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High-quality and complete reference genome assemblies are fundamental for the application of genomics to biology, disease, and biodiversity conservation. However, such assemblies are available for only a few non-microbial species1,2,3,4. To address this issue, the international Genome 10K (G10K) consortium5,6 has worked over a five-year period to evaluate and develop cost-effective methods for assembling highly accurate and nearly complete reference genomes. Here we present lessons learned from generating assemblies for 16 species that represent six major vertebrate lineages. We confirm that long-read sequencing technologies are essential for maximizing genome quality, and that unresolved complex repeats and haplotype heterozygosity are major sources of assembly error when not handled correctly. Our assemblies correct substantial errors, add missing sequence in some of the best historical reference genomes, and reveal biological discoveries. These include the identification of many false gene duplications, increases in gene sizes, chromosome rearrangements that are specific to lineages, a repeated independent chromosome breakpoint in bat genomes, and a canonical GC-rich pattern in protein-coding genes and their regulatory regions. Adopting these lessons, we have embarked on the Vertebrate Genomes Project (VGP), an international effort to generate high-quality, complete reference genomes for all of the roughly 70,000 extant vertebrate species and to help to enable a new era of discovery across the life sciences. ; We thank them for their permission to publish. A.R., S.K., B.P.W. and A.M.P. were supported by the Intramural Research Program of the NHGRI, NIH (1ZIAHG200398). A.R. was also supported by the Korea Health Technology R&D Project through KHIDI, funded by the Ministry of Health & Welfare, Republic of Korea (HI17C2098). S.A.M., I.B. and R.D. were supported by Wellcome Trust grant WT207492; W.C., M. Smith, Z.N., Y.S., J.C., S. Pelan, J.T., A.T., J.W. and Kerstin Howe by WT206194; L.H., F.M., Kevin Howe and P. Flicek by WT108749/Z/15/Z, WT218328/B/19/Z and the European Molecular Biology Laboratory. O.F. and E.D.J. were supported by Howard Hughes Medical Institute and Rockefeller University start-up funds for this project. J.D. and H.A.L. were supported by the Robert and Rosabel Osborne Endowment. M.U.-S. received funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under the Marie Skłodowska-Curie grant agreement (750747). F.T.-N., J. Hoffman, P. Masterson and K.C. were supported by the Intramural Research Program of the NLM, NIH. C.L., B.J.K., J. Kim and H.K. were supported by the Marine Biotechnology Program of KIMST, funded by the Ministry of Ocean and Fisheries, Republic of Korea (20180430). M.C. was supported by Sloan Research Fellowship (FG-2020-12932). S.C.V. was funded by a Max Planck Research Group award from the Max Planck Society, and a Human Frontiers Science Program (HFSP) Research grant (RGP0058/2016). T.M.L., W.E.J. and the Canada lynx genome were funded by the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries & Wildlife (F11AF01099), including when W.E.J. held a National Research Council Research Associateship Award at the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research (WRAIR). C.B. was supported by the NSF (1457541 and 1456612). D.B. was funded by The University of Queensland (HFSP - RGP0030/2015). D.I. was supported by Science Exchange Inc. (Palo Alto, CA). H.W.D. was supported by NSF grants (OPP-0132032 ICEFISH 2004 Cruise, PLR-1444167 and OPP-1955368) and the Marine Science Center at Northeastern University (416). G.J.P.N. and the thorny skate genome were funded by Lenfest Ocean Program (30884). M.P. was funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (01IS18026C). M. Malinsky was supported by an EMBO fellowship (ALTF 456-2016). The following authors' contributions were supported by the NIH: S. Selvaraj (R44HG008118); C.V.M., S.R.F., P.V.L. (R21 DC014432/DC/NIDCD); K.D.M. (R01GM130691); H.C. (5U41HG002371-19); M.D. (U41HG007234); and B.P. (R01HG010485). D.G. was supported by the National Key Research and Development Program of China (2017YFC1201201, 2018YFC0910504 and 2017YFC0907503). F.O.A. was supported by Al-Gannas Qatari Society and The Cultural Village Foundation-Katara, Doha, State of Qatar and Monash University Malaysia. C.T. was supported by The Rockefeller University. M. Hiller was supported by the LOEWE-Centre for Translational Biodiversity Genomics (TBG) funded by the Hessen State Ministry of Higher Education, Research and the Arts (HMWK). H.C. was supported by the NHGRI (5U41HG002371-19). R.H.S.K. was funded by the Max Planck Society with computational resources at the bwUniCluster and BinAC funded by the Ministry of Science, Research and the Arts Baden-Württemberg and the Universities of the State of Baden-Württemberg, Germany (bwHPC-C5). B.V. was supported by the Biomedical Research Council of A*STAR, Singapore. T.M.-B. was funded by the European Research Council under the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme (864203), MINECO/FEDER, UE (BFU2017-86471-P), Unidad de Excelencia María de Maeztu, AEI (CEX2018-000792-M), a Howard Hughes International Early Career award, Obra Social "La Caixa" and Secretaria d'Universitats i Recerca and CERCA Programme del Departament d'Economia i Coneixement de la Generalitat de Catalunya (GRC 2017 SGR 880). E.C.T. was supported by the European Research Council (ERC-2012-StG311000) and an Irish Research Council Laureate Award. M.T.P.G. was supported by an ERC Consolidator Award 681396-Extinction Genomics, and a Danish National Research Foundation Center Grant (DNRF143). T.W. was supported by the NSF (1458652). J. M. Graves was supported by the Australian Research Council (CEO561477). E.W.M. was partially supported by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (01IS18026C). Complementary sequencing support for the Anna's hummingbird and several genomes was provided by Pacific Biosciences, Bionano Genomics, Dovetail Genomics, Arima Genomics, Phase Genomics, 10X Genomics, NRGene, Oxford Nanopore Technologies, Illumina, and DNAnexus. All other sequencing and assembly were conducted at the Rockefeller University, Sanger Institute, and Max Planck Institute Dresden genome labs. Part of this work used the computational resources of the NIH HPC Biowulf cluster (https://hpc.nih.gov). We acknowledge funding from the Wellcome Trust (108749/Z/15/Z) and the European Molecular Biology Laboratory. ; With funding from the Spanish government through the "Severo Ochoa Centre of Excellence" accreditation (CEX2018-000792-M). ; Peer reviewed

