It’s possible that I shall make an ass of myself. But in that case one can always get out of it with a little dialectic. I have, of course, so worded my proposition as to be right either way (K.Marx, Letter to F.Engels on the Indian Mutiny)
Saturday, March 15, 2025
UK Charges Captain of Solong with Gross Negligence Manslaughter
The burnt-out containership Solong (Havariekommando)
The Humberside Police and the UK’s Crown Prosecution Service Special Crime and Counter Terrorism Division confirmed late on Friday that the captain of the containership Solong has been charged with gross negligence manslaughter in connection with the allision with the Stena Immaculate off the coast of England on Monday morning. Prosecutors and the defendant are scheduled to appear in the Hull Magistrates Court tomorrow, Saturday, March 15, at which time additional details might become public.
The captain of the Solong, Vladimir Motin, a 59-year-old from Primorsky, St Petersburg, Russia, was taken into custody and arrested the police reported on Tuesday less than a day after the two vessels collided about 10 miles off the UK coast. The police said they were leading the investigation of any potential criminal offenses after it was reported that a Filipino crewmember, Mark Angelo Pernia, age 38, was missing and presumed deceased. The search for the missing crewmember was suspended Monday night HM Coastguard reported.
The police said they were continuing to speak with all those involved to establish the full circumstances of the incident in conjunction with the UK’s Marine Accident Investigation Bureau which is leading the maritime inquiry. They called it a complex investigation and returned to the court on Wednesday to get a 36-hour extension and again on Thursday for a further 24-hour extension.
“Additional time has been imperative to the investigation due to the complexities of the incident with the vessels in the sea, the number of witnesses involved, and establishing any scenes to collate and gather information and evidence,” the police said on Thursday.
The Prosecution Service cautioned against speculation to protect Motin’s rights to a fair trial. A spokesperson for the containership's owner said in a statement that it would be "inappropriate for us to comment on ongoing police investigations. We are fully supporting the crew and assisting the investigation into the incident."
HM Coastguard reported on Friday that the situation aboard both vessels remained stable as salvage teams were planning for the next steps. They said that small periodic pockets of fire continued on the Solong, which “are not causing undue concern.” The containership continues to be held in position by a tow line while the tanker has remained at anchor where it was struck on Monday.
UK Pursues North Sea Incident Investigation as Court Extends Detention
Containership Solong continues to be held by tugs with some small fires still burning (Havariekommando)
As salvage teams are making headway in efforts related to the Stena Immaculate and the Solong, the UK’s Marine Accident Investigation Branch outlined the steps for the investigation. At the same time, a Magistrate’s Court extended the detention and questioning of the master of the Solong.
HM Coastguard reports little change in the situation aboard both vessels. The fires appear to be out on the tanker Stena Immaculate and it remains where it was anchored when it was struck by the containership.
“Small pockets of fire are still reported to be on the top deck of Solong,” HM Coastguard reported noting that crews continue to respond to the vessel. The containership continues to be held off the English coast in what they are calling “a safe location connected to a tug.”
Chief Coastguard Paddy O'Callaghan said: “Both vessels are presently stable and salvors have been on board to carry out initial damage assessments to secure future safe access to both ships,” in his end-of-day update on Thursday.
The Marine Accident Investigation Branch (MAIB) reported earlier on Thursday that it was gathering preliminary information and interviews but was waiting while the prior has been to allow the emergency services to undertake their efforts and to secure the vessels. MAIB said it has been gathering witness accounts and obtaining digital data.
It also reported that the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board and the U.S. Coast Guard had joined the efforts. In addition, the Marine Safety Investigation Authority of Portugal has also joined but MAIB reports it was agreed that the UK will lead the safety investigation with Portugal and the U.S. “acting as substantially interested states.”
Germany provided HM Coastguard with assistance including planes and drones for close-up inspections of both vessels (Havariekommando)
Humberside Police Detective Chief Superintendent Craig Nicholson however reported that the Magistrates’ Court on Wednesday had granted a 36-hour extension for the man they have in custody.
“Detectives are continuing to question him following his arrest on suspicion of gross negligence manslaughter in connection with the collision,” said Nicholson. “Extensive lines of inquiry by police into any potential criminal offenses which arise from the collision between the two vessels are ongoing, whilst partner agencies continue their own assessments of the incident.”
