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The Stuarts in Italy, 1766–1807: A Court in Perpetual Pretence
Get PDFTaking its cues from the conclusions of Edward Corp in The Stuarts in Italy, 1719–1766: A Royal Court in Permanent Exile, this article considers the evolution of the princely court held by the two final Stuart claimants, Charles Edward and Henry Benedict Stuart. It surveys the dénouement of this court from the deposed Catholic dynasty’s loss of de jure recognition of sovereignty in 1766 to the death of its last representative in 1807. By analysing the Stuarts’ interactions with the Papacy and European monarchies amid their ongoing struggle to uphold the appearance of royalty, it argues that the changing nature of their court emerged as a significant and distinctive nexus of cultural and symbolic meaning. The court of the exiled Stuarts from 1766 to 1807 emphasised the character, prerogatives and status of retreating Ancien Régime kingship in the decades preceding the French Revolution, during the years of its existence and in the Napoleonic era that followed
The plastisphere can protect Salmonella Typhimurium from UV stress under simulated environmental conditions
Get PDFPlastic waste is found with increasing frequency in the environment, in low- and middle-income countries. Plastic pollution has increased concurrently with both economic development and rapid urbanisation, amplifying the effects of inadequate waste management. Distinct microbial communities can quickly colonise plastic surfaces in what is collectively known as the ‘plastisphere’. The plastisphere can act as a reservoir for human pathogenic bacteria, including Salmonella enterica sp. (such as S. Typhimurium), which can persist for long periods, retain pathogenicity, and pose an increased public health risk. Through employing a novel mesocosm setup, we have shown here that the plastisphere provides enhanced protection against environmental pressures such as ultraviolet (UV) radiation and allows S. Typhimurium to persist at concentrations (>1 × 103 CFU/ml) capable of causing human infection, for up to 28 days. Additionally, using a Galleria Mellonella model of infection, S. Typhimurium exhibits greater pathogenicity following recovery from the UV-exposed plastisphere, suggesting that the plastisphere may select for more virulent variants. This study demonstrates the protection afforded by the plastisphere and provides further evidence of environmental plastic waste acting as a reservoir for dangerous clinical pathogens. Quantifying the role of plastic pollution in facilitating the survival, persistence, and dissemination of human pathogens is critical for a more holistic understanding of the potential public health risks associated with plastic waste
Recent developments in Behavioural Public Policy: IBPPC 2022
Get PDFFirst paragraph: Behavioural Public Policy (BPP) is an established sub-discipline of public policy. BPP uses insights from behavioural science, broadly defined, to shape and inform public policy. Intersectionality in social sciences research is central to the research agenda of BPP. To this extent, BPP invites diversity in its approach to understand human behaviours and make policy recommendations, from scholars across established disciplines, notably economics, philosophy, psychology, political science and many more. This interdisciplinary take, in turn, allows BPP to be novel in its methodology and cross-cutting in its applications, in policy fields spanning across environment and climate change, development and social policy, finance, health, misinformation, privacy, law and regulation, and technology and Artificial Intelligence, to name a few
"Assisting in many other ways": An Examination of the Work Undertaken by Scottish Women Humanitarians in Support of Belgian Refugees in the
Get PDFBelgian people displaced following the German invasion of their country in 1914 were supported, supervised, and medically treated by female health care professionals, humanitarian volunteers, and ladies' refugee committee members during their wartime stay in Scotland. This article focuses on the exercise of "soft power" while supporting Belgian refugees by these middle-class female care givers who were all associated with the Glasgow Corporation Belgian Refugee Committee (GCBRC). Additionally, the actions of the women here considered form part of what Gatrell has described as a constructed "refugee regime" organized by local and nationwide relief providers. Although the women here assessed delivered crucial everyday support for displaced Belgians, including children, their role was underreported and marginalized in the contemporary record of First World War humanitarian aid in Scotland, and more widely, Great Britain.Output Status: Forthcomin
Help-seeking behaviour in dysmenorrhoea: A cross-sectional exploration using the Behavioural Model of Health Services Use
