The COVID-19 pandemic served as a catalyst to build a stronger European Health Union to protect the health of Europeans and to develop a new Global Health Strategy to contribute to global health security. In positioning itself as a key player in global health governance, the EU seeks to assert its responsibility as a global health actor and deepen its leadership in global health law.

National Red Lists are useful tools in establishing local conservation priorities. The threat status of Estonian lichens based on the IUCN system has been assessed twice, in 2008 and 2023. In the latest Red List, the proportion of species of elevated conservation concern, that is taxa belonging to the Near Threatened and threatened categories or having become regionally extinct in Estonia, was high (58%) while Least Concern (LC) species represented one-third (36%) of all taxa. Macrolichens were more threatened than microlichens. The Red List Index (RLI), illustrating the trends of species in their projected extinction risk, was calculated. The values were low (< 0.7 in 2023), thus indicating a heightened risk both for the set of all species and for macrolichens. More than half of all Estonian lichens are associated with woodlands and 54% of these species are of elevated conservation concern. Lichens preferring broad-leaved deciduous trees included more threatened than LC species, while among lichens preferring other deciduous or coniferous trees the proportion of LC species was higher than that of threatened taxa. Lichens inhabiting calcareous grasslands had the highest share (69%) of taxa of elevated conservation concern. Comparisons of national red-listed data with four selected countries (Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland and Sweden) revealed that the biggest overlaps of Estonian taxa of elevated conservation concern were with the Czech Republic and Finland.

On 22 May, standing outside the door of No. 10 in pouring rain (and for some unfathomable reason sans umbrella), the Prime Minister announced that there would be a General Election on 4 July and Parliament was duly prorogued on 24 May and dissolved on 30 May. Before that, however, there was a flurry of legislative business by agreement between the two front benches.

Over-60 seniors in Shanghai have at their disposal arts courses, community activities, and arts education, all geared toward their physical and mental well-being, according to the traditional Chinese theory of “artistic living.” If current university programs for the elderly accurately identify the artistic needs of the elderly, further individualizing curricula and holding more varied events at community centers, it would help to solve elderly people’s anxieties around loneliness and social marginalization, while allowing them to live in harmony with nature.

Cladonia sandstedei forms cushion-shaped lichens that colonize open environments and is distributed throughout the Caribbean and the south-eastern United States. It co-occurs in parts of its range with C. subtenuis, a morphologically similar taxon that is distinguished from the former by the presence of usnic acid. Preliminary phylogenetic analysis with the RPB2 and TEF-1α loci revealed that these taxa were closely related, but relationships were inconsistent among markers. Here, we combined phylogenetic and population genomic analyses based on RADseq data to clarify the evolutionary relationships and phylogeography of these taxa. Both approaches indicate that the taxa cannot be separated based on secondary metabolites, as previously proposed, but instead form a complex composed of several lineages, largely unrelated to chemistry but with a strong geographical structure in their genetic variation. Continental populations formerly separated under the names C. sandstedei and C. subtenuis were closely related to each other. A similar pattern was observed in the Jamaican counterparts of these taxa, suggesting homoplasy of secondary chemistry. Discriminant Analysis of Principal Components (DAPC) hinted at potential conspecificity between populations in Cuba and Puerto Rico on one hand, and between Jamaica and the continental US on the other; however, phylogenetic analysis and other population-level analyses (PCA and fineRADstructure) suggested that both insular and continental populations were more likely to be reproductively isolated from each other. Based on this, we propose to recognize only one species for the entire complex, under the older name C. sandstedei, with the four spatially structured clades as subspecies: C. sandstedei subsp. sandstedei (restricted to Jamaica) and C. sandstedei subsp. subtenuis comb. nov. (restricted to continental North America) exhibit several chemosyndromes variably containing usnic acid and/or atranorin. The two additional subspecies described here as new, C. sandstedei subsp. cubana and C. sandstedei subsp. landroniana, exhibit the atranorin chemosyndrome and are restricted to Cuba and Puerto Rico, respectively. Our work reaffirms the power of combining RADseq-based phylogenetics and population genetics to disentangle taxonomic and evolutionary histories in poorly understood, closely related and phenotypically similar lichen-forming fungal species.

This article proposes building on the success of publicly funded drug research and development and expanding the model to include the full cycle development, testing, manufacture and distribution of innovative and affordable new drugs.

South Africa has seen a surge in child offending. Child offenders commit violent crimes such as armed robbery, housebreaking, rape and murder. Conversely, not all child offenders commit violent crimes. Many child offenders are detained for minor charges such as shoplifting, theft and possession of illegal substances. Most of these children face numerous levels of adversity, including poverty, dysfunctional households and limited parental involvement. Responses to child criminal behaviour accentuate rehabilitation through measures such as diversion. Narrative accounts of children in conflict with the law who underwent mentorship programmes, as a diversion initiative, are scarce and underrepresented. Through a qualitative inquiry, 13 children who completed the National Youth Development Outreach (NYDO) Centre’s Mentoring Diversion Programme were interviewed and data were analysed thematically. Findings provided insight into the participants’ background and context, the mentor–mentee relationship, responsibility, effectiveness of the programme, and aftercare support. This paper contributes to scientific research and is conducive to curtailing child offending.

As part of a petition for a wider faculty, the court considered proposals concerning a font. The Saxon stone font had originally been in Old St Bartholemew's Church, Lower Sapey, which was now in the care of the Churches Conservation Trust. It was proposed to move it back to that church, because its location was said to limit the flexibility of the west end of the church and was a trip hazard. Its removal would cause serious harm to the significance of the church as a building of special architectural or historic interest.

Due to their financial incentive, clinicians who earn income from a firm that markets medical devices, pharmaceuticals, tests, etc. might inappropriately prescribe their products or services. The Cleveland Clinic’s conflict of interest (CI) policy creates rules governing clinicians who accept compensation from outside firms that market products they prescribe or use in their practice (hereafter, covered financial relationships). The CI policy is implemented by the Innovation Management and Conflict of Interest Program (IM&COI) (hereafter the Committee).

Given how thoroughly the history of quantum physics has been excavated, it might be wondered what these two hefty volumes by a physicist (Duncan) and a historian (Janssen) bring to the table. Aside from their inclusion of a wide range of recent work in this area, including some notable publications by themselves, the answer is twofold: first, as they state explicitly in the preface to the first volume, derivations of the key results are presented ‘at a level that a reader with a command of physics and mathematics comparable to that of an undergraduate in physics should be able to follow without having to take out pencil and paper’ (vol. 1, p. vi). In response to those who might raise Whiggish eyebrows, I shall simply play the ‘you-try-reading-Pascual-Jordan's-groundbreaking-work-in-the-original’ card. As the authors suggest, by using modern notation and streamlining derivations whilst also, they maintain, remaining conceptually faithful to the original sources (ibid.), the book is rendered suitable for classroom use, albeit at the higher undergraduate or graduate levels.