MAIB said when it is safe its teams would conduct a detailed inspection of both vessels and manage the retrieval of the Voyage Data Recorders (VDR) from both ships. In addition to gathering witness accounts, MAIB said its further investigation work will look to establish the navigational practices on board both vessels; the manning and fatigue management; the condition and maintenance of the vessels involved; and the environmental conditions at the time.
Inspection of the Stena Immaculate (Havariekommando)
This comes as speculation continues to grow on the repercussions of this incident. Marcos Alvarez, Managing Director, Global Financial Institution Ratings for the credit rating service Morningstar DBRS said they do not expect this to “materially affect the credit profile of marine insurers in 2025.” However, he notes that multiple insurance policies, including those for hull and machinery, liability, and marine cargo, will be activated. “We estimate that liability and salvage losses will exceed the cost of hull and cargo claims said Alvarez. Morningstar believes total insured losses in the range of $100 to $300 million will “remain manageable,” while noting the findings of the U.S. investigation into sabotage and the MAIB investigation could have “significant implications,” for handling any insurance claims for the incident.
The U.S. shipping company Crowley confirmed late on Thursday that the team from SMIT had been aboard the Stena Immaculate, but they cautioned it would take time to complete the assessment. They said a salvage and tow plan would be finalized with the appropriate authorities.
Round up, just below, or precise amount? Choosing the final price of a product may be just a cultural thing
Researchers established a link between cultural dimensions and prevalence of round, just below, and precise prices
It is well known that culture influences consumer behavior, but the impact of culture on pricing is less studied. One way culture might reflect in price tags is through price endings, which can be round (eg $10.00), just below (eg £9.99), or precise (eg €9.87). While all these price endings are common, little is known about why sellers in certain markets prefer one over the others.
Now, researchers in Germany have examined whether cultural dimensions – individualism, uncertainty avoidance, and long-term orientation – impact how often consumers see certain types of price endings.
“Given that culture significantly influences behavior, cognition, and emotion—why not price prevalence as well?” said Dr Meikel Soliman, a researcher at Leuphana University Lüneburg and co-author of the Frontiers in Behavioral Economics study. “Our findings reveal an association between price endings and cultural dimensions.”
Is the price right?
There are six cultural dimensions that describe how a society’s culture impacts the values of its members and how these values affect behavior. In the current work, the researchers focused on three of them: individualism, which describes the extent to which people feel independent from others; uncertainty avoidance, defined as the extent to which members feel threatened by unknown situations; and long-term orientation, which describes cultures that tend to focus on the future in a way that delays short-term success in favor of long-term success.
The researchers included 9,200 prices from 23 different countries in their study. “Contrary to our expectations, higher individualism was positively associated with the prevalence of round prices and negatively associated with just-below prices,” said Soliman. “This might be because in individualistic cultures retailers might perceive just-below prices as signaling lower quality and avoid them to maintain a high-quality brand image and appeal to consumers seeking individuality.” In the study, individualistic cultures were represented by countries like Australia, Canada, and the Netherlands.
Cultures aiming to decrease uncertainty, on the other hand, might prefer just-below prices. “Just-below prices are linked to lower costs and ‘good deals,’” explained Soliman. “This may explain why retailers in high-uncertainty cultures favor signaling lower prices. Similarly, round prices may not strongly signal good quality, reducing their ability to ease uncertainty.” These cultures were represented by countries like Greece, Portugal, and Belgium.
The authors also found that long-term orientation was linked to a higher prevalence of round prices. “Round prices can convey quality and trust, helping retailers build long-term relationships,” Soliman pointed out. Cultures that favor long-term relationships were represented by countries including Estonia, Germany, and Spain.
Meeting pricing expectations
In a globalized world, where vendors often compete for customers from across countries and cultures, these insights could be used to provide a cultural perspective when setting prices. They also highlight possible cultural differences that impact pricing strategies and can help align prices with the culturally shaped expectations of customers. While the researchers did not directly examine whether familiarity with price formats increased the likelihood of consumers choosing certain products, they said it could result in choosing the familiarly priced product over others.
The team also pointed out that their study was limited is some respects. They examined just one e-commerce platform and focused on select countries, which may limit generalizability. In addition, the researchers did not observe a cause-effect relationship between cultural dimensions and price endings and didn’t examine underlying mechanisms.
Nonetheless, these insights into the culture-price relationship are important for retailers and anyone operating in a globalized market. “Vendors face diverse price expectations,” Soliman concluded. “Our research helps clarify these expectations, providing insights into how retailers adapt price endings across cultures.”
