MUSE IFU observations of galaxies hosting of Tidal Disruption Events

We present an analysis of twenty tidal disruption event (TDE) host galaxies observed with the MUSE integral-field spectrograph on ESO VLT. We investigate the presence of extended emission line regions (EELRs) and study stellar populations mostly at sub-kpc scale around the host nuclei. EELRs are detected in 5/20 hosts, including two unreported systems. All EELRs are found at z < 0.045, suggesting a distance bias and faint EELRs may be missed at higher redshift. EELRs only appear in post-merger systems and all such hosts at z < 0.045 show them. Thus, we conclude that TDEs and galaxy mergers have a strong relation, and >45% of post-merger hosts in the sample exhibit EELRs. Furthermore, we constrained the distributions of stellar masses near the central black holes (BHs), using the spectral synthesis code Starlight and BPASS stellar evolution models. The youngest nuclear populations have typical ages of ∼1 Gyr and stellar masses below 2.5M⊙. The populations that can produce observable TDEs around non-rotating BHs are dominated by subsolar-mass stars. 3/4 TDEs requiring larger stellar masses exhibit multi-peaked light curves, possibly implying relation to repeated partial disruptions of high-mass stars. The found distributions are in tension with the masses of the stars derived using light curve models. Mass segregation of the disrupted stars can enhance the rate of TDEs from supersolar-mass stars but our study implies that low-mass TDEs should still be abundant and even dominate the distribution, unless there is a mechanism that prohibits low-mass TDEs or their detection

Towards real-time pork breed and boar taint classification using rapid evaporative ionisation mass spectrometry

To help counteract food fraud and meet consumer expectations, the pork industry requires reliable quality-monitoring and traceability systems. In this context, rapid evaporative ionisation mass spectrometry (REIMS) could be rolled out as a real-time, accurate metabolic fingerprint-based classifier of pork meat characteristics and quality issues, such as genetic origin and boar taint. Here, fingerprinting of >3000 pig neck fat samples enabled highly accurate pig breed classification (pairwise comparison of Commercials (Pietrain × Hampshires × Durocs, Large-Whites, Durocs), Hampshires and Large-Whites, where data modelling using support vector machine (SVM, all pairwise comparisons > 89%) and orthogonal partial least squares-discriminant analysis (OPLS-DA, >90%) outperformed random forest (RF, 72.0–79.5%). Boar taint classification showed comparable results between OPLS-DA, RF and SVM (93.5–96.0%), but it was important to apply strategies to avoid false negatives and positives, including the construction of balanced models (tainted vs. non-tainted)

Understanding and implementing the UN guiding principles on business and human rights

The UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (UNGPs) emerged in response to recognition of the need for corporate accountability in an increasingly globalized economy. They represent a fundamental framework for addressing the responsibility of businesses to uphold human rights, advocating for the state duty to protect human rights, the corporate responsibility to respect human rights, and the need for effective remedy for victims of corporate human rights abuse.The UNGPs go beyond voluntary corporate social responsibility efforts, emphasizing enforceable standards and proactive engagement with human rights issues. Legal professionals play a pivotal role in helping companies align with these principles, ensuring compliance, managing risks, and preparing for emerging litigation trends. As the global push for corporate accountability intensifies, the UNGPs form a central part of sustainable business practices and are integral when advising clients in a rapidly evolving regulatory environment. With many countries, particularly in Europe, enacting mandatory human rights and environmental due diligence laws inspired by the UNGPs, companies are now facing binding requirements to prevent and address human rights abuses within their operations and supply chains.The UNGPs’ impact on the legal profession is likely to grow, making this article a timely snapshot of current developments. It begins by briefly outlining the historical context and evolution of the business and human rights movement, leading to the development of the UNGPs. It then explores each of the UNGPs’ three pillars—the state duty to protect, corporate responsibility to respect, and access to remedy—along with their application and implications for legal practice, concluding with emerging trends and challenges in business and human rights regulation and litigation

