University of Aberdeen

Micro-multinationals from emerging markets (mEMNEs) face significant challenges in establishing social legitimacy in foreign markets due to resource constraints and limited knowledge of local societal issues. This study examines how mEMNEs leverage partnerships with non-governmental organizations (NGOs) to develop dynamic capabilities for social innovation and, ultimately, to build social legitimacy in other emerging markets. Drawing on survey data from 143 Pakistani mEMNEs operating internationally, we find that NGO coupling positively influences the development of dynamic capabilities. These effects amplify when NGO salience and activism are high. Furthermore, social innovation mediates the relationship between NGO coupling, dynamic capabilities, and social legitimacy. Our findings extend dynamic capabilities theory into the social domain and contribute to understanding how resource-constrained multinationals from emerging markets can overcome legitimacy deficits through strategic stakeholder engagement. We also provide practical insights for managers on leveraging NGO partnerships and offer policy recommendations for facilitating cross-border social innovation initiatives.

This article ethnographically examines the formation of autodefensas in the Mexican municipality of Tancítaro, and its ties to the avocado production industry. By conducting a political and processual analysis, this article pays close attention to the autodefensas and the class relations among them vis-à-vis the avocado production industry, how class tensions influenced their politics, and how wider claims for justice were dismissed in favour of security. The class analysis is linked to an examination of the historical process of liberalization of the agrarian sector and class fragmentation that took place in the nineties, by which the peasantry was overlooked in favour of a free-market-oriented project that enabled the avocado export market to be opened up. In doing so, the article presents a complicated social field which challenges the conventional romantic view of autodefensas in Mexico.

Hypertension remains a leading contributor to cardiovascular morbidity and premature mortality worldwide, with increasing prevalence observed among younger populations. Although avoidable lifestyle factors account for a substantial proportion of hypertension risk, prevention efforts depend heavily on adequate awareness and understanding of these factors. This study examines the level of knowledge of avoidable risk factors of hypertension among university students in England and evaluates the relationship between these factors and hypertension status. A cross-sectional quantitative design was employed using a structured questionnaire administered to students at a large English university. Descriptive statistics, chi-square analysis, and multinomial logistic regression were used to analyse the data. Findings indicate a high level of knowledge of avoidable risk factors, including alcohol consumption, obesity, high salt intake, and junk food consumption. Despite this, significant associations were observed between several avoidable risk factors and hypertension status, particularly alcohol use, body mass index, salt intake, and frequent consumption of junk food. The results highlight a clear disjunction between knowledge and health behaviour, suggesting that awareness alone is insufficient to reduce hypertension risk among university students. The study underscores the need for prevention strategies that extend beyond information provision to address behavioural, social, and environmental drivers of risk.

Background: Gastric and gastro-oesophageal junction cancers encompass a heterogeneous group of malignancies with distinct histological and biological characteristics. Histological classification remains central to diagnosis, prognostication, and therapeutic decision-making, particularly in settings where molecular profiling is not routinely available. Objective: This study examined the histological spectrum and classification patterns of gastric and gastro-oesophageal junction cancers diagnosed over a ten-year period in Anambra State, South-East Nigeria. Methods: A retrospective review was conducted of gastric and gastro-oesophageal junction cancer cases diagnosed between January 2011 and December 2020 across four major histopathology laboratories in Anambra State. Archived haematoxylin and eosin–stained slides and paraffin blocks were reviewed. Tumours were classified according to the 2019 World Health Organization classification of gastric tumours, with carcinomas further categorised using the Lauren classification system. Descriptive statistics and chi-square testing were applied, with statistical significance set at p < 0.05. Results: Ninety-three cases met inclusion criteria. Carcinomas constituted the majority of tumours, followed by mesenchymal tumours, lymphomas, and neuroendocrine tumours. Tubular adenocarcinoma was the most frequent carcinoma subtype, while intestinal-type carcinoma predominated under the Lauren classification. Most graded carcinomas were well differentiated. No statistically significant associations were identified between histological subtype and patient age or sex. Conclusion: Gastric and gastro-oesophageal junction cancers in this setting are dominated by epithelial malignancies, particularly tubular and intestinal-type adenocarcinomas. The observed histological profile aligns with patterns reported across Nigeria and other low- and middle-income settings, underscoring the continuing relevance of morphology-based classification in regional cancer practice.

