Journals
2026 EN
Schake Kori
For 250 years, the United States of America has been propelled by a sense of its exceptional nature and mission. For the past 80 years, much of the world has been structured around the order Washington built out of the ashes of the Second World War. But for many Americans and observers of America, the second administration of President Donald Trump has been deeply disquieting, with widespread concerns that his presidency will undermine much of what has made America exceptional and successful at home and abroad. In this Adelphi book, Kori Schake argues that the US truly is exceptional – politically, economically, culturally and in the international order it constructed. She also argues that, while deep-seated American advantages and resilience may still contribute to more benevolent outcomes, we face a serious risk of dramatic disruption to American power and international security.
Journals
2026 EN
Bhatt C. M. · Raishant · Singh Raghavendra Pratap
+3 more
This study aims to evaluate the potential of the newly launched Surface Water and Ocean Topography (SWOT) mission for assessing flood dynamics during the 2024 Ganges floods in North Bihar, India. As one of the first studies to utilize SWOT data for flood analysis in the Indian subcontinent, this study focuses on high-flow conditions observed during the 2024 monsoon season, when the Ganga River experienced severe inundation. The SWOT L2_HR_PIXC product, derived from Ka-band radar interferometry (KaRIN), was pre-processed to extract the water surface elevation (WSE) and water surface spatial extent (WSSE). The SWOT-derived WSE was validated against in-situ gauge data from Hatidah and Sentinel-3A altimetry observations, yielding strong correlations with R² values of 0.97 and 0.90, respectively. Three major flood waves, inundating nearly 1660 km², were recorded between July 10 and October 22, 2024. The WSE rose from 34.23 m on June 19 to 43.56 m on September 19, reflecting an increase of 9.33 m, with adjacent low-lying areas remaining submerged for up to four months. The analysis also revealed stronger backscatter (σ⁰) values for water surfaces, ranging from 13 to 16 dB. This study demonstrates SWOT’s capacity to enhance traditional EO-based 2D flood mapping for more informed decision-making.
Journals
2026 EN
Zheng Naiquan · Xu Ying · Yang Fanlin
+2 more
Wind Speed (WS) is essential for air–sea interaction studies and weather monitoring. Spaceborne GNSS-R shows strong potential for WS retrieval, yet accuracy under high-wind conditions and environmental coupling remain challenging. This study employs China’s multi-constellation GNSS-R mission Tianmu-1 (TM-1), integrating BDS, GPS, GLONASS, and Galileo observations. Bayesian-optimized machine learning models (CatBoost, LightGBM, and XGBoost) were developed by incorporating environmental variables, including significant wave height, sea surface temperature, and total precipitation. Three fusion strategies—multi-GNSS, multi-polarization, and pure data fusion—were evaluated over the Yellow and Bohai Seas. Results show that environmental integration reduces RMSE by 20~25% and increases correlation by 0.1~0.2. High-wind sample weighting effectively alleviates performance degradation under high conditions. LHCP observations from the C and E systems perform best, with accuracy ranked as C > E > G > R. Among fusion schemes, multi-polarization fusion achieves the highest accuracy (R = 0.88, RMSE = 1.685 m/s) and best spatial consistency. Overall, the proposed strategy significantly enhances the accuracy and robustness of GNSS-R WS retrieval and provides an effective framework for future multi-constellation missions and operational applications.
