Book 2 of Aristotle’s De anima is transmitted in two versions: a vulgate version, attested in the overwhelming majority of extant manuscripts, and a non-standard version, hitherto known primarily by the few subsisting remains of the original recension of manuscript Parisinus graecus 1853, the oldest extant direct witness. After identifying additional witnesses to the non-standard version, the article argues that it derives from the vulgate version and that some of its innovations originate in the ancient commentaries to the treatise.

Dientamoeba fragilis transmission is a basic aspect of this intestinal parasite’s biology that is poorly understood. Early historical reports reflecting the absence of a cyst are often cited as a central argument in debates supporting the lack of a D. fragilis cyst. While D. fragilis cysts have been described since Dobell’s original description, their existence is not universally accepted. Here, Dobell’s, Wenyon’s and Hoare’s collection of historical faecal smears stored at the Natural History Museum (London), dating back to the 1890s and the early 1900s, was examined for forms consistent with modern descriptions of D. fragilis cysts, and an example was found in 1 slide. Such rare forms were also detected during examination of stained faecal smears archived in the parasite reference laboratory collection at the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. We discuss these observations in the context of literature describing cyst formation in parabasalids. Additionally, we report some incidental findings from past immunofluorescence experiments on cultured D. fragilis, which suggest differential staining that appears to correlate with life cycle stages. Considering published literature on the subject of D. fragilis cysts and the broader picture of cyst formation across diverse members of Parabasalia, we recommended that future investigations on D. fragilis transmission consider mounting evidence for the role of a true cyst despite its rarity in human faecal specimens. The factors leading to cyst formation and further characteristics of this life cycle stage require further study.

This paper responds to commentaries by several authors on our target article, ‘Bringing signed languages into the study of regular sound change’ (Law et al. 2025a). We provide some additional context on the research program that spurred the target article and draw on several themes discussed in both the target article and commentaries, specifically (i) the affordances and effects of modality in (theories of) language change, (ii) iconicity (and indexicality), (iii) variation and irregularity in language change, and (iv) language transmission. We highlight the methodological advances afforded by new technologies to study phonetic variation in signed languages and advocate for increased attention to the systematic and comparative study of phonetic variation in signed languages as a window into processes of phonetic and phonological change in signed languages.

Seabirds are largely used as indicators of Ocean health and are final hosts of several helminth parasites. However, the helminth fauna of seabirds is still poorly studied. Here, we quantified the diversity of gastrointestinal parasites in 52 individuals belonging to 10 seabird species with different habitat preferences and feeding strategies from the North-East Atlantic and Antarctica. Fresh carcasses were collected in Northern France and at Svarthamaren (Dronning Maud Land, Antarctica), helminth parasites were extracted from the gastrointestinal tract, and were identified by morphological inspection and DNA barcoding. In total, we identified 13 helminth taxa. North-East Atlantic seabirds hosted parasites from four helminth groups (Acanthocephala, Cestoda, Nematoda, Trematoda), while Antarctic seabirds hosted Acanthocephala and Cestoda only. The largest parasite diversity was found in northern fulmars Fulmarus glacialis (9 species), European shags Gulosus aristotelis (5 species), razorbills Alca torda (4 species), and black-legged kittiwakes Rissa tridactyla (4 species). Co-infections with multiple parasite species in single hosts were common. Oceanic diving species were found to be the most parasite-poor, with common guillemots Uria aalge and Atlantic puffins Fratercula arctica hosting no parasites. In contrast, oceanic surface-feeding seabirds had a large parasite diversity, which notably included trematodes, and was comparable to that of coastal species. To the best of our knowledge, this study identified 9 new host-parasite associations: Andracantha sp. in northern fulmars and south polar skuas Stercorarius maccormicki, C. septentrionale in northern fulmars and black-legged kittiwakes, a species of Microphallidae in black-legged kittiwakes, Cardiocephaloides longicollis in European shags, Cryptocotyle lingua in Sandwich terns Thalasseus sandvicensis, and a clophyllidean species in south polar skuas and Antarctic petrels Thalassoica antarctica.

