Chromatic leucism in the flap shell turtle, Lissemys punctata from Bangladesh

The spotted flap shell turtle, Lissemys punctata (Bonnaterre, 1789) has a distribution in Bangladesh, India, Myanmar, Nepal and Pakistan. In Bangladesh, this species is widely distributed throughout the freshwater wetlands and the low-lying floodplains, coastal islands, and hill districts. This species is listed in CITES (Appendix II) and protected by Bangladesh Wildlife Conservation & Security Act 2012 (Schedule II), where commercial trade is strictly prohibited. Lissemys punctata has an oval and domed carapace with olive-green colour spotted by dark yellow blotches. The head is also olive green often with yellow blotches, whereas the plastron is whitish or pale yellow. The colour of this species may vary depending on its habitat and defence strategy. Colour aberration in animals may occur due to a lack of melanin. Golden yellow colour aberration (chromatic leucism) is rare in animals, especially in turtles. This might be because of the absence of melanin in the outer dermis. The presence of high xanthophores and yellow pteridine pigments in the skin are also responsible for the golden yellow colour aberration.

The United Kingdom and the European Union and their post-brexit trade in heavy conventional weapons

The United Kingdom’s withdrawal from the European Union in early 2020 brought new changes and challenges concerning also the heavy conventional weapons trade. Both the UK and the EU now have an opportunity to strengthen their position in the global conventional arms trade and revise territorial structures of their defence industries. The author attempts to analyse the positions of the United Kingdom and the European Union in the global heavy conventional arms trade over the past five years and to outline their future prospects after Brexit. The main source of the paper comes from quantitative data available in world databases monitoring conventional arms transfers as well as the UK’s new defence strategy.

The Defence by Design framework: Conceptual foundations and potential applications

With rapid advancements in technology radically impacting and changing current ways of working globally, many industries and sectors, including the Defence force, are implementing new approaches to respond to and address these challenges. Design thinking is one approach to assist in this response, as it provides a novel process for solving complex problems. This article presents a specific design approach for addressing contextual Defence problems in the form of a design thinking framework based on a review of the existing literature concerning design and Defence. The article contends with the role of design as a value-added methodology in Defence strategy and development, and it reports on a unique set of design thinking capabilities for a Defence-specific context that are not only essential for the implementation of a design-led approach to innovation but are of great assistance in overcoming its associated challenges. The Defence by Design framework works with an identified military objective that, when applied, overcomes the natural bias that Defence personnel may exhibit during routine gaps and opportunities analysis. By detailing the different stages of the framework, and demonstrating their iterative nature, through the documentation of a working example – ‘Man Overboard’ – this article presents a new approach yet to be realized in Defence globally.

On the Influence of Internal Factors on Romania’s Foreign Policy and Image

The article describes the internal processes in Romania after the collapse of the communist regime. The author attempts to determine the connection between the domestic and foreign policy of the country. This issue deserves attention since Romania's National Defence Strategy 2020–2024 prioritises the strengthening of the country's resilience and at the same time increasing international political weight. Having taken this into consideration, the author evaluates the domestic policy factors which have influenced the image of Romania in the international arena.

Defence strategies in an online community of caregivers

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to understand caregivers’ discursive constructions and responses to their unwanted (family and social) role as resulting in exchanges on social media. Online group platforms are understood as particularly suitable for the expression of intimate feelings among adults, for meeting and exhibiting stigma issues, and for the circulation of information and support (Suler, 2004; McCormack, 2010; Pounds et al., 2018). Design/methodology/approach This paper draws from digital Conversation Analysis (Giles et al., 2015), and considers data after combining quantitative (corpus analysis) and qualitative methods, from a critical discourse analysis perspective. The Stereotype Content Model (SCM; Fiske et al., 2002) is used together with collocation analysis to understand categorisations, which ultimately result in a defence strategy (Assimakopoulos et al., 2017) to negotiate the Self and the Others (Tannen, 1992). Findings Considering that the digital environment allows a discursive negotiation of identities, data suggest that these interactions are expressions of membership construction, group solidarity and empowerment, that normalise and legitimise emotions with the ultimate goal of (self-)acceptance. Originality/value This study provides a basis for further research on caregivers’ self-positioning in power-relations with others.

The United States Motivation in Having Cyber Security Cooperation With China

The United States and China had conducted cyber cooperation since 2011. But in 2013, both states were involved in the cyber conflict that made the previous cyber collaboration had been ineffective. After that, in 2015, both states agreed to re-form cyber cooperation. This study aims to analyse the United States' motivation in conducting cyber partnerships with China using the cybersecurity concept. This research has discovered at the national level, the United States tried to achieve its information assurance through cyber defence strategy by strengthening collaboration. On the other hand, at the international level, norm construction through bilateral collaboration has made the United States become an impactful actor in international cybersecurity.