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Rough Meanings:Cross-sensory correspondences linking surface textures with sound symbolism, colours, and emotions
No full textSurface textures play a critical role in shaping interaction with tangible and multisensory technologies, yet little is known about how their microstructural features influence cognitive and affective responses - factors central to interface design. We investigated this through cross-sensory correspondences of textures systematically varying in roundness and size. Thirty participants explored 3D-printed textures under visuo-tactile and tactile-only conditions, rating them on visuo-linguistic association, roughness, colour, and emotion. Rounded textures were often linked with Bouba and pleasantness, whereas pointed textures were associated with Kiki, higher arousal, and warmer colours. Visual access also influenced exploratory behaviour, reflected in applied normal force. These findings demonstrate how microstructural tactile cues shape crosssensory and affective associations. We propose cross-sensory correspondences as a methodological framework for designing microstructural features of surfaces textures, which could open up new design opportunities for pseudo-haptic feedback, texture-rich tangible interfaces, and coherent multisensory experiences in VR/AR
‘You Don’t Want to Have Cancer While You’re in Prison’: A Qualitative Study of Supporting People with Serious Illness in Prison.
No full textPurpose:This study explores the experiences of people in the UK who have supported a person in prison (PiP) living with a serious illness, including family members, friends, and staff working in third-sector prison support organisations. Our aim was to uncover systemic barriers to care, understand the challenges families face, highlight examples of good practice, and use these insights to inform practical recommendations for improving prison healthcare and supportDesign:We conducted semi-structured interviews in 2023 with 16 participants - eight family members/friends of PiP and eight staff from third-sector prison support organisations working across England and Scotland. Transcripts were analysed using Framework Analysis and interpreted in the context of the WHO’s Healthy Settings framework, to illustrate how organisational, environmental, relational and cultural factors shape care for seriously ill prisoners.Findings: Participants described resource shortages, poor communication and inflexible institutional rules that could compromise dignity and delay treatment. Families experienced emotional strain over a perceived lack of transparency and accountability. Positive staff efforts and peer support were emphasised, but better multidisciplinary collaboration and family-inclusive policies are needed.Originality:This is the first UK study to examine both family and third-sector staff perspectives on supporting seriously ill PiP. By combining lived-experience testimony with practitioner insight, we outline actionable recommendations for policy and practice change
Factors influencing preferred fixation method in total hip replacement –a national survey of practice with consultant orthopaedic surgeons in the UK
No full textAims: To conduct a national survey of UK consultant hip surgeons to explore surgeons’ practice and factors influencing choice of implant fixation for primary elective total hip replacement (THR) patients.Methods: The online survey was conducted in 2024 with questions on surgeons’ practice, a rat-ing exercise with open text questions and a discrete choice experiment (DCE). In the DCE, sur-geons were presented with 10 randomly assigned patient profiles described by age, sex, activity level, risk of medical problems, and perceived risk of fracture, and were asked to choose their preferred fixation method (cemented, uncemented, or hybrid) for each. Results: 101 consultants performing on average 121 (SD 81) primary elective THRs annually for 12.5 years (SD 8.5) completed the survey. For patients under 70, 60% of consultants would use hybrid, 31% uncemented and 9% cemented implants. For patients 70+, 55% would use hybrid, 33% cemented, 11% uncemented, and 1% reverse hybrid. In the DCE, the most influential patient characteristics were patient age and activity level. For a “moderately active” male patient, the probability of surgeons choosing a cemented implant was 10% at the age of 65 and 39% at the age of 85. These probabilities were 15% and 47% for a female patient. Increased perceived fracture risk decreased the probability of choosing an uncemented implant. 24 surgeons chose the same implant regardless of patient profile. In the rating exercise, the most influential factors besides patient characteristics were revision rate, personal practice audit and published evidence/guidelines. Analysis of free text responses identified further important influencing factors such as patient’s anatomy, bone quality, and surgeons’ training, skill and experience.Conclusion: This is the largest survey of UK consultant hip surgeons providing an understanding of drivers of implant choices. Findings will inform the implementation of implant research find-ings in real-world surgeons’ practice
Judicial Review of Royal Prerogative and the Case of Prorogation: Process not Substance; Exception, not Rule.
