Microbial O2 production via oxygenic photosynthesis was vital in oxygenating the Earth’s surface environment during the Great Oxygenation Event (GOE) ca. 2.5 to 2.3 billion years ago. However, geochemical, paleontological and genomic data suggest the emergence of oxygenic photosynthesis precedes the GOE by at least 500 million years. This demonstrates that the first appearance of microbial O2 in the environment cannot explain the timing of atmospheric oxygenation. Instead, the GOE was facilitated by Earth’s geodynamic evolution, expanding cyanobacterial habitats and the changing redox state of the mantle, decreasing the abundance of reduced surface rocks, volcanic gases and aqueous solutes. These trends ultimately resulted in magnified O2 production rates and diminished O2 consumption rates. Thus, the GOE can be understood as a misbalance between O2 sources and sinks. One of the most critical O2 sinks on modern Earth is microbial O2 consumption via aerobic respiration, and accumulating evidence suggests its emergence well before the GOE. However, the role of aerobic microorganisms as an O2 sink delaying the GOE remains poorly explored. Here, we review the redox evolution of Earth’s mantle and surface environments, as well as the Archean evolution of aerobic microbial metabolisms. Oxygenic photosynthesis released O2 to the environment, but the secular oxidation of the solid Earth was critical in allowing O2 accumulation. Aerobic respiration expanded in response to the GOE, but our survey suggests it could have been a critical O2 sink even earlier. Hence, aerobic respiration can be seen as geobiological feedback to changes in the Earth system from deep in the mantle up to the surface. However, the timing and rate of O2 consumption by aerobic respiration before the GOE remain poorly constrained. We conclude by highlighting open questions and future research directions to understand the role of the aerobic O2 sink in delaying the GOE.

The dignity owed to every person should not cease with death.1 The processes by which individuals and societies across cultures and religions care for, honour and mourn their dead provide the necessary closure to families and their communities. When this is disrupted through improper protection and/or disrespectful treatment of the dead, it harms individuals and societies and, in the case of unlawful deaths, it undermines or impedes the victims’ rights to truth, justice and reparation. With the increasing complexity of mass fatality incidents, especially as a result of conflict, migration, pandemics and natural disasters (including those caused by climate change), the need to respectfully protect the dead is of growing importance.2

The specific means by which protection of the dead occurs in practice are usually contextually adapted to the beliefs and customs of each community and State. To be universally effective, however, it is recommended that they always be guided by principles of respect, dignity and decency toward the dead and their families. This will ensure the fulfilment of applicable international human rights, humanitarian law and criminal law obligations, and help to ease the pain that families, communities and societies face with the loss of their loved ones.

The authors of this article believe that the time is ripe for the development of a set of guiding principles, framed under international human rights law (IHRL), for the dignified management and protection of the dead, and they propose seven key areas to build such principles upon. In addition to filling a conspicuous gap in human rights protection, these guiding principles will help fulfil States’ duties to respect and protect the rights of families of the deceased under IHRL. While not exhaustive, the authors believe that these guiding principles, which should be read as lex ferenda, develop a framework for stronger IHRL protections of deceased persons.

This article builds on a recent thematic report on the protection of the dead presented to the United Nations Human Rights Council in June 2024 by one of the co-authors.3

In recent years, the increasing accumulation of radiocarbon dating data in Jomon research has progressed, creating a foundation for more detailed chronological estimates of the Jomon period’s high-resolution typo-chronology. However, there remains a gap between relative chronologies based on typology and radiocarbon data. A key issue arises from discrepancies between the concept of keishiki (“type” in Japanese) as a time unit of relative chronology, defined based on production period, and the radiocarbon dates, which reflect various events that occurred to the pottery after its production. To overcome the gap, this study introduced a new Bayesian chronological model, the one-sided sequential model, which sequentially orders only the start boundaries of each typological group. When this model was applied to a case study from the Middle Jomon period in the Kanto region, it estimated more reasonable date ranges for each phase of the typo-chronology than the contiguous model. Additionally, the resulting estimated duration of each pottery type was shorter during periods of higher estimated populations and longer during periods of lower estimated populations, providing new insights into the temporal aspects of Jomon society While Bayesian chronological modeling is not prevalent in Jomon research, appropriate models make it possible to make chronological estimates consistent with the high-resolution Jomon chronology, which is considered to approach a generational scale. Such attempts enable detailed clarification of various social and cultural changes. The temporality of the past thus revealed provides a new approach to a deeper understanding of Jomon society.