This study estimates how much tax revenue the European Union could collect by imposing a minimum tax on the profits of multinational companies. We compute the tax deficit of multinational firms, defined as the difference between what multinationals currently pay in taxes, and what they would pay if they were subject to a minimum tax rate in each country. We then consider three ways for EU countries to collect this tax deficit.First, we simulate an international agreement on a minimum tax of the type currently discussed by the OECD, favored by a number of European Union countries, and by the United States. In this scenario, each EU country would collect the tax deficit of its own multinationals. For instance, if the internationally agreed minimum tax rate is 25% and a German company has an effective tax rate of 10% on the profits it records in Singapore, then Germany would impose an additional tax of 15% on these profits to arrive at an effective rate of 25%. More generally, Germany would collect extra taxes so that its multinationals pay at least 25% in taxes on the profits they book in each country. Other nations would proceed similarly. We find that such a 25% minimum tax would increase corporate income tax revenues in the European Union by about €170 billion in 2021. This sum represents more than 50% of the amount of corporate tax revenue currently collected in the European Union and 12% of total EU health spending.The revenue potential of a coordinated minimum tax is thus large. However, revenues significantly depend on the commonly agreed minimum tax rate. With a 21% minimum rate, the European Union would collect about €100 billion in 2021. Moving from 21% to 15% would reduce the potential revenue by a factor of two to about €50 billion.Second, we simulate an incomplete international agreement in which only EU countries apply a minimum tax, while non-EU countries do not change their tax policies. In this scenario, each EU country would collect the tax deficit of its own multinationals (as in our first scenario), plus a portion of the tax deficit of multinationals incorporated outside of the European Union, based on the destination of sales. For instance, if a British company makes 20% of its sales in Germany, then Germany would collect 20% of the tax deficit of this company. We find that that in such a scenario, using a rate of 25% to compute the tax deficit of each multinational, the European Union would increase its corporate tax revenues about €200 billion. Out of this total, €170 billion would come from collecting the tax deficit of EU multinationals; an additional €30 billion would come from collecting a portion of the tax deficit of non-EU multinationals. For the European Union, there is thus a much higher revenue potential from increasing taxes on EU companies than from taxing non-EU companies.To improve the fairness of its tax system and generate new government revenues (e.g., to pay for the cost of Covid-19), it is essential that the European Union polices its own multinationals.Last, we estimate how much revenue each EU country could collect unilaterally, assuming all other countries keep their current tax policy unchanged. This corresponds to a "first-mover" scenario, in which one country alone decides to collect the tax deficit of multinational companies. This first mover would collect the full tax deficit of its own multinationals, plus a portion (proportional to the destination of sales) of the tax deficit of all foreign multinationals, based on a reference rate of 25%.We find that a first mover in the European Union would increase its corporate tax revenues by close to 70% relative to its current corporate tax collection. Although international coordination is always preferable, a unilateral move of a single EU member state (or a group of member states) would encourage other EU countries to also collect the tax deficit of multinationals—as not doing so would mean leaving tax revenues on the table for the first movers to grab. This could pave the way for an ambitious agreement on a high minimum tax, within the European Union and then globally. This analysis shows that unilateral action can play a transformative role and that refusing international coordination is not a sustainable solution, since other countries can always choose to collect the taxes that tax havens choose not to collect.Our estimates are based on a transparent methodology that combines newly available macroeconomic data on the location and effective tax rates of multinational profits.We illustrate and validate our approach by applying it to firm-level data publicly disclosed by all European banks and 16 large non-bank multinationals. We find that European banks would have to pay 41% more in taxes if they were subject to a 25% country-by-country minimum tax. This estimate is in line with our finding that EU multinationals as a whole (all sectors combined) would have to pay around 50% more in taxes, thus suggesting that this number is indeed the correct order of magnitude.Companies such as Shell, Iberdrola, and Allianz—who voluntarily disclose their country-by-country profits and taxes—would also have to pay 35%-50% more in taxes if they were subject to a 25% minimum tax.This report is supplemented by a pioneering interactive website, https://tax-deficitsimulator.herokuapp.com. This new tool allows policy makers, journalists, members of civil society, and all citizens in each EU country to assess the revenue potential from minimum taxation on both domestic and foreign firms. Users can select various scenarios (e.g., international coordination or unilateral action), and a full range of minimum tax rates from 10% to 50%. All the data and computer code are available online, making our estimates fully reproducible. We plan to regularly update our findings, as improved and more comprehensive macroeconomic data sources become available, refined estimation techniques are designed, and more companies publicly disclose their country-by-country reports.