No full textThis paper takes as its starting point Stephen Gardbaum’s much debated proposal of a revived political process theory to offer a fresh perspective on a key constitutional issue: the extent to which courts can impose some basic rule-of-law controls over the exercise of the prerogative powers of the British Crown, “inherited” also by Canada and New Zealand. It thus constitutes a case study on how far Gardbaum’s broad, global sketch of his theory can be successfully worked up into a ‘thick’, local model, by testing this British application against his critics. The article starts with the British prorogation case, Miller II, arguing that the decision, while bold and innovative, was sharply limited to a defense of constitutional process, as was Miller I, classic instances of the kind of procedural constitutional role suggested for the judiciary in Gardbaum's model. Both Miller decisions saw the courts police the democratic workings of the constitution, but neither concerned substantive policy issues. The paper then goes on to propose a recategorization of the whole corpus of UK case law on judicial review of royal prerogative. It argues that the cases can be divided into those that have sought to check a substantive government policy (overwhelmingly unsuccessful) and those process-based cases that have sought to protect and preserve the role of Parliament in the constitution (overwhelmingly successful). It contends that this finding sheds important new light on the overall question of how far Crown prerogative powers have been subject to basic rule-of-law controls, a subject on which it contends that the public law scholars have been much too sanguine
Multi-Agentic AI for Conflict-Aware rApp Policy Orchestration in Open RAN
No full textOpen Radio Access Network (RAN) enables flexible, AI-driven control of mobile networks through disaggregated, multi-vendor components. In this architecture, xApps handle real-time functions, whereas rApps in the non-real-time controller generate strategic policies. However, current rApp development remains largely manual, brittle, and poorly scalable as xApp diversity proliferates. In this work, we propose a multi-agent Agentic AI framework to automate rApp policy generation and orchestration. The architecture integrates three specialized large language model (LLM)-based agents, Perception, Reasoning, and Refinement, supported by retrieval-augmented generation (RAG) and memory-based analogical reasoning. These agents collectively analyze potential conflicts, synthesize intent-aligned control pipelines, and incrementally refine deployment decisions. Experiments across diverse deployment scenarios demonstrate that the proposed system achieves over 70% improvement in deployment accuracy and 95% reduction in reasoning cost compared to baseline methods, while maintaining zero-shot generalization to unseen intents. These results establish a scalable and conflict-aware solution for fully autonomous, zero-touch rApp orchestration in Open RAN
Law of Large Numbers and Central Limit Theorem for random sets of solitons of the focusing nonlinear Schrödinger equation
No full textWe study a random configuration of N soliton solutions ψN(x,t; λ) of the cubic focusing Nonlinear Schrödinger (fNLS) equation in one space dimension. The N soliton solutions are parametrized by 2N complex numbers (λ,c) where λ ∈ C+ are the eigenvalues of the Zakharov-Shabat linear operator, and c ∈ CN/{0} are the norming constants of the corresponding eigenfunctions. The randomness is obtained by choosing the complex eigenvalues to be i.i.d. random variables sampled from a probability distribution with compact support in the complex plane. The corresponding norming constants are interpolated by a smooth function of the eigenvalues. Then we consider the expectation of the random measure associated to this random spectral data. Such expectation uniquely identifies, via the Zakharov-Shabat in- verse spectral problem, a solution ψ∞(x,t) of the fNLS equation. This solution can be interpreted as a soliton gas solution. We prove a Law of Large Numbers and a Central Limit Theorem for the differences ψN(x,t; λ)− ψ∞(x,t) and ∣ψN(x,t; λ)∣2− ∣ψ∞(x,t)∣2 when(x,t) are in a compact set of R × R+; we additionally compute the correlation functions
A Manufacture Driven Topology Optimization of Laser Cut Synchronous Reluctance Machine
No full textSynchronous reluctance machines are receiving attention, as they combine high efficiency with low material cost. The design of high-performance synchronous reluctance rotors is complex, and tends to benefits from using topology optimization which is often computationally intensive when FEA based. Significant discrepancy can occur between measured prototype performance and such FEA based simulation, attributed in part to the manufacturing processes. These factors can be large when stator and rotor core packs are fabricated by laser cutting. This paper presents a level set optimization approach, with degradation modelling, to adapt designs for manufacture during the optimization process. The results show topological changes and a reduction in torque deficit, when manufacturing degradation is included. Further work will look at the implications of varying degradation levels, to selectively increase degradation in critical regions of a rotor to enhance performance
Contributions to the Conquest:The abbey of Fécamp and maritime memory
No full textIn 1066 Duke William of Normandy crossed the English Channel to invade the Kingdom of England at the start of a story that has been well-known and studied for centuries. However, fundamental questions remain unanswered, and indeed largely unasked, regarding where William found the knowledge, ships, and sailors required for such an undertaking. While the eleventh and twelfth-century narrative accounts of the momentous events of 1066 have in most cases been closely investigated, the testimony of the Ship List of William the Conqueror remains an under-utilised yet immensely valuable source through which these questions can be explored. This article examines the inclusion within the Ship List of the almoner Remigius and investigates the role played by both Remigius and his monastic community at the Abbey of the Holy Trinity of Fécamp in the practice and curation of eleventh-century maritime activity and cultural memory, as well as their vital contribution to the invasion in 1066. It is argued here that this approach illuminates the fundamental contributions made by this institution to not only the Norman invasion in 1066 but also Normandy’s wider social, economic, and political histories in this period. This article demonstrates that, though a short and enigmatic text, the Ship List nonetheless provides key information concerning the named contributors to the Norman cross-Channel invasion, and that by examining their connections to maritime activity and experience, it is possible to identify the communities behind the named individuals that enabled the Norman invasion to become a reality
The Early Deception Survey (EDS): Its Psychometric Properties in Children Aged 10 to 47 Months
No full textWe developed the Early Deception Survey (EDS) to create an early deception taxonomy and measure. Study 1, which was exploratory, found N = 130 parents reported children engaged in 16 deception types before 47 months, with the earliest report at 8 months. Deception was frequent, typically produced within 4 hours of parents completing the survey, and understood within 5 hours. Parents’ deceptions towards children positively correlated with children’s deception understanding; and parents’ deception encouragement positively correlated with children’s deception production and understanding (although most parents did not report encouraging deception). Studies 2 (N = 167) and 3 (N = 382) found the 16-item EDS was unidimensional with good internal reliability for 10- to 47-month-olds. While Study 4 (N = 85) found the EDS was unrelated to deception lab tasks, additional analysis found convergent validity (N = 610), but not predictive (N = 203) validity with the Early Social Cognition Inventory, and good longitudinal stability (N = 203). While parent agreement (N = 28) was strong, parent-Early Year Educator agreement (N = 10) was poor. Furthermore, based on our sample, 25% of children were predicted to engage in at least one deception type by 10 months, 50% by 16 months, 75% by 24 months; and 97.5% by 38 months. We found only one demographic difference in how parents answered individual items, and found less educated and younger parents reported higher EDS scores