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Voices Across Borders: Exploring Transnational Activism and Repression Through Diaspora Perspectives
No full textThis Special Issue brings together scholars working on transnational diaspora activism and transnational repression. As diasporas have increasingly become powerful political actors and transnational agents of intervention and change, authoritarian states have continued to expand their mechanism of control and repression across borders. Centring the voices and experiences of those engaged in – and subjected to - these dynamics, the Special Issue focuses on different aspects of the diaspora experience to better understand 1) how diasporas operate as transnational agents of change; 2) the transnational constraints and mechanisms of repression affecting their members. The significance of the Special Issue comes from its global approach - showcasing a variety of experiences, voices and theoretical contributions - ranging from Myanmar to China through Turkey, Sweden, and the UK. It therefore offers an interdisciplinary dialogue and combines perspectives from senior and early career researchers, charting new directions in the research on diaspora activism and transnational repression
OctMamba: Mamba-based octree context entropy model for point cloud geometry compression
No full textExisting learned point cloud compression frameworks face two major limitations: (1) they focus almost exclusively on spatial redundancy and (2) rely on architectures built around local-global transformers or global Mamba blocks. Transformers incur quadratic complexity, while global Mamba lacks the granularity to capture structured correlations across multiple dimensions. We propose OctMamba, the first unified framework to jointly exploit spatial, channel, and topological redundancies, dimensions previously overlooked in point cloud geometry compression. Our approach introduces a new architectural principle: embedding Mamba modules within specialized subcomponents rather than applying them globally, challenging existing design paradigms. OctMamba combines two modules: Spatial-Channel Coupled Grouping Mamba (SCCGM) for spatial-channel fusion and Local Graph CNN-Mamba (LGCM) for topological encoding. This design enables efficient long-range modeling with linear complexity, delivering a smaller model and faster decoding while outperforming transformer-based and global Mamba baselines. On SemanticKITTI, OctMamba reduces bitrate by 60.2% over GPCC (D1 PSNR) and achieves state-of-the-art performance across LiDAR and dynamic human point cloud benchmarks with practical speed and scalability. By introducing multi-dimensional redundancy modeling, OctMamba has the potential to influence future research on efficient point cloud compression. The code is available at https://github.com/ZjgsVMC/OctMamb
Camera trapping for small mammals: the case of a non-native shrew
No full textIn recent decades, motion sensor camera traps have revolutionised wildlife monitoring as a cost-effective strategy requiring less time investment than traditional monitoring methods. While medium-to-large body sized mammals are captured at sufficient resolution to permit confident species identifications, small mammal species (mice, voles, and shrews) are difficult to distinguish in conventional camera trap imagery. Since camera traps represent a potential solution for overcoming spatial and temporal constraints of traditional small mammal survey methodologies (live trapping), novel designs have materialised in recent years to adjust camera traps for observing smaller animals. In this research, we further refined an existing design, the Littlewood box, and investigated the optimal bait strategy to maximise small mammal detections in the Northeast of England within the currently known range of the non-native greater white toothed shrew, Crocidura russula. We found no significant difference in the probability of detection of small mammal species by bait type, but there were greater numbers of captures of shrew species at traps baited with mealworms. We conclude that the use of bait is associated with a greater number of captures for all small mammal species observed compared to non-baited traps. Despite the cameras being deployed in the centre of the known range of C. russula in Britain, this species was present at a lower proportion of sites than native small mammals
Cognitive Sex/Gender Differences and the Beliefs in Own Spatial Abilities
No full textSex/gender differences in specific spatial tasks are well documented, with the male advantage in the Mental Rotations Test (MRT) being one of the largest effects reported in psychological research. Numerous potential contributing factors have been examined, with recent studies highlighting the importance of individuals’ beliefs in their spatial abilities. However, no study has directly manipulated these self-perceptions to assess their causal impact on cognitive performance. The present study investigated whether randomized normative feedback could alter participants’ levels of spatial anxiety, spatial self-efficacy, and spatial self-confidence, and, in turn, affect MRT performance. Participants (n = 462; 98 cisgender men, 364 cisgender women) completed two MRT sets and were randomly allocated to receive positive, negative, or no feedback after the first set. Spatial self-perceptions were measured before and after feedback. Results revealed that feedback influenced cognitive performance similarly in cisgender men and women, but cisgender women were generally more likely to lower their spatial self-perceptions, both after feedback and even in its absence. All feedback types affected self-perceptions, but only false positive and true negative feedback affected cognitive performance. Notably, while both types of feedback benefitted cognitive performance, the effect of false positive feedback was mediated by increased self-confidence, whereas the effect of true negative feedback was unrelated to self-perception. These findings suggest that feedback can influence self-perception and cognitive performance through distinct mechanisms depending on its valence and accuracy
