The ‘waves and ebbs’ model proposed by Huntington in his 1991's The Third Wave has profoundly shaped how scholars interpret global trends of democratization and autocratization, but has also received criticisms, especially concerning its ability to explain regime change in the three decades following the end of the Cold War. I contend that, rather than an alternation between democratization waves and authoritarian ebbs, the post-Cold War period could be more fruitfully described as a phase of ‘regime convergence’ characterized by a tendency of both democracies and autocracies to shift towards hybrid forms of political regime. By showing that between 1990 and 2023 transitions to hybrid regimes significantly exceeded transitions in other directions, I demonstrate the empirical relevance of hybridization as a process affecting both democracies and autocracies, and I encourage renewed attention to this phenomenon distinct from both democratization and autocratization.

Transgressive segregation refers to the phenomenon whereby the progeny of a diverse cross exhibit phenotypes that fall outside the range of the parents for a particular trait of interest. Segregants that exceed the parental values in life history traits contributing to survival and reproduction may represent beneficial new allelic combinations that are fitter than respective parental genotypes. In this research, we use geographically disparate paraquat resistant biotypes of horseweed (Canada fleabane) [Conyza canadensis (L.) Cronquist; syn. Erigeron canadensis L.] to explore transgressive segregation in biomass accumulation and the inheritance of the paraquat resistance trait in this highly self-fertilizing species. Results of this research indicated that the paraquat resistance traits in E. canadensis biotypes originating in California, USA and Ontario, Canada were not conferred by single major gene mechanisms. Segregating generations from crosses among resistant and susceptible biotypes all displayed transgressive segregation in biomass accumulation in the absence of the original selective agent, paraquat. However, when challenged with a discriminating dose of paraquat, progeny from the crosses of susceptible x resistant and resistant x resistant biotypes displayed contrasting responses with those arising from the cross of two resistant biotypes no longer displaying transgressive segregation. These results support the prediction that transgressive segregation is frequently expressed in self-fertilizing lineages and is positively correlated with the genetic diversity of the parental genotypes. When exposed to a new environment, transgressive segregation was observed regardless of parental identity or history. However, if hybrid progenies were returned to the parental environment with exposure to paraquat, the identity of fittest genotype (i.e., parent or segregant) depends on the history of directional selection in the parental lineages and the dose to which the hybrid progeny was exposed. It is only in the original selective environment that the impact of allelic fixation on transgressive segregation can be observed.

Melia azedarach L. commonly called Maha Neem is an economically and industrially important tree species with global significance. Although species possess versatile importance worldwide, information on reproductive biology and breeding system is scarce and limited for eastern coastal plain of India. Therefore, current study provides a detailed report on reproductive biology of M. azedarach. Maha Neem was found to bear violet to whitish violet, slightly fragrant, 14.99 ± 0.05 mm. long and 17.01 ± 0.08 mm. wide flowers. This tree commenced opening of floral buds during March and continued until May with a peak during March-end. The anthesis of species peaked between 08:00 and 10:00 am, which coincides with insect activity. Anthers were observed to dehisce during or shortly before anthesis; however, stigma started receptivity before anthesis and continued invitation up to 12 h after anthesis. Pollen viability ranged from 96.67 ± 1.6% to 98.26 ± 1.2 at the time of anthesis; after that decreased rapidly. Pollen: ovule ratio of 1096.38 ± 108.70 indicated the possibility of autogamy. The breeding system of M. azedarach revealed that fruit sets under natural pollination (NP) were significantly higher than Xenogamy. However, substantial difference was not reported in fruit set percentage under natural pollination and Autogamy, which is strong evidence in favour of self-pollination. Moreover, Maha-Neem is entomophilous with frequent visits by Apis and Syrphid flies. Current findings will be helpful in designing potent conservation strategies and planning successful breeding programmes.

