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Review: Landscapes of Kingship in Early Medieval Ireland AD 400-1150 by Patrick Gleeson (Dublin: Four Courts Press, 2025)
No full textGuidelines for producing integrated <sup>210</sup>Pb and <sup>14</sup>C age-models
No full textAccurate reconstructions of past environmental changes are crucial in paleoecological research and require reliable chronologies of sedimentary archives. Establishing robust age-models and obtaining the most appropriate proxies for analysis is a complex scientific endeavor, requiring extensive resources and collaboration among specialists, including radiochronologists. Radiometric dating methods, such as 210Pb and radiocarbon (14C), are frequently employed to establish chronologies in aquatic sedimentary deposits and peat bogs. In this study, we review key aspects of sampling, analysis, and the principles underlying 210Pb and 14C age-models, focusing on methods for developing robust joint chronologies for paleoenvironmental research. Drawing largely from the authors' experiences and group discussions during and after a scientific workshop in 2022, we discuss important considerations for site selection, sampling strategies, and radiometric dating to construct integrated 210Pb −14C age-models. Using expert consensus, this group – called Paleostats – aims to provide a set of best practices for other geochronologists with this methods paper. Among our conclusions, we emphasize the importance of accounting for site-specific factors such as prior information on sedimentation rates to establish appropriate sampling and analytical strategies. The use of appropriate coring devices can minimize disturbance to sediments and ensure the core surface remains intact and preserved until sectioning. Where excess 210Pb (210Pbex) is expected, sectioning at intervals of ≤1 cm provides an adequate sampling resolution for 210Pb dating. Exceptions are possible, allowing for ∼2–3 cm sections in areas with confirmed high sedimentation rates (e.g., > 1 cm yr−1). Recovering deeper core sections for 14C dating with sufficient overlap allows for accounting errors in depth estimates made in the field. Special attention is advised during time intervals where validation proxies, such as the human-made radionuclides 137Cs or post-bomb 14C, are expected, and to determine the depth of secular equilibrium between 210Pb and 226Ra. Radiocarbon analyses are commonly performed by accelerator mass spectrometry, and age models are constructed mainly using Bayesian statistics with Markov Chain Monte Carlo techniques (e.g., Bacon). A Bayesian approach (Plum) is now available for producing 210Pb age-models, which infers the 210Pbex flux, eliminates the need for selecting an equilibrium depth, and allows dating cores with incomplete 210Pbex inventory. Plum offers improved chronologies by integrating raw 210Pb and 14C data, and these age-models can be enriched with other dating methodologies, such as identifying tephras and other well-recorded historical events. Harmonized reporting would contribute to making radiometric age-models reproducible, which would benefit from an international effort. Using 210Pb and 14C to produce integrated age-models may yield better insights into the interplay between natural and recent anthropogenic forcings on ecosystems. This can enhance our understanding of environmental processes and their impacts on climate change, ultimately supporting science-based assessments and decisions.</p
A systematic review of second language (L2) student writers’ metacognitive experiences
No full textThis systematic review synthesises empirical evidence on second language (L2) student writers' metacognitive experiences (MEs) across different classroom-based L2 learning contexts in peer-reviewed academic journals. A comprehensive search of six databases (Scopus, APA PsycINFO, British Education Index, ERIC subscription, Education Source and Web of Science Core Collection), supplemented by a hand search through a university online library identified seven primary studies conducted in China and Türkiye that examined (a) conceptualisations, (b) measurements, (c) outcomes and (d) moderators of L2 student writers' MEs. The synthesised evidence indicates that self-report questionnaires are reliable and commonly used tools for assessing writing MEs. MEs pervade and facilitate student writers' self-regulation before, during and after the writing process. Post-writing MEs exhibit a weak but significant positive correlation with writing performance, writing enjoyment, and both psychological and behavioural engagement with writing. The intensity of post-writing MEs was reported to be moderated by both interpersonal and intrapersonal factors, including time, latent profiles among individual students, intrinsic motivation, external feedback and individual linguistic competence. The review highlights the interplay among L2 learners' MEs, metacognitive knowledge and metacognitive regulation strategies, illustrating how their real-time non-analytical affective and analytical cognitive processes work together to facilitate self-regulation in L2 writing. Several recommendations are provided for language instructors and curriculum designers to enhance L2 students' self-regulation by enriching their post-writing MEs.<br/
Friendships are more group‐oriented in the United Kingdom than in Japan
No full textFriendship is a common and complex social bond. Among friendship practices yet to be fully understood are group- versus dyadic-oriented friendship styles, or whether people socialize with one versus multiple friends at a time. We report two studies comparing friendship styles and relational mobility among 1674 young adults (18-35 years old) in Japan and the United Kingdom. Respondents from both countries completed the Friendship Habits Questionnaire, a new measure of dyadic- versus group-oriented friendship styles. Participants also estimated their friendship group size and time spent in friendship groups versus dyads, and completed a scale of relational mobility. Participants’ group-oriented friendship style, assessed with the Friendship Habits Questionnaire, was associated with larger friendship groups and more time spent in groups, rather than dyads of friends. Compared to Japanese, participants from the UK had more group-oriented friendship styles and were more relationally mobile. Moreover, group-oriented friendship styles were associated with higher relational mobility. These findings provide insights into models of friendship and social relationships promoted across diverse cultural settings
