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The Russo-Ukrainian War Law Handbook
No full textThe RUWAR Law Handbook is the first comprehensive legal text on the Ukraine War. It aims to serve as the "go-to" source for those researching or seeking to understand the new world legal order being created after Russia's invasion of Ukraine and the ongoing war, the largest in Europe since the Second World War. The open source e-book is divided into 5 parts: Part I: Ukrainian History, Law, and Politics; Part II: Assisting the Victims; Part III: Violations of International Law; Part IV: Rebuilding A Postwar Ukraine and the Law; and Part V: Russian Law After the Invasion. Each chapter contains primary source documents (laws, court judgments and other significant legal materials); explanatory text and commentary; original essays by practitioners and scholars; illustrations, charts, graphs, and other visual material; and suggestions for further reading with hyperlinks. The RUWAR Law Handbook is designed for all those seeking to expand their understanding of Russia's invasion of Ukraine as a legal event
Editorial for the first issue of the journal of plant physiology and metabolism
No full textIt is with pleasure that I would like to introduce a new journal which is focused on cutting-edge research on plants. The Journal of Plant Physiology and Metabolism (JPPM) is peer-reviewed and also gold open access, making it attractive as we move to a more accessible and transparent scientific community. The growth of plants is instrumental to the world around us, and as such JPPM will accept submissions on any plant species, either aquatic or land
Research paper predicting the effects of agricultural soil tillage operations on fuel use
Get PDFWastage and economic loss in agricultural productivity during tillage operations could be predicted and reduced at the design stages. This study used a factorial experimental design to optimize tractor hourly fuel consumption during ploughing and ridging operations. The research aimed to investigate tillage effect on fuel utilization efficiency for reduction of operational costs and increase agricultural productivity. A 4,480 m2 research plot split into three blocks of nine treatments with three replicates was adopted for the research. The plot varied from loamy sand to sandy loam, which are good for agricultural productivity. The disc plough and disc ridger were the prominent tillage implements used in the research while the DFM Fuel Flow Meter was used for fuel consumption measurement. Field test parameters (ploughing depth (or ridging height), and tractor onward speed) and fuel use were measured. Using MINITAB 19 software, statistical analyses of the general full factorial design (GFFD) were carried out. These analyses included model fit adequacy, analysis of variance (ANOVA), main and interaction effects, multiple linear regression model, and response optimizer. Normal probability plots showed that the hourly fuel use during ploughing and ridging were approximately normally distributed, satisfying model fitness examination, and was confirmed by the model competence plot of frequency versus residual. The hourly fuel use during ploughing and ridging was shown to be randomly distributed with no discernible structure in the residual versus fitted value plots, supporting the residuals' constant variance requirement. Statistical analysis, and ANOVA in GFFD indicated that a significant difference exists with 95% and 99 % levels of significance on the influence of ploughing depth (or ridge height), tractor onward speed and their effects on tractor hourly fuel consumption during ploughing and ridging operations. Optimized tractor hourly fuel consumption during ploughing and ridging was attained at plough depth and ridge height of 0.10 m respectively, and tractor onward speed of 5 km h-1. This study determined that the minimum fuel consumption per hour for tractor under optimised working circumstances were 2.93 Lh-1and 3.30 Lh-1for ploughing and ridging operations respectively
"My body is amazing from the bottom to the top" - An RCT study testing two positive body image media micro-interventions for young children aged 4-6 years
No full textThis study presents a fully powered RCT testing the effectiveness and acceptability of two positive body image online media-based micro-interventions designed for young children. A total of 439 children aged 4-6 years were randomised into one of four conditions: i) episode intervention, ii) episode control, iii) music video intervention, or iv) music video control. Children and their accompanying parent attended two data collection sessions, approximately a week apart. During session one, each child and accompanying parent watched their assigned media together on a tablet device. Children completed measures of body appreciation, functionality appreciation, and weight bias with a trained moderator in a play-based interview pre-intervention (T1), immediately post-intervention (T2) and approximately one-week later (T3) during session two. Accompanying parents completed brief acceptability questionnaires at both sessions. Results indicated that the music video intervention had a small protective effect over the matched control on body appreciation. No effects were found for the episode intervention. Children and their parent/guardian indicated that both interventions were equally acceptable to each other and when compared with their respective, matched active controls. Results showed some promise for the immediate protective impact of appearance inclusive children's media that focuses on body appreciation and functionality appreciation. [Abstract copyright: Copyright © 2025 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.