The potential of Momordica charantia var. muricata, a little-known wild form, as a source of favourable alleles in breeding and improvement of bitter melons (M. charantia var. charantia), is demonstrated. The M. charantia var. charantia cultivar Priyanka and M. charantia var. muricata accession IC634896 were crossed with each other and cross ability and performance of F1 plants were studied. These botanical varieties were fully cross-compatible on either direction. Surprisingly, cross of Priyanka × IC634896 produced 80.0 fruits compared to 17.0 in Priyanka and fruit yield per plant (2287.4 g) was more than double that in Priyanka (1042.3 g). This hybrid has to be back crossed with commercial cultivar to improve its fruit size, with no compromise on fruit number. This is the first study showing the promise of M. charantia var. muricata as a potential donor in bitter melon breeding.

Human brain organoids (HBOs) are three-dimensional biological entities grown in the laboratory in order to recapitulate the structure and functions of the adult human brain. They can be taken to be novel living entities for their specific features and uses. As a contribution to the ongoing discussion on the use of HBOs, the authors identify three sets of reasons for moral concern. The first set of reasons regards the potential emergence of sentience/consciousness in HBOs that would endow them with a moral status whose perimeter should be established. The second set of moral concerns has to do with an analogy with artificial womb technology. The technical realization of processes that are typically connected to the physiology of the human body can create a manipulatory and instrumental attitude that can undermine the protection of what is human. The third set concerns the new frontiers of biocomputing and the creation of chimeras. As far as the new frontier of organoid intelligence is concerned, it is the close relationship of humans with new interfaces having biological components capable of mimicking memory and cognition that raises ethical issues. As far as chimeras are concerned, it is the humanization of nonhuman animals that is worthy of close moral scrutiny. A detailed description of these ethical issues is provided to contribute to the construction of a regulative framework that can guide decisions when considering research in the field of HBOs.

Next generation sequencing technologies have facilitated a shift from a few targeted loci in population genetic studies to whole genome approaches. Here, we review the types of questions and inferences regarding the population biology and evolution of parasitic helminths being addressed within the field of population genomics. Topics include parabiome, hybridization, population structure, loci under selection and linkage mapping. We highlight various advances, and note the current trends in the field, particularly a focus on human-related parasites despite the inherent biodiversity of helminth species. We conclude by advocating for a broader application of population genomics to reflect the taxonomic and life history breadth displayed by helminth parasites. As such, our basic knowledge about helminth population biology and evolution would be enhanced while the diversity of helminths in itself would facilitate population genomic comparative studies to address broader ecological and evolutionary concepts.

There are growing concerns that communities characterized with surface water, where both humans and livestock interact for agricultural, domestic, cultural and recreational purposes, are likely to support hybridization between schistosome species infecting humans and livestock. This study therefore investigated the morphometrics of schistosome eggs recovered from human urine samples in four schistosomiasis endemic communities (Imala-Odo, Abule-Titun, Apojula and Ibaro-Oyan) along the banks of Oyan River Dam in Ogun State, Nigeria. Recovered eggs were counted, photographed, and measured with IC Measure™ for total length, maximum width and a ratio of egg shape. A total of 1984 Schistosoma eggs were analysed. Two major egg morphotypes were identified: the first represented 67.8% of the eggs, with the typical round to oval shape and mean length and width of 166 μm, 66.8 μm, respectively; the second represented 32.2% of the eggs and are more elongated, with a mean length of 198 μm, and width of 71.3 μm. Our results revealed significant variations in sizes of the schistosome eggs recovered (length: t = −35.374, degrees of freedom (df) = 1982, P = 0.000; weight: t = −10.431, df = 1982, P = 0.000), with the atypical shaped eggs appearing more elongated than expected. These eggs might represent individuals with some degree of contribution from Schistosoma bovis or possibly other Schistosoma species known to be present in Nigeria. Hence, this observation calls for further molecular studies to establish the genetic information about the miracidia from both atypical and typical eggs. It is also important to establish the presence of bona fide S. bovis infection in cattle and vector snails in the presumptive areas of hybridization.