This study estimates how much tax revenue the European Union could collect by imposing a minimum tax on the profits of multinational companies. We compute the tax deficit of multinational firms, defined as the difference between what multinationals currently pay in taxes, and what they would pay if they were subject to a minimum tax rate in each country. We then consider three ways for EU countries to collect this tax deficit.First, we simulate an international agreement on a minimum tax of the type currently discussed by the OECD, favored by a number of European Union countries, and by the United States. In this scenario, each EU country would collect the tax deficit of its own multinationals. For instance, if the internationally agreed minimum tax rate is 25% and a German company has an effective tax rate of 10% on the profits it records in Singapore, then Germany would impose an additional tax of 15% on these profits to arrive at an effective rate of 25%. More generally, Germany would collect extra taxes so that its multinationals pay at least 25% in taxes on the profits they book in each country. Other nations would proceed similarly. We find that such a 25% minimum tax would increase corporate income tax revenues in the European Union by about €170 billion in 2021. This sum represents more than 50% of the amount of corporate tax revenue currently collected in the European Union and 12% of total EU health spending.The revenue potential of a coordinated minimum tax is thus large. However, revenues significantly depend on the commonly agreed minimum tax rate. With a 21% minimum rate, the European Union would collect about €100 billion in 2021. Moving from 21% to 15% would reduce the potential revenue by a factor of two to about €50 billion.Second, we simulate an incomplete international agreement in which only EU countries apply a minimum tax, while non-EU countries do not change their tax policies. In this scenario, each EU country would collect the tax deficit of its own multinationals (as in our first scenario), plus a portion of the tax deficit of multinationals incorporated outside of the European Union, based on the destination of sales. For instance, if a British company makes 20% of its sales in Germany, then Germany would collect 20% of the tax deficit of this company. We find that that in such a scenario, using a rate of 25% to compute the tax deficit of each multinational, the European Union would increase its corporate tax revenues about €200 billion. Out of this total, €170 billion would come from collecting the tax deficit of EU multinationals; an additional €30 billion would come from collecting a portion of the tax deficit of non-EU multinationals. For the European Union, there is thus a much higher revenue potential from increasing taxes on EU companies than from taxing non-EU companies.To improve the fairness of its tax system and generate new government revenues (e.g., to pay for the cost of Covid-19), it is essential that the European Union polices its own multinationals.Last, we estimate how much revenue each EU country could collect unilaterally, assuming all other countries keep their current tax policy unchanged. This corresponds to a "first-mover" scenario, in which one country alone decides to collect the tax deficit of multinational companies. This first mover would collect the full tax deficit of its own multinationals, plus a portion (proportional to the destination of sales) of the tax deficit of all foreign multinationals, based on a reference rate of 25%.We find that a first mover in the European Union would increase its corporate tax revenues by close to 70% relative to its current corporate tax collection. Although international coordination is always preferable, a unilateral move of a single EU member state (or a group of member states) would encourage other EU countries to also collect the tax deficit of multinationals—as not doing so would mean leaving tax revenues on the table for the first movers to grab. This could pave the way for an ambitious agreement on a high minimum tax, within the European Union and then globally. This analysis shows that unilateral action can play a transformative role and that refusing international coordination is not a sustainable solution, since other countries can always choose to collect the taxes that tax havens choose not to collect.Our estimates are based on a transparent methodology that combines newly available macroeconomic data on the location and effective tax rates of multinational profits.We illustrate and validate our approach by applying it to firm-level data publicly disclosed by all European banks and 16 large non-bank multinationals. We find that European banks would have to pay 41% more in taxes if they were subject to a 25% country-by-country minimum tax. This estimate is in line with our finding that EU multinationals as a whole (all sectors combined) would have to pay around 50% more in taxes, thus suggesting that this number is indeed the correct order of magnitude.Companies such as Shell, Iberdrola, and Allianz—who voluntarily disclose their country-by-country profits and taxes—would also have to pay 35%-50% more in taxes if they were subject to a 25% minimum tax.This report is supplemented by a pioneering interactive website, https://tax-deficitsimulator.herokuapp.com. This new tool allows policy makers, journalists, members of civil society, and all citizens in each EU country to assess the revenue potential from minimum taxation on both domestic and foreign firms. Users can select various scenarios (e.g., international coordination or unilateral action), and a full range of minimum tax rates from 10% to 50%. All the data and computer code are available online, making our estimates fully reproducible. We plan to regularly update our findings, as improved and more comprehensive macroeconomic data sources become available, refined estimation techniques are designed, and more companies publicly disclose their country-by-country reports.

