There has been recurrent agitation for external self-determination by most of the South-East people of modern Nigeria through the secessionist group the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB). This agitation reached crisis point in 2015 with military action which escalated into a violent confrontation, in which the IPOB claimed some of their members were killed. The IPOB’s request for external self-determination fell on deaf ears, however, the counter-claim being that Nigerian territorial integrity cannot be compromised. This article examines the right to self-determination under international law and in the African system, as well as the types of this right that have been identified by scholars and whether the IPOB’s call can be justified. It argues that the type of self-determination sought by the IPOB and the manner in which they seek it may not be attainable under international law, except through a consensus-based process between the Nigerian government and the South-East people of Nigeria.

The mobility of a weed species is a strong determinant of the optimal management strategy, including whether area-wide management will be beneficial. In this paper, we examine the mobility and dispersal distances of flaxleaf fleabane [Conyza bonariensis (L.) Cronquist; syn.: Erigeron bonariensis L.], widely regarded as a highly mobile weed. We sampled individual weeds from two regions and sampled the same sites in the following season to conduct parentage analysis and assess intergenerational dispersal distances. We find high values of FIS across populations consistent with mostly self-fertilization, but also relatively high genotypic diversity, suggesting that outcrossing does occur at low rates. We find evidence for long-distance dispersal (more than 350 km) and detect dispersal distances of up to 71 km and 36 km within each of the two regions using parentage analysis. We also find high spatial genetic structure within the Riverina region, with sites in 2021 genetically very similar to sites in 2020, indicating that local dispersal may be a more important driver of population genetics than long-distance dispersal, perhaps due to the high rates of seed production and self-fertilization. Glyphosate resistance was not spatially structured in C. bonariensis in these regions, highlighting the role of movement, and significant proportions of susceptible plants were found in both regions. The high levels of mobility, including over potentially long distances, indicate that the value of control and preventing weed seed set is likely to extend beyond the farm and offer “area-wide” benefit.

The evidence for an upwelling in small donor contributions is evident not just in response to presidential and congressional campaigns, but in statewide elections as well. The general question for this vein of research is whether growth in the donorate contributing $200 or less can be detected in states that would neither be considered hotly competitive battlegrounds nor especially visible in national party politics in terms of size or media attention. Specifically, we gather and examine campaign contribution records for individuals extending back to the early 2000s for Washington State gubernatorial contests. Given that this state has a low ceiling on total campaign contributions to state and local candidates ($2,400 per cycle for governor, $1,200 for state legislative and local offices), there is reason to expect an increasing reliance on small donors as campaign costs have risen. Unlike states with no campaign contribution limits on individuals (e.g., Texas, Pennsylvania, Oregon), candidates in the Evergreen State must go to more donors to raise the same large sums. An important related question is whether the parties are relying on the same locales to harvest small donations that they have traditionally relied upon for larger ones. We see that even in a state that would be considered out of the glare of the national spotlight, the small donor surge is democratizing campaign finance by spatially diffusing financial support. These developments fuel social science curiosity about the causes and effects of these new patterns of participation.

The formation of supermassive black holes (SMBHs) in early-type galaxies (ETGs) is a key challenge for galaxy formation theories. Using the monolithic collapse models of ETGs formed in Milgromian Dynamics (MOND) from Eappen et al. (2022, MNRAS, 516, 1081. https://doi.org/10.1093/mnras/stac2229. arXiv: 2209.00024 [astro-ph.GA].), we investigate the conditions necessary to form SMBHs in MOND and test whether these systems adhere to observed SMBH-galaxy scaling relations. We analyse the evolution of the gravitational potential and gas inflow rates in the model relics with a total stellar mass ranging from $0.1 \times 10^{11}\,\text{ M}_\odot$ to $0.7 \times 10^{11} \,\text{M}_\odot$. The gravitational potential exhibits a rapid deepening during the initial galaxy formation phase, accompanied by high gas inflow rates. These conditions suggest efficient central gas accumulation capable of fuelling SMBH formation. We further examine the $M_\textrm{ BH} - \sigma$ relation by assuming that a fraction of the central stellar mass contributes to black hole formation. Black hole masses derived from 10$\%$–100$\%$ of the central mass are comparable with the observed relation, particularly at higher central velocity dispersions ($\sigma \gt 200 \, \text{km/s}$). This highlights the necessity of substantial inner mass collapse to produce SMBHs consistent with observations. Our results demonstrate that MOND dynamics, through the rapid evolution of the gravitational potential and sustained gas inflows, provide a favourable environment for SMBH formation in ETGs. These findings support the hypothesis that MOND can naturally account for the observed SMBH-galaxy scaling relations without invoking cold dark matter, emphasising the importance of early gas dynamics in determining final SMBH properties.

Katherine Angel has recently challenged contemporary conceptions of erotic desire by suggesting that sex is a learning process in which we discover what it is to be a person. This paper brings her suggestion to bear on Hegel’s Phenomenology of Spirit. It offers an interpretation of what Hegel calls ‘immediate desire’ and the experience an immediately desiring consciousness makes by reading a key paragraph through the lens of erotic desire. What the paper hopes to show is that Hegel’s analysis of the experience of desire and the example of sexual encounters can be mutually illuminating.

This article explores the dynamics of urban peripheries in Mandate Palestine, focusing on the Jewish neighbourhoods of Bat Galim in Haifa and HaTikvah near Tel Aviv and Jaffa. It argues that the social and geographical isolation of these peripheries created a dual dynamic: strengthening bonds within the neighbourhood communities while also giving rise to significant conflicts, both within the Jewish society and in Jewish–Arab relations. Drawing on archival sources, letters and interviews, the research examines resident agency, social tensions and inter-communal interactions, demonstrating how these peripheries shaped urban society and culture under British colonial rule through processes of separation and connection.

