This paper addresses the gap in understanding factors influencing the implementation of function modelling methods in industry practice. The study is underpinned by analysis of technical reports from workplace projects in automotive product development, focusing on three aspects: (i) the technical challenge associated with the specific workplace problem, (ii) the broader workplace context and (iii) business-focused evaluation of the impact of the method. The analysis was carried out by a mixed team of academics and industry experts to ensure robust understanding of the methodological challenges within the technical context and realistic evaluation of impact from a business perspective. The principal contribution is the introduction of a comprehensive reference framework for the evaluation of applicability of a functional modelling method in industry practice. While the study evidence is confined to the Systems State Flow Diagram method, the framework dimensions reflect generic aspects of practical application relevant to the evaluation of other methods. The proposed framework provides guidance for researchers to carry out systematic analysis of the use, effectiveness and impact of function modelling methods in real-world applications, and for industry to evaluate the applicability of methods to real-world engineering projects, including pathways for evaluating impact to justify investment in method adoption.

Kōsaka Masataka (1934–96) was a prominent and self-described realist IR theorist in Japan whose thought shared several key tenets with contemporary liberal internationalism. This article argues that a significant strand of IR theory—one that ultimately supported the US-led international order—originated from an anti-Anglo-Saxon vision articulated by four Kyoto school scholars, including Kōsaka’s father, during wartime debates. These thinkers proposed a new world order grounded in the concepts of a “pluralistic world” and moralische Energie. Kōsaka transformed these ideas into a framework of plural civilizations, each driven by its own underlying “energy.” In postwar Japan, he pursued what William James termed “the moral equivalent of war,” envisioning a “pluralistic world” sustained by liberal internationalism and led by the US, which he interpreted as inherently pluralistic. By examining the ambivalent relationship between the Kyoto school and Kōsaka Masataka, this article challenges the simplistic Western–non-Western binary in contemporary IR theory.

The United States Special Envoy for the Human Rights of LGBTQI+ Persons was established by presidential mandate and sat in the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor at the U.S. Department of State. The position was established in 2015 when John Kerry served as the U.S. Secretary of State during the second Barack Obama administration. It did not exist during the first Donald Trump administration. Special Envoy Jessica Stern (JS) became the second person to hold this position when she was appointed by President Joe Biden in 2021. The post has not existed since January 2025. This is a slightly edited version of an interview that took place with Mona Lena Krook (MLK) via Zoom on January 5, 2026.

Research on parasite-induced regulation has identified the conditions under which parasites can destabilise host population dynamics: high levels of aggregation, delayed density-dependence, and moderate negative effects on fitness (reproduction, survival). Gastrointestinal helminths with direct life cycles and a single definitive host provide ideal systems to test these predictions. In this study, we first determined which helminths infect common voles (Microtus arvalis) in NW Spain, where populations are cyclic. We showed that the helminth community is dominated by Syphacia sp., a gut-restricted, directly transmitted nematode.

We then examined how the prevalence and abundance of Syphacia sp. varied with host sex, season, and population cycle phase (increase, peak, or crash), and tested if vole condition (relative body mass and organ hypertrophy) and female fecundity (litter size) correlated with the prevalence of Syphacia sp. Infections were highly aggregated in Syphacia sp. and parasite abundance peaked during the crash phase of the vole cycle. We found that vole condition did not vary with the prevalence of Syphacia sp., but vole litter size showed a season-dependent association, with infected females producing smaller litters in spring and summer.

These findings suggest that even low-pathogenic, directly transmitted parasites could exert reproductive effects, potentially shaping host population dynamics in combination with ecological and demographic factors. Experimental approaches are required to clarify causality and potential regulatory feedback.

In response to growing policy challenges, such as postconflict transitions and climate change, exceeding the scope of existing institutions, governments often enact extraordinary reforms—that is, nonincremental institutional innovations regulating state action through fast-tracking procedures, expanded mandates, and normative recalibration in previously unregulated domains. How do governments resolve policy conflicts when extraordinary reform collides with entrenched rules and interests embedded in previous institutional frameworks? We develop a theory of discretionary implementation, showing how governments use layering and conversion to diminish extraordinary reform. We examine Colombia’s ethnic land restitution program (2012–18), which clashed with extractivism, by employing process tracing of novel datasets on administrative cases and judicial rulings, and 14 in-depth interviews. We find that the administration of President Juan Manuel Santos delayed case processing via layering and restricted judicial discretion through conversion, effectively undermining restitution. Our findings extend theories of institutional change by revealing how governments mediate, and sometimes undermine, extraordinary reforms.

