Translational regulation contributes to the elevated CO2 response in two Solanum species.

Understanding the impact of elevated CO2 (eCO2 ) in global agriculture is important given climate change projections. Breeding climate-resilient crops depends on genetic variation within naturally varying populations. The effect of genetic variation in response to eCO2 is poorly understood, especially in crop species. We describe the different ways in which Solanum lycopersicum and its wild relative S. pennellii respond to eCO2 , from cell anatomy, to the transcriptome, and metabolome. We further validate the importance of translational regulation as a potential mechanism for plants to adaptively respond to rising levels of atmospheric CO2

Optical and magneto-optical properties of gold core cobalt shell magnetoplasmonic nanowire arrays

In this work we present core–shell nanowire arrays of gold coated with a nanometric layer of cobalt. Despite the extremely small Co volume, these core–shell nanowires display large magneto-optical activity and plasmonic resonance determined by the geometry of the structure. Therefore, we are able to tune both the plasmonic and magneto-optical response in the visible range. Through optical and ellipsometric measurements in transmission, and applying a magnetic field to the sample, it is possible to modulate the value of the phase angle (Del {Δ}) between the S and P polarised components. It was found that the core–shell sample produced an order of magnitude larger variation in Del with changing magnetic field direction, compared with hollow cobalt tubes. The enhancement of magneto optical properties through the plasmonic nature of the gold core is complemented with the ability to induce magnetic influence over optical properties via an externally applied field. Moreover, we demonstrate for the first time the ability to use the remanent magnetisation of the Co, in conjunction with the optical properties defined by the Au, to observe remanent optical states in this uniquely designed structure. This new class of magnetoplasmonic metamaterial has great potential in a wide range of applications, from bio-sensing to data storage due to the tuneable nature of multiple resonance modes and dual functionality

Foreign policy and political possibility

This article explores the relationship between foreign policy and political possibility in two parts. First, the relationship between foreign policy and political possibility is theorized around three analytical moments: political possibility is linked to the framing of conceivable, communicable and coercive foreign policy. Second, this framework is developed and demonstrated through a brief analysis of Coalition foreign policy in the War on Terror, considering American, British and Australian foreign policy between 2001 and 2003. This analysis dissects distinct and divergent Coalition foreign policies through a linked three-part conceptualization of political possibility. It enables an understanding of how the War on Terror was rendered possible through the construction of foreign policy in thinkable, resonant and ultimately dominant terms. The article concludes by looking to the wider analytical applicability of this particular theorization of the relationship between foreign policy and political possibility

The Hybrid Legal Geographies of a War Crimes Court

This paper explores the implications of understanding war crime trials as hybrid legal spaces. Drawing on twelve months of residential fieldwork in the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Sarajevo, it examines the circulation of evidence, the choreography of the court room and the nature and possibilities for legal observation. Analyzing hybrid legal geographies foregrounds the material and embodied nature of trials, illuminating the forms of comportment, categorization and exclusion through which law establishes its legitimacy. Rather than emphasizing separation and distance, the lens of hybridity illuminates the multiple ways in which war crimes trials are grounded in the social and political context of present day Bosnia and Herzegovina. Consequently this analysis traces the disjuncture between the imagined geographies of legal jurisdiction and the material and embodied spaces of trial practices. In conclusion we argue that the establishment of the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina illustrates the tensions that emerge when an institution of trial justice is used to strengthen the coherence of a post-conflict state.This paper is based on research funded by the Economic and Social Research Council (RES-061-25-0479).This is the accepted manuscript. The final version is available from http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/00045608.2014.892365

Politicizing Memory: Evidence from Ukraine

Research shows that people’s perceptions of historical violence shape many present-day outcomes. Yet it is also plausible that people emphasize or downplay certain events of the past based on how these resonate with their beliefs and identities today. With a population of diverse orientations involving Russia and Europe, Ukraine in 2019 was an important case for exploring how people’s present geopolitical orientations shaped perceptions of victimization in World War II. Drawing on a survey experiment, we find evidence for “motivated reasoning” among Western-oriented respondents, who emphasized their family’s suffering in World War II when faced with information that attributed blame to the Soviet regime. We find no evidence for motivated reasoning among the Russian-oriented respondents

