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Controlling shareholders’ portfolio composition and firm leverage
No full textControlling shareholders influence the leverage decisions of firms they control by assessing the investment risks posed to their overall portfolio. Our theoretical model formalizes this intuition by showing that when a firm constitutes a larger share of a controlling shareholder's portfolio (i.e., has higher “stock importance”), the shareholder prefers the firm to adopt lower leverage to reduce overall portfolio risk. This relationship strengthens when firms face lower credit quality. Using a comprehensive sample of Chinese listed firms, we provide strong empirical support for these theoretical predictions. The negative relationship between stock importance and leverage is most pronounced among firms facing financial constraints, higher default risks, or weaker governance structures. These findings remain robust across various endogeneity tests and alternative specifications. Our study reveals a novel determinant of capital structure decisions by showing how controlling shareholders' portfolio composition significantly influences corporate leverage choices
Thematic analysis and characterisation to support climate vulnerability assessments of cultural World Heritage
No full textClimate change is ubiquitous and progressively more evident than other threats, affecting all types of World Heritage. However, comprehensive assessments of climate impacts upon all individual heritage properties are improbable given the extent and urgency of the challenge. Grouping properties by their similar values, common threats and/or geographic co-location is one approach to accelerate the evaluation of climate risk. This paper develops and demonstrates a thematic analysis methodology for grouping properties into themes and sub-themes based upon their similar cultural heritage characteristics. Defining thematically representative groups of properties can inform and facilitate assessments of climate vulnerability of properties with similar values, as well as enabling strategic networks of site managers whose responsibilities include managing similar threats. The Indian Subcontinent was selected for this analysis due to the variety of cultural World Heritage properties spread over a range of natural settings and climatic regions. The 49 properties analysed include some that are widely recognised (e.g., Taj Mahal, Red Fort Complex), as well as other lesser known but no less significant cultural locations. The framework developed here is a valuable standalone tool for decision making providing a practical management strategy that can aid policy and practice; however, it also contributes to a broader understanding of the climate vulnerability and risk to cultural heritage. Eight cultural thematic groups developed here were standardised and validated against existing international cultural heritage categories to ensure transferability to other geographical and heritage regions. Within these, 71 sub-themes were identified that reflect region-specific heritage aspects. Beyond climate-change applications, the thematic framework and outcomes have potential to influence heritage management more broadly
Transformers for stratified spectropolarimetric inversion: proof of concept
No full textSolar spectropolarimetric inversion—inferring atmospheric conditions from the Stokes vector—is a key diagnostic tool for understanding solar magnetism, but traditional inversion methods are computationally expensive and sensitive to local minima. Advances in artificial intelligence offer faster solutions, but are often restricted to shallow models or a few spectral lines. We present a proof-of-concept study using a transformer machine learning model for multiline, full-Stokes inversion, to infer stratified parameters from synthetic spectra produced from 3D magnetohydrodynamic simulations. We synthesize a large set of Stokes vectors using forward modeling across 15 spectral lines spanning the deep photosphere toward the chromosphere. The model maps full-Stokes input to temperature, magnetic field strength, inclination, azimuth (encoded as sin2ϕ , cos2ϕ ), and line-of-sight velocity as a function of optical depth. The transformer incorporates an attention mechanism that allows the model to focus on the most informative regions of the spectrum for each inferred parameter, and uses positional embedding to encode wavelength and depth order. We benchmark it against a multilayer perceptron (MLP), test robustness to noise, and assess generalization. The transformer outperforms the MLP, especially in the higher layers and for magnetic parameters, yielding higher correlations and more regularized stratifications. The model retains strong performance across a range of noise levels typical for real observations, with magnetic parameter inference degrading predictably while temperature and velocity remain stable. We explore attention maps, linking the transformer’s learned behaviour to line-formation physics
Fasciola gigantica: ultrastructure and cytochemistry of tegumental secretory activity and extracellular vesicle formation in juvenile flukes migrating in mouse liver
