Environmental problems have become increasingly evident in post-revolutionary Iran. As a result, the field of environment has come to be a focus of research studies and technical management in the country. The recent proliferation of scientific analyses of the so-called environment indicates that the schemes of modern science are developing to combat the problems therein. Research findings also suggest, however, that environmental discourses and practices are not entirely reducible only to the terms of the natural sciences; distinctively, differing ideas of “nature” are drawn on to conceptualize differing schemes of environmental activities. This article explores how the materiality of national symbols brings to light particular social histories that reflect on and unfold through environmental discourses and practices encountered in Tehran.

Hanging Topic Left Dislocations are widely deemed to constitute root phenomena, though they occasionally appear in embedded contexts. I submit that the apparent embeddability of left dislocations is merely illusory: they are in actuality matrix phenomena in disguise. A novel cross-linguistic contrast is brought to light: in English, subordinate hanging topics are broadly attested, and they can occur with or without a secondary complementizer. In Spanish, by contrast, embedded hanging topics that are not followed by a secondary complementizer are not part of the grammar, a pattern that extends to Dutch. Left-peripheral analyses assuming an elaborated left periphery fall short of capturing this contrast non-stipulatively. Nevertheless, the recent paratactic approach to recomplementation (i.e. double-complementizer) structures, which assumes that such constructions involve two matrix sentences linked paratactically and that the secondary complementizer flags a restart in discourse, provides a more satisfactory account of the English–Spanish asymmetry: the difference between the two languages ultimately reduces to the possibility of omitting subordinating complementizers in English but not in Spanish. On this view, embedded left dislocations are in fact undercover root constructions, in line with their generally accepted characterization as Main Clause Phenomena.

The past two decades have seen many social, political, and international relations (IR) theorists make extensive use of Michel Foucault’s theory of biopolitics—or how political power interacts with biological life. What has so far passed unnoticed, however, is that Foucault formulated his highly influential theory about how living populations became political objects in the context of an overarching concern with what he termed “the power to kill life itself.” This essay reassesses Foucault’s biopolitics in light of his broader discussion of the potentially existential threats posed by nuclear weapons and gene editing technology. In doing so, it invites readers to reassess Foucault’s famous critiques of both sovereignty and political universalism, while also providing a succinct introduction to his theories of power and the general history of anthropogenic existential threats. The article concludes by raising fundamental questions for political and IR theory concerning what happens when the biological survival of the human species ceases to be a necessary prerequisite for politics and instead becomes a contingent outcome of politics.

Distinctness, uniformity and stability (DUS) studies are essential components of assessment and registration processes for plant varieties, including those within the Morus alba species, commonly known as white mulberry. M. alba L. holds a unique place in agriculture sciences due to its historical significance in silk production and its cultivation for its edible fruits. This study provides an overview of DUS studies in M. alba carried out in the Department of Tree Improvement and Genetic Resources, Dr Yashwant Singh Parmar University of Horticulture and Forestry, Nauni, Solan (Himachal Pradesh) India, highlighting the critical features and characteristics evaluated to distinguish between different cultivars. It explores the factors contributing to uniformity and the stability of these characteristics over time, emphasizing the importance of these studies in guiding breeding programmes, supporting agricultural practices and preserving the diversity within this species. The study includes DUS characterization of M. alba germplasm based on 3 qualitative, 11 pseudo-qualitative and 11 quantitative characteristics. DUS studies play a pivotal role in ensuring the accuracy of cultivar identification, thus facilitating the sustainable cultivation and conservation of M. alba, a species with deep-rooted cultural and economic significance. It is concluded that many varieties with distinct and distinguishable characteristics and better economic and genetic values can be registered for their protection under the PPV&FR Act, 2001 and can be used in breeding programmes.

This paper studies twisted signature invariants and twisted linking forms, with a view toward obstructions to knot concordance. Given a knot K and a representation $\rho $ of the knot group, we define a twisted signature function $\sigma _{K,\rho } \colon S^1 \to \mathbb {Z}$. This invariant satisfies many of the same algebraic properties as the classical Levine-Tristram signature $\sigma _K$. When the representation is abelian, $\sigma _{K,\rho }$ recovers $\sigma _K$, while for appropriate metabelian representations, $\sigma _{K,\rho }$ is closely related to the Casson-Gordon invariants. Additionally, we prove satellite formulas for $\sigma _{K,\rho }$ and for twisted Blanchfield forms.