The concept of social inclusion meets the criteria of a “magic concept” because it is broadly stretched, normatively attractive, and denies the possibility of conflicting interests and logics. However, when this broad concept is operationalized in policies targeting specific groups it is often reduced in scope by narrowly defined policy designs. This paper asks how do disability policies define and operationalize social inclusion? Drawing from a critical frame analysis of all disability policies at Canada’s provincial and federal levels, six policy frames are identified that encapsulate different meanings of social inclusion for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities in Canadian policy design. Comparison is facilitated by engaging critiques of inclusion policy from the disability politics literature to help explain emergent trends and areas of divergence in social inclusion framing. This facilitates a discussion of policy design characteristics during the “inclusion era” of Canadian disability policy.

Appeals to national security play a central role in contemporary US trade politics. Who drives this security narrative and why? We argue that executive branch actors, regardless of political party affiliation, are more likely to frame trade policy in national-security terms. In Congress, however, we expect Republicans to rely more heavily than Democrats on a national-security narrative. We tested these expectations through a systematic analysis of trade-related discourse by congressional and executive actors from 2001 to early 2025. Using a large language model to examine a substantial corpus of speeches, press releases, and official statements, we find only partial support for our argument: the anticipated partisan difference appears, but security framing is more prevalent in Congress than in the executive branch. Overall, the evidence suggests that actors use security framing as a strategic tool to reinforce their role and confer legitimacy on particular trade policies.

This article investigates how the Ottoman–Habsburg rivalry was materialized in Istanbul’s urban fabric, c. 1530–1606. Tracing the itinerary Divanyolu → Elçi Hanı → Topkapı Palace, it reconstructs a ritual geography in which routes, lodgings and thresholds converted diplomacy into spatial governance. Drawing on protocol notes, narratives and images, it shows how orchestrated confinement, staged spectacle and reciprocal visibility structured ambassadorial experience: envoys were lodged under watch in the Elçi Hanı, processed along a ceremonial corridor and received in a palace that magnified authority by withholding it. Combining visual, textual and architectural analysis, the article demonstrates how power was materially and symbolically enacted and ambassadors became both spectators and exhibits. Rather than treating the city as backdrop, it reads Istanbul as an instrument that translated rivalry into movement, vantage and constraint, situating the Ottoman capital within a wider Mediterranean economy of representation, comparison and control.

As many representative democracies face growing challenges of public dissatisfaction and legitimacy crises, understanding how to enhance citizens’ support for political decision-making processes becomes increasingly crucial. While existing research suggests that public participation can strengthen democratic legitimacy in well-established Western democracies, relatively little attention has been paid to whether the positive effects of public participation also hold in young democracies like South Korea. Moreover, many studies on the effect of public participation do not assume that its effects should be varied across different segments of the population. Through a survey experiment with 2083 adults in South Korea, we examine how participatory processes enhance citizens’ legitimacy beliefs at the local level. We find that a decision-making process including public participation produces a higher legitimacy belief than decision-making process without public participation. We also find that the effect of a participatory policy-making process on legitimacy beliefs is higher among citizens with a stronger anti-elite attitude. Our study not only extends previous research beyond Western democracies but also reveals how public participation might serve as a crucial tool for rebuilding democratic legitimacy among disaffected citizens, particularly in young democracies where citizen engagement remains underdeveloped.

Using a citation network approach, this study investigates how the subfield of African politics has evolved since its emergence in the late 1950s by focusing on the influence of African and Africa-based scholars in the top 20 political science journals. We find that African and Africa-based authors are systematically underrepresented in our sample and among the most influential authors today. Starting from a low base, African and Africa-based scholars experienced a period of increasing influence between 2000 and 2010; however, their influence has declined substantially since then. This article highlights two key factors associated with this decline: (1) the rising competitiveness of top-tier political science journals, which increasingly are privileging particular quantitative methodologies that require substantial financial resources and training; and (2) the increasing citation rates of non-African and non-Africa-based scholars in leading political science journals. The article concludes with recommendations that promote greater inclusivity and pluralism, with broader implications for the political science discipline.

