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“It’s All About the Beach Town!” The methodological challenges and creative opportunities of participatory research with young people in coastal environments.
No full textThis paper contributes to the broader coastal studies literature, proposing a methodology and methods that can enhance young people’s participation in research and policymaking. Framed by the emerging concept of child-friendly blue urbanism and founded on principles of attentiveness and context-responsiveness it sets out a novel approach that foregrounds young people’s contributions as co-researchers and their lives as embodied and intimately connected to the social and physical fabric of the coast. Drawing on our original research with young people in a small, English coastal town, we explore, how a unique focus on children’s emplaced lives offers creative opportunities that can enhance young people’s participation. Logistical and ethical challenges about how to safely navigate and safeguard children in a spatially remote, seasonally reliant seaside location were particularly salient. We discuss how the resulting walking tours, intergenerational postcard exchange, animation and booklet emerged through this process of co-creation and solution building with young people, enabling them to express their views and influence community dialogue. In setting out our distinctive attentive, context-responsive approach we critically explore the unique challenges and creative opportunities emerging from researching with young people in coastal contexts and their potential to realise the ambitions of child-friendly blue urbanism.</p
Fruit detection for small datasets via adjustable anchor boxes and transfer learning
No full textFruit detection is a crucial task in plant phenotyping but remains challenging due to limited training data, high variability in fruit appearances across different growth stages, and occlusions that hinder accurate detection. To address these issues, we propose an Adjustable Anchor Box Detection Network with Transfer Learning (ADNet TL) for robust fruit detection under unstructured conditions. Experimental evaluations on Strawberry, Tomato, and Multi-fruit datasets reveal that ADNet TL outperforms both the standard ADNet and the classical Single Shot MultiBox Detector (SSD), with up to a 14% improvement in mean Average Precision (mAP). These results underscore the potential of ADNet TL for practical applications such as fruit forecasting and selective harvesting in real agricultural scenarios.</p
Horse and Donkey Owners’ Perspectives on Fireworks and Their Impact on Equids in the UK
No full textIn the United Kingdom, fireworks are common during several celebratory events throughout the year. Previous evidence has shown the adverse effects of fireworks on domestic companion animals. However, little has focused on equids. An online survey was developed to understand the impact of fireworks on horses and donkeys, how owners attempt to mitigate these impacts, and the owners’ views on fireworks. A total of 1234 horse owners and 232 donkey owners responded. The majority (77%) advocated tighter regulations surrounding the use of fireworks, including reduction in the maximum noise produced, and control over when fireworks were used. Horse owners typically perceived their animals to be more fearful of fireworks than donkey owners, with running, kicking, bucking and rearing, being the most reported responses. However, horses used for hunting and sport were perceived as being less fearful. 8% of horse owners reported injury due to fireworks compared to donkeys, with only one report of injury. Stabling, staying with the animal, moving the animal to different premises, and music, were common mitigation strategies, all of which were rated as effective by owners. Concerns from owners and injury rates of horses highlight fireworks as a potential threat to horse welfare and safety. Whilst owner mitigation strategies can be effective, they are limited in their ability to completely prevent injury and, importantly, require suitable forewarning. Differences between horses and donkeys are potentially due to different fear responses, with horses more likely to exhibit flight or fright responses, and donkeys flight or freeze.</p
Investigating the voltaic efficiency of 3D-printed macro-patterned electrodes for hydrogen evolution reactions in water electrolysis
No full textConventional electrodes of water electrolysis face limitations in mass transport and bubble detachment, hindering sustainable hydrogen production. This study investigates the enhancement of hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) efficiency in water electrolysis using 3D-printed macro-patterned 17-4 PH-grade stainless steel electrodes. Leveraging additive manufacturing, stainless steel-based electrodes were fabricated via 3D printing, debinding and sintering, featuring three distinct macro-patterns namely small and large semi-spherical dimples, as well as pyramidal pits. Electrochemical testing using chronoamperometry and efficiency calculations, using KOH electrolyte in a H-cell setup, revealed that patterned electrodes significantly outperformed their flat counterparts. Results show up to a 6.5-percentage point higher voltaic efficiency, and visual observation revealed enhanced bubble detachment. Scanning Electron Micrography (SEM) imaging confirmed inherent microporosity from 3D printing, increasing active surface area. The pyramidal-pit electrode initiated HER at lower voltages, while dimpled designs achieved higher peak current densities. The experimentally measured current densities showed good agreement with the Butler–Volmer model with electrode surface bubble coverage considered. An empirical model developed, shows a strong correlation between the cell’s normalised voltaic efficiency, the non- dimensional current density and the non-dimensional surface area, highlighting the critical role of surface geometry in the efficiency of electrolysis cells. Gold coating reduced ohmic losses but did not consistently improve hydrogen yield. These results add to the growing experimental evidence that 3D-printed macro-patterns are beneficial, and in this case, enabled by an innovative metal additive manufacturing process. HER voltaic efficiency is boosted by at least 5 percentage points for a flat electrode of the same form factor through optimised bubble management and surface area. The study hence underlines the importance of patterned electrodes for industrial green hydrogen production with attendant tangible economic and sustainability benefits.</p
Effect of Substituted Terpyridine Ligands on Magnetic and CO<sub>2</sub> Photoreduction Properties of High Spin Co(II)(tpy)Br<sub>2</sub>
