When doing politics online, representatives are increasingly subject to insults, threats, and offensive comments. But in what ways is citizen–elite toxicity a challenge for political equality? Bridging research in communication research and gendered political violence, we theorize that inequality in politicians’ exposure and reaction to online toxicity can arise from their identity, role, or online behavior. Analyzing a full sample of Twitter conversations between citizens and candidates (N = 875,028) during the 2021 German national election, we estimate how candidates’ identity, role, and online behavior correlate with the frequency, form, and consequences of toxicity that they are exposed to. We find most support for our behavioral hypotheses, indicating that citizen–elite communications often function as counter-speech: right-wing parties’ candidates and those who tweet toxically themselves receive more toxic replies, and doing so reduces their tweet activity in the following days. Although the frequency and consequences of toxicity do not vary by candidates’ role and identity, we show that the form of attack does: Frontbencher candidates are more often personally insulted, whereas candidates from marginalized groups and culturally left-wing parties more often receive attacks directed at their party or policy propositions. In sum, this article reveals a complex and nuanced picture of how citizen–elite toxicity affects political equality online.

This study is an analysis of technical solutions to ensure the reliable operation of electric drives in dairy production under conditions of unstable power supply. The methodology involved the use of system analysis methods, the evaluation of technical solutions through the analysis of their characteristics and theoretical data processing to model the power supply system of a dairy plant. The study found that power supply instability, including voltage sags, pulse surges, phase failure and frequency deviations, reduces the productivity of the dairy plant. Modelling the power supply system using a generalised functional model helped to identify critical points, such as external grid instability and voltage asymmetry, which have the greatest impact on equipment operation. The assessment of power quality parameters revealed that voltage variations between phases (0.22–0.24 kV) often exceed the normal limit (0.23 kV), the zero-sequence unbalance factor reaches 3.0% (exceeding the 2% limit) and the sinusoidal distortion factor is 0.8–1.6%, with peaks for the second and fourth harmonics (0.74–0.80%). The analysis also revealed that pumps and coolers are the most sensitive to voltage sags, while milking machines are the most sensitive to frequency instability. The implementation of technical solutions such as uninterruptible power supplies, inverters, automatic backup power switches and voltage filters can reduce downtime by 50–90%, save energy by 10–25%, reduce harmonic distortion to < 5% and extend motor life by 20–30%. Integration of electric drives with automated control systems provides real-time monitoring, automatic control and alarms, minimising downtime and increasing process reliability. The practical significance of the results is to create a basis for increasing the efficiency and stability of the dairy industry, which contributes to the smooth functioning of production, reducing operating costs and ensuring high-quality products.

We provide explicit formulae for the Alexander polynomial of pretzel knots and establish several immediate corollaries, including the characterisation of pretzel knots with a trivial Alexander polynomial. As an application, we construct a new family of knots that are topologically slice, but not smoothly slice.

Seasonal variation in temperature and precipitation affects food availability for organisms. Tropical bats are trophically diverse, representing many feeding guilds, and can represent about half of mammalian diversity in tropical areas. Stable isotope analysis of nitrogen (δ15N) in animal tissues permits inference on phenology of diet and trophic level through repeated sampling of a single tissue over time or by simultaneous sampling of multiple tissues that vary in isotopic turnover rate. The goal of our study was to use multi-tissue stable isotope analysis to investigate the phenology of diet (i.e., trophic-level switching) in bats. We sampled tissues of museum specimens from five tropical bat species representing different trophic guilds (insectivores, frugivores) and movement capacities (wide-ranging, narrow-ranging). We measured δ15N in three metabolically latent (hair, skin, bone) and four active (heart, kidney, spleen, liver) tissues and generated mathematical model predictions of expected δ15N values of these tissues based on their foraging guild. Specifically, we predicted that species with more sedentary movement patterns (i.e., narrow-ranging species) would have high among-tissue variation in δ15N and species that move further and more often (i.e., wide-ranging) would have less δ15N variation among tissues. Our results supported our predictions and suggest that the phenology of diet is detectable by multi-tissue isotope analysis using δ15N.

SJT reducibility between sets $A,B \subseteq \mathbb N$ is defined by $A \le _{SJT} B$ if for each computable function h that is unbounded and nondecreasing, there is an h-bounded uniformly B-c.e. trace $(T_n)_{n \in \mathbb N} $ such that for each n, the value $J^A(n)$ of the jump is in $T_n$, if defined. This reducibility is slightly weaker than Turing reducibility. We study SJT reducibility, and as a main result give several characterisations of it on the K-trivial sets. This is the first case of extending the three lowness paradigms, weak as an oracle, computed by many, and inert, to the setting of weak reducibilities.

Two new species of melitid amphipods are described from brackish waters in Nagasaki and Kagawa Prefectures, Japan: Melita ignis sp. nov. from the Kanahama River, Nagasaki, and Melita latens sp. nov. from the Umayado River, Kagawa. Morphological observation reveals that M. ignis sp. nov. is most similar to M. ogasawaraensis; however, this new species can be distinguished from the latter by the shape of female coxa 6, male mandible, and telson. Melita latens sp. nov. resembles M. shimizui, but differs from M. shimizui by the structures of male gnathopod 2, pereopod 7 merus, and telson. In addition, molecular phylogenetic analysis based on the nuclear and mitochondrial DNA sequences showed that M. ignis sp. nov. clusters with M. ogasawaraensis, and M. latens sp. nov. is a sister taxon of a clade comprising M. aestuarina, M. choushigawaensi, M. nunomurai, M. okinawaensis, and M. shimizi.