In this article I show how ubiquitous hybridity is in cultures. It is enabled by layers of population movements and contacts since the dispersal of Homo sapiens out of Africa around 50,000 years ago. I demonstrate how hybridization has proceeded in the emergence of creole language varieties and show that the same process has also driven, for instance, the emergence and differential evolution of English and the speciation of Vulgar Latin into the Romance languages. Differences in outcomes are determined by the specificities of the contact ecologies, including population structure, differences in the demographic proportions of the populations in contact and power relations between them, as well as patterns of population growth, among other factors. I argue that hybridity is not unique to languages. It is conspicuous in other domains of culture, including cuisine, music, clothing fashions, and technologies, for example. I submit a uniformitarian approach inspired by evolutionary biology to better understand how hybridization occurs.

The objective of this paper was to review the reproductive biology, herbicide-resistant (HR) biotypes, pollen-mediated gene flow (PMGF), and potential for transfer of alleles from HR to herbicide-susceptible grass weeds including barnyardgrass, creeping bentgrass, Italian ryegrass, johnsongrass, rigid (annual) ryegrass, and wild oats. The widespread occurrence of HR grass weeds is at least partly due to PMGF, particularly in obligate outcrossing species such as rigid ryegrass. Creeping bentgrass, a wind-pollinated turfgrass species, can efficiently disseminate herbicide resistance alleles via PMGF and movement of seeds and stolons. The genus Agrostis contains about 200 species, many of which are sexually compatible and produce naturally occurring hybrids and hybrids with species in the genus Polypogon. The self-incompatibility, extremely high outcrossing rate, and wind pollination in Italian ryegrass clearly point to PMGF as a major mechanism by which herbicide resistance alleles can spread across agricultural landscapes, resulting in abundant genetic variation within populations and low genetic differentiation among populations. Italian ryegrass can readily hybridize with perennial ryegrass and rigid ryegrass due to their similarity in chromosome numbers (2n = 14), resulting in interspecific gene exchange. Johnsongrass, barnyardgrass, and wild oats are self-pollinated species, so the potential for PMGF is relatively low and limited to short distances; however, seeds can easily shatter upon maturity before crop harvest, leading to wider dispersal. The occurrence of PMGF in reviewed grass weed species, even at a low rate, is greater than that of spontaneous mutations conferring herbicide resistance in weeds and thus can contribute to the spread of herbicide resistance alleles. This review indicates that the transfer of herbicide resistance alleles occurs under field conditions at varying levels depending on the grass weed species.

This article analyzes Suzuki Tadashi’s version of Euripides’ The Trojan Women, staged multiple times during the past forty years. While this cross-cultural production carries specific socio-cultural signs and juxtaposes different traditional Japanese styles (Noh, Kabuki, and Shingeki), it aims to create a third object that does not belong specifically to any of these traditions but is composed of the sum of their specificities. It argues that The Trojan Women was created by Suzuki and his company as a response to the state of culture and society in Japan during the 1970s, breaking with old and new fashions in an effort to revitalize Japanese contemporary theatre. Offering a socio-cultural analysis and drawing on the writings of Michael Bakhtin and Pierre Bourdieu, it sheds light on Suzuki’s humanistic quest for a universalism pursued through the re-discovery and transformation of traditional styles together with an appropriation of Western texts. Lorenzo Montanini is a theatre director whose work investigates the boundaries of theatre and live performance in a multicultural context. He has taught for more than fifteen years in universities in Italy, including RomaTre, Università di Macerata, and Università l’Orientale di Napoli.

