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The genus Ulva is one of the most commonly commercially cultivated seaweeds both on land in ponds and in the open sea. As a crop, its cultivation is accompanied by three pest groups: (1) diseases caused by pathogenic bacteria, algae, virii, and fungi, which cause perforations, deterioration, and decreased growth of thalli; (2) various grazers, e.g. small crustaceans, gastropods, and non-defined invertebrates, which decrease growth and damage the thalli; and (3) an epiphytic biofilm of microorganisms, which also causes damage to the end-crop decreasing its yield and value. Mitigation categories against Ulva pests may be divided into three categories: (A) pro-active human intervention by washing the infected thalli with acid, fresh water, proprietary chemicals or CO2-saturated seawater, the use of methanolic Ulva extracts, or exudate from the green seaweed, all of which are reported to restrict pest activity; (B) using the beneficial properties of probiotic bacteria thereby eliciting antifouling activity, with selective abilities against pathogens of Ulva spp.; (C) enhancing the effects of environmental changes on pests, i.e. acidification and increased seawater temperature, which mainly decrease the grazer population and thereby their pressure. A summary of these studies is presented as a guide for rapid responses and applied management techniques for the amelioration of cultivation diseases, grazers, and harmful epiphytes affecting the foliose green alga Ulva spp. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The legal discourse surrounding euthanasia and assisted suicide continues to evolve, with a growing demand for comprehensive regulation. However, in England and Wales, assistance in dying remains prohibited. This article draws on criminal law theory to propose a compromising approach to cases of medical assistance in dying by creating a new criminal law defence. This defence will be available to a physician assisting a patient to die on the conditions of autonomy and beneficence. If this defence is successful, it will completely remove the physician's criminal liability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article explores the nature and development ofmilitary research in South Africa since 1994. Military research always unfolds within the idea and the broader context of security. Similar to the end of the First and Second World Wars, the end of the Cold War introduced a period of relative peace that translated into a liberal outlook on peace and security in the 1990s. Internationally, the so-called Copenhagen school of security studies suggests a deepening and broadening of the debate on security. Increasingly, strategic studies were replaced by security studies; with the debate on security in the 1990s becoming progressively normative and utopian in nature. By the end of the 1990s, especially after the 9/11 attacks, it was quite clear, however, that security still requires a careful attention of conflict, violence, and war; and that the state and the security institutions remain at the core of the idea of security. At the same time, defining security too widely, and including potentially everything that might negatively affect human affairs, the idea of security runs the risk of being too broad to be of any practical value. By the early 2000s, on an international scale, the focus on military force returned to its rightful place in International Relations (IR) as an area of research and study. South Africa in the 1990s embraced the idea of the deepening and broadening of the debate on security; and the notion of human security, in particular. As was the case under the apartheid regime before 1994, the 1996 White Paper on Defence was used to translate the idea of human security into policy. Unlike the era before 1994, however, the policy directive on human security was never really operationalised by means of an explicit national security strategy document. At face value, there was a declaratory focus by government on human security; in reality, however, thefocus shifted to an emphasis on African security under President Thabo Mbeki, regime security under the Jacob Zuma Administration, and the reality of national security under President Cyril Ramaphosa respectively. In the scholarly domain, however, the focus in research and teaching remained almost exclusively on the non-military and non-state dimensions of the idea of human security. Given this state of affairs, questions ought to be asked about the alignment between research on security in South Africa and the realities of insecurity facing the society at large; as well as to what extent the academic fraternity in South Africa is addressing the nuances of the security realities facing society in their research. As far as military research is concerned, the period after 1994 can be viewed as a period of growth and development for the Faculty of Military Science of the University of Stellenbosch at the Military Academy, Saldanha Bay. Whereas prior to 1994 the Faculty was primarily responsible for the undergraduate teaching of military officers, the focus of the institution shifted towards post-graduate teaching and research in the post-1994 era. This was predominantly due to the process of democratisation and developments in the sphere of global communications. It allowed the Faculty of Military Science to escape from its geographical and institutional isolation and to become integrated into the broader academic fraternity both in South Africa and abroad. The Faculty's research unfolded predominantly in the domain of the art of war rather than military science; with an emphasis on military history, strategic studies and international relations (IR). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Soybean is a crucial source of food, protein, and oil worldwide that is facing challenges from biotic stresses. Infestation of Tetranychus urticae Koch (Acari: Tetranychidae) stands out as detrimentally affecting plant growth and grain production. Understanding soybean responses to T. urticae infestation is pivotal for unravelling the dynamics of mite–plant interactions. We evaluated the physiological and molecular responses of soybean plants to mite infestation after 5 and 21 days.We employed visual/microscopy observations of leaf damage, H2O2 accumulation, and lipid peroxidation. Additionally, the impact of mite infestation on shoot length/dry weight, chlorophyll concentration, and development stages was analysed. Proteomic analysis identified differentially abundant proteins (DAPs) after early (5 days) and late (21 days) infestation. Furthermore, GO, KEGG, and protein–protein interaction analyses were performed to understand effects on metabolic pathways.Throughout the analysed period, symptoms of leaf damage, H2O2 accumulation, and lipid peroxidation consistently increased. Mite infestation reduced shoot length/dry weight, chlorophyll concentration, and development stage duration. Proteomics revealed 185 and 266 DAPs after early and late mite infestation, respectively, indicating a complex remodelling of metabolic pathways. Photorespiration, chlorophyll synthesis, amino acid metabolism, and Krebs cycle/energy production were impacted after both early and late infestation. Additionally, specific metabolic pathways were modified only after early or late infestation.This study underscores the detrimental effects of mite infestation on soybean physiology and metabolism. DAPs offer potential in breeding programs for enhanced resistance. Overall, this research highlights the complex nature of soybean response to mite infestation, providing insights for intervention and breeding strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Leadership is crucial for the success of a collective actor in reaching common goals. Its relevance is particularly visible in the EU, due to the difficulty in managing and converging a wide range of interests, especially in the intergovernmental field of defence. This article analyses Franco-German transactional leadership throughout the evolution of the EU's security and defence policy, with a focus on the effects of Brexit. By highlighting the concept of leadership in international relations, this study identifies Franco-German actions and strategies within the Common Security and Defence Policy, reflecting on how these have shaped European defence and how Brexit changed existing dynamics. We conclude that France and Germany have led the EU's security and defence project, albeit with limited success, with a shift towards a successful relaunch of EU defence in the aftermath of Brexit, aided by doubts over NATO and war in Ukraine. At the core of that limited success and representing the main obstacle lay diverging interests and strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

No one is perfect, and organisms that perform well in some habitat or with respect to some tasks, do so at the cost of performance in others: there are inescapable trade‐offs. Organismal trade‐offs govern the structure and function of ecosystems and attempts to demonstrate and quantify trade‐offs have therefore been an important goal for ecologists. In addition, trade‐offs are a key component in trait‐based ecosystem models. Here, I synthesise evidence of trade‐offs in plankton organisms, from bacteria to zooplankton, and show how a slow–fast gradient in life histories emerges. I focus on trade‐offs related to the main components of an organism's Darwinian fitness, that is resource acquisition, survival, and propagation. All consumers need to balance the need to eat without being eaten, and diurnal vertical migration, where zooplankton hide at depth during the day to avoid visual predators but at the cost of missed feeding opportunities in the productive surface layer, is probably the best documented result of this trade‐off. However, there are many other more subtle but equally important behaviours that similarly are the result of an optimisation of these trade‐offs. Most plankton groups have also developed more explicit defence mechanisms, such as toxin production or evasive behaviours that are harnessed in the presence of their predators; the costs of these have often proved difficult to quantify or even demonstrate, partly because they only materialise under natural conditions. Finally, all multicellular organisms must allocate time and resources among growth, reproduction, and maintenance (e.g. protein turnover and DNA repair), and mate finding may compromise both