English articles (a[n]/the) are one of the hardest features for second language (L2) learners to acquire. Theories such as the Morphological Congruency Hypothesis (MCH) predict that where articles are a unique-to-L2 feature, they will not be fully acquirable, while the Unified Competition Model (UCM) predicts full article acquisition.

To examine first language (L1) transfer in the article processing/production of L1-Mandarin and L1-Croatian learners of L2-English, we conducted two studies. To shape MCH/UCM predictions, Study 1 used a forced-choice task with 28 L1-Mandarin and 27 L1-Croatian speakers testing L1 preferences for noun premodification with anaphoric definites and referential indefinites. Study 2 tested 24 advanced L1-Mandarin/L2-English and 22 L1-Croatian/L2-English learners and 24 L1-English controls on acceptability judgment, self-paced reading (SPR), and oral production tasks.

Mixed-effects regression showed participants had explicit knowledge of (in)definite English articles, but only the L1-Mandarin/L2-English learners performed similarly to the L1-English on SPR for the indefinite article and had similar production accuracy. By contrast, the L1-Croatian/L2-English learners lacked sensitivity to omission of either article and had lower production accuracy. The L1-Croatian/L2-English results, in particular, support the MCH predictions that unique structures present persistent problems in comprehension and production, even at high proficiency.

This article studies two refugee political communities, the Indian National Army (INA) and Faridabad, during the 1940s. It follows two Indian women who supported the refugees: the captain of the INA’s women’s regiment, Lakshmi Sahgal (née Swaminadhan, 1914–2012), and the socialist freedom fighter Kamaladevi Chattopadhyay (1903–88). Indian and Chinese anti-colonialism and working-class protests in Malaya inspired the INA’s war against British rule in India and Southeast Asia. This article conceptualizes the INA as a refugee polis, comprising Indians displaced by Japanese and British imperialism. Uprooted by the Partition of India, the refugees in Faridabad brought practices of state evasion from the Indo/Pak-Afghan borderlands. Kamaladevi and the Indian Cooperative Union helped organize them into a refugee polis. Thus, the INA and Faridabad, shaped by imperial crises and decolonization, emerged as two refugee poleis. They embodied political alternatives to the nation-state as an outcome of decolonization. The refugees advocated direct democracy, egalitarian redistribution of land, and co-operative economic management. The postcolonial Indian state saw this as a challenge. It transformed refugees into workers, whose labour would generate profits for the state. Although the refugees protested through unionization, strikes, and civil disobedience, ultimately, the Nehruvian state brutally suppressed these refugee poleis.

The radio telescopes of the European VLBI Network (EVN) and the University of Tasmania (UTAS) conducted an extensive observation campaign of the European Space Agency’s (ESA) Mars Express (MEX) spacecraft between 2013 and 2020. The campaign, carried out under the Planetary Radio Interferometry and Doppler Experiment (PRIDE) framework, aimed to study interplanetary phase scintillation and assess the noise budget in the closed-loop Doppler observations. The average closed-loop Doppler noise was determined to be approximately 10 mHz at a 10-s integration time, reaffirming the technique’s suitability for radio science experiments. We evaluated how different observational parameters such as the solar elongation, antenna size, and elevation angle impact the Doppler noise. A key part of the analysis involved comparing results from co-located telescopes to investigate system noise effects. Co-located telescopes at both Wettzell and Hobart provided highly consistent results, with any deviations serving as diagnostic tools to identify station-dependent issues. Additionally, the use of phase calibration tones during spacecraft tracking showed that the instrumental noise contribution is of the order of 5$\%$ of the total noise. This study provides a detailed noise budget for closed-loop Doppler observations with VLBI telescopes while emphasizing the effectiveness of the co-location method in isolating system-level noise. These findings are important for optimizing future radio science and VLBI tracking missions using stations outside the the Deep Space Network (DSN) and European Space Tracking (ESTRACK) network.

