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Editorial: The role of conversational AI in higher education
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The role of conversational AI in higher educationAs conversational Artificial Intelligence (AI) technologies rapidly evolve, their influence on Higher Education (HE) becomes increasingly profound. This editorial explores how recent research on conversational AI contributes to the growing discourse surrounding its role in academic settings, specifically in teaching, learning, and student engagement. The six articles within this Research Topic provide a range of insights into the effectiveness, challenges, and future potential of AI in HE. These studies collectively highlight the promise of AI, while underscoring the need for careful consideration of its limitations and the impact on educational practices
Public Support for Voter ID Laws in the UK: How Citizens Weigh Electoral Integrity and Voter Access
Get PDFSupplementary Material (same Open Access license published under a Creative Commons License) - https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/suppl/10.1177/00323217251364930/suppl_file/sj-docx-1-psx-10.1177_00323217251364930.docxAn earlier version of this paper was presented at the Annual Conference of the American Political Science Association, Los Angeles, CA, August 31–September 3, 2023.Voter identification laws aim to enhance electoral integrity but may reduce turnout. This study
examines British public opinion on these competing goals following the introduction of photo
identification in 2023. Using an original survey and an experimental design, we find that while
concerns about low voter turnout are widespread, they do not significantly influence support for
photo identification. Instead, beliefs about electoral fraud and political ideology are the strongest
predictors of support. This suggests that arguments about voter suppression may not effectively
counter support for stricter voter identification requirements.Research Development Fund, Brunel Universit
Unlocking biogas potential: A comprehensive study on pretreatment techniques of organic substrate for enhanced anaerobic digestion
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No data was used for the research described in the article.This is a PDF file of an article that has undergone enhancements after acceptance, such as the addition of a cover page and metadata, and formatting for readability, but it is not yet the definitive version of record. This version will undergo additional copyediting, typesetting and review before it is published in its final form, but we are providing this version to give early visibility of the article. Please note that, during the production process, errors may be discovered which could affect the content, and all legal disclaimers that apply to the journal pertain.As the worldwide demand for green energy intensifies, the generation of biogas through the anaerobic digestion (AD) process serves as a potential and promising sustainable solution. It also addresses the problem of solid waste management through the biodegradation of solid organic waste. Despite its huge potential, the conventional AD process often encounters significant operational challenges, such as the complexity of feedstock characteristics and structures, which make the breakdown process ineffective and inefficient in biodegradability. Such issues collectively contribute to reduced biogas yields, limiting the efficiency of the AD process and the viability of biogas as a reliable energy source. To address these obstacles, process intensification of the feedstock emerges as a necessary strategy. This paper presents a review of primary pretreatment methods and hybrid methods that have been developed to optimize the AD process. The affecting parameters of the conventional pretreatment techniques, along with the working principle, methodology, and their limitations, are discussed. Hybrid methods combine multiple pretreatment methods for maximum effectiveness and overcome the limitations of individual techniques. Chemo-sonication and mecho-sonication have achieved increases in biogas generation ranging from 67% to nearly 94% compared to untreated feedstock. The review concludes with a comparative analysis of these pretreatment techniques, which provides valuable insights into the relative productivity of each technique. This study proposes a framework of future research to optimize the AD process in a more efficient way and as well as yielding a stable generation of methane. This paper offers a clear pathway to enhancing biogas production, contributing to the broader goal of renewable, sustainable, and green energy development...
The Hegemony of Free Speech
Get PDFForum response -- commentary.Sari Hanafi has written a scolding piece against a so-called crisis of free speech in society and, specifically, in universities. In this response, I comment critically on how Hanafi employs Symbolic Liberalism, cancel culture and identity politics to explore this ostensible free speech tragedy. I conclude by suggesting that free speech is always part of broader battles around hegemony in society, but not in ways often argued for by Hanafi.The author received no financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article
Challenges and Prospects of Enhanced Oil Recovery Using Acid Gas Injection Technology: Lessons from Case Studies
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The original contributions presented in this study are included in the article. Further inquiries can be directed to the corresponding author.Acid gas injection (AGI), which primarily involves injecting hydrogen sulfide (H2S) and carbon dioxide (CO2), is recognized as a cost-efficient and environmentally sustainable method for controlling sour gas emissions in oil and gas operations. This review examines case studies of twelve AGI projects conducted in Canada, Oman, and Kazakhstan, focusing on reservoir selection, leakage potential assessment, and geological suitability evaluation. Globally, several million tonnes of acid gases have already been sequestered, with Canada being a key contributor. The study provides a critical analysis of geochemical modeling data, monitoring activities, and injection performance to assess long-term gas containment potential. It also explores AGI’s role in Enhanced Oil Recovery (EOR), noting that oil production can increase by up to 20% in carbonate rock formations. By integrating technical and regulatory insights, this review offers valuable guidance for implementing AGI in geologically similar regions worldwide. The findings presented here support global efforts to reduce CO2 emissions, and provide practical direction for scaling-up acid gas storage in deep subsurface environments
Which Offers Greater Techno-Economic Potential: Oil or Hydrogen Production from Light Oil Reservoirs?
