Studies on antiquities trafficking have often been overshadowed by research looking at the trafficking of human beings, drugs, and weapons, a fact partly motivated by the arguably higher relevance and greater security implications involved in these other forms of illicit trade. However, the past decade of conflicts in the Middle East has revived an interest in the study of antiquities trafficking networks. 1 The association between the growing size of the illicit antiquities market and conflicts in the region did not go unnoticed by crime scientists and criminologists looking deeper at the relation between the trafficking of antiquities and transnational organized crime. 2

Despite its common usage, the meaning of ‘democratic’ in democratic intelligence oversight has rarely been spelled out. In this article, we situate questions regarding intelligence oversight within broader debates about the meanings and practices of democracy. We argue that the literature on intelligence oversight has tended to implicitly or explicitly follow liberal and technocratic ideas of democracy, which have limited the understanding of oversight both in academia and in practice. Thus, oversight is mostly understood as an expert, institutional and partially exclusive arrangement that is supposed to strike a balance between individual freedom and collective security, with the goal of establishing the legitimacy of and trust in intelligence work in a national setting. ‘Healthy’ or ‘efficient’ democratic oversight then becomes a matter of technical expertise, non-partisanship, and the ability to guard secrets. By analysing three moments of struggle around what counts as intelligence oversight across Germany, the UK, and the US, this article elucidates their democratic stakes. Through a practice-based approach, we argue that oversight takes much more agonistic, contentious, transnational, and public forms. However, these democratic practices reconfiguring oversight remain contested or contained by dominant views on what constitutes legitimate and effective intelligence oversight.

Bilingualism is thought to confer advantages in executive functioning, thereby contributing to cognitive reserve and a later age of dementia symptom onset. While the relation between bilingualism and age of onset has been explored in Alzheimer's dementia, there are few studies examining bilingualism as a contributor to cognitive reserve in frontotemporal dementia (FTD). In line with previous findings, we hypothesized that bilinguals with behavioral variant FTD would be older at symptom onset compared to monolinguals, but that no such effect would be found in patients with nonfluent/agrammatic variant primary progressive aphasia (PPA) or semantic variant PPA. Contrary to our hypothesis, we found no significant difference in age at symptom onset between monolingual and bilingual speakers within any of the FTD variants, and there were no notable differences on neuropsychological measures. Overall, our results do not support a protective effect of bilingualism in patients with FTD-spectrum disease in a U.S. based cohort.

In this paper, we investigate the flow past a circular cylinder confined in a channel at a blockage ratio of $\beta =0.7$ (the ratio of the cylinder diameter and the channel height) for Reynolds numbers between ${\textit {Re}}=300$ and $3900$ using direct numerical simulation (DNS). We show for varying Reynolds numbers a wide range of wake dynamics occur as the spanwise domain length is changed. At a lower Reynolds number of ${\textit {Re}}=300$, a reverse von Kármán wake alongside either a top- or bottom-biased asymmetry was observed at different spanwise locations. The asymmetry was structurally similar the two-dimensional asymmetry studied by prior investigators, and was found to be a result of the confinement effect. Further, wake-jumping between the two intermittent states was present. For larger Reynolds numbers, ${\textit {Re}}=1000$ and $3900$, these asymmetric structures were found to become dominant. We also examine the dependence of the asymmetries on the spanwise domain. For small spanwise domains the asymmetries were uniformly orientated across the span. In contrast, for sufficiently large spanwise domains, the asymmetry flips its orientation at different spanwise locations. Comparisons of flow statistics demonstrate good agreement between the different spanwise domains, which suggests the same mechanism maintains the asymmetry in both cases. Further analysis at ${\textit {Re}}=1000$ found the number of times the wake flips is dependent on the initial conditions, with a wake that flips zero (purely asymmetric), two and four times being observed. These structures were also determined to remain stable over time scales of $1000D/U$.

We formulate and explore two basic axiomatic systems of type-free subjective probability. One of them explicates a notion of finitely additive probability. The other explicates a concept of infinitely additive probability. It is argued that the first of these systems is a suitable background theory for formally investigating controversial principles about type-free subjective probability.