Seed biopriming with Pseudomonas fluorescens as a beneficial microbial inoculant and seed hydropriming with deionized water were conducted with oilseed rape (Brassica napus). Both techniques involve restricted seed hydration followed by seed drying. Seed biopriming reduced the uniformity (time difference between 10 and 90% germination) of germination ca 4-fold, without changing the maximum germination percentages (Gmax) of seed populations. In contrast to this, seed hydropriming improved the uniformity, but not for aged seed populations. The distinct effect of biopriming on germination was caused by the high salt concentration in the priming medium, not by the bacteria or any of the other components. The effects of biopriming duration, seed input and temperature (incubation and drying) were tested and the number of bacteria attached to the seed coat surface was between 1.6 × 106 and 9.8 × 108 colony-forming units (CFUs) per seed. Long-term storage (21°C, <10% relative humidity, 21% oxygen) of dry bioprimed seeds resulted in a rapid decline of bacterial viability, for example (6 h biopriming, 50 g seed input) from 9.8 × 108 CFU per seed to 7.3 × 104 after 4 weeks and 5.0 × 102 after 12 weeks of air-dry seed storage. Seed biopriming and long-term storage of dry bioprimed seeds did not affect Gmax at optimal (24°C) and cold-stress (16°C) temperatures, and did not appreciably affect early seedling growth. Additive biopriming with kimchi paste did not affect the number of bacteria attached per seed but caused an ~800-fold increase in retaining bacterial viability during long-term seed storage.

Adjusting the assistive torque of upper limb occupational exoskeletons is essential to optimize their effectiveness and user acceptance in companies. This adjustment enables a balance to be struck between the expected benefits and potential undesirable effects associated with their use, particularly for the shoulder joint, which is sensitive to the balance of forces. Despite this, no study has yet evaluated these assistive torques in static and dynamic conditions representative of work situations. The aim of this article is therefore to evaluate these assistive torques under these two conditions, using an isokinetic dynamometer. Angular velocities ranging from 0 to 240°/s and four levels of assistance were investigated. The results showed that the maximum assistive torques in flexion (energy restitution phase) were lower than those in extension (tensioning phase) by 20 to 36% and were median in static conditions. It was also observed that the level of assistance and the exoskeleton opening angles had a strong impact on the assistive torques, unlike the angular velocity in dynamic conditions, which had a minimal effect. Quantifying these assistive torques is crucial for assessing their biomechanical impact and adjusting the exoskeleton’s assistance to the operator and the task performed.

On 16 March 2022, Russia became the first state to be expelled from the Council of Europe (CoE). The reshaping of power dynamics between international law actors is providing a favourable space to international organizations to use membership as a strategic tool. In order to understand under what circumstances the CoE decides to end membership, the article elucidates the substantive and symbolic grounds of Russia’s expulsion. Substantive grounds are defined as non-compliance with the membership criteria of the CoE and its founding principles as regulated in Article 3 of its Statute. Symbolic grounds are what motivates the CoE in its positioning within the international legal order as indicated in the preamble of its Statute. The analysis of the substantive grounds will reveal that the violation of the CoE Statute and the prohibition on the use of force because of the invasion of Ukraine are not enough to explain Russia’s expulsion. This article argues that Russia’s expulsion relies on symbolic grounds that allowed the CoE to preserve its position as the guardian of European imperialism. The clash of the two actors’ irreconcilable imperial policies proved for the CoE that Russia would no longer be at the receiving end of its demands. The Ukraine invasion signals a breaking point, escalating the inter-imperial rivalry to a level where the CoE believes Russia will no longer submit itself to the European international legal order as shaped by the Western European founders of the Organization.

A subfossil robber fly (Diptera: Asilidae) from the genus Lasiopogon Loew is reported from a Beringian rodent, Arctic ground squirrel, Urocitellus parryii Richardson (Rodentia: Sciuridae), midden in the Yukon Territory, Canada, dated to about 16 500 years old. This is the first asilid reported from Quaternary-aged material and represents the first (sub)fossil for this genus and for the subfamily Stichopogoninae.

While recent aDNA and other scientific analysis has served to underline the recurrent role of migration in the process of Neolithisation right across Europe, there remains plenty of scope for better integration of archaeogenetic and archaeological interpretations and for detailed narratives of local and regional trajectories. This paper focuses on relations between Britain and Ireland in the early Neolithic, in the first part of the 4th millennium cal BC. I argue that direct connections between Britain and Ireland have been overlooked and underplayed — hidden in plain sight — in the search for perceived common sources in continental Europe. I advance four propositions for debate: that the first Neolithic people in Ireland came mainly from Britain, perhaps from several parts of western Britain; that subsequent connections, long described but curiously not much further interpreted, constitute an intense set of interactions; that such links were probably spread over time through the early Neolithic, coming thick and fast near the beginning and perhaps even intensifying with time; and that such relations were maintained and intensified because of the concentrated circumstances of beginnings. The latter arguably contrast with those of the relationship between the Continent and southern Britain. The maintenance of connections was political, because a remembered past was actively used; lineage founders, concentrated lineages and other emergent social groupings may have developed through time as part of such a process.