Citrus leprosis is a non-systemic disease caused by citrus leprosis virus (CiLV), which is classified as cytoplasmic (CiLV-C) or nuclear (CiLV-N) based on its replication site within host cells. Mite species in the genus Brevipalpus vector this virus. In Mexico, B. californicus and B. yothersi have been recorded in citrus orchards, with the latter species being most abundant and widely distributed. Despite extensive research, knowledge gaps remain regarding interactions between Brevipalpus and CiLV-C, the predominant virus type. We investigated the vector competence of both species, with a detailed analysis of density-dependent acquisition and transmission for B. yothersi. Virus acquisition was assessed using three densities (5, 10, or 15 adult females) for B. yothersi and a single desity (15 mites) for B. californicus. Virus detection and quantification were performed using a TaqMan probes targeting the viral movement protein gene. Transmission assays were conducted on Phaseolus vulgaris plants using viruliferous B. yothersi at all densities. B. californicus did not acquire the virus and was therefore excluded from transmission experiments. In contrast, B. yothersi successfully acquired the virus at all densities. While the proportion of viruliferous mites did not differ significantly among density treatments, viral load per mite was significantly higher at the lowest density. Virus transmission ocurred at all densities, with no significant differences in viral titres in inoculated plants. There results provide insights into density-related mite-virus interactions affecting CiLV-C transmission.

Coinfections of hosts by multiple parasite species and strains are widespread in nature. Theory suggests that these infections have a key influence on the virulence, or harm caused, to hosts. However, it is still unclear whether multiple parasites, which may compete for resources and space, are indeed worse for hosts across the tree of life. To test this hypothesis, we conducted separate meta-analyses based on different expectations derived from virulence in single infections. We included 68 effect sizes from 19 experiments on non-human animal host species and 38 parasite species combinations. We found that coinfections are overall more virulent than the mean degree of harm caused by both parasites in retrospective single infections. That said, the coinfection virulence level is similar to that of the most virulent parasite, and less than the additive virulence of both single infections. These results suggest that the most virulent parasite is the primary driver of virulence in coinfection. This finding has implications for parasite spread in nature and suggests we focus on controlling the more harmful parasites in the first instance, when trying to limit the damage caused by coinfection.

We analysed weekly influenza A intensive care unit (ICU) or high dependency unit (HDU) admissions reported by age group and subtype by NHS trusts in England through mandatory surveillance during the 2023–2024 influenza season. We investigated whether subtype reporting varied with patient age group, NHS trust type and region. We estimated the subtype ratio and explored whether this estimate varied among subsets of trusts grouped by the regularity of subtype reporting. Our aim was to explore factors relating to subtype reporting and investigate how these affect subtype ratio estimates. 112 NHS trusts reported data, with 86 trusts reporting influenza A cases and 28 trusts reporting subtyped influenza A cases. The proportion of subtype reporting trusts varied with region and trust type, but not patient age group. The estimated ratio of influenza A(H1N1)pdm09 to influenza A(H3N2) was 3.13 (95% CI: 2.17, 4.51), indicating that influenza A(H1N1)pdm09 was dominant; this was approximately similar across levels of regularity of trust subtype reporting. The accuracy of subtype ratio estimates depends on the availability of influenza A subtype information and data representativeness. We identified low levels of subtype reporting, which likely limits early recognition of new influenza strains and informing of the prescription of antivirals in influenza outbreaks.

We present analyses of linguistic features undergoing change in South Eastern Ontario, Canada: stative possession, deontic modality, intensifiers, and quotatives. The largest urban center of the country (Toronto) and three towns outside the city are analyzed from the comparative sociolinguistic perspective. Parallel frequency and constraints are found in changes with a time depth of 200 years or more, corroborating the parallel transmission of complex systems over time and space. However, changes that began more recently show marked differences across communities. While the youngest generations in the small towns have appropriated the incoming forms, the accompanying suite of functional constraints found in the urban center is absent. This confirms that diffusing changes do not perfectly replicate the model system. There is, however, notable divergence within patterns of diffusion. The expanding changes exhibit varying configurations, depending on the community, its founders, and the stage of development of the change. The results suggest that increasingly complex contact situations will continue to expand the possible outcomes of diffusion.

This article analyzes contemporary democracies from a deliberative democratic standpoint and focuses on the connection between public and empowered spaces. The idea of deliberative systems and the concept of “transmission” are introduced to discuss the ways in which the public is able to affect the empowered spaces. While elections perform important democratic functions, alone they cannot provide a good quality means for connecting deliberation in the public to that of actors in the empowered space. The problem with transmission is exacerbated to the extent that alternative forms of participation are neglected. The limited ability of the public to affect the empowered space in deliberative and democratic ways contributes to the crisis of democratic systems. One solution to this problem is to acknowledge the role of citizens' deliberation. The article argues for the systematic introduction of spaces for citizens' deliberation that would parallel existing decision-making.