2-s2.0-85063267754 ; A search for the pair production of heavy fermionic partners of the top quark with charge 5/3 (X 5/3 ) is performed in proton-proton collisions at a center-of-mass energy of 13 TeV with the CMS detector at the CERN LHC. The data sample analyzed corresponds to an integrated luminosity of 35.9 fb ?1 . The X 5/3 quark is assumed always to decay into a top quark and a W boson. Both the right-handed and left-handed X 5/3 couplings to the W boson are considered. Final states with either a pair of same-sign leptons or a single lepton are studied. No significant excess of events is observed above the expected standard model background. Lower limits at 95% confidence level on the X 5/3 quark mass are set at 1.33 and 1.30 TeV respectively for the case of right-handed and left-handed couplings to W bosons in a combination of the same-sign dilepton and single-lepton final states.[Figure not available: see fulltext.] © 2019, The Author(s). ; 30820817 2012/07/E/ST2/01406, 2014/13/B/ST2/02543, 2014/14/M/ST2/00428, 2014/15/B/ST2/03998, 2015/19/B/ST2/02861 National Science Foundation, NSF: 1806415 U.S. Department of Energy, USDOE Welch Foundation: C-1845 Hispanics in Philanthropy, HIP CS Fund, CSF American Friends of the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation, AFAvH California Earthquake Authority, CEA Qatar National Research Fund, QNRF Secretaría de Educación Pública, SEP Türkiye Atom Enerjisi Kurumu, TAEK Horizon 2020 Framework Programme, H2020: 675440 Weston Havens Foundation Louisiana Academy of Sciences, LAS Missouri University of Science and Technology, MST CERN College of Arts and Sciences, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, CAS Norwegian Sequencing Centre, NSC Institute for the Promotion of Teaching Science and Technology, IPST Mountain Equipment Co-operative, MEC Science and Technology Facilities Council, STFC: ST/N000242/1 Royal Astronomical Society, RAS European Commission, EC European Research Council, ERC Ministry of Education - Singapore, MOE Department of Atomic Energy, Government of India, ???? Science Foundation Ireland, SFI Helmholtz-Gemeinschaft, HGF Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft, DFG Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo, FAPESP National Natural Science Foundation of China, NSFC Research Promotion Foundation, ???? Ministerstvo Školství, Mláde?e a T?lov?chovy, MŠMT Fundacja na rzecz Nauki Polskiej, FNP Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia, FCT Russian Foundation for Basic Research, ???? Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior, CAPES Academy of Finland Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung, BMBF Austrian Science Fund, FWF Fonds De La Recherche Scientifique - FNRS, FNRS Belgian Federal Science Policy Office, BELSPO Chulalongkorn University, CU Fonds Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek, FWO Agentschap voor Innovatie door Wetenschap en Technologie, IWT Fonds pour la Formation à la Recherche dans l'Industrie et dans l'Agriculture, FRIA Consejo Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnología, CONACYT Bundesministerium für Wissenschaft, Forschung und Wirtschaft, BMWFW General Secretariat for Research and Technology, GSRT Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico, CNPq Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning, MSIP Ministry of Science and Technology, MOST National Research Foundation of Korea, NRF Joint Institute for Nuclear Research, JINR Magyar Tudományos Akadémia, MTA Instituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, INFN A.G. Leventis Foundation National Science and Technology Development Agency, ????: Thailand Secretaría de Educación Superior, Ciencia, Tecnología e Innovación, SENESCYT Universiti Malaya, UM Fundação Carlos Chagas Filho de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado do Rio de Janeiro, FAPERJ Ministry for Business Innovation and Employment, MBIE National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, NASU Ministry of Education and Science, MES Institute for Research in Fundamental Sciences, IPM Benemérita Universidad Autónoma de Puebla, BUAP Secretaría de Estado de Investigación, Desarrollo e Innovación, SEIDI Comisión Asesora de Investigación Científica y Técnica, CAICYT: MDM-2015-0509 Horizon 2020 European Regional Development Fund, FEDER State Atomic Energy Corporation ROSATOM, ROSATOM Centro de Investigación y de Estudios Avanzados del Instituto Politécnico Nacional, CINVESTAV Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission, PAEC State Fund for Fundamental Research of Ukraine, SFFR Department of Science and Technology, Government of West Bengal, DST Nemzeti Kutatási, Fejlesztési és Innovaciós Alap, NKFIA: 123842, 123959, 124845, 124850, 125105 ; We congratulate our colleagues in the CERN accelerator departments for the excellent performance of the LHC and thank the technical and administrative staffs at CERN and at other CMS institutes for their contributions to the success of the CMS effort. In addition, we gratefully acknowledge the computing centres and personnel of the Worldwide LHC Computing Grid for delivering so effectively the computing infrastructure essential to our analyses. Finally, we acknowledge the enduring support for the construction and operation of the LHC and the CMS detector provided by the following funding agencies: BMWFW and FWF (Austria); FNRS and FWO (Belgium); CNPq, CAPES, FAPERJ, and FAPESP (Brazil); MES (Bulgaria); CERN; CAS, MoST, and NSFC (China); COL-CIENCIAS (Colombia); MSES and CSF (Croatia); RPF (Cyprus); SENESCYT (Ecuador); MoER, ERC IUT, and ERDF (Estonia); Academy of Finland, MEC, and HIP (Finland); CEA and CNRS/IN2P3 (France); BMBF, DFG, and HGF (Germany); GSRT (Greece); NKFIA (Hungary); DAE and DST (India); IPM (Iran); SFI (Ireland); INFN (Italy); MSIP and NRF (Republic of Korea); LAS (Lithuania); MOE and UM (Malaysia); BUAP, CINVESTAV, CONACYT, LNS, SEP, and UASLP-FAI (Mexico); MBIE (New Zealand); PAEC (Pakistan); MSHE and NSC (Poland); FCT (Portugal); JINR (Dubna); MON, RosAtom, RAS and RFBR (Russia); MESTD (Serbia); SEIDI, CPAN, PCTI and FEDER (Spain); Swiss Funding Agencies (Switzerland); MST (Taipei); ThEPCenter, IPST, STAR, and NSTDA (Thailand); TUBITAK and TAEK (Turkey); NASU and SFFR (Ukraine); STFC (United Kingdom); DOE and NSF (U.S.A.). ; Individuals have received support from the Marie-Curie programme and the European Research Council and Horizon 2020 Grant, contract No. 675440 (European Union); the Leventis Foundation; the A.P. Sloan Foundation; the Alexander von Humboldt Founda- ; Open Access, Copyright CERN, for the benefit of the CMS Collaboration. Article funded by SCOAP3.

