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How do entrepreneurs make sense of and respond to sustainability tensions? Insights from sustainability-driven enterprises
No full textSustainability tensions in business have increasingly received attention in prior literature; yet, there is still a dearth of studies on how entrepreneurs in small- and medium-sized enterprises – and more specifically in sustainability-driven enterprises – navigate these tensions. Building on the process orientation strand of the entrepreneurial cognition literature, we examine how sustainability-driven entrepreneurs address sustainability tensions by using Weick's stages of the sensemaking process as an analytical lens. Undertaking a qualitative study of sustainability-driven ventures, we identify two distinct strategies for managing tensions. Firstly, entrepreneurs employ linear sensemaking when dealing with straightforward sustainability tensions, utilizing clear and focussed strategies. Secondly, entrepreneurs engage in elaborate, open-ended sensemaking for more ambiguous tensions, which requires more time and cognitive effort. These strategies consist of different patterns of scanning, interpreting and learning, highlighting the varied approaches entrepreneurs take to navigate sustainability tensions. As our theoretical contribution, we offer a finely grained process perspective to explain how the various combinations of the stages of the sensemaking process work together (or not) to create more aggregate cognitive concepts, like entrepreneurial motivation. We conclude by drawing out implications of our research for leveraging entrepreneurial decision-making in the context of the considerable uncertainty that sustainability entails.</p
Britain’s stance on Saudi–Kuwaiti relations (1897-1932)
No full textThis thesis examines the politics and shifts in power between external and internal actors in the Arabian Peninsula, specifically the interactions between the leaders of Saudi Arabia (ʿAbdul ʿAziz bin ʿAbdul Rahman Al-Saʿud, known in the West as Ibn Saʿud, the founder of the modern state of Saudi Arabia) and Kuwait (under Mubarak Al-Sabah, who ruled from 1896 to 1915, and his successors through to 1932), both in relation to each other and with the British, who were then the dominant foreign presence in the region.Previous scholarship tended to emphasise external considerations as the sole factor determining policy in the Arabian Peninsula during the early twentieth century, with the turning point in Saudi-British relations typically placed after World War I. This study addresses a gap in the literature by examining the significance of interpersonal relationships and informal diplomacy that emerged in the Gulf region in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries and examines how these shaped policy for decades to come. It finds the 1897–1915 period particularly critical to understanding Saudi-Kuwaiti-British relations, as illustrated by Mubarak's initial request for British protection in 1897 and the rise of Ibn Saʿud in 1902. Furthermore, the research focuses on Britain's stance on Saudi-Kuwaiti relations between 1897 and 1932 — that is, the role their relationship (Saudi-Kuwaiti) played in shaping and influencing British policy in the region. Thus, the research focuses more broadly on the role of Saudi-Kuwaiti relations in influencing British policy and vice versa, as well as the rise of Ibn Saʿud, whose ascent had the greatest impact on shaping these dynamics before, during, and after World War I.This topic remains highly relevant, given that shifts in power and diplomacy in the early twentieth century have clearly impacted the politics and trajectory of the Arabian Peninsula today. This research also challenges several prevailing assumptions about policy development and the role of local actors in shaping policy in the region in the early twentieth century. By analysing primary source material in both English and Arabic alongside secondary articles and texts, it gains a fuller picture of the situation at hand. This study thus provides a more nuanced understanding of early twentieth-century policy formation in the Arabian Peninsula.The thesis identified several key findings. The first was that private relationships, personal ambitions and negotiations between individuals were just as important as great power realpolitik in shaping the history of the region. Second, it was observed that economic considerations played a key role in decision-making trends in British policy in the Middle East in the early twentieth century. The research also highlights an appreciation of the fluidity of borders, relations, manoeuvres, and networks across the Arabian Peninsula in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, aiding an understanding of state formation and nation-building in the region during the 1897 to 1932 period.</p
Multiscale modelling, analysis and simulation of cancer invasion mediated by bound and soluble enzymes
No full textWe formulate a cell-scale model for the degradation of the extra-cellular matrix by membrane-bound and soluble matrix degrading enzymes produced by cancer cells. Based on the microscopic model and using tools from the theory of homogenisation we propose a macroscopic model for cancer cell invasion into the extra-cellular matrix mediated by bound and soluble matrix degrading enzymes. For suitable and biologically relevant initial data we prove the macroscopic model is well-posed. We propose a finite element method for the numerical approximation of the macroscopic model and report on simulation results illustrating the role of the bound and soluble enzymes in cancer invasion processes.</p
Online Japanese language resit assessment: academic misconduct and technology
No full textThe relevance of this study lies in the growing scale of academic dishonesty in online
assessment, which undermines the reliability of language test results and the overall quality of elearning.
