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Using interpreters in cross-cultural research : challenges experienced in a global south context
No full textCross-cultural research is more complex when it involves a context of cross-language dimension. Further layers of complexity are added when the context of research is embedded in a political economy characterised by unequal power relations. Existing research has given much attention to the ‘insider’ ‘outsider’ positions and their effect in cross-cultural research. A critical perspective on how these positions evolve in a cross-language situation, is rarely discussed in research methodologies. This chapter focuses on the use of interpreters in cross-cultural studies. It is based on a research study on migrant workers in a global south migration context. The findings present extracts from interviews involving four interpreters, of whom two were from the migrant group and two were from a gatekeeper organisation used to recruit participants. The study highlights how the positionalities of the four interpreters evolve in the process, based on other roles and identities they hold in the field. Importantly, the findings reveal that these positionalities are deeply embedded in different power relations that permeate their relationships with research participants. The chapter calls for the need to reconsider the influence of interpreters in cross-cultural studies where cross-language and power dimensions exist
Careless (food) marketing : a caring agenda for studying food
Full text linkPurpose This paper uses ethics of care (EoC) to scrutinise and transform food marketing scholarship in world-leading journals over the last decade. Having identified caring deficits in this scholarship, this paper aims to explore caring opportunities to make research in marketing more caring towards contemporary challenges of food. Design/methodology/approach A two-stage systematic literature review was adopted to understand research on food in world-leading marketing journals. Stage 1 analysed food research in papers published in 4 and 4* (CABS ranking) marketing journals. Findings were interpreted through Tronto’s (2013) EoC and caring deficits identified. Stage 2 analysed food research in papers published in 3 (CABS ranking) marketing journals and 4 (CABS ranking) related disciplines. Findings were interpreted identifying caring opportunities, derived from caring deficits. Findings Deficits in world-leading scholarship derive from a predominantly narrow focus on atomistic consumers at the choice point, investigated through positivistic research using psychologically driven frameworks. In revealing the cyclical nature of these caring deficits, this study proposes a caring agenda with caring opportunities, based on exemplars from excellent marketing scholarship and related disciplines. Research limitations/implications This study develops a research agenda for ethically driven scholarship in food marketing and consumer research. Practical implications A transformative caring agenda is proposed to go beyond scholarly epistemological and theoretical divisions and revolutionise the discipline. Social implications A caring approach to scholarship enables responses to the wicked problems within contemporary food marketing. Originality/value This paper contributes to the special issue by bringing an ethical dimension to current debates on the limitations of the field and proposes a caring agenda for future research
Sigma-1-targeting multimodal compound HBK-15 reverses memory deficits and restores hippocampal plasticity under NMDA hypofunction
No full textMemory impairment is among the most disabling features of depression and schizophrenia, yet remains largely untreated by available pharmacotherapies. NMDA receptor hypofunction is strongly implicated in these deficits, while sigma-1 receptors, by stabilizing calcium signaling and supporting glutamatergic plasticity, have emerged as a promising therapeutic target. HBK-15, a methoxyphenylpiperazine derivative with a multimodal receptor profile, had previously shown preliminary anti-amnesic activity in rodents, prompting us to test its efficacy under NMDA receptor hypofunction. We therefore investigated whether HBK-15 engages sigma-1 receptors and restores memory in a mouse model of MK-801-induced impairment. HBK-15 bound sigma-1 receptors with high affinity and showed functional agonist activity in the BiP assay. Behaviorally, HBK-15 reversed MK-801-induced recognition and spatial memory deficits across acquisition and retrieval phases, similar