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The territorial defeat of the Islamic State (IS) in Iraq in 2019 marked a turning point in the country’s security and political order, foregrounding the challenge of integrating powerful Shia militias into formal politics while preserving state authority and democratic processes. This study examines why some militias have been more successful than others in translating wartime influence into elect

This essay discusses the notion of populist leaders using securitization to describe domestic political movements. The analysis consists of all speeches, remarks and interviews made by Trump one month after the first George Floyd protest in 2020, and one month after the storming of the Capitol on January 6, 2021 respectively. By using the securitization theory, especially focusing on existential t

This study examines whether state legitimacy can contribute to peace by analyzing how legitimacy has impacted levels of negative peace in Somalia and Somaliland since the collapse of the Somali state in 1991. Despite their similar historical cultural and social societal foundations, the two entities have followed remarking different political trajectories, with Somaliland experiencing significantl

This paper analyses 56 speeches, statements and press releases made by the European Commission 3 months before and 3 months after the Russian invasion of Ukraine. By utilising a framework that combines theories of sustainability and securitisation, as well as building on existing literature about the European Green Deal and REPowerEU, this essay examines how the invasion affected the balance bet

Soil microorganisms regulate carbon (C) cycling, and their growth and respiration are strongly dependent on temperature. Yet it remains unclear how warming alters microbial thermal traits, community structure, and the balance between microbial respiration and growth, particularly in subtropical ecosystems where high temperatures coincide with low soil moisture, potentially constraining microbial a

Gliomas that express the mutated isoforms of isocitrate dehydrogenase 1/2 (IDH1/2) have better prognosis than wild-type (wt) IDH1/2 gliomas. However, how these mutant (mut) proteins affect the tumor microenvironment is still a pending question. Here, we describe that the transcription of microtubule-associated protein TAU (MAPT), a gene that has been classically associated with neurodegenerative d

Plants can evolve rapidly after pollinator changes, but the response of different floral traits to novel selection can vary. Floral morphology is often expected to show high integration to maintain pollination accuracy, while nectar traits can be more environmentally sensitive. The relative role of genetic correlations and phenotypic plasticity (PP) in floral evolution remains unclear, particularl

Spherical motion is a special case of camera motion where the camera moves on the imaginary surface of a sphere with the optical axis normal to the surface. Common sources of spherical motion are a person capturing a stereo panorama with a phone held in an outstretched hand, or a hemi-spherical camera rig used for multi-view scene capture. However, traditional structure-from-motion pipelines tend

Lines and points are complementary local features, whose combination has proven effective for applications such as SLAM and Structure-from-Motion. The backbone of these pipelines are the local feature matchers, establishing correspondences across images. Traditionally, point and line matching have been treated as independent tasks. Recently, GlueStick proposed a GNN-based network that simultane-ou

BACKGROUND: Early-life exposure to per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) may impact the developing lungs and immune system and increase the risk of childhood asthma, but no studies have been conducted in a high-exposed population. The objective of this study was to estimate associations between prenatal PFAS exposure and childhood incidence of asthma and wheeze in Blekinge County, Sweden, whe

BackgroundSuicide is a leading cause of premature mortality worldwide, but the impact of system-level mental health resources remains unclear despite the central role of psychiatric inpatient care and declining bed capacity. Prior research has yielded inconsistent findings with limited control for confounding. We aimed to estimate the effect of psychiatric inpatient bed availability on suicide mor

In a microbial fuel cell (MFC), exoelectrogens, which transfer electrons to the electrode, have been regarded as a key factor for electricity generation. In this study, U-tube MFC and plating methods were used to isolate exoelectrogens from the anode of an MFC. Disparate microorganisms were identified depending on isolation methods, despite the use of an identical source. Denaturing gel gradient e

Hydraulic balancing is key to ensure proper operation of the heating system. When the heating system is not hydraulically balanced, heat is unevenly distributed across dwellings resulting in a wide temperature spread, overheating, and consequently, wastage of energy. In this paper, we study to which extent hydraulic imbalance affects the thermal energy demand of buildings. Furthermore, key variabl

Energy efficiency programmes (EEPs) are schemes operated by utilities or other bodies in order to incentivize energy efficiency improvement, in particular by adoption of energy-efficient products and typically by means of an economic reward. Ample experience has been gained, especially in the U.S., where EEPs have been in use for decades, with the rationale of avoiding additional energy supply by

Hydraulic balancing of heat distribution systems in buildings plays an important role in improving indoor thermal conditions as well as reducing energy consumption for space heating. Building energy models typically do not incorporate thermal comfort while it is essential for hydraulic balancing to do so. This paper proposes a methodology that assesses the impact of hydraulic balancing on the ener

In the Swiss canton of Geneva, an energy efficiency portfolio has been operated since 2009. In contrast, such programs have been in place for more than 40 years in the US. There are numerous lessons to be learnt from their experience. We have therefore conducted a comparative analysis including Geneva and 11 leading states in the US, with the objective to identify explanatory factors for the succe

Heating systems must be subjected to hydraulic balancing in order to ensure proper operation. When the heating system is hydraulically imbalanced, heat is unevenly distributed across dwellings resulting in a large temperature spread, overheating, and consequently, waste of energy. In this study, we investigate the extent to which hydraulic imbalance affects the thermal energy consumption in buildi