We define general notions of coordinate geometries over fields and ordered fields, and consider coordinate geometries that are given by finitely many relations that are definable over those fields. We show that the automorphism group of such a geometry determines the geometry up to definitional equivalence; moreover, if we are given two such geometries $\mathcal {G}$ and $\mathcal {G}'$, then the concepts (explicitly definable relations) of $\mathcal {G}$ are concepts of $\mathcal {G}'$ exactly if the automorphisms of $\mathcal {G}'$ are automorphisms of $\mathcal {G}$. We show this by first proving that a relation is a concept of $\mathcal {G}$ exactly if it is closed under the automorphisms of $\mathcal {G}$ and is definable over the field; moreover, it is enough to consider automorphisms that are affine transformations.

We show how this result can be applied to quickly determine relationships and differences between various geometries and spacetimes, including ordered affine, Euclidean, Galilean, Newtonian, Late Classical, Relativistic and Minkowski spacetimes (we first define these spacetimes and geometries using a Tarskian first-order language centred on the ternary relation ${\mathsf {Bw}}$ of betweenness). We conclude with a selection of open problems related to the existence of certain intermediate geometries.

Despite growing attention to gender biases in student evaluations of teaching (SET) in political science, research on effective mitigation strategies remains limited. Given the reliance on SET as a dominant measure of teaching quality in higher education, this study investigates the impact of short-term bias mitigation prompts and prolonged exposure to gender-focused topics on SET. Using a survey experiment conducted in general education social science courses at a mid-sized, Midwestern nonprofit Catholic university, we found that bias mitigation prompts encouraged greater self-reflection, prompting students to critically evaluate their instructors and their own performance. This intervention appeared to reduce the advantages previously afforded to men instructors. However, exposure to gender topics revealed a complex dynamic: whereas gender-related courses are associated with higher SET ratings overall, this positive effect is significantly weakened for women instructors. Women teaching gender-related courses receive lower evaluations than would be expected based on the separate effects of course topic and instructor gender. Our findings underscore the complex interplay among faculty members’ gender, gender education, and persistent stereotypes.

This article explores the relationship between EU internal market law and ambitious tobacco end-game policies, using the United Kingdom’s proposed smoke-free generation measure and its application to Northern Ireland under the Windsor Framework as a focal case. Responding to objections raised by EU Member States through the Technical Regulations Information System (TRIS), the article develops an interpretative framework that situates free movement rules within the EU’s broader constitutional commitment to public health protection. Drawing on a doctrinal analysis of EU primary law, the Tobacco Products Directive, EU Court of Justice case law, and the TRIS submissions themselves, the article challenges claims that generational sales bans are inherently incompatible with EU law. It argues that such claims rely on narrow and selective readings of internal market doctrine that overlook the extent to which health protection is embedded in EU market regulation. The analysis demonstrates that EU law leaves significant regulatory space for national authorities to pursue proportionate, evidence-based tobacco control measures, including end-game strategies. Beyond the immediate UK–Northern Ireland context, the findings have broader implications for innovative public health regulation within the EU, contributing to ongoing debates at the intersection of health policy, regulatory governance, and economic integration.

The activity of membrane-active peptides/proteins (MAPs) involves interactions with lipid bilayer regions of cell membranes. For example, antimicrobial peptides, lytic peptides, pore-forming toxins, lipidated peptides, and cell-penetrating peptides are all MAPs. Most MAPs induce damage in cell membranes/lipid bilayers, such as nanopore formation. Various methods have been employed to examine the interactions between MAPs and lipid bilayers, as well as MAP-induced membrane damage. Methods using giant unilamellar vesicles (GUVs) are particularly versatile techniques because they provide useful information regarding both MAP–lipid bilayer interactions and MAP activities such as membrane damage. GUV studies have revealed many aspects of elementary processes of MAP-induced membrane damage and their correlations, thus clarifying the mechanisms of MAPs-induced membrane damage. Here, we focus on GUV-based studies of MAP-induced nanopore formation in lipid bilayers. First, we review the binding of MAPs to the lipid bilayers. Second, we review the rate of MAP-induced nanopore formation and the rate of membrane permeation of fluorescent probes through the nanopores. Third, we review the relationships between several elementary processes involved in MAP-induced nanopore formation (i.e., binding of MAPs, nanopore formation, translocation of MAPs across lipid bilayers) and factors that induce membrane instability to facilitate nanopore formation. The pre-pore model of translocation of MAPs across lipid bilayers is also reviewed. Fourth, we review the effects of membrane tension, membrane potential, and lipid composition on MAP-induced formation of nanopores and their stability. Finally, we describe our perspectives on future GUV-based studies of MAP-induced nanopore formation.

