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Towards a language of music in space: a listening-based study to develop a vocabulary for the analysis of spatialisation
No full textSpatialisation has always held a crucial importance in the acousmatic music practice, particularly when it is fixed, composed and crystallised onto a given audio medium. The spatial qualities of a work have become even more important in recent years, with the rise of virtual reality technologies that highlight immersive experiences, or with new industrial standards for spatial audio in cinema. However, an established language for articulating spatial experience in creative practice remains underdeveloped, even though the related research field is very active, both in the musical domain and in contemporary media (cinema, virtual reality and video games). How listeners receive and interpret movement and placement of sounds in space, affectively and musically, and how their morphology might condition the sound-mediated experience, are important to the development of such a spatial language. The main objective of this research is to create both a spatial analytical framework and a vocabulary for the description of spatialisation, taking into account listener’s experience in acousmatic music. To achieve this, the thesis will:
• study both instrumental and acousmatic works to extrapolate qualitative data on compositional approaches and their impact on listeners’ spatial experience.
• analyse results of listening tests conducted through an Intention/Reception questionnaire to interpret how listeners experience and make sense of spatialisation.
• develop a theoretical framework, listening modes and a basic unit for the description of spatialisation called the spatial sonorous object.
• build a vocabulary of spatial signs based on this theoretical foundation.
• apply and triangulate the framework and vocabulary through analysis of a representative selection of acousmatic works, thereby testing their efficiency, robustness, and relevance in practice.
The findings suggest that a shared and coherent framework for the analysis of spatialisation, together with a dedicated vocabulary, can yield valuable insights into the interpretation and understanding of multichannel acousmatic works. This research contributes to ongoing discourse in electroacoustic music and spatial audio
studies by offering an empirically informed and listener-oriented model of how spatialisation is received, described, and theorised. In doing so, the thesis acts as a link between compositional practice, analytical tools, and reception-based studies, working as bedrock for future research in the field of spatial audio across interdisciplinary contexts.Midlands4Cities Doctoral Training Partnership
Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC)
Paranormal Media
No full textParanormal Media – Beyond Hauntology is an investigation of paranormal media and its pervasive influence on popular culture. By examining the intersection of the supernatural and media with transnational examples this book sheds light on how paranormal phenomena from ghosts to cryptids captivate our collective imagination. Drawing on psychology, sociology, cultural studies, and history this interdisciplinary approach unravels the complexities of our fascination with the paranormal. The chapters investigate key concepts including hauntology, the uncanny, and the role of technology in shaping our understanding of paranormal media. Readers are invited to explore critical questions: How do paranormal beliefs shape cultural narratives? What role does media play in perpetuating these beliefs? And how do these phenomena reflect our deepest fears and desires? By engaging with these questions the book offers a nuanced and challenging perspective on the enduring allure of the paranormal
Safer Knives - Reducing Knife Harm
No full textOn 20th November 2025, the Safer Knives Group held a conference entitled Reducing Knife Harm. The conference was generously supported by the Economic and Social Research Council, Leeds Social Sciences Institute and hosted by the Royal College of Psychiatrists.
The objects of the Reducing Knife Harm conference were:
• Policy Development. To encourage and inform policy on the wider adoption of safer knife designs.
• Publicity. To raise the public and media profile of the importance of safer knife design.
• Government Engagement. To engage with Ministers and officials to influence legislative and regulatory direction.
• Stakeholder Outreach. To influence a wide stakeholder group including knife manufacturers, retailers, academics, and the public sector.
The conference was attended by 120 people, comprising a diverse mix of professionals, front-line experts and people with lived experience. The presentations and plenary contributions encompassed a wide range of knowledge and opinion. This book is an edited version of all those contributions.
Everyone involved hoped that the conference would act as a springboard for further change to reduce knife harm. We, all members of the Safer Knives Group, hope that this book will further that aim.
Duncan Bew – Consultant major trauma surgeon at King’s College Hospital, London, with first-hand experience of treating life-threatening injuries caused by knives.