Purely Greenberger-Horne-Zeilinger–like Entanglement is Forbidden in Holography
No full textWe provide evidence that three-party entanglement signals in holography obey a relation that is not satisfied by generalized Greenberger-Horne-Zeilinger (GHZ) states. Using proposed holographic duals for these entanglement signals, we provide a geometric argument establishing this relation. This is the first known inequality on the structure of pure three-party holographic states, and shows that time-symmetric holographic states can never have purely GHZ-like entanglement. We also discuss similar relations for four parties
A Rolling-Horizon Framework for Integrated Freight Train Rescheduling and Track Assignment under Disruptions in Large-Scale Networks
No full textTrain operators typically prepare detailed timetables for daily operations. Nevertheless, the intricate network structure and extensive daily activities render rail networks highly vulnerable to disruptions. Large-scale disruptions necessitate rapid recovery actions involving coordinated adjustments to train timetables, rolling stock, and crew schedules. Even after revised timetables are computed, local operational conflicts—such as track and platform assignment constraints—may still render solutions infeasible in practice. This study addresses the real-time, integrated rescheduling of freight services and track assignments under multiple resource-specific disruptions. A mixed-integer linear programming model is proposed at the operational level, employing mesoscopic modeling, regulatory constraints, and business priorities. To ensure scalability, the model is embedded within a rolling-horizon framework with an adaptive spatial band, in which only a committed subset of decisions is executed and the remaining plan is re-optimized as new information becomes available. The framework enables priority-aware train sequencing and flexible use of infrastructure to enhance resilience. Using real-world data from the Netherlands railway network (423 trains, 60 stations), we demonstrate that the proposed approach generates operationally feasible and high-quality schedules within practical computational limits across a range of disruption scenarios. Results indicate that short disruptions are largely absorbed before trains reach their terminal stations, whereas longer disruptions exhibit persistent delay propagation downstream; moreover, flexible facility substitution significantly curtails network-wide spillover effects. A sensitivity analysis of the look-ahead horizon highlights computational trade-offs, providing guidance on the choice of an appropriate horizon length
Phase diagrams of pharmaceutical solvates from mechanochemistry.
No full textCrystalline solvates, including hydrates, hold untapped potential in pharmaceutical development, yet their exploitation remains minimal due to the difficult and laborious task of unequivocally establishing their physical stabilities. We introduce Controlled Solvent-Activity Liquid-Assisted Grinding (CSA-LAG), a mechanochemical protocol that offers solvate phase boundary elucidation by varying the activity of a chosen solvent in defined binary/ternary mixtures and analysing the equilibrated resulting solid form. Using small API amounts, CSA-LAG reaches equilibrium within minutes and yields critical solvent activities that delimit neat, hydrated, solvated and competing-solvate domains. The method uses mixtures of known thermodynamic activities, requires far less material and time than traditional slurries and affords high reproducibility. Applied to four pharmaceutical compounds, CSA-LAG reproduces slurry boundaries and quantifies activity thresholds for single, stepwise and competitive solvations. Defining these boundaries enables rational form selection and process design either by avoiding or targeting solvates, whilst turning a month-scale empirical screening into a rapid, thermodynamically guided workflow. [Abstract copyright: © 2026. The Author(s).
Modern pollen and NPP assemblages across an abrupt woodland/heathland transition in upland north east England: Implications for taphonomy and palaeoecological interpretation
No full textThe paper assesses contemporary pollen and non-pollen palynomorph (NPP) distribution along a woodland to heathland transect, and tests the ecological preferences of the recorded NPP taxa, providing modern analogue information to assist in the interpretation of palaeoecological data. Pollen, microcharcoal, fungal spores and other NPPs are analysed from surface sediment samples collected from Quercus-dominated woodland and mixed heathland (Calluna, Vaccinium, Poaceae, Juncus, Pteridium) from an upland area in North East England and the microfossil assemblage data are compared with the actual vegetation cover at the sampling points. The microfossil data clearly indicate the position of the woodland-heathland boundary to within 2–10 m. The transitional zone is shown to be narrow, but of distinctive palynological character. The ecological meaning of several NPPs is either confirmed or suggested. NPP and pollen assemblages vary considerable over distances of only 2–5 m across the transitional samples, whereas very similar microfossil assemblages occur within the two main woodland and heathland vegetation units, even where plant species change in relative abundance. Woodland, heathland and transitional assemblages are clearly differentiated. NPP deposition occurs close to their source, and many types have well defined ecological affinities and are sensitive environmental indicators, while others are more cosmopolitan
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