Representation matters: Exposure to advertisements featuring models with different skin shades affects body image, well-being and advertising effectiveness among South Asian Women in the UK
No full textRacialised appearance ideals displayed in media and advertising imagery privilege white or light skin. Yet, little research has tested how white or light skin ideals in advertising influence body image. In this online experimental study, South Asian women in the UK (N = 194, M = 28.6 years) recruited via Prolific, were randomly assigned to view advertisements that featured either South Asian women with dark skin, South Asian women with light skin, White women, or products only. Dependent variables included appearance and skin shade satisfaction, mood (feeling confident, inspired, anxious, depressed), and advertising effectiveness. Repeated measure ANOVAs and post-hoc analyses showed that viewing White models reduced participants' skin shade satisfaction and lowered their confidence. Exposure to advertisements with South Asian models with dark skin increased the extent to which women felt inspired, while exposure to advertisements with South Asian models with light skin increased appearance satisfaction. Exposure to either of the South Asian models reduced women's anxiety. Our results present compelling evidence that representation matters - in terms of body image and wellbeing as well as advertising effectiveness. As little experimental work has been conducted on skin shade representation in advertising on body image outcomes, we outline several important future directions. [Abstract copyright: Copyright © 2025. Published by Elsevier Ltd.
‘How old are you, boy?’ An autobiographical history of working as a sexual health adviser in 1980s Britain
Get PDFSummary This is an autobiographical history of working as a sexual health adviser in the mid-1980s, a time of significant change in UK sexual health services. There are very few first-hand accounts of health advising in the literature. Autobiography is an increasingly accepted method that uses the historian’s personal experience to understand the past. My work as a health adviser comprised two distinct elements. First, I saw patients with gonorrhoea, syphilis or non-specific urethritis in the clinic, and encouraged them to inform their sexual contacts, sought information on their contacts in case they did not attend, and provided a health education intervention. If the patient defaulted, or if the contacts did not attend, I sought them in the community. The second role involved providing counselling for those undertaking testing for HIV. My account provides unique testimony of lived experience in, and reflections on key issues concerning, 1980s UK sexual health services
Evaluating qualitative behavioral assessment and ethogram techniques for captive black rhinoceros (Diceros bicornis)
Get PDFMaintaining high animal welfare in zoos is a persistent concern for practitioners and regulators, yet assessing welfare remains challenging. Welfare assessment techniques should be rapid and noninvasive, as traditional methods are often invasive, time-consuming, or costly. Qualitative Behavioral Assessment (QBA) is a promising alternative to ethograms. This study evaluated QBA’s usefulness in assessing behavior in ten captive black rhinos in a UK zoo by comparing it with ethogram data. QBA descriptors meaningfully overlapped with ethogram behaviors, for example, agonistic behaviors like horn clash aligned with Angry, Startled, and Nervous, while playful behaviors like head fling matched Lively and Excited. Correlations emerged between techniques; for instance, naso-nasal greeting and environmental investigation correlated with Active and Interested, while tactile contact negatively correlated with Angry and Nervous. Individual rhinos accounted for ~35% of (co)variation, with coefficient plots identifying significant key ethogram behaviors/QBA descriptors. The strong overlap within a joint model suggests QBA is a valuable welfare assessment tool that complements ethogram data collection for this species
‘Good farming’ in a polycrisis: What could arts‐led research offer?
Get PDFWhat does ‘good farming’ look like in a context of climatic, technological, socio‐economic, regulatory, and geopolitical upheaval? In this commentary, we highlight the opportunities presented by arts‐led research to complement the existing STEM‐centric data by offering more inclusive, holistic, dialogical, and experiential understandings of contemporary agriculture. Creative methods offer diverse opportunities to engage with farmer voices, and ensure that policy‐making successfully connects with its intended stakeholders, in contrast to the experiences of the Welsh Sustainable Farming Scheme. Through three brief examples of participatory arts, storytelling, and futuring, we highlight the importance of voicing silences, building trust, and enabling more culturally sustainable policies within contentious, complex and, emotive arenas such as environmental sustainability
Co-designing net zero strategy in historic settings: Pilot study of Sea Mills conservation area in Bristol
Get PDFThe Sea Mills Net Zero pilot project is funded by The British Academy and UWE Bristol’s CATE Public/Community Engagement and Knowledge Exchange Fund. The project aimed- to co-design Net Zero strategies with residents of the Sea Mills Conservation Area in Bristol. The project involved two community workshops to gather insights and collaboratively develop sustainability strategies
Enhancing privacy-preservation of IoT-based smart city using software defined networking and differential privacy distributions
Get PDFInternet of Things (IoT) aims at connecting all objects through the Internet. The IoT-based smart city is the concept of employing IoT devices to manage cities more easily, quickly and effectively. Recently, a new paradigm has emerged in the networking world, called software-defined networking (SDN), which separates the control data plane and the data plane. On the other hand, IoT devices embedded in a smart city often detect sensitive data. It is of paramount importance to prevent leaking this data unintentionally, known as privacy preserving. Although there are some methods to preserve data privacy in smart cities, they are either expensive or cannot preserve privacy efficiently. Intending to provide an efficient privacy preserving in a cost-effective smart city, we propose a novel method called differential privacy (DP)-preserving Smart City (DPSmartCity). It maintains the privacy of IoT devices’ sensitive data by equipping the environment with SDN technologies and leveraging a customized DP technique while its distribution changes frequently. We then mathematically investigate the DP aspect of the given algorithms by providing several proofs. The evaluation results show the effectiveness of the proposed method for diffident parameters, such as overload amount and latency points. Based on our threat model, it is 25.89% more robust against unintentional disclosure of sensitive data from a penetration point of view