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The Fair Woman Lay Upon the Bed: Death, Jubilation, and Juxtaposition in Qawwālī.
No full textAcross India and Pakistan, the death anniversaries (ʿurs) of Sufi saints are celebrated with great festivity, including performances of qawwālī. This festival is called ʿurs, an Arabic word that translates as “wedding,” because the death of a saint is said to represent their wisāl, or unification with God. While most ʿurs festivals include the ritual of washing the grave of the saint, known as gẖusal sharīf (literally, “holy bath”), at the shrine of Hazrat Nizamuddin Auliya in Delhi, this ritual is carried out on his birth anniversary, rather than his death anniversary.This chapter presents an analysis of two qawwālī performances, discussion of the ʿurs and gẖusal as annual memorialisation rituals, and insight from interviews with qawwāls, listeners, and administrators of the shrine of Hazrat Nizamuddin. I explore how the juxtaposition of life rituals feeds into a juxtaposition of emotional expression and experience between predominantly positive, but also negative emotions. Further, sacred qawwālī is usually viewed as a means to the end of ecstatic communion with the divine. This often joyful mode of altered consciousness in the celebration of a saint’s union with God seems to expand a conceptualisation of music as ‘words against death’ in Douglas Davies’s terms. When considered in light of literature highlighting the similarity of such music-induced altered states of consciousness with the states of consciousness experienced during near-death experiences, qawwālī seems to enact ‘music against death’ by reorienting listeners from facing away from death as an ultimate end, to facing toward death as a positive future, prefigured in the altered state of hāl
Reduced model describing resonance overlap threshold for fast ion transport by toroidal Alfvén eigenmodes
Get PDFThis work introduces a reduced model to predict the ‘resonance overlap threshold’ governing transport of fast ions (FIs) by toroidal Alfvén eigenmodes (TAEs) in tokamak plasmas. TAE-FI resonance occurs within distinct ‘resonance regions’ of particle phase space, which grow wider when the TAE mode amplitude increases. If these resonance regions are separate then FI transport is limited and localised; if multiple resonance regions overlap then large-scale stochastic transport of FIs can occur, jeopardising confinement. Predicting the resonance overlap threshold between these two scenarios is an important problem in the field of FI transport modelling. Current workflows rely on computationally expensive orbit-following codes; the new reduced resonance overlap model provides a much simpler and faster alternative, for ease of implementation in integrated models. In this paper, we apply this approach to passing particles and find good agreement with more detailed numerical modelling, including HALO code simulations. Models based on this approach could provide a useful step in increasing efficiency of predictive modelling for next-generation fusion reactors
A Health-Aware Hybrid Reinforcement–Predictive Control Framework for Sustainable Energy Management in Photovoltaic–Electric Vehicle Microgrids
Get PDFThe increasing electrification of mobility within smart cities has accelerated the need for intelligent energy management strategies that jointly address cost, emissions, and battery health. This study develops a health-aware hybrid reinforcement–predictive energy manager (H-RPEM) designed for photovoltaic–electric vehicle (PV-EV) microgrids. The proposed controller unifies model-based predictive optimisation with adaptive reinforcement learning to achieve both short-term operational efficiency and long-term asset preservation. A comprehensive dataset of solar generation, EV charging behaviour, and stochastic load profiles was employed to train and validate the hybrid control framework under realistic operating conditions. Quantitative results indicate that the proposed H-RPEM controller achieves an 18.7% reduction in total operating cost and a 22.5% decrease in carbon emissions, whilst maintaining the battery state-of-health above 0.95 throughout a 24 h operational cycle. When benchmarked against standard predictive control, the hybrid strategy converges 30–40 episodes faster and delivers a 25% improvement in reward stability, demonstrating enhanced robustness and learning efficiency. The results confirm that H-RPEM achieves robust and balanced performance across economic, environmental, and technical domains, establishing it as a scalable and health-conscious control solution for next-generation smart city microgrids
Effects of a facilitator-delivered, group-based school intervention to improve media literacy and body dissatisfaction among adolescents: protocol of a cluster randomized controlled trial in Colombia.