Get PDFBackground: Dysmenorrhoea, or period pain, is a prevalent gynaecological condition that can result in functional interference during menstruation. Despite the significant disruption dysmenorrhoea can have on functioning and well-being, medical help-seeking rates are low. Little is known about what factors may predict help-seeking for dysmenorrhoea. Objectives: The current study aimed to test the predictive validity of the Behavioural Model of Health Services Use (BMHSU) for help-seeking behaviour in dysmenorrhoea, whereby help-seeking behaviour was operationalised as having attended to a healthcare professional for dysmenorrhoea-related care. Design: A cross-sectional observational design was used. Methods: Participants (N = 439) completed an online survey, which measured the following eight predictor variables: menstrual pain characteristics, health beliefs, self-efficacy, social support utilisation and satisfaction, perceived healthcare availability, and pain intensity and interference. Participants were also asked to report whether they had ever attended to a healthcare professional for their menstrual pain. Results: The BMHSU accounted for 8% of the variance in help-seeking behaviour. Pain interference and appointment availability were significant predictors of the variance in past help-seeking behaviour, such that those who experienced greater pain interference, and those who perceived greater availability of healthcare appointments were less likely to have visited a healthcare professional for their menstrual pain. The BMHSU had an overall 69% classification accuracy in predicting help-seeking behaviour. Conclusion: Although the BMHSU demonstrated reasonably good model fit, it does not appear to be a particularly robust model for predicting help-seeking behaviour for dysmenorrhoea. Future research should explore whether a refined BMHSU or an alternative theoretical model can provide more useful insight into this behaviour. Better understanding of the determinants of help-seeking behaviour will enable the development of interventions to promote appropriate help-seeking and improve health outcomes for individuals with menstrual pain
Evolutionary Computation and Explainable AI: A Roadmap to Transparent Intelligent Systems
Get PDFAI methods are finding an increasing number of applications, but their often black-box nature has raised concerns about accountability and trust. The field of explainable artificial intelligence (XAI) has emerged in response to the need for human understanding of AI models. Evolutionary computation (EC), as a family of powerful optimization and learning tools, has significant potential to contribute to XAI. In this paper, we provide an introduction to XAI and review various techniques in current use for explaining machine learning (ML) models. We then focus on how EC can be used in XAI, and review some XAI approaches which incorporate EC techniques. Additionally, we discuss the application of XAI principles within EC itself, examining how these principles can shed some light on the behavior and outcomes of EC algorithms in general, on the (automatic) configuration of these algorithms, and on the underlying problem landscapes that these algorithms optimize. Finally, we discuss some open challenges in XAI and opportunities for future research in this field using EC. Our aim is to demonstrate that EC is well-suited for addressing current problems in explainability and to encourage further exploration of these methods to contribute to the development of more transparent and trustworthy ML models and EC algorithms.Output Status: Forthcomin
Making sense of drug use and dependence—A scoping review of mass media interventions intended to reduce stigma towards people who use drugs
Get PDFBackground People who use drugs face entrenched stigma, which fosters shame, restricts service access, and exacerbates inequalities. The use of mass media in anti-stigma interventions offers an opportunity to challenge stigmatising attitudes at scale. There are, however, inconsistencies in messaging approaches used in mass media anti-stigma interventions, and how authors conceptualise and measure ‘stigma’. Methods This scoping review maps literature on the development and/or evaluation of mass media interventions intended to reduce stigma towards people who use drugs. We systematically searched seven databases for reports about: (i) people who use drugs, (ii) stigma, (iii) mass media. We charted data about intervention (i) subjects and recipients, (ii) format, (iii) authors, (iv) content; and (v) conceptualisation and measurement of stigma. We narratively synthesised findings with qualitative content analyses. Results From 14,256 records, we included 49 reports about 35 interventions. 25/35 were from the last five years and 19/35 were from the United States. Intended recipients included the public and/or specified sub-populations, often including healthcare workers. Most interventions were intended to reduce stigma towards people with patterns of drug use perceived to be problematic, as opposed to people who use drugs in general. Interventions ranged from single pieces of media to complex multi-format campaigns. People who use(d) drugs contributed to 22/35 interventions. Professionals working in medical disciplines co-authored 29/35 interventions. Intervention content often had a medical focus, describing dependence as a ‘disease’ or medical issue, and emphasised the benefits of recovery. Other interventions, however, criticised medical framings. In some interventions drug use and people who use drugs were described in markedly negative terms. ‘Stigma’ was often under-theorised, and measurement approaches were inconsistent, with 42 instruments used to measure phenomena associated with stigma across 19 quantitative evaluations. Conclusion We found inconsistencies in approaches to reduce and measure stigma, potentially reflecting different motivations for intervention development. The primary motivation of many interventions was seemingly to promote drug service engagement and recovery
