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How can we maximize the environmental benefits of teleworking? — A simulation and global sensitivity analysis of English teleworkers
Get PDFWith the increasing popularity of teleworking after the Covid-19 pandemic and the urgent threat of climate change, there is growing interest in its potential to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from transport. While some studies have explored the environmental benefits of teleworking, most fail to address the significant uncertainty associated with it. Few of these studies have applied sophisticated mathematical methods to explore how we can maximize the environmental benefits of teleworking, and even fewer have considered the distributions of input variables. Our study aims to fill these gaps based on historical data observations.
This study employs simulation, global sensitivity analysis and scenario analysis methods to address the uncertainty and identify the most important variables affecting teleworkers' transport emissions. The study analyzes travel diaries from over 100,000 individuals in the English National Travel Survey (NTS) from 2002 to 2023. Our findings reveal that minimizing trip distance and reducing non-work trips, along with optimizing business travel, can lead to substantial emission reductions among teleworkers. Additionally, the decline in private car use contributes to emission reduction. Notably, the emission gap between teleworkers and non-teleworkers is larger for those living outside London
Literary figures and international thought: the archetypal case of Thomas Hardy
Get PDFHow may literary figures contribute to international thought? This article addresses this question using the previously neglected yet archetypal case of novelist and poet Thomas Hardy, who pioneered the term ‘international thought’ in the early twentieth century. In its analysis of the Hardy case, the article offers a framework elucidating how literary figures may contribute to international thought not only through direct theoretical and conceptual advancements, but also indirectly in their use of literary techniques to reimagine the international and through their public figure status. The analysis draws attention to Hardy’s challenge to anthropocentric approaches to peace and his educational, emotional and humanitarian approaches to internationalism that may offer valuable alternatives to dominant rationalist perspectives in addressing a world confronted by ecological crisis and populist leaderships. The article acknowledges tensions in Hardy’s international thought, and offers the lineaments of a research agenda for further inquiry into literary figures and international relations
Dwelling on the bad: Negative arguments and stimuli are given more weight in both cumulative and non-cumulative tasks
Get PDFStudies of order-effects have often been siloed into those focused on question-order effects, which examine pairs of purportedly independent items, and information-order effects, which ask participants to combine multiple pieces of information. We present data from both types of tasks demonstrating a previously unreported asymmetry, where negative stimuli have a stronger effect on subsequent positive stimuli than vice versa. Data are reanalyzed from three previously published studies of order effects, as well as two novel experiments; we observed consistent results across a variety of tasks and stimuli. These results are discussed in the context of both traditional models like Hogarth and Einhorn's belief-adjustment model and more recent attempts to use quantum probability theory to model order effects
Data-driven prediction of spray macroscopic characteristics for marine injectors using neural networks
Get PDFFuel flexibility ensures reliable operation and improves the implementation of a dual-fuel strategy alongside the Diesel-only model in marine powertrains. This versatile approach, however, imposes limitations related to the complexity of the injection system, underpinning the necessity of comprehending the relationship between design and performance to facilitate the injector optimization process. The present study introduces a data-driven predictor utilizing a deep neural network to predict spray tip penetration and cone angle in marine injectors. This neural network is trained using experimental data from serial and prototype industrial designs, incorporating operating conditions and a wide range of geometrical parameters as primary input features. Issues, as for example overfitting of the training dataset, were mitigated via regularization, enhancing generalization. The deep neural network accurately predicts spray characteristics across short, medium, and long penetration ranges, achieving 95% accuracy for unseen data. Furthermore, a feature importance analysis indicates that the injection pressure, number of spray holes, outlet spray hole diameter, and sac hole volume are the primary parameters influencing spray behavior. This neural network provides a computationally efficient alternative to conventional approaches, such as time-consuming Computational Fluid Dynamics simulations or test measurements. The model is tailored to support the marine injector design workflow, allowing the fast exploration of design space in the early design phase at operation conditions relevant for fuel flexibility, and contributing to accelerate the injector development process
Assessing food procurement greenhouse gas emissions and food waste in UK fine dining
Get PDFThis research examines greenhouse gas emissions (GHGE) associated with food procurement and food waste in a UK fine dining restaurant. A comprehensive food procurement greenhouse gas emissions baseline was established, emission hotspots were identified, and food waste reduction targets previously set by the restaurant were verified.
