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How humans and machines identify discourse topics: a methodological triangulation
Get PDFIdentifying and exploring discursive topics in texts is of interest to not only linguists, but to researchers working across the full breadth of the social sciences. This paper reports on an exploratory study assessing the influence that analytical method has on the identification and labelling of topics, which might lead to varying interpretations of texts. Using a corpus of corporate sustainability reports, totalling 98,277 words, we asked 6 different researchers to interrogate the corpus and decide on its main ‘topics’ via four different methods: LLM-assisted analyses; topic modelling; concordance analysis; and close reading. These methods differ according to the amount of data that can be analysed at once, the amount of textual context available to the researcher, and the focus of the analysis (i.e., micro to macro). The paper explores how the identified topics differed both between analysts using the same method, and between methods. We conclude with a series of tentative observations regarding the benefits and limitations of each method, and offer recommendations for researchers in choosing which analytical technique to select
Enhanced simulation of atmospheric blocking in a high‐resolution earth system model: projected changes and implications for extreme weather events
No full textAtmospheric blocking is closely linked to the occurrence of extreme weather events. However, low-resolution Earth system models often underestimate the frequency of blocking, undermining confidence in future projections. In this study, we use the high-resolution Community Earth System Model (CESM-HR; 25 km atm and 10 km ocean) to show that CESM-HR reduces biases in atmospheric blocking for both winter and summer, particularly for events lasting longer than 10 days. This improvement is partly due to reduced sea surface temperature biases at higher resolution. Additionally, applying a bias correction to the 500 hPa geopotential height further enhances blocking frequency simulations, highlighting the crucial role of the mean state. Under the Representative Concentration Pathway 8.5 scenario, CESM-HR projects a decrease in wintertime blocking over regions such as the Euro-Atlantic and Chukchi-Alaska, consistent with previous studies. In contrast, summer blocking is expected to become more frequent and persistent, driven by weakened zonal winds. The blocking center shifts from historical locations over Scandinavia and eastern Russia to central Eurasia, significantly increasing blocking over the Ural region. Summer blocking frequency over the Scandinavia-Ural region may eventually surpass historical winter blocking over the Euro-Atlantic. This increase in summer blocking could exacerbate summer heatwaves in a warming climate, making severe heatwaves, like those observed recently, more common in the future
Exploring enablers of and barriers to a fruit and vegetable voucher scheme in England: insights from the Fresh Street Community feasibility study
Get PDFBackground/Objectives: Many deprived communities in the UK have low fruit and vegetable (FV) intake, leading to poor health outcomes. Fresh Street is a place-based voucher approach that enables households to buy FV from local independent suppliers. Fresh Street Community embeds this approach within community hubs, thus enabling households to use vouchers to purchase FV from community centres. This paper explores the enablers and barriers influencing the uptake of Fresh Street Community in two UK urban areas of high deprivation. Methods: This three-phase exploratory qualitative study was informed by ‘co-production’ with community researchers at both sites: (1) literature review and observations identifying enablers and barriers in FV voucher schemes; (2) semi-structured interviews and focus groups with the research team and community food researchers to ‘validate’ the factors identified in phase 1 and to develop explanatory narratives for these factors; and (3) participatory and thematic analysis of the enablers and barriers to finalise the identified factors. Results: A total of ten enablers and sixteen barriers were validated across both sites. However, differences in local contexts and operational procedures impacted future FV voucher scheme implementation. The important role of community food researchers to engage participants and support the synthesis of findings is also presented. Conclusions: This study offers practical and critical insights for researchers, community food researchers, and practitioners on factors that influence a community centre-based FV voucher scheme to address nutritional inequalities
Malaysian police officers’ perceptions of interrogations and confessions
Get PDFPublished survey data on perceptions of interrogations and false confessions have come from Western European and North American countries and have tended to focus on jury-eligible citizens’ perceptions. The present study examined perceptions of police officers from the Royal Malaysia Police. Fifty-nine police officers reported their overall perceptions of confessions, perceptions of personal factors contributing to false confessions, and self-perceived likelihood of false confession. Findings reveal that the Malaysian police did not seem to be cognizant of the fact that false confessions can happen and the contributing risk factors. This emphasises the need to raise awareness in the country – both from the top-down and bottom-up
Methylmercury sorption to polyethylene terephthalate (PET) fibres and relevance to environmental exposure
