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Abstract The climate crisis seriously threatens Central European forests and their ecosystem functions. There are indications that old-growth forests are relatively resilient and efficient in micro-climatic regulation during extreme climatic conditions. This study evaluates five well-protected old beech forests in Germany, part of a UNESCO World Heritage Site. We examined temperature dynamics and vitality in core, buffer, and border zones during hot days from 2017 to 2023, using Landsat 8 and 9 imageries to assess Land Surface Temperature (LST) and Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), alongside on-site Air Temperature (AT) measurements. Our findings reveal that all five forests were impacted by recent extreme heat events, with core zones remaining cooler and more vital, followed by buffer zones. Temperature-regulating patterns varied with landscape characteristics and the surrounding matrixes. We observed a site-dependent cooling effect of the forest interior that increased with higher LST. Our study highlights the value of old-growth forests and recommends increasing effective protection around mature forests, establishing corridors between isolated patches, and creating mosaics in managed landscapes that include unmanaged areas capable of developing into old-growth ecosystems.

Purpose: This study aims to assess suppliers' learning from knowledge transfers with a global truck manufacturer, considering both source and supplier capacity, and the cultural proximity between the parties. Design/methodology/approach: A case study was conducted between two factories, one in Brazil and one in Germany. This study adopted a mixed-method sequential explanatory approach, which involves a quantitative phase followed by a qualitative one to provide a better understanding of the studied phenomenon. Quantitative data were collected from the automaker's suppliers in both countries and analyzed using factor and inferential analyses. Qualitative data were obtained from the automaker's purchasing executives, and from the company's suppliers in both countries. Content analysis was used to analyze data. Findings: Results suggest that both the source's disseminative capacity and suppliers' absorptive capacity had a positive effect on suppliers' learning during knowledge transfers. The study also found out that cultural proximity among parties positively moderates the relationship between suppliers' absorptive capacity and their learning. However, cultural proximity does not moderate the relationship between a source's disseminative capacity and supplier learning. Practical implications: This study's findings are important to foster knowledge transfers by developing absorptive and disseminative capabilities in the automakers industry, in which the implementation of interorganizational learning is quite challenging due to the large number of strategic providers. Originality/value: This study contributes to theoretical and conceptual consolidation of knowledge transfer, which includes cultural proximity among parties and the source's and supplier's disseminative and absorptive capacities, respectively. This study constructs and validates a model of knowledge transfer using a large automaker with a worldwide presence.

Abstract This paper aims to analyze the Dynamic Capabilities (DC) from their micro-foundations (sensing, seizing, and reconfiguration) that help in sustainability-oriented innovation (SOI) activities (organizational optimization, organizational transformation, and systems building) and that lead to the development of innovations in the context of higher education institutions (HEIs). This research has a descriptive and exploratory nature, developed through a case study in an HEI located in the northeast region of Brazil. The study was based on interviews with key sustainability managers within the institution and on research of institutional documents related to the subject. As a result, the existence of specific sensing, seizing, and reconfiguring microfoundations for HEIs that can enable SOI in the three levels of activities studied was verified, highlighting important relationships between them. This work contributes to the advancement of knowledge about SOI activities in HEIs by identifying the microfoundations that drive such activities and addressing a gap in studies on microfoundations of SOI dynamic capabilities and activities in higher education institutions. In practical terms, this article can serve as a basis for HEIs managers to understand what they need to do to drive SOI activities, especially in building systems for the development of innovations with social and economic impact for territories beyond institutional boundaries.

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This group of portraits paints a picture of how educational policies across different regions of the United States afford varying experiences using arts disciplines pedagogically for SEL instruction. Each policy-supported portrait interfaces with SEL to teach competencies and report enhancement in personal emotional growth, social awareness, critical thinking, problem-solving, information management, global innovation, and artistic competency. Through reading these portraits, rationales emerge for the need to enhance interpersonal collaboration, verbal, non-verbal and esthetic communication, collaborative creativity, and cultural awareness in teacher education, in curricular design, and school-policy.

This paper aims to identify the internal and external resources present in two companies inserted in a software cluster in the State of Paraiba and to analyze the impacts on the companies’ competitive advantage. The theoretical approach adopted was the resource-based view and the literature on industrial clusters. An in-depth qualitative approach was used, using the case study method. An analysis model was developed to two companies that are part of the cluster under investigation. As a result, 22 internal resources (classified as physical, human, organizational and financial resources) and 17 external resources (classified as systemic and restricted access) were identified, which were evaluated to verify the impact on the competitive advantage of the companies studied. It was found that certifications, investments in projects and public notices (internal resources), collective learning and export programs (external resources) are the ones that contribute to the competitive advantage of the studied companies. The study presents contributions to guide decision makers on how to use their internal and external resources in order to achieve competitive advantage.