Restoring abandoned grasslands by removing woody vegetation and resuming traditional land management practices has positive effects on biodiversity. “There is no place better suited to survey restored grasslands with very different management durations within a relatively small area than ski slopes,” says Kobe University ecology graduate student HIRAYAMA Gaku.
Recovered grasslands need more than 75 years of continuous management to regain their biodiversity because specialized pollinators are slow to return. Kobe University's finding underscores the importance of preserving old grasslands as reservoirs of biodiversity, even if it is just as ski slopes.
Grasslands worldwide are rapidly disappearing due to land-use conversion and abandonment, leading to a well-documented loss of grassland biodiversity. Restoring abandoned grasslands by removing woody vegetation and resuming traditional land management practices has positive effects on biodiversity. However, it is also known that this diversity lags behind that of old grasslands that have been under continued management for up to several millennia. The Kobe University ecologist USHIMARU Atushi says, “The reasons for this are not really clear and satisfying solutions have not been proposed.”
Tipped off by a recent study that showed that insect-pollinated plant species take longer to recover compared to wind-pollinated ones, Ushimaru and his doctoral student HIRAYAMA Gaku decided to turn their attention towards the pollinators themselves. Looking at which insects pollinate plants and with what success on grasslands of different age, from very recently recovered to continuously managed for at least 300 years, they turned to ski slopes in Nagano Prefecture as their study site. “There is no place better suited to survey restored grasslands with very different management durations within a relatively small area than ski slopes,” Hirayama explains the choice.
Their results published in the Journal of Applied Ecology paint a consistent picture. It takes 75 years of continuous management for the plant diversity in recovered grasslands to finally reach levels comparable to ancient grasslands. However, that’s still not enough for the pollinator community. Even after 75 years, pollinators are still less specialized and less successful at pollinating the plants, although the community continuously shifts towards higher specialization and successful pollination as grasslands get older. Hirayama sums up saying, “The finding shows that once valuable old grasslands are lost, their restoration cannot be achieved quickly.”
What drives this lag is not a lower diversity of pollinators in itself, it is the identity of the pollinators. Recently restored grasslands are visited mostly by flies and hoverflies that are generalists and thus often carry pollen from one plant to flowers of a different species. On old grasslands, on the other hand, pollinators are to a larger extent bees and butterflies that specialize in one species at a time, thus guaranteeing that the pollen is transferred to the right plant species.
The study therefore shows the importance of considering pollinator communities for efforts targeting the conservation of threatened grassland plants. First of all, this means that maintaining ancient grasslands as reserves for specialized pollinators should be a top priority for conservationists. But Ushimaru points out something else, saying “It may also indicate that grassland restoration should not just be left to nature, but could require active human involvement such as by sowing seeds or by planting seedlings of native bee- and butterfly-pollinated grassland plants.”
This research was funded by the Japan Science Society, the Fund of Nagano Prefecture to Promote Scientific Activity, the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (grants 19H03303 and 22K06400), and the Environmental Restoration and Conservation Agency (grant JPMEERF20234005). It was conducted in collaboration with researchers from the University of Tsukuba and the University of Toyama.
Kobe University is a national university with roots dating back to the Kobe Higher Commercial School founded in 1902. It is now one of Japan’s leading comprehensive research universities with nearly 16,000 students and nearly 1,700 faculty in 10 faculties and schools and 15 graduate schools. Combining the social and natural sciences to cultivate leaders with an interdisciplinary perspective, Kobe University creates knowledge and fosters innovation to address society’s challenges.
Sorghum is an increasingly important crop for animal and human nutrition, especially in arid and semi-arid regions, due to its natural resistance to drought and high temperatures.
CRAG researchers have identified the molecular mechanisms responsible for drought resistance in sorghum and developed tools that could be used in biotechnological applications.
These advances could combat the effects of climate change, reduce dependence on imports and improve food security for human consumption.
Bellaterra (Barcelona), 13 March 2025
In a series of three recent studies, a team led by CSIC researcher at CRAG Ana I. Caño-Delgado have made significant progress in understanding the molecular mechanisms and improving the breeding of sorghum, the world's fifth most cultivated cereal, which is particularly important in arid and semi-arid regions. The importance of this cereal lies in its role in the future of human and animal nutrition, providing a sustainable alternative for areas facing water scarcity.
