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Community-based behavioural activation for depression in adolescents:feasibility study, survey and stakeholder consultations
No full textSuzanne Dumesnil, Suzanne Beckett
No full textLittle has been written about Suzanne Beckett, née Déchevaux-Dumesnil (1900–1989). As Samuel Beckett's lifelong companion, she found herself in a peculiar quandary, owing to the amounts of support required by Beckett's unease with success and with the business of writing, and owing to her deep awareness of the damage that fame can cause to everyday life, friendships, and freedom. This Element offers the first full portrait of this elusive figure. It contextualises the texts she wrote under the name Suzanne Dumesnil, emphasises the significance of her artistic and literary accomplishments, and discusses her steady labour, her uncompromising discretion, and her profound reluctance to ever become a public figure as Beckett's wife
Lessons learned from building the kid’s trial with an online children’s and parents’ research advisory group: a descriptive, qualitative study
No full textHealth research increasingly incorporates public and patient involvement (PPI) to enhance trial inclusivity and relevance, and it is often mandated by funding and regulatory bodies. PPI boosts public engagement with trials and aligns trial objectives more closely with the priorities of the groups they aim to benefit. The Kid’s Trial, an online randomised trial co-created with children, aims to help them better understand what randomised trials are, why they matter, and improve their critical thinking skills. To ensure inclusivity and relevance, we established two PPI groups: the Children’s Research Advisory Group (CRAG) and the Parents’ Research Advisory Group (PRAG).
We recruited a representative sample of children and parents from diverse ethnic, geographic, and socioeconomic backgrounds to reflect the trial’s target demographic. We engaged PPI group members through social media and email campaigns aimed at parents of children aged 7 to 12. PPI meetings were conducted online, followed set agendas, and included real-time trial updates, post-meeting feedback surveys, and polls. A PPI compensation plan was established in advance. Online interviews later captured their insights and experiences as PPI partners.
Seven family units, comprised of eight children and seven parents, were recruited over 15 weeks from six countries. PPI partners shaped the trial design by contributing to website animations, aesthetic changes, and language adaptations. Interviews were analysed using reflexive thematic analysis to explore the facilitators, challenges, and outcomes of participating in our online research advisory groups.
Reflections from researchers and PPI partners demonstrated that participation in the advisory groups enhanced children’s learning and confidence. Many members, including children and adults, experienced unexpected positive outcomes, such as increased scientific literacy, science communication and confidence. Their involvement meaningfully shaped the trial’s development and processes. This study also provides guidance for researchers engaging similar demographics in future PPI activities
The Facilitating Act Framework: A new insight into cultural ecosystem services through investigating women, wild swimming and community
No full text1. We present the Facilitating Act Framework (FAF) as a way to challenge more linear ways of thinking about cultural ecosystem services. The framework moves towards more relational and participant-led processes to provide insights on how values emerge through engaging with nature.
2. The FAF has three pillars: (i) participant autonomy, (ii) open-ended parameters, and (iii) focusing on processes over outcomes.
3. We the FAF to a case study of women and wild swimming in Scotland, illustrating how each of the pillars can be applied in practice using a mixed methods approach with a Q methodology element at its core.
4. We identify four factors, the ‘competitive edge’, ‘connection-to-nature seekers’, ‘sharers and carers’ and ‘enablers’ that variously characterised what was important to women when they participated in the ‘act’ of wild swimming.
5. This case study revealed the importance of community and the key social dynamics through which values emerged and connected people to nature, pointing to a range of better targeted possible policy interventions.
6. The FAF offers an avenue to deepen our understanding of how values emerge through interactions with nature as a way to better embed relational thinking in the context of cultural ecosystem services
Understanding the current landscape of alternative publishing platforms
No full textRationale / Hypothesis:
Knowledge Exchange commissioned Research Consulting to work on a project to understand the current landscape of alternative publishing platforms, exploring how publishing platforms, research organisations and funders enable innovation in scholarly communication. Significant scoping was undertaken by Knowledge Exchange, published in the paper Scoping the second phase of the Alternative publishing platforms work.
