8251 research outputs found
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The children may not be the problem: evidence of acceptance and enjoyment of higher fibre breads from choice architecture studies in school breakfast clubs
No full text© 2025 The Authors. Published by The Royal Society Publishing. This is an open access article available under a Creative Commons licence.
The published version can be accessed at the following link on the publisher’s website: https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2024.0151Low fibre consumption is endemic in the United Kingdom (UK). Replacing refined staples with wholegrain starchy staples could increase fibre consumption. School food contributes to children's nutrition and establishes eating norms, presenting both a public health opportunity and challenge. It could be a policy lever to effect generational dietary change and influence health outcomes, and goal-strategic public sector procurement. However, this policy lever is under-exploited. Despite efforts by non-governmental organizations and individual schools, school food has not been conferred high value or status in national food policy and often does not provide children with a diet rich in healthy, high-fibre foods. In the H3 project, we trialled interventions to increase the fibre content of school breakfast, with particular focus on replacing white bread - a UK breakfast staple - with higher fibre breads. Here we review this work, providing insights from the food industry and children's perspectives. A key outcome was that child preferences were not a major barrier. When provided with higher fibre foods, children ate and enjoyed them. This suggests that simple food policy levers could significantly reduce the approximately 6 g average 'fibre gap' in UK school children's intake, for example by mandating that all bread served in schools be at least a 'source of fibre'. Larger scale trials should be conducted, ideally as part of universal school breakfast pilots. This article is part of the theme issue 'Transforming terrestrial food systems for human and planetary health'.N.W., E.T., N.B., S.C., F.C. and L.D. are funded by the UKRI-SPF ‘Transforming UK food system’ programme funded H3 project (grant no: BB/V004719/1). L.D. is the Co-Director of the Institute for Sustainable Food, University of Sheffield. Funding/support: L.D. is Co-Director of (and E.T. and NB are funded by) the Co-Centre for Sustainable Food Systems, supported by Research Ireland (RE 22/CC/11147), Northern Ireland’s Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (DAERA), and UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) via the International Science Partnerships Fund (REF: BB/Y012909/1).
We acknowledge the generous, invaluable donations and support of ABMauri and Jackson's of Yorkshire in providing products for school-based interventions. Much of the work would not have been possible without the dedication and generosity of Anna Longthorp (Anna’s Happy Kitchen Ltd) who travelled many miles to collect and deliver bread. Lucy Antal (Feedback Global) was the instigator of the Liverpool Breakfast programme supported by Jackson's of Yorkshire and crucial to the effective delivery of the initiative.Published versio
Characterization and classification of soils on a toposequence around Dutse Jigawa State, Nigeria
No full text© 2025 The Authors, published by Springer. This is an open access article available under a Creative Commons licence.
The published version can be accessed at the following link on the publisher’s website: https://doi.org/10.1007/s44378-025-00126-4Soil characterization and classification is extremely important for land use planning and environmental conservation. The aim of the current study was to characterize and classify the soils present in a toposequence established at the Nigerian Institute for Oil Palm Research (NIFOR) Jigawa state, North-Western Nigeria. Four representative soil profiles were excavated at the crest, upper, middle and lower slope positions in the study area. Across the soil horizons, the textural classes varied from sand to loamy sand, and the bulk density was between 1.21 and 1.55 g cm− 3 in the surface and sub-surface horizons. Soil pH ranged between 4.7 and 7.7 in the surface and sub-surface horizons. Soil organic carbon, cation exchange capacity and available P ranged from 0.88 to 1.61%, 3.54 to 7.17 cmolc kg− 1 and 1.95 to 3.50 mg kg− 1 respectively. The percent base saturation was low to high (30.36–80.00%), with the dominant soluble cations being Ca2+ and Mg2+. The extractable micronutrients in the soils were medium (Fe), low to medium (Mn), low (Zn) and very low (Cu). The soils at the study site were classified as Entisols at the order level of USDA, which correlate to Arenosols in the (FAO/WRB) reference soil group. The quality of the NIFOR soil was divided into five levels, with grade I, being the highest and grade V the lowest. The proportion of grade II and IV soils were the largest, at 26.39% and 23.64% respectively, with grade III being the smallest at 11.17%. The data collected from this study are critical for the development and interpretation of effective, site-specific management practices. Based on the data obtained, soil conservation techniques including continuous organic matter incorporation and mineral fertilizer application to the soils would markedly improve their fertility for agricultural purposes.Published onlin
Natural capital in the green economy: transport infrastructure perspective
No full text© 2025 UK Parliament. Written evidence submitted to the Environmental Audit Committee inquiry on the role of natural capital in the green economy [revived]. Available online: https://committees.parliament.uk/work/8688/the-role-of-natural-capital-in-the-green-economy-revived/publications
Transient chaotic neural network with negative self-feedback memory for continuous optimisation problems
