Monotypic taxa, often defined by unique evolutionary histories, disjunct distributions, and narrow ecological niches, are of exceptional conservation importance. Here, we document the rediscovery of Indianthus virgatus (Marantaceae), a Critically Endangered monotypic species, in Sri Lanka after 170 years. Endemic to the Western Ghats–Sri Lanka biodiversity hotspot, the species was presumed possibly extinct in the wild in Sri Lanka, with the last known collection made by G.H.K. Thwaites in 1855. During targeted surveys conducted over 2 years, we located a wild population of I. virgatus along the Sitawaka Ganga River in a lowland evergreen forest fragment in Sabaragamuwa Province. Morphological analyses confirmed the species’ identity and revealed hitherto undocumented characteristics, including the presence of 1–3 seeds per fruit. This rediscovery after 170 years highlights the importance of targeted field surveys and the urgent need to conserve this Critically Endangered species under the national biodiversity conservation framework.

This study aimed to determine if habitual intake of key dietary antioxidants, both individually and collectively, is associated with all-cause and cause-specific mortality among U.S. adults, given that oxidative stress heightens cardiovascular and cancer mortality risk. This prospective cohort study analysed 34,955 participants from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) 2003–2018. Intakes of vitamins A, C, E, zinc, selenium, and carotenoids were assessed, and a composite dietary antioxidant index (CDAI) was calculated. The principal results, from 347,580 person-years of follow-up where 4,456 deaths occurred (1,368 CVD; 1,038 cancer), showed significant associations. Compared with the lowest intake quintile, the highest quintile of vitamin E was associated with lower all-cause mortality (HR: 0.69, 95% CI: 0.58–0.83) and CVD mortality (HR: 0.67, 0.48–0.92). High carotenoid intake was inversely associated with all-cause mortality (HR: 0.77, 0.67–0.88). Participants in the highest CDAI quintile experienced an 18% lower risk of all-cause mortality (HR: 0.82, 0.70–0.97) and a 39% lower risk of cancer mortality (HR: 0.61, 0.45–0.84). Dose–response relationships for vitamins A, C, selenium, and zinc were U-or L-shaped, and WQS analyses assigned the greatest weights to vitamin A or C. In conclusion, while individual antioxidants like vitamin E show strong protective associations, the evidence collectively suggests that greater overall antioxidant exposure from a varied diet is linked to materially lower risks of death. This reinforces that focusing on diets rich in diverse antioxidant sources is superior to single-nutrient strategies.

In [9], we introduced an approach to the question of extendability of projective varieties via degeneration to ribbons. In this article we build on these methods to give a new proof of optimal results on the extendability of general non-prime $K3$ surfaces, the classification of non-prime Fano threefolds and Mukai varieties and the irreducibility of their Hilbert schemes. The methods in this article also show the non-extendability of prime $K3$ surfaces for infinitely many values of g, for example, when g is of the form $g = 4k+1$, $k \geq 5$. This involves degenerations of $K3$ surfaces to ribbons on embedded Hirzebruch surfaces, called $K3$ carpets. We directly give optimal upper bounds on the cohomology of the twisted normal bundle of the $K3$ carpets instead of computing coranks of Gaussian maps of the canonical curve sections as in [16], [17]. As a result of independent interest, we show that such $K3$ carpets also appear as degenerations of smoothable simple normal crossings of two Hirzebruch surfaces embedded by arbitrary linear series intersecting along an anticanonical elliptic curve. Such type II degenerations constitute a smooth locus of codimension $6$ in the Hilbert scheme of $K3$ surfaces.

Very few political science graduates go into politics. While choosing a different career track may be a matter of personal preference or context, the extent to which political science prepares students for political careers is questionable. This article seeks to explore that question by analysing how political science prepares students for activities within political parties. It draws upon semi-structured interviews conducted with political science students or recent graduates who are party members in Romania, Spain, and the United Kingdom. We find that political science courses have a positive impact on students’ activity as party members through providing them with a comprehensive theoretical basis and a holistic knowledge approach. However, access to the practical aspects of politics is limited in university courses, leaving students and graduates feeling unprepared for political careers. These observations are valid across the board, with few specific country-specific nuances.

The F-signature is a fundamental numerical invariant of singularities in positive characteristic. Its positivity detects strong F-regularity, an important class of singularities related to KLT singularities in characteristic zero. In this article, we compute the limiting F-signature function of binomial and other related hypersurfaces in two variables as the characteristic $p \to \infty $. In particular, we show it is a piecewise polynomial function, and relate it to the normalized volume.

We compute the $RO({\mathcal{K}})$-graded coefficients of the equivariant Eilenberg–Mac Lane spectrum associated with various Hill–Hopkins–Ravenel norms of the constant-$\mathbb{F}_2$ Mackey functor, where $\mathcal{K}$ is the Klein-four group. Further, we analyse the multiplicative structure of these ${\textrm {RO}}({\mathcal{K}})$-graded Tambara functors.