Research Consulting developed a proposed thematic approach aiming to explore the core issues identified by Knowledge Exchange, looking across multiple stakeholder perspectives. The questions were thematically organised in a systematic way, to ensure comprehensive coverage across desk research and stakeholder engagement activities. These research questions and sub-questions are linked on Octopus as individual Research Problems, but the key themes and research questions are:
Funder strategy and policy: What approaches do research funders have towards alternative publishing platforms, and how important are they in the context of funders’ wider scholarly communication strategies?
Value proposition of alternative publishing platforms: What are the immediate and pressing challenges that alternative publishing platforms are trying to address?
Legitimacy of non-traditional research outputs: What types and formats of publication do funders and researchers consider to be “legitimate” research outputs?
Lessons learnt from alternative publishing: What lessons can be learnt from experience with alternative publishing platforms?
Uptake and continued engagement: What factors affect a researcher's decision to use (or not) an alternative publishing platform?
The research questions relating to funding strategy and policy and legitimacy in particular help bridge across stakeholder groups.
The five themes also provide a framework for analysing and presenting findings, making it easier to develop recommendations that address systemic issues rather than focusing on stakeholder-specific concerns.
The five themes, questions and sub-questions were iteratively refined and developed through dialogue between Research Consulting, a core group of Knowledge Exchange experts: Anna Mette Morthorst (DeiC), Sebastian Brandt (DFG) Xenia van Edig (TIB) and Jean-François Lutz (University of Lorraine) and the full authors of this output i.e. the wider Knowledge Exchange Task & Finish Groups and Prof Stephen Pinfield. This work took place throughout January and February 2025.
The questions seek to cover all questions in the original scoping document produced by KE (Knowledge Exchange, 2024), and no questions or areas have been excluded as part of the revised hierarchy and structure
The impact of the Change4Life Food Scanner app on children’s diets and parental psychological outcomes: a randomised pilot and feasibility study
No full textBackground
The Change4Life Food Scanner app raises awareness of the nutritional content of barcode-scanned packaged food through a variety of visual displays. This study investigated (1) the feasibility and acceptability of evaluating the effectiveness of the Food Scanner app in reducing children’s energy (kcal) and sugar (g) intake over a 3-month period, (2) app engagement and (3) the app’s impact on psychological outcomes.
Methods
Adopting a non-blinded parallel trial design, 126 parents of 4-11 year olds were randomly assigned (1:1) through block randomisation sequences into a 3-month intervention consisting of exposure to the Food Scanner app (version 1.6; [n = 62]) or no intervention (n = 64). Intervention participants were encouraged to use the app for healthier food choices when shopping. Participants completed baseline and 3-month follow-up (3MFU) measures of child dietary intake, psychological, and health economic outcomes. Dietary intake was also assessed at 1-month. The intervention arm additionally completed fortnightly app engagement measures and all participants provided feasibility feedback at 3MFU. Mixed model Analysis of Variance and independent t-tests of mean differences assessed changes in dietary intake. Descriptive analyses were conducted for all other measures. Ethical approval was obtained by the University of Sheffield Research Ethics Committee (026380).
Results
The study was completed by 64 (51%) of 126 participants (29 [45%] in the intervention group and 35 [55%] in the control group). Most participants (> 80%) found the study acceptable, whilst 68% of intervention participants would recommend the app to others. There was a mean difference in daily energy (kcal) intake of 18 (95% CI: -180; 217) at 3MFU, and a mean difference of 10g in sugar intake (95% CI: -3; 23), between conditions, with a greater reduction within the control condition. Average app engagement declined over the study, from 14.1 min (± 14.7) in week 2 to 6.8 min (± 11.6) in week 12. Minor differences in psychological outcomes were observed between conditions.
Conclusions
Despite high attrition, study procedures were deemed feasible. Low app engagement and usage barriers may have impacted app acceptability and related outcomes. Recommendations are provided for future app development and full-scale trial design.