Get PDFConsiderable amounts of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) microplastic fibres are released into the aquatic environment by the laundering of polyester clothing. Microplastic fibres can be ingested by organisms in the environment. Therefore, it has been suggested that microplastic fibres act as vectors for adsorbed contaminants, which are subsequently desorbed in the gut of the organism. We undertook sorption isotherms at pH 6, pH 7, and pH 8 to quantify the sorption of methylmercury (MeHg) to PET fibres. Sorption isotherms were fit to Langmuir, Freundlich, and Brunauer-Emmett-Teller models. Sorption decreased with increasing pH, which can be explained by physisorption on the negatively charged PET surfaces and the greater presence of neutral or negative MeHg species at higher pH. We used the parameters obtained by the model fits to predict the likely concentration of MeHg on PET microplastic fibres in aquatic ecosystems with environmentally realistic MeHg concentrations. We calculated MeHg concentrations on PET microplastic fibres that were four orders of magnitude lower than previously observed concentrations of MeHg in seston (suspended particles comprising algae and bacteria) at the base of the aquatic food web. The results indicate that the presence of PET microplastic fibres in the environment do not elevate the MeHg exposure to organisms which ingest fibres in the environment
Diesel exhaust and ozone adversely affect pollinators and parasitoids within flying insect communities
Get PDFThe effects of air pollution on human and animal health and on the functioning of terrestrial ecosystems are wide-ranging. This potentially includes the disruption of valuable services provided by flying insects (e.g. pollination and biological control). However, quantifying the extent of this disruption requires a clearer understanding of insect community responses at field-scale.
By elevating diesel exhaust and ozone (O3) pollutants, individually and interactively, over two summers, we investigated the field-scale effects of air pollution on the abundance and diversity of flying insects from pan traps. We quantified which groups of insects were more at risk of air pollution-mediated decline and whether responses to air pollution were influenced by the presence of flowering plants. In addition, a common pest of Brassicaceae, the large cabbage white butterfly (Pieris brassicae L.) was used to investigate the effects on oviposition success of the two interacting air pollutants.
Air pollution had the most detrimental effects on pollinators and parasitoids, compared with other insect groups, lowering their abundance by up to 48% and 32%, respectively. The adverse effects of O3 and diesel exhaust on pollinators occurred only when flowers were available, indicating the relative importance of floral odours compared with visual cues. Air pollutants resulted in either increased insect herbivore abundance or had no effect, potentially increasing the threat air pollution poses to food security. However, both pollutants resulted in decreased oviposition by cabbage white butterflies, which, if demonstrated to be a more ubiquitous phenomenon, may result in reduced larval pest damage.
Quantifying the relative changes in composition and abundance among feeding guilds is valuable for predicting the effects of air pollution on insect communities. Of the groups identified, pollinators are likely to be at the greatest risk of air pollution-mediated decline due to their use of floral odour cues for foraging
Illicit trafficking in cultural property as a human rights issue: sovereignty over cultural resources and the right to self-determination. Case study of Iraq
Get PDFAdopting a human rights-based approach, this paper scrutinizes the treatment of illicit trafficking in cultural property as a human rights issue. The study focuses on the Iraqi contribution to the international agenda, revealing that Iraq co-sponsored at least 13 UN resolutions on the restitution of illegally expropriated cultural property, actively contributing to the negotiation of others, along with submitting its legal opinions on the drafts of relevant international documents, starting from as early as 1936 to culminate with the calls to stop cultural plunder feeding Western markets since the 1990s. Centering the Iraqi voices and adopting a critical decolonial rights-based perspective, the study showcases how illicit trade in cultural property clearly emerges as a violation of a state’s permanent sovereignty over its wealth and resources, negatively impacting its ability to guarantee the right to pursue economic, social, and cultural development for its people, as well as to freely dispose of their resources, the key components of the right to self-determination
Die Isotype-KinderBücher: Marie Neuraths Zusammenarbeit mit Adprint 1948–1971.
No full textA summary account of Marie Neurath’s collaboration with the book packaging company, Adprint, on the design and production of Isotype books for children. This short paper summarises the process of making the books that involved teamwork and careful checking with experts of the accuracy of images and text. It includes examples of translated editions of the books
Loss of IDH1 and IDH2 mutations during the evolution of metastatic chondrosarcoma
Get PDFDriver mutations in IDH1 and IDH2 are initiating events in the evolution of chondrosarcoma and several other cancer types. Here, we present evidence that mutant IDH1 is recurrently lost in metastatic central chondrosarcoma. This may reflect either relaxed positive selection for the mutant IDH1 locus, or negative selection for the hypermethylation phenotype later in tumor evolution. This finding highlights the challenge for therapeutic intervention by mutant IDH1 inhibitors in chondrosarcoma