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
Finding health in a disadvantaged place: Ethnic differences in multimorbidity by neighbourhood deprivation in England and Wales
No full textThis paper brings together research on ethnic inequalities in multimorbidity and differences in multimorbidity by neighbourhood deprivation to ask whether minority ethnic populations in England and Wales face health inequality when living in deprived neighbourhoods. We use four waves of Understanding Society data collected between 2018 and 2023 to identify the presence of two or more chronic conditions (i.e. multimorbidity). An ethnic group-specific neighbourhood deprivation index (EGDI) is linked to individual respondents for 93,568 person waves. Adjusted logistic regression models show that the Bangladeshi and Pakistani minority ethnic groups have 25 % lower probabilities of multimorbidity compared with the White British group. Underdiagnosis of conditions might explain some of this difference in the Bangladeshi group. The relationship between multimorbidity and neighbourhood deprivation was strongest for the health domain of EGDI. For the summary EGDI score, those living in the most deprived neighbourhoods are 1.4 times more likely to report multimorbidity compared with those living elsewhere. South Asian minority ethnic groups appear to be insulated, by 10 percentage points, from these negative neighbourhood effects, relative to the White British majority. These findings are largely consistent for all cause multimorbidity and physical only multimorbidity and an alternative neighbourhood deprivation measurement for all people (i.e. not ethnic-group specific). Our findings suggest that a holistic approach to population health, bringing together medical specialisms and broad public health policy, is required to improve diagnosis of chronic conditions across ethnic groups and to reduce the negative effects of the health context for all
Development of a secure, standardised, and interoperable surveillance platform for race-related injury and illness data within the UCI Men’s and Women's Road Cycling World Tour- A study protocol
No full textLife cycle assessment of a wave cycloidal rotor: environmental performance and improvement pathways
No full textWave energy technology needs to be reliable, efficient, and environmentally sustainable. Therefore, life cycle assessment (LCA) is a critical tool in the design of marine renewable energy devices. However, LCA studies of floating type wave cycloidal rotors remain limited. This study builds on previous work by assessing the cradle-to-grave environmental impacts of a cycloidal rotor wave farm, incorporating updated material inventories, site-dependent energy production, and lifetime extension scenarios. The farm with the steel cyclorotor configuration exhibits a carbon intensity of 21.4 g CO2 eq/kWh and an energy intensity of 344 kJ/kWh, which makes it a competitive technology compared to other wave energy converters. Alternative materials, such as aluminium and carbon fibre, yield mass reductions but incur higher embodied emissions. Site deployment strongly influences performance, with global warming potential reduced by up to 50% in high-power-density sites, while extending the operational lifetime from 25 to 30 years further reduces the impact by 17%. Overall, the results highlight the competitive environmental performance of floating wave cycloidal rotors and emphasize the importance of material selection, site selection, and lifetime extension strategies in reducing life cycle impacts
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’
MBTModelGenerator: automated reverse engineering of test models from clickstream data for model-based testing of web applications
No full textContextModel-Based Testing (MBT) was first introduced in 1970′s, and has the potential to improve efficiency and effectiveness of testing. However, its adoption—especially for web applications—has been hindered by the effort required to manually design MBT models, and keep them updated.ObjectiveBased on the above challenge in a real industrial context, this study introduces an automated approach to reduce that effort by reverse engineering MBT models from clickstream data captured during users' interaction with web applications.MethodWe have developed and present in this paper an open-source tool, named MBTModelGenerator, which logs user interactions via a lightweight JavaScript module in the front-end, and transmits them to a REST API backend. These interactions are then transformed into directly executable MBT models in the input format of an open-source MBT tool named GraphWalker.ResultsThe tool was evaluated on two representative open-source web applications, Spring PetClinic and a Task Manager web app, and is under evaluation in several large-scale industrial testing projects. The generated MBT models accurately reflected user navigation flows and could be executed in the GraphWalker MBT tool without any manual changes. Using the tool has significantly reduced the effort of MBT model design by more than 90%, while still allowing test engineers to inspect and refine the generated models for completeness.ConclusionOur approach facilitates lightweight adoption of MBT by automating model generation, which is the most effort intensive phase of MBT. To ensure correctness and completeness, the generated models should still be reviewed by test engineers —but that effort remains substantially lower than designing MBT models from scratch. The tool is in active industrial use and available as open-source for reuse and further development.<br/