Despite growing interest in African varieties of French, few attempts have been made to examine them from a variationist perspective. This contribution aims to use phonetic variation as a vantage point for exploring language ideologies surrounding the use of French in postcolonial contexts. The study focuses on the French variety spoken in Kinshasa, the capital of the Democratic Republic of Congo, and draws on a bilingual Lingala–French dataset elicited from L1 Lingala speakers. The sample reflects a key social distinction in Kinshasa: that between long-term urban residents and recent rural migrants. Are there multiple phonetic varieties of Kinshasa French? To what extent do their forms merely reflect variation in Lingala? The study finds that the most focused variety of Kinshasa French is strongly associated with urban women and is approximated to varying degrees by rural migrants, particularly women. In addition to features with likely origins in either rural or urban Lingala, Kinshasa French exhibits hypercorrect forms and features that may mirror variation trends in Parisian French.

Factorization structures occur in toric differential and discrete geometry and can be viewed in multiple ways, e.g., as objects determining substantial classes of explicit toric Sasaki and Kähler geometries, as special coordinates on such or as an apex generalization of cyclic polytopes featuring a generalized Gale’s evenness condition. This article presents a comprehensive study of this new concept called factorization structures. It establishes their structure theory and introduces their use in the geometry of cones and polytopes. The article explains a construction of polytopes and cones compatible with a given factorization structure and exemplifies it for the product Segre–Veronese and Veronese factorization structures, where the latter case includes cyclic polytopes. Further, it derives the generalized Gale’s evenness condition for compatible cones, polytopes, and their duals and explicitly describes faces of these. Factorization structures naturally provide generalized Vandermonde identities, which relate normals of any compatible polytope, and which are used to find examples of Delzant and rational Delzant polytopes compatible with the Veronese factorization structure. The article offers a myriad of factorization structure examples, which are later characterized to be precisely factorization structures with decomposable curves, and raises the question if these encompass all factorization structures, i.e., the existence of an indecomposable factorization curve.

Political parties in EU member states are situated in a complex multilevel polity, having to engage with their domestic political reality together with EU politics and international linkages with fellow European parties. But how do these parties organize? This research intends to understand how competing, though not mutually exclusive logics of political behaviour can help explain the variations in how parties apprehend this multilevel context. Relying on a rich empirical strategy with 68 semi-structured interviews with European and national party elites in 19 national political parties from Belgium, Denmark and the Netherlands, supplemented by a party statutes investigation and data gathering in the Chapel Hill Expert Survey, we conduct a Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA). It starts from the broad assumption that parties’ multilevel organization needs to be contextually understood, relying on both past and current party dynamics, as well as the actions of the (senior) individuals populating party organizations. Our analysis shows that parties’ different multilevel organization is the result of an interaction between various factors, crucially party genetics and individual agency.

Numerous evolution equations with nonlocal convolution-type interactions have been proposed. In some cases, a convolution was imposed as the velocity in the advection term. Motivated by analysing these equations, we approximate advective nonlocal interactions as local ones, thereby converting the effect of nonlocality. In this study, we investigate whether the solution to the nonlocal Fokker–Planck equation can be approximated using the Keller–Segel system. By singular limit analysis, we show that this approximation is feasible for the Fokker–Planck equation with any potential and that the convergence rate is specified. Moreover, we provide an explicit formula for determining the coefficient of the Lagrange interpolation polynomial with Chebyshev nodes. Using this formula, the Keller–Segel system parameters for the approximation are explicitly specified by the shape of the potential in the Fokker–Planck equation. Consequently, we demonstrate the relationship between advective nonlocal interactions and a local dynamical system.

