We augment the ‘quasisisymmetric stellarator repository’ (QUASR) to include vacuum field stellarators with quasihelical symmetry using a globalized optimization workflow. The database now has over 300 000 quasisaxisymmetry and quasihelically symmetric devices along with coil sets, optimized for a variety of aspect ratios, rotational transforms and discrete rotational symmetries. This paper outlines a couple of ways to explore and characterize the data set. We plot devices on a near-axis quasisymmetry (QS) landscape, revealing close correspondence to this predicted landscape. We also use principal component analysis (PCA) to reduce the dimensionality of the data so that it can easily be visualized in two or three dimensions. The PCA also gives a mechanism to compare the new devices here with previously published ones in the literature. We are able to characterize the structure of the data, observe clusters and visualize the progression of devices in these clusters. The topology of the data are governed by the interplay of the design constraints and valleys of the QS objective. These techniques reveal that the data has structure, and that typically one, two or three principal components are sufficient to characterize it. The latest version of QUASR is archived at https://zenodo.org/doi/10.5281/zenodo.10050655 and can be explored online at quasr.flatironinstitute.org.

We study the interaction between a pair of particles suspended in a uniform oscillatory flow. The time-averaged behaviour of particles under these conditions, which arises from an interplay of inertial and viscous forces, is explored through a theoretical framework relying on small oscillation amplitude. We approximate the oscillatory flow in terms of dual multipole expansions, with which we compute time-averaged interaction forces using the Lorentz reciprocal theorem. We then develop analytic approximations for the force in the limit where Stokes layers surrounding the particles do not overlap. Finally, we show how the same formalism can be generalised to the situation where the particles are free to oscillate and drift in response to the applied flow. The results are shown to be in agreement with existing numerical data for forces and particle velocities. The theory thus provides an efficient means to quantify nonlinear particle interactions in oscillatory flows.

In the contemporary business-to-business (B2B) context, marked by technological, economic, and geopolitical turbulence, creating and maintaining Customer Engagement (CE) is both challenging and necessary for buyers and suppliers. However, while prior studies have already investigated how suppliers are adapting their practices to retain and attract customers, the buyers’ perspective is largely unexplored in existing literature. Therefore, drawing on the Paradox Theory as an interpretative lens, this research investigates the tensions that characterize CE through interviews with buyers from medium to large companies across various sectors. Results highlight that buyers are not merely passive recipients but active participants in the generation and management of tensions related to CE. At a managerial level, the study proposes an operational framework to support suppliers in adapting their engagement practices. Finally, the study suggests future research directions.

We are in the early stage of a revolution in the field of comparative genomics. Within the past five years, thousands of animal, plant, and fungal genomes have been sequenced and assembled to high quality. There is even serious discussion around sequencing the genomes of every eukaryotic species on earth. Here, I explain why this genomic revolution is happening and discuss the feasibility of sequencing genomes on a massive scale. Having a very wide diversity of genome sequences will accelerate applied research in biomedicine, biotechnology, aquaculture, agriculture, and conservation, and facilitate fundamental research in areas such as ecology, physiology, developmental biology, and evolutionary biology. In this article, I explore new findings and new questions in evolutionary biology emerging from animal genome analyses. Examples are drawn from marine animals such as polychaetes, bivalves, cephalopods, fish, and bryozoans, plus unusual terrestrial groups such as gerbils, moths, and bee-flies. I highlight patterns of mutation, the dynamics of gene families, and chromosomal organisation of genomes as areas ripe for further research. An even wider diversity of genome sequences will be needed to fill the knowledge gaps or investigate emerging puzzles, and a case is made for sequencing the genomes of over 100,000 species.

Precision weed detection and mapping in vegetable crops are beneficial for improving the effectiveness of weed control. This study proposes a novel method for indirect weed detection and mapping using a detection network based on the You-Only-Look-Once-v8 (YOLOv8) architecture. This approach detects weeds by first identifying vegetables and then segmenting weeds from the background using image processing techniques. Subsequently, weed mapping was established and innovative path planning algorithms were implemented to optimize actuator trajectories along the shortest possible path. Experimental results demonstrated significant improvements in both precision and computational efficiency compared with the original YOLOv8 network. The mean average precision at 0.5 (mAP50) increased by 0.2, while the number of parameters, giga floating-point operations per second (GFLOPS), and model size decreased by 0.57 million, 1.8 GFLOPS, and 1.1 MB, respectively, highlighting enhanced accuracy and reduced computational costs. Among the analyzed path planning algorithms, including Christofides, Dijkstra, and dynamic programming (DP), the Dijkstra algorithm was the most efficient, producing the shortest path for guiding the weeding system. This method enhances the robustness and adaptability of weed detection by eliminating the need to detect diverse weed species. By integrating precision weed mapping and efficient path planning, mechanical actuators can target weed-infested areas with optimal precision. This approach offers a scalable solution that can be adapted to other precision weeding applications.