survival and feeding. The combined effects of all these trade‐offs is the emergence of a slow–fast gradient in the pace‐of‐life, likely the most fundamental principle for the organisation of organismal life histories. This crystallisation of trade‐offs may offer a path to further simplification of trait‐based models of marine ecosystems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While co-design methods are crucial for developing digital educational interventions that are user-centred, contextually relevant, inclusive, and effective in meeting the diverse needs of learners and educators, little attention has been paid to the potential value of co-design processes for digital application development in the Defence context. This research gauged the efficacy of combining a generative co-design framework making use of agile and iterative co-design principles in an applied research and development project. The project produced an immersive virtual reality based digital solution in collaboration with the Australian Defence Force Special Operations Command (SOCOMD) Army. Specifically, the ParaVerse project sought to develop a solution considering the advanced Tactics, Techniques and Procedures (TTPs) relevant to special operations soldiers for advanced parachute training. A Defence advisory group consisting of a series of subject matter experts was formulated to consult with the research and development team over the course of the co-design process. End-user testing with 35 SOCOMD personnel demonstrated the value of the ParaVerse application for SOCOMD personnel, speaking to the success of the leveraged generative co-design model. End-users rated ParaVerse as having greater capacity to influence education and training practices for SOCOMD and Defence generally in comparison to a pre-existing virtual parachute simulator. ParaVerse was also rated higher for satisfaction and useability and was associated with fewer instances of motion sickness. The Generative Co-Design Framework leveraged for this research provides one roadmap on how to integrate end-users in innovation design, particularly for projects working across the nexus of Defence and academia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article emphasises that in the context of a full-scale war and economic crisis, protection of Ukraine's leading industries becomes one of the state's priority tasks. Not only the economic independence of the country, but also its defence capability depends on the preservation and development of these industries. The article identifies the leading industries of Ukraine that require priority protection. The main risks and threats to these industries are analysed. A set of priority measures to protect the leading industries has been developed, including financial support, tax and customs benefits, state guarantees, creation of a favourable investment climate, technology modernisation and innovation, and protection of intellectual property. The implementation of the proposed measures will definitely contribute to strengthening the country's economic security and, accordingly, its defence capability. It is emphasised that in the context of globalisation and competition in international markets, it is extremely important to ensure the sustainability and competitiveness of key production sectors, including energy, machine building, and heavy industry. National priorities in this area should include the development and implementation of effective protection strategies, modernisation of the technological base, improvement of product quality, creation of a favourable investment climate and ener gy security. The author suggests that analysis of innovation trends, study of international experience and introduction of advanced technologies are key aspects of development and protection of leading industries. An effective system of intellectual property protection, implementation of effective cybersecurity and information security measures, and support of state programmes for the development of production capacities contribute to strengthening the protection of import ant sectors of the economy. The author concludes that studying and analysing the problems of protecting Ukraine's leading industries and developing national priorities in this regard are important tasks for ensuring the sustainability and competitiveness of the country's economy in the current conditions of geopolitical and economic challenges, as well as for the post-war reconstruc tion of the state. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Silicon (Si) is essential to the nutritional status of many monocot and dicot plant species, and it aids them in resisting abiotic and biotic challenges in various ways. This article explained the progress in exploring silicon-mediated resistance to sugarcane insect pests, its role in increasing juice quality attributes and cane production, the silicon status of soil and uptake by sugarcane plant, and the mechanisms involved. The aim is to determine the influence of different sources of Si application on the availability of silicon in soil, silicon uptake by plants, silicon effect in minimizing biotic stresses such as defence against sugarcane insect pest herbivory along with its effect on sugarcane yield in terms of juice and other component traits. There are two basic modes of action: enhanced physical or mechanical barriers and biochemical or molecular mechanisms that activate plant defence responses via bitrophic (plant-herbivore) interactions and tritrophic (plant-herbivore-natural enemy) interactions. By integrating the data reported in this research, a comprehensive understanding of the relationship between various sources of silicon treatments, increased sugarcane plant resistance and decreased sugarcane insect pest damage might be attained. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary Tomato is one of the most economically important vegetable crops in the world and has been seriously affected by the devastating agricultural pest root‐knot nematodes (RKNs). Current understanding of tomato resistance to RKNs is quite limited. VQ motif‐containing family proteins are plant‐specific regulators; however, whether and how tomato VQs regulate resistance to RKNs is unknown. Here, we found that SlVQ15 recruited SlWRKY30IIc to coordinately control tomato defence against the RKN Meloidogyne incognita without affecting plant growth and productivity. The jasmonate (JA)‐ZIM domain (JAZ) repressors of the phytohormone JAs signalling associated and interfered with the interaction of SlVQ15 and SlWRKY30IIc. In turn, SlWRKY30IIc bound to SlJAZs promoters and cooperated with SlVQ15 to repress their expression, whereas this inhibitory effect was antagonized by SlJAZ5, forming a feedback regulatory mechanism. Moreover, SlWRKY30IIc expression was directly regulated by SlMYC2, a SlJAZ‐interacting negative regulator of resistance to RKNs. In conclusion, our findings revealed that a regulatory circuit of SlVQ15‐SlWRKY30IIc and the JA pathway fine‐tunes tomato defence against the RKN M. incognita, and provided candidate genes and clues with great potential for crop improvement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper introduces a new perspective on analysing courtroom insincerity by focusing on questions asked by lawyers in the Malawi criminal justice system. The study aimed at examining the linguistic tools of tracing insincerity in lawyers' questions; the varying degrees of insincerity in defence and prosecution lawyers and their rationale for making such choices. The study argues that courtroom setting is a war zone where different parties have divergent goals. Such encounters are much likely to yield higher chances of insincerity, which can be manifested in the questions lawyers ask. The analysis is based on data from four criminal cases, which were collected from the High Court of Malawi. My framework of analysing insincerity in questions examines the prescribed degrees of control that questions exert on the witnesses in relation to their productiveness. The findings indicate that, when examining witnesses, prosecutors exercise less insincerity while defence lawyers opt for questions with high insincerity. These imbalances in language use are enshrined in and supported by law in its statutes. The findings of this study have jurisprudential implications, especially in Africa which is internationally less represented in the studies of language and law. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To ensure their vital role in disseminating the species, dormant seeds have developed adaptive strategies to protect themselves against pathogens and predators. This is orchestrated through the synthesis of an array of constitutive defences that are put in place in a developmentally regulated manner, which are the focus of this review. We summarize the defence activity and the nature of the molecules coming from the exudate of imbibing seeds that leak into their vicinity, also referred to as the spermosphere. As a second layer of protection, the dual role of the seed coat will be discussed; as a physical barrier and a multi-layered reservoir of defence compounds that are synthesized during seed development. Since imbibed dormant seeds can persist in the soil for extensive periods, we address the question of whether during this time a constitutively regulated defence programme is switched on to provide further protection, via the well-defined pathogenesis-related (PR) protein family. In addition, we review the hormonal and signalling pathways that might be involved in the interplay between dormancy and defence and point out questions that need further attention. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite the consistently positive rhetoric surrounding the Trans-Tasman alliance, this article identifies three trends contributing to a growing strategic divergence in the relationship that threaten its very viability. First, Australia's engagement with numerous new security groupings over the past decade has diminished the relative importance of its ties with New Zealand. Second, the 'strategic personalities' of these antipodean allies are diverging, driven by a widening gap in their defence expenditures and increasingly distinct strategic relationships with the United States. Third, the article highlights how Canberra and New Zealand have embraced different visions for Asia's strategic future, reflecting and exacerbating their divergence. The article concludes with policy recommendations aimed at