A total of 6282 individual food purchases were reviewed. Due to repeat purchases, 941 distinct food and drink commodities were matched with 920 emissions factors from the WRAP Emission Factor Database v2.0, enabling a volume-based greenhouse gas emissions assessment. The analysis revealed seasonal variations and GHGE hotspots, providing a benchmark for similar catering operations. A Monte Carlo simulation was performed by randomising the emissions factors allocated to assess the sensitivity of the assessment. Despite the possible variation of emissions factors, the average GHGE per guest was found to be 5.87 kg CO2 eq. per guest () and 4.79 kg CO2 eq. per kg of food procured (±0.54). A dietary gap analysis found the associated GHGE exceed the range for GHGE per day/person of the Eatwell guide recommended by the British Dietetic Association as a healthy, sustainable diet. The analysis also shows that GHGE associated with food waste represents the fourth-largest contributor.
Establishing a baseline for GHGE of food waste and procurement supports measurable goal setting, intervention identification, and progress tracking towards emission reduction targets. The findings equip the business to design targeted and evidence-based interventions
Factors associated with junior doctor plain trauma X-ray interpretation accuracy and strategies for improvement: a scoping review
Get PDFBackground
Plain radiography is a key diagnostic tool for trauma patients in emergency departments, often requiring immediate interpretation so that urgent care is not delayed. Due to difficulty in accessing timely radiologist reports and the demand for rapid decision-making, emergency department doctors, including junior doctors, have, over the years, been involved in the initial interpretation of plain trauma X-rays. However, concerns remain about the accuracy of these junior doctors, which may impact patient safety. Despite its significance, there’s a notable gap in knowledge on the factors that influence their accuracy and strategies to improve their accuracy. This review explored these specific factors and strategies.
Method
A scoping review was conducted following the framework by Arksey and O’Malley as updated by Levac, Colquhoun, and O’Brien. Searches were performed in PubMed, SCOPUS, Embase, Cochrane Library, Google Scholar and through reference list search of eligible studies from a timeframe of 1985 to August 2025. A narrative approach was employed to describe findings after content analysis of eligible studies.
Results
Nine articles were ultimately included. The factors identified were emergency department clinical experience, anatomical site-specific interpretation, radiographic image-related factors, time and mechanism of traumatic injury. Further, plain trauma X-ray interpretation training, emergency department clinical experience with a teaching programme and collaboration with radiographers were identified as potential accuracy improvement strategies.
Conclusion
Junior doctors’ plain trauma X-ray interpretation accuracy was influenced by several factors. Strategies like training, increased exposure to trauma X-rays in the emergency department with structured teaching programmes, and enhanced collaboration with radiographers can help mitigate the risk of misinterpretations among junior doctors. Future studies should not only validate these findings and investigate additional influencing factors and strategies, but also examine potential barriers to implementing such strategies
Troubled ontologies: an economisation approach to climate risk and its politics
Get PDFWhether as economisation or performativity, scholars in market studies have problematised various entanglements between financial markets and climate change. Studies have identified, for instance, how notions of climate change were subjugated to the concepts and needs of financial actors in the form of climate risk. While some scholars have cast doubt on whether such an approach to govern climate change can succeed, these doubts rest on an implicit assumption of ontological stability in existing market arrangements. By contrast, and drawing on the economisation framework, we provide a theorisation of climate risk as a performative project in-the-making shaped by marketizing framing processes, highlighting its potential to successfully transform relations, identities and ontologies. Nevertheless, we also identify misfires and counterperformative moments, as well as instances where this transformative drive reinforces the unequal relations of financialised capitalism. Thus, our paper contributes to market studies by demonstrating the value of an economisation approach to climate risk. Furthermore, it advances a nascent post-performativity scholarship by proposing a novel conceptualisation of the politics of economisation
Optimized Control of Bidirectional EV Charging for Net Zero with Incentivized Prosumerism
