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Automated Firmware Extraction and Vulnerability Analysis in Embedded IoT Devices: A Replicable Cybersecurity Infrastructure Framework
Full text link© 2026 IEEE. Personal use of this material is permitted. Permission from IEEE must be obtained for all other uses, in any current or future media, including reprinting/republishing this material for advertising or promotional purposes, creating new collective works, for resale or redistribution to servers or lists, or reuse of any copyrighted component of this work in other works.Embedded IoT devices continue to exhibit firmware-level weaknesses caused by unsafe memory operations, legacy libraries and inconsistent validation. These issues are difficult to study due to proprietary firmware, diverse hardware interfaces and the lack of reproducible extraction workflows. This work presents a lightweight, repeatable framework for firmware acquisition and analysis using low-cost hardware and open-source tools. The framework integrates UART, SPI and chip-off extraction with an automated pipeline using magnify.py for ELF triage and flawedfunctions.db, a database of 224 unsafe C functions. Experiments on four devices show that chip-off extraction provides complete and reliable firmware acquisition, while UART and SPI offer partial access depending on hardware design. Automated scanning revealed recurring high-severity memorysafety issues, with Ghidra confirming insecure calls such as strcpy and sprintf. These early results demonstrate the feasibility of accessible, reproducible firmware extraction and static analysis. Future work focuses on scripted Ghidra analysis, broader device testing and enhanced risk scoring
Beyond Autoethnography: Lived Experience Criminology
No full textThis is an Accepted Manuscript of a book chapter published by Routledge in [Beyond Autoethnography: Lived Experience Criminology] on [29/12/2025], available online: http://www.routledge.com/Beyond-Autoethnography-Lived-Experience-Criminology/Antojado-Darley-Maycock/p/book/9781032804323Foreward to the book "Beyond Autoethnography: Lived Experience Criminology"unfunde
Mentoring within geography. The lived experiences of school-based mentors
Full text link© 2026 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.This study examines the lived experiences of school-based geography mentors within an Initial Teacher Education partnership in northwest England. While existing literature acknowledges the importance of mentoring, this study provides empirical evidence on the motivations, experiences, and perceptions of geography mentors. Using a qualitative approach that incorporates open-ended questionnaires and semi-structured interviews, the research explores how mentors perceive their roles in supporting trainee (associate) teachers during their school-based training. Findings reveal that mentors are driven by a professional commitment to nurturing the next generation of teachers. They perceive the mentoring process as mutually beneficial, as it fosters the development of Associate Teachers while also promoting the reflective practice and professional growth of mentors. However, mentors reported challenges, including increased workload, limited time, and insufficient institutional support, which often constrain their capacity fully to engage. The study emphasises the importance of subject-specific mentoring, highlighting how shared expertise deepens the mentor–Associate Teacher relationship and enhances pedagogical discussions. Mentors also value university-based training that offers opportunities for professional development and engagement in a community that enhances teaching practices and the quality of geography education. This research underscores the critical role of school-based mentors in strengthening the teaching workforce and shaping future geography educators
Evaluating the thermochemical heat storage performance of geothermally derived silica composite sorbents in a lab-scale TCHS prototype
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Before it was ‘new’: A neglected history of lived experience–led criminal justice
Full text link© 2026 The Author(s). The Howard Journal of Crime and Justice published by Howard League and John Wiley & Sons Ltd.A growing range of criminal justice initiatives are being shaped and delivered by people with lived experience, including peer mentoring, prisoner councils and policy advocacy roles. While often seen as recent innovations, we reveal a deeper, largely unacknowledged history dating back to at least the 19th century. Drawing on archival and documentary research methods, thematic analysis and attention to gaps in the historical record, we identify four roles adopted by criminalised people across the United Kingdom and Ireland, alongside influential comparative examples from the 1800s: custodial contributors, caregivers, defenders of rights and game changers. Our findings illustrate that criminalised people have long contributed to criminal justice systems, challenging injustices and generating knowledge across class positions and locations. Recovering this history reveals a persistent, if unevenly acknowledged, thread shaping penal practices, governance and reform, which enriches participatory justice debates and offers lessons for policymakers and practitioners.MR/Y017110/1: UK Research and Innovation (UKRI
Police Legitimacy and COVID-19: Community Perceptions and Experiences in Nottinghamshire
No full textThis research investigates public perceptions and lived experiences of policing in Nottinghamshire, England, during the COVID-19 (Coronavirus Disease 2019) pandemic, with a particular focus on police legitimacy. The study had four key objectives; first, to evaluate the internal consistency of the US-developed Tyler and Jackson (2014) police legitimacy scale in a UK context; second, to develop and assess the internal reliability of a new psychometric scale, the Stones’ COVID-19 Policing perception Scale (SCPPS) for measuring police legitimacy within a COVID-19 context; third, to examine the extent to which SCPPS-derived factors and demographic variables, predict perceptions of police legitimacy; and fourth, to explore qualitative focus group data to gain deeper insight into the factors shaping perceptions of police legitimacy and to elaborate on the constructs identified within the quantitative phase. A sequential explanatory mixed-methods design was utilised, combining quantitative questionnaire data and qualitative focus groups. The internal reliability of the Tyler and Jackson (2014) legitimacy scale was assessed using Cronbach’s alpha, while exploratory factor analysis (EFA) was used to identify latent constructs within the newly developed SCPPS. Hierarchical regression analysis was used to examine predictors of perceived police legitimacy using the four factors identified via EFA, alongside additional demographic variables. Thematic analysis of the focus group transcripts was conducted using a deductive approach, guided by the quantitative findings. Results showed that the Tyler and Jackson (2014) police legitimacy scale demonstrated strong overall validity, with the exception of the trust and confidence construct. EFA identified