This paper uses the introduction at the US Food and Drug Administration of dose–response extrapolation for ascertaining toxicity between 1950 and 1980 to analyse the negotiations between statistical knowledge and regulation. Those statistical methods enabled experimental results to be translated into a ‘safe dose’ of a substance for human consumption, but different methods continued to give different estimates of effects, and there was little basis for determining which methods were most accurate. I argue that statisticians were not proposing their discipline so much as a tool for mechanical decision making than as a set of methods for establishing a regulatory procedure that made assumptions and judgements visible. Consequently, their use did not bring debates about low-dose toxicity to a close even as they promoted a regulatory ethos and enabled regulators to act, even in cases of inherent uncertainty and inescapable variability.

All adult pulmonary tuberculosis (TB) hospitalizations (N = 66) during 2018–2022 at Highland Hospital were reviewed. Positive sputum smears were significantly associated with longer median excess length of stay (9 d). Implementing new TB infection control guidance and investing in community-based isolation facilities may reduce healthcare utilization.

Social actors frequently mobilise against hybrid regimes, yet efforts to block harmful projects or constrain executive overreach rarely succeed. This paper develops a framework for explaining and predicting when such regimes concede to civic demands, focusing on two dimensions: (1) the extent to which meeting a demand would threaten key pillars of the regime’s structural power; and (2) the degree to which an issue generates broad emotional resonance. Their configuration shapes the likelihood and form of concessions. The framework is tested through six campaigns between 2020 and 2024 in Serbia led by Move, Change, a major civic organisation opposing the Vučić regime. Across all six cases, the issue’s initial position in the two-dimensional matrix – and its movement over time – closely predicted regime behaviour. Low structural threat paired with high issue resonance tended to produce relatively swift concessions, whereas high-threat issues met sustained resistance. The paper advances research on authoritarian resistance by clarifying when civic pressure can meaningfully alter regime behaviour, while providing activists with a strategic planning tool for selecting and framing issues to maximise their leverage.

The ARC$^{\textrm {TM}}$ tokamak, a high-field ($B_T$ = 11.4 T) fusion power plant, under development by Commonwealth Fusion Systems, is studied using a suite of integrated modelling tools to predict its fusion power generation ($P_{fus}$), transport and confinement properties. Analysis is based off an ARC operational point scoped first with zero-dimensional (0-D) plasma operational contour (POPCON) modelling to produce 1.13 GW of fusion power. A suite of integrated modelling tools (TRANSP, ASTRA and TORAX) were applied to predict the performance and kinetic profiles of the ARC design point, yielding a range of predicted performance spanning from ${\sim} 900$ to 1300 MW in rough quantitative agreement with POPCON predictions. The sensitivity of these results to uncertain modelling inputs was probed using scans of pedestal boundary conditions around EPED-predicted values (total pressure and temperature ratios), tungsten concentration and seperatrix density around their nominal assumptions. Pedestal pressure and pedestal top $(T_i/T_e)$ play a large role in 1.5-dimensional performance predictions, able to modify the predicted $P_{fus}$ by a factor of 2 within reasonable assumptions. High-fidelity core nonlinear gyrokinetic profile predictions, performed using CGYRO (Candy et al. 2016 J. Comput. Phys., vol. 324, pp. 73–93) coupled with the PORTALS (Rodriguez-Fernandez et al. 2024 Nucl. Fusion, vol. 64, 076034; Phys. Plasmas, vol. 31, 2024, 062501) framework, yield substantially lower performance ($P_{fus} = 677$ MW) compared with 0-D and medium-fidelity modelling for nominal assumptions, showing that there is non-negligible uncertainty between models and that future work on SPARC may help resolve discrepancies. Lower overall performance results from significantly reduced volume-averaged densities and temperatures, along with reduced levels of density and temperature peaking. Turbulence and transport are largely dominated by ion temperature gradient across the profile, confirmed by both linear stability and the response of the nonlinear fluxes to changes in gradients, with some impact of kinetic ballooning modes in the deep core. This work represents one of the most complete scoping of potential fusion power plant conditions performed to date. The extensive integrated modelling provides confidence in ARC performance approaching 1 GW, while nonlinear gyrokinetic modelling results in open questions into the physics of density and temperature peaking in fusion-power-plant-relevant operational space. A discussion of results and the role that the SPARC tokamak (Creely et al. 2020 J. Plasma Phys., vol. 86, 865860502) will play in informing ARC design, performance and operation is presented.