Crop rotation in agriculture can lead to increased crop productivity in the rotation and improved soil fertility as a result of residue incorporation. Unfortunately, residue incorporation is not a common practice in crop production systems under the Mediterranean regime, largely due to the lack of information on the effect of the follow-up crops. Therefore, this study was conducted with six biannual rotations (bread wheat–canola, bread wheat–bean, durum wheat–canola, durum wheat–bean, corn–canola and corn–bean) using four residue incorporation levels (0, 50, 100 and 200%) in an Andisol in south central Chile. Grain yield and residue production were evaluated in the canola and bean crops 5 years after initiating crop rotation. The previous crop affected canola grain yield and residue production, which were both higher after corn. Meanwhile, the residue incorporation level had a slight effect on residue production after bread wheat. Only bean grain yield was affected by the previous crop, which was higher after the durum wheat and corn crops. The residue incorporation has marginally affected residue production after bread wheat. Finally, residue incorporation at different levels under the conditions of the present experiment had a minimal effect on bean and canola residue production following the bread wheat crop. The best crop rotation for canola grain yield was corn–canola, which produced 0.54 Mg/ha (18.3%) higher yield than the average of the other two rotations. The best crop rotation for achieving higher bean grain yield was corn–bean, which yielded 0.52 Mg/ha (12.3%) higher than the average of the other two rotations.

Complaints of control failures with acetolactate synthase (ALS)- and protoporphyrinogen oxidase (PPO)-inhibiting herbicides on redroot pigweed (Amaranthus retroflexus L.) were reported in conventional soybean [Glycine max (L.) Merr.] fields in North Carolina. Greenhouse dose–response assays confirmed that the Camden County and Pasquotank County populations were less sensitive to ALS- and PPO-inhibiting herbicides compared with susceptible A. retroflexus populations, suggesting the evolution of resistance to these herbicides. Sanger sequencing of target genes determined the Camden County population carried a Trp-574-Leu mutation in the ALS gene and an Arg-98-Gly mutation in the PPX2 gene, while the Pasquotank County population carried a His-197-Pro mutation in the ALS gene (first documentation of the mutation in the Amaranthus genus), but no mutation was detected in the PPX2 gene. Single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) genotyping assays were developed to enable efficient screening of future control failures in order to limit the spread of these herbicide-resistant populations. In addition, preliminary testing of these assays revealed the three mutations were ubiquitous in the respective populations. These two populations represent the first confirmed cases of PPO-inhibiting herbicide-resistant A. retroflexus in the United States, as well as the first confirmed cases of this particular herbicide-resistance profile in A. retroflexus inhabiting North America. While no mutation was found in the PPX2 gene of the Pasquotank County population, we suggest that this population has evolved resistance to PPO-inhibiting herbicides, but the mechanism of resistance is to be determined.

We study the asymptotic behaviour, as $p\to 1^+$, of the solutions of the following inhomogeneous Robin boundary value problem: P

\begin{equation*} \begin{cases} \displaystyle -\Delta_p u_p = f & \text{ in }\Omega,\\ \displaystyle |\nabla u_p|^{p-2}\nabla u_p\cdot \nu +\lambda |u_p|^{p-2}u_p = g & \text{ on } \partial\Omega, \end{cases} \end{equation*}

$\Omega$

$\mathbb {R}^{N}$

$\nu$

$\Delta _p v$

$p$

$p>1$

$f\in L^{N,\infty }(\Omega )$

$\lambda,\,g$

$\partial \Omega$

$\lambda \ge 0$

$p$

$1$

$p\to 1^+$

Mexico possesses a large diversity of amphibians partly due to its complex topography and transitional position between the Nearctic and Neotropical biogeographical regions. However, its helminth parasite fauna has been relatively poorly studied. Specimens of the Vaillant's frog, Lithobates vaillanti (Brocchi) were sampled in the tropical rain forest of Nahá, in the Chiapas Highlands, and examined for parasites. Two trematode species were collected from their hosts; morphologically, specimens were allocated to the genera Langeronia Caballero and Bravo-Hollis, 1949 and Haematoloechus Looss, 1899, respectively. Individuals were sequenced for two molecular markers (the mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase gene, and the ribosomal gene 28S), and processed for morphological analyses, including scanning electron microscopy. The new evidence was not enough to accomplish the identification at species level of Langeronia sp. due to the lack of sequence data from the type localities of Langeronia parva Christian, 1970 and Langeronia macrocirra Caballero and Bravo-Hollis, 1949. Likewise, the newly generated data were useful to properly identify the adult specimens of lung flukes as Haematoloechus complexus Seely, 1906.

