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Osteoderms, skeletal structures in the skin, are found in many animals and serve diverse roles. In some lizards, the bony osteoderm has a capping tissue (CT) whose composition and structure remain unknown. Here, the composition and nanostructure of osteoderms from the Mexican beaded lizard (Heloderma horridum) are investigated. The CT is highly mineralized with an extraordinarily high elastic modu

The majority of soil carbon (C) is stored in organic matter associated with reactive minerals. These mineral-organic associations (MOAs) inhibit microbial and enzymatic access to organic matter, suggesting that organic C within MOAs is resistant to decomposition. However, plant roots and rhizosphere microbes are known to transform minerals through dissolution and exchange reactions, implying that

Globular clusters (GCs) are among the oldest and densest stellar systems in the Universe, yet how they form remains a mystery1. Here we present a suite of cosmological simulations in which both dark-matter-free GCs and dark-matter-rich dwarf galaxies naturally emerge in the Standard Cosmology. We show that these objects inhabit distinct locations in the size–luminosity plane and that they have sim

In this work we find a unifying scheme for the known explicit complex-valued eigenfunctions on the classical compact Riemannian symmetric spaces. For this we employ the well-known Cartan embedding for those spaces. This also leads to the construction of new eigenfunctions on the quaternionic Grassmannians

With their superficially shark-like appearance, the Mesozoic ichthyosaurs provide a classic illustration of major morphological adaptations in an ancestrally terrestrial tetrapod lineage following the invasion of marine habitats1, 2–3. Much of what is known about ichthyosaur soft tissues derives from specimens with body outlines4, 5–6. However, despite offering insights into aspects of biology tha

Let $G$ be a Lie group equipped with a left-invariant Riemannian metric. Let $K$ be a semisimple and normal subgroup of $G$ generating a left-invariant conformal foliation $\F$ on $G$. We then show that the foliation $\F$ is Riemannian and minimal. This means that locally the leaves of $\F$ are fibres of a harmonic morphism. We also prove that if the metric restricted to $K$ is biinvariant then $\

BACKGROUND: Long COVID and cardiovascular autonomic dysfunction, including postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (POTS), present significant healthcare challenges. Long-term monitoring is challenging due to the evolving nature of symptoms and the limited availability of objective diagnostic tools. With over 200 million electrocardiogram (ECG)-enabled smartwatches sold worldwide, these devices

This paper provides a comprehensive overview of quantile-parameterized distributions (QPDs) as a tool for capturing expert predictions and parametric judgments. We survey a range of methods for constructing distributions that are parameterized by a set of quantile-probability pairs and describe an approach to generalizing them to enhance their tail flexibility. Furthermore, we explore the extensio

ODIN (Optical and Diffraction Imaging with Neutrons) is a general purpose imaging in- strument under construction at the European Spallation Source (ESS). The instrument will provide the scientific community with a wide array of neutron imaging techniques, including neutron tomography. Coupled with an integrated X-ray source, the instrument will feature multi-modal capabilities. The complementary

The purpose of this research was to explore the relationship between war and media in the context of the Israel-Hamas war, which broke out after Hamas attacked Israel on October 7th, 2023. The textual news content of two sources were selected for analysis, CNN, in the first three months of conflict, and IRNA, in the first week of conflict. An exploratory mixed methods research was devised for unde

Plattrambroar är den vanligaste brotypen i Sverige. Dessa konstruktioner är robusta och motståndskraftiga, med förmåga att ta upp betydande laster och motstå deformationer. På grund av strukturens utformning genereras stora tvångskrafter vid infästningen mellan farbana och ramben vid temperaturlaster såsom temperaturskillnad mellan konstruktionsdelar och temperaturgradienter i broplattan. Dessa tv

This thesis explores BDSM as a socially embedded, ethically complex, and transformative practice situated at the intersection of intimacy, power, and identity. Drawing on qualitative data from an anonymous online survey of thirty-eight BDSM practitioners, the study analyzes how power, consent, performance, and rituals function both as personal expressions and as practices shaped by broader social

This study investigates the impacts of rural tourism on the livelihoods of communities in the Sigiriya region of Sri Lanka, a UNESCO World Heritage site celebrated for its cultural and natural heritage. Adopting a qualitative case study approach, it integrates the Sustainable Livelihoods Framework (SLF) and Dependency Theory to examine both the developmental opportunities and structural constraint

Obstetric violence, also known as mistreatment or abuse during childbirth, is gaining recognition in the reproductive justice and global health arenas. Research to date has underscored its global prevalence, long-lasting impacts on individuals, and contributing forms of structural and gendered violence. However, attention is lacking on how discourses about obstetric violence are constructed and di

Vatten är en livsviktig men samtidigt alltmer omstridd resurs, särskilt i områden där ekologisk sårbarhet möter konkurrerande socioekonomiska behov. Denna avhandling analyserar styrningsdynamiken inom Machángara Watershed Conservation Committee i Cuenca, Ecuador – en flerpartsplattform där offentliga institutioner, lokala myndigheter, akademin och sektoriella aktörer samverkar för att skydda ett kWater is an essential yet increasingly contested resource, particularly in regions where ecological vulnerability intersects with competing socio-economic demands. This thesis examines the governance dynamics of the Machángara Watershed Conservation Committee in Cuenca, Ecuador — a multi-stakeholder platform bringing together public institutions, local governments, academia, and sectoral actors to

Since the country’s graduation from the United Nations Least Developed Countries (UNLDC) list in 2015, there has been a sharp drop in foreign aid inflows in Bangladesh, whichforced many NGOs to reconsider their business models in managing organizational operatingfinances. This study identifies that development-NGOs are confronted with multiple internaland external challenges like decreased commitm

This study examines determinants of child marriage among women in Zimbabwe using data from the 2015 Demographic and Health Survey and the 7th wave of the World Values Survey. The purpose is to assess the effect that individual-level empowerment, and community-level social norms have on child marriages in Zimbabwe, testing if: H1 Higher levels of empowerment on an individual level is associated wit

Background.In some regions, including the Baltic Sea, fatty fish such as salmon and herring contain high levels of polychlorinated dibenzodioxins and dibenzofurans. We investigated human exposure to these potentially toxic substances in relation to the consumption of fish from the Baltic Sea.Methods.Plasma levels of 10 different dibenzofurans and 7 dioxins were analyzed in three groups of Swedish

We study transportation networks controlled by dynamical feedback tolls. We consider a multiscale transportation network model whereby the dynamics of the traffic flows are intertwined with those of the drivers' route choices. The latter are influenced by the congestion status on the whole network as well as dynamic tolls set by the system operator. Our main result shows that a broad class of dece

The spread of new beliefs, behaviors, conventions, norms, and technologies in social and economic networks are often driven by cascading mechanisms, and so are contagion dynamics in financial networks. Global behaviors generally emerge from the interplay between the structure of the interconnection topology and the local agents' interactions. We focus on the Threshold Model (TM) of cascades first