When most of the world’s parliaments were created, women could not vote or be elected. Correspondingly, parliaments’ rules and infrastructure as well expectations of parliamentarians’ (MPs) performance were designed around masculine standards, including the assumption that MPs had no caretaking responsibilities. Scholars seeking explanations for women’s underrepresentation argue that parliaments remain unwelcoming to those with caretaking roles. As long as women continue to bear disproportionate household obligations, increasing women’s presence in elected office requires parliaments to adopt reforms to accommodate parents. We surveyed members of Germany’s national and state parliaments about their attitudes towards parenthood and politics and support for various parenthood accommodations. We find that gender rather than being a parent shapes how politicians perceive the challenge of reconciling politics and parenthood. But shared experiences among women do not automatically produce similar attitudes about policies to make parliaments family friendly. Party ideology and gender both predict support for parliamentary reforms.

The late nineteenth-century animal marketplace was a thriving industry. The growth of empire and the development of new technologies and infrastructure facilitated the global movement of animals. As a result, many more reached Britain, where they were purchased by a range of customers for varying pursuits. Historians have explored the role of animal dealers in facilitating this market, but few have considered the influence of the ‘fancy of the private collector’ upon the trade. Taking naturalist, museum proprietor and zoo owner Lionel Walter Rothschild (1868–1937) as its case study, this paper explores the ways in which the scientific predilections of those with money and influence shaped the market and business practices of animal dealers, contributing directly to the ‘booms in beasts’ of the period. However, the retailing of animals involved more than financial transactions. Through an examination of the supply of animals to Rothschild’s zoological enterprise, this paper will demonstrate how scientific interests and purchasing power could combine to elevate customers from passive consumers, reliant on the capabilities of the animal dealer, to active collaborators. Working together, wealthy customers and dealers secured the further procurement of material, contributing to the construction of zoological knowledge, whilst also building their professional reputations.

Strong health system governance requires effective stewardship of private actors operating within health systems and ensuring that their activities align with a government’s strategic health goals. Financialisation, defined as the expanding role of financial actors, instruments, and ideas, has been identified as a potential opportunity, but also challenge to health systems and their governance. There is a need to comprehensively understand how financialisation impacts both health systems and their governance. We initiated a critical interpretative synthesis of literature theorising financialisation of health systems or health system governance. A search was conducted to identify English-language, peer-reviewed and grey articles that (1) contains definitions or conceptual frameworks of financialisation; and (2) relates this concept to health systems or health-system governance. We found that articles defined financialisation as a transformative process characterised by the advent of private investors and financial instruments within health systems. We identified several emergent themes in the literature, such as the role of profits and competition in financialised health systems. Finally, most articles addressed potential challenges that financialisation raises for health system governance, especially accountability and transparency challenges. We conclude by considering how future research might address the remaining gaps within the literature.

We prove that every oriented tree on $n$ vertices with bounded maximum degree appears as a spanning subdigraph of every directed graph on $n$ vertices with minimum semidegree at least $n/2+{\mathrm{o}}(n)$. This can be seen as a directed graph analogue of a well-known theorem of Komlós, Sárközy, and Szemerédi. Our result for trees follows from a more general result, allowing the embedding of arbitrary orientations of a much wider class of spanning ‘tree-like’ structures, such as collections of at most $O(n^{0.99})$ pairwise vertex-disjoint cycles and subdivisions of graphs $H$ with $|H|\lt \exp \bigl (\sqrt {\textrm {O}(\log n)}\,\bigr )$ in which each edge is subdivided at least once.