The virtual model control (VMC) method establishes a direct correlation model between the end-effector and the main body by selecting appropriate virtual mechanical components. This approach facilitates direct force control while circumventing the necessity for complex dynamic modeling. However, the simplification inherent in this modeling can result in inaccuracies in the calculation of joint driving torques, ultimately diminishing control precision. Moreover, VMC typically depends on predefined models for control, which constrains its adaptability in dynamically complex environments and under varying movement conditions. To address these limitations, this paper proposes the BP-VMC method, which is based on a backpropagation neural network (BPNN). Initially, a quadruped robot model was established through kinematic analysis. Subsequently, a decomposed VMC model was developed, and BPNN was introduced to facilitate the adaptive tuning of virtual parameters. This approach resulted in the creation of a virtual mechanical component model with adaptive capabilities, compensating for errors arising from simplified modeling. Finally, a simulation control system was constructed based on the BP-VMC control framework to validate the optimization of control performance. Simulation experiments demonstrated that, in comparison to traditional VMC methods, the BP-VMC method exhibits enhanced control accuracy and stability, achieving a 30% reduction in trajectory tracking error, a 40% reduction in velocity tracking error, and a 20–30% improvement in instability indices across various working conditions. This evidence underscores the BP-VMC method’s robust adaptability in dynamic environments.

Recursive types and bounded quantification are prominent features in many modern programming languages, such as Java, C#, Scala, or TypeScript. Unfortunately, the interaction between recursive types, bounded quantification, and subtyping has shown to be problematic in the past. Consequently, defining a simple foundational calculus that combines those features and has desirable properties, such as decidability, transitivity of subtyping, conservativity, and a sound and complete algorithmic formulation, has been a long-time challenge.

This paper shows how to extend $F_{\le}$ with iso-recursive types in a new calculus called $F_{\le}^{\mu}$. $F_{\le}$ is a well-known polymorphic calculus with bounded quantification. In $F_{\le}^{\mu}$, we add iso-recursive types and correspondingly extend the subtyping relation with iso-recursive subtyping using the recently proposed nominal unfolding rules. In addition, we use so-called structural folding/unfolding rules for typing iso-recursive expressions, inspired by the structural unfolding rule proposed by Abadi et al. (1996). The structural rules add expressive power to the more conventional folding/unfolding rules in the literature, and they enable additional applications. We present several results, including: type soundness; transitivity; the conservativity of $F_{\le}^{\mu}$ over $F_{\le}$; and a sound and complete algorithmic formulation of $F_{\le}^{\mu}$. We study two variants of $F_{\le}^{\mu}$. The first one uses an extension of the $\textrm{kernel}~F_{\le}$ (a well-known decidable variant of $F_{\le}$). This extension accepts equivalent rather than equal bounds and is shown to preserve decidable subtyping. The second variant employs the $\textrm{full}~F_{\le}$ rule for bounded quantification and has undecidable subtyping. Moreover, we also study an extension of the kernel version of $F_{\le}^{\mu}$, called $F_{\le\ge}^{\mu\wedge}$, with a form of intersection types and lower bounded quantification. All the properties from the kernel version of $F_{\le}^{\mu}$ are preserved in $F_{\le\ge}^{\mu\wedge}$. All the results in this paper have been formalized in the Coq theorem prover.

We prove that a homomorphism between free groups of finite rank equipped with the bi-invariant word metrics associated with finite generating sets is a quasi-isometry if and only if it is an isomorphism.

This Article examines the role of political polarization in contributing to acute infrastructural dysfunction. It begins by applying an infrastructural lens to the study of law, identifying the synergies and tensions inherent in that conversation. The second section investigates the components of a functional border legal infrastructure from a range of perspectives, seeking to understand the performative role of the border. The Article next presents three case studies of politically polarized border legal infrastructures, highlighting material, relational, and distributional elements. Drawing from those examples, the Article then unpacks the role of law as border infrastructure, highlighting the contribution that a legal perspective can offer to the infrastructures literature. This section examines the layers of law involved in border infrastructures, including international, regional, and bilateral; the regulatory role of national law in constructing and governing infrastructures; and the jurisdictional functions of law in allocating the political and financial authority that are essential to the effective operation of infrastructures. This analysis highlights the role of discretion and opacity, as well as political polarization, in setting the stage for infrastructural breakdown. The Article ends by reflecting on the recursive relationship between politics and law in border infrastructures, examining how that dynamic creates and manifests failures, dysfunction, and acute breakdown.

Shortening a pharmacist-driven policy to allow a switch from IV to PO azithromycin after 24 hours instead of 48 hours led to 26% increase in oral azithromycin days of therapy (P < 0.001) and was associated with a shorter length of stay.

Over the past quarter-century, the literature on gender, peace, and security has evolved into a substantial interdisciplinary field. In this line of work, researchers have investigated the interplay between state security and women’s security, or how gender equality at the state level affects the occurrence of international and intranational conflict. The conclusion is that more gender-equal countries are less prone to engage in warfare, pointing toward a link between women’s security and national security. Various indicators have been used to capture gender equality in this literature, such as the representation of women in parliamentary roles, the proportion of women participating in the labor force, and school enrollment among girls relative to boys.

I bring together the work of Simone de Beauvoir and Elena Ferrante to philosophically analyze envy in girlhood friendships. I compare two kinds of envy: the destructive envy between girls in their mode as object-beings as described by Beauvoir in The second sex (2011); and the more ambivalent form of envy that I identify in Lenu’s friendship with Lila in Ferrante’s The Neapolitan quartet (2012–15) and Beauvoir’s with Zaza in both Memoirs of a dutiful daughter (1963) and The inseparables (2021). Using Beauvoir’s existentialist understanding of subjectivity and freedom in The ethics of ambiguity (1976) and The second sex, I argue that envy for a girl friend’s intellectual abilities can act as an impetus for the girl to pursue new ends in her mode as subject-being, while simultaneously causing her negative feelings. In doing so, I demonstrate that intellectual friendships between girls that feature envy can open up the girl’s situation such that new possibilities of freedom are available to her that may not have been otherwise.