No full textFasciola gigantica, the predominant cause of fasciolosis in tropical regions, is a major cause of economic loss to the global farming community and is also recognised as a significant human pathogen. The surface tegument of the fluke, situated as it is at the host-parasite interface, is a metabolically active and highly dynamic secretory organ mainly concerned with ensuring the survival of the parasite in a hostile immunological and physiochemical environment. The period of migration of the juvenile fluke through the hepatic parenchyma of the host is critical in establishing a mutually sustainable host-parasite relationship, but due to technical difficulties has been inadequately investigated. Here, the tegument of migrating juvenile F. gigantica collected from the hepatic parenchyma of experimentally infected mice 4 and 7 weeks after infection was examined by conventional transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and by cytochemistry using the periodic acid-thiocarbohydrazine-osmium (PATCO) and Ruthenium Red methods. T1 secretory bodies in the surface syncytium maintain the surface glycocalyx by exocytosis in response to sloughing of immunocomplex as the fluke encounters the effectors of host immunity. Their bounding plasma membranes engender a superficial zone of microvilli which appear to give rise to detached tubules and extracellular vesicles. These may have a role in host-parasite communication and immunomodulation. T2 secretory bodies in the tegument contain stable glycoprotein, and their main contribution may be to preadapt the apical surface for changes in the physicochemical environment when the fluke enters the bile ducts. A novel type of tegumental cell, termed T3, has been described in the sub-syncytial zone. T3 secretory bodies may contribute to the syncytial proteome or spine formation in the growing juvenile flukes. The surface secretory activity in migrating juvenile flukes may offer a battery of stage-specific soluble and membrane-associated molecular products with potential for therapeutic exploitation
Experiences of parents of children with special needs: educational services, challenges and recommendations from parents' perspectives
No full textParents of children with special needs in Nigeria are faced with several challenges. In most cases, decisions are taken without their active involvement, despite them being the primary carers for their children with special needs. This research utilised a qualitative research design with fifteen participants to understand parents' perspectives about the educational services provided for their children with special needs. Only parents of children diagnosed with autism, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, Down syndrome and intellectual disability were involved. An inductive thematic analysis approach was used. The findings revealed five themes that describe the experiences of parents of children with special needs in managing their children's care. Parents stated that their children with special needs still encounter discrimination and segregation despite being in mainstream schools. Parents highlighted several challenges, including inadequately trained professionals, poor public sensitisation, the government's lack of attention/ambition and the unavailability of specific assistive devices. The participants suggested that training and retraining of professionals in special education, mass sensitisation and government funding/scholarship are factors that can mitigate some of these challenges. In conclusion, parents play essential roles in the lives of their children with special needs; if help must be provided, parents should be rightly considered.<br/
Ethno‐religious socialization among majority and minority group children in a post‐conflict society
No full textFamilies vary in the extent to which they socialize their children about their racial or ethnic identities (i.e., family ethnic socialization). Research on family ethnic socialization has primarily been done in the United States, and there, researchers have established at least four dimensions of socialization (cultural, preparation for bias, promotion of mistrust, and egalitarianism). We adapt and extend existing measures to understand how Catholic (historically the minority group) and Protestant (historically the majority group) parents socialize their children in the post-conflict society of Northern Ireland. Across three timepoints (N = 192; 87% mothers; 94% White), we assessed ethno-religious socialization in Northern Ireland. We documented variability between families in each subscale but found little evidence for systematic linear change. Further analyses showed that each subscale was uniquely related to theoretically relevant antecedents and/or consequences (i.e., strength of identity, perceived victimhood, nervousness in intergroup contact, and child prosocial behaviors).<br/
Securing funding for independent creative firms: insights from video game monetisation
No full textThis chapter proposes a study of the monetisation and revenue capture strategies of independent video game studios. The objective is to understand how small firms in the games industry capture revenue by monetising their work while maintaining creative autonomy. This single case study uses two Spanish studios, Open House Games and Chibig Studio, as embedded units of analysis. Key findings show the importance of efficiently combining platform internal sales of games and other forms of revenue capture via partnerships with publishers and intermediaries while developing new relations and maintaining the loyalty of existing audiences through platform external outreach and the co-production of new titles via crowdfunding. The chapter contributes theoretical discourse on cultural entrepreneurship literature by offering practical insights for independent entrepreneurial creative firms when faced by the challenges of overcoming the paradox of generating profits to sustain business operations while preserving creative autonomy and independence through adaptive monetisation strategies that blend commercial exploitation with ‘relational labour’
On the border: searching for cometary activity near the Centaur–JFC Transition Line
