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Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022 appears to have revitalised NATO. However, urgent concerns remain over the West's ability to sustain support for Ukraine and the implications for the wider Europe. These questions dominated July 2024's Washington Summit, leaving little capacity for the many prescient Indo-Pacific threats that might additionally impact the Alliance. Given the US's growing preoccupation with the Indo-Pacific, the longevity of its support for European security is also being questioned in the run-up to the US elections. Peter Olive suggests how NATO might chart a middle course, supporting the ongoing deterrence efforts of partners in the Indo-Pacific from afar while maintaining focus on the proximate Russian threat. ◼ [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The burrow emergence activity of the wild caught ragworm Nereis virens Sars associated with food prospecting was investigated under various photoperiodic (LD) and simulated tidal cycles (STC) using a laboratory based actograph. Just over half (57%) of the animals under LD with STC displayed significant tidal (∼12.4 h) and/or lunar-day (∼24.8 h) activity patterns. Under constant light (LL) plus a STC, 25% of all animals were tidal, while one animal responded with a circadian (24.2 h) activity rhythm suggestive of cross-modal entrainment where the environmental stimulus of one period entrains rhythmic behavior of a different period. All peaks of activity under a STC, apart from that of the individual cross-modal entrainment case, coincided with the period of tank flooding. Under only LD without a STC, 49% of the animals showed nocturnal (∼24 h) activity. When animals were maintained under free-running LL conditions, 15% displayed significant rhythmicity with circatidal and circadian/circalunidian periodicities. Although activity cycles in N. virens at the population level are robust, at the individual level they are particularly labile, suggesting complex biological clock-control with multiple clock output pathways. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]