In 1679, the astronomer Giovanni Domenico Cassini published a large print detailing the entire visible surface of the moon with unprecedented meticulousness. This Grand Selenography is undoubtedly one of the most spectacular pictures ever produced within the Académie royale des sciences. However, it has remained widely neglected by historians up to now. This study offers the first account of the making and early reception of the print. It argues that the Grand Selenography remains uncompleted because it failed to satisfy Cassini and his contemporaries. Furthermore, its history allows us to shed new light on the range of issues that scientific pictures might have raised during Louis XIV’s reign.

Servitization is a key strategy for enhancing competitiveness in manufacturing, yet the managerial drivers behind this transformation remain underexplored. This study investigates the impact of top executives’ service cognition on servitization using a novel index derived from text-mined disclosures of Chinese listed manufacturing firms (2007–2020). Results show that executives’ service cognition significantly promotes servitization, even after controlling for endogeneity using instrumental variables and Heckman’s two-stage model. Mechanism analysis reveals that this cognitive orientation enhances human capital accumulation and R&D investment, which in turn drive higher service levels. Furthermore, the relationship is moderated by executive power concentration and regional internet penetration. Heterogeneity tests indicate stronger effects in high-tech industries, state-owned enterprises, and large firms. These findings highlight the critical role of executive cognition in shaping strategic transformation and offer practical implications for firms and policymakers aiming to foster servitization through leadership development and supportive digital infrastructure.

My parents, immigrants from Haiti, settled in Canada. I grew up in Sept-Ⓘles, a town with an Indigenous community. We were the first Black family to put down roots there. One day, Steve, an Indigenous friend, invited me to his home, a brand-new house on the reserve.1 I was shocked. The walls were covered with graffiti of despair, “red sacrifice,” and “black mourning.” As an Indigenous person assigned a house by the Federal Government, it “was living in prison.” For Steve, an Indian residential school (IRS) survivor’s descendant, it was the symbol of the “civilizing” society that wiped out his Indigenous values and culture, eradicating the foundation of his identity. The graffiti was a form of resistance.

Employers purchase health benefits for more than 60% of the nonelderly population, making employers both important custodians of employee well-being and important actors in the health care ecosystem. Because employers typically have unilateral control over health and retirement benefits, the federal Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA), enacted in 1974, imposes fiduciary obligations on employers when they manage or administer benefits. We provide evidence, from a novel survey of respondents who administer or oversee health benefits for their companies, that many employers appear to neglect even the most basic of their fiduciary obligations to their employees. This neglect may help explain the poor performance of employer plans in controlling costs and providing access to health care, and it suggests that many employers may be vulnerable to liability from ERISA lawsuits.

“If, therefore, we are going to sin, we must sin quietly.”1

This article investigates sample selection bias in early-stage investment. We use comprehensive administrative data on the universe of new firm starts in Norway, allowing us to compare venture-backed firms with ex ante similar firms that do not receive venture funding. The valuation premium for venture backing is sizeable at firm birth and doubles over the first 5 years, implying a substantial upward bias in venture capital (VC) returns relative to comparable firms. In contrast, the premium for firms receiving multiple rounds of outside equity emerges only after the first year and remains significantly smaller than the VC premium throughout the firm life cycle.

The dynamics of thin viscous liquid films flowing down an inclined wall under gravity in the presence of an upward flowing high-speed air stream is considered. The air stream induces nonlinear waves on the interface and asymptotic solutions are developed to derive a non-local evolution equation forced by the air pressure which is obtained analytically, and incorporating a constant tangential stress. Benney equations in the capillary (strong surface tension) and inertio-capillary regimes are derived and studied. The air stream produces Turing-type short wave instabilities in sub-critical Reynolds number regimes that would be stable in the absence of the outer flow. Extensive numerical experiments are carried out to elucidate the rich dynamics in the above-mentioned short-wave regime. The stability of different branches of solutions of non-uniform steady states is carried out, along with time-dependent nonlinear computations that are used to track the large-time behaviour of attractors. A fairly complete picture of different solution types are categorised in parameter space. The effect of the Reynolds number on the wave characteristics in the inertio-capillary regime is also investigated. It is observed that, for each value of the slenderness parameter $\delta$, there exists a critical Reynolds number $R_c$ above which the solutions become unbounded by encountering finite-time singularities. Increasing the air speed significantly decreases $R_c$, making the system more prone to large amplitude singular events even at low Reynolds numbers when the system would have been stable in the absence of the air stream.

The USDA’s resilience strategy of subsidizing small meat-packer entry has prompted studies on plant size, market structure, and resilience, each study employing a different conception of resilience. None accounts for the duration and speed of slaughter downturns and recoveries. We account for these factors by developing metrics across 35 U.S. states and estimating how the metrics vary with plant size, labor conditions, and COVID-19 policies. We find medium-sized plants enhanced resilience during COVID-19, raising questions about the USDA’s narrow focus on smaller plants. This highlights the need for more nuanced strategies to strengthen the resilience of the beef processing sector.