No full textCurrent wide-field surveys discover ∼15 Jupiter-family comets (JFCs) each year, typically identified via visual detection of a dust coma or tail. The same surveys also discover many asteroids that have distant JFC-like orbits, but with no reported activity. We observed asteroids on Jupiter-crossing orbits beyond the depth of typical survey imaging using the 2.5 m Isaac Newton Telescope. We used deep imaging to observe 16 asteroids in this region, plus seven known comets for comparison. Three asteroids (2011 WM183, (669525) 2012 XO144, and 2020 RX133) showed surface brightness profiles consistent with low-level activity, equating to ∼19% of our total sample. We note that 2020 RX133 is a Jupiter Trojan. When we considered the heliocentric distance range of the asteroids at the time when they showed activity, this fraction increased to 33% of the targets in the 3.16 au ≤ Rh ≤ 4.56 au region, and therefore it is possible to infer that at least ∼30 asteroids with TJ ≤ 3.05 and in the 4.05 au < a < 5.05 au parameter space may potentially exhibit low-level activity. We also estimated nuclear radii for the three active targets of rn = 1.8 ± 0.2 km, rn ≤ 0.8 km, and rn ≤ 0.5 km for (669525) 2012 XO144, 2011 WM183, and 2020 RX133, respectively. The median color index for the observed asteroids is (g − r)PS1 = 0.52 ± 0.13, aligning with those expected for D-type asteroids
Students’ reflections as tools for curriculum alignment strategies in media practice pedagogy: a postgraduate conversion course case study
No full textMany universities have responded to radical contemporary shifts in the media industry by embedding more digital skill into their curricula. Disruptive technologies, the social media boom, media convergence, the shifting sands of the broadcasting industry and constant change in employment requirements for graduates today are all forcing media graduates to consider how improving their technical skills is a key vector in their own perceptions of their employability, post-graduation. One-year media and broadcast conversion courses can lead to more work opportunities, new specialisms and entrepreneurial ownership of career prospects. Broadcast skills like filming, editing, audio recording, harvesting of natural sound or live studio environments are less commonly taught, even though streaming is a form of broadcasting. Student confidence in their own broadcast technical skill acquisition ability is an important factor in the era of convergence media, and it can determine students’ course success and employment opportunities post-graduation. Teaching media and broadcast technical skills a media conversion course necessitates important planning due to complex factors such as multi-module learning outcomes as well as student previous experience and background. Taking the MA Media and Broadcast Production conversion degree at Queen’s University Belfast as a case study, this paper qualitatively explores pedagogical interventions that can help redress lagging student confidence and perceptions of employability vis-a-vis their technical broadcast skill acquisition level in a postgraduate media conversion context. While the findings of this study show that the introduction of broadcast technical skill to the curriculum strongly correlates with students’ growing confidence in both the production of quality assessment and the strength level of employment applications, this study is limited in scope. While this study provides rich qualitative data about students’ confidence levels, a wider pool of students should be considered on a longitudinal basis to better determine the employment prospects impact such skill labs have
Critical review of recent advances in AI-enhanced SEM and EDS techniques for metallic microstructure characterization
No full textThis critical review explores the transformative impact of artificial intelligence (AI), particularly machine learning (ML) and computer vision (CV), on scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS) for metallic microstructure analysis, spanning research from 2010 to 2025. It critically evaluates how AI techniques balance automation, accuracy, and scalability, analysing why certain methods (e.g., Vision Transformers for complex microstructures) excel in specific contexts and how trade-offs in data availability, computational resources, and interpretability shape their adoption. The review examines AI-driven techniques, including semantic segmentation, object detection, and instance segmentation, which automate the identification and characterisation of microstructural features, defects, and inclusions, achieving enhanced accuracy, efficiency, and reproducibility compared to traditional manual methods. It introduces the Microstructure Analysis Spectrum, a novel framework categorising techniques by task complexity and scalability, providing a new lens to understand AI’s role in materials science. The paper also evaluates AI’s role in chemical composition analysis and predictive modelling, facilitating rapid forecasts of mechanical properties such as hardness and fracture strain. Practical applications in steelmaking (e.g., automated inclusion characterisation) and case studies on high-entropy alloys and additively manufactured metals underscore AI’s benefits, including reduced analysis time and improved quality control. Extending prior reviews, this work incorporates recent advancements like Vision Transformers, 3D Convolutional Neural Networks (CNNs), and Generative Adversarial Networks (GANs). Key challenges—data scarcity, model interpretability, and computational demands—are critically analysed, with representative trade-offs from the literature highlighted (e.g., GANs can substantially augment effective dataset size through synthetic data generation, typically at the cost of significantly increased training time)