There is a plurality of reasons for taking wildlife conservation seriously. These reasons include nonanthropocentric ones based on animal ethics. But in an unequal world, global conservation can impose disproportional burdens on people who are already disadvantaged. What are some of these costs, and how can we better reconcile what we owe to people as a matter of global justice with what we owe to animals? We can call this the global justice challenge of wildlife conservation. While advances in animal ethics and animal science have contributed to our understanding of the animal side of conservation morality, what we owe to people in the context of conservation is comparatively underdeveloped. The two books under review are valuable contributions to this discussion. Security and Conservation by Rosaleen Duffy is an exposé of the hidden conservation costs that are borne by people in the Global South. The author specifically scrutinizes the moral costs of the securitization and militarization of wildlife protection. Global Justice and the Biodiversity Crisis by Chris Armstrong is the first book-length normative inquiry into the global justice challenges that arise from biodiversity conservation. Together, these books draw our attention to the justice problems that can arise from conservation itself and point to where more work needs to be done if we want to harmonize our duties to animals and people.

We replicate and extend Jia, You, and Du's (2012) study. We added samples from the last 13 years (from 2011 to 2023) and analyzed these new samples using the same methodology as the 2012 article. Our replication found that in the last 13 years, 4 articles in the six leading journals and 16 articles in Management and Organization Review (MOR) have the highest degree of Chinese contextualization in concepts (what), their relationships (how), and the logics underlying the relationships (why). The Chinese context continues to contribute novel knowledge. The extension study fully demonstrates that in the 20 years since its birth, MOR has been on the path of pursuing its original aspiration and realizing its mission. On the what, why, and joint contextualization dimensions, the proportion of articles published in MOR with high contextualized theoretical contributions is higher than the proportion in the six leading journals. On the theory-building dimension, the overall degree of the articles published in MOR is higher than that of those published in the six leading journals. This indicates that MOR publishes articles that are not only of high quality and make general theoretical contributions, but also are highly relevant to the Chinese context.

This study investigates the potential of Emblica officinalis Gaertn. (aonla) for cultivation across diverse soil types, with a particular focus on alkaline soils, as part of broader efforts to enhance biodiversity, promote sustainable agriculture and improve climate resilience. This experiment was focused on identifying and characterizing aonla accessions for alkaline conditions. Among the 11 genotypes characterized; CISH-A-33 and CISH-A-31 exhibited superior fruit yield per plant (53.99 ± 1.97 and 44.17 ± 0.91 kg/tree, respectively), indicating better adaptability to alkaline conditions. Additionally, CISH-A-33 genotypes showed higher content of biochemical traits such as total soluble solids (TSS) (9.70 ± 0.10°B), acidity (3.25 ± 0.10%), ascorbic acid (504.65 ± 1.12 mg/100 g), total sugar (8.21 ± 0.05%), reducing sugar (3.85 ± 0.01%), phenol (1.41 ± 0.01 g/100g GAE) and ferric reducing antioxidant power (FRAP) (233.74 ± 1.59 mg/g) followed by CISH-A-31. A correlation study between morphological and biochemical traits indicated that fruit weight was negatively correlated with TSS, ascorbic acid, total sugar and FRAP, but strongly positively correlated with yield, fruit diameter, acidity, reducing sugar and polyphenol content. TSS, total sugar and FRAP had a negative correlation with yield, whereas ascorbic acid, reducing sugar and polyphenols had a favourable correlation. Two principal components (PCs) with differing descriptive capacities were identified by principal component analysis; PC-1 explained 65.89% of the overall variability, while PC-2 explained 29.67%. These promising genotypes (CISH-A-33 and CISH-A-31) hold potential for crop genetic enhancement, benefiting alkaline soils not only in sub-tropical regions of India but also in other similar environments. This research identifies promising aonla accessions adaptable to alkaline soils, offering prospects for breeding climate-resilient varieties with enhanced productivity and fruit quality.

How do academics interested in the study of legal topics that implicate the state relate to and deal with pressures that shape the space available to conduct research? This article examines the nature and impact of such pressures on Asia-focused public law scholars who must contend with a more diverse socio-political environment than the liberal democratic setting in which questions of academic freedom are typically explored. We find that the Asia-centric academy is affected by a wide range of constraints that notably extends beyond intra-institutional demands to those put in place by the state. This article also highlights how the scholarly agenda as set in and by the Global North may reduce the room for Asia-centric research to engage in theory-building and concept formation and explores how Asia-centric scholars can assert agency in the face of pressures. We conclude by emphasising the need for greater self-reflectivity within the legal academy.