Competition between genotypes within a plant population can result in the displacement of the least competitive by more competitive genotypes. Although evolutionary processes in plants may occur over thousands and millions of years, it has been suggested that changes in key fitness traits could occur in as little as decades, with herbicide resistance being a common example. However, the rapid evolution of complex traits has not been proven in weeds. We hypothesized that changes in weed growth and competitive ability can occur in just a few years because of selection in agroecosystems. Seed of multiple generations of a single natural population of the grassy weed giant foxtail (Setaria faberi Herrm.) were collected during 34 yr (i.e., 1983 to 2017). Using a “resurrection” approach, we characterized life-history traits of the different year-lines under noncompetitive and competitive conditions. Replacement-series experiments comparing the growth of the oldest year-line (1983) versus newer year-lines (1991, 1996, 1998, 2009, and 2017) showed that plant competitive ability decreased and then increased progressively in accordance with oscillating selection. The adaptations in competitive ability were reflected in dynamic changes in leaf area and biomass when plants were in competition. The onset of increased competitive ability coincided with the introduction of herbicide-resistant crops in the landscape in 1996. We also conducted a genome-wide association study and identified four loci that were associated with increased competitive ability over time, confirming that this trait changed in response to directional selection. Putative transcription factors and cell wall–associated enzymes were linked to those loci. This is the first study providing direct in situ evidence of rapid directional evolution of competitive ability in a plant species. The results suggest that agricultural systems can exert enough pressure to cause evolutionary adaptations of complex life-history traits, potentially increasing weediness and invasiveness.

Field studies were conducted to assess the efficacy of physical weed management of Palmer amaranth management in cucumber, peanut, and sweetpotato. Treatments were arranged in a 3 × 4 factorial in which the first factor included a treatment method of electrical, mechanical, or hand-roguing Palmer amaranth control and the second factor consisted of treatments applied when Palmer amaranth was approximately 0.3, 0.6, 0.9, or 1.2 m above the crop canopy. Four wk after treatment (WAT), the electrical applications controlled Palmer amaranth at least 27 percentage points more than the mechanical applications when applied at the 0.3- and 0.6-m timings. At the 0.9- and 1.2-m application timings 4 WAT, electrical and mechanical applications controlled Palmer amaranth by at most 87%. Though hand removal generally resulted in the greatest peanut pod count and total sweetpotato yield, mechanical and electrical control resulted in similar yield to the hand-rogued plots, depending on the treatment timing. With additional research to provide insight into the optimal applications, there is potential for electrical control and mechanical control to be used as alternatives to hand removal. Additional studies were conducted to determine the effects of electrical treatments on Palmer amaranth seed production and viability. Treatments consisted of electricity applied to Palmer amaranth at first visible inflorescence, 2 wk after first visible inflorescence (WAI) or 4 WAI. Treatments at varying reproductive maturities did not reduce the seed production immediately after treatment. However, after treatment, plants primarily died and ceased maturation, reducing seed production assessed at 4 WAI by 93% and 70% when treated at 0 and 2 WAI, respectively. Treatments did not have a negative effect on germination or seedling length.

Virtual reality (VR) is increasingly used in learning and can be experienced with a head-mounted display as a 3D immersive version (immersive virtual reality [IVR]) or with a PC (or another computer) as a 2D desktop-based version (desktop virtual reality [DVR]). A research gap is the effect of IVR and DVR on learners’ skill retention. To address this gap, we designed an experiment in which learners were trained and tested for the assembly of a procedural industrial task. We found nonsignificant differences in the number of errors, the time to completion, satisfaction, self-efficacy, and motivation. The results support the view that DVR and IVR are similarly useful for learning retention. These insights may help researchers and practitioners to decide which form of VR they should use.