In the lowlands of Ethiopia, the traditionally pastoralist Afar and Somali Regions, multifaceted transformations and commodification processes have taken place. This thesis focuses on these transformations by addressing their fundamental societal, economic, and environmental developments. Three papers were written to clearly demonstrate how such environmental, political, social and economic processes have shaped and continue to alter and impact Afar and Somali communities in Eastern Ethiopia. The first paper, Pastoral livelihoods under pressure: Ecological, political and socioeconomic transitions in Afar (Ethiopia) by Matthias Schmidt (lead author) and Olivia Pearson (2016) and published by the Journal of Arid Environments 124, 22-30, will be referred to as "Pastoral livelihoods under pressure" from this point forward. It addresses the various ecological, political and socio-economic changes currently transforming the rangelands and natural resources of the Afar pastoralists' ancestral domain, changes which are driven by factors such as recurrent droughts, overgrazing, erosion processes, alien plant invasion and governmental land policies. To assess how these inter-related changes are impacting the Afar and their livelihoods, empirical research was conducted in four villages in western Afar, with the results showing that environmental, institutional and cultural changes have weakened the position of the pure pastoralist and strengthened the move away from pure pastoralism towards agro-pastoralism. As introduced natural resource management strategies driven by land privatization alter common property resources, traditional practices and institutions lose power. While research clearly shows that the influence and control of indigenous institutions and cultural practices have diminished, the subsequent impact on future generations and Afar identity remains unclear. The second paper, by Olivia Pearson (lead author) and Matthias Schmidt (2017) Repercussions of Governance Institutional Changes on Communication Practices in Afar, Ethiopia has been accepted by the Singapore Journal of Tropical Geography and will be referred to as "Governance Institutional Changes" from this point forward. By examining local communication practices, this paper investigates the transition from informal and traditional Afar institutions to formal institutions occurring in the Afar Region of Ethiopia. As the role and importance of traditional institutions diminishes and the strength of introduced formal federal and regional governmental institutions increases, pastoralist and agro-pastoralists in western Afar have altered how and with whom they communicate. The decrease in traditional ecological, political and socio-economic settings has led to the Afar adapting their communication practices in order to navigate these new environments. An analysis conducted from empirical research conducted in four Afar villages illustrates changes in resident preferences when reporting concerns. Concerns are now primarily reported to local formal institutional representatives or government agents; however, residents still find it beneficial to report certain problems and concerns to traditional institutions. This transition has had a positive impact on females, who now report concerns directly to government officials. Conversely, the transition has spatial disadvantages due to the typical location of government officials in village and town centers; as Afar is a vast and lowly populated region, those residing further from their government representative are at a disadvantage. The final paper, by Olivia Pearson (lead author) and Matthias Schmidt (2017) Commodity Individuation of Milk in the Somali Region, Ethiopia has been accepted by Area and will be referred to as "Milk Commodity Individuation" from this point forward. This paper analyses one of the changes to livestock commodification in the Somali region of Ethiopia – the extent and implications of altering the social and cultural role of milk. Traditionally, livestock is a central Somali commodity, with herds specifically chosen for their ability to reside within the arid to semi-arid region and sustain pastoralist livelihoods. Somalis sell livestock and consume their meat and milk, which is a fundamental requirement for a healthy life; milk provides sustenance in an environment where resources are scarce and is also a traditional medicine. The commodity individuation of milk means that it is now sold by Somalis as an income generating tool, defying cultural traditions that declared the sale of milk to be taboo. Milk has been separated from its traditional function and context and is no longer solely food for livestock and Somalis but now also a source of income that is primarily managed by females. Traditional milk boundaries have been stretched and altered, with the commodity now managed through the informal relationships between buyers and sellers. To investigate the correlations between the three papers, each of which has its own unique theoretical framework, this booklet uses the results of the conducted research as indicators to identify the prevalent transformations and commodification processes present in the lowlands of Ethiopia. Castree's (2003) six distinct and inter-related elements of capitalist commodification – Privatisation, Individuation, Alienability, Abstraction, Valuation, and Displacement – are used for the data analysis. The discussion is divided into three categories, the first being the transformation and commodification of clan structures to highlight the juxtaposed valuation and devaluation of these structures. As the clan as an institution is replaced by formal institutions, its control over environmental, societal, and cultural management weakens. This devaluation occurs in parallel with the valuation assimilation of clan leaders and elders into formal institutions and as the clan as a commodity faces displacement, in particular the clan leader. The transformation and commodification of gender highlights the shift in gendered roles for both sexes and the increase in female mobility, with the sale of milk and other income generating activities fundamental to this transition. A shift in control over household management from male to female has occurred and has been supported by perceived female altruism. The final section deals with natural resources and their management and focuses on the key related transition and commodification practice – the privatisation of land and its resulting environmental and societal consequences. In conclusion, it is important to note that while these areas have become increasingly integrated into global systems, leaving behind many traditional institutions, the mentioned transformations and commodification processes will continue to evolve. Findings suggest that the Somali and Afar Regions will become increasingly influenced by outside forces and institutions, which will drive further change in the lives and livelihood practices of the lowland residents of Ethiopia's arid and semi-arid regions.