This article seeks to enrich discussion of Catholicism and liberalism by recovering the intellectual trajectory of Charles Forbes René, Comte de Montalembert (1810–70) and his work in the drafting of the Falloux Law of 1850. The article shows how Montalembert served as a key bridge figure in the translation of liberal Catholic political discourse into legislative reality, emphasizing a liberalism of jurisdiction and constitutionalism that he wielded against both French anticlericals and reactionary Catholics. Although often seen more as a Catholic figure than as a liberal tout court, Montalembert’s thought as evinced in his political interventions on education placed him comfortably in the core of nineteenth-century liberalism, perhaps more than he himself would have cared to realize. As the article shows, Montalembert bridged political theory and practice, and his relatively unappreciated legacy ramified far beyond his own career.

A systematic review and meta-analysis were conducted, and published estimates determined the pooled prevalence of gastrointestinal nematode parasites affecting free-ranging chickens in Africa. Peer-reviewed articles published between 1993 and 2024 were systematically searched and screened. Prevalence estimates based on 76 eligible articles showed that of the 74,789 free-ranging chickens screened, 13,625 were infected with gastrointestinal nematodes with an overall pooled prevalence of 15% (95% CI: 13–18%). Twenty-seven nematode species were recorded, of which Ascaridia galli and Heterakis gallinarum were the commonly reported species. Southern Africa recorded the highest pooled prevalence (22%; 95% CI: 13–33%), and western Africa had the lowest (5%; 95% CI: 0–2%) despite recording the highest nematode species diversity. Tetrameridae had the highest family-level pooled prevalence of 46% (95% CI: 28–64%), and Spiruridae had the lowest 1% (95% CI: 0–3%). Most studies were conducted between the period 2014 and 2024; however, the highest pooled prevalence was observed between 1993 and 2002 (17%; 95% CI: 11–24%). The necropsy technique recorded the highest pooled prevalence (17%; 95% CI: 14–20%) compared to coproscopy (10%; 95% CI: 7–14%). The quality effects model revealed a high heterogeneity and publication bias among studies due to the diagnostic method used (P <0.05). This systematic review provided insightful information on the occurrence and potential burden of gastrointestinal nematode species of free-ranging chickens in Africa, highlighting the need for enhanced biosecurity and further research to safeguard their health, production, and food security of rural economies.

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a population-scale condition with life-course health consequences, yet nutrition support remains inconsistently embedded in routine pathways. Food selectivity is common in ASD and is associated with restricted dietary variety, nutritional imbalance, gastrointestinal morbidity and cardiometabolic vulnerability. Current responses are predominantly clinic-and family-centred and are difficult to scale equitably. This commentary argues that institutional food services (schools, day-care and residential settings) are an underused public health platform to improve inclusion and accountability through sensory-accessible, nutritionally adequate meals. Because these services are commissioned, standardised and audited, sensory accessibility can be operationalised via procurement specifications and quality indicators, enabling benchmarking across sites. Evidence from sensory-informed menu adaptation and implementation work suggests feasibility within routine operations and supports evaluation using system-relevant outcomes (acceptability, nutritional adequacy, waste, feasibility and maintenance). Three policy actions are proposed: embed sensory accessibility in institutional standards, integrate nutrition across sectors and fund scale-up using implementation science.

In light of the growing number of undergraduates from racially minoritized backgrounds at newly emergent Minority-Serving Institutions and other colleges and universities, linguists have a special responsibility to engage such students, particularly through projects that connect to students’ linguistic and cultural backgrounds. This article describes undergraduates’ learning experiences in a research collective committed to community-centered collaborative work to advance sociolinguistic justice for the Mexican Indigenous diasporic community in California. The discussion centers the voices of undergraduate team members to demonstrate the benefits of students’ learning with respect to the research process, linguistics as a discipline, and understanding of self, family, and community.