Plant-soil microbial interactions play a central role in maintaining biodiversity and coexistence in terrestrial ecosystems. However, to what extent plant-soil feedbacks (PSFs) operate in tropical Afromontane forests remains unclear. In this study, we conducted a PSF shade house experiment using six tree species exhibiting diverse life-history strategies and abundances in a sub-tropical montane forest in Nigeria. Seedlings were grown under controlled conditions in sterilised soil with or without soil inoculum collected under mature trees of each of the six species. We assessed whether conspecific tree seedlings’ performance was altered in comparison to heterospecific seedlings when grown in the soil of their adult trees. Seedling growth did not significantly differ between inocula from conspecific and heterospecific adults in five of the six species tested, indicating no evidence of PSFs. In Garcinia smeathmannii, we found a significant increase in seedling growth when grown in conspecific soil inocula. Given that no PSFs were observed in five out of six species, our study suggests that PSFs may play a limited role in the performance of some species in this Afromontane ecosystem. Nonetheless, the facilitative interaction noted in Garcinia smeathmannii indicates a nuanced ecological dynamic worth further exploration.

The radome of weather radars can be covered with a layer of water, degrading the quality of the radar products. Considering a simplified setup with a planar replica of the Swiss weather radars’ radome, we measure and model analytically its scattering parameters, with and without water. The measured reflectance of the dry radome replica agrees well with the one modeled according to the manufacturer specifications. Water forms droplets on the hydrophobic surface, but water films thicker than 1 mm can be created. Meteorologically more realistic thinner water films are expected on old radomes that have become hydrophilic with aging. Using hygroscopic silk and cotton tissues, we empirically imitate water films as thin as less than 0.1 mm. The measurements align with the simple analytical model of uniform plane wave incidence on the radome and water film but could be further improved by taking refraction and bending of the radome replica into account. Simulations with the General Reflector Antenna Software Package (GRASP) from TICRA complement the study for a representative setup with a spherical radome.

Maternal ability (milk and environment) in beef cattle is one of the most important traits influencing weaning weight of the calf, but amount and composition of milk produced by the dam is difficult to measure. The assessment of polymorphisms of candidate genes related to milk composition could indirectly enlighten this perspective. In the present study, the frequency of αs1-casein 1175AG and g26181A>G; κ-casein 13068 (CSN3 AB1) and 13104 (CSN3 AB2) loci, β-lactoglobulin variants 3984GA and 5263CT, Diacyl glycerol transferase K232A, and Stearoyl CoA desaturase A702G and A762G polymorphisms were estimated in Gray and Red Brahman, Nellore, Guzerat, Gir, Indubrazil, and Sardo Negro registered sires from Mexico. Most of the documented favourable alleles were found in low frequency in most of the evaluated breeds, except for β-lactoglobulin, in which the presence of favourable alleles might represent an opportunity for marker-assisted introgression. The relevance of the findings for each variation and implications from the outcomes are discussed.

Augmented reality (AR) is a technology designed to display three-dimensional virtual elements in a real environment. This technology could reduce the cognitive load of marine operators by simplifying information interpretation. However, field tests often reveal qualitative reports of inaccurately projected virtual elements. To address this issue, we present a theoretical model to quantify the error between virtual projections and their observed positions. Numerical simulations, using normal random variables, indicate agreement between the predicted model variance and the error’s standard deviation. Furthermore, a real navigation experiment is conducted where observed errors are inferior to corresponding estimates for error bounds, further indicating the model’s adequacy. The proposed model enables real-time error estimation, system performance prediction and the specification of accuracy requirements. Overall, this study aims to contribute to the systematic definition of accuracy standards for AR-based maritime navigational assistance.

The article examines the relationship between perceived distributive justice and trust in the welfare system within complex and self-contradictory policy setting. Based on thirty-three in-depth interviews with social assistance users in Poland and Czechia, we find that policy assemblages in those countries are experienced as confusing ‘institutional enigmas’. We identify four patterns linking perceptions of welfare system’s distributive justice and trust in this context: perceived rationality of the system combined with trust; perceived lack of system’s empathy combined with distrust; concerns about ‘undeserving claimants’ overusing the system linked to distrust in welfare system; and unexpected (non)receiving of benefits causing surprise and shaping (dis)trust. We argue that in contradictory institutional embedding, achieving users’ trust is challenging due to complex distributive justice principles they adhere to and numerous instances of those principles being violated. Trust can still be fostered when users are well informed or experience receiving meaningful support.

