The evaluation of idea sets for design solutions using Shah et al.’s criteria of quality, quantity, novelty and variety can help design teams understand the thoroughness of their ideation work and can help design researchers compare the performance of different ideation methods. However, existing methods for aggregating these metrics to obtain total set scores for quality, quantity, novelty and variety are problematic. The present paper proposes axioms for the desired behavior of aggregation functions for quality, quantity, variety and novelty, then defines functions that meet the axioms. These axioms are intended to ensure that scoring methods reflect best practices in ideation and appropriately reward preferred ideation behavior, such as promoting the contribution of all ideas. Further, this paper provides operational definitions for quality, novelty and quantity evaluations of ideas and draws from previous methods to provide expedient scoring methods of individual ideas. Evaluation mechanics are presented that allow repeatable evaluation of idea sets containing thousands of ideas. Software tools are provided to automatically calculate the aggregation functions for ideas evaluated according to the mechanics of this paper. Finally, a method for evaluating both the variety of complete sets of ideas and the contributions of individual ideas to the overall set variety is proposed. The evaluation of variety is sufficiently defined that it can be automatically evaluated for any genealogy tree of ideas. The operational definitions for evaluating quality, novelty and quantity are suitable for adoption in artificial intelligence tools to allow automated evaluation of idea sets for these quantities.

This paper demonstrates a method for quantifying the unmitigated mid-air collision (MAC) rate (${\lambda _{{\textrm{MAC}}}}$) between crewed aircraft and uncrewed aircraft (UA) above different congested area operating environments, to support broadening the definition of an atypical air environment (AAE) within the United Kingdom (UK). The underlying principle of this work is that all crewed aircraft should be operating in accordance with UK Standardised European Rules of the Air (SERA), which dictate minimum operating heights over built-up areas, specifically 1,000 ft in the majority of cases, except during take-off and landing. It is unrealistic, however, to assume that this rule is never breached; therefore, we present a method for objectively evaluating the likely encounter rate. We systematically consider the exclusion of runway protection zones (RPZs), aerodrome traffic zones (ATZs) and helicopter landing sites (HLSs) from the operating areas and evaluate the effect on ${\lambda _{{\textrm{MAC}}}}$. Results are presented that apply the methodology to over 33,000 hours worth of air traffic data recorded at three different sites across the UK. It is concluded that the operation of UA overhead congested areas, outside of RPZs and HLSs, likely satisfies an appropriate target level of safety (TLS) to be considered an AAE up to a height of 100 m above ground level (AGL) both inside and outside of controlled airspace.

Raïssa Maritain is one of the most compelling Catholic poets of the twentieth century, and yet her work is largely overlooked by literary critics. This short essay explores her mystical reading of darkness as a place of spiritual discernment, intuition, and kenosis and the poetic night vision she developed to negotiate it. The essay reads her as a fire-thief intent on stealing from poetry a light able to illuminate God’s dazzling darkness and the ruinous gloom of war.

The current trend of growing state disengagement from global governance institutions—seen as a threat to the World Health Organization—is not unfamiliar to the World Trade Organization (WTO). Over the past two decades, multilateral trade negotiation channels have increasingly given way to more selective partnerships, built around preferential alliances and strategic markets outside established global platforms. These alliances have taken shape through Regional Trade Agreements (RTAs)—treaties negotiated outside the WTO umbrella between two or more countries that facilitate trade and economic integration between them.1 Between 2015 and 2022, the number of RTAs in force rose from 290 to 385, both through major blocs—already formalized in large-scale regional trade integration, such as the European Union—and through bilateral arrangements between individual states or regional markets.2 Examples include, among others, the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership, recently expanded to twelve countries with the accession of the UK, and the new UK-India free trade agreement.

This article explores how emotions can affect policies of hostage rescue and recovery. Any hostage rescue/recovery strategy must consider the relative weights of at least three major goals: 1) maximising chance of recovering/rescuing the hostages; 2) punishment of the kidnappers; and 3) avoidance of collateral damage and killing of bystanders. This article will show how an understanding of emotion can help explain why one of these goals comes to dominate another, why one goal fades in importance. The article will argue that a specific combination of two emotions – anger and contempt – drives the elevation of the punishment goal above that of maximising chances of hostage recovery while also greatly diminishing any value of collateral damage avoidance. The article considers these issues with a short case study of hostage taking at Attica Prison in 1971, which serves as a link to the main case – Israel’s post–October 7 hostage policy towards Gaza.