(JAKARTA, INDONESIA) — Soon after voting ended in the world's fourth-largest country and third-largest democracy, Prabowo Subianto is claiming a knock-out blow winning more than half the vote and the necessary number of provinces to eliminate both his challengers.According to unofficial tallies, which have been historically accurate, Prabowo has garnered 58% of the vote in today's contest. The official count will not be announced until mid-March and his opponents have yet to concede defeat.Nevertheless, highly popular incumbent president Joko Widodo (Jokowi)'s backing for the former special forces commander, and active undermining of his own party's candidate Ganjar Pranowo, is a big reason for the ostensibly lopsided result. But the famously temperamental Prabowo's clever rebranding as a cute and cuddly grandpa seems to have helped quite a bit, too.Arriving in Jakarta just as the three-day "quiet period" was beginning spared me all the raucousness of the election campaigning. But the billboards of the three candidates — Anies Baswedan, Ganjar Pranowo, and Prabowo — were prominently plastered across the city. The few everyday folk I spoke to seemed to favor the former general. A young hotel housekeeper told me she voted for Prabowo (as did almost all her friends and family) as he was "a strong leader, and honest." Reports here speak of the youth vote as being a big factor in the result. Much of the U.S. commentary has pointed out that Prabowo was once banned from entering the U.S. for his links to a military unit accused of human rights atrocities. To that the feisty general might say: get over it. After all, the United States was forced to lift the ban on his entry after Jokowi — after beating Prabowo in a bitterly-fought election in 2019 — invited him to become his defense minister. Now that Prabowo is likely to become president, such musings are chiefly academic. While my interlocutors in town seemed worried about democratic backsliding in the country (and this has been apparently underway for a couple of years), relatively few voters appear swayed by this concern. And in an increasingly multipolar world, Washington is less able to influence how other countries choose their leaders, and tell them how they should govern. For his part, as president Jokowi has focused relentlessly on economic growth and domestic issues, though he also skillfully steered Indonesia's G20 presidency in the turbulent wake of the Ukraine war. Under him Indonesia has not only prospered, but also put into place a tough industrial policy, including limiting or banning the export of certain valuable natural resources, such as nickel. This encourages these resources to be processed in-country, which helps grow and sustain economically valuable industries that require these resources, such as electric vehicle parts, thereby diversifying and strengthening the Indonesian economy.The European Union has responded by taking him to the WTO, and the United States has not been exactly enthusiastic on these "downstreaming" policies. But China has played ball, building ore-processing plants in the country. Beijing has also built shiny new infrastructure, most prominently a new "Whoosh" bullet train from Jakarta to Bandung.Meanwhile, Jakarta has not expressly taken sides in the U..S-China tussle. This is hardly surprising. Non-alignment (or bebas dan aktif — free and active — as the Indonesians call it in Bahasa) is a core Indonesian grand strategy principle. Indonesia was a foundational contributor to the idea of non-alignment in the Global South, with the famous 1955 Bandung conference being held there. Even under the authoritarian leader Suharto, who tilted toward the United States, Indonesia maintained strong relations with arch-communist Vietnam. Though China was shunned by Suharto — and the Chinese-Indonesian minority treated poorly — it all seems in the rear-view mirror in today's Indonesia. China is Indonesia's biggest trade partner and among its biggest investors. Hoardings commemorating the Chinese new year are visible in parts of the city and the community is much better integrated than in the past. Furthermore, when it comes to Russia, Indonesian social media has been rife with sympathy with Moscow on the Ukraine war. What will Prabowo's foreign policy be like? His past record indicates that the ex-general is much more a strong-willed, if volatile, pragmatist than an ideologue. Today, this means a continuation of Jokowi's policy record of economic growth and the development of domestic industry and infrastructure. Thus business-friendly relations with Beijing, as also attempts to attract more American investment and trade, will continue.Prabowo is also far more exposed in his youth to the world than was Jokowi when he was sworn in. The former general has lived in Europe and Singapore and was trained by the U.S. military. Which means that Indonesia under him could be somewhat more vocal on regional and international issues than it has been. Recall Prabowo's bold play on a Ukraine peace plan at the United Nations last year. Nevertheless, unless Washington makes a big deal of past human rights issues (unlikely), there are opportunities for incremental strengthening of ties. Military exercises between the two have been on an upswing lately. Indonesia has also softened its earlier opposition to AUKUS and refrained from joining BRICS, partly keeping relations with Washington in mind.Trade relations are something to watch however, with Washington's new focus on imposing labor standards on its major trading partners. This is not always welcome in Global South capitals which see lower labor costs as a comparative advantage. Unlike the United States these days, Indonesia is also very comfortable with trade integration. It was the most important ASEAN member leading the RCEP process and continues to lead in shaping the implementation of the world's largest trade agreement. Should there be a Republican in the White House next year, issues such as trade deficits could loom large. Indonesia also seeks a critical minerals agreement with the United States and hopes to benefit from the Inflation Reduction Act's clean energy subsidies, but it will be a long haul to get there.As long as Washington understands that Indonesia is committed to a non-aligned rise, there is much scope to deepen ties. Indonesians see their relations with other major powers as being defined on their own merits and not as a byproduct of any other relationship. That ought to be a good basis for moving forward.