Let A, B be dual abelian varieties. Let $B^{\natural }$ be the universal vectorial extension of B. Laumon and Rothstein independently lift the Fourier–Mukai transform to $D_A$-modules. They prove that this defines an equivalence of triangulated categories from the derived category $D_{\mathrm {coh}}^b(D_A)$ of coherent $D_A$-modules to the derived category $D_{\mathrm {coh}}^b(O_{B^{\natural }})$ of coherent sheaves on $B^{\natural }$. We extend their results to complex tori. As a replacement of coherent algebraic D-modules, we use Kashiwara’s good analytic D-modules. Moreover, to get an equivalence, we have to replace $O_{B^{\natural }}$ by a commutative $O_B$-algebra, which is locally a polynomial algebra over $O_B$. As an application, we recover the Matsushima–Morimoto theorem that on a complex torus, a vector bundle admits a connection if and only if it is translation invariant, and in this case, it admits an integrable connection. Moreover, we use the Laumon–Rothstein transform to show that the derived category $D_h^b(D_A)$ of holonomic D-modules is a rigid symmetric monoidal triangulated category under the convolution.

This article focuses on the role that risks, together with their prediction, management and mitigation, play in the regulation of higher education. It will attempt to identify some concepts currently associated with risks in the higher-education systems of developed countries; discuss how these are applied through instruments of regulation in diverse public/private economies and raise some questions for consideration about the implications and effectiveness of regulatory requirements for the leadership and governance of universities. In particular, it will look at the English system of higher-education regulation, as administered by the Office for Students.

The successful freezing of rat spermatozoa and the development of innovative cryoprotectant formulations are of great importance in the field of reproductive biotechnology. In the present study, 4 mg/mL Ascorbic acid and 20 nM Biotin were added to cryopreservation medium containing 8% lactose-monohydrate, 23% egg yolk, and 10% tris-aminomethane to investigate the freezability of rat sperm. After cryopreservation, motility, viable spermatozoon ratio, plasma membrane integrity, abnormal acrosome ratio, and mRNA levels of certain heat shock proteins that play a critical role in the sperm cryopreservation process were evaluated. After thawing, the highest motility rate was found in the ascorbic acid group (17.50 ± 3.27), which was significantly higher compared with the control group (10.13 ± 1.16) (p < 0.05). Likewise, the highest viability rate was found in the ascorbic acid group (41.75 ± 3.69), while it was found to be significantly higher compared with the control group (19.63 ± 1.44) (p < 0.05). When the cells were evaluated in terms of plasma membrane integrity and abnormal acrosome rate, no statistical difference was found between the groups (p > 0.05). The expression levels of heat shock protein-related genes were determined using the RT-qPCR technique. Addition of biotin and ascorbic acid significantly reduced Hsp40, Hsp60, and Hsp70 mRNA levels compared with the control group (p < 0.05). In conclusion, based on the evaluated parameters, it was revealed that the addition of the antioxidant Ascorbic acid and biotin to rat sperm extender provides effective protection against cryodamage during the cryopreservation process. These findings provide a valuable foundation for research into the development of next-generation mediums for sperm cryopreservation from a molecular biotechnology perspective.

NHS Talking Therapies for Anxiety and Depression (TTad) offers evidence-based psychological interventions for individuals with depression and anxiety disorders across England. Despite substantial progress in improving access to therapy, disparities remain, particularly for clients from diverse backgrounds. Given the increasing linguistic diversity across England and the reported preference among clients to engage in therapy in their first language, it is not yet known whether requiring or requesting an interpreter affects access to timely and appropriate therapy, or whether such needs contribute to disparities in treatment outcomes. This study, therefore, examined waiting times and outcomes for interpreter-mediated CBT within TTad. The sample consisted of 177,340 clients who accessed TTad services for the year 2022 to 2023 and received Step 3 CBT. Clients using an interpreter were significantly more likely to wait longer for treatment compared with those not using an interpreter. Treatment outcomes differed significantly; only 58.5% of clients using an interpreter showed reliable improvement, compared with 69.2% of those not using an interpreter. Similarly, reliable recovery was lower in the interpreter group (32.5%) versus the non-interpreter group (44.5%). Among those requiring an interpreter, the lowest reliable recovery was seen in clients using professional interpreters (28.8%). These findings highlight the need for targeted strategies to reduce delays and improve outcomes for interpreter-mediated therapy, ensuring more equitable access and effectiveness of psychological interventions within TTad. Further research is needed to explore the underlying factors contributing to these disparities and to identify best practices for delivering effective, culturally and linguistically appropriate therapy.

Key learning aims

1. (1) To examine whether a request or requirement for an interpreter is associated with increased or altered waiting times for Step 3 CBT within NHS Talking Therapies for anxiety and depression.

2. (2) To investigate differences in clinical outcomes, specifically reliable improvement and reliable recovery, for clients using interpreters compared with those who do not use interpreters.

3. (3) To compare outcomes across different interpreter arrangements, including professional interpreters, family/friend interpreters, others, and instances where interpreters did not attend, exploring any differences in outcomes.

In this article, some recent objections to prioritarianism are critically discussed, pertaining to, respectively, competing claims and impersonal value. The competing claims objections are due to Michael Otsuka and apply to non-risky, or certain, outcomes. Otsuka argues that prioritarianism fails to fully cater to competing claims when it comes to large losses, rank-switching and saving large numbers of people. The impersonal value objections are due to Martin Hanisch and amount to arguing that it is not only egalitarianism that involves a commitment to impersonal value, so does prioritarianism. In the article, prioritarianism is defended against these objections.