'New' poetry of the Spanish golden age

What lyric poetry is and why it matters are questions that acquire a distinct complexion in different socio-historical contexts. This chapter casts a critical eye over lyric’s ‘new’ cartography in Imperial Spain, exploring ‘path-following’ as a master metaphor that accommodates the socio-political imperatives, theoretical underpinnings and evolving poetic practise of the period. The chapter has two over-arching objectives: to apprehend the individuating paths of Renaissance ‘new’ Italianate lyric in their relationship to a shared, collective, imaginary and to broader cultural practices; to attend to lyric’s foregrounding of language in all its material dimensions (thereby interrogating the “unique temporality” which Culler identified in lyric’s ‘special’ texturing). Analysis of the diverse lyric ‘events’ of language that were produced in the belated context of Spanish Renaissance humanism, will demonstrate how their transformative, self-making, properties, so effectively articulated the trauma of individual being, while also speaking to the anxieties of communal histories

Global governance: Why bother?

It may seem like a slightly rhetorical or cynical question to ask, why bother with global governance? With so many global crises, it is easy to feel overwhelmed and dismiss global governance as a useless pursuit. Whether it is the relentless wars in Gaza, Sudan or Ukraine, full of death and unimaginable and irreparable harm, or the fact that global inequality appears to be growing, global governance seems a bygone conversation. Yet, the unrelenting march of people driven climate change and the quite apparent transformation of the world around us require us to reflect on, even what has, on many counts, failed. The continued gaps in wealth between individuals, regions and countries and the resultant life expectations and opportunities that emerge from those gaps, may make pondering global governance indulgent, yet it is also these reasons that make it essential

Global AI policies and international business

How best to make sure that AI systems used in business and society are safe, transparent, traceable, non-discriminatory, and environmentally compatible is rapidly becoming a public policy priority. The European Union’s Parliament, for example, has tried to establish a technology-neutral, uniform definition for AI that could be applied to future AI systems. The institution defines AI as “the ability of a machine to display human-like capabilities such as reasoning, learning, planning and creativity.” Tensions exist between those who are involved in regulating AI, governments and large technology firms, and the design of AI policies to ensure a balance between safe and responsible AI and international competitiveness. In this chapter we present a snapshot of the current AI policies and frameworks from the pivotal actors in AI governance. We also discuss the role of corporate actors in influencing AI regulation and how global AI policies impact international business and innovation. Of particular importance is to ask, Qui bono? – who benefits? – and whether AI risks entrenching economic inequality and exacerbating structural injustice between societal groups and power imbalances between the Global North and the Global South, potentially amplifying the risks and harms, and reducing the benefits of AI for the latter. We argue that AI regulation is further complicated by the fact that AI policies not only reflect national priorities but also mirror the deeply engrained cultural values of the society in which they are developed. Finally, we propose several solutions for the responsible development of AI regulation that balances AI’s potential with protecting global societal welfare.<br/

Cohesive zone modelling of mesoscale thin ply bridging in CFRP composites

Fibre bridging is a phenomenon which resists crack propagation during Mode I fracture toughness (GIC) tests of Fibre Reinforced Polymer (FRP) composite materials, causing an increased demand for energy with increasing crack extension. Ply bridging, where the entire ply locally bridges the propagating crack, has not been studied for its toughening effects. A thin Spread Tow (ST) Uni-directional (UD) tape (32 g/m2) is applied to the mid-plane of a Carbon Fibre Reinforced Polymer (CFRP) composite laminate to induce ply bridging. This stochastic generation of ply bridging increased the Mode I fracture toughness at initiation and propagation by 118.8 % and 126 % respectively, compared to the control, which is a non-ST UD interface, with an areal weight of 150 g/m2. Both interfaces were modelled using a bi-linear softening law embedded in the cohesive elements during cohesive zone modelling. Excellent agreement in terms of force–displacement behaviour, peak force, crack front shapes taken from micro-CT (micro-Computed Tomography) evaluation and also crack extensions were observed. This study highlights the possibility of this phenomenon to greatly increase the fracture toughness of CFRP composites by splitting the matrix-rich interlaminar region into two smaller planes surrounding the thin ply interleaf.<br/