Professor John Crichton – Consultant forensic psychiatrist, past chair of the Royal College of Psychiatrists in Scotland, with a longstanding research interest in homicide reduction.
Professor Graham Farrell – Professor of Crime Science, Leeds University.
Patrick Green – CEO of the Ben Kinsella Trust. Ben was 16 when he died in 2008.
His Honour Nic Madge – formerly a Circuit Judge who tried many criminal cases involving serious violence.
Leisa Nichols-Drew – Chartered forensic practitioner and Associate Professor of Forensic Biology at De Montfort University. She specialises in the forensic investigation of knife related injuries.
Andy Slaughter MP – Chair of the Justice Select Committee, a long-time advocate for legislative reform to reduce knife crime
Synthesis of Isobenzofuranones and Isoindolinones via Claisen–Schmidt Condensation and Their Antileishmanial Activity
No full textopen access article
Collaboration between:
Chulabhorn Research Institute, Bangkok 10210, Thailand
Center of Excellence on Environmental Health and Toxicology (EHT), Bangkok 10400, Thailand
Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute, Basel 4051, Switzerland
De Montfort University, Leicester LE1 9BH, United Kingdom;
Loughborough University, Loughborough LE11 3TU, United KingdomIn this study, we describe the synthesis of isobenzofuranones and isoindolinones using the Claisen–Schmidt condensation via the formation of a chalcone intermediate, followed by a 5-exo-trig cyclization facilitated by the carboxylate group under basic conditions. The desired products were obtained in good yields. Subsequently, Michael-lactamization reaction of the isobenzofuranones was employed to synthesize isoindolinone derivatives. The three-component Mannich-lactamization reaction was also explored to synthesize isoindolinones from 2–hydroxyacetophenone, phthalaldehydic acid, and amine derivatives. Furthermore, the synthesized compound 5c exhibited low EC50 (μM) values against Leishmania donovani (L. donovani), with no significant cytotoxicity observed against L-6 cells
A survey of UK-based dermatologists and Outpatient Parenteral Antimicrobial Therapy centres to evaluate the use of intravenous antibiotics as a treatment for hidradenitis suppurativa
No full textopen access articleAbstract
Background
Case series have indicated that intravenous antibiotics may be effective in severe hidradenitis suppurativa (HS) treatment. This treatment approach is excluded from the British Association of Dermatologists UK HS treatment guidelines but can be found in the European S2k, North American and French Dermatology Society HS guidelines.
Objectives
To study whether intravenous antibiotics are being used in HS treatment in the UK and to explore the experiences of dermatologists and outpatient parenteral antibiotic therapy (OPAT) teams with intravenous antibiotics.
Methods
Two separate surveys were distributed to dermatologists and OPAT centres respectively in 2020. The surveys were designed on Survey Monkey® with skip logic and free text boxes incorporated. Only UK responses were included. Descriptive and content analyses were performed on the data.
Results
Seventy-four dermatology clinicians and 25 OPAT centres responded. Nearly half of the respondents reported having treated HS with intravenous antibiotics. Most used intravenous ertapenem for an average treatment duration of 4–6 weeks with 1–3 months of average remission period. Top indications were severe disease (57%) and biologic treatment failure (57%). The most common consolidation treatments were biologics, surgery and tetracycline antibiotics. A joint dermatology–OPAT HS clinic was preferred. Dermatologists reported exclusion of intravenous antibiotics from local/national guidelines (67%) being the main barrier to using intravenous antibiotics.
Conclusion
Findings from the two surveys show overall positive experience using intravenous antibiotics in HS treatment and call for development of a best practice statement in HS treatment with intravenous antibiotics and collaborative working with OPAT for a national referral pathway
Shimmer Series- Reflecting the past and looking into the future
No full textNew exploration of craft techniques responding to the theme of Scale, explored through both large and small works to examine how shifts in proportion affect form, surface and the viewer’s relationship to an object.