Nordmannsjøkelen, mainland Europe’s northernmost glacier, has fragmented into small remnants, with only one unit showing signs of active ice flow. The glacier has lost 92% of its area since 1970 (September 2024 area relative to 1970 area). It is reduced from 23.5 km2, as an upper bound of its size in ∼1900, to 0.4 ± 0.08 km2 in September 2024. Between 1970 and 2020, the geodetic mass balance was −17.6 ± 1.79 m w.e., corresponding to an average annual mass balance of –0.35 ± 0.04 m w.e. a−1. The warm summer of 2024 took its toll on Nordmannsjøkelen and the glacier area was reduced by 1.08 ± 0.16 km2 from 2023 to 0.4 ± 0.08 km2 in 2024 (a 68% reduction relative to 2023 area). Similar glacier retreat and thinning are observed elsewhere in the region, and the neighboring Langfjordjøkelen has mass balance measurements for the period 1989–2024, and the highest mass loss is recorded in 2024.

This study examines spatiotemporal patterns of tetracycline- and trimethoprim–sulfamethoxazole (TMP–SMX)–resistant Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) among United States (US) Veterans Health Administration (VHA) outpatients. Prevalence of tetracycline and TMP–SMX resistance in methicillin-susceptible S. aureus (MSSA) and methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA) was calculated for 2010–2023. MRSA cases from 2018 to 2022 were aggregated to commuting zones (CZs) in the eastern US, and CZ-specific relative risks and temporal trends were estimated using a hierarchical Bayesian Poisson model with a spatiotemporal interaction term. Results indicated that resistance in MRSA increased by 16.4% for tetracycline and 9.3% for TMP–SMX, while MSSA resistance remained stable. High-risk CZs were limited (3% for tetracycline, 4% for TMP–SMX) and distributed across the eastern US, with notable within-state variation in risk and trend. Most CZs exhibited stationary trends, although distinct patterns in the rate and timing of changes in resistance were observed in CZ-specific plots. These evolving and geographically variable patterns of antimicrobial resistance at finer spatial scales highlight the need for local surveillance and outpatient antibiotic stewardship strategies that consider place-based sociodemographic, ecologic, and clinical factors.

Scientific data on the influences of salinity shifts on the survival and behavioural attributes of marine animals is valuable to select potential coastal aquaculture candidates/commercial cultivation sites and to devise conservation strategies in the climate change scenario. This study establishes the survival ranges following gradual and abrupt salinity shifts for a high-value marine lobster species, Panulirus homarus. Lethal concentration limits differed between gradual and abrupt salinity shifts, with a broader tolerance observed under gradual shifts. There was 100% survival between 17 and 44‰ and between 26 and 41‰ following gradual and abrupt salinity shifts. As behavioural responses are critical in understanding the physiology and welfare status of animals, behavioural attributes, viz. antennule flicking per minute (AFM) and feed response time (FRT) were evaluated upon salinity shifts from the control (35‰). The sudden increase in AFM was the first visible reaction to the salinity shifts followed by a sustained decline beyond particular ranges in both gradual and abrupt shifts. FRT was significantly decreased beyond specific salinity ranges on gradual and abrupt salinity shifts and the animals became completely anorectic beyond 44–14‰, and beyond 44–23‰, respectively, on gradual and abrupt shifts. A better coping mechanism and a wider range of salinity tolerance were observed for gradual shifts than abrupt shifts.

