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Collective action under repressive conditions::integration of individual, group, and structural level research, recommendations, and reflections
No full textSocial scientific research from different traditions on collective action under repressive conditions is fragmented across different levels of analysis. The current paper takes a first step toward remedying this fragmentation by reviewing research findings on repression and collective action and organizing them into a multilevel framework. We describe the impact of repression on antecedents of collective action at the (a) individual level (including grievances, emotions, efficacy beliefs, politicized identity, and individual differences), (b) group level (including community cohesion and norms), and (c) structural level (including political opportunities and socioecological conditions). We then present an integrative summary reflecting on the broad patterns we observed in the literature. We conclude with policy implications of this work, suggesting recommendations for activists to overcome repression, for authorities to foster pluralist political participation while maintaining stability, and for researchers to further advance knowledge on repression and collective action.</p
Exploring the non-linear dynamics between commercial real estate and systemic risk
No full textThe commercial real estate (CRE) market significantly influences financial stability, given its size, use as collateral, and cyclicality. This study explores macro-financial vulnerabilities arising from the CRE market, revealing that adverse developments in CRE capital values amplify systemic risk across financial sub-sectors, namely, banks, insurance companies and investment trusts, consistent with the collateral channel hypothesis. The CRE and financial markets relationship, however, displays nonlinearities. We introduce a UK CRE Misalignment index which integrates various market indicators to assess deviations from fundamental values in the CRE sector. We find that during market misalignments, the link between systemic risk and CRE growth weakens, suggesting that further property price increases in an overheated market could lead to a bubble and heightened systemic risk, in line with the deviation hypothesis. Finally, we employ a quantile regression model that captures another aspect of this non-linear relationship. We find that positive (negative) developments in the CRE market decrease (increase) the right tail of the historical systemic risk distribution, but CRE variation has a weak impact on the left tail and cannot effectively reduce systemic risk in periods of growth.<br/
Proactive care to support people with frailty to live well at home:reflections from general practice
No full textA growing number of UK adults are living with frailty, putting them at increased risk of deterioration and hospital admission. This article considers the development of proactive frailty care for patients living at home, exploring how healthcare services can support more people to remain in the community
Abusing me will not remove language departments’ need to evolve
No full textAbusing me will not remove language departments’ need to evolve. 2025. Times Higher Eductaion. 27 Mar. https://www.timeshighereducation.com/opinion/abusing-me-will-not-remove-language-departments-need-evolv
It matters where the heavy atom is placed:optimizing the spin-orbital coupling in multiresonant TADF (MR-TADF) emitters and its impact on OLED performance
No full textThis study explores the impact of the regioisomerism of a heavy chalcogen atom on the photophysical properties of multi-resonant thermally activated delayed fluorescence (MR-TADF) materials. We synthesized two pairs of isomeric MR-TADF emitters containing different benzothienocarbazole moieties, tDPABT1B/tDPABT2B and tCzBT1B/tCzBT2B. Theoretical calculations indicate that tDPABT2B and tCzBT2B possess higher spin-orbital coupling values (0.27 and 0.60 cm⁻¹) compared to their respective isomers. The photophysical study reveals that tDPABT2B and tCzBT2B have twofold faster reverse intersystem crossing rate constants of 0.5 × 10⁵ and 2.7 × 10⁵ s⁻¹, respectively, than their isomeric counterparts. The sensitizer-free organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs) withtCzBT1B and tCzBT2B exhibited green emissions [CIE coordinates of (0.12, 0.54)] and showed high maximum external quantum efficiencies (EQEmax) of 34.9% and 34.3%, respectively. Notably, the device with tCzBT2B demonstrated a reduced efficiency roll-off (34% decrease at 1000 cd cm⁻²) compared to that with tCzBT1B (48% decrease at 1000 cd cm⁻²), highlighting the distinct benefits and importance of the regiochemistry of the heavy atom in contributing to an enhancing device performance.<br/
Post COVID glaucoma service redesign utilising electronic patient triage and community optometry clinics (Fife, Scotland 2020—2022)
No full textBackground COVID-19 caused a huge backlog of patients in glaucoma clinics. This study describes redesign of an entire glaucoma service with electronic patient triage to three levels and utilisation of the Scottish optometry infrastructure of upskilled optometrists.Methods 2276 patients in glaucoma clinics were identified and triaged to three levels in keeping with Glauc-strat-fast guidance with local amendments. Every patient detail was entered into a bespoke glaucoma database to include demographics, clinical findings and social deprivation scores. The database generated automatic patient, GP and optometrist letters. Level one patients (482) were discharged within the Scottish general optometry service contract. Level two patients (714) were discharged to glaucoma accredited community optometry clinics. The glaucoma consultants would discuss the optometry decision making through screen share once a week. Level three patients (1080) were retained in hospital. All outcomes were audited and analysed 24 months after the new service.Results Statistically significant parameters were found between the three groups, to include more normal eyes, less mean deviation on visual fields and less social deprivation in level one patients. After 24 months level one patients had a return rate of 40.2%, mainly for other diseases with only 20.4% retained within hospital or level two. 9.4% of level two patients returned to hospital with retention of only 2.7% in hospital at 24 months. Conclusion Glaucoma patients in Scotland can be appropriately triaged to glaucoma accredited community optometry clinics. This frees capacity within hospital to see patients with moderate and severe disease in a timely fashion, for best visual outcomes