Intact forests contribute to the ecosystem functionality of landscapes by storing and sequestering carbon, buffering and cooling the microclimate, and providing a range of related ecosystem functions. Forest fragmentation not only poses a threat to many organisms but also reduces the resistance and resilience of the ecosystem, which is especially relevant to the ongoing climate crisis. The effects of recent extreme heat years on forests in Germany have not been studied in detail for the influence of fragmentation. We investigate the relation of forest fragmentation with temperature and vitality in Germany per ecoregion at the canopy level using satellite imagery at 1-km and 30-m resolution. We compiled and correlated forest maps for connectivity based on Thiessen polygons, canopy temperatures on the hottest days based on land surface temperature, and forest vitality based on the maximum normalized difference vegetation index per growing season. We differentiated between ecoregions and main forest types. In 2022, larger intact tree-covered areas that are less fragmented have relatively low temperatures on hot days and higher overall vitality. Nearly 98% of the almost 1.95 million forest fragments at 30-m resolution in Germany are smaller than 1 km2, which cover nearly 30% of the total forest area. To counteract the forest crisis, forest and landscape management should aim to reduce fragmentation and maintain tree biomass and forest cover in the landscape. Increasing the size of continuous forest fragments contributes to ecosystem-based adaptation to climate change.

The persistence of latent HIV reservoirs allows for viral rebound upon antiretroviral therapy interruption, hindering effective HIV-1 cure. Emerging evidence suggests that modulation of innate immune stimulation could impact viral latency and contribute to the clearing of HIV reservoir. Here, the latency reactivation capacity of a subclass of selective JAK2 inhibitors was characterized as a potential novel therapeutic strategy for HIV-1 cure. Notably, JAK2 inhibitors reversed HIV-1 latency in non-clonal lymphoid and myeloid in vitro models of HIV-1 latency and also ex vivo in CD4+ T cells from ART+ PWH, albeit its function was not dependent on JAK2 expression. Immunophenotypic characterization and whole transcriptomic profiling supported reactivation data, showing common gene expression signatures between latency reactivating agents (LRA; JAK2i fedratinib and PMA) in contrast to other JAK inhibitors, but with significantly fewer affected gene sets in the pathway analysis. In depth evaluation of differentially expressed genes, identified a significant upregulation of IRF7 expression despite the blockade of the JAK-STAT pathway and downregulation of proinflammatory cytokines and chemokines. Moreover, IRF7 expression levels positively correlated with HIV latency reactivation capacity of JAK2 inhibitors and also other common LRAs. Collectively, these results represent a promising step towards HIV eradication by demonstrating the potential of innate immune modulation for reducing the viral reservoir through a novel pathway driven by IRF7.

In this paper we present our solution to the CHES Challenge 2020, the task of which it was to break masked hardware respective software implementations of the lightweight cipher Clyde by means of side-channel analysis. We target the secret cipher state after processing of the first S-box layer. Using the provided trace data we obtain a strongly biased posterior distribution for the secret-shared cipher state at the targeted point; this enables us to see exploitable biases even before the secret sharing based masking. These biases on the unshared state can be evaluated one S-box at a time and combined across traces, which enables us to recover likely key hypotheses S-box by S-box. In order to see the shared cipher state, we employ a deep neural network similar to the one used by Gohr, Jacob and Schindler to solve the CHES 2018 AES challenge. We modify their architecture to predict the exact bit sequence of the secret-shared cipher state. We find that convergence of training on this task is unsatisfying with the standard encoding of the shared cipher state and therefore introduce a different encoding of the prediction target, which we call the scattershot encoding. In order to further investigate how exactly the scattershot encoding helps to solve the task at hand, we construct a simple synthetic task where convergence problems very similar to those we observed in our side-channel task appear with the naive target data encoding but disappear with the scattershot encoding. We complete our analysis by showing results that we obtained with a “classical” method (as opposed to an AI-based method), namely the stochastic approach, that we generalize for this purpose first to the setting of shared keys. We show that the neural network draws on a much broader set of features, which may partially explain why the neural-network based approach massively outperforms the stochastic approach. On the other hand, the stochastic approach provides insights into properties of the implementation, in particular the observation that the S-boxes behave very different regarding the easiness respective hardness of their prediction.