There have been no culturally validated measures to screen for depression in Madagascar. In 2022–2023, we conducted qualitative studies in the Bay of Ranobe area in southwestern Madagascar to understand local mental health syndromes specific to this region. We found that the 8-item Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-8) shares symptoms with the general distress-like, depressive-like and grief-like syndromes elicited locally. We adapted the PHQ-8 to align with the unique symptoms found in the region that were missing from the measure. We administered the adapted PHQ-8 to 809 participants aged 16 and above. We found that the one-factor (Depression) model (root mean square error of approximation [RMSEA] = 0.046, standardized root mean square residual [SRMR] = 0.053, Comparative Fit Index [CFI] = 0.993 and Tucker–Lewis Index [TLI] = 0.991) had a better fit to our data than the two-factor (Cognitive–Affective and Somatic) model (RMSEA = 0.047, SRMR = 0.052, CFI = 0.994 and TLI = 0.990). The one-factor (Depression) model demonstrated good internal consistency (MacDonald’s omega coefficient $ {\omega}_0 $ = 0.81 and ordinal alpha $ {\alpha}_0 $ = 0.87). We conducted a multigroup confirmatory factor analysis to establish measurement invariance (MI) across four groups (sex, ethnicity, level of education and age group) and found that all levels of MI were achieved across groups. Our research provides a validated method to assess the probable prevalence of current depression in southwestern Madagascar.

Current trends in suburban history incorporate questions about racial violence and exploitation formerly reserved for cities. They emphasize inequality but attribute its persistence to unequal terms of accessing suburbia rather than exclusion. Scholars should build on this insight to better historicize suburbs that do not fit existing frameworks. Specifically, they should bridge histories of climate change, capitalism, and gentrification. Doing so will ensure suburban history remains at the forefront for understanding present-day crises.

Citizen trust in public institutions has become a major concern for policy makers, but how institutional design affects institutional trust is not entirely clear. Existing research has mainly focused on the macro-level of welfare regimes or on the micro-level of citizens’ or frontline workers’ attributes. Our knowledge about interrelations between organisational aspects of welfare delivery and (dis)trust-formation at the meso-level of institutional design remains scarce. In the article, we investigate how users experience institutional fragmentation and how this impacts their trust in the welfare system. Based on forty-three interviews with social assistance users in Germany and Poland, we demonstrate that fragmentation is indeed relevant as an experiential context for (dis)trust-formation. However, we found that low institutional fragmentation is not, per se, trust-promoting and that higher fragmentation can be a driver for developing trust in individual caseworkers. Citizens’ perceptions of procedural justice and experienced administrative burdens are discussed as possible mediators.

As youth transition into adolescence, their desire for autonomy leads to changes in the family dynamic, resulting in increased family conflict and possible disruptions to children’s psychological health. Previous literature, however, has largely neglected to consider whether the association between family conflict and child behavioral difficulties is uni- or bi-directional. The current study used latent curve growth models with structured residuals (LCMs-SR) to investigate this question in the Adolescent Brain & Cognitive Development (ABCD) study. At four annual waves (baseline through 3-year follow-up), youth (N = 11,868; Mage at Time 1 = 9.48 years; 48% female; 50% White) reported on family conflict while parents reported on youths’ internalizing and externalizing behaviors. Youth reported family conflict levels as increasing over four years. Furthermore, family conflict was bidirectionally associated with externalizing behavior, in that families with greater than expected conflict had children with more externalizing behaviors, and youth with more externalizing behaviors reported greater than expected conflict at home. Internalizing behavior, however, did not predict later family conflict, though family conflict predicted deviations in later internalizing behavior. These findings add to the literature by demonstrating bidirectional influences between children’s behavior and family functioning across emerging adolescence.

Motivated by the ponding refreezing of meltwater in firn, we analyze the interaction of liquid water and nonreactive gas with porous ice by developing a unified kinematic wave theory. The wave theory is based on the conservation of composition and enthalpy, coupling advective heat and mass transport in firn, and encompasses cases of meltwater perching where the conventional kinematic wave approximation fails. For simple initial conditions (Riemann problems), this model allows for self-similar solutions that reveal the structure of melting/refreezing fronts, with analytical solutions provided for 12 basic cases of physical relevance encountered in the literature. These solutions offer insights into processes such as the formation of frozen fringes, the perching of meltwater on low porosity layers and conditions for impermeable ice layer formation. This theoretical framework can enhance our understanding of the partitioning between meltwater infiltration and surface runoff, which influences surface mass loss from ice sheets and contributes to sea level rise. Furthermore, these analytic solutions serve as benchmarks for numerical models and can aid in the improvement and comparison of firn hydrology, ice-sheet and Earth system models.

This article explores strategies for rewilding pedagogy through three life-opening arts-based educational practices: nature writing, propositions, and minor experiences. Drawing on wild pedagogies, diverse perspectives on life, and various approaches to arts education, we examine how these practices can be twisted to promote life-friendly education, in support of more-than-human life, disrupting life-forgetful educational and societal norms. By reflecting on the (re)wilding strategies and their actual as well as imagined outcomes, we offer ideas on how to break with dominant conceptions of education and life in the Anthropocene.

Noonan syndrome is associated with lymphatic system structural abnormalities and may present with potentially fatal refractory chylothorax. We report a 2-year-old boy with Noonan syndrome with non-traumatic chylothorax who was refractory to dietary therapy with medium-chain triglyceride milk, octreotide, prednisolone, lymphatic embolisation, and lymphatico-venous anastomosis but improved with etilefrine administration. Etilefrine may be a treatment option for paediatric chylothorax, regardless of the aetiology.