four distinct factors within the SCPPS: Factor 1: trust, confidence, and perceived police fairness; Factor 2: public support for the COVID-19 policing powers; Factor 3: police visibility and COVID-19 enforcement measures; and Factor 4: COVID-19 enforcement challenges. All four factors demonstrated strong internal consistency, supporting their reliability for use in further analysis. The final regression model explained 52.5% of the variance in perceived police legitimacy during COVID-19 enforcement. The strongest predictors were trust, confidence, and perceived police fairness; police visibility and enforcement measures; and COVID-19 enforcement challenges. Demographic factors such as gender and age had less influence. Qualitative analysis enhanced these findings by providing further insight into public perceptions and experiences of the police-based response during the pandemic. This study contributes new knowledge by validating a US-based legitimacy scale in the UK, developing a new psychometric tool tailored to COVID-19 policing, and identifying significant predictors of police legitimacy during an unprecedented public health crisis. By drawing on both quantitative and qualitative data, this research offers a comprehensive insight into how police legitimacy is impacted during emergency policing. These findings can inform future policymaking and police-based practice in the context of public health emergencies and other crisis situations
Scalable Design of Structural Supercapacitor Composites with Enhanced Multifunctional Performance via Sustainable Fabrication
No full textStructural supercapacitors composite (SSC) are multifunctional composites capable of simultaneously bearing mechanical loads and storing energy, regarded as an effective strategy to improve the volumetric efficiency and achieve lightweighting in next-generation energy systems. This research presents a novel design of SSCs using simple, affordable, and sustainable processes that feature a non-toxic fabrication approach, with the aim of lowering the barriers to large-scale manufacturing that have long existed in this field. To this end, an all-solid-state supercapacitor (SC) with excellent toughness and capacitance was developed. Carbon fabric, employed as electrodes, endowed the SC with mechanical strength comparable to conventional composites, while the challenge of low specific surface area (SSA) was addressed by grafting carbon nanotubes via electrophoretic deposition (EPD). The results show a fivefold increase in SSA and a 25-fold enhancement in capacitance after treating the bare carbon fabric for 10 minutes at 10 V. A solid electrolyte film based on PVA/H3PO4 was also investigated. The freeze-thaw processed electrolyte film exhibited a proton conductivity of 4.18 × 10-3 S cm-1, nearly 56 times higher than the unprocessed electrolyte film, along with a doubled degree of crystallinity. Additionally, the thermoplastic nature of PVA facilitated the formation of an intimate and cohesive electrode–electrolyte interface. The SSC was manufactured by integrating the supercapacitor layer into the structural component, followed by curing through the vacuum-assisted resin transfer moulding (VARTM) process. This structural design demonstrated a synergistic interaction between the supercapacitor layer and the structural component, as evidenced by the concurrent improvements in both flexural compliance and capacitance. Notably, the SSC maintained its electrochemical function throughout the mechanical testing; even after complete structural failure, its electrochemical performance was only minimally affected. This characteristic could effectively prevent sudden electrical failure, thereby improving fail-safe performance in high reliability applications, including electric vehicles, spacecraft, and emergency response systems.Author requested six month embargo. Thesis has been uploaded after repository upgrade (2nd to 23rd February 2026). Exam board date 18th February 2026
Stereo videography reveals fragility in a high value thresher shark population
Full text linkPopulation risk assessments are important tools for understanding the sustainability of shark populations and informing their conservation. In the Philippines, policy makers have made inroads to progress legislative protection for sharks in recent years, yet a ban on targeted shark fisheries has not guaranteed the sustainability of their populations and bycatch and illegal fishing still represent a significant threat to elasmobranchs across the archipelago. Pelagic thresher sharks (Alopias pelagicus) are important to the region’s tourism economy but little is known of the status of their populations. We designed, tested, and deployed a remote stereo camera system (stereocam) to survey pelagic thresher sharks in the Central Visayan Sea and investigated their population dynamics over a 4-month period from December 2019 to March 2020. The stereocam was effective and accurate in taking key morphometric measurements from in situ observations that we used to assess the maturity of individual male and female pelagic thresher sharks. We then constructed a continuous four-stage model from our demographic data and best life history parameter estimates to determine the sustainability of A. pelagicus populations in the region. Our model projections showed that pelagic thresher sharks in the Central Visayan Sea would be vulnerable to a hypothetical fishing mortality of 5.3% per annum, with the removal of 15–18 females resulting in a decline in the population. Our study represents the first attempt to characterise the demographics of pelagic thresher sharks with stereo videography and provides a framework for future non-invasive assessments of threatened pelagic species.Santander Universities schem
Decolonising the World Wildlife Gallery, Kendal Museum
No full text© by the authors, 2026, except where otherwise attributed. Published by the Natural Sciences Collections Association.This paper draws on research carried out by the author between 2023-2025 for Kendal Museum’s ‘Reimagining the World Wildlife Gallery’ (RWWG) project. Engaging with broader debates surrounding decolonisation and museums, the paper argues for the importance of connecting natural history collections in provincial museums like Kendal to their colonial past. One of the primary donors to, and benefactors of, Kendal Museum’s World Wildlife Gallery in the 20th century was Colonel Edgar Garston Harrison (1863-1947) – a big game hunter and soldier serving in the British colonial army in eastern Africa 1895-1906. Harrison’s military roles included commanding violent operations against the Indigenous Nandi and Talai communities of western Kenya, who continue to seek redress for injustices endured during British colonisation and rule. This history was previously unknown to the museum but is now being incorporated into collection interpretation and gallery displays. Whilst there is much work to be done to move beyond metaphorical support for decolonisation initiatives in the UK Museum sector, including ongoing calls for decolonisation and reparative justice in collection interpretation is an important step in this process.unfunde
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