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A ‘Corpus Vile’ of International Order: Protection, Coercion, and the British Blockade of Greece, 1850
Full text linkThis article reconstructs the British blockade of Greece in 1850 as an experiment in intervention short of war. Commonly remembered through the prism of the Pacifico Affair and Palmerstonian gunboat diplomacy, the blockade has been treated as an episodic display of British power rather than as a practice of international governance. Drawing on British, Greek, and French sources the article shifts attention from justification to implementation, tracing how naval coercion was organised, contested, and experienced across ports, ministries, and public arenas. It shows that the blockade operated as a disciplinary instrument directed at a formally sovereign European state, testing the limits of protection regimes, treaty obligations, and the law of nations. Far from suspending Greek agency, the crisis provoked intense domestic debate over sovereignty, dignity, and European belonging, while also exposing fractures among the Great Powers charged with guaranteeing Greek independence. The Greek case reveals how nineteenth-century international order was produced through everyday practices of coercion that blurred the boundaries between war and peace
Characteristics and cardiometabolic profiles in patients with spinal cord injury in the UK
Full text linkObjective: Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the leading cause of mortality in individuals with spinal cord injury (SCI). This study examined patient characteristics, SCI-specific factors, and biochemical parameters associated with CVD risk.
Methods: A retrospective secondary analysis was conducted on 421 patients admitted between January and December 2017. Demographic, clinical, and biochemical data were recorded within 7 days of admission. CVD risk was estimated using the QRISK-2 score. Between-group differences were examined using Chi-square and Kruskal–Wallis tests. Logistic regression with multiple imputation was performed to identify predictors of CVD risk.
Results: Most patients were male (73%), aged <65 years (74%), and had traumatic SCI (68%). Over half (56%) were at medium/high CVD risk. Common biochemical abnormalities included vitamin D deficiency/insufficiency (56%), hypoalbuminemia (46%), anemia (42%), elevated C-reactive protein (CRP) (48%), low creatinine (55%), overweight/obesity (49%), high cholesterol (40%), low high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (43%), and high cholesterol/HDL ratio (28%). Univariate regression identified higher creatinine (OR 1.02), CRP (OR 1.01), and hypoalbuminemia (OR 0.923) as independent predictors of increased CVD risk, alongside traditional factors (male sex, older age, high total cholesterol, low HDL, elevated cholesterol/HDL ratio). Multivariate analysis confirmed significant associations of serum albumin (negative) and creatinine (positive) with CVD risk. No significant associations were found with injury level, onset, or nutritional risk scores.
Conclusion: Patients with SCI often present at admission with high rates of CVD risk and biochemical abnormalities. A more systematic approach with clear clinical guidance for routine CVD risk assessment at admission is required, alongside tailored early interventions
Damping Coefficients Estimation in Regenerative Shock Absorbers Using a Recommender System
No full textThis study presents a novel approach for estimating the damping coefficient and reaction force of screw based regenerative shock absorbers (RSAs) using a similarity-based recommender system. A detailed mechanical model of a screw-driven RSA was developed, and a dataset of ten training and three test cases was generated using variations in generator parameters and dynamic response metrics such as the Tratio. A recommender system utilizing an exponential similarity function was employed to infer damping coefficients and reaction forces for new test data based on similarities with training samples. The results demonstrate strong predictive performance, with damping coefficient estimation errors typically below 4% and reaction force predictions showing reasonable accuracy, though slightly more variable. The proposed framework offers a fast and accurate alternative to traditional parameter identification methods, with potential for real-time applications. The study also highlights the benefit of expanding the training dataset to improve similarity matching and reduce estimation errors in future implementations
Service Duration and Determinants of Case Closure and Case Completion for Victim-Survivors Accessing Specialist Domestic Abuse Support Services
Full text linkPurpose
Demand for specialist domestic abuse (DA) support services is high, in the United Kingdom (UK) and worldwide, and resource is scarce. The length of time victim-survivors spend in service depends on multiple factors, but what determines whether they successfully complete support, or their case is closed for another reason, is less well understood. The purpose of the current study was to improve understanding of the relationship between length in service, case completion and possible needs and vulnerabilities of specialist service users.
Methods
We analysed Women’s Aid Federation of England’s (WAFE) case management and outcomes management system, On Track, the largest national dataset on domestic abuse. To understand the relationship between time in service and its determinants we used time-to-effect models, estimating likelihood of case closure using Kaplan-Meier plots and Cox-regressions. To further examine the influence of reason for case closure, which we explored as determinants of case completion, a series of multinomial logistic regressions were conducted, controlling for potentially confounding variables. Stakeholders from Women’s Aid and five other third sector organisations input into the study design and interpretation of results.
Results
Most survivors accessing DA services needed community-based services (n = 210,599) and spent an average of just under three months in service. Those who needed more intensive support (e.g. accommodation, refuge) stayed in service for longer on average- 130 days and 115 days, respectively. The survival analysis revealed that cases were less likely to close for people with additional vulnerabilities. Results from the multinomial logistic regressions demonstrated that, for those whose case had been closed, additional vulnerabilities meant they were more likely to have disengaged, had a service-related closure or an unknown reason for case closure.
