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Warming stripes spark climate conversations: from the ocean to the stratosphere
Get PDFThe ‘warming stripes’ are an iconic climate data visualisation, adopted globally as a symbol of our warming world. We discuss their origin and uses for communication, including understanding long-term changes in the climate and consequences of future emission choices. We also extend the stripes concept to explore observed temperature variations throughout the climate system, revealing coherent warming for the troposphere and upper ocean, and cooling in the stratosphere, consistent with our understanding of human influences on our climate
Tractarian functions are not propositional functions
Get PDFThe central claim is that in the Tractatus Wittgenstein refuses Russell's notion of propositional function, and Russell's notions of range of significance and types for variables. Drawing on Russell's notion of well-defined function, for which all values are given in advance, Wittgenstein takes a different approach, that propositions realise a common characteristic, the general form, this being definitional of the propositional. This common characteristic is a formal concept, an Urbild (prototype), demonstrable by definition by abstraction. What is novel is the delimitation of the notion of a function fx in 5.501, and the argument showing that the general form, which Wittgenstein regards as a variable, is immanent to its realisations
Moral risk in marketised medicine
Get PDFWe hope that doctors will recommend and provide the most appropriate investigations and treatments. I argue that some ways of structuring medical provision—mostly, those involving markets—impose a risk of overprovision. This is bad financially, medically, and epistemically, and as such is morally bad, and we should be extremely cautious about damaging trust in doctors. Thus “who cares if the doctor works for a private company so long as treatment is free?” defences of healthcare marketisation and privatisation miss an important point
Heart rate variability is associated with the level of poverty in adolescents in Nigeria
No full textReduced heart rate variability (HRV) at rest has been associated with negative emotions not only in adults but also in adolescents. Given that poverty can be a significant source of stress and negative emotional states, family socioeconomic backgrounds may be associated with adolescents' HRV, negative mood, as well as perceived stress. However, the currently available evidence heavily relies on findings based on the so-called “Minority World,” including western and developed countries. To address the significance of HRV and socioeconomic status in adolescents in the Majority world, in the present study, we assessed resting-state HRV, socioeconomic status, and depression in adolescents from Nigeria. We also assessed their mood and perceived stress for four consecutive days. The results indicated that socioeconomic backgrounds were not significantly associated with self-report measures on mood, perceived stress, and depression. However, we found that lower levels of socioeconomic background are associated with lower levels of resting-state HRV. These results suggest that HRV is sensitive to poverty-related stress in previously under-investigated samples—adolescents in Nigeria
Change of tack? The English eleventh-century horse-tack explosion in context
Get PDFThe eleventh century marked a significant transformation in English horse equipment, characterized by an unprecedented proliferation of copper-alloy horse tack. Analysing 3086 finds from the Portable Antiquities Scheme (PAS), this research reveals a nearly 30-fold increase in copper-alloy horse equipment from the tenth to eleventh centuries, with 62% of finds being stirrup components. This study examines this ‘explosion’ through technological, economic and social lenses. Copper-alloy horse tack emerged amid complex developments in urban metalworking, equestrian culture and status signification. While often associated with Viking and Norman conquests, the material shift reflects broader cultural negotiations rather than simple technological transfer. Notably, the research unveils a robust north–south divide in horse tack distribution, with the North East showing significantly fewer copper-alloy finds. This regional variation challenges assumptions of cultural uniformity and suggests localized material culture dynamics. The results highlights how decontextualized archaeological artefacts can provide profound insights into socio-political and economic changes, offering a sophisticated understanding of human–horse relationships in Medieval England
Rethinking educational gain in higher education: beyond metrics to a multi-dimensional model
No full textThis paper proposes a multi-dimensional model of educational gain, in response to the shift in policy discourse from learning gain. In English higher education, particularly in the Teaching Excellence Framework, there is now an emphasis on institutions to evidence the progress students make over the duration of their study. Yet, there is an absence of agreed indicators as to what educational gain entails, including the theories that underpin the concept. While established approaches are often grounded in narrow psychometric ideas, policy now recognises personal, social and emotional development. Drawing on educational, psychological and sociological theory, this paper conceptualises educational gain through three interlinked domains: cognitive and metacognitive development, personal and affective growth, and social and cultural awareness. A multi‑dimensional approach calls for the use of mixed-methods and longitudinal data, where sector-wide benchmarks are contextualised with institution-specific evidence to enhance evaluative practice
What drives us to go green: the roles of narcissism, virtue signaling and social exclusion
Get PDFUnderstanding individual differences in pro-environmental values is crucial amid climate change. This study
explores how grandiose and vulnerable narcissism relate to such values, using survey data from 609 British
participants. Our findings reveal that grandiose narcissism is positively associated with pro-environmental values
and virtue signaling mediates this relationship. This suggests that individuals high in grandiose narcissism may
adopt pro-environmental values primarily to enhance their self-image. Conversely, although vulnerable narcissism
shows a negative direct relationship with pro-environmental values, vulnerable narcissists also engage in
virtue signaling, which positively influences their adoption of pro-environmental values. This indicates that their
motivation may stem from a need to protect their fragile self-esteem. Additionally, while grandiose narcissism
and vulnerable narcissism differ in how they relate to social exclusion, social exclusion does not significantly
predict pro-environmental values. This implies that the emotional consequences of exclusion may not support the
internalization of pro-environmental values. By highlighting the distinct motivational pathways of grandiose and
vulnerable narcissism, this study deepens understanding of how self-focused traits influence environmental value
adoption
A comprehensive land-surface vegetation model for multi-stream data assimilation, D&B v1.0
Get PDFAdvances in Earth observation capabilities mean that there is now a multitude of spatially resolved data sets available that can support the quantification of water and carbon pools and fluxes at the land surface. However, such quantification ideally requires efficient synergistic exploitation of those data, which in turn requires carbon and water land-surface models with the capability to simultaneously assimilate several such data streams. The present article discusses the requirements for such a model and presents one such model based on the combination of the existing Data Assimilation Linked Ecosystem Carbon (DALEC) land vegetation carbon cycle model with the Biosphere Energy-Transfer HYdrology (BETHY) land-surface and terrestrial vegetation scheme. The resulting D&B model, made available as a community model, is presented together with a comprehensive evaluation for two selected study sites of widely varying climate. We then demonstrate the concept of land-surface modelling aided by data streams that are available from satellite remote sensing. Here we present D&B with four observation operators that translate model-derived variables into measurements available from such data streams, namely fraction of photosynthetically active radiation (FAPAR), solar-induced chlorophyll fluorescence (SIF), vegetation optical depth (VOD) at microwave frequencies and near-surface soil moisture (also available from microwave measurements). As a first step, we evaluate the combined model system using local observations and finally discuss the potential of the system presented for multi-stream data assimilation in the context of Earth observation systems