The global lockdown to mitigate COVID-19 pandemic health risks has altered human interactions with nature. Here, we report immediate impacts of changes in human activities on wildlife and environmental threats during the early lockdown months of 2020, based on 877 qualitative reports and 332 quantitative assessments from 89 different studies. Hundreds of reports of unusual species observations from around the world suggest that animals quickly responded to the reductions in human presence. However, negative effects of lockdown on conservation also emerged, as confinement resulted in some park officials being unable to perform conservation, restoration and enforcement tasks, resulting in local increases in illegal activities such as hunting. Overall, there is a complex mixture of positive and negative effects of the pandemic lockdown on nature, all of which have the potential to lead to cascading responses which in turn impact wildlife and nature conservation. While the net effect of the lockdown will need to be assessed over years as data becomes available and persistent effects emerge, immediate responses were detected across the world. Thus, initial qualitative and quantitative data arising from this serendipitous global quasi-experimental perturbation highlights the dual role that humans play in threatening and protecting species and ecosystems. Pathways to favorably tilt this delicate balance include reducing impacts and increasing conservation effectiveness. ; The Canada Research Chairs program provided funding for the core writing team. Field research funding was provided by A.G. Leventis Foundation; Agence Nationale de la Recherche, [grant number ANR-18-32–0010CE-01 (JCJC PEPPER)]; Agencia Estatal de Investigaci; Agência Regional para o Desenvolvimento da Investigação Tecnologia e Inovação (ARDITI), [grant number M1420-09-5369-FSE-000002]; Alan Peterson; ArcticNet; Arkadaşlar; Army Corp of Engineers; Artificial Reef Program; Australia's Integrated Marine Observing System (IMOS), National Collaborative; Research Infrastructure Strategy (NCRIS), University of Tasmania; Australian Institute of Marine Science; Australian Research Council, [grant number LP140100222]; Bai Xian Asia Institute; Batubay Özkan; BC Hydro Fish and Wildlife Compensation Program; Ben-Gurion University of the Negev; Bertarelli Foundation; Bertarelli Programme in Marine Science; Bilge Bahar; Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation; Biology Society of South Australia; Boston University; Burak Över; California State Assembly member Patrick O'Donnell; California State University Council on Ocean Affairs, Science & Technology; California State University Long Beach; Canada Foundation for Innovation (Major Science Initiative Fund and funding to Oceans Network Canada), [grant number MSI 30199 for ONC]; Cape Eleuthera Foundation; Centre National d'Etudes Spatiales; Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique; Charles Darwin Foundation, [grant number 2398]; Colombian Institute for the Development of Science and Technology (COLCIENCIAS), [grant number 811–2018]; Colombian Ministry of Environment and Sustainable Development, [grant number 0041–2020]; Columbia Basin Trust; Commission for Environmental Cooperation; Cornell Lab of Ornithology; Cultural practices and environmental certification of beaches, Universidad de la Costa, Colombia, [grant number INV.1106–01–002-15, 2020–21]; Department of Conservation New Zealand; Direction de l'Environnement de Polynésie Française; Disney Conservation Fund; DSI-NRF Centre of; Excellence at the FitzPatrick Institute of African Ornithology; Ecology Project International; Emin Özgür; Environment and Climate Change Canada; European Community: RTD programme - Species Support to Policies; European Community's Seventh Framework Programme; European Union; European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme, Marie Skłodowska-Curie, [grant number 798091, 794938]; Faruk Eczacıbaşı; Faruk Yalçın Zoo; Field research funding was provided by King Abdullah University of Science and Technology; Fish and Wildlife Compensation Program; Fisheries and Oceans Canada; Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, [grant numbers FWC-12164, FWC-14026, FWC-19050]; Fondo Europeo de Desarrollo Regional; Fonds québécois de la recherche nature et technologies; Foundation Segré; Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT Portugal); Galapagos National Park Directorate research, [grant number PC-41-20]; Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, [grant number GBMF9881 and GBMF 8072]; Government of Tristan da Cunha; Habitat; Conservation Trust Foundation; Holsworth Wildlife Research Endowment; Institute of Biology of the Southern Seas, Sevastopol, Russia; Instituto de Investigación de Recursos Biológicos Alexander von Humboldt; Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas Espaciais (INPE), Brazil; Israeli Academy of Science's Adams Fellowship; King Family Trust; Labex, CORAIL, France; Liber Ero Fellowship; LIFE (European Union), [grant number LIFE16 NAT/BG/000874]; Mar'a de Maeztu Program for Units of Excellence in R&D; Ministry of Science and Innovation, FEDER, SPASIMM,; Spain, [grant number FIS2016–80067-P (AEI/FEDER, UE)]; MOE-Korea, [grant number 2020002990006]; Mohamed bin Zayed Species Conservation Fund; Montreal Space for Life; National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Earth and Space Science Fellowship Program; National Geographic Society, [grant numbers NGS-82515R-20]; National Natural Science Fund of China; National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration; National Parks Board, Singapore; National Science and Technology Major Project of China; National Science Foundation, [grant number DEB-1832016]; Natural Environment Research Council of the UK; Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC), Alliance COVID-19 grant program, [grant numbers ALLRP 550721–20, RGPIN-2014-06229 (year: 2014), RGPIN-2016-05772 (year: 2016)]; Neiser Foundation; Nekton Foundation; Network of Centre of Excellence of Canada: ArcticNet; North Family Foundation; Ocean Tracking Network; Ömer Külahçıoğlu; Oregon State University; Parks Canada Agency (Lake Louise, Yoho, and Kootenay Field Unit); Pew Charitable Trusts; Porsim Kanaf partnership; President's International Fellowship Initiative for postdoctoral researchers Chinese Academy of Sciences, [grant number 2019 PB0143]; Red Sea Research Center; Regional Government of the Azores, [grant number M3.1a/F/025/2015]; Regione Toscana; Rotary Club of Rhinebeck; Save our Seas Foundation; Science & Technology (CSU COAST); Science City Davos, Naturforschende Gesellschaft Davos; Seha İşmen; Sentinelle Nord program from the Canada First Research Excellence Fund; Servizio Foreste e Fauna (Provincia Autonoma di Trento); Sigrid Rausing Trust; Simon Fraser University; Sitka Foundation; Sivil Toplum Geliştirme Merkezi Derneği; South African National Parks (SANParks); South Australian Department for Environment and Water; Southern California Tuna Club (SCTC); Spanish Ministry for the Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge; Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness; Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation; State of California; Sternlicht Family Foundation; Suna Reyent; Sunshine Coast Regional Council; Tarea Vida, CEMZOC, Universidad de Oriente, Cuba, [grant number 10523, 2020]; Teck Coal; The Hamilton Waterfront Trust; The Ian Potter Foundation, Coastwest, Western Australian State NRM; The Red Sea Development Company; The Wanderlust Fund; The Whitley Fund; Trans-Anatolian Natural Gas Pipeline; Tula Foundation (Hakai Institute); University of Arizona; University of Pisa; US Fish and Wildlife Service; US Geological Survey; Valencian Regional Government; Vermont Center for Ecostudies; Victorian Fisheries Authority; VMRC Fishing License Fund; and Wildlife Warriors Worldwide.