Neurotransmitter release via synaptic vesicle fusion with the plasma membrane is driven by SNARE proteins (Synaptobrevin, Syntaxin, and SNAP-25) and accessory proteins (Synaptotagmin, Complexin, Munc13, and Munc18). While extensively studied experimentally, the precise mechanisms and dynamics remain elusive due to spatiotemporal limitations. Molecular dynamics (MD) simulations—both all-atom (AA) and coarse-grained (CG)—bridge these gaps by capturing fusion dynamics beyond experimental resolution. This review explores the use of these simulations in understanding SNARE-mediated membrane fusion and its regulation by Synaptotagmin and Complexin. We first examine two competing hypotheses regarding the driving force of fusion: (1) SNARE zippering transducing energy through rigid juxtamembrane domains (JMDs) and (2) SNAREs generating entropic forces via flexible JMDs. Despite different origins of forces, the conserved fusion pathway – from membrane adhesion to stalk and fusion pore (FP) formation – emerges across models. We also highlight the critical role of SNARE transmembrane domains (TMDs) and their regulation by post-translational modifications like palmitoylation in fast fusion. Further, we review Ca²⁺-dependent interactions of Synaptotagmin’s C2 domains with lipids and SNAREs at the primary and tripartite interfaces, and how these interactions regulate fusion timing. Complexin’s role in clamping spontaneous fusion while facilitating evoked release via its central and accessory helices is also discussed. We present a case study leveraging AA and CG simulations to investigate ion selectivity in FPs, balancing timescale and accuracy. We conclude with the limitations in current simulations and using AI tools to construct complete fusion machinery and explore isoform-specific functions in fusion machinery.

Kant argues that civic freedom amounts to being subject to laws to which citizens could have assented. Fichte conversely argues that personal freedom is only fully realized in a state of civil freedom and that citizens are only legitimately ruled by laws to which they have explicitly agreed. This paper shows how their differing accounts are rooted in a deeper disagreement about the relationship between transcendental and empirical freedom and the role empirical citizens’ assent (Beistimmung) plays in justifying civil legislation. The confrontation also shows why reading Kant as requiring citizens’ active assent may be problematic.

This paper examines in what way providers of specialized Large Language Models (LLM) pre-trained and/or fine-tuned on medical data, conduct risk management, define, estimate, mitigate and monitor safety risks under the EU Medical Device Regulation (MDR). Using the example of an Artificial Intelligence (AI)-based medical device for lung cancer detection, we review the current risk management process in the MDR entailing a “forward-walking” approach for providers articulating the medical device’s clear intended use, and moving on sequentially along the definition, mitigation, and monitoring of risks. We note that the forward-walking approach clashes with the MDR requirement for articulating an intended use, as well as circumvents providers reasoning around the risks of specialised LLMs. The forward-walking approach inadvertently introduces different intended users, new hazards for risk control and use cases, producing unclear and incomplete risk management for the safety of LLMs. Our contribution is that the MDR risk management framework requires a backward-walking logic. This concept, similar to the notion of “backward-reasoning” in computer science, entails sub-goals for providers to examine a system’s intended user(s), risks of new hazards and different use cases and then reason around the task-specific options, inherent risks at scale and trade-offs for risk management.

The present paper provides a small–scale exploratory analysis of L2 English pronunciation and accent aims among secondary school students in Germany – with a focus on the bath and lot vowels, rhoticity, and T–flapping. The eight learners investigated in the current study show blended use of Standard Southern British English (StSBrE) and Standard American (StAmE) phonological variants with relatively high degrees of variation between learners. StSBrE–oriented productions were dominant overall. Agreement of accent aim and L2 pronunciation was largely feature–dependent and limited overall but varied between learners.

This article forwards an alternative perspective on how authenticity can be constructed through popular music tribute show performances. It adopts Edward Bruner’s (1994, American Anthropologist, 96, 397–415) categorisation of authenticity in relation to the replication of ‘historical sites’ in museum exhibitions. It argues that rather than focusing on sonic and historical ‘accuracy’, tribute musicians strive to curate their history and personal experiences with the music they play to prove their ‘authority’ as cultural ambassadors. Drawing on ethnographic fieldwork conducted in Perth, Western Australia, and a case study of a UK-based international touring tribute to The Smiths, this article highlights how some tribute musicians may purposely ‘put themselves in the music’ to conjure a sense of legitimacy and connect with audiences.

What can we learn about organizational ethics from studying cemeteries as organizational/organized manifestations of our mutual, embodied vulnerability? How does, and how should, the ethico-political imperative of death and the deceased materialize in the cemeterial space? With reference to a comparative analysis of two island cemeteries, Venice’s San Michele and New York’s Hart Island, this paper makes three contributions to the emerging literature on organizational ethics of life and death. First, it makes an empirical contribution based on an organizational study of two “resting places” that highlights the importance of understanding organizational life and death with reference to ethics. Second, it makes a theoretical contribution to scholarship on the organization of death and on grieving as embedded in a politics and ethics of recognition. Third, the paper shows how our desire to be recognized as valid, viable subjects comes to be organized, and situated, in ways that perpetuate precarity and vulnerability, a point that is illustrated with reference to cemeteries as ethically significant organizational settings.

With the widespread democratic decline and the rise of autocratic regimes, global humanitarian assistance efforts have often fallen short of expectations. Historical humanitarian assistance efforts have changed, becoming less effective, or disappearing. Given the direction that global health crisis risks are taking today, it is crucial that diplomatic, structural, logistical, security, and operational questions be asked and appropriate global solutions sought for the future management of pandemics and climate change crises.