to encoding and delayed recall in clinical settings. In contrast, vortioxetine and lurasidone showed only limited benefits, highlighting the broader effectiveness of HBK-15. Its ability to reverse memory impairment depended on sigma-1 receptor activity, emphasizing this pathway as a key therapeutic target. Mechanistically, HBK-15 increased hippocampal glutamatergic and cholinergic signaling under NMDA blockade, restored long-term potentiation, and improved disrupted theta-gamma coupling, a network correlate of hippocampal memory function. These findings offer experimental evidence that HBK-15 activates sigma-1 receptors to enhance hippocampal plasticity at both synaptic and network levels and to improve memory under NMDA hypofunction. Taken together, our results highlight sigma-1-based strategies as a tractable avenue for developing treatments targeting cognitive symptoms in depression and schizophrenia
Under the lens : using Raman spectroscopy as a unique system in biofilm analyses
Full text linkBiofilms are microbial communities that adhere to surfaces and each other, encapsulated in a protective extracellular matrix. These structures enhance resistance to antimicrobials, contributing to 65–80% of human infections. The transition from free-living cells to structured biofilms involves a myriad of molecular and structural adaptations. Raman spectroscopy is an analytical technique that has recently been adapted for biofilm analysis. The ability to operate without interference from water makes Raman spectroscopy a valuable tool for in situ characterization of biofilms, including direct analysis from clinical samples. The technique also offers the advantage of imaging speed and the capacity to generate extensive chemical and molecular data from samples, whilst also being non-destructive. However, Raman spectroscopy is often limited by its low sensitivity, particularly when applied to microbial analysis. This limitation has been addressed with the advent of surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy and stimulated Raman scattering microscopy. When used in combination with traditional methods, these Raman technologies can be incredibly useful for understanding the mechanisms underlying biofilm development, antimicrobial susceptibility testing, and detection and discrimination of microorganisms. In this critical review, the application of Raman spectroscopy and its derivatives as a tool for biofilm characterization is discussed along with its associated advantages and challenges
Distribution of statistics on separable permutations restricted by a flat POP
Full text linkFinding distributions of statistics in pattern-avoiding permutations has attracted significant attention in the literature. In particular, Chen, Kitaev, and Zhang derived functional equations for the joint distributions of any subset of classical minima and maxima statistics, as well as for the joint distributions of ascents and descents in separable permutations. Meanwhile, partially ordered patterns (POPs) have also been extensively studied. Notably, so-called flat POPs played a key role, via the notion of shape-Wilf-equivalence, in proving a conjecture on pattern-avoiding permutations. In this paper, we study flat POP-avoiding separable permutations, where the maximum element in a flat POP receives the largest label. Avoiding such a POP imposes restrictions on the position of the maximum element in a separable permutation, forcing it to be positioned to the left. We establish a system of functional equations describing the joint distribution of six classical statistics in the most general case, extending the work of Chen, Kitaev, and Zhang. As a specialization, when the POP has length 3, we recover a joint distribution result of Han and Kitaev on permutations avoiding classical patterns of length 3. As another specialization, for the flat POP of length 4, we derive an explicit rational generating function that captures the distribution of six statistics, with a numerator containing 100 monomials and a denominator containing 19 monomials
The Secret of Scalan
Full text linkBetween 1560 and the early 19th Century, the Reformation meant that the Catholic religion was outlawed in Scotland. The training of priests continued in the Scots colleges in continental Europe. A secret seminary was established in the hills of Glenlivet to prepare boys for this further preparation abroad
The sustainable economic growth implications of expanding the electricity network : can early investment reduce consumer costs and support greater GDP and jobs gains?