Conclusions
The limited supply of services impacts on the level of unmet needs for victim-survivors of domestic abuse. If services continue having to do more and more with less, they will be forced into a position of having to trade-off between spending time supporting people to cater to multiple needs and vulnerabilities, and getting people in and out of the door to ensure the slot is available for the next victim-survivor who needs it. It is critical that DA services are resourced adequately to support those with multiple needs and additional vulnerabilities to complete a period of time in service. This is something that should be considered by commissioners of DA services
The Underbelly of Entrepreneurship: A Multilevel Perspective of Destructive Entrepreneurship
Full text linkDestructive entrepreneurship is an important research topic because it challenges the frequent implicit assumption that all entrepreneurship is “good.” Recent scholarly interest has been directed toward destructive entrepreneurship from various perspectives, including economics, psychology, and business ethics. This article offers a comprehensive review of the destructive entrepreneurship literature. We begin with a definition of destructive entrepreneurship, distinguishing it from seemingly similar constructs, such as unproductive entrepreneurship. We organize the fragmented studies into a multilevel model highlighting what we know about destructive entrepreneurship. This study also reveals potential holes in this framework that future research can fill
'Russians Love Their Children Too:’ American Women’s Letters to Nikita Khrushchev and Nina Khrushcheva during the Cuban Missile Crisis
No full textThis article analyses hundreds of letters that US women wrote to Nikita Khrushchev and Nina Khrushcheva during the Cuban Missile Crisis. The sense of imminent nuclear threat prompted many women to engage with Cold War politics and directly address world leaders. Drawing on their traditional gender roles as mothers and wives, letter-writers were emboldened to confront political leaders about matters of war and peace, advocate for cross-border dialogue, and stress Americans’ and Soviets’ shared humanity. Through the prism of letters, the article explores the impact of the Cuban crisis on US society, the importance of letter-writing in female political activity, and women’s understanding of the Cold War
Canonical Forms and Widening for Two Variables Per Inequality Systems
Full text linkProgram verification using abstract interpretation involves the symbolic calculation of fixpoints over lattices. Integral to these fixpoint calculations is widening, an operation that trades precision for guarantees of termination. Abstract interpretation often works with lattices of convex sets of points in n-dimensional space, represented by sets of linear inequalities. When the form of these inequalities is restricted these are known as weakly relational domains. This paper addresses weakly relational domains, the detail of their representation and the way in which widening is applied, including study of how the closure operators used in weakly relational domains interact with widening, and considers how sequences of constraints might be widened. Satisfiability checking for numeric constraints is one tool used in this work
Priority Setting for Equality: Searching for an Ethical Framework
Full text linkCompounded by 14 years of public welfare austerity, health equality presents a challenge that extends beyond healthcare in isolation because it also engages the more recondite politics of public health. Recent policy has addressed the issue by requiring NHS bodies to integrate their services with those of local authorities. We consider how this adds significant new difficulty to the already complex process of NHS resource allocation. We argue that these duties require a new framework to gauge the values, evidence and criteria needed to set priorities for public health; not simply as a desirable objective, but a necessity in law. We consider current approaches to priority setting for medical treatment, and the responses already offered by current ethical frameworks. We then discuss the new ethical, political, and practical challenges posed by public health priority setting for health equality. Informed by this context, we engage an intersectional lens to explore a ‘non-ideal’ solution grounded in Professor Sir Michael Marmot’s framework to reduce health inequalities
Improving police investigation of intimate partner sexual violence: challenges and opportunities
Full text linkThis article reviews how police investigate Intimate Partner Sexual Violence (IPSV). IPSV is both domestic abuse and sexual violence. This duality means there is flexibility as to how it is investigated. An empirical study in England and Wales shows that as a result of this duality/flexibility there is significant variability in how IPSV is investigated by police forces. Despite widespread support for taking a specialist approach to investigating sexual offending, not much attention has been given to the best way to configure specialist units. This article explores officers’ perceptions of the challenges of conducting investigations of this type and considers how variability in how IPSV is located may impact the ability of officers to overcome those challenges. We find that forces who locate the investigation of IPSV with specialist domestic abuse officers appear more likely to be able to overcome the challenges associated with this type of offending, due to more consistent understanding of the context of coercive control in which it typically occurs
Between Ideology, Strategy and Diplomacy: The Political Economy of Yugoslavia’s Investment Treaties
No full textWhy do communist countries sign bilateral investment treaties (BITs)? This article explores this question through the case of Yugoslavia, the first communist state to do so. In 1974, Yugoslavia signed a BIT with France, paving the way for further investment treaties – both in Yugoslavia and, soon after, in other communist countries. These developments sparked intense debate within the Yugoslav Communist Party, with some factions viewing them as a betrayal of Marxist–Leninist principles. While Western powers welcomed the move, it was strongly criticized by Eastern Bloc countries, particularly the Soviet Union, as ideological heresy. This paper analyses the complex motivations behind Yugoslavia’s foreign investment policy in the 1960s and 1970s, arguing that it was driven by domestic political, geopolitical, and ideological factors – not just economic considerations. Domestically, BITs were linked to the Communist Party’s efforts to maintain political power and stability. Geopolitically, they served as tools to secure international allies. Ideologically, the policy sought to promote a distinct Yugoslav model of socialism – one that blended socialist principles, workers’ self-management, market economics, and coexistence with both capitalist and socialist states. This ideological dimension, overlooked in the literature, highlights how BITs were not merely economic instruments but also tools for advancing a hybrid economic and foreign policy that challenged both capitalist and Soviet orthodoxies
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