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Thirteenth Century England XIX
No full textEssays addressing Anglo-German connections and comparisons across the period from 1190 to 1300, with particular attention to the economic, social and personal aspects of an entangled transregnal connection
From inexperience to proficiency: age-related improvements shape the use of novel anthropogenic food subsidies in a long-lived bird.
No full textWorldwide, humans have altered ecosystems not only by reducing and changing the distribution of resources, but also by providing new foraging opportunities to wildlife. However, little is known about the early-life development and maintenance of new foraging behaviours, which are crucial for species to adapt to human-induced environmental changes. Using a longitudinal GPS tracking dataset from 71 adult and 147 juvenile white storks (Ciconia ciconia) tracked for up to six years, this study investigates shifts in the exploitation of landfill resources during ontogeny and explores whether selective survival, within-individual improvements, or both shape the emergence of this behaviour. Landfill use was found to increase with age. From their second year of life onwards, white storks visit landfills more often than in their first year, forage more in areas with abundant organic waste, and reduce their foraging energy expenditure. Overall, this study reveals that the age-related increase in the use of anthropogenic food sources is driven primarily by within-individual improvements operating most strongly in early life, rather than by selective survival of individuals that most frequently and proficiently use landfill sites. As more species rely on anthropogenic food subsidies, this work highlights how opportunistic species cope with and adapt to human-driven environmental change, influencing individual lifetime decisions and potentially impacting population dynamics
3628 The use of assistive technology to reduce harm from falls—a service evaluation of patients admitted with a fall
No full textIntroduction: The risk of future falls in frail older adults who have fallen once remains high. Therefore, falls harm mitigation strategies are important for falls patients admitted to acute geriatric medicine care. How often Assistive Technology (AT) is offered in this regard is not known. Method: A two-part Service Evaluation, Information Governance department approved. 1. Case note audit. Patients admitted to our department with a fall between 1st Sept—30th Nov 2024. 2. 10 patient questionnaires about AT, completed during admission for a fall (May 2025). Results: Audit—112 returned cases, after exclusions, 81 included (4—national data opt out, 16—fall not primary complaint, 1—not under geriatrician, 10—not admitted). Female 47/81 (58%). Average age 87, average Clinical Frailty Score 5.7. Dementia diagnosis prior to admission—24 (30%). Previous fall related admission 26 (32%). Documented ‘has’ falls AT already—25 (30%) and ‘does not have’—10 (17%). No documentation on presence/absence of AT in 46 (57%) of cases. Onward referral for AT by Physiotherapist/Occupational Therapist in 35 (43%). Referral declined 2 (2%). Questionnaire—Average age—84. Female—4 (40%). 6 had previous fall warranting admission. 7 had existing AT. 2 used pendant during this fall, 4 weren’t wearing it, 1—family were present. Use of AT/family present associated with shorter waiting time for assistance (2.5 vs 4.1 hrs). 7 said they would ‘definitely use’ AT in the future. 7 said they would ‘feel safer’ with AT at home. Conclusion: Existing use of AT for falls is prevalent but not reliably documented at hospital admission. A high percentage of eligible patients are offered future AT. Patients who use AT have shorter waits for emergency assistance. Patients are generally receptive to the idea of using AT after a falls admission
3390 Establishing the prevalence of prescriptions for pharmacogenetic testable medications in a geriatric medicine inpatient cohort