Journals
2026 EN
Yue Li · Huiying Zhang
Mission-oriented innovation represents a novel paradigm aimed at addressing specific societal and environmental challenges. Drawing on the entrepreneurial state theory, this paradigm suggests that the government can act as a market-shaper, regulator, financier, risk-bearer, and demonstrator in various capacities. However, existing research remains unclear regarding the government’s role and the mechanisms through which it shapes markets. For this purpose, the present paper develops a demand-side mission-oriented innovation process model and examines the government's influence in shaping the new electric vehicle market through both To C (targeting consumers) and To E (targeting enterprises) approaches. The results indicate that the level of mission-oriented innovation policies across regions in China, as well as their coordination with NEV sales, has remained low and uneven; policy attention to lower-tier markets and NEV after-sales services remains nascent. Nevertheless, these policies have shown moderate yet meaningful effects in reducing carbon emissions, highlighting the need for further refinement in policy formulation. The conclusions and prospects obtained can provide decision-making references for the evolution of market shaping theory from the perspective of the entrepreneurial state, the implementation and promotion of market shaping strategies, the optimization of innovative policy instruments and measures, and policy design and evaluation.
Journals
2026 EN
Bazo de Castro Douglas · dos Santos Pereira Vinícius · Santos da Mota Gabriel
+2 more
Evaporite mapping in hyperarid regions is crucial for understanding surface hydrology, salt crust dynamics, and environmental change. Terrain classification in these settings is hindered by spectral overlap among surface types and limited remote sensing coverage. To our knowledge, no previous workflow has combined Sentinel-1 radar data with Sentinel-2 indices for mapping evaporites in a Mars-analog environment. We developed a lightweight, rule-based fusion of horizontal transmit – horizontal receive (HH)-polarized Sentinel-1 backscatter with the Normalized Difference Water Index (NDWI) and Normalized Difference Snow Index (NDSI) from Sentinel-2, optimized for simplicity and low computational demand. Applied to a salt flat in northern Chile, moist salts accounted for ~67% and dry evaporites for ~5% of the area. The fused method achieved an overall agreement of more than 80% and F1-scores above 0.75, improving accuracy by 10–15% compared to spectral-only approaches. This sensor-independent framework supports efficient mapping of evaporitic surfaces in data-limited environments. It is directly transferable to planetary surface analysis, including analog studies and autonomous terrain triage during mission operations.
Journals
2026 EN
Pires Silva Angela Gabrielly · Galvão Lênio Soares · Ferreira Júnior Laerte Guimarães
We evaluated the potential of Landsat Next’s planned band configuration to discriminate among five pasture degradation classes in central Brazil. Hyperspectral data from the Environmental Mapping and Analysis Program (EnMAP) were used to simulate the spectral resolution of the innovative Landsat Next mission, planned for 2031, specifically 18 of its 21 reflective bands. Other past and current multispectral missions were also considered as part of a strategy to represent a progressive increase in the number of spectral bands and coverage across the 400–2500 nm range. Classification with the Light Gradient Boosting Machine (LightGBM) and band reflectance focused on Non-degraded pastures (NDP) and four degradation levels: Low-intensity (LID), Moderate-intensity (MID), Severe agronomic (SAD), and Severe biological (SBD). The results showed the importance of the Landsat Next red-edge and shortwave infrared (SWIR) multispectral bands, particularly those near 740 nm, 1600 nm and beyond 2000 nm, in distinguishing different levels of pasture degradation. Overall classification accuracy ranged from 0.63 for sensors limited to the visible and near-infrared (VNIR) to 0.74 for instruments covering both VNIR and SWIR regions. All simulations achieved F1-scores above 0.86 for NDP. For SAD, the highest F1-score was observed with Landsat Next (0.68). For SBD, only Landsat Next achieved good classification performance (F1-score = 0.60), attributable to its three additional narrow bands centred at 2038 nm, 2108 nm, and 2211 nm. These bands captured signs of clay mineral absorption bands linked to increased soil exposure caused by vegetation depletion through biological processes.