Quantum interactions exchanging different types of particles play a pivotal rôle in quantum many-body theory, but they are not sufficiently investigated from a mathematical perspective. Here, we consider a system made of two fermions and one boson, in order to study the effect of such an off-diagonal interaction term, having in mind the physics of cuprate superconductors. Additionally, our model also includes a generalized Hubbard interaction (i.e., a general local repulsion term for the fermions). Regarding pairing, exponentially localized dressed bound fermion pairs are shown to exist, and their effective dispersion relation is studied in detail. Scattering properties of the system are derived for two channels: the unbound and bound pair channels. We give particular attention to the regime of very large on-site (Hubbard) repulsions because this situation is relevant for cuprate superconductors.

The crystal structure of cabotegravir has been solved and refined using synchrotron X-ray powder diffraction data and optimized using density functional theory techniques. Cabotegravir crystallizes in space group P21212 (#18) with a = 31.4706(11), b = 13.4934(3), c = 8.43811(12) Å, V = 3,583.201(18) Å3, and Z = 8 at 298 K. The crystal structure consists of stacks of roughly parallel molecules along the c-axis. The molecules form layers parallel to the bc-plane. O–H···O hydrogen bonds link one of the two independent molecules into chains along the b-axis. The powder pattern has been submitted to the International Centre for Diffraction Data (ICDD®) for inclusion in the Powder Diffraction File™ (PDF®).

This article addresses the question of experiential dimensions of space in sound, in electroacoustic music and sound arts practices in particular. We suggest that these practices are limited by the generalised way that spatial audio techniques are communicated, and we attempt to develop a tentative method that would enable discussion and sharing of spatial aspects in sonic environments. These modes of articulation would permit a translation of the experience of space in sound into other modalities. Reporting from a series of workshops, we outline a three-phase method that moves through the stages of listening, describing, recreating and imagining the sonic spaces. In the final stage, a speculative design approach shows that shared sonic spatial experiences are essentially relational. Topics relating to expectations, biases and language – such as memory and imagination – and the methods of mapping and speculative design are addressed in the discussion. Through the explorations presented in this article it becomes evident that different artistic musical practices still show the same need to develop articulations that enable the integration and communication of spatial relationships. The divide between the development of new technologies for spatial audio and the conceptual frameworks for understanding and communicating spatial sonic knowledge can be bridged, and eventually the development of spatial audio should be fuelled by the dynamics between these two poles.

Let $X$ be a very general Gushel–Mukai (GM) variety of dimension $n\geq 4$, and let $Y$ be a smooth hyperplane section. There are natural pull-back and push-forward functors between the semi-orthogonal components (known as the Kuznetsov components) of the derived categories of $X$ and $Y$. In this paper, we prove that the Bridgeland stability of objects is preserved by both pull-back and push-forward functors. We then explore various applications of this result, such as constructing an eight-dimensional smooth family of Lagrangian subvarieties for each moduli space of stable objects in the Kuznetsov component of a general GM fourfold and proving the projectivity of the moduli spaces of semistable objects of any class in the Kuznetsov component of a general GM threefold, as conjectured by Perry, Pertusi, and Zhao.

While opposition parties are expected to challenge the government and present alternatives, they often support government legislation. Synthesizing key theoretical explanations, this study examines how opposition parties weigh their goals of winning the next elections, joining or replacing the government and influencing policy. It is hypothesized that opposition parties are more likely to oppose bills when they see chances for boosting their electoral prospects or an early government alternation. Conversely, they support bills when they see chances for future coalition cooperation or policy influence. The analyses of parliamentary votes across four established democracies – Canada, Denmark, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom – over 75 years, show that opposition parties strategically prioritize these goals based on bill-specific factors and the institutional context. Most innovatively, office-seeking opposition parties’ strategic behaviour depends on the patterns of government alternation. These findings offer crucial insights into the complex trade-offs opposition parties navigate in parliament.