No full textIntroduction: Genetic testing in medical practice is becoming increasingly commonplace. Particularly relevant to geriatric medicine and polypharmacy is the science of pharmacogenetics; the testing of an individual patient to check for drug-gene interactions, which can determine if a new or existing prescription is a good fit for them. We wanted to establish the prevalence of prescriptions for medicines that have a known pharmacogenetic target in a population of people admitted to a geriatric medicine department at a UK teaching hospital. Methods: We conducted a retrospective cohort analysis, using a year’s worth of electronic prescribing records (1/6/23–31/05/24), for patients admitted under the care of any named geriatrician at a single site teaching hospital in the UK. We cross referenced those prescriptions against a reference list of pharmacogenetic medications (PGxMed) with a known applicable pharmacogenetic test. Results: The department recorded 9115 admissions over this time period. Most patients received at least one PGxMed prescription, with nearly two thirds (61%, or 5528 out of 9115) of admissions in one year being associated with at least one PGx medication. 6 was the highest number of PGxMed prescriptions recorded against a single patient (3 instances). ‘Cholesterol lowering,’ ‘Analgesic’ and ‘Anticoagulant’ were the top three classes of medication by frequency respectively. Conclusions: Prescriptions for PGxMeds are highly prevalent in geriatric medicine in-patients, and more research is required to determine what the most cost-effective PGx testing approach is. There could be a role for PGx to help identify ineffective or harmful medication in this patient group. Given that geriatricians possess an acknowledged expertise in medication review, whilst PGx is still a nascent field of testing from a UK perspective, it is one for them to be aware of since it is likely to become of more relevance in clinical practice over the next few years
Stance in REF submissions: Authorial positioning in impact Narratives
Full text linkThe REF (Research Excellence Framework) is the UK government’s means of allocating funding to universities based on assessments of the research they produce. Conducted every five years, this exercise now includes not only the ‘quality’ of research, but also its real world ‘impact’. This helps determine the £7.16 billion distributed annually to universities and influences the reputations of institutions and academics. Writers are therefore keen to make the most persuasive argument for their work they can in these submissions through the narrative case studies that the submission requires. In this paper we examine all 6361 case studies from the last exercise in 2021 to explore the rhetorical presentation of impact through an analysis of authorial stance. We found considerable use of self-mention, hedges and boosters with the hard science fields containing statistically significant more markers and applied disciplines being particularly strong users. The study contributes to our understanding of stance in academic writing and the role of rhetorical persuasion in high stakes assessment genres
Large-scale mining of plant genomes unlocks the diversity of oxidosqualene cyclases
No full textThe differential cyclization and rearrangement of 2,3-oxidosqualene controlled by oxidosqualene cyclases (OSCs) represents one of the most complex single enzyme transformations in nature and gives rise to a vast array of triterpenoid diversity in the plant kingdom. Here we systematically mine 599 plant genomes representing 387 species and investigate OSC diversity across different plant lineages. From the OSC sequences identified, 20 were selected for functional evaluation. Through analysis of these enzymes, we discover product profiles within clades previously believed to be functionally conserved and OSCs producing triterpenes for which no enzymatic source was known. We also discover OSCs with product profiles that yield mechanistic insights into the control of specific reaction pathways. Our study reveals lineage-specific blooms of OSC subgroups suggestive of adaptation to different environmental niches, opens up previously inaccessible chemistry and provides a framework for systematic investigations of metabolic diversification and underlying enzymatic mechanisms in the plant kingdom. (Figure presented.
Knowledge management, operational resilience and export performance: moderating roles of strategic flexibility and maturity of digital transformation in emerging markets.