The mechanisms underlying linguistic change are well documented for adolescent and adult speech, but much less is known about how such change emerges in the childhood years. In this article we address this gap by conducting a real-time analysis of the acquisition of a rapidly expanding variable in young speakers, first in preschool and later in preadolescence. By tracking a variable undergoing change at two key stages of sociolinguistic development, transmission and incrementation, we observe directly the processes operating on individual and community grammars as children shift to the leading edge of change.

Existing datasets provided by statistical agencies (e.g. Eurostat) show that the economic and financial crisis that unfolded in 2008 significantly impacted the lives and livelihoods of young people across Europe. Taking these official statistics as a starting point, the collaborative research project “Cultural Pathways to Economic Self-Sufficiency and Entrepreneurship in Europe” (CUPESSE) generated new survey data on the economic and social situation of young Europeans (18–35 years). The CUPESSE dataset allows for country-comparative assessments of young people’s perceptions about their socio-economic situation. Furthermore, the dataset includes a variety of indicators examining the socio-economic situation of both young adults and their parents. In this data article, we introduce the CUPESSE dataset to political and social scientists in an attempt to spark a debate on the measurements, patterns and mechanisms of intergenerational transmission of economic self-sufficiency as well as its political implications.

Salmonella enterica serovar Dublin is host-specific to cattle, causing severe symptoms and economically impacting milk herds. Despite an eradication programme in Denmark, levels of infection have not decreased and suspicion has fallen on the common starling Sturnus vulgaris as a potential vector between herds. The number of breeding starlings in Denmark declined by 60% between 1976 and 2015, a trend correlated with decreases in the number of cattle grazing outside. Ironically, more starlings are now coming into Danish cattle sheds to feed on maize silage outside the breeding season, so it is increasingly important to understand the role of starlings in dispersing Salmonella between cattle herds. We caught and tested 394 different starlings at seven separate dairy farms infected with Salmonella Dublin by swabbing breast feathers, legs, feet and undertail coverts as well as taking faecal samples at these and four other infected farms. We found no trace of the pathogen, indicating that starlings are highly unlikely to be significant in spreading Salmonella Dublin between Danish cattle herds. We recommend investigating alternative contacts that may occur between herds as the cause of disease spread.

This study investigates how children aged 4 to 12 years participate in /u/-fronting, a phonetically conditioned change in Ontario English in which the high back vowel /u/ is initially more fronted after coronal consonants than in other contexts. A picture naming task was used to elicit vowel tokens from children and their parents, and F1 and F2 measurements were extracted using FAVE. Children in all three age groups (4-6, 7-9, 10-12 years) were found to have significantly higher F2 values for /u/ (indicating more fronting) than adults in the non-coronal environment. This pattern does not appear to follow the predicted pattern of incrementation of sound change by older children. Instead, the findings may reflect overgeneralization of /u/-fronting, with young children extending the change to a new phonetic context during acquisition, or an earlier start to the incrementation of this variable in this population.

Monkeypox (mpox) has re-emerged as global public health concern including in several non-endemic countries. This study aims to characterize monkeypox virus (MPXV) genomes in Indonesia, to explore viral evolution and transmission. Genomic analysis was conducted on 53 isolates from Indonesian mpox patients between 2023 and 2024. All sequences belonged to Clade IIb, with identified sub-clades including A.1.1, B.1, B.1.3, and C.1 – of which C.1 became dominant during this period. Out of 87 mpox-confirmed cases, 60.9% (53/87) were successfully sequenced and submitted to the Global Initiative on Sharing All Influenza Data (GISAID). The majority of cases in Indonesia occurred among males (95.4%), men who have sex with men (59.8%), and people living with HIV/AIDS (71.3%). Notably, a large portion of cases had no travel history, suggesting local transmission. Initially, only clade IIb (B.1) was detected in October 2022. By August 2023, lineage diversity had increased, with B.1.3 and C.1 emerging as the predominant sub-clades. A time–calibrated phylogenetic tree revealed genetic relatedness and shared ancestry within clade IIb. Integrating genomic and epidemiological data offers valuable insights to improve mpox surveillance and public health response in Indonesia and the broader region