No full textThis is an author's accepted manuscript of an article published by Springer Nature in Proceedings of the Future Technologies Conference (FTC) 2024, Volume 1, available online: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-73110-5_19 For re-use please see Springer's terms and conditions.In this paper we present a transient chaotic neural network model which incorporates negative self-feedback memory. This allows the chaotic driving term in the neural network model the ability to adapt to the energy state of the network and hence drive the system towards the global minimum avoiding the issue of being trapped in local minima. The model framework also reduces the number of parameters that require tuning to the particular optimisation problem since the self-feedback bias, I0, is no longer a tunable parameter and instead evolves with the neurodynamics. We apply the model on a continuous optimisation problem, in doing so we outline the procedure for mapping the continuous energy function onto the neuron state space and embedding the energy function into the network equations. We compare performance with the Chen and Aihara model and confirm that the self-feedback memory model does outperform the Chen & Aihara model in terms of robustness, i.e., finds the global minimum for all initial values of the self-feedback bias, I0, and still has comparable convergence rate. We also perform a parameter investigation and demonstrate that the input scaling parameter, α, can induce non-transient chaos even in the non-chaotic Hopfield network, highlighting the importance of this parameter for problem specific considerations.Published versio
Identifying effective strategies for developing leadership and management skills in volunteer volunteer managers
Get PDFA thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements of the University of Wolverhampton for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy.This thesis investigates how organisations support volunteers to develop the skills of those volunteers who lead and/or manage other volunteers, or volunteer volunteer managers (VVMs). There is little research into volunteer management/leadership (Posner, 2015) and most research is based on the premise that paid staff manage volunteers. There even less research into leadership and management development (LMD) within the sector (Alizadeh et al, 2021). This research considers best practice in LMD outside the voluntary sector and what might be appropriate for VVM development. The following research questions were identified to investigate these gaps: 1. How are the terms “Leadership and Management” and “Leadership and Management Development” interpreted in the voluntary sector? 2. What leadership and management roles are volunteers undertaking, and what skills are needed to fulfil these roles? 3. How are leadership and management development skills developed in volunteers and how effective are these approaches? 4. How could these approaches be changed or improved to develop volunteers’ leadership and management skills and skill development? The research was conducted with 16 participants from nine different organisations, all of whom had or currently held a VVM role. The literature review helped construct the interview questions; informal conversations with other stakeholders also took place. Key findings support the lack of research in the sector and identify that whilst VVMs understand leadership and management, organisational clarity is lacking. This and missing role documentation exacerbates a lack of role clarity. Provision of LMD for VVMs was mixed, as was the quality. An implicit expectation that leadership/management skills are brought from outside volunteering is evident. The thesis concludes by discussing implications for practice and theory outlined by the study. VVMs need role documentation, support identifying learning needs and provision of appropriate, timely LMD. Recognition of the emotional labour in managing volunteers would be beneficial
Written evidence submitted to the International Agreements Committee inquiry on the UK-India Free Trade Agreement (UIA0017)
No full text© 2025 UK Parliament. Written evidence submitted to the International Agreements Committee inquiry on the UK-India Free Trade Agreement. Available at: https://committees.parliament.uk/work/9341/ukindia-free-trade-agreement/publications
A socially and behaviourally grounded framework for inclusive engagement towards community flood resilience
No full text© 2025 The Authors. Published by Leeds Beckett University. This is an open access article available under a Creative Commons licence.
The published version can be accessed at the following link on the publisher’s website: https://hdl.handle.net/10779/leedsbeckett.30399583.v1Without robust community engagement, flood resilience efforts often lack legitimacy, traction, and sustainability. However, many existing engagement frameworks—often designed outside the flood context—fail to reflect the lived realities of flood-affected communities, overlooking emotional and informal dynamics, assuming linearity, relying on civic access and rationality, and neglecting structural inequalities. Many of these frameworks adopt a deficit-based lens, framing communities primarily in terms of what they lack—be it knowledge, organisation, or capacity—rather than recognising their existing strengths.
This study addresses these limitations by proposing a socially and behaviourally grounded framework for inclusive engagement in flood-affected communities. Drawing on academic, policy, and grey literature—particularly from flood resilience, disaster studies, behavioural science, planning theory, and community development—it engages key theoretical contributions related to assets, social capital, adaptive learning, emotional wellbeing, and community knowledge to identify persistent gaps around diversity, emotional readiness, leadership, informal behaviours, and lived experience.
In contrast to deficit-based frameworks, the framework positions engagement as an iterative, asset-driven, and context-sensitive process rooted in trust and mutual accountability. Structured across three phases—Community Groundwork, Engagement, and Reflection—it foregrounds community strengths, trust-building, emotional connections, and local leadership. Its distinctiveness lies in how engagement is implemented: communities choose their own entry point; leadership emerges from within; trust—not templates—guides the process; external actors support rather than steer; and built-in reflection ensures learning and adaptation over time. Unlike existing frameworks, it integrates emotional and behavioural dynamics, begins before formal participation, and offers a replicable yet flexible structure applicable across diverse flood contexts. By embedding these dynamics, the framework offers policymakers, practitioners, and communities a more grounded, equitable, and sustainable approach to engagement in flood-affected settings.This work was funded through the UK government’s Flood and Coastal Resilience Innovation Programme (FCRIP), which is part of the government’s National Flood and Coastal Erosion Risk Management Strategy for England. FCRIP is funded by Defra and managed by the Environment Agency
Teaching comparative and international education (CIE) in UK universities: coverage, omissions and orientations
No full text© 2025 The Authors. Published by Taylor and Francis. This is an open access article available under a Creative Commons licence.