The aim of this study was to determine whether or not oestrus induction on the day of weaning would reduce the distress experienced by ewes upon separation from lambs. For this, 43 ewes, their eight week-old lambs and six mature rams were used. Prior to weaning, 21 of these ewes were induced to display oestrus on the day of mother-young separation (treated group [T]) while the remaining 22 untreated ewes served as controls (C). T and C ewes were housed together. Blood samples were collected on the day of weaning (prior to mother-young separation and 24 hours later) and then nine days later, for plasma progesterone (P4) and cortisol determination. Lambs were separated from their dams by a wire fence at weaning in full view of each other. Three rams were tethered to posts with 3 m plastic chains in the ewes' pen. T and C groups were simultaneously tested in identical test pens. C ewes showed a greater increase in serum cortisol concentration after separation from lambs (47.64 ± 4.26 n mol l–1) than T ewes (28.79 ± 6.29 n mol l–1). T ewes exhibited fewer vocalisations ewe–1h–1 and fewer vocalisations at 6, 12 and 18 h post separation than C ewes. On the day of weaning, more T ewes were seen to be situated away from lambs and in close proximity to the males, compared to the C group. Thus, more T than C ewes were mounted (14 as opposed to 3) and these received a greater number of mounts (1.02 ± 0.23 per hour, as opposed to 0.11 ± 0.06). It was concluded that by inducing ewes into oestrus at weaning it is possible to reduce the signs of separation distress.

Cancer has been associated with lower risk of dementia, although methodological issues raise concerns about the validity of this association. We recruited 31,080 men aged 65–85 years who were free of cancer and dementia, and followed them for up to 22 years. We used health record linkage to identify incident cases of cancer and dementia, and split time span to investigate this association. 18,693 (60.1%) and 6897 (22.2%) participants developed cancer and dementia during follow-up. The hazard ratio (HR) of dementia associated with cancer was 1.13 (95% CI = 1.07, 1.20) and dropped to 0.85 (95% CI = 0.80, 0.91) when 449 participants who developed dementia within 2 years were excluded. The diagnosis of cancer seems to facilitate the early detection of dementia cases. Older participants who survive cancer for 2 or more years have lower risk of receiving the diagnosis of dementia over time. The factors that mediate this association remain unclear.

When people learn of the outcome of an option they did not choose (the alternative outcome) before they know their own outcome, they see an illusory negative correlation between the two outcomes, the Alternative Omen Effect (ALOE). Why does this happen? Here, we tested several alternative explanations and conclude that the ALOE may derive from a pervasive belief that good luck is a limited resource. In Experiment 1, we show that the ALOE is due to people seeing a good alternative outcome as a bad sign regarding their outcome, relative to seeing a neutral alternative, but find no evidence for seeing a bad alternative outcome as a good sign. Experiment 2 confirms that the ALOE replicates across tasks, and that the ALOE cannot be explained by preconceptions regarding outcome distribution, including: 1) the Limited Good Hypothesis (zero-sum bias), according to which people see the world as a zero-sum game, and assume that resources there means fewer resources here, and/or 2) a more specific assumption that laboratory tasks are programmed as zero-sum games. To neutralize these potential beliefs, participants had to draw actual colored beads from two real, distinct bags. The results of Experiment 3 were consistent with a prediction of the Limited Luck Hypothesis: by eliminating the value of the outcomes we eliminated the ALOE. Taken together, our results show that either the limited good belief is so robust that it defies strong situational evidence, or that individuals perceive good luck itself as a limited resource. Such a limited-luck belief might have important consequences in decision making and negotiations.

Family farming is still the main source of income for many people in the tropical regions of the world. At the same time, modern society is quickly becoming more aware of the welfare of animals for human consumption. The main objective of this study was to illustrate the need to modify certain aspects of the original Welfare Quality® (WQ) protocols developed by the EU-funded WQ project, under the conditions of small community farmers in the tropics. Thirty-four dual purpose farms in the State of Chiapas, Mexico, which had their main production focus on milk but for whom beef production was also of significant value, were evaluated utilising a merged version of the WQ protocols for dairy and beef cattle. Based on their average score, the farms obtained at least an acceptable level in each indicator of welfare. However, after merging indicators from the dairy and beef cattle protocols of WQ in order to adjust it to the prevailing conditions in the tropics, a number of sections are not applicable. This is particularly true of the section related to good housing, where most of the items do not apply due to the absence of infrastructure; the farms obtained a very high score in this section but further studies to verify whether this reflects an accurate assessment of the welfare status should be carried out. In general, the approach of the WQ protocol was useful, however certain aspects are quite different from the conventional intensive farming systems predominantly used in Europe and there is a need to implement a number of modifications.