This research aims to determine whether online Japanese language resit assessment is
easier than primary (sit) assessment and whether its results can be considered reliable. The
significance of the study lies in its focus on academic misconduct in online resits, particularly the use
of Online Translators (OT) and Input Method Editors (IME), which remain underexplored in the
existing literature. The methodology combined quantitative and qualitative approaches, primarily
analysing students’ written submissions and oral recordings from resit exams. The study was
conducted in August 2023 with 32 undergraduate participants enrolled in Ab Initio and Intermediate
Japanese modules as elective subjects at a British university. The data included students’ resit
submissions, 18 task briefs for both sit and resit assessments, and corresponding marking schemes,
which served as the analytical framework for evaluating authenticity and academic integrity. The
results revealed that most submissions were not students’ own work, with widespread reliance on
OT and IME. While the online written resit was not easier than the sit exam, the online oral resit
proved significantly easier than the in-class oral assessment. Consequently, the findings indicate that
the results of online Japanese resit assessments cannot be considered reliable due to the prevalence of academic misconduct. This study makes a novel contribution by being among the first to
empirically document the impact of OT and IME on the validity of online language resits. Beyond
Japanese, the findings highlight broader challenges for online language education, stressing the
need for robust safeguards to ensure academic integrity. Practical recommendations include
streamlining the online resit process and adopting measures such as online proctoring, AI-based
detection tools, and pedagogical interventions. These results provide language teaching
professionals with indicators for detecting OT and IME usage, while also informing global debates
on academic integrity in e-learning.</p
Towards NNLO QCD predictions for off-shell top-quark pair production and decays
No full textWe consider QCD radiative corrections to production with leptonic decays and massive bottom quarks at the LHC. We perform an exact next-to-leading order (NLO) calculation within the qT-subtraction formalism and validate it against an independent computation in the dipole subtraction scheme. Non-resonant and off-shell effects related to the top quarks and the leptonic decays of the W± bosons are consistently included. We also consider the approximation in which the real-emission contribution is computed exactly while the virtual is evaluated in the double-pole approximation (DPA), which formally requires the inclusion of both factorisable and non-factorisable corrections. We evaluate such contributions and show that the DPA performs remarkably well at both the inclusive and differential levels. We then extend our calculation to the next-to-next-to-leading order (NNLO). All tree-level and one-loop amplitudes are evaluated exactly, while the missing two-loop virtual contribution is estimated using the DPA. The factorisable two-loop corrections are explicitly computed by relying on available results for the polarised two-loop on-shell top-quark pair production amplitudes and the corresponding top-quark decays. The non-factorisable contributions are inferred by exploiting the cancellation of logarithmic singularities in the Γt → 0 limit through an on-shell matching procedure. The NNLO corrections for the inclusive cross section are found to increase the NLO prediction by approximately 11%, with a numerical uncertainty that is conservatively estimated to be below the 2% level — significantly smaller than the 5% residual perturbative uncertainties.</p
‘We’re saying that we trust them but really we don’t’
No full textOne key consequence of the UK leaving the EU (Brexit) is that it now has full responsibility for making its own
international trade policy. In this context, NatCen and the Centre for Inclusive Trade Policy initiated Citizens’ Juries on the
topic of trade policy. From the transcripts of these juries, we created a corpus of 317,974 words. Using corpus-assisted discourse
analysis, we focus on the concept of trust in trade policy. We find that trust conferred on actors in trade policy is
limited. The greatest degree of trust is conferred on experts, on account of their epistemically-elevated position. The government
is broadly not trusted. Jurors wished to be consulted about trade policy decisions and be assured that they are based on sound
advice, but few wished to have a role in actually making them. Our findings highlight a deficit of trust among the jurors that
could be remedied by greater perceived honesty and transparency from the government.</p
Many roads to liberation: Palestinians of the Sandinista revolution
No full textThe Sandinista Revolution in Nicaragua stands as a landmark in the history of the Latin American revolutionary left, providing an important point of connection and solidarity for anti-imperialist movements around the world, including the Palestinian struggle. This article documents the largely overlooked involvement of Palestinians in the Sandinista Revolution, not as a long-distance alliance between national liberation struggles but through Nicaragua’s own diasporic Palestinian population. Based on oral history, memoirs, and documentary sources, the article charts the emergence of a young generation of Palestinians in Nicaragua who joined the Sandinista movement from its inception in the early 1960s, forging new ties between Palestine and Latin America in the process. We use this history of diasporic activism to reflect on the complex nature of Palestine’s intersection with Third World liberation movements. Resisting simplified narratives of south-south solidarity, the article highlights Palestinians’ privileged socioeconomic position within countries like Nicaragua, meaning those who participated in the Sandinista Front often did so in spite of their Palestinian ancestry. We also discuss the ways in which the authoritarian turn of the current Sandinista government inflects memories of Palestinian participation in the Revolution of 1979. In a country where support for Palestine is now indelibly associated with a repressive regime, remembering the Palestinian community’s involvement in the resistance of the 1960s and ’70s is not always straightforward.</p
Complete pipeline for deploying SNNs with synaptic delays on Loihi 2
No full textSpiking Neural Networks are attracting increased attention as a more energy-efficient alternative to traditional Artificial Neural Networks for edge computing. Neuromorphic computing can significantly reduce energy requirements. Here, we present a complete pipeline: efficient event-based training of SNNs with synaptic delays on GPUs and deployment on Intel's Loihi 2 neuromorphic chip. We evaluate our approach on keyword recognition tasks using the Spiking Heidelberg Digits and Spiking Speech Commands datasets, demonstrating that our algorithm can enhance classification accuracy compared to architectures without delays. Our benchmarking indicates almost no accuracy loss between GPU and Loihi 2 implementations, while classification on Loihi 2 is up to 18× faster and uses 250× less energy than on an NVIDIA Jetson Orin Nano.</p
The dying art of magic: Tommy Cooper, Penn & Teller and the death-defying stunt
No full textNo description supplied</p