This study systematically addresses the design and aerodynamic optimization of tail configurations for bio-inspired flapping-wing robot. Based on a flapping-wing robot prototype, a theoretical model linking tail-size parameters to the pitch static stability margin was established. Six types of tail configurations — arc-shaped tail, triangular-shaped tail, swallow-shaped tail, webbed tail, T-shaped tail, and V-shaped tail — comprising 17 parametrically varied specimens were designed and fabricated. Through a high-precision decoupled wind-tunnel test platform (free stream velocity: 10 m/s, flapping frequency: 2.5 Hz), the three-axis aerodynamic moments (pitch, yaw, roll) under various actuation states were quantitatively measured. The influence of key geometric parameters such as characteristic width, opening angle, and control-surface area on handling and stability was thoroughly investigated. Experimental results show that the T-shaped tail (#53) performs best in pitch control moment and lateral-directional stability margin, with a peak pitch moment of 0.185 N·m — approximately 42 % higher than the baseline configuration — demonstrating the most outstanding overall performance. The V-shaped tail (#62) exhibits excellent lateral-directional control capability under differential actuation, achieving a roll moment of up to 0.106 N·m, albeit with pronounced control coupling effects. This research provides reliable experimental evidence and a theoretical reference for the configuration selection and parameter optimization of tails in flapping-wing robot, offering significant engineering guidance for enhancing flight quality and control effectiveness. In addition, this paper establishes a theoretical framework for preliminary tail size design based on pitch static stability and proposes a parametric design method for multi-configuration tails for flapping-wing robot. The research results not only provide a theoretical basis for tail parameter selection but also offer experimental references for tail configuration optimization and subsequent control-oriented system design.

Anoplocephalidae (Cestoda: Cyclophyllidea) is a diverse family, with the subfamily Anoplocephalinae comprising 59 genera that primarily parasitize the digestive tract of rodents and birds. Monoecocestus threlkeldi was originally described from the northern vizcacha, Lagidium peruanum, in Junin, Peru, and subsequently reported in cricetids (Holochilus spp.) in Argentina and Bolivia. In the present study, we describe a new species of the genus Monoecocestus parasitizing the southern vizcacha, Lagidium viscacia, based on specimens collected in Puno, Peru, at an elevation of 3932 m a. s. l. A total of 45 specimens of the new species were obtained and processed for morphological and molecular analysis. For molecular analysis, DNA sequences of three markers were generated: the nuclear 18S, 28S, ITS, and mitochondrial cox1. The molecular data were compared with sequences available in GenBank, confirming its inclusion in the genus Monoecocestus. Morphologically, the new species is similar to M. threlkeldi, but it can be distinguished by its smaller body size, scolex, cirrus pouch, and number of proglottides. The description of the new species Monoecocestus viscaciae improves our understanding of the diversity of cestodes in high-altitude Andean ecosystems and provides new insights into host specificity within the genus Lagidium.

Building on Roger Cotterrell’s call to theorise the law of trusts in relation to trust as an all-pervasive sociopolitical phenomenon, we explore the interplay between these two concepts of trust in relation to the rise of neoliberalism. Here, we centre how the ability of offshore trusts to evade tax/regulatory obligations compromises the ability of sovereign states to build institutions that nurture trust. Historicising this dynamic, we turn to how the rise of a post-imperial world of sovereign states in the context of decolonisation and the Cold War prompted elite interest in transnational legal innovations – especially trusts – that could avoid state-led redistribution efforts. Empowered by various crises, such innovations became central to neoliberal globalisation and its erosion of trust in the sovereign state. Focus on these material dynamics provides a new lens for conceptualising the failure of human rights and anti-corruption projects whose state-centric outlook detracts attention from broader transnational forces.

Let $k\ge 2$ and let X be a subset of the natural numbers that is k-automatic and not eventually periodic. We show that the following dichotomy holds: either all k-automatic subsets are definable in the expansion of Presburger arithmetic in which we adjoin the predicate X, or $(\mathbb {N},+,X)$ has the same definable sets as $(\mathbb {N},+,k^{\mathbb {N}})$.

This narrative review examines the development of the infant gut microbiota during the early months of life, highlighting the impact of delivery mode and feeding practices on microbial colonization and overall infant health. The search was conducted using the Virtual Health Library and PubMed databases, with the descriptors “gut microbiota” combined with “breastfeeding” (BF) and “infant formula.” After screening, 18 articles were selected for final analysis. Findings indicate that cesarean section reduces initial gut microbial diversity by 30%–50% and decreases Bifidobacterium colonization, while increasing the abundance of Enterobacteriaceae and Clostridium. In contrast, exclusive BF supports a more favorable microbial profile, enriched in bifidobacteria, and contributes to immune system maturation. The literature also highlights the importance of other genera, including Lactobacillus, Veillonella, and Firmicutes, in regulating inflammation, producing short-chain fatty acids, and protecting against pathogens. Supporting vaginal birth and exclusive BF emerges as a key strategy to promote a more resilient and health-promoting gut microbiota during infancy.