A sparse high-gain multifaceted circularly polarized antenna array based on partially reflecting surfaces (PRSs) is designed. Circular polarization is obtained by implementing the sequential phase rotation method at the source antenna level. Beamforming is implemented using phase compensation combined with amplitude weighting proportional to the radiated intensity of the given facet in the targeted direction, following the maximum ratio transmission concept. The radiation pattern is scanned across the angular region specified by the angular gap between adjacent facets. The obtained beamformed result shows a maximum gain fluctuation smaller than 0.5 dB across the scanned sector, together with a sidelobe suppression of 10.27 dB, and the obtained embedded element pattern exhibits a flat top.

In technology-enhanced language learning (TELL), self-regulated language learning (SRLL) strategies are essential for supporting English as a foreign language (EFL) learners’ writing development. As collaborative learning becomes increasingly prominent in TELL, SRLL has expanded from individual regulation to collaborative contexts. However, limited research has compared how individual and collaborative SRLL contexts influence learners’ strategy use, writing performance, and learning behaviors. To address this gap, this study used WeChat as a mobile learning platform to compare university-level EFL learners’ SRLL strategy use, writing performance, and behavioral patterns in individual and collaborative self-regulated writing programs. Two intact classes were assigned to either a WeChat-based individual group (WIG) or a WeChat-based collaborative group (WCG). The collected data included SRLL strategy use questionnaire, writing scores, and WeChat learning logs. Results showed that the collaborative context promoted learners’ overall, cognitive, metacognitive, and behavioral SRLL strategy use, although no significant difference was found in motivational strategy use. The WCG also achieved higher writing performance and showed distinctive regulatory behaviors related to time monitoring and feedback awareness. These findings suggest that SRLL is a dynamic and cyclical process shaped by task demands, technological affordances, and social interaction. They also highlight the value of integrating individual and collaborative learning modes to support learners’ movement between self-regulation, co-regulation, and socially shared regulation.

The ornamental horticulture industry is a major pathway for the introduction of invasive alien species (IAS), with online trade accelerating their spread by expanding market access. This study compiled an inventory of plant species in India’s online market, assessed native, alien and invasive plants and evaluated invasion risk using global naturalized and invasive records. Data from three leading online plant retailers revealed 1856 species spanning 1045 genera and 194 families. Alien species (1371) outnumbered native species (480), with Apocynaceae and Cactaceae being the most species-rich families. Herbs were the predominant life form, and most alien taxa originated from the Americas. Cross-referencing with global databases identified 327 invasive and 639 naturalized alien species among those traded online. Thirty-nine species that are invasive elsewhere are already naturalized in India (high risk), 239 are invasive elsewhere but not yet naturalized locally (moderate risk) and 2 are low risk. Additionally, 57 species already invasive in India are sold online. These findings indicate a substantial biological invasions risk via online ornamental plant trade in India, highlighting the need for stronger regulations, risk-assessment protocols, enhanced awareness and coordinated action among the ornamental plant industry, government agencies and conservation organizations to curb the spread of IAS.

Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS) face Common-Mode Errors (CMEs) such as atmospheric delays. While techniques like Differential GNSS (DGNSS) or Precise Point Positioning (PPP) mitigate these errors, Real-Time PPP (RT-PPP) emerges as a promising solution for smart cities and Connected Autonomous Vehicles (CAVs) by enhancing accuracy without reference stations. In Latin America, RT-PPP users benefit from Global Ionospheric Models (GIMs) from the International GNSS Service (IGS) and Vertical Total Electron Content (VTEC) maps from the University of La Plata (MAGN). This work comprehensively compares these products via simulated RT processing, focusing on Single-Frequency (SF) Real-Time Single Point Positioning (RT-SPP), which is crucial for low-cost GNSS-equipped CAV applications. Results demonstrate that MAGN predicts VTEC better across Latin America, showing a 46% average improvement. Consequently, MAGN-based RT-SPP achieves 67% and 21% higher horizontal and total positioning accuracies compared to IGS-based RT-SPP across various test scenarios using extensive observation data.

The Southern-sky MWA Rapid Two-metre (SMART) survey, which capitalises on the MWA’s large field of view and voltage recording capability, is an ambitious effort to conduct sensitive searches for pulsars and fast transients in the 140–170MHz band. The novelty of voltage recording, long dwell times (4800 s) and the high-time and -frequency resolutions (100 μs/10-kHz) exchange a large survey speed (∼ 450 deg2 h–1) for high computational cost. The survey covers the entire sky south of +30° in declination through a series of dedicated observing campaigns, accumulating nearly four petabytes of data. The large volumes of data and the processing challenges at low frequencies necessitate data processing to be approached in multiple phases, and the initial searches focused on a first-pass (shallow) survey of parts of the skies, as reported in earlier papers in this series. These data are also processed for re-detections of hundreds of known pulsars in the southern sky, many of which are also the first detections at frequencies below 400 MHz. This paper is motivated by the need to address the inherent difficulties (for the wider community) in handling large amounts of voltage data and software/processing challenges for routine pulsar detections, and also by the fast-evolving landscape of the SKA Observatory (SKAO).With the construction and commissioning ramping up towards the full-scale SKA-Low, a low-frequency catalogue of detectable pulsars in the southern sky will prove to be a valuable reference for the science verification exercise. A growing sample of low-frequency pulsar detections and measurements will also prove invaluable in a variety of science applications including population studies, survey simulations and emission beam models, refining interstellar medium models for electron densities and the spatial distribution of turbulence, and also for forecasting the detection prospects and survey yield from pulsar surveys planned with SKA-Low. We also present an electronic catalogue of various data products, including pulse profiles, time series and multi-channel folded archives, along with the measurements of dispersion and rotation measures, and mean flux densities for the detected pulsars, and this will be periodically updated as more detections flow on from the ongoing data processing.

This article follows the bicycle journeys of Fanny Bullock and William Hunter Workman as they cycled through the imperial spaces of Algeria, Sri Lanka, and India between 1894 and 1899. It thinks through how a new technology of personal mobility shaped the Workmans’ experience of the world and seeks to better understand the ways the forces of empire both produced and influenced their outlooks. In these spaces of European empire, Fanny Bullock Workman crafted a sense of New Womanhood rooted in the politics of gendered ability and racial superiority that was given intense meaning by a technology socialized as a way to gain authentic experiences of both the past and present. By looking at the ways people moved through overlapping imperial modalities, this article argues, historians can better access the American experience of the world at a granular level.

This paper focuses on Meiji Japan's annexation of the Ryukyus as seen through the eyes of key Western diplomats in the 1870s. Although it played out over seven years, the annexation process unfolded relatively smoothly on the international stage. One reason for this was the skill with which Japanese diplomats handled inquiries and potential protests by Western diplomats. In this article, I show that, as early as 1872, leading members of the Meiji government were gaining familiarity with the nuances of Western diplomatic maneuvering. Indeed, in some ways the annexation functioned as a rehearsal for future diplomatic challenges the regime would face. In retrospect, it offers an excellent lens through which to view Japanese diplomacy of the 1870s.

This article examines the evolving role of English in Morocco’s linguistic landscape, historically dominated by Arabic and French. It explores the socio-political, educational, and economic drivers behind the rise of English, particularly in the context of global integration efforts. Drawing on policy analysis, recent academic studies, and local practices, the paper investigates the growing prominence of English in higher education, the private sector, digital entrepreneurship, and youth culture. The analysis concludes that English is not replacing French but rather reshaping Morocco’s sociolinguistic landscape.