The challenges of surveying in war zones: Lessons from Ukraine

Conflict scholars commonly employ public opinion surveys to understand the causes and consequences of violence. However, surveying in wartime presents a distinctive set of challenges. We examine two challenges facing polling in countries at war: under-coverage of national samples and response bias. Although these issues are acknowledged in the literature on surveying methods, they become significantly more pronounced in war zones due to the geographic clustering of violence and the heightened sensitivity surrounding certain opinions. We illustrate these challenges in the context of the ongoing Russia–Ukraine war, drawing on original panel survey data tracing the attitudes of the same people in Ukraine prior to and after Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022. We show that unit and item non-response bias in surveys conducted during the war are related to respondents’ political orientation, particularly their support for NATO membership measured in 2019. We conclude with lessons for those employing survey methods in wartime, and point to steps forward, in Ukraine and beyond

Howard's War on Terror: A Conceivable, Communicable and Coercive Foreign Policy Discourse

This article explores the relationship between language and political possibility. It is argued that John Howard’s language from 11 September 2001 to mid 2003 helped to enable the ‘War on Terror’ in an Australian context in three principal ways. Firstly, through contingent and contestable constructions of Australia, the world and their relationship, Howard’s language made interventionism conceivable. Secondly, emphasising shared values, mateship and mutual sacrifice in war, Howard embedded his foreign policy discourse in the cultural terrain of ‘mainstream Australia’, specifically framing a foreign policy discourse that was communicable to ‘battlers’ and disillusioned ‘Hansonites’. Thirdly, positioning alternatives as ‘un-Australian’, Howard’s language was particularly coercive, silencing potential oppositional voices

Unambiguous detection of nitrated explosive vapours by fluorescence quenching of dendrimer films

Unambiguous and selective standoff (non-contact) infield detection of nitro-containingexplosives and taggants is an important goal but difficult to achieve with standard analyticaltechniques. Oxidative fluorescence quenching is emerging as a high sensitivity method fordetecting such materials but is prone to false positives—everyday items such as perfumeselicit similar responses. Here we report thin films of light-emitting dendrimers that detectvapours of explosives and taggants selectively—fluorescence quenching is not observed for arange of common interferents. Using a combination of neutron reflectometry, quartz crystalmicrobalance and photophysical measurements we show that the origin of the selectivity isprimarily electronic and not the diffusion kinetics of the analyte or its distribution in the film.The results are a major advance in the development of sensing materials for the standoffdetection of nitro-based explosive vapours, and deliver significant insights into the physicalprocesses that govern the sensing efficacy

Beyond spheres of influence: the myth of the state and Russia’s seductive power in Kyrgyzstan

This article questions the analytical value of “spheres of influence” for understanding power and the state in the post-Soviet region and beyond, based on a critical deconstruction of the ontological and epistemological assumptions inherent in the concept. It proposes an alternative reading of power and the state, drawing on the concept of “seductive power” at a distance and Timothy Mitchell’s “state effect.” Rather than the concept of a sphere of influence, a highly politicized concept that conveys an ontology that flattens and divides space, essentializes the state, and relies on an intentionalist account of power, we need an analytical framework that can help us make sense of the multiple, varied spatialities and historical legacies that produce the state and power. I demonstrate this through an extended discussion of Russian power in Kyrgyzstan, a country often described as a Russian client state. Mobilizing recent re-conceptualizations of state and power in anthropology and political geography, I present an analysis of Russia’s seductive power in Kyrgyzstan and the way it contributes to producing Kyrgyz state-ness. I also show how Russia’s Great Power myth is itself evolving and conclude that the differentiated, relational production of space and power in either Kyrgyz or Russian myths of the state is not captured by a the concept of a return to spheres of influence