Model-based systems engineering (MBSE) is increasingly used across industries for the integrated modeling of complex systems to support model-based development and provide enhanced traceability between requirements and verification and validation of the system. This paper seeks to strengthen the function modeling methodology in MBSE by introducing an approach based on flow heuristics guided by the System State Flow Diagram schema. This provides integrated function architectures with an enhanced integrity in MBSE. The approach is illustrated with a case study of an electric bicycle implemented in the MathWorks System Composer environment.

This study reports potassium (K) isotope compositions of diamondiferous kimberlites. Altered kimberlite samples exhibit δ41K values ranging from −1.293 ± 0.052 (2SD) to −0.114 ± 0.029 ‰, showing covariations with chemical indicators of alteration. This is consistent with the geochemical dynamics of K isotopes in hydrothermal fluid-related processes. In contrast, pristine kimberlite samples display restricted K isotope compositions, with δ41K values between −0.494 ± 0.057 and −0.270 ± 0.048 ‰. Notably, the δ41K values of these pristine kimberlite samples correlate well with K2O and Rb contents, suggesting that approximately ∼0.2 ‰ of K isotope fractionation is induced by phlogopite crystallization, as indicated by quantitative modelling. The estimated δ41K values of −0.458 ‰ for the primary kimberlite melt and of −0.414 ‰ for the kimberlite source imply a potential link to the bulk silicate Earth. These new measurements, along with literature data from various rocks, indicate that the K isotope composition in the deep mantle (>150 km) is more homogenous than in shallow regions, likely reflecting the efficiency of convection flow and K behaviour during subduction. In addition, the K isotope data reveal temporal variations in mantle-derived magmas from the Palaeozoic to the Cenozoic, highlighting the geological history and lithospheric destruction of the North China Craton. This study underscores the significance of K isotopes in enhancing our understanding of mantle dynamics, crustal recycling and the geochemical evolution of the Earth’s interior.

Countries in Africa face serious and worsening poverty brought about by historical and recent factors including the global economic downturn and national debt crises. Different actors have tested several mechanisms with the promise to alleviate poverty. Bottom-of-the-pyramid (BoP) and social assistance programmes in the form of cash transfers are such models. Despite the hype associated with the models, both demonstrate little achievement in the promotion of well-being in Africa, but instead, businesses are profiting at the expense of the poor. In this paper, we argue that the two models are precursors, handmaidens and the embodiment of the financialisation of social policy in Africa. Drawing on field interviews in Kenya, we demonstrate how the models have enabled financialisation of social policy through a narrative of financial inclusion of the poor, integration of market players in social protection, and through motives to orient the poor towards service-oriented markets.

We classify generic unfoldings of germs of antiholomorphic diffeomorphisms with a parabolic point of codimension k (i.e. a fixed point of multiplicity $k+1$) under conjugacy. Such generic unfoldings depend real analytically on k real parameters. A preparation of the unfolding allows to identify real analytic canonical parameters, which are preserved by any conjugacy between two prepared generic unfoldings. A modulus of analytic classification is defined, which is an unfolding of the modulus assigned to the antiholomorphic parabolic point. Since the second iterate of such a germ is a real unfolding of a holomorphic parabolic point, the modulus is a special form of an unfolding of the Écalle–Voronin modulus of the second iterate of the antiholomorphic parabolic germ. We also solve the problem of the existence of an antiholomorphic square root to a germ of a generic analytic unfolding of a holomorphic parabolic germ.

To my mind, every Indigenous archaeology practiced across the length and breadth of the world is uniquely situated within its own socio-cultural and political milieu. In this respect, no processes within its practice are identical in nature. Proceeding a step further from Felix Acuto’s experience of Latin American Indigenous archaeology, this discussion piece examines the nature of the Indigenous community’s involvement in archaeological research within a South Asian context, locating the frame within Northeast India, particularly Nagaland. This takes a rather more interesting turn when the engagement constitutes an archaeology ‘with, for and by Indigenous peoples’ themselves who belong to a certain Indigenous community, who are either inside or outside of the participant community. Engaging local people in archaeological excavations has long been commonplace in Indian archaeology. In most of excavations by John Marshall and Mortimer Wheeler of Harappan urban sites, one cannot fail but notice the ubiquitous frame of black-and-white photographs – local workers clad in white dhoti and turbans, seen in various working postures and gaits inside the trenches, aiding in daily routine digs with brushes and brooms, circular trays filled with soil and occasional scatterings of pickaxes and spades. With shifting powers from the British Raj and Indian archaeologists now taking charge of the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) after Wheeler’s departure, it is still disheartening to notice that such imageries continue to persist in numerous field reports even within a post-colonial experience (for a critical appraisal, see Avikunthak 2021). What the images evoke is the sort of community engagement that the country has experienced for more than 150 years of Indian archaeology in practice. One may never know clearly for sure what the nature and extent of the local people’s participation in such large-scale digs was during colonial times, but this entices us to ask the few obvious questions – is such research made explicit within a participatory praxis, or can it be equally engaging and collaborative with equitable research aims? Or did such initiatives dismantle power structures and relations between local workers and the archaeologists leading the excavations? Until recently, community consultation and engagement have rarely been a part of the archaeological research agenda in India, with a few exceptions addressed by Rizvi (2006; 2020), Selvakumar (2006), Jamir (2014) and Menon and Varma (2019). Unfortunately, even today, archaeology in South Asia continues to demonstrate a lack of collaborative archaeological practice and instead continues to replicate colonial models of interaction with local communities (Rizvi 2008, 127). I, however, view the role of Indigenous community engagement in archaeological research as a starting point for decolonizing archaeological practice in Northeast India, particularly in Nagaland (Jamir 2024). Therefore, to underscore a contrast, I wish to draw a few case examples from the region of Northeast India.

Using data from the 2018–2019 National Congregations Study, I explore the relationship between women’s descriptive and substantive representation in American religious congregations. In particular, I examine the relationship between the presence of clergywomen or gender inclusive leadership policies (i.e., congregational policies allowing women to serve as the head pastor or priest) and a congregation’s participation in “women’s issues” political activism. Statistical analysis reveals partial support for my hypotheses. Collective gender representation, as demonstrated through the presence of gender inclusive leadership policies within a congregation, predicts pro-LGBT activism and the number of “women’s issues” a congregation pursues. This project serves to extend understanding of 1) how descriptive gender representation relates to the substantive representation of women’s interests in religious congregations and 2) the comparability of women’s leadership across political and religious contexts.