The published version can be accessed at the following link on the publisher’s website: https://doi.org/10.1080/03057925.2025.2602558This article examines the teaching of comparative and international education (CIE) in undergraduate and master’s programmes in 30 UK universities via bibliometric and content analysis of the handbooks of 55 CIE courses. Our analysis demonstrates great diversity in what is categorised as CIE, alongside some clear patterns and preoccupations evident across units, as reflected in the selection of materials, and geographical and thematic coverage. Findings suggest a ‘UK-centric’ orientation to CIE, marked by an emphasis on UK academic voices and references, and geographical foci which centre on the former colonial sphere of influence. Alongside this we identify three broad orientations to CIE teaching in the UK – ‘positivist’, ‘socio-cultural’, and ‘critical’ – and consider their nature and prevalence across different institutions and programmes.Published onlin
Propensity and proclivity of vulnerable road users towards personalised road safety solutions
No full text© 2025 The Authors. Published by WIT Press. This is an open access article available under a Creative Commons licence.
The published version can be accessed at the following link on the publisher’s website: https://www.witpress.com/elibrary/wit-transactions-on-ecology-and-the-environment/264/38736Vulnerable road users (VRUs) account for ~70% of Europe’s total road fatalities. Whilst there has been an upsurge in solutions to improve infrastructure safety and vehicle safety, solutions for VRUs have not received the same attention. This study gathers the opinions and preferences of VRUs from across several European nations towards the design and implementation of possible road safety solutions. An online questionnaire survey (available in English, German, Greek and Spanish languages) was shared with potential participants. Based on the data collected for the first three months (30 September 2023 to 31 December 2023), the survey received responses (n = 719) from a wide variety of participant VRU types but chiefly those representing the pedestrian and cyclist groups. Findings reveal there is a strong interest in personalised technology-informed road safety products for VRUs, including safe/clean routing. It is suggested that designs should provide a preference towards fast routes but ideally away from routes used by fast moving vehicles, preferably along designated pedestrian, cycle or bridleways and/or through/near green infrastructure (e.g. public parks) or alongside waterways (e.g. rivers, canals). On-route streetlighting, on-route signposting and road/pavement surface type/condition are also important considerations. It is, therefore, proposed that the insights assembled from participants be judiciously considered when creating the features and functions of any road-safety solutions (e.g. mobile apps). Further, since this is part of a wider project using the precedent of co-creation, it is also proposed that any trials and testing should engage VRUs for evaluation and feedback to enhance the performance and potential market uptake of solutions.The SOTERIA Project has received funding from the European Commissions’ Horizon Europe Research and Innovation Programme under Grant Agreement No 101077433, as well as from the United Kingdom Research and Innovation (UKRI) agency (grant reference numbers: 10052969, 10058247, 10059948, 10064506) to whom all partner organisations and authors express their sincere gratitude,Published versio
An investigation into the disclosure practices of intimate-partner violence and image-based sexual abuse: an empirical examination of reporting routes, the impact of shame and stigma in IBSA and gender differences in IPV
No full textA research portfolio submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements of the University of Wolverhampton for the award of Doctorate in Counselling Psychology.Background & Aim: Image-based sexual abuse (IBSA) and intimate-partner violence (IPV) present urgent clinical and societal challenges, yet the pathways through which survivors disclose these experiences remain poorly understood, especially for IBSA, an emergent, digitally mediated offence. Moreover, the prevailing characterisation of IPV as predominantly a “women’s issue” necessitates empirical examination of gender effects. Accordingly, this thesis investigates how the types of abuse, preferred disclosure routes, psychological deterrents to IBSA disclosure, and gender intersect to shape reporting practices, and how the resulting insights can inform counselling psychology practice and training.
Methods: A two-study, mixed-methods programme addressed complementary components of the overarching research question. Study 1 (N = 180) employed a 2 (abuse type: IPV vs. IBSA) × 2 (gender: male vs. female) design to compare (a) direct versus indirect reporting and (b) gender differences in IPV disclosure. Study 2 (N = 258) assessed whether perceived stigma predicts the likelihood of IBSA disclosure and whether internalised shame moderates that relationship.
Findings: Abuse type shapes disclosure method. IPV survivors predominantly disclosed directly, whereas IBSA victims displayed no clear preference and were markedly less likely to disclose overall. Shame, rather than stigma, reduces the likelihood of IBSA disclosure. Internalised shame emerged as the primary psychological barrier; perceived stigma exerted no independent effect. Gender does not influence IPV reporting. Male and female participants reported IPV at comparable rates, challenging gender-exclusive conceptions of the phenomenon.
Conclusion: The findings of this thesis suggest that effective interventions must be abuse-specific, shame-attuned for IBSA and safety-oriented for IPV, while remaining gender-inclusive. Thereby offering a more inclusive and psychologically nuanced framework for supporting survivors of IPV and IBSA abuse