Full text linkIn 2024 the UK Government introduced a statutory ‘Growth Duty’ on the energy industry regulator Ofgem. One implication is that industry actors must explain how proposed investment may enable sustainable economic growth processes when submitting business as part of the regulated energy price control system. The first instance of this requirement affected the three GB electricity transmission owners (TOs) when submitting business plans in late 2024 for the RIIO-T3 period which will run from April 2026 through to March 2031. This paper reports results and insights from independent research drawing on the investment plans of one of the three TOs in a set of economy-wide scenario simulations using a dynamic computable general equilibrium (CGE) model of the UK economy. A central finding emerges in that our results indicate that undertaking early planned investment at pace, in anticipation of projected rising demand for electricity in response to the electrification policies of the UK Government, is likely to deliver substantially stronger GDP and employment outcomes than what would be the case with a reactionary investment approach. This is due both to an increased scale of earlier investment and how early creation of some excess capacity introduces downward marginal pressure on electricity bills. Moreover, where the latter is sufficient to offset the user bill impacts of investment cost recovery, the net outcome for UK households becomes progressive. The commonly expected outcome of cost recovery through energy bills being regressive does, however, manifest if electricity prices do not adjust in a competitive manner
Comparing geological process-based and engineering data-based approaches to characterizing rock mass heterogeneities : insights from the Great Glen Fault, Scotland
Full text linkIn rock engineering, understanding variability in rock mass properties is essential for planning engineering mitigations. The differences between engineering and geological approaches to characterizing rock masses can result in varying estimates of mechanical and/or hydraulic properties. This study applies these approaches in parallel: mapping geological domains, fracture traces and Q-values. The aim is to reveal the relationship between variability in geological and engineering parameters at a case study site in the Torcastle block, a fault-bounded sliver within the Great Glen Fault (GGF) that has a complex internal architecture. Distinct geological domains are defined based on lithology (including two generations of dyke intrusion), foliation, faults, and fracture pattern. Fractures are classified into several geometrical categories mainly based on geometrical relationships with local faults and foliations: foliation-parallel, foliation-bounded, foliation-crossing, and ladder-like fractures. Their spatial distribution correlates with the local trend of pre-existing foliations and dykes. For the engineering characterisation we used Q-value mapping, modified for surface conditions, with a moving window approach. Low Q-value zones are spatially heterogeneous but concordant with areas of high fracture density and intersections (topological X and Y nodes), typically associated with: (1) major shear or fault strands and embedded blocks; (2) intruded igneous dykes; (3) areas where faults with different orientations abut; and (4) highly rotated blocks showing re-oriented local foliations. Cross-plots of Q-value against geological fracture and engineering parameters notably reveal that increased fracture connectivity and orientation variability contribute to low Q-values, resulting from abundant foliation-crossing fractures in highly rotated blocks with relatively low fracture density. The geological and engineering variabilities in the Torcastle block highlight the close interplay between the geological deformation history and resultant rock mass conditions. We argue that combining detailed structural geological insight into engineering rock mass characterisation will result in more robust forecasting of engineering properties in rock masses, thereby reducing geotechnical risks
The Stickiness of Children’s Voice and Agency in Research
No full textIncreasingly, ‘voice’, though not an uncontested term, is understood as manifest through, for instance, gesture, gaze, body language, art, and other embodied forms (Murris, 2013; Murray, 2019), and even silence (Spyrou, 2016; Hanna, 2022). However voice is shared, researchers must attend carefully to what is said, and to what is not. In this, we acknowledge that children have something to say, which is fundamentally about how we think of children
Data-driven current harmonic optimization for minimizing torque ripple and injection losses in PMSM drives
Full text linkTorque ripple mitigation is a critical topic in the field of permanent magnet machine drives, and current harmonic injection is regarded as an effective approach to address this issue. However, traditional harmonic injection methods heavily rely on model-based calculations that necessitate various precise motor equivalent parameters. Additionally, they struggle to account for the iron loss effect. Furthermore, due to the nonlinear nature of motor parameters, these approaches frequently result in suboptimal torque ripple mitigation and elevated injection losses. To overcome these limitations, this article proposes a data-driven-based harmonic injection method. In contrast to model-based techniques, the proposed method offers the advantages of independence from motor parameters, unaffected torque ripple reduction by magnetic saturation, and overall minimization of injection copper and iron losses. The key of the proposed method lies in establishing precise correlations between injected current harmonic, torque ripple, and losses through a meta-model. Moreover, a multi-objective optimization process is applied to identify the optimal injection currents, leading to minimizations in torque ripple and injection losses
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