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Improving the quality of consumer choice:Unfair Terms Directive revisited
No full textThis article investigates how the Unfair Terms Directive (UTD) attempts to improve the quality of consumer choice through establishing the extended choice mechanism. The article consists of three parts: analytical, interpretive, and doctrinal. The analytical part explains how the ex post control of contract terms provides consumers with an opportunity to rethink their original, poor-quality choice, and to eventually make a subsequent, exonerating choice. This fiction of a uniform, high-quality choice is established by the so-called extended choice mechanism. The interpretive part of the article elucidates the normative principle underlying the extended choice mechanism. The article argues that consumer law considers choices as intrinsically valuable expressions of personal autonomy. Therefore, it posits that the judicial control of standard form contracts, and EU consumer law more generally, is guided by the principle of consumer autonomy. The article thus opposes the welfarist view, according to which choices are valuable instrumentally as tools of maximizing efficiency, or facilitating the European Union (EU) internal market. The doctrinal part of the article substantiates its analytical and interpretive arguments. It covers fundamental strands of the Court of Justice of the European Union case law concerning unfair terms: the consequences of removing unfair terms from consumer contracts, the transparency requirement and the ex officio doctrine. Despite its local focus, the article’s conclusions are more general, since factors that undermine the quality of consumer choice – and regulations addressing them – are similar around the world
Self-initiated foreign language listening outside class:A mixed-methods investigation of learners’ motivation and their perceptions through self-determination theory
Get PDFWith the advancements in technology and a growing number of mobile/computer-accessed platforms, opportunities for spoken foreign language (FL) exposure have increased considerably. While some learners seize these opportunities to engage in FL listening beyond the classroom (e.g., watching FL movies), others remain demotivated to do so. This mixed-methods study set out to examine 275 Grade-10-to-12 English-as-a-FL (EFL) learners’ motivation and perceptions based on the amount of voluntary English listening they engaged with outside class. The findings from the e-questionnaire revealed that most participants had little-to-some such exposure. Through the lens of self-determination theory, we found that those having a lot of exposure showed the highest (FL listening) intrinsic motivation; however, it was the little-to-some group that demonstrated the highest introjected regulation. All participants revealed high external regulation. Furthermore, the open-ended responses showed that there were seven categories of reasons why the participants listened to English voluntarily. The most popular reasons were: English improvement and interesting/useful things/people in English (e.g. Marvel; VTubers). From the qualitative dataset, we also uncovered seven categories of suggestions that could be effective in motivating learners to engage in out-of-class FL listening
The Mechanistic Framework of Alignment:A unified model
Get PDFConversational alignment, also known as accommodation, entrainment, interpersonal synchrony, and convergence, is defined as the tendency for interlocutors to exhibit similarity in their communicative behaviors. There have been many theories and explanations set forth as to why alignment occurs and, accordingly, the mechanisms that underlie it. To date, however, alignment research has been largely siloed, with different research teams often examining alignment through the lens of a single theoretical account. Considering causal mechanisms in tandem offers a more holistic and nuanced understanding of the dynamic nature of alignment, its purposes, and its consequences. Accordingly, we propose the Mechanistic Framework of Alignment (MFA), a qualitative conceptual model that integrates existing theories of conversational alignment into one unified framework. To explain this framework, we first review five alignment mechanisms, discussing the underlying assumptions, contributions, and supporting evidence for each. We then introduce two overarching factors—conversational goal and alignment type—that are critical for understanding when and how these mechanisms give rise to aligned behavior. Illustrative examples demonstrate how the relative weightings of each mechanism interact with these contextual variables. Finally, we conclude with directions for how future research can extend and refine this framework and how the MFA can support future work in this area
When do forests matter?