Purpose – This paper aims to map literature about innovation capabilities (IC) taking into consideration industrial clusters to propose a conceptual framework that synthetizes the main factors and subfactors responsible for ICs; in addition, the paper also proposes a research agenda. Design/methodology/approach – A systematic literature review (SLR) was performed; academic papers were analyzed qualitatively and quantitatively. Findings – The authors provide a descriptive analysis followed by a thematic synthesis, in which we present 05 enablers and 20 critical factors (CF) of IC in clusters. The proposed framework emphasizes what needs to be done or improved to increase IC in cluster-based companies. Based on this systematic review and the framework proposed, the authors identified opportunities for future research. Research limitations/implications – The enablers and CF identified through SLR were not validated empirically. Therefore, future studies on the current topic are required to validate the framework by investigating which factors are more relevant to cluster-based companies that intend to improve their innovative performance. Practical implications – The present findings have important implications for the identification of the factors and subfactors that may contribute to the development of IC, which may help managers and decision-makers in recognizing which factors are the most responsible for business innovation. Originality/value – The paper identifies enablers related to the development of IC in industrial cluster and presents a research agenda. The framework represents a guideline for companies to achieve better innovation performance.

Abstract Effective protected areas reflect socio‐ecological values, such as biodiversity and habitat maintenance, as well as human well‐being. These values, which safeguard ecosystem services in protected areas, are treated as models for the sustainable preservation and use of resources. While there is much research on the effectiveness of protected areas in a variety of disciplines, the question is whether there is a common framework that uses remote sensing methods. We conducted a qualitative and a quantitative analysis of 44 peer‐reviewed scientific papers utilizing remote sensing data in order to examine the effectiveness of protected areas. Very few studies to date have a wide or even a global geographical focus; instead, most quantify the effectiveness of protected areas by focusing on local‐scale case studies and single indicators such as forest cover change. Methods that help integrate spatial selection approaches, to compare a protected area's characteristics with its surroundings, are increasingly being used. Based on this review, we argue for a multi‐indicator‐based framework on protected area effectiveness, including the development of a consistent set of socio‐ecological indicators for a global analysis. In turn, this will allow for globally applicable use, including a concrete evaluation that considers the diversity of regional parameters, biome‐specific variables, and political frameworks. Ideally, such a framework will enhance the monitoring and evaluation of global strategies and conventions.

Understanding the regulatory interactions that control gene expression during the development of novel tissues is a key goal of evolutionary developmental biology. Here, we show that Mbnl3 has undergone a striking process of evolutionary specialization in eutherian mammals resulting in the emergence of a novel placental function for the gene. Mbnl3 belongs to a family of RNA-binding proteins whose members regulate multiple aspects of RNA metabolism. We find that, in eutherians, while both Mbnl3 and its paralog Mbnl2 are strongly expressed in placenta, Mbnl3 expression has been lost from nonplacental tissues in association with the evolution of a novel promoter. Moreover, Mbnl3 has undergone accelerated protein sequence evolution leading to changes in its RNA-binding specificities and cellular localization. While Mbnl2 and Mbnl3 share partially redundant roles in regulating alternative splicing, polyadenylation site usage and, in turn, placenta maturation, Mbnl3 has also acquired novel biological functions. Specifically, Mbnl3 knockout (M3KO) alone results in increased placental growth associated with higher Myc expression. Furthermore, Mbnl3 loss increases fetal resource allocation during limiting conditions, suggesting that location of Mbnl3 on the X chromosome has led to its role in limiting placental growth, favoring the maternal side of the parental genetic conflict.

O escoamento superficial pode ocasionar enchentes urbanas e transportar alta carga de poluentes. O pavimento de concreto permeável pode reter poluentes presentes no escoamento superficial e reduzir seu volume. Desse modo, o efeito da percolação do escoamento superficial em pavimentos de concreto permeável executado com três diferentes métodos de dosagem, American Concrete Institute (ACI) (2010), Zheng, Chen e Wang (2012) e Nguyen et al. (2014) foi avaliado. O objetivo foi analisar a retenção de poluentes em pavimentos permeáveis e a interferência de diferentes vazões. Foram construídos três pavimentos em escala laboratorial, um para cada método de dosagem. Quanto à avaliação do efeito da percolação foram analisados os seguintes parâmetros no escoamento superficial natural e após a percolação: cor aparente, turbidez, pH, cobre, zinco e coliformes totais. ACI e Nguyen et al. obtiveram uma redução média superior a 65% para a turbidez e superior a 50% para a cor aparente. A remoção dos coliformes totais foi acima de 95% para os três métodos de dosagem. A redução na concentração de zinco foi semelhante para os três métodos de dosagem, para o cobre foi superior com o método de Nguyen et al., em média 83,8%.