Sorghum's growing importance
Sorghum is increasingly recognised as a staple food in many parts of the world, including outside Africa where it has been cultivated for centuries, due to its multiple nutritional benefits and resistance to adverse climatic conditions. In Europe, sorghum cultivation is on the rise and is being promoted as an alternative for crop rotation especially in regions prone to water scarcity. The European Union is actively promoting sorghum cultivation as a climate-resilient crop, with a 57% increase in total sorghum production during the last decade. France, in particular, is at the forefront of this trend with 103.000 hectares dedicated to grain sorghum cultivation last year. Meanwhile Spain is a major importer of sorghum in Europe, mainly for animal feed but with prospects for human food in the future. In 2020, 158.000 tonnes were imported into Spain, so an increase in its cultivation on the territory could reduce dependence on imports. For reference, Spain imported 303.000 tonnes of barley in the last six months, making it the third most imported crop.
CRAG's scientific contributions
CRAG's research efforts are at the vanguard of advancing sorghum science, focusing on improving, even further, its adaptability to stress conditions and enhancing its handling in the laboratory for future breeding processes. For the last 20 years, the research group led by Ana I. Caño-Delgado has been dedicated to the study of this cereal and has received numerous grants, including an ERC PoC from the European Research Council (ERC). In the last six months, the group has published three scientific articles of great importance to the sector.
In the first of these three studies, published in the Plant Biotechnology Journal, the research team identified that mutations in the protein Sorghum bicolor brassinosteroid receptor, SbBRI1, confer drought tolerance by altering phenylpropanoid metabolism. This finding highlights a molecular mechanism for enhancing drought resistance in sorghum, a critical trait for climate-resilient agriculture.
A second work, published in The Plant Journal, detailed a significant advancement in sorghum biotechnology: an efficient sorghum transformation method using a ternary vector system combined with morphogenic regulators. Previous tools and methods were not effective enough for studying certain varieties of sorghum, posing a significant challenge for scientists and breeders. This new protocol solves this problem by allowing for highly efficient transformation using Agrobacterium tumefaciens and enables the application of new breeding techniques like gene editing to accelerate crop improvement. This technology provides a useful tool for creating and studying mutants of interest with a very high efficiency in the transformation of recalcitrant sorghum (varieties that are resistant to genetic transformation), reaching 2-fold increase of the transformation efficiency.
Juan B. Fontanet-Manzaneque, lead author of both studies, underscored the significance of these breakthroughs in sorghum cultivation: “Our goal was to equip the sorghum community with not only cutting-edge molecular tools to accelerate sorghum breeding but also some key target genes essential for developing drought-resistant crops”.
The third study, which is published today in New Phytologist Journal, characterizes the role of SbBRI1 in root development, specifically in the meristem region, linking BRI1 to cell wall metabolism and demonstrating that the sorghum SbBRI1 protein plays functionally conserved roles in plant growth and development. The root development is crucial for the overall growth and health of the plant and plays a role in how the plant responds to environmental stressors.
Andrés Rico-Medina, first author of the study, highlighted the implemented technique: “We adapted the staining and imaging protocols that are used in model plants like Arabidopsis to be useful for studies in Sorghum.” He also noted that: “This adaptation serves to bridge the gap between laboratory-based drought studies and a more agronomic context, thereby facilitating the practical application of these scientific advancements.”
Socio-economic and political implications
Sorghum is increasingly considered as a crucial crop for climate change adaptation due to its tolerance to high temperatures and drought, especially compared to maize, which is the most widely cultivated cereal in Europe and is highly susceptible to water stress. Studies show that the importance of sorghum in Europe is expected to increase because of climate change. Also, the expansion of sorghum cultivation in Spain could create new economic opportunities for farmers, reducing dependence on imports and boosting local agricultural production. In Catalonia, more than 100.000 tonnes of sorghum were produced in 2023, more than 90% of which was destined for animal feed.
Furthermore, sorghum is a naturally gluten-free cereal, a particularly relevant characteristic in the food industry. Its adaptability and high nutritional value make it a key crop for improving food security. The rising demand for sorghum for human consumption, with an increase by around 6% in demand in 2024, highlights its potential to improve nutrition, especially when research is leading to new varieties of sorghum.