Get PDFThis article traces how forests in Turkey acquire meaning through their entanglement with nationalism, securitization, and racialized governance. The catastrophic wildfires of 2021, which destroyed over 150,000 hectares along the Aegean and Mediterranean coasts, became a site where ecological devastation was quickly translated into nationalist paranoia. Refugees and Kurdish insurgents were accused of arson, and fire was narrated as evidence of invasion, conspiracy, and betrayal. These claims drew on deeper histories in which forests have been managed through militarized strategies—burned during counterinsurgency operations, surveilled for signs of fugitivity, and recast as threatened zones in the service of territorial control. Building on the concept of “political forests,” the article shows how wooded landscapes in Turkey function as terrains of belonging, where ecological crisis intensifies nationalist claims, legitimizes violence, and reinforces exclusionary forms of governance. The 2021 fires illuminate the ways forests matter as stages for securing identity, policing movement, and naturalizing punitive state power
Smart Grid Origins, Definitions, Technologies, and Emerging Trends: A Power Community Perspective
Get PDFThis paper captures an engaging—and at times heated-Power-Globe (PG) discussion of evolving definitions of smart grid technologies. The exchange took place between December 2024 and January 2025. The primary objective of this paper is to clarify some of the ambiguities surrounding the term “smart grid” over the past two decades, as highlighted in the spirited PG debate. “Smart grid” has sometimes been advocated as a panacea to resolve the tension between competing objectives for the provision of electricity (specifically, making it reliable, clean, and affordable). This paper examines the term “smart grid” in terms of raw technical functionalities, applications., and use cases, some of which may get closer than others to meeting the aspirational promises. While smart technology should expand our menu of options, it will not absolve us of the need to make hard decisions.</p
Estimating the additive genetic variance for relative fitness from changes in allele frequency
Get PDFThe rate of adaptation is equal to the additive genetic variance for relative fitness (VA) in the population. Estimating VA typically involves obtaining suitable measures of fitness on a large number of individuals with known pairwise relatedness. Such data are hard to collect and the results are often sensitive to the definition of fitness used. Here, we present a new method for estimating VA that does not involve making measurements of fitness on individuals, but instead tracks changes in the genetic composition of the population. First, we show that VA can readily be expressed as a function of the genome-wide diversity/linkage disequilibrium matrix and genome-wide expected change in allele frequency due to selection. We then show how independent experimental replicates can be used to infer the expected change in allele frequency due to selection and then estimate VA via a linear mixed model. Finally, using individual-based simulations, we demonstrate that our approach yields precise and accurate estimates over a range of biologically plausible scenarios
Late Cretaceous mosasaurids of northeastern Brazil:a summary of their record and a paleobiogeographical survey
Get PDFThe coastal region of northeastern Brazil holds one of the most important records of mosasaurids from the Late Cretaceous of South America. Analysis of these discoveries allowed us to create a picture of the composition of the fauna, as well as the diversity and paleobiogeography of these clades. In the region, the mosasaurid fossils are contained in Cenomanian to Maastrichtian geological units of epicontinental marine origin, in the Cotinguiba (Sergipe-Alagoas Basin), Alcântara (São Luís Basin), Itamaracá (Paraíba Basin), Calumbi (Sergipe-Alagoas Basin), and Gramame (Paraíba Basin) formations. Paleogeographic data corroborate that these deposits represent low-latitude equatorial environments. The Brazilian fauna is represented by fourteen taxa from one family (Mosasauridae), two subfamilies (Mosasaurinae: Prognathodontini, Globidensini and Mosasaurini; Plioplatecarpinae: Plioplatecarpini), and some indeterminate mosasaurid specimens. Mosasaurids from the northeastern region of Brazil resemble Late Cretaceous marine reptiles from western Africa (Angola, Congo, and Morocco), suggesting faunal continuity in the seaway that bridged these areas. The study of this marine fauna is crucial to understanding the evolutionary and paleobiogeographic history of the group during the opening of the South Atlantic Ocean.</p
Neural Network Verification for Gliding Drone Control:A Case Study
