores a need to transform how we do clinical research, shifting from academic-driven priorities to co-led community partnership focused programs, accessible and relevant career pathway programs that expand opportunities for career development, and design of trainings and practices to develop cultural competence among research teams. Failures of equitable research translation contribute to health disparities. Drivers of this failed translation include lack of diversity in both researchers and participants, lack of alignment between research institutions and the communities they serve, and lack of attention to structural sources of inequity and drivers of mistrust for science and research. The Duke University Research Equity and Diversity Initiative (READI) is a program designed to better align clinical research programs with community health priorities through community engagement. Organized around three specific aims, READI-supported programs targeting increased workforce diversity, workforce training in community engagement and cultural competence, inclusive research engagement principles, and development of trustworthy partnerships.

This study examines the impact of organizational gossip on workplace outcomes, including affective organizational commitment, loneliness, and turnover intention, with a focus on differences between the public and private sectors. Using a mixed-methods approach, the research combines qualitative and quantitative data from surveys conducted with Turkish citizen partners and in-depth interviews with employees in both sectors. The findings reveal that positive gossip enhances social bonds and commitment, while negative gossip leads to loneliness and increased turnover intention, especially in the private sector where job insecurity is higher. The study introduces an integrated framework linking gossip dynamics to organizational processes. Practical implications suggest that managers should address negative gossip while promoting positive gossip to strengthen workplace relationships. This study highlights the dual role of gossip in shaping employee experiences and retention strategies.

Carissa Véliz (2021) soutient que pour être un agent moral, une entité (comme un système algorithmique) doit nécessairement être sentiente. En prenant l’exemple d’une forme d’agentivité sans conscience phénoménale et donc sans sentience, je conteste cette thèse. En effet, certains groupes humains peuvent être considérés comme des agents intentionnels non réductibles aux individus particuliers qui les composent. En m’appuyant sur l’interprétativisme proposé par Uriah Kriegel (2011) et John Haugeland (1990), ainsi que sur la posture intentionnelle (intentional stance) de Daniel Dennett (1987), je montre que l’intentionnalité est une condition suffisante pour parler d’agentivité morale et que, contrairement à ce qu’affirme Véliz, il peut donc y avoir des agents moraux qui ne sont pas sentients.

Given a presilting object in a triangulated category, we find necessary and sufficient conditions for the existence of a complement. This is done both for classic (pre)silting objects and for large (pre)silting objects. The key technique is the study of associated co-t-structures. As a consequence of our techniques we recover some known cases of the existence of complements, including for derived categories of some hereditary abelian categories and for silting-discrete algebras. Moreover, we also show that a finite-dimensional algebra is silting discrete if and only if every bounded large silting complex is equivalent to a compact one.

This article explores the evolution of Chinese terminology for American cochineal to study global material culture in its local and trans-regional contexts. As the most highly valued insect-derived source of red colourant, American cochineal was introduced to China in the sixteenth century, with trade reaching its peak between the 1820s and mid-1870s. Since the early eighteenth century, various Chinese names emerged for cochineal; different terms were applied by different socioeconomic groups, though most were eventually forgotten. This article examines the emergence, spread, and persistence of predominant terms, alongside the obsolescence of others, within the context of Sino-European and regional knowledge exchange, trade dynamics, and scientific understanding of cochineal. The analysis demonstrates the evolution of Chinese terminology for cochineal was intricately linked to shifts within the intertwined spheres of global, regional, and local histories. It also reveals the coexistence and disconnection among various forms of global-local ‘connectivity’ through the linguistic dimensions concerning cochineal’s presence in China.

This study investigates two clayey facies from the Bomkoul area in the littoral region of Cameroon for their suitability as fired clay building products. The field study consisted of a geological survey and a geotechnical mission (G0). Assessment of the raw clayey materials included their mineralogy, particle size, determination of Atterberg limits, density and shear stress. Firing properties (shrinkage, water absorption and flexural strength) at 900−1100°C were also determined. The two main facies observed in the field are the mottled red/yellow grey clays from surface ‘A’ with a thickness of 2.0–2.5 m and the deep blackish fossiliferous schisteous grey clays ‘B’ with a thickness of 8−10 m. Estimation based on boreholes revealed a minimum of 1,400,000 tons of clayey materials. These reserves will supply a small brick-manufacturing unit for a minimum period of 25 years at an extraction rate of 50,000 tons per year. The main clay minerals of both samples are kaolinite (35% and 49%) and illite (1–11%). Both samples contain quartz (47% and 49%) as non-clay minerals, associated with a small amount of anatase (0.5–2.6%) and trace hematite (<1%). The major oxides are SiO2 (71–76%) and Al2O3 (14%). The raw clayey material ‘A’ was finer and more plastic than the ‘B’ facies. The technological properties of the fired bricks obtained from the ‘A’ facies showed greater potential than the ‘B’ facies in terms of sonority and flexural strength. A mixture made of 40% ‘A’ and 60% ‘B’ yielded satisfactory brick properties at 1050°C.