Saflufenacil, atrazine, and pyroxasulfone represent herbicides with a relative field persistence of low, medium, and high, respectively. Field studies were conducted over 2 yr when herbicides and rates were assembled in a factorial arrangement of treatments, and herbicides were applied at rates of 100, 1,000, and 10,000 g ai ha−1. Soil samples were collected over the course of 365 d and analyzed to detect dissipation of the herbicides. Regression analysis was used to quantify the dissipation of each herbicide. The initial herbicide concentration had no effect on the observed dissipation rates of atrazine or saflufenacil; however, pyroxasulfone dissipation was slower at the highest field dosage in both years. Soils from Georgia, Illinois, and Tennessee were fortified with known concentrations of the three herbicides dissolved in water and incubated at 22 C for 154 d. Laboratory studies generally demonstrated slower dissipation compared to field studies, which is plausible because the important loss mechanisms of volatilization or photodegradation do not occur in the laboratory test system. Pyroxasulfone and saflufenacil exhibited no effect of half-life from various initial concentrations, but atrazine exhibited slower degradation occurring at lower initial concentrations. Findings from these studies suggest that initial herbicide concentration has a limited effect on the dissipation of some herbicides: pyroxasulfone in the field and atrazine in the laboratory. This finding is important for researchers who use herbicide degradation rates in simulation modeling because herbicide degradation is often assumed to be independent of the rate applied. Another aspect of this research was the application of each herbicide alone and in combination with the others. Under field and laboratory conditions, there was no change in dissipation if the herbicides were applied alone or in combination.

Pension systems play a crucial role in providing economic security and supporting well-being in later life. However, as governments implement reforms to ensure financial sustainability—such as raising the retirement age, reducing benefits, and shifting to defined-contribution schemes—these measures often overlook their psychological and social consequences. Pension insecurity has been linked to heightened stress, anxiety, and depression, as well as increased social isolation, particularly among vulnerable populations, including those in physically demanding jobs, low-income workers, and individuals with existing health conditions. Despite clear evidence of these effects, mainstream pension reform discourse prioritises fiscal concerns over social and mental health implications. This article examines pension reform through the Human Rights–Public Health Pension Framework (HRPHPF), integrating legal, public health, and policy perspectives to assess its impact on mental well-being. It situates pension rights within international human rights law, explores the psychological risks associated with pension insecurity, and advocates for a human rights-based approach to pension policymaking. The article calls for integrating mental health impact assessments into pension reforms to prevent adverse outcomes and ensure that policies promote dignity, social inclusion, and economic security in old age. A more balanced approach is necessary to align financial sustainability with broader well-being and human rights principles.

This article examines the recent transformation of marriage rituals in Turkey from the perspective of young brides. Based on ethnographic research conducted in Istanbul and Bursa in 2017–19, it discusses how young women construct their marital imaginaries through extravagant ceremonies and festivities such as proposals, photographs, henna nights, and weddings. Drawing from the theory of ritual economy, the article argues that their gendered desire for lavish spending does not position brides as victims of either traditional Turkish customs or the consumer market. Rather, the article emphasizes young women’s aspirations to romance and a sense of uniqueness, and their desire to feel as if they are “living a fairy tale.” These bridal imaginaries reflect the rise of neoliberal individualism, upward social mobility, and status-seeking in Bourdieu’s sense. The article’s findings contribute to the hitherto limited scholarship on changing marriage rituals and the wedding industry in Turkey.

On March 5, 2024, the “Best Practices for the Washington Principles on Nazi-Confiscated Art” were introduced in Washington, DC.1 Prepared by the World Jewish Restitution Organization (WJRO) and diplomats from various countries, they are presented as legally non-binding but morally important standards to clarify and improve the 1998 Washington Conference Principles on Nazi-Confiscated Art.2 As such, they reinforce earlier calls on states to identify artifacts lost due to Nazi persecution and support “just and fair” solutions for title issues. Nevertheless, they go beyond these earlier instruments by proposing further action and widening key elements of the material norm.

How did Arab poets experience the rise of the Islamic empire? How can Umayyad poetry help us understand this formative moment in human history? In this article, I explore the potential of Umayyad poetry for writing the history of the period, focusing on poetry of the soldiers in the Umayyad armies—men distant from political power yet serving as its instruments and deeply affected by the empire’s expansion and consolidation. Their verses complicate the traditional celebratory narratives of the Islamic conquests by giving voice to loss, grievance, and dislocation, revealing the human costs behind imperial triumph. Through its shared tone of nostalgia, this poetry not only preserves perspectives rarely heard in the historical record but also contributes to the emerging history of emotions in the early Islamic world.