8219 research outputs found
Sort by
Understanding the image cues driving the switch from brightness to lightness responses in the Adelson checker-block illusion
Get PDFAdelson's checker-block illusion is an engaging demonstration of the difference between lightness and brightness. The illusory nature of the stimulus derives from participants’ experience of the discrepancy between perceived lightness of two test patches (A, B) despite their physical luminance being identical. The identical nature of the test patches becomes apparent when cues informing the viewer of the scene's illumination and 3D structure are removed. Here we explore which cues drive the transition from ‘brightness’ pixel-based responses to ‘lightness’ material-based responses. Participants (n = 123) viewed versions of the stimulus with various components deleted (top, left and right-sides, shadows, outline-edges) under four between-subjects scenarios: with lighting direction varied (from left or right) and with the scene orientation varied (upside-down or correctly oriented). Participants indicated the perceived difference between A and B by responding on a Likert scale. Generalised linear mixed effects models were used to estimate the strength of each cue in driving the change of responses from brightness towards lightness. The lightness responses were strongest for upright images illuminated from the top-left, with panels adjacent to the test patches present. The stimuli, responses and model fits are shared as a dataset that can be tested against existing models of lightness perception
When care becomes compliance:the new etiquette of Scottish higher education
Get PDFThis paper explores the rise of a new ‘etiquette’ in Scottish higher education—a governance-infused code of conduct that fuses a rhetoric of care, inclusion, and wellbeing with the logics of performance management. Rooted in Scotland’s publicly funded civic ethos, this etiquette emerges from the interplay of devolved policy priorities, sector-wide performance metrics, and reputational incentives. Through an analysis of Scottish Government initiatives, national funding agreements, accreditation schemes, and institutional strategies, the paper traces how progressive policy commitments are translated into emotional norms and embedded in everyday academic practice.While recognising the sincerity of inclusion and wellbeing agendas, the paper argues that the codification of care as compliance signals a broader transformation: from the epistemic to the affective, from the primacy of thinking to the regulation of feeling. In this shift, dissent risks being redefined as harm, fragility is anticipated, and affective conformity is valorised, narrowing the democratic and intellectual functions of the university. The paper calls for a renewed commitment to pluralism, contestation, and intellectual risk, contending that lasting wellbeing arises not from the avoidance of difficulty but from active engagement with challenge, nuance, and the open exchange of ideas
Shaping the future:exploring the Chartered Association of Sport and Exercise Sciences (CASES) endorsed undergraduate sport and exercise science curricula in the United Kingdom
Get PDFDespite high popularity, economic and social value of the sport and exercise sciences (SES) courses in the United Kingdom (UK), there has been no attempt to provide an overview of its higher education (HE) provision. Therefore, the aim of this study was two-fold. Firstly, to provide a thorough overview of the curricula of the Chartered Association of Sport and Exercise Sciences (CASES) endorsed undergraduate SES degree programmes in the UK. Secondly, to present a foundation of discussion points and considerations for those shaping and (re)designing sport degree programmes.Curricula data from 2024 to 2025 were collected from 53 UK universities (44 English, 4 Scottish, 4 Welsh and 1 Northern Irish) offering CASES endorsed SES courses. Due to different degree structures in Scotland (a 4-year BSc (Hons) degree) and the rest of the UK (a 3-year BSc (Hons) degree), the data were summarised and presented separately as ‘Scotland’ and ‘RUK’. A total of 1328 modules were analysed by type (either ‘core’ or ‘optional’) and categorised into one of fifteen domains.The results show that RUK universities were more prescriptive than those in Scotland, with 57 % of all SES modules being core compared to 45 % in Scottish institutions. However, the number of optional modules increased over the years in both systems reflecting the generally flexible structure of the SES degree. The curricula of Scottish and RUK SES degree programmes were predominantly multidisciplinary allowing institutions to tailor content in response to emerging fields and/or staff expertise. These findings have implications for future (re)design of SES degree curricula, not just in the UK but in similar settings. The current challenges curriculum developers face in keeping SES programmes relevant and preparing graduates for the workplace are discussed. Finally, we offer recommendations for overcoming these challenges