2-s2.0-85045087730 ; A statistical combination of several searches for the electroweak production of charginos and neutralinos is presented. All searches use proton-proton collision data at s=13 TeV, recorded with the CMS detector at the LHC in 2016 and corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 35.9 fb?1. In addition to the combination of previous searches, a targeted analysis requiring three or more charged leptons (electrons or muons) is presented, focusing on the challenging scenario in which the difference in mass between the two least massive neutralinos is approximately equal to the mass of the Z boson. The results are interpreted in simplified models of chargino-neutralino or neutralino pair production. For chargino-neutralino production, in the case when the lightest neutralino is massless, the combination yields an observed (expected) limit at the 95% confidence level on the chargino mass of up to 650 (570) GeV, improving upon the individual analysis limits by up to 40 GeV. If the mass difference between the two least massive neutralinos is approximately equal to the mass of the Z boson in the chargino-neutralino model, the targeted search requiring three or more leptons obtains observed and expected exclusion limits of around 225 GeV on the second neutralino mass and 125 GeV on the lightest neutralino mass, improving the observed limit by about 60 GeV in both masses compared to the previous CMS result. In the neutralino pair production model, the combined observed (expected) exclusion limit on the neutralino mass extends up to 650–750 (550–750) GeV, depending on the branching fraction assumed. This extends the observed exclusion achieved in the individual analyses by up to 200 GeV. The combined result additionally excludes some intermediate gaps in the mass coverage of the individual analyses.[Figure not available: see fulltext.] © 2018, The Author(s). ; 2012/07/E/ST2/01406, 2014/13/B/ST2/02543, 2014/14/M/ST2/00428, 2014/15/B/ST2/03998, 2015/19/B/ST2/02861 National Science Foundation, NSF: 1151640, 1506130, 1506168, 1508869, 1606321, 1607202 National Institutes of Health, NIH U.S. Department of Energy, USDOE Alfred P. Sloan Foundation Welch Foundation: C-1845 Hispanics in Philanthropy, HIP CS Fund, CSF Alexander von Humboldt-Stiftung California Earthquake Authority, CEA Qatar National Research Fund, QNRF Secretaría de Educación Pública, SEP Türkiye Atom Enerjisi Kurumu, TAEK Horizon 2020 Framework Programme, H2020: 675440 Weston Havens Foundation Louisiana Academy of Sciences, LAS Missouri University of Science and Technology, MST CERN College of Arts and Sciences, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, CAS Norwegian Sequencing Centre, NSC Institute for the Promotion of Teaching Science and Technology, IPST Mountain Equipment Co-operative, MEC Science and Technology Facilities Council, STFC: ST/N000242/1 Royal Astronomical Society, RAS European Commission, EC European Research Council, ERC Ministry of Education - Singapore, MOE Department of Atomic Energy, Government of India, ???? Science Foundation Ireland, SFI Helmholtz-Gemeinschaft, HGF Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft, DFG Schweizerischer Nationalfonds zur Förderung der Wissenschaftlichen Forschung, SNF: 166294 Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo, FAPESP National Natural Science Foundation of China, NSFC Research Promotion Foundation, ???? Ministerstvo Školství, Mláde?e a T?lov?chovy, MŠMT Fundacja na rzecz Nauki Polskiej, FNP Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia, FCT Russian Foundation for Basic Research, ???? Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior, CAPES Academy of Finland Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung, BMBF Austrian Science Fund, FWF Fonds De La Recherche Scientifique - FNRS, FNRS Belgian Federal Science Policy Office, BELSPO Chulalongkorn University, CU Fonds Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek, FWO Agentschap voor Innovatie door Wetenschap en Technologie, IWT Fonds pour la Formation à la Recherche dans l'Industrie et dans l'Agriculture, FRIA Consejo Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnología, CONACYT Bundesministerium für Wissenschaft, Forschung und Wirtschaft, BMWFW General Secretariat for Research and Technology, GSRT Hungarian Scientific Research Fund, OTKA Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico, CNPq Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning, MSIP Ministry of Science and Technology, MOST National Research Foundation of Korea, NRF Joint Institute for Nuclear Research, JINR Instituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, INFN A.G. Leventis Foundation National Science and Technology Development Agency, ????: Thailand Secretaría de Educación Superior, Ciencia, Tecnología e Innovación, SENESCYT Universiti Malaya, UM Fundação Carlos Chagas Filho de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado do Rio de Janeiro, FAPERJ Ministry for Business Innovation and Employment, MBIE National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, NASU Ministry of Education and Science, MES Institute for Research in Fundamental Sciences, IPM Benemérita Universidad Autónoma de Puebla, BUAP Secretaría de Estado de Investigación, Desarrollo e Innovación, SEIDI Horizon 2020 European Regional Development Fund, FEDER State Atomic Energy Corporation ROSATOM, ROSATOM Centro de Investigación y de Estudios Avanzados del Instituto Politécnico Nacional, CINVESTAV Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission, PAEC State Fund for Fundamental Research of Ukraine, SFFR Department of Science and Technology, Government of West Bengal, DST ; Open Access, Copyright CERN, for the benefit of the CMS Collaboration. Article funded by SCOAP3. ; We congratulate our colleagues in the CERN accelerator departments for the excellent performance of the LHC and thank the technical and administrative staffs at CERN and at other CMS institutes for their contributions to the success of the CMS effort. In addition, we gratefully acknowledge the computing centers and personnel of the Worldwide LHC Computing Grid for delivering so effectively the computing infrastructure essential to our analyses. Finally, we acknowledge the enduring support for the construction and operation of the LHC and the CMS detector provided by the following funding agencies: BMWFW and FWF (Austria); FNRS and FWO (Belgium); CNPq, CAPES, FAPERJ, ; and FAPESP (Brazil); MES (Bulgaria); CERN; CAS, MoST, and NSFC (China); COL-CIENCIAS (Colombia); MSES and CSF (Croatia); RPF (Cyprus); SENESCYT (Ecuador); MoER, ERC IUT, and ERDF (Estonia); Academy of Finland, MEC, and HIP (Finland); CEA and CNRS/IN2P3 (France); BMBF, DFG, and HGF (Germany); GSRT (Greece); OTKA and NIH (Hungary); DAE and DST (India); IPM (Iran); SFI (Ireland); INFN (Italy); MSIP and NRF (Republic of Korea); LAS (Lithuania); MOE and UM (Malaysia); BUAP, CINVESTAV, CONACYT, LNS, SEP, and UASLP-FAI (Mexico); MBIE (New Zealand); PAEC (Pakistan); MSHE and NSC (Poland); FCT (Portugal); JINR (Dubna); MON, RosAtom, RAS, RFBR and RAEP (Russia); MESTD (Serbia); SEIDI, CPAN, PCTI and FEDER (Spain); Swiss Funding Agencies (Switzerland); MST (Taipei); ThEPCenter, IPST, STAR, and NSTDA (Thailand); TUBITAK and TAEK (Turkey); NASU and SFFR (Ukraine); STFC (United Kingdom); DOE and NSF (USA).