Ana I. Caño-Delgado, leader of the group, said: “This researchrepresents a significant opportunity for CRAG to establish technology transfer projects, to encourage public-private collaboration, and to highlight the excellent work of our researchers”
These three groundbreaking scientific advancements by CRAG’s researchers not only pave the way for more sustainable and productive sorghum cultivation but also mark a critical step forward in addressing global food security and nutrition challenges. Moreover, this finding is relevant for other essential crops such as maize, wheat and rice, because they also contain brassinosteroid signalling pathways. This creates an opportunity for climate-smart agriculture, with more resilient and sustainable varieties.
Sorghum plant
Andrés Rico, first author of the study, and on the right Ana I. Caño-Delgado, who led the study
Credit
Credit: CRAG
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Reference Articles:
Andrés Rico-Medina, Natalie Laibach, Juan B. Fontanet-Manzaneque, David Blasco-Escámez, Fidel Lozano-Elena, Damiano Martignago, and Ana I. Caño-Delgado. Molecular and physiological characterization of brassinosteroid receptor BRI1 mutants in Sorghum bicolor.New Phytologist, https://doi.org/10.1111/nph.20443
Juan B. Fontanet-Manzaneque, Jari Haeghebaert, Stijn Aesaert, Griet Coussens, Laurens Pauwels, Ana I. Caño-Delgado. Efficient sorghum and maize transformation using a ternary vector system combined with morphogenic regulators.The Plant Journal, https://doi.org/10.1111/tpj.17101
Juan B. Fontanet-Manzaneque, Natalie Laibach, Iván Herrero-García, Veredas Coleto-Alcudia, David Blasco-Escámez, Chen Zhang, Luis Orduña, Saleh Alseekh, Sara Miller, Nanna Bjarnholt, Alisdair R. Fernie, José Tomás Matus, Ana I. Caño-Delgado. Untargeted mutagenesis of brassinosteroid receptor SbBRI1 confers drought tolerance by altering phenylpropanoid metabolism in Sorghum bicolor.Plant Biotechnology Journal, https://doi.org/10.1111/pbi.14461
About the authors and funding of the study: Ana I. Caño-Delgado is a recipient of a BIO2016-78150-P grant funded by the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness and Agencia Estatal de Investigación (MINECO/AEI) and Fondo Europeo de Desarrollo Regional (FEDER), and a European Research Council, ERC Consolidator Grant (ERC-2015-CoG – 683163). Juan B. Fontanet-Manzaneque is supported by the grant 2017SGR718 from Secretaria d’Universitats i Recerca del Departament d’Empresa i Coneixement de la Generalitat de Catalunya and by the ERC- 2015-CoG – 683163 granted to the Ana I. Caño-Delgado laboratory. Natalie Laibach has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under the Marie Skłodowska-Curie grant agreement No 945043 and was additionally supported by grant CEX2019-000902-S funded by MCIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033. Andrés Rico-Medina received a predoctoral fellowship from Fundación Tatiana Pérez de Guzmán el Bueno. David Blasco-Escámez and Damiano Martignago are funded by the ERC-2015-CoG – 683163 granted to the Ana I. Caño-Delgado laboratory. This project has received funding from the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme (Grant Agreement No 683163). This work was supported by the CERCA Programme from the Generalitat de Catalunya. We acknowledge financial support from the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness (MINECO), through the “Severo Ochoa Programme for Centres of Excellence in R&D” 2016-2019 (SEV-2015-0533).
About the Centre for Research in Agricultural Genomics (CRAG): CRAG is a centre that forms part of the CERCA system of research centres of the Government of Catalonia (Spain), and which was established as a partnership of four institutions: the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC), the Institute for Agri-Food Research and Technology (IRTA), the Autonomous University of Barcelona (UAB) and the University of Barcelona (UB). CRAG’s research spans from basic research in plant and farm animal molecular biology, to applications of molecular approaches for breeding of species important for agriculture and food production in close collaboration with industry. In 2020, CRAG was recognized for the second time as a "Severo Ochoa Centre of Excellence” by the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness.
About New Phytologist: New Phytologist is a leading international journal focusing on high quality, original research across the broad spectrum of plant sciences, from intracellular processes through to global environmental change. The journal is owned by the New Phytologist Foundation, a non-profit organisation dedicated to the promotion of plant science. https://www.newphytologist.org/
Materials:
1_ root.jpg: Root meristem region of sorghum showing cell division (Credit: CRAG).
2_ authors.jpg: On the left Andrés Rico, first author of the study, and on the right Ana I. Caño-Delgado, who led the study (Credit: CRAG).