This article considers a general class of varying coefficient models defined by a set of moment equalities and/or inequalities, where unknown functional parameters are not necessarily point-identified. We propose an inferential procedure for a subvector of the varying parameters and establish the asymptotic validity of the resulting confidence sets uniformly over a broad family of data-generating processes. We also propose a practical specification test for a set of necessary conditions of our model. Monte Carlo studies show that the proposed methods have good finite sample properties. We apply our method to estimate the return to education in China using its 1%-population census data from 2005.

The Bray–Liebhafsky reaction is one of many intricate chemical systems that is known to exhibit periodic behaviour. Although the underlying chemistry is somewhat complicated and involves at least ten chemical species, in a recent work we suggested a reduced two-component model of the reaction involving the concentrations of iodine and iodous acid. Although it is drastically simplified, this reduced system retains enough structure so as to exhibit many of the oscillatory characteristics seen in experimental analyses. Here, we consider the possibility of spatial patterning in a nonuniformly mixed solution. Since many practical demonstrations of chemical oscillations are undertaken using circular containers such as beakers or Petri dishes, we develop both linearized and nonlinear pattern solutions in terms of cylindrical coordinates. These results are complemented by an analysis of the patterning that might be possible within a rectangular domain. The simulations give compelling evidence that spatial patterning may well be feasible in the Bray–Liebhafsky process.

Potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) is crucial for food security in Rwanda, but its production growth has slowed. Improved potato varieties are urgently needed for Rwanda potato farmers. Crop breeding can effectively support smallholder farmers when it aligns with their environmental conditions and preferences. Additionally, integrating citizen science into variety development can enhance variety adoption and suitability for smallholder farmers. We assessed the insights from a crop trial following a triadic comparison of technology options (tricot) approach, linking the results with environmental, socio-economic, and on-station trial data. Under a tricot trial, 460 farmers tested eleven potato varieties, randomly allocated in incomplete blocks of three, allowing each farmer to test and compare three varieties. Biological data, reflecting breeding and variety genotypic values, were generated from multi-environmental tests conducted during 2018–2019 to evaluate the adaptability of new varieties. This research revealed that Rwandan farmers preferred the pre-1990 varieties (Cruza and Kirundo), while Gisubizo and Kazeneza, post-2018 varieties, were also considered competitive. Farmers’ preferences were influenced by diverse environmental and socio-economic conditions, with taste being crucial for home consumption and yield prioritized for market sales. Additionally, seasonal temperatures influenced the yield performance ranking of potato varieties across regions, while economic considerations and gender dynamics shaped different patterns of variety preferences. Despite challenges in aligning on-station and on-farm data, our integrated approach provides actionable insights for breeding programmes to develop potato varieties that better align with farmers’ needs, as well as environmental and socio-economic conditions. This innovative method can enhance breeding efficiency, variety adoption, and potato productivity, contributing to food security and agricultural sustainability.

World heritage has become UNESCO’s flagship programme, and it is a site of active state engagement. At the crux of that engagement is the prestigious World Heritage List. This engagement is regularly analysed as pursuits of national prestige. In this article, I advance a Bourdieusian analysis of world heritage as a field that generates international cultural prestige. I identify humanity as the field’s doxa that allows for a vertical separation and the generation of more-than-national cultural value. I show how states’ desire for this prestige jeopardised the field’s autonomy at a critical juncture in 2010 and analyse the field’s aftermath as involving fraught attempts by states to discursively reconstruct the field’s vertical and functional separations in the quest for international cultural prestige. This reconstruction involves nothing less than reinterpreting humanity as the community-of-states, pointing at once to humanity’s indispensability for more-than-national value and undermining its ability to generate that value.