Smart contracts and the becoming-curatorial of digital works of art
Get PDFThis essay examines a “becoming-curatorial” of digital artworks that are augmented with blockchain-enabled smart contracts. It argues that embedding executable code in digital objects enables artworks to exhibit quasi-autonomous, self-governing behaviours that can displace the curatorial agency of human intermediaries and redistribute it to computational agents. By analysing projects such as Sarah Friend’s Lifeforms and Harm van den Dorpel’s Mutant Garden Seeder, the essay shows how programmable tokens can inspire (and enforce) non-financial value propositions such as stewardship and care. I situate these works as agential assemblages that involve artists, audiences, markets, and software objects, and which thereby challenge inherited notions of authorship and private ownership. Against the commodity logic often associated with “crypto art,” the essay reads programmability as a curatorial instrument for imagining more-than-human art ecologies, while also making visible the ways in which speculative tendencies can short-circuit such ambitions. Ultimately, these technologies are described as social experiments that interrogate existing value regimes and test recalibrations of agency within the hyper-financialised Web3 landscape
Governing white apathy in university sport
Get PDFRationale/purposeThis study analyses how universities strategically and operationally consider racialised experiences of staff and students employed to deliver sport and physical activity.MethodologyTwenty-seven staff were interviewed across five university research sites. Participants included Directors of Sport, Heads of Academic Schools, and, where available, Pro-Vice Chancellors. Coaches, team managers, and other sport leaders from racial and ethnic minority backgrounds were recruited via social networks, social media, and direct emails.FindingsUsing Critical Race Theory, two themes concerning “Governing white apathy” were developed from the data analysis: “Delegated Responsibility” and “On the Periphery.”Practical implicationsDedicated policies and practices positioning equity and inclusion as central operational priorities were absent. Systematic monitoring and procedures to seek social justice for adverse experiences were lacking. Staff and student voices were largely dependent on the approachability of captains and senior sport leads. Microaggressions and racial discrimination were normalised experiences for coaches, and seeking social justice required robust evidence, which is rarely available in cases of racism.Research ContributionThis study provides the first insight into the reproduction of Whiteness within the provision of sport and physical activity in UK universities
Data for Scottish Academy Rugby Players' lived experiences of career-related traumatic injuries and injury rehabilitation: an interpretative phenomenological analysis
No full textData were collected as part of a Masters by Research project 'Scottish Academy Rugby Players' lived experiences of career-related traumatic injuries and injury rehabilitation: an interpretative phenomenological analysis'. The aim of the study was to discuss the lived experiences of a cohort of traumatically injured ex-Scottish Rugby academy rugby players in order to understand the support athletes received at the time of their injuries and throughout their rehabilitation periods. Data collection took part in two stages and involved collection of both quantitative data, gathered via 208 survey responses, and qualitative data, gathered via 6 semi-structured interviews. Details of the research design and methodology are provided in the linked thesis. Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) was used as the chosen qualitative lens to examine data through, underpin the discussion, and develop conclusions and recommendations for future research. The data cannot be shared as an open dataset but access may be granted to bona fide researchers under specific conditions. Researchers can use the Contact email to request access
Industry professional interviews - PhD dataset
No full textData were collected as part of a PhD project 'Social play in competitive contexts. Exploring community, sociability and sociality through team-based competitive video games, relating activities and spaces'. This dataset comprises 9 semi-structured transcribed interviews with industry professionals working in, with and around competitive games and esports. Participants were queried on their experiences in the games and esports industries, their professional perception of communities and player communities, activities beyond gameplay (streaming, cosplay, art, etc.), gaming events and spaces, esports, and challenges in supporting players, communities and perceptions on anti-social/toxic behaviours in online video games. This dataset cannot be shared open access as participants can be highly recognisable figures in the video games and esports industries, creating potential for identification. Access to the dataset may be possible for authenticated researchers under specific conditions. Please use the contact details to request access to the dataset
