Since the 1980s, many African countries began to adopt competition laws alongside structural adjustment and trade liberalization measures, selectively borrowing from existing EU and U.S. regimes. Today, in response to global consolidation in digital markets, African governments are embracing sectoral regulatory schemes that have pro-competitive aims but go beyond traditional competition law. The structure and goals of the EU’s Digital Markets Act (DMA) are now being reflected in national and regional African frameworks such as the AfCFTA Competition Protocol, South Africa’s Online Intermediation Platforms Market Inquiry, and Kenya’s Competition Amendment Bill. The proliferation of these pro-competitive regimes in the African region even in the face of emerging trade pressure leads to two principal lessons. First, there seems to be an important alignment of interests between the EU and African jurisdictions vis-à-vis tech (U.S.) giants. Second, despite the many limits of African competition authorities’ enforcement capabilities, pro-competitive regimes illustrate a hopeful appetite for an enforcement approach to tech markets that is not antithetic to traditional economic development rationales and yet leaves space for local and regional African values. Even with a regulatory regime formally on the books, however, adding substance to it requires significant implementation work.

As biodesigners increasingly engage with designing for nature, collaboration with field-based scientists becomes necessary. While collaborations in the laboratory have been widely examined, the formation phase of design–science collaboration remains mostly underexplored. Domains such as marine zoology produce knowledge primarily in situ, under environmental constraints that limit designers’ access to the research site and prevent the kind of embedded, informal knowledge-sharing that often grounds laboratory collaboration. As a case study, an exploratory diagnostic workshop with nine early-career marine zoologists examined these conditions. Structured activities surfaced cognitive capacities, work ecologies, role expectations and structural constraints shaping collaboration. Scientists showed strong integrative thinking but framed design mainly as technical service, while mutual stereotyping obscured shared capacities. The study provides empirical insight into rarely examined field-based research ecologies and suggests that a structured diagnostic workshop during team formation can reveal methodological and epistemic compatibility factors that informal conversations often leave implicit, positioning this phase as a critical site of interdisciplinary practice.

Abelisaurid dinosaurs display a remarkable diversity in cranial ornamentation, which includes several features such as rugosities, pits and grooves on the rostrum and orbital regions, midline knobs, and paired plus sculptured structures across the skull roof. To investigate macroevolutionary patterns that underlie this diversity, we tested the “species recognition” hypothesis using phylogenetic comparative methods. Our results indicate directional and ordered evolutionary patterns in cranial ornamentation that are more consistent with expectations of sexual selection than with the stochastic patterns predicted under the species recognition hypothesis. Moreover, sympatric species exhibited highly divergent ornamentation, and the degree of surface texturing and the development of certain structures (e.g., knobs) increased through ontogeny. These findings suggest that cranial ornamentation in Abelisaurids was influenced by mechanisms of sexual selection, sexual dimorphism, or mutual selection. Evolutionary modeling combined with evidence from the fossil record and phylogenetic correlation analysis reveals that the ornamentation of the rostrum and orbital regions was evolutionarily coupled and became canalized during the Early Cretaceous. In contrast, phylogenetic correlation analyses demonstrated that skull roof ornaments and rostral and orbital ornaments evolved decoupled. Neither discrete ornament traits nor the accumulation of traits over time showed significant associations with body size, indicating that ornament diversification in Abelisauridae was not constrained by allometric trends. During the Late Cretaceous, after refined ecological specialization, the subclades Carnotaurini and Majungasaurinae underwent further elaboration, acquiring features such as a prominent midline knobs, paired structures, and reinforced occipital and cervical regions. These derived morphologies may have facilitated more complex sociosexual behaviors.

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.

Community engagement is essential to research. Community Advisory Boards (CABs) are frequently consulted to inform recruitment and engagement strategies. In our experience, a gap emerged between CAB recommendations and implementation, largely due to limitations in research infrastructure, funding, and team capacity. Researchers may underappreciate why providing contextual details about studies that relate to resources or constraints, can lead to tailored recommendations. In response, our institutional CAB now incorporates researcher input before and after consultations to clarify programmatic and institutional limitations. This ongoing, bidirectional dialogue supports more pragmatic, tailored recommendations that better align with research team capacity while advancing shared goals.

For most of American history, the American state has been an active agent of racial oppression. As the country democratized, it retained structures and practices of racial authoritarianism and coercion. But in the late nineteenth and mid-twentieth centuries, the United States underwent waves of racial democratization. For a brief while during those periods, the American state transformed itself, on balance, into an agent of racial equality. We explain the reasons for this turn and present a theoretical scheme to explain the transformation of the state’s role in American democratization. We show that the construction of a “civil rights state,” a distinctive historical alignment combining national standard-setting and varieties of coercive enforcement, best accounts for these democratizing surges. We further demonstrate that both standard-setting and coercion are essential components of the civil rights state. When they converge, racial democratization is possible; when they do not, racial democratization is less likely.

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 $(\mathbb {N},+,k^{\mathbb {N}})$.

In human-dominated landscapes, the effectiveness of ecological corridors in connecting wildlife populations depends not only on ecological but also on human factors, particularly on human–wildlife interactions and the acceptance of wildlife by landowners or managers. The Tenorio–Miravalles Biological Corridor in Costa Rica offers a unique opportunity to examine the relationship between local acceptance of the presence of the Endangered Baird’s tapir Tapirus bairdii and movement on private lands and the functionality of ecological corridor connectivity, as tapir sightings are common in the area. Using land-use analysis, we identified low-resistance, least-cost routes that highlight key habitat connectivity pathways. The corridor provides high structural connectivity for tapirs, with critical habitat fragments concentrated in the northern and southern sectors. In-depth interviews with 31 landowners and managers revealed varied levels of acceptance of the tapir’s presence, influenced by perceived costs and benefits, control, affective responses and trust in institutions. Although most respondents expressed positive emotions toward tapirs, their interactions and behaviours regarding tapir presence and movement on private land varied. These diverse responses underscore the range of human actions that can either impede or facilitate the movement of tapirs. Regardless of how well-connected habitats are structurally, ecological corridors in human-dominated landscapes ultimately depend on the management of human–wildlife interactions. A nuanced understanding of these dynamics is essential for developing connectivity and conservation strategies that align with the perspectives of landowners and managers, and promote sustainable coexistence between wildlife and people.