In the field of “global health,”1 a sense of discomfort with the status quo and the systems and practices it upholds persists.2 This unease stems from the lopsided nature of power and resources to address health issues across the world.3 The authors accept the view that a system is what it reproduces, regardless of its best intentions.4 The concentration of disease and death amongst those with the least power to address them reflects clearly established causal links between inequitable systems and health outcomes,5 which have precipitated agitations for rectification of global health injustice. This has culminated in the clamor to “decolonize” global health,6 which has ranged from interrogations of the training practices of global health students and practitioners,7 to recommendations of better practices within the field,8 decentralization of power, and challenge to assumptions of expertise in the sites of practice and intervention.9 Given that power is largely a function of means, some have made suggestions to fundamentally address how the flow of resources shape the global health agenda, while prioritizing certain voices over others.10

This is the first part of a series of papers devoted to the study of linear cocycles over chaotic systems. In the present paper, we establish the existence of such cocycles that $\mathcal {C}^\alpha $-stably exhibit fiberwise bounded orbits ($\alpha>0$). The proof is based on a new mechanism which yields stable elliptic-type behavior in $\mathrm {GL}(d,\mathbb {R})$ or $\mathrm {SL}(d,\mathbb {R})$ cocycles. Moreover, we show that this phenomenon is $\mathcal {C}^0$-dense among $\mathrm {SL}(d,\mathbb {R})$ cocycles over a shift of finite type without dominated splitting.

Palmer amaranth (Amaranthus palmeri S. Watson) is one of the most problematic weeds in U.S. agriculture, capable of rapidly adapting to environmental and management pressures. This study assessed temporal changes in glyphosate response in A. palmeri by comparing ED50 values, shikimic acid accumulation, and 14C-glyphosate absorption and translocation in four biotypes collected from two Georgia fields, Jones (J) and Little Jones (LJ), in 2008 and 2023. Glyphosate ED50 increased 9-fold (J08 vs. J23) and 25-fold (LJ08 vs. LJ23), indicating a marked reduction in glyphosate sensitivity between collection periods. Shikimic acid accumulation increased with glyphosate dose in all biotypes but remained substantially lower in biotypes collected in 2023, indicating reduced EPSPS inhibition. Radiolabeled assays revealed differences in early uptake, with populations collected in 2023 reaching near maximum absorption more rapidly, as reflected by shorter times to 95 percent absorption (A95), although total absorption continued to increase across all biotypes through 48 hours after treatment. Translocation patterns varied only slightly among biotypes, suggesting that changes in glyphosate response are associated more closely with altered uptake kinetics and EPSPS related mechanisms than with major reductions in systemic movement. These results demonstrate a temporal shift in glyphosate response in Georgia A. palmeri populations and highlight the importance of integrating kinetic analyses with traditional resistance metrics.

Quantum technologies have the potential to play a significant role in future technological and economic advancement. However, our understanding of the specific narratives and topics present in national quantum technology policies is limited, even though these policies are vital for shaping global strategies, progress, and responsible development in the field. In this study, we use narrative policy analysis together with computational topic modeling to examine 55 governmental documents from 24 countries, covering over a decade. Using BERTopic modeling and the Narrative Policy Framework, the results reveal that national initiatives primarily focus on technological leadership for security and economic prosperity, assessing technological readiness, and, to a lesser extent, commercialization, and societal impacts. Over time, we see a trend toward greater alignment in the prevalence of these narratives, with different themes beginning to be considered more equally. Nevertheless, the narrative surrounding responsible quantum development and societal implications remains the least represented. The study shows the strategic priorities of the analyzed countries and introduces an innovative method for analyzing policy texts. Based on the results, we recommend a balanced regulatory approach for quantum technologies that promotes ethical innovation, supports inclusive technological ecosystems, and encourages global collaboration. Furthermore, we caution that an excessive emphasis on leadership and competition may lead to isolated innovation systems that could hinder progress, cooperation, and joint efforts.

Let $p$ be an odd prime, and let $E_1$ and $E_2$ be two elliptic curves defined over a number field $K$, with good ordinary reduction at $p$. We compare the $\Lambda$-ranks and (generalized) Iwasawa invariants of the Pontryagin duals of the Selmer groups of $E_1$ and $E_2$ over ${\mathbb{Z}}_p^d$-extensions $\mathbb{L}_\infty$ of $K$ for general $d \ge 1$ under the hypothesis that $E_1[p^i] \cong E_2[p^i]$ as Galois modules for a sufficiently large $i$. This generalizes and complements previous work over ${\mathbb{Z}}_p$-extensions. The comparison of generalized Iwasawa invariants is related via an up-down approach to the comparison of the variation of classical Iwasawa invariants over the ${\mathbb{Z}}_p$-extensions of $K$ which are contained in $\mathbb{L}_\infty$.