Trial registration
ISRCTN12169303; 12th May 2025. Retrospectively registered
A rights-based approach to the safety of journalists
No full textTo comprehensively understand threats to the safety of journalists it is necessary to adopt a ‘rights-based approach’. This requires that we understand two related dimensions: a) threats to journalists as violations of the fundamental rights of the individual journalist and of their standing as a rights-holder, and b) that such threats prevent journalists from acting as rights-protectors on behalf of the public when it comes to upholding the collective right of all members of society to stay informed. Two case studies are discussed to understand the value and limitations of current efforts to document threats to the safety of journalists from a rights-based perspective. The first is Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) Indicator 16.10.1, a UN-led global agenda to monitor attacks against journalists. The second is the “Journalists Killed” dataset compiled by the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ). What emerges is that empirical data gaps currently prevent the effective evaluation of the gap between the norms of protection promoted through human rights standards and the degree of success of their implementation. The chapter concludes with a suggestion for an expanded rights-based empirical agenda for the more holistic documentation of the chilling effect and societal implications of human rights violations against journalists
Load-Transfer Suspended Backpack With Bioinspired Vibration Isolation for Shoulder Pressure Reduction Across Diverse Terrains
No full textActive suspended backpacks represent a promising solution to mitigate the impact of inertial forces on individuals engaged in load carriage. However, identifying effective control objectives aimed at enhancing human carrying capacity remains a significant challenge. In this study, we introduce a novel approach by integrating a limb-like structure-type (LLS) bioinspired vibration isolator, modeled using Lagrangian mechanics, into an active load-transfer suspended backpack to primarily alleviate human shoulder pressure, thereby constructing a human–robot interaction control framework for the system. Drawing from a double-mass coupled oscillator model, this approach formulates a vertical dynamics model for the human-backpack system, systematically exploring the principles of both static load transfer and dynamic load reduction on the human shoulder. Subsequently, a series-elastic-actuator-based controller with prescribed performance is proposed to simultaneously achieve trajectory tracking and ensure load motion within the limited range. Theoretically, we validate the input–output stability of the LLS model and guarantee the ultimate uniform boundedness of the closed-loop system. Simulation and experimental trials conducted across different terrain scenarios validate the effectiveness of the proposed method, highlighting reductions of 18.68% in metabolic rate during level ground walking, 9.58% in a staircase scenario, and 12.35% in a complex terrain, involving uphill, downstairs, and flat ground walking
Mixed clastic-carbonate lake margin systems: An example from the Triassic of East Greenland
No full textLake margin deposits are the subject of increased study, but this is often focussed on either clastic or carbonate/microbial dominated end members. This study examines the interaction of clastic and carbonate systems. The Upper Triassic Edderfugledal Formation in East Greenland provides superb exposures through a carbonate dominated lacustrine succession. Fluctuations in lake level, interpreted as a response to cyclic, orbitally forced, climatic variance resulted in a highly mobile lake shore zone. The response of the shore zone environment to these fluctuations in lake level, and the interaction of both clastic and carbonate components, are documented in this study. A general trend from more arid to more humid conditions is recognised through the Edderfugledal Formation. This trend is reflected in a transition from more ephemeral lacustrine conditions with low sediment input to conditions where lacustrine episodes were more prolonged and clastic input was increased. Deposits reflecting more ephemeral conditions are dominated by extensive post-depositional disruption including desiccation, pedogenic processes and evaporite precipitation. These effects increase towards the lake margins where exposure was most common and most prolonged. Increasingly humid conditions and the associated longer-lived lacustrine developments and increased clastic sediment input resulted in a very different form of lake margin. During transgressive phases sediment input was pushed back to the lake margin allowing extensive microbialite development. Ooidal shoals developed in shallow water beyond the extent of clastic input. The lakeward migration of the ooidal shoals and the progradation of clastic systems eventually stifled the microbialites prior to the next transgressive event. In a mixed clastic-carbonate lacustrine setting the interaction of sediment supply and production are key factors in governing facies development and these are in turn predominantly controlled by lake-level change and lake margin bathymetry