In Europe, organic food must comply with specific regulations which do not include nutritional criteria. The ability of organic food to meet the nutritional needs of children is not assessed. This narrative review discusses the nutritional composition (macronutrients, micronutrients) of organic food compared to conventional products and its clinical relevance with a pediatric focus, and the health impact of these differences and of contaminants which interfere with metabolism. Other potential differences, particularly regarding the direct/indirect exposure to other contaminants in conventional food, are not addressed in this review. The composition of some organic food may differ from conventional food. Protein content was lower in cereals and eggs. A lower n-6:n-3 polyunsaturated fats (PUFA) ratio was observed in milk, meat and eggs. Long-chain PUFA and vitamin E may be higher in milk, meat, and fish, as some minerals and antioxidants (phenolic compounds, vitamin C) in fruits, vegetables, and starchy food and carotenoids in fruits and vegetables. Epidemiological studies suggest an association between organic diets and lower prevalence of childhood obesity, type 2 diabetes and metabolic syndrome, whereas the protective effect on allergy and cancer is controversial. Some organic food may have a better nutritional interest for children’s diet than conventional food. Standardized studies comparing food composition and diet in children are needed. Considering the lower toxicologic risk and the sustainability of organic food, the Committee on Nutrition encourages the use of organic food, provided such food is affordable, alongside specific baby food which are subject to strict specific EU regulations.

For much of the past fifteen years, the Middle East and North Africa have been witnessing the largest proportion of conflicts in the world. Long and bloody wars in Syria, Yemen, Iraq, and Libya drove the trend through the 2010s, followed by a respite in 2022 and then by another particularly brutal wave of conflict over Israel/Gaza and in Lebanon in 2023/2024. Given the prevalence of violence in the Middle East, one would expect that a sizeable part of the conflict studies scholarship draws on research from and about the region—especially as it is a hub for phenomena of broader interest to academics of civil wars such as foreign fighters, proxy wars, rebel governance, and non-state armed groups. Yet evidence suggests that publications drawing on empirical research from the region constitute less than 5% of all articles on conflicts in political science journals (Melani Cammett and Isabel Kendall, “Political Science Scholarship on the Middle East: A View from the Journals,” PS: Political Science & Politics, 54(3), 2021). The reasons for the under-representation of Middle East scholarship in conflict research are understandable. The prevalence of war/instability makes it difficult to collect data in systematic ways, and the language skills and contextual knowledge required to compensate for this lack of standard data are in short supply among political scientists.

India is a leading producer as well as one of the largest exporters of rice. Export competitiveness of rice thus plays a crucial role in India’s overall trade scenario, particularly in bridging the gaps in country’s soaring trade deficits. The study investigates the impact of key determinants on India’s rice export competitiveness for the period 1990–2020 using the autoregressive distributed lag model. The results reveal that increasing yield of rice and depreciated exchange rate have significant positive impact on India’s rice export competitiveness. In the long run, production cost and export price have a detrimental effect on export of rice from India. However, India’s trade openness and export price do have a mixed effect on export competitiveness of rice in the short run. Moreover, the findings of this study offer some important policy implications for the stakeholders like farmers, exporters, and the government to improve export competitiveness of Agri-products including rice.

Eotetranychus kankitus is an important pest on several agricultural crops, and its resistance to pesticides has promoted the exploration of biological control strategies. Beauveria bassiana and Neoseiulus barkeri have been identified as potential agents for suppressing spider mites. This study aimed to investigate the pathogenicity of B. bassiana on E. kankitus and its compatibility with N. barkeri. Results showed that among the five tested strains of B. bassiana, Bb025 exhibited the highest level of pathogenicity on E. kankitus. Higher application rates (1 × 108 conidia/mL) of Bb025 led to a higher mortality rate of E. kankitus (90.402%), but also resulted in a 15.036% mortality of N. barkeri. Furthermore, preference response tests indicated that both E. kankitus and N. barkeri actively avoided plants sprayed with Bb025 compared to the control group that was sprayed with Tween-80. In a no-choice test, we observed that N. barkeri actively attacked Bb025-treated E. kankitus with no adverse effect on its predatory capacities. Furthermore, N. barkeri laid more eggs when fed on Bb025-treated E. kankitus compared to Tween-80-treated E. kankitus, but the subsequent generation of surviving individuals fed on Bb025-treated E. kankitus was reduced. These findings demonstrate that the Bb025 strain of B. bassiana is highly virulent against E. kankitus while causing less harm to N. barkeri. Consequently, a promising strategy for controlling E. kankitus could involve the sequential utilisation of Bb025 and N. barkeri at appropriate intervals.

How do ancient (or contemporary) portraits display power? Why is that man (or less often woman) a ruler, and how can viewers (or readers), alone or in a crowd, tell that he represents something more than himself? He stands for something, literally in the case of ancient bronze or marble portrait statuary, signifier of a powerful office, and its individual holder, a basileus (‘king’) or an emperor. His power over me and mine is expressed in physical or literary form by the creation and circulation of his image(s), by their intrinsic attributes, materials or context. Images become powerful not just by their creation, but through contemporary social and political rules (or norms) of representation and by their reception. Mass media rely on specific associations in my (or our) culture, state and/or religion to convey not only a ruler's individual appearance and character, but also his office and its ideals, symbols and authority over me and us.