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Berry Batesian mimicry enables bird dispersal of asexual bulbils in a yam
No full textMany plants that abandon sex rely on clonal propagules, but their short dispersal distances can trap offspring near parent plants and enemies. We show that the yam Dioscorea melanophyma—which has lost sexual reproduction—evolved black, glossy bulbils that mimic co-occurring black berries and entice frugivorous birds to ingest and disperse them. Birds from 22 species fed on bulbils, with visits peaking in October–February when true fruits are scarce. Bulbil reflectance overlapped sympatric berries and was indistinguishable in a UV-sensitive avian vision model for many species, consistent with Batesian visual mimicry. Feeding trials with the dominant visitor (Pycnonotus xanthorrhous) showed short gut retention and negligible destruction, so bulbils are excreted largely intact and viable and monitoring revealed that bulbils achieved dispersal distances similar to rewarding endozoochorous plants. Thus, sensory deception that exploits fruit–frugivore signal–reward rules can restore ecologically meaningful movement after the loss of sex in asexual lineages
Where open innovation partnership matters: Phase-specific patterns in R&D project counts for large pharmaceutical firms
Full text linkFirms are increasingly leveraging open innovation (OI) partnership to access external knowledge and navigate scientific and regulatory challenges. However, large firms differ in how strongly they emphasize OI in public communications, and the implications for various phases of the R&D pipeline remain unclear. This gap is significant because managerial language reflects strategic priorities over the long term; it indicates resource allocation, highlights trade-offs, and shapes stakeholder expectations. We develop and test propositions that link firms’ emphasis on OI partnership to the number of active projects across three R&D phases: discovery, experimentation, and commercialization. Using established topic modeling techniques, we analyze annual shareholder letters from 24 large pharmaceutical firms over 20 years to create a continuous, firm-year measure of OI partnership and correlate it with phase-level project counts. Fixed-effects negative binomial models are utilized to investigate whether the expected association patterns are observable in the data. Findings are consistent with a null association in the discovery phase but positive associations in the experimentation and commercialization phases, suggesting different influences across R&D phases, which are critical conditions for achieving project success. This study empirically demonstrates how a firm’s emphasis on OI partnership aligns with project activities throughout the R&D pipeline, providing a process-oriented, phase-contingent perspective on OI. Theoretically, by presenting propositions and associational evidence, this work outlines expected relationships within an emerging theoretical domain. Practically, it offers actionable insights for managing external partnerships in high-uncertainty industries, highlighting the need for a nuanced approach to OI adoption to optimize innovation pipelines
Elastic Turbulence in Highly Entangled Polymers and Wormlike Micelles
Full text linkWe show theoretically that an initially homogeneous planar Couette flow of a concentrated polymeric fluid is linearly unstable to the growth of two-dimensional (2D) perturbations, within two widely used constitutive models: the Johnson-Segalman model and the Rolie-Poly model. We perform 2D direct nonlinear simulations of both models to show that this instability leads to a state of elastic turbulence comprising several narrow shear bands that dynamically coalesce, split, and interact. Importantly, we show that this 2D instability arises not only in fluids that have a nonmonotonic constitutive curve and therefore show shear banding in 1D calculations, but also in shear thinning fluids with a monotonic constitutive curve, for which an initially homogeneous base state is stable to 1D perturbations. For the former category, the high shear branch of the constitutive curve is unstable to 2D instability in both models, so the high shear band may be turbulent. In the Rolie-Poly model, the low shear branch is also likewise unstable. Our Letter provides the first simulation evidence for elastic turbulence in highly entangled polymeric fluids. It also potentially explains rheo-chaotic states seen experimentally in shear banding wormlike micelles. We additionally demonstrate elastic turbulence within both models in the planar Poiseuille geometry
Why ‘Common-Sense’ is Complicated: Unearthing the Cultural Facilitators of Contextual Safeguarding Structures
Full text linkSummary:From being sexually/criminally exploited by adults in public spaces, to being sexually or physically harmed by peers in their schools, young people are significantly harmed beyond their families. Historically, many of these children have been criminalised rather than protected, and despite mounting concern from governments, and efforts at structural reform, many countries still struggle to offer welfare-orientated responses that effectively target the contexts where such harm occurs. In this paper we use cumulative evidence from four projects within a multiyear research programme to surface cultural factors that hinder or facilitate the development of welfare-orientated and contextual responses to extra-familial harm.Findings:We analyse nine published outputs from these four projects using a synthesis of Schein's theory of organisational culture and the ‘cultural rules’ of Contextual Safeguarding, developed through an application of Bourdieu's social theory. The results of our analysis locate cultural misalignment not solely within the social work and wider child welfare organisations that participated in the project, but in the underlying assumptions of the systems in which those organisations are based. Consequently, we illustrate why seemingly ‘common-sense’ responses to young people in need of protection are complicated to enact.Application:To resolve such complications, we argue that victim-offender binaries, individualised outcome measures, and the relationship between state and parental responsibility, require reconceptualization in the design of child protection systems and research; and in the interim, offer four questions organisations can ask themselves to test, for the first time, their cultural readiness for adopting a contextual approach to extra-familial harms
Confirmation of SRGt 062340.2-265751 as a nova-like cataclysmic variable with a possible magnetic nature