No full textPurpose: This paper develops and tests a model centered on the critical role of operational resilience in driving export performance in an emerging market within a global, volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous environment. We investigate how knowledge management capability can reinforce operational resilience to improve export performance and explore how strategic flexibility and digital transformation maturity shape these effects. Design/methodology/approach: We tested the model using data from 400 manufacturing firms from Bangladesh, collected through a multi-wave survey with responses from two mid-level managers per firm. Through a structural path analysis, we explored the intricate connections between KMC-based strategy, operational resilience and export performance. The direct and mediation effects were analyzed using Mplus 8 and Python packages. Specifically, the moderation effects and the Johnson–Neyman (J–N) plot were tested using the Python PyProcess package. Findings: The findings confirmed the robustness of our conceptual model. Further analysis revealed that strategic flexibility has a stronger moderated mediation effect than the firms' maturity of the digital transformation. Originality/value: The study advances a unique integration of the information processing view with the knowledge-based view of the firm in exploring key factors underlying the export performance in emerging market firms. By establishing how pre-shock capabilities, such as strategic flexibility and maturity of digital transformation, serve as essential components for improving a firm's operational resilience we add to the export managers' toolkit for improving export performance
Effects of migration distance on shifting migratory and breeding phenology in waders
No full textShifts in phenology are widely reported across taxa and, among migratory birds, advancing timing of breeding has occurred predominantly in short-distance migrants. Long-distance migrants might be less able to advance breeding, if they arrive later and breed soon after arrival, but opportunities to quantify trends in phenology across species that experience similar breeding conditions but vary in migration distances are rare. Between 2007-2022, we recorded arrival and laying dates across lowland Iceland for nine wader species that vary in migration distances. Waders wintering closer to Iceland arrived ~6 weeks earlier than those wintering further away, yet laying dates differed by only ~1-2 weeks. Over this survey period, short-distance migrants advanced laying despite little or no advance in arrival, while long-distance species advanced both arrival and laying dates. The longer arrival-laying interval in species travelling shorter distances appears to allow earlier laying in warm springs, a flexibility less available to later-arriving species. Due to the benefits of breeding early in migratory systems, the opportunity of early nesting in warming springs could be contributing to divergent population trajectories of short- and long-distance migrants. Quantifying the phenology of nest and fledging success of species migrating over different distances will help to identify the costs of travelling further and arriving later during this period of rapid environmental change
Evaluating Response to a Brief Distress Tolerance Intervention Delivered in an Adult Secondary Care Community Mental Health Service
Full text linkBrief distress tolerance interventions aimed at improving ability to tolerate psychological discomfort are being used trans-diagnostically, by both clinicians and paraprofessionals. Such brief interventions, delivered by a range of professionals could help to bridge the current worldwide gap between demand for and availability of mental health support. Despite a good theoretical rationale for the effectiveness of distress tolerance skills, empirical evidence for stand-alone interventions is lacking. This report details an evaluation of a six-to-eight-week distress tolerance intervention delivered in a community mental health setting by clinicians and paraprofessionals, using routinely collected outcome data. The aim was to better understand data completion, the proportion of responders and any pre-intervention differences between responders and non-responders. Pre intervention routine outcome measures were found to be reasonably complete, with good post-intervention follow up. Distress tolerance specific measures were less complete. Where it was possible to calculate reliable change (n=163), 58.3% of clients were classified as responders to the distress tolerance intervention which is comparable with CBT outcomes, and response rate is improving over time. There was no evidence that clients were more or less likely to respond depending on their age, presenting problem, mood scores pre-intervention, referrer discipline or the role of the person delivering the intervention. Responders were found to have significantly poorer ability to tolerate distress pre-intervention compared with non-responders. Men were disproportionately likely to be non-responders which may indicate a need for improved access
The Global Threat of Sinking Deltas
Full text linkRiver deltas are essential socio-ecological systems, sustaining dense human 30 populations, major economic centers, and vital ecosystems worldwide. Rising sea levels 31 and subsiding land threaten the sustainability of these valuable landscapes with relative sea-level rise and associated flood, land-loss, and salinization hazards. Despite these risks, vulnerability assessments are impeded by the lack of contemporary, high-resolution delta-wide subsidence observations. Here, we present spatially variable surface elevation changes across 40 global deltas using interferometric synthetic aperture radar. Using this dataset, we quantify delta surface elevation loss and reveal the prevalence and severity of subsidence in river deltas worldwide. Our analysis of three key anthropogenic drivers of delta elevation changes shows that groundwater storage have the strongest relative influence on VLM in 10 of the 40 deltas. In the other 2 deltas, the contributions vary with mixed influences from multiple drivers or are dominated by sediment flux or urban expansion. Furthermore, we find that contemporary subsidence surpasses absolute (geocentric) sea-level rise as the dominant driver of relative sea-level rise for most deltas over the 21st century. These findings emphasize the need for targeted interventions addressing subsidence as an immediate and localized challenge, in parallel with broader efforts to mitigate/adapt to climate change-driven global sea-level rise