Get PDFThe rise in energy demand of Electric Vehicles (EVs) is an increasing burden on the grid. Solutions proposed to reduce grid load, for example, storing surplus energy from EVs, are costly and do not address associated challenges such as communication reliability and the optimum number of charging stations. This paper proposes an optimized energy management by availing supply from EVs and renewable resources for achieving net zero. We consider that EVs sell their surplus energy via bidirectional Vehicle-to-Grid exchange. Demand and supply from EVs and energy output from renewables are intelligently predicted and shared with the grid through a 5G communication network. A cost minimization solution alters grid supply according to available EV supply. This paper analyzes the upper bounds of EV demand and supply, utilizes game theory to incentivize EVs, and discusses the optimum number of charging stations. Results show that the proposed solution reduces 38.21% of the grid load and 5.3% cost
Potential Pathways and Solutions to Acute Food System Crisis in the UK
Get PDFThere is increasing concern in many advanced economies about the risks of disruption and crises in agri-food systems. Government departments and non-governmental organisations are working to identify and understand specific risks but struggle to take broad, holistic perspectives and therefore underestimate the potential for civil unrest. In the interests of helping move from understanding to action, we convened a group of experts through a Delphi process to map out potential pathways to acute UK food system crises and identify interventions that would build resilience and sustainability. To this end, we consulted 31 experts, carrying out 15 expert interviews, followed by three surveys and two workshops with a further 16 experts. The experts highlighted the many existing chronic issues creating a tinderbox for an acute risk to lead to a food crisis in the UK. These chronic issues include climate change, poor policy implementation, rising inequality, food supply chain consolidation and the risks from just-in-time supply of food. They voted to include three acute triggers—(a) cyber-attack, (b) a major extreme weather event and (c) a major new international conflict—and described how any combination of these could lead to (d) a UK food availability and/or price shock that could result in widespread fear of unsafe or inadequate food, leading to violence. A total of 7 system-wide interventions were prioritised to help address these pathway elements together and build sustainability, and a further 21 were identified to address elements individually
Barriers and Enablers to Seeking Eye Care Among the Adult Indian Population: A Systematic Review
No full textPurpose
India accounts for a substantial share of the global burden of vision impairment, with moderate to severe impairment especially common among adults over 50, women, and people without formal education. This study aims to identify modifiable barriers and enablers to accessing eye care services in India and to map these factors to the Theoretical Domains Framework (TDF), providing a theory-based understanding of the behaviours influencing service uptake and guiding effective behaviour change interventions.
Recent Findings
A systematic review of MEDLINE Complete, CINAHL Complete, PsycINFO, and EMBASE identified studies reporting determinants of eye care-seeking in India. English-language studies published up to January 2025 were included. Data were analysed using a four-step approach: (1) data extraction, (2) deductive mapping to TDF domains, (3) inductive thematic synthesis and (4) identification of key domains based on frequency and elaboration. A total of 56 primary studies were included in the analysis. The six most important TDF domains were: Environmental Context and Resources, Social Influences, Beliefs about Capabilities, Knowledge, Emotion and Beliefs about Consequences. Commonly reported barriers included a ‘lack of understanding about eye conditions’, ‘financial constraints’, ‘no one to accompany’, ‘family commitments’, ‘limited access to services’ and ‘able to manage with existing vision’. Enablers included ‘free eye care services’, ‘positive experiences of others and ‘perceived need for vision care. The most salient TDF domains were mapped onto the capability, opportunity, and motivation model of behaviour (COM-B) within the behaviour change wheel (BCW) to guide the design of interventions.
Summary
This review identified six TDF domains influencing eye-care service uptake in India. By mapping these domains to appropriate intervention functions from the behaviour change wheel, the study offered a structured, evidence-based approach to designing behavioural interventions aimed at increasing the utilisation of eye care services
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