Full text linkSRGt 062340.2-265751, a cataclysmic variable identified by SRG/eROSITA thanks to its significant X-ray variability, remains poorly characterised despite the multi-wavelength follow-up. We present spectral and timing analyses from the first dedicated X-ray and ultraviolet observations with XMM-Newton, complemented by SRG/eROSITA data from four all-sky surveys (eRASS1-4) and ASAS-SN optical photometry. Our timing analysis reveals a > 8σ significant modulation at 3.6 ± 0.5 hours, likely representing the orbital period. Long-term ASAS-SN monitoring confirms the source as a VY Sculptoris-type nova-like system, while short-timescale X-ray and ultraviolet variability, down to a few minutes, suggests a possible underlying magnetic white dwarf. Two additional significant X-ray modulations at 43 ± 1 min and 36.0 ± 0.7 min tentatively point to the spin period of an intermediate polar. The best-fit XMM-Newton energy spectra reveal a multi-temperature thermal plasma (kT = 0.23, 0.94, and 5.2 keV), while the SRG/eROSITA spectra are consistent with a single-temperature thermal plasma of a few keV. We estimate unabsorbed X-ray luminosities of ≳1032 erg s−1 (0.2–12 keV). Broadband spectral energy distribution modelling, from near-ultraviolet to infrared, indicates a disc-dominated system consistent with a nova-like classification. We discuss these results in the context of the source’s confirmed nova-like classification and its possible magnetic nature, a scenario increasingly supported by discoveries of intermediate polars exhibiting VY Sculptoris-type nova-like features
Impact of graphene quantum dot edge shapes on high-performance energy storage devices
Full text linkElectrode materials critically influence the performance of energy storage devices such as supercapacitors and batteries. Graphene quantum dots (GQDs) are a promising material for next-generation systems due to their high surface-to-volume ratio, tunable bandgaps, and stability. Their nanoscale size creates numerous edge sites with zigzag (ZZ) or armchair (AC) configurations. Yet, the role of edge shape in electrochemical behavior remains largely unexplored. Likewise, the correlation between synthesis methods and edge configurations is unclear, hindering the development of targeted fabrication approaches. In this study, nitrogen-doped GQDs (N-GQDs) with ZZ and AC edges were synthesized via hydrothermal and electrochemical methods. They were subsequently characterized using physical methods (XRD, TEM, UV-Vis, Raman spectroscopy). They were then electrodeposited onto carbon fibers and their electrochemical properties were analyzed (CV, EIS). We examined the N-GQD size, edge configuration, bandgap, charge transport, and process parameters such as pH and electrolyte choice. The results show that ZZ-edged N-GQDs outperform AC-edged counterparts in capacitance (double-layer, pseudocapacitance, quantum capacitance) due to a higher density of states originating from dispersionless edge states, which are absent at AC edges. Additionally, pH variations affect ZZ N-GQDs by modulating their energy bandgap, informing electrolyte selection and material tuning to deliver target applications such as batteries or supercapacitors. This work establishes performance differences between ZZ and AC edged N-GQDs, enabling precise nanoparticle design for optimized energy storage, and opens opportunities in bandgap-engineered applications such as solar cells, LEDs, lasers, and photodetectors
The impact investment relationship builder: A new artifact to improve market coordination in social innovation
Full text linkSocial ventures hold great promise for addressing complex societal and environmental challenges, with impact investors reportedly willing to back them with over US$1.571 trillion in assets to scale social innovation. Yet, despite this growth, many social ventures struggle to translate ambitious impact commitments into sustained investment relationships, risking the collapse of an already fragile bridge between social innovators and impact-oriented capital. This challenge reflects a deeper coordination problem in impact investing, where ventures and investors operate with different evaluative logics, evidentiary expectations, and temporal horizons. Drawing on a design science approach, this paper develops and tests the impact investment relationship builder, a relational coordination artifact designed to support alignment between social ventures and impact investors over time. The artifact structures interaction across three interdependent domains - impact, accountability, and revenue - and guides actors through staged episodes of relational alignment. Rather than treating investability as a fixed threshold or screening outcome, the artifact frames investment allocation as a generative, relational process through which expectations, evidence, and trust are progressively constructed and reassessed. The study contributes to impact investing, entrepreneurial finance, and design science by advancing a relational understanding of investment allocation under conditions of uncertainty and hybrid value creation
Necropolitics, state of acceptance and precarious life: Accounting for austerity in English local government 2010-2024
No full textPurpose - Austerity policies have arguably created a politics of living death that is symptomatic of necropolitics, but for normalised everyday life. This involves moving beyond the state of exception of crisis where groups are subject to immediate violence that is often more visible, to a slow violence that is gradual and less visible, dispersed across time and space, and attritional so may not even be viewed as violence at all. The slow violence in turn leads to slow death and precarious life that involves a state of acceptance among those affected and citizens in general. Through theorisation of necropolitics as a state of acceptance, the purpose of this paper is to consider how life chances were affected through the role of accounting, auditing, and accountability arrangements. Design/Methodology/Approach – To do so, the paper looks over more than a decade of austerity policies from the Conservative government on local authorities in England following the 2007/08 financial crisis from 2010 to 2024. It provides a more top-down perspective of austerity to capture policy and oversight rather than lived experiences of austerity by the grassroots. Nevertheless, to ameliorate any shortcomings, the paper has leveraged existing bottom-up counter account studies.Findings – The paper shows that from the slow burn of austerity cuts, through the slow violence of accounting and slow death to performance, there is a state of acceptance for precarious life among citizens toward fellow groups. The lack of adequate audit and accountability arrangements to report on the financial and performance issues, and a reduced media, has exacerbated the acceptability of precarious life. Originality – This is the first paper to consider the accounting impacts and implications inherent in a necropolitics, state of acceptance and precarious everyday life relating to local government
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