To enhance radiological and nuclear emergency preparedness of hospitals while responding to the refugee crisis, the Government of the Republic of Moldova implemented an innovative approach supported by the World Health Organization (WHO). This initiative featured a comprehensive package that integrated health system assessment, analysis of existing plans and procedures, and novel medical training component. The training, based on relevant WHO and International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) guidance, combined theory with contemporary adult learning solutions, such as practical skill stations, case reviews, and clinical simulation exercises.

This method allowed participants to identify and address gaps in their emergency response capacities, enhancing their ability to ensure medical management of radiological and nuclear events. This course is both innovative and adaptable, offering a potential model for other countries seeking to strengthen radiological and nuclear emergency response capabilities of the acute care clinical providers.

This article presents a reassessment of the entire corpus of heriots – a post obitum transfer of military equipment and/or money to one’s lord – as well as a detailed survey which exposes the high degree of inconsistency between the values of II Cnut and the evidence found across wills and other sources. Rather than seeking to explain away the inconsistencies revealed by this analysis (as previous scholarship has often sought to do), I argue that such variation was a regular feature of heriot payments and, furthermore, that negotiation played a key role in the process, wherein heriot payments were subject to unilateral or bilateral alteration according to the needs of the testator or the recipient. This variability accounts for the disparities found across the corpus. Moreover, it is theorised that the possibility for the negotiation of one’s heriot allowed for the use of the heriot as a tool of disproportionate extraction.

Commercial targeted sprayer systems allow producers to reduce herbicide inputs but risks the possibility of not treating emerging weeds. Currently, targeted applications with the John Deere system have five spray sensitivity settings, and no published literature discusses the effects of these settings on detecting and spraying weeds of varying species, sizes, and positions in crops. Research was conducted in Arkansas, Illinois, Indiana, Mississippi, and North Carolina on plantings of corn, cotton, and soybean to determine how various factors might influence the ability of targeted applications to treat weeds. These data included 21 weed species aggregated to six classes with height, width, and densities ranging from 25 to 0.25 cm, 25 to 0.25 cm, and 14.3 to 0.04 plants m−2, respectively. Crop and weed density did not influence the likelihood of treating the weeds. As expected, the sensitivity setting alters the ability to treat weeds. Targeted applications (across sensitivity settings, median weed height and width, and density of 2.4 plants m−2) resulted in a treatment success of 99.6% to 84.4% for Convolvulaceae, 99.1% to 68.8% for decumbent broadleaf weeds, 98.9% to 62.9% for Malvaceae, 99.1% to 70.3% for Poaceae, 98.0% to 48.3% for Amaranthaceae, and 98.5% to 55.8% for yellow nutsedge. Reducing the sensitivity setting reduced the ability to treat weeds. The size of weeds aided targeted application success, with larger weeds being more readily treated through easier detection. Based on these findings, various conditions can affect the outcome of targeted multinozzle applications. Additionally, the analyses highlight some of the parameters to consider when using these technologies.

Lindenleaf sage (Salvia tiliifolia Vahl) is an annual plant native to Mesoamerica that thrives in tropical, seasonally dry environments. It was introduced to Ethiopia in the late 20th century and made its way to the Tembien highlands in Tigray in 2018. With its many branching stems and profusion of seeds, this upright pioneer plant becomes dominant in the herbaceous layer of intensively used rangeland and roadsides before spreading to areas with other land uses, including agricultural land. Visual observations show that S. tiliifolia is not prevalent in areas with less grazing pressure. Farmers uproot S. tiliifolia from their crops, which is rather simple, because this species is easily recognized and its roots do not withstand much force. On rangeland, weeding is labor-intensive. As an alternative, we recommend converting rangelands into managed exclosures to maximize grass production, with initial S. tiliifolia removal. Natural vegetation regrowth in infested places would keep the most significant S. tiliifolia seed supply under control and reduce the species’ invasion of farmlands.

Many studies argue that the World Bank grants favorable loan conditions to allies of its powerful principals. These studies typically use the count of conditions as a proxy for how demanding loans are on borrowers, even though some conditions are more difficult to comply with than others. We propose a new operationalization: a measure of conditionality stringency in Bank loans constructed using Latent Semantic Scaling. Using this new measure, we find little evidence of a generalizable influence of powerful principals. Instead, the stringency of loan conditions is associated with bureaucratic assessments of risk. To facilitate future research, we provide a new dataset of World Bank loan condition texts and our measure of text stringency for all loans in the dataset.