Distribution and transmission of <i>M. tuberculosis</i> in a high-HIV prevalence city in Malawi:a genomic and spatial analysis
No full textDelays in identifying and treating individuals with infectious tuberculosis (TB) contribute to poor health outcomes and allow ongoing community transmission of M. tuberculosis (Mtb). Current recommendations for screening for tuberculosis specify community characteristics (e.g., areas with high local tuberculosis prevalence) that can be used to target screening within the general population. However, areas of higher tuberculosis burden are not necessarily areas with higher rates of transmission. We investigated the transmission of Mtb using high-resolution surveillance data in Blantyre, Malawi. We extracted and performed whole genome sequencing on mycobacterial DNA from cultured M. tuberculosis isolates obtained from culture-positive tuberculosis cases at the time of tuberculosis (TB) notification in Blantyre, Malawi between 2015-2019. We constructed putative transmission networks identified using TransPhylo and investigated individual and pair-wise demographic, clinical, and spatial factors associated with person-to-person transmission. We found that 56% of individuals with sequenced isolates had a probable transmission link to at least one other individual in the study. We identified thirteen putative transmission networks that included five or more individuals. Five of these networks had a single spatial focus of transmission in the city, and each focus centered in a distinct neighborhood in the city. We also found that approximately two-thirds of inferred transmission links occurred between individuals residing in different geographic zones of the city. While the majority of detected tuberculosis transmission events in Blantyre occurred between people living in different zones, there was evidence of distinct geographical concentration for five transmission networks. These findings suggest that targeted interventions in areas with evidence of localized transmission may be an effective local tactic, but will likely need to be augmented by city-wide interventions to improve case finding to have sustained impact
Maternal gregariousness and female audience effects mediate mother–infant proximity in wild chimpanzees
No full textIn animal species with parental care, maintaining offspring–carer proximity is an important adaptation protecting offspring from threats such as predation and conspecific aggression, but doing so may limit other social opportunities. Investigating factors impacting mother–infant proximity can, therefore, provide insights into the evolution of maternal responses towards multidimensional threats. Here, we examine the social factors impacting mother–offspring proximity in two populations of wild chimpanzees with differing levels of infanticidal threats, eastern chimpanzees, Pan troglodytes schweinfurthii, in Budongo Forest, Uganda and western chimpanzees, P. t. verus, in Taï Forest, Ivory Coast. We assessed whether (1) the number of males and females in fission–fusion subgroups predicts proximity levels between mothers and their youngest infants, (2) whether it is mediated by maternal gregariousness and (3) whether this relationship differs in the two populations. In both populations and independent of maternal gregariousness, we found no clear relationship between mother–infant proximity and the number of males in the party. However, in Budongo, where an infanticidal threat is high, mother–infant proximity was mediated by both maternal gregariousness and the number of other females present. Less gregarious mothers were closer to their youngest offspring in parties with large numbers of females, while the opposite pattern applied to highly gregarious mothers. In Taï, more gregarious females were more often in proximity with their offspring. Our results demonstrate that the immediate social environment, maternal social phenotype and overall community-specific threats can all influence maternal response to varying exposure to threats. The consequences of exposure to this environment on offspring's social development merit further investigation.</p
The maximality of T in Thompson's group V
No full textWe show that R. Thompson’s group T is a maximal subgroup of the group V. The argument provides examples of foundational calculations which arise when expressing elements of V as products of transpositions of basic clopen sets in the Cantor space ℭ
Monitoring AGNs with Hβ Asymmetry:V. long-term variation and evolution of the broad Hβ emission-line profiles
No full textThe physical origins of the diverse emission-line asymmetries observed in the spectra of active galactic nuclei (AGNs) are not completely understood. Monitoring the temporal variations of line profiles offers a promising approach to investigating the underlying physics. In this study, we present an analysis of the broad Hβ emission line profiles of eight AGNs observed from 2016–2023 May as part of the reverberation mapping campaign titled "Monitoring AGNs with Hβ Asymmetry," utilizing data obtained from the Wyoming Infrared Observatory 2.3 m telescope. We measure the temporal variations of line asymmetry, width, and central velocity shift for the eight objects. Our findings reveal that the variation in asymmetry is positively correlated with Hβ flux in five of the eight objects, while the remaining objects exhibit negative or complex correlations. Furthermore, we observe anticorrelations between line width and Hβ flux for most objects, indicating the presence of the "breathing" phenomenon in their Hβ emission lines. In contrast, two objects demonstrate an "anti-breathing" phenomenon or complex behavior. We discuss the physical origins of the temporal variations in line profiles and propose the possibility of decomposing the variations in Hβ asymmetry and width into components: one that corresponds to short-term variations in Hβ flux and another that reflects long-term variations in continuum light curves, perhaps driven by radiation pressure