Can survey experiments replicate real-world behavioral intent and behavior? I study a population in rural Bangladesh (N ∼ 1600) along the banks of the Jamuna River, at risk of riverbank erosion and flooding. I compare their responses to questions about hypothetical movement behavior in vignette-experimental natural disaster scenarios (pre-monsoon, May–June 2021) with their migration intentions and actual migration 2–6 months later, following quasi-experimental real-world exposure. My results show that hypothetical as well as actual affectedness and risk shape migration intent and behavior in structurally similar ways, indicating sign-generalization over both treatments and outcomes. However, the vignette experiment approximates actual behavioral intent more closely than behavior, suggesting that real-world intention–behavior gaps can complicate external validity. Given a slim evidence base for generalizability over treatments and outcomes, this study contributes a crucial comparison from a rarely studied developing-country context on what we can learn from survey experiments.

This study introduces the development and cross-cultural validation of the Compassion at Work Leadership Behavior Inventory (CAW-LBI), a novel hetero-evaluative tool aimed at assessing compassionate leadership behaviors according to the three-dimensional model proposed by Kanov et al. The present research consists of two studies. The first study involved two samples of Italian workers (N = 431) assessing the scale’s psychometric properties, including its factor structure through exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses, internal reliability, and convergent and discriminant validity. The results supported the hypothesized three-factor structure, with the best fit for a 9-item scale. The scale demonstrated excellent internal consistency, with high Cronbach’s alpha and McDonald’s omega values. AVE, CR, and the Fornell–Larcker criteria were satisfactory regarding convergent and discriminant validity. In addition, the scale showed significant and appropriate Pearson’s correlations with other related measures. The second study includes 225 Spanish workers, confirming the 9-item structure and supporting all the findings from the first study. Further analysis showed strong measurement invariance across samples, indicating that the CAW-LBI reliably captures compassionate leadership behaviors in different cultural contexts. These results suggest that the CAW-LBI is a robust tool for assessing compassionate leadership in various organizational and cultural contexts, offering a valuable contribution to leadership research.

Transcutaneous auricular vagus nerve stimulation (taVNS) is a noninvasive technique engaging vagal afferents that may enhance cognition, but results vary across domains and samples. Following PRISMA, seven databases (inception–October 2025) plus registries and gray literature were searched. Random-effects meta-analyses (REML; Hedges’ g) were complemented by Bayesian hierarchical models and sensitivity analyses. Fifty-three studies were included; 30 contributed quantitative data (>1,500 participants). taVNS was associated with improved cognitive performance overall (g = 0.41, 95% CI: 0.30–0.53; I2 = 51.4%). Effects were moderate for executive functions (g = 0.46, 95% CI: 0.27–0.65; I2 = 9.5%) and cognitive flexibility/learning (g = 0.53, 95% CI: 0.32–0.75; I2 = 52.9%), and small for working memory/attention (g = 0.19, 95% CI: 0.04–0.33; I2 = 14.9%). Social cognition/emotion regulation showed larger but imprecise effects (k = 3; g = 0.80, 95% CI: 0.07–1.52; I2 = 82.1%). Clinical samples benefited similarly (k = 7; g = 0.55, 95% CI: 0.31–0.79; I2 = 29.5%), with no difference from healthy cohorts (β = −0.001, p = .994). High-intensity protocols (>1.0 mA) yielded larger effects; mode, duration, and site were not moderators. Bayesian models supported effects (P [μ > 0] ≥ 0.93). taVNS is associated with statistically significant improvements in cognitive performance, strongest for executive control and adaptive learning. We propose a Vagal Neurocognitive Integration Model linking LC-NE arousal modulation to prefrontal control. Future diagnosis-specific, adequately powered trials with multimodal neuroimaging should refine mechanisms and dose–response.

‘Teaching about Transatlantic Slavery’ was a three-year professional development project for teachers centring on the Historic Collections of Balliol College, University of Oxford, and the Museum of the American Revolution (MOAR) in Philadelphia. The project grew out of Balliol’s 2021 exhibition, ‘Slavery in the Age of Revolution’, which was inspired by the work of Fellows Sudhir Hazareesingh, Black Spartacus: the epic life of Toussaint Louverture (2020) and Marisa J. Fuentes, Dispossessed Lives: enslaved women, violence and the archive (2016). This paper discusses how we approached the aims of the project, telling a fuller history by foregrounding the role of Black people in the struggle for abolition and increasing awareness of the lasting impact of transatlantic slavery on the way we live and think today. We will address how some of the challenges of working with the material in Balliol’s collections became project strengths when we learnt to navigate bias and acknowledge and elaborate on the gaps and erasures in the historical record. We also acknowledge the diverse range of people who contributed and their importance to the consequent depth and effectiveness of the project. ‘Teaching about Transatlantic Slavery’ reached forty teachers and educators from the USA and the UK and has had lasting impact. The programme allowed teachers to practise teaching with objects, artwork, and primary source documents, deepen their subject knowledge, and develop skills for engaging in sensitive and difficult conversations around complex topics.