Journals
2026 EN
Amirbekova Diana · Batkeyev Birzhan · Bigabatova Madina
There is extensive literature on the impact of joining the Bologna Process. However, along with the direct effects of joining and adopting the standards of the European system of higher education, there could potentially be other indirect effects. Conceptually, one could view these effects of joining the Bologna Process through integrated institutional approach to internationalization. Joining the Bologna Process fosters cross-cutting internalization, that is affecting one domain which includes international mobility. Thus, countries that joined the process should have a ‘gear effect’ on the other domain of international engagement within teaching, research and third mission. In this paper, we try to estimate one dimension of such externalities. Using relatively novel difference-in-differences empirical strategy, we estimate the indirect effect of joining the Bologna Process on research collaborations between authors from a joining country and those from Bologna member states. Namely, we analyse two cohorts of post-Soviet countries that joined in 2005 and 2010. We find that results of joining the Bologna Process vary by group but are in line with the conceptual framework. There is a positive effect on research collaboration for Kazakhstan, which joined in 2010, but not for the other group of post-Soviet countries, which joined in 2005.
Journals
2026 EN
Ananny Mike · Karr Jake
Amidst ongoing challenges to journalism’s economic models, labor markets, and technological practices, a new pressure has recently appeared in many newsrooms: the power of Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI) computational models and off-the-shelf interfaces to synthetically create content that passes for news. Seeing the phenomenon through the lens of this special issue’s focus on “hype,” this paper uses discourse analysis to understand how journalism unions define GenAI as a problem, articulate the value of journalism against it, and use collective bargaining to contractually shape its use in newsrooms. Motivated by scholarship detailing hype as popular communication, expectation setting, and technological stabilizing, we examine journalistic trade press, union statements, and collective bargaining agreements to offer a 6-dimensional image of GenAI hype and union-driven responses to it, and reflect on notable absences in media unions’ understanding of GenAI. We see this as a case of journalists articulating their roles and values in an all-too-common moment when they are challenged by sociotechnical forces that they did not create, but that they must nonetheless collectively navigate and reshape in service of the profession’s democratic mission.
Journals
2026 EN
Morales Diana · Kristensen Iryna Fil
The downscaling of environmental responsibilities poses new challenges for regional governments, necessitating an evolution in their roles to manage environmental policy alongside traditional local development duties. This paper draws on the concept of the entrepreneurial state and on the idea of the ‘entrepreneurial region’ to explore how local and regional governments implement bioeconomy policies and strategies, highlighting governance dynamics and assessing institutional capacity limitations in achieving sustainability outcomes. Our study focuses on the bioeconomy strategies in Lapland (Finland) and Västernorrland (Sweden), two sparsely populated, resource-rich northern regions where the bioeconomy is integral to regional development policies. We utilised qualitative data from semi-structured interviews, policy documents and relevant reports to address two key questions: How can we better understand the role of local and regional governments in regional bioeconomy strategies, and what implications do institutional capacity constraints have for sustainability outcomes? Findings indicate that the ability of regions to act ‘entrepreneurially’ is heavily reliant on the availability of competences, resources and vision. The notion of the entrepreneurial region illustrates that regional governments are increasingly expected to fulfil roles as coordinators, economic agents, market enablers and innovators, all of which necessitate significant institutional capacity. Although these roles foster opportunities for place-based innovation and bioeconomy advancement, they also expose tensions between mission-oriented goals and market-driven demands. Furthermore, uneven institutional capacities, fragmented governance structures and limited resources hinder the transformative potential of regional strategies.
Journals
2026 EN
Danko Dori · Jacobs Lindsey · Lowe Kimberly
Social enterprise provides an avenue for small not-for-profit human service organizations (NPHSOs) to generate a consistent form of revenue. It employs a profitable business model to create a product/service operated by an NPHSO entity where profits further the mission. Current changes in overall giving make a new form of revenue generation crucial for NPHSOs both large and small, particularly as giving has morphed recently due to political changes and generational shifts. This Guest Editorial briefly introduces two forms of social enterprise, then notes the benefits related to each. It addresses items to consider when implementing social enterprise including tax implications and marketing. We offer design strategies to consider when implementing a successful social enterprise endeavor in the human service sector. Lastly, we note how to avoid the “white savior” trap concerning the advancement of BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and Persons of Color) communities.