Arsenic (As) is a toxic contaminant of global concern as it poses risks to public health when consumed through cereals, including wheat. However, the relationship between the ionomic and transcriptomic responses to As in wheat to decipher As detoxification is poorly understood. The present study delivers a comprehensive report on transcriptomics level regulations integrated with ionomic data, and morphological traits to highlight growth impacts, As transport, and As detoxification. Four Wheat genotypes were exposed to arsenate treatments (0, 100, 200, and 400 mg/L) in a hydroponic experiment for 30 days. Growth traits, chlorophyll index, total nitrogen index, secondary metabolites, and elemental concentration were determined. Based on the findings, two genotypes (BARANI-70 and NARC-2009) were selected for a second hydroponic experiment (control vs 200 mg/L), and transcriptomics analysis was carried out on the roots. The As treatment resulted in significant differences in root As, copper (Cu), and manganese (Mn), and shoot As and selenium (Se) concentrations between the control plants and treated plants. A total of 2263 DEGs and 2148 DEGs were identified in the roots of BARANI-70 and NARC-2009 (p ≤ 0.01, log2FC ± 1), respectively, when the control plants and treated plants were analysed. Gene ontology revealed significant upregulation of glutathione metabolism (glutathione-S-transferase) in both genotypes under As treatment, while the MAPK signalling pathway was negatively regulated in both genotypes in response to the As treatment. The integration of ionomics and transcriptomics provided a deeper understanding of the molecular pathways of As detoxification in wheat.

Marginal-marine successions deposited in restricted basins under arid conditions are characterised by complex interplay between variable hydrodynamic conditions, localised carbonate-evaporitic production and continental surface processes. In such scenario, climatically driven shifts of depositional belts may result in stratigraphic compartmentalisation through vertical facies and environments dislocation. As importantly, accommodation variations across marine margins can lead to preferential deposition of coeval systems which may ultimately translate into stratigraphic sealing through lateral facies transition. By deciphering the relative influence of allogenic controls upon marine margins stratigraphic architectures in arid and restricted settings and by documenting their sedimentary products, this work provides a generalised sequence stratigraphic model for arid epicratonic basin fills.Stratigraphic arrangement of mixed paralic deposits is investigated across two margin-perpendicular transects of the Middle to Upper Jurassic San Rafael Group in Utah. Transgressive sequences of the Carmel and the Curtis formations deposited during flooding events of the Sundance Sea are intercalated between the aeolian- to fluvially-dominated low stand deposits of the Entrada Sandstone and the Summerville Formation. Facies changes and sequence stratigraphic surfaces are documented through detailed sedimentary logging and architectural panel interpretations at locations representative of 1) sediment-supply and accommodation controlled continental basin flanks; 2) autogenically overprinted paralic basin margin settings; 3) climatically controlled basin centre. Gamma-ray log data were collected in parts of the basin characterised by differing tectonics settings.Successions deposited during transgressions are dominantly associated with complex tidal embayments reworking contemporaneous continental sediment deposited further inland and may present contrasting architectural and lithological characteristics linked to variability in basin physiographic settings and climatic conditions. Transgression sequences are generally recorded as composite surfaces in continental basin flank settings although thin fluvial deposits may locally be preserved in the case of favourable accommodation and sediment supply conditions. Sedimentary successions deposited during relative sea-/base-level low stands are characterised by the advance of aeolian systems during aridity maximums and translate basinward to coastal unconfined large-scale alluvial accretion successions. Maximum regression surfaces are associated with terminations of aeolian dune fields. High-frequency climatic fluctuations are preferentially recorded in continental basin flank settings during regressive trends as aeolian dune field growth stages bounded by deflationary supersurfaces. Larger-scale T-R sequential frameworks and their associated spatio-temporal facies evolution are more likely to be controlled by overarching changes in rates of accommodation creation due to foreland basin tectonics. By incorporating spatial facies variations within stacking trends at a basin scale, the proposed model highlights the architectural complexity and facies diversity of depositional sequences within arid epicratonic basins and may constrain reservoir characteristics and associated stratigraphic heterogeneities.

Zechstein platforms in the Southern North Sea were thought to be fringed by kilometre-scale high-energy progradational carbonates with lowstand wedge geometries. Instead, a new well encountered a halite-rich evaporitic wedge that replicates the coveted progradational carbonates. This study integrates sedimentological observations with geochemistry, petrophysics and 3D seismic data to characterise the evaporitic replicas and then distinguish them from the genuine carbonate platform geometries. The evaporitic wedges generate laterally symmetrical rims around the platforms which are approximately 150m thick and 2000m wide. Wedge precipitation predated the well-characterised basin-wide Z2 drawdown event, and therefore the localised evaporitic progradational system was onlapped by basin-fill halite. The evaporitic wedges often feature domino slumping along weak progradational bedding planes, resulting in blocks that collapsed into the basin. The earliest progradational beds contained the highest concentration of microbialites which assisted stabilisation of the evaporitic wedges on the rims of carbonate platforms, whilst also indicating that the wedges were part of an environmental transition from marine highstand into basin desiccation. Microbial fragments were reworked downslope into brecciated debris flow deposits, demonstrating the relationship between wedge construction and syndepositional collapse on the outer slopes. Petrophysical and geochemical data show that the evaporitic wedges were closely associated with the early stages of drawdown, and a lack of post-anhydrite marine recharge resulted in the depletion of Ca2+ from the brine and accordingly limited anhydrite (CaSO4) precipitation within the wedges. This depletion in brine Ca2+ led to dolomitic microbialites (CaMg(CO3)2) in the lower wedge; however, the upper wedge features Kutnohorite (Ca(Mn,Mg)(CO3)2) showing that Mg2+ also eventually became depleted and was replaced by Mn2+. This analysis characterises a rare evaporitic phenomenon which can hide in plain sight in seismic data and act as a depositional intermediary between platform construction and basin-fill halite precipitation.