Cross-sector barriers and integrated solution pathways for solar, wind and hydropower energy systems
Get PDFLarge-scale deployment of renewable energy systems is central to global decarbonisation strategies, yet integration at high penetration levels remains constrained by interacting technical, economic, infrastructural, and socio-regulatory barriers. Existing review studies typically examine these challenges in isolation or within single-technology silos, limiting system-level prioritisation across renewable technologies. This study presents a semi-systematic integrative review of recent literature (2020–2025) to develop a unified classification framework that links integration barriers with corresponding solution pathways across solar, wind, and hydropower systems. The proposed framework explicitly captures interactions between technical constraints (e.g., intermittency, grid stability, power quality), economic limitations (e.g., capital intensity, financing risk, market design), transportation and storage bottlenecks, and social–regulatory factors. A comparative severity-weighted heat-map is introduced to assess the relative impact of these barriers across technologies, enabling cross-sector prioritisation rather than technology-specific diagnosis. The review synthesises system-level solution pathways, including hybrid renewable configurations, sector-coupled integrated energy systems, advanced storage portfolios, Power-to-X routes, and green hydrogen as a long-duration flexibility vector. Techno-economic optimisation tools such as HOMER are critically assessed as screening-level instruments for hybrid system design, with explicit discussion of their applicability limits under high-renewable, network-constrained conditions. The findings suggest that effective renewable integration is increasingly dependent on the coordinated deployment of flexibility, cross-sector coupling, and coherent policy and market frameworks, rather than incremental technology-specific improvements. By aligning barrier severity with solution pathways across multiple renewable technologies, this review provides practical guidance for policymakers, system planners, and industry stakeholders seeking reliable and cost-effective pathways toward net-zero energy systems
Impact of steaming as a processing technique on the nutritional, health-promoting, and functionality of spekboom (<i>Portulacaria afra</i>) plant properties
Get PDFThe study of processing wild edible succulent plants such as the spekboom (Portulacaria afra) as a nutritional and functional food source is crucial for improving food security, combating malnutrition, and promoting dietary diversity. This study evaluated the effect of steaming, a traditional food processing method on enhancing the nutritional and functional properties of the spekboom plant leaves. Fresh leaves were steamed at 100 °C for four mins, blended into a pulp, frozen, freeze-dried, and milled into a powder. The resulting powder was analyzed for its nutritional composition, health-promoting, and functional properties. The results indicated that steaming significantly improved the nutritional profile, increasing fibre content by 14.07 % and protein by 12.06 %. Phytochemical levels were also enhanced, with total phenolic content (TPC) reaching 15.14 mg GAE/g and total flavonoid content (TFC) 15.52 mg/QE/g). Antioxidant activity increased markedly, as shown by ABTS (26.73 mM TE/g) and FRAP (95.72 μmol TE/g). Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) analysis revealed increased average peak areas of several amino acid metabolites following steaming. Functional properties were also enhanced, with water and oil absorption capacities increasing 6 - 10 g/g. Additionally, pasting properties showed a higher peak and final viscosities, suggesting improved gel strength and stability. Overall, steaming enhanced the nutritional quality, functional characteristics, and potential health benefits of spekboom. These findings highlight the value of processing wild edible succulent plants to improve their suitability and appeal as nutrient-rich ingredients human diet consumption
InGAME International: WP1 Interview Data
No full textThis dataset comprises approximately 50 interviews with experts and key players in the UK, China and internationally with respect to the business, culture, and outlook for UK-China games production, publishing, cooperation, and collaboration. The dataset cannot be made publicly available because the data cannot be fully anonymised given the nature of the interviews, the participants, and the responses given
Data sources:
Access Repository Dashboard
Do you manage Abertay Research Portal? Access insider analytics, issue reports and manage access to outputs from your repository in the CORE Repository Dashboard!