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The data are available on request.Supplementary Materials:
The following supporting information can be downloaded at https://www.mdpi.com/article/10.3390/geosciences15060214/s1. References [18,31,32,52,54,69,70,71,72,73,74] are cited in the supplementary materials.The global emphasis on clean energy has increased interest in producing hydrogen from petroleum reservoirs through in situ combustion-based processes. While field practices have demonstrated the feasibility of co-producing hydrogen and oil, the question of which offers greater economic potential, oil, or hydrogen, remains central to ongoing discussions, especially as researchers explore ways to produce hydrogen exclusively from petroleum reservoirs. This study presents the first integrated techno-economic model comparing oil and hydrogen production under varying injection strategies, using CMG STARS for reservoir simulations and GoldSim for economic modeling. Key technical factors, including injection compositions, well configurations, reservoir heterogeneity, and formation damage (issues not addressed in previous studies), were analyzed for their impact on hydrogen yield and profitability. The results indicate that CO2-enriched injection strategies enhance hydrogen production but are economically constrained by the high costs of CO2 procurement and recycling. In contrast, air injection, although less efficient in hydrogen yield, provides a more cost-effective alternative. Despite the technological promise of hydrogen, oil revenue remains the dominant economic driver, with hydrogen co-production facing significant economic challenges unless supported by policy incentives or advancements in gas lifting, separation, and storage technologies. This study highlights the economic trade-offs and strategic considerations crucial for integrating hydrogen production into conventional petroleum extraction, offering valuable insights for optimizing hydrogen co-production in the context of a sustainable energy transition. Additionally, while the present work focuses on oil reservoirs, future research should extend the approach to natural gas and gas condensate reservoirs, which may offer more favorable conditions for hydrogen generation.This research received no external funding
Study on the Micro-Mechanism of Corrosion Deterioration of Concrete Under Sulfate Attack Environment
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The original contributions presented in this study are included in the article. Further inquiries can be directed to the corresponding author.To investigate the influence of the water–cement ratio and erosion patterns on the deterioration of concrete in a sulfate corrosion environment, concrete specimens with different water–cement ratios were immersed in Na2SO4 solutions of varying concentrations (0%, 5%, and 8%). The immersion times were set at 0 days, 30 days, 60 days, and 90 days. Macro-scale compressive strength tests and micro-scale performance tests were conducted to obtain the damage morphology, micro-scale elastic modulus, and hardness of eroded concrete. Additionally, K-means clustering analysis was used to analyze the micro-mineral phases of the specimens, and SEM and XRD were employed to reveal the degradation mechanisms of sulfate erosion on the microstructure of concrete. The results indicated that the erosion products of calcium aluminate and gypsum in concrete gradually increased with the increase in Na2SO4 solution concentration and immersion time. In the early stages of erosion, the compressive strength and corrosion resistance coefficient of concrete showed a temporary upward trend, which then decreased as the erosion depth increased. From a microstructural perspective, erosion had a significant impact on the internal structure of concrete, while the elastic modulus and hardness of hydrated calcium silicate and calcium hydroxide under erosion showed relatively minor changes, both exhibiting a gradual decrease. The volume fraction of microporous pores gradually increased, further exacerbating the depth and extent of erosion.This study is supported by the International Science and Technology Cooperation Project of Henan Province (241111521200), the Natural Science Foundation of Henan (242300420063), and Natural Science Foundation of Henan (252300421796), as well as the Science and Technology Research Project of Henan (252102321089)
Transcriptomic Profiling of iPS Cell-Derived Hepatocyte-like Cells Reveals Their Close Similarity to Primary Liver Hepatocytes