Sedimentologika (e-ISSN 2813-415X) is the community-driven, Diamond Open Access scientific journal dedicated to advancing the field of sedimentology. As a Diamond Open Access journal, the content is freely available to read and share, and the journal is free to publish in.Sedimentologika is an international, broad-scope journal that publishes high-quality scientific research on sedimentology, stratigraphy, and related fields. The journal accepts research with widely applicable advances in sedimentology, as well as regional case studies of interest to the sedimentology community, regardless of spatial and temporal scales, on Earth or any other planetary body. It also encourages interdisciplinary studies that link sedimentology to geochemistry, palaeontology, microbiology, archaeology, geomorphology, meteorology, hydrology, paleoclimate, tectonics (amongst others), and transdisciplinary studies that encompass sedimentology in society, education, and technology. Finally, Sedimentologika also aims to foster an inclusive and diverse environment within sedimentology, stratigraphy, and related fields (Thomas et al., 2023).Since its opening in fall 2022, it has published 4 issues and is growing slowly in the sedimentary sciences field. Its growth compares with other newly created and scholarly-led Diamond open access journals, reflecting a community that relies on society journals operating under hybrid or gold open access managed by large for profit publishing companies. While the growth is satisfactory in such environments, it relies on the increasing contribution of researchers, in a system where not all country value the inputs of scholarly-led ventures without impact factor, and where scientific publishing is seen more and more as a service, and less as a joint effort to strenghten a scientific field. In this way, reconsidering editorial, reviewing and copyediting contributions as part of an added value for a scholar career is essential and necessary if fairer modes of publications are to be achieved in a near future. Thomas, C., Privat, A., Vaucher, R., Spychala, Y., Zuchuat, V., Marchegiano, M., Poyatos-Moré, M., Kane, I., & Chiarella, D. 2023: Sedimentologika : A community-driven diamond open access journal in sedimentology. Sedimentologika, 1.

Groundwater is a resilient resource that is vital for local water supplies and maintaining baseflow in rivers and streams, particularly during low flow periods. Due to global climate change, the occurrence of meteorological drought is increasing in both frequency and severity, causing or amplifying water scarcity events even in areas considered water rich, like Scotland. While groundwater is generally more resilient to drought than surface water sources, the specific impacts on the resilience of the resource is influenced by local hydrogeology, geography, and climate. To evaluate differences in groundwater response between sites and assess vulnerability and resilience at varying timescales, it is important have standardised parameters to evaluate.The Standardised Groundwater Index (SGI) is a normalisation procedure that can be applied to groundwater level data from observation boreholes to compare drought response more easily between locations. To standardise groundwater data, typical methods use a specific probability distribution which is unlikely to represent variability over large, diverse regions across different seasons or empirical probabilities requiring large sample sizes. Here, in the transformation to standardised units, probability distributions are optimised using Akaike Information Criterion (AIC) to select the most appropriate distribution for each season at each location. Incorporating model fit statistics for each time and site reduces uncertainty in calculations, particularly at the tails of the distribution which is vital for drought studies.Groundwater storage and memory is evaluated across 33 sites in Scotland through the autocorrelation function of the SGI time series and correlated with Standardised Precipitation Evapotranspiration Index (SPEI) to evaluate the time scale of groundwater drought propagation at each location and better characterise storage properties for aquifers of different lithologies and dominant flow types (e.g. intergranular, fractured). Autocorrelation lengths of less than 5 months are common in the fractured flow systems compared to lag periods of 9 months or greater in more highly transmissive aquifers likely dominated by intergranular flow.Hierarchical cluster analysis of the SGI time series provides an added line of evidence to the differential response between hydrogeological units and to identify areas where local changes in geology, structure, or surface water connections could be influencing groundwater response. Characterisation of the groundwater drought response can reveal areas of greater groundwater resilience and provide water managers better metrics to assess the spatiotemporal controls of groundwater drought propagation, along with modelling the timing and magnitude of seasonal groundwater minima.