Get PDFAs machine learning is increasingly deployed in autonomous systems, verification of neural network controllers is becoming an active research domain. Existing tools and annual verification competitions suggest that soon this technology will become effective for real-world applications. Our application comes from the emerging field of microflyers that are passively transported by the wind, which may have various uses in weather or pollution monitoring. Specifically, we investigate centimetre-scale bio-inspired gliding drones that resemble Alsomitra macrocarpa diaspores. In this paper, we propose a new case study on verifying Alsomitra-inspired drones with neural network controllers, with the aim of adhering closely to a target trajectory. We show that our system differs substantially from existing VNN and ARCH competition benchmarks, and show that a combination of tools holds promise for verifying such systems in the future, if certain shortcomings can be overcome. We propose a novel method for robust training of regression networks, and investigate formalisations of this case study in Vehicle and CORA. Our verification results suggest that the investigated training methods do improve performance and robustness of neural network controllers in this application, but are limited in scope and usefulness. This is due to systematic limitations of both Vehicle and CORA, and the complexity of our system reducing the scale of reachability, which we investigate in detail. If these limitations can be overcome, it will enable engineers to develop safe and robust technologies that improve people's lives and reduce our impact on the environment
Magnetically Reconfigurable Multistable Ribbon Arrays for Liquid Manipulation
Get PDFWe present a liquid manipulation device built with magnetically reconfigurable multistable ribbons, fabricated through compressive buckling of magnetic polydimethylsiloxane films. These ribbons transition among three locally stable states via magnetic actuation and can retain their states without constant external fields. We first designed a switchable fluid junction and demonstrated on-demand control of outlet flow directions in a two-dimensional (2D) fluid channel. We then extended the concept to dynamic surface textures formed by ribbon arrays, where tuning individual ribbon states modulates critical angles for controlling droplet pinning and release. Using a 2x3 ribbon array as an example, we show that control of individual ribbon states further enables complex droplet manipulations. We performed meso-scale simulations with coupled electrocapillary models, providing theoretical foundations for more complex device design and configurations
Mapping Use of High Dose or Long‐Term Oral Glucocorticoids and Steroid‐Sparing Strategies in Adults With Chronic Conditions: A Rapid Scoping Review of Reviews
Get PDFPurposeOral glucocorticoids (OGCs) have a broad range of uses and are effective in treating numerous conditions. However, it is commonly acknowledged that OGCs at high doses or over long periods have a burden of toxicity. Despite the use of steroid-sparing therapies, OGCs continue to be prescribed to treat a wide range of immune and inflammatory conditions. We aimed to address the following research questions: (1) what are the contemporary indications for high dose and/or long-term OGCs? (2) what patterns of use are described in the literature for high dose and/or long-term OGCs? (3) which evidence do we have for chronic conditions related to well-established steroid-sparing strategies and tapering regimes for OGCs? (4) what adverse effects have been reported with high dose and/or long-term OGCs?MethodsA rapid scoping review was conducted using the Joanna Briggs Institute guidelines. The Protocol has been published on the Open Science Framework. A systematic search of MEDLINE (Sep 2014 to Sep 2024) identified systematic reviews and scoping reviews involving adults (≥ 18 years) treated with high doses and/or long-term OGCs for chronic inflammatory conditions. Studies involving pregnant women were excluded.ResultsIn total, 137 reviews were included. OGCs were indicated in 47 different conditions in dermatology, respiratory, gastrointestinal, hematology, immunology, rheumatology, and other miscellaneous categories. Across all specialties, OGCs were used either at high doses (at least 20 mg prednisone equivalent per day) or for long durations (for at least 3 months). For types of adverse effects reported in the included reviews, 20 were labeled as endocrine, 13 as immunological, 21 as musculoskeletal, 30 as gastrointestinal, and 16 as cardiovascular. Sixty-four reviews looked for/reported unspecified adverse events. One hundred and fifteen reviews had evidence of steroid-sparing/tapering regimes, indicating the wide use of these strategies to mitigate the harmful effects of OGCs.ConclusionOGCs are used for a broad range of inflammatory conditions across multiple specialties. There is evidence related to a broad range of potential adverse effects across multiple body systems regardless of the indication of use. Further research is needed using a combined cross-condition approach to their measurement and reduction, alongside gaining more insight into the impact of OGCs on patients' quality of life.<br/
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