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The data presented in this study are available upon reasonable request from the corresponding author.Supplementary Materials are available online at: https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4409/14/12/925#app1-cells-14-00925 .Human-induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC)-derived hepatocyte-like cells (HLCs) have been shown to be useful for the development of cell-based regenerative strategies and for modelling drug discovery. However, stem cell-derived HLCs are not identical in nature to primary human hepatocytes (PHHs), which could affect the cell phenotype and, potentially, model reliability. Therefore, we employed the in-depth gene expression profiling of HLCs and other important and relevant cell types, which led to the identification of clear similarities and differences between them at the transcriptional level. Through gene set enrichment analysis, we identified that genes that are critical for immune signalling pathways become downregulated upon HLC differentiation. Our analysis also found that TAV.HLCs exhibit a mild gene signature characteristic of acute lymphoblastic leukaemia, but not other selected cancers. Importantly, HLCs present significant similarity to PHHs, making them genuinely valuable for modelling human liver biology in vitro and for the development of prototype cell-based therapies for pre-clinical testing.This research was funded by an SBRI CRACK-IT InMutaGene Challenge 21 award and Testavec Ltd
Academic coaching as a pedagogy to facilitate the navigation of complexity across the health professions education continuum
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The original contributions presented in the paper are included in the article. Further inquiries can be directed to the corresponding author.Maintaining currency and managing complexity in a rapidly evolving healthcare environment requires health professionals to be competent in monitoring and regulating their own learning. While health professional educators can scaffold learners to develop this competency, maintaining these skills in the absence of ongoing, structured support can prove challenging. Academic coaching is a pedagogical approach that supports learners to develop as self-regulated learners. This longitudinal support can facilitate learners’ capacity to plan, monitor and evaluate their performance and apply these skills to novel contexts, which is needed to navigate the increasingly complex healthcare environment. In this paper, we introduce the intersecting concepts of self-regulated learning and academic coaching. We suggest ways that academic coaching can be used to support learners in the health professions to continually improve their practice and develop their capacity to cope with complexity. We draw on our experiences of implementing academic coaching into two medical programs in the UK and Australia (school-leaver and graduate entry programs, respectively) and offer considerations for implementing academic coaching across the health professions education continuum.The article processing charge for this publication was supported by a Flinders Health and Medical Research Institute (FHMRI) Publication Grant 2025
Computational Investigation of Twist Morphing Rotor Blades for Aerodynamic Efficiency Enhancement
Get PDFData Availability Statement: The data underlying the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable requestThe aerodynamic performance of rotorcraft blades plays a pivotal role in determining rotor system efficiency; directly impacting lift generation, fuel consumption, and mission endurance. Conventional rotor designs, constrained by fixed blade geometries, impose inherent limitations on optimising aerodynamic efficiency across varying flight conditions. This study investigates the feasibility of twistmorphing rotor blades, wherein a full-chord twist technique is introduced to enhance aerodynamic performance. A high-fidelity computational fluid dynamics (CFD) analysis was conducted using highperformance computing (HPC) infrastructure (SimScale) across 10 case studies to evaluate the aerodynamic effects of this morphing technique on a baseline Sea King rotor blade. The analysis investigated a spanwise section of 0.85 r/R (where r/R represents the spanwise blade position normalised by radius), with twist angles varying from -14° to +14°. A RANS steady-state solver (k-omega SST) was employed for cruise and hover conditions, with velocity-pressure coupling. In hover mode, the greatest increase in CL/CD was observed when a linear +10° was applied to the morphing section, improving the aerodynamic efficiency by 6.3%. At cruise conditions, the highest increase in aerodynamic efficiency was observed at +14° where the CL/CD improved by 31%. The findings validate twist morphing as a viable mechanism for aerodynamic enhancement, demonstrating its potential to improve rotorcraft performance. The insights provide a quantitative foundation for integrating morphing rotor technology into the next generation of rotorcraft engineering. While the aerodynamic benefits are evident, future research must address aeroelastic modelling, structural dynamics, and real-time actuation feasibility to ensure practical implementation in the future rotary-wing aircraft.The authors acknowledge SimScale GmbH for the provision of an academic licence, along with supplementary core hours and computational resources, which facilitated the completion of this study
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