Pollen-mediated gene flow (PMGF) refers to the transfer of genetic information (alleles) from one plant to another compatible plant. With the evolution of herbicide-resistant (HR) weeds, PMGF plays an important role in the transfer of resistance alleles from HR to susceptible weeds; however, little attention is given to this topic. The objective of this work was to review reproductive biology, PMGF studies, and interspecific hybridization, as well as potential for herbicide resistance alleles to transfer in the economically important broadleaf weeds including common lambsquarters, giant ragweed, horseweed, kochia, Palmer amaranth, and waterhemp. The PMGF studies involving these species reveal that transfer of herbicide resistance alleles routinely occurs under field conditions and is influenced by several factors, such as reproductive biology, environment, and production practices. Interspecific hybridization studies within Amaranthus and Ambrosia spp. show that herbicide resistance allele transfer is possible between species of the same genus but at relatively low levels. The widespread occurrence of HR weed populations and high genetic diversity is at least partly due to PMGF, particularly in dioecious species such as Palmer amaranth and waterhemp compared with monoecious species such as common lambsquarters and horseweed. Prolific pollen production in giant ragweed contributes to PMGF. Kochia, a wind-pollinated species can efficiently disseminate herbicide resistance alleles via both PMGF and tumbleweed seed dispersal, resulting in widespread occurrence of multiple HR kochia populations. The findings from this review verify that intra- and interspecific gene flow can occur and, even at a low rate, could contribute to the rapid spread of herbicide resistance alleles. More research is needed to determine the role of PMGF in transferring multiple herbicide resistance alleles at the landscape level.

Mechanistic models (MMs) have served as causal pathway analysis and ‘decision-support’ tools within animal production systems for decades. Such models quantitatively define how a biological system works based on causal relationships and use that cumulative biological knowledge to generate predictions and recommendations (in practice) and generate/evaluate hypotheses (in research). Their limitations revolve around obtaining sufficiently accurate inputs, user training and accuracy/precision of predictions on-farm. The new wave in digitalization technologies may negate some of these challenges. New data-driven (DD) modelling methods such as machine learning (ML) and deep learning (DL) examine patterns in data to produce accurate predictions (forecasting, classification of animals, etc.). The deluge of sensor data and new self-learning modelling techniques may address some of the limitations of traditional MM approaches – access to input data (e.g. sensors) and on-farm calibration. However, most of these new methods lack transparency in the reasoning behind predictions, in contrast to MM that have historically been used to translate knowledge into wisdom. The objective of this paper is to propose means to hybridize these two seemingly divergent methodologies to advance the models we use in animal production systems and support movement towards truly knowledge-based precision agriculture. In order to identify potential niches for models in animal production of the future, a cross-species (dairy, swine and poultry) examination of the current state of the art in MM and new DD methodologies (ML, DL analytics) is undertaken. We hypothesize that there are several ways via which synergy may be achieved to advance both our predictive capabilities and system understanding, being: (1) building and utilizing data streams (e.g. intake, rumination behaviour, rumen sensors, activity sensors, environmental sensors, cameras and near IR) to apply MM in real-time and/or with new resolution and capabilities; (2) hybridization of MM and DD approaches where, for example, a ML framework is augmented by MM-generated parameters or predicted outcomes and (3) hybridization of the MM and DD approaches, where biological bounds are placed on parameters within a MM framework, and the DD system parameterizes the MM for individual animals, farms or other such clusters of data. As animal systems modellers, we should expand our toolbox to explore new DD approaches and big data to find opportunities to increase understanding of biological systems, find new patterns in data and move the field towards intelligent, knowledge-based precision agriculture systems.

Host shifts of parasites are often causing devastating effects in the new hosts. The Varroa genus is known for a lineage of Varroa destructor that shifted to the Western honey bee, Apis mellifera, with disastrous effects on wild populations and the beekeeping industry. Despite this, the biology of Varroa spp. remains poorly understood in its native distribution range, where it naturally parasitizes the Eastern honey bee, Apis cerana. Here, we combined mitochondrial and nuclear DNA analyses with the assessment of mite reproduction to determine the population structure and host specificity of V. destructor and Varroa jacobsonii in Thailand, where both hosts and several Varroa species and haplotypes are sympatric. Our data confirm previously described mite haplogroups, and show three novel haplotypes. Multiple infestations of single host colonies by both mite species and introgression of alleles between V. destructor and V. jacobsonii suggest that hybridization occurs between the two species. Our results indicate that host specificity and population genetic structure in the genus Varroa is more labile than previously thought. The ability of the host shifted V. destructor haplotype to spillback to A. cerana and to hybridize with V. jacobsonii could threaten honey bee populations of Asia and beyond.