No full textA series of monoligated cobalt terpyridine complexes, Co(R-tpy)Br2 (Co1–3), were synthesized and characterized via elemental analysis, thermogravimetric analysis, and spectroscopic techniques. The structure of Co1 was determined by single-crystal X-ray diffraction (SCXRD), showing a distorted square pyramidal geometry for Co(II). Magnetic susceptibility studies at different temperatures indicated high-spin Co(II) states, and zero-field splitting parameters (|D|>30) determined by computational techniques showed values similar to those reported for Co(tpy)Cl2, suggesting high magnetic anisotropy, which is dependent on the ligands. Co2 and Co3 gradually converted to bis-ligated cobalt complexes in solution, indicating greater instability of penta-coordinated Co compared to octahedral Co, confirmed by SCXRD of an oxidized Co(III)2b complex, formed under crystallization conditions. The complexes showed minimal electrochemical activity toward CO2 reduction in acetonitrile (icat/ip 0.4–1.2), while Co1–3 were active in CO2 photoreduction with an organic photosensitizer (TONCO ∼ 34–57). Introducing ferrocene substituents on the terpyridine ligand architecture impeded the catalytic activity, and the mechanistic insights were obtained from IR spectroelectrochemistry and in situ UV–vis spectroscopy. In summary, the CO2 photoreduction activity of Co1–3 was dependent on the substituents on the tpy ligands.</p
Continuous Audio-Visual Sensor Monitoring Is More Effective Than Human Observers for Detecting Moor Macaques
No full textThe number of species threatened with extinction is continuously increasing, underscoring the need for reliable population estimates (e.g., occupancy and density) to develop effective conservation plans. The ability to confirm a species’ presence during surveys (i.e., detectability) is central for population estimates. While audio-visual sensors like camera traps and passive acoustic monitoring (PAM) have emerged as valuable tools for monitoring primates, few studies have systematically compared their detectability, particularly in dense forests with limited visibility and for elusive species. Here, we compared 40-days continuous monitoring with audio-visual sensor (camera traps, N = 19; PAM, N = 7) versus human-based point transects with three survey visits (N = 20) on wild moor macaques (Macaca maura) in two different habitats: forest (N = 10) and open areas (N = 10). Using occupancy models to compare the detection probability (), we found that camera traps ( = 0.63 ± 0.04) and PAM ( = 0.79 ± 0.08) outperformed point transects ( = 0.33 ± 0.07), regardless of habitat type. After equalizing survey time between methods, we found that point transects detected better in surveys shorter than one day, but camera traps and PAM equalized their performance with two survey days (p-value < 0.05). Notably, combining both audio-visual sensors yielded the highest detectability ( = 0.87 ± 0.05). These results highlight the effectiveness of audio-visual sensors and support multi-method approaches for monitoring primates in tropical forests. Given their high detectability and efficiency, camera traps and PAM represent promising tools for conserving threatened primate species.</p
CausaOne-sign: Causal explainable one-shot signature verification with lightweight cross-modality fusion
No full textBackground: Offline handwritten signature verification remains a difficult biometrics problem due to large intra-writer variability; skilled forgers; the limited number of reference samples available; and the black-box nature of many current deep learning based decision-making methodologies.Objective: To develop an interpretable, efficient one-shot learning framework that can perform offline signature verification for individuals who have never been seen before using as few reference signatures as possible.Materials and Methods: The proposed CausaOne-Sign model uses stroke aware graph encoding, transformer based reasoning, and prototypical embeddings, along with a causal attribution model to provide an explanation of how signature verification works. Experiments have been conducted using CEDAR, SigComp2011 UTSig, and BHSig260 datasets.Results: CausaOne-Sign achieved up to 97.4% accuracy and 99.1% area under the curve (AUC), with low ERR (1.8%), outperforming or matching state-of-the-art methods. Conclusion CausaOne-Sign offers a robust, interpretable, and resource-efficient solution for OSV, suitable for forensic and mobile applications.</p
Nonlinear Damped Speed Control of Magnetic Drive-Trains without Load-Side Sensing
No full textThis brief presents a comprehensive dynamic analysis and control design methodology for magnetic drive-train (MDT) systems, directly addressing the challenges of variable stiffness and pole-slipping, particularly when load-side feedback is unavailable. Conventional tracking-centric controllers often overlook energy-driven instability. Hence, this work formulates pole-slipping as a magnetic potential energy-barrier-crossing event within a Lagrangian framework, establishing a stability-oriented paradigm that constrains torsional energy below its intrinsic barrier. An energy-based Lyapunov function is then constructed, and analysis of its time derivative identifies pole-slipping as an imbalance between controller-injected and load-extracted energy, with instability aggravated at high speeds and under sampled-data control. Leveraging this insight, a nonlinear damped control strategy, derived from energy balance principles and implemented via a sampling-period-robust discrete-time formulation, is developed to dissipate transient energy and suppress pole-slipping. Experimental validation on a custom MDT test facility demonstrates significant suppression of speed oscillations and improved load-torque tolerance, extending stable operation from below 70% to near the pull-out (rated) torque while maintaining reference tracking performance. The results demonstrate the potential for reliable MDT deployment in applications previously limited by pole-slipping risks.</p
Technological change with workers in mind: A toolkit for workers, trade unions and organisations supporting hospitality workers
No full textThis document aims to help hospitality workers, worker organisations, and trade unions identify and respond to technology-related challenges in a productive and meaningful way.The guidance included in this document emerged from 60+ interviews carried out with hospitality workers in a wide range of roles (receptionists, reservation staff, housekeepers, front-of-house staff, chefs and fast food workers) as well as managers, employers, industry experts, technologists, professional bodies and union representatives about their experiences of and perspectives on technological changes in hospitality workplaces.</p