Represented by Gallery FIVE at Collect, the collective also present a collaborative project with Goldsmiths’ Fair, bringing together past and present artists through a shared installation of miniature works in precious metals.
Presented at 'Collect' International Art Fair, at Somerset house in London.
Collect, presented by Crafts Council, is the only annual art fair on the UK and international circuit dedicated to museum-quality contemporary craft and design
A novel time-varying Wiener process for adaptive RUL prediction under multiple uncertainties
No full textThe file attached to this record is the author's final peer reviewed version. The Publisher's final version can be found by following the DOI link.Remaining useful life (RUL) prediction for high-reliability complex systems is often challenged by scarce real degradation data and noise-contaminated simulated data, limiting the ability of existing methods to handle multiple uncertainties and time-varying characteristics, which in turn constrains the robustness and interpretability of predictions. This study proposes a time-varying Wiener process (TVWP) degradation model that incorporates the quantification of multiple uncertainties. First, a TVWP model is developed to characterize dynamic degradation patterns, taking into full account unit-to-unit variability and time-varying degradation behaviors. Second, a normal cloud model-based Bayesian parameter estimation method is designed to achieve adaptive updating of time-varying parameters and dynamic quantification of epistemic uncertainty. Finally, the probability distribution of the RUL is derived analytically, enabling adaptive prediction while simultaneously achieving real-time quantification of prediction errors and uncertainty. The proposed method is validated on a small-sample gyroscope drift dataset and the large-scale C-MAPSS benchmark. Results demonstrate its strong adaptability to different data volumes and significant superiority over conventional Wiener process models and state-of-the-art approaches in both prediction accuracy and robustness
Everyday creativity and cultural policy
No full textopen access articleA considerable amount of attention has recently been paid – in academia, policy and the arts sector in the United Kingdom – to the idea of ‘everyday creativity’, yet the significance of everyday creativity for cultural policy has not been explored beyond a preliminary overview. Prompted by the question of how policymakers might engage with everyday creativity while retaining integrity and coherence, this article integrates theory and practice into a discussion of everyday creativity’s ‘policy interface’. We propose a twofold framework of everyday creativity as a phenomenon (something people voluntarily experience) before proceeding to discuss everyday creativity as a policy construct (something people are structurally encouraged to experience). We review the established scholarly literature on everyday creativity, alongside the recent efforts to identify policy incentives for organisations such as Arts Council England to support everyday creativity. In seeking to make sense of these developments by placing them in the broader theoretical framing of ‘everyday life’, we consider the wider historical, structural and ideological reasons as to why everyday creativity may be attractive to some political formations. We thereby offer a discussion of both everyday creativity in Arts Council England policy, and an attempt to critique the concept from a theoretical perspective. We suggest that everyday creativity remains ill-defined in research and incongruous as a policy construct and that this may be a source of its strength in resisting institutionalisation and operationalisation in cultural policymaking. We conclude by suggesting that recent interest in everyday creativity may prompt pragmatic policy suggestions about how existing cultural assets are used, and whether they could be better employed to support a wider array of activities. Crucially, we note the potential to move the discourse of cultural policy forward, beyond the repetitive and entrenched dichotomies of lived and objectified culture, and thereby bringing about a much-needed realisation that the institutionalised forms of culture and the ‘ordinary’ are inter-connected
Powering the Transition: A Strategic Framework for Local Area Energy Planning in England’s New Devolution Landscape
No full text[note for DORA team - document to follow, please create record in interim.]This report puts forward a framework of actionable recommendations for newly-formed Strategic Authorities focussed on delivery of actions highlighted in local area energy plans (LAEPs). These focus on structuring a cross-departmental delivery unit, adopting a diversified investment strategy that moves beyond grant dependency towards unlocking the "Integrated Settlement," designing a dynamic and co-produced LAEP when the analysis is undertaken or renewed and strategically engaging with the Regional Strategic Energy Planning (RESP) process to ensure local energy ambitions are deliverable
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