Do economic preferences and personality traits influence fertilizer use? Evidence from rice farmers in eastern China
Get PDFEnvironmental problems associated with the inappropriate use of fertilizers by rural smallholders are a growing concern in many countries. This paper contributes to the literature by examining whether risk preferences, time preferences, and personality traits are related to farmers’ use of synthetic and organic fertilizers. We rely on survey data collected from 815 farm households in three rice-producing provinces in eastern China in the empirical analyses. Results of OLS and rare events logistic regressions indicate that risk-seeking and patience are positively associated with the application of organic fertilizer in rice production but not with the intensity of synthetic fertilizer use. There is also no significant association between personality traits and (synthetic or organic) fertilizer use. In addition, personality traits do not mediate nor moderate the associations between economic preferences and fertilizer use. Robustness analysis using the two-stage probit least squares (2SPLS) model not only supports these findings, but also suggests that organic fertilizers complement the use of synthetic fertilizers and are only sporadically used in Chinese rice production. The insights gained in this study can provide important inputs for designing policies aimed at promoting sustainable agricultural intensification in China and elsewhere
Multi-pollutant removal dynamics by aquatic plants in monoculture or mixed communities
Get PDFMuch of our knowledge about the phytoremediation potential of floating treatment wetlands (FTWs) comes from studies focusing on the removal of single pollutants, often by a single plant species. Here, we quantify the potential of FTWs planted with varying proportions of the emergent monocots Typha latifolia, Glyceria maxima, and Phragmites australis to simultaneously remove a suite of eleven nutrient/metalloid pollutants. Pollutants most readily removed from water included total inorganic nitrogen (TIN), K and Mn, whilst P, Zn and Cu showed a moderate removal efficiency, and Mg, Ca, Na, Cr, and Fe were poorly removed. Root length within a FTW was correlated with lower concentrations of Ca, Mg, K, P, and Zn remaining in the water, whilst plant uptake and tissue sequestration was more important for reducing concentrations of Mn, TIN, P, and Fe. The effect of community composition over time was greatest for the removal of Zn, with FTWs containing T. latifolia having the strongest effect; community type was less important for the removal of TIN, Mg, K, and Na. Plant tissue sequestration was important for reducing concentrations of Mn, TIN, P and Fe in the water, with median uptake values all greater than 12.5%. Importantly, the removal of some pollutants (e.g., Cu) increased with retention time. Therefore, depending on the management objective, FTWs generally perform better where and when residence times are longer e.g., in ponds or streams under low flow, and assembling FTW communities with varying traits and associated removal mechanisms can allow several pollutants to be remediated at once
An exploration and explanation of housing precarity in Scottish Higher Education
No full textThere is an emerging student housing crisis in the UK. This research explores the housing experiences of Higher Education (HE) students in Scotland—amplifying the voices of students who have experienced housing insecurity, homelessness, and exclusion while attending university—and explains what factors have led to these outcomes. Aiming for a holistic approach, the research also includes insights from those who have engaged with this group in their role, including frontline student support staff, housing and homelessness service workers, and policy practitioners. Acknowledging some of the wider challenges in recruiting participants, and in conducting research during a pandemic, this research involves thematic analysis of participants’ interview data and brings together literature on student identity, studentification, housing, home and homelessness, and youth transitions to help fill in the evidence gap on HE housing precarity. Considering that university students are a group who are, largely, ineligible for welfare support, it is, therefore, vital that we recognise vulnerability in this group. This research suggests that HE students are facing a multitude of housing barriers and finds that students have been restricted access to accommodation (due to their student status) and dissuaded from, or denied access to, statutory housing and homelessness services. Critically, this research questions our, arguably, antiquated understanding of housing journeys through university and questions both local authorities’ and HE institutions’ role in recognising and responding to student housing precarity. Moreover, it questions if we, and—more importantly—students themselves, recognise their candidacy for homelessness services. Ultimately, the research provokes discussion of how we can better support students experiencing structural inequality in housing provision
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