understanding and addressing the deepening drift in Trans-Tasman strategic relations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine has exposed divisions in European strategic culture and threat perception. The search for a lowest-common-denominator response to the threat has hampered the European reply to the Russian aggression, often forcing the EU to move at the speed of its slowest member, whether in supplying ammunition and equipment to Ukraine or setting up the defence industry needed to accelerate such a supply in the future. Notwithstanding the importance of keeping a broad coalition together, this article argues that it is now time to create a vanguard of like-minded European nations, led by France, Poland and, though not an EU member, the UK, but open to other states, which can force the creation of a new strategic culture able to meet the Russian threat. This 'Beowulf Group', named after the Danish hero from the Anglo-Saxon epic who stood up to the marauding monster Grendel, could establish a Strategic College for Europe, a joint Elite European Reserve Legion and a strategic communications centre, to move European policy in a more active direction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although angiosperm plants generally react to immunity elicitors like chitin or chitosan by the cell wall callose deposition, this response in particular cell types, especially upon chitosan treatment, is not fully understood. Here we show that the growing root hairs (RHs) of Arabidopsis can respond to a mild (0.001%) chitosan treatment by the callose deposition and by a deceleration of the RH growth. We demonstrate that the glucan synthase‐like 5/PMR4 is vital for chitosan‐induced callose deposition but not for RH growth inhibition. Upon the higher chitosan concentration (0.01%) treatment, RHs do not deposit callose, while growth inhibition is prominent. To understand the molecular and cellular mechanisms underpinning the responses to two chitosan treatments, we analysed early Ca2+ and defence‐related signalling, gene expression, cell wall and RH cellular endomembrane modifications. Chitosan‐induced callose deposition is also present in the several other plant species, including functionally analogous and evolutionarily only distantly related RH‐like structures such as rhizoids of bryophytes. Our results point to the RH callose deposition as a conserved strategy of soil‐anchoring plant cells to cope with mild biotic stress. However, high chitosan concentration prominently disturbs RH intracellular dynamics, tip‐localised endomembrane compartments, growth and viability, precluding callose deposition. Summary statement: The root hairs (RHs) of Arabidopsis, when exposed to elicitor chitosan, deposit callose and change the growth rate. This is accompanied by altered signalling, gene expression, and is linked to altered pectin methylation state. Our research highlights the evolutionarily conserved role of RHs in environmental sensing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Based on the analysis of theoretical approaches to the essence of the institute of detention of a person, the article substantiates the position that detention is a procedural action which has a temporary restrictive nature of the rights of a person who was detained during the commission or attempted commission of a criminal offence, immediately after the commission of a criminal offence or during the continuous prosecution of a person suspected of a criminal offence, and which aims to ensure further pre-trial investigation, clarification of the circumstances of the event which occurred. Based on the generalisation of the provisions of international legal acts and taking into account the case law of the European Court of Human Rights, the author defines the standards for providing legal aid to a person detained on suspicion of committing a criminal offence. It is established that the special international standards, compliance with which is crucial for ensuring the rights of a detainee and which also guarantee the effectiveness of legal aid received by a detainee, include 1) the principle of confidentiality in the course of communication between a detainee and a defence lawyer; 2) the principle of verification of the legality of detention without delay; 3) the principle of appealing against the failure to ensure the rights of a detainee or their violation; 4) the principle of independent and free choice of one's legal position. The following are proposed to be the sectoral international standards, compliance with which is crucial for ensuring the rights of a detainee, and which also guarantee the effectiveness of legal aid received by a detainee 1) the principle of confidentiality in the course of a detainee’s communication with a defence lawyer; 2) the principle of verification of the legality of detention without delay; 3) the principle of appealing against the failure to ensure the detainee’s rights or their violation; 4) the principle of independent and free choice of one’s legal position. The emphasis is placed on the fact that the prospects for further research should be to determine the legal mechanisms for implementing the outlined standards into the national practice of law enforcement and judicial authorities.