No full textBody dissatisfaction is highly prevalent in Latin America, including Colombia. However, culturally adapted, evidence-based interventions are lacking, although effective programs exist in Western countries. This protocol describes a cluster randomized controlled trial (cRCT) of an intervention to improve media literacy and decrease body dissatisfaction and related outcomes among adolescents in urban and rural schools in Colombia. We will recruit 1250 adolescents in 7th-10th grade (aged 11-17years) to participate in a two-arm, cluster-randomized, open-label, controlled superiority trial in Colombia. Participating schools will be recruited by the research team. Participants will be randomized at the school level (1:1). Randomization blocks stratified by socioeconomic status (high vs. low) and geographical area (rural vs. urban) will be used to assign schools to either: (a) a school-based, four-session group intervention delivered over 2-4weeks by trained facilitators (n = 625) or (b) a waitlist control group that will receive the intervention only after follow-up (n = 625). Participants need to be aged 11-17years old, attending a participating school and class in grades 7 to 10, have written parental consent, and give written assent to be eligible for participation in this study. Individuals who cannot understand spoken or written language, or who do not have parental consent to participate, will be excluded. Primary outcomes are media literacy and body dissatisfaction. Secondary outcomes include appearance comparison, thin ideal internalization, curvy ideal internalization (girls only), drive for muscularity (boys only), eating disorder symptoms, and general wellbeing. Additional exploratory outcomes include risky appearance-altering behaviours (girls only), colourism, and skin colour satisfaction. Furthermore, adverse outcomes will be recorded. Outcome assessments will happen pre-intervention (baseline; Timepoint 1), 1-week post-intervention (immediate post-test; Timepoint 2), and 9-12months post-intervention (follow-up; Timepoint 3). Based on pilot data, we hypothesise that the intervention group will demonstrate increased media literacy and decreased body dissatisfaction at post-test and follow-up. We also anticipate improvements in secondary outcomes. This will be the first cluster RCT to evaluate the effect of a culturally adapted body image intervention in Colombia. This trial has been registered in the ISRCTN Registry (ISRCTN15802562, https://doi.org/10.1186/ISRCTN15802562). First enrolment was on 26th of August 2025. This trial has been registered in the ISRCTN Registry (ISRCTN15802562, https://doi.org/10.1186/ISRCTN15802562). [Abstract copyright: © 2026. The Author(s).
Immobilization of Ca 2+ by OH − ions on calcium silicate hydrates
Get PDFThe interface of calcium silicate hydrate (C–S–H) plays a a crucial role in the mobility of ions through hardened cement paste and thus in the long term durability of concrete structures. Here, we combine experimental zeta potential measurements with non-equilibrium molecular dynamics simulations to elucidate the surface state of C–S–H under cement-relevant conditions. Our findings reveal that the co-adsorption of Ca2+ and OH− ions overcompensates the negative surface charge of C–S–H, originating from deprotonated silanol groups, thereby forming a surface adsorption network. This mechanism is governed by the interplay between solution pH and calcium speciation, where higher pH values favor the formation of calcium–hydroxide solution complexes. Consequently, an increase in pH leads to a higher Ca/Si ratio in C–S–H and a greater adsorption of these complexes, further increasing the effective surface charge density. Conversely, a reduction in pH promotes ion desorption, leading to a progressive decrease in the Ca/Si ratio and decrease in the effective surface charge. These findings provide new insights into the long-term compositional evolution of C–S–H in cement paste, with implications for phase stability, mechanical performance, and concrete durability
Assessing associations amongst body dissatisfaction, eating disorder symptoms and sociocultural influences in adolescents from rural Nicaragua
Get PDFIntroduction: We conducted a cross-sectional study with adolescents in rural Nicaragua to assess the associations amongst body dissatisfaction, eating disorder symptoms and sociocultural influences (sociocultural pressures and media internalization), and assessed gender and ethnic group differences. Methods: A total of 122 adolescents aged 11–18 years (77 girls; Mage = 13.8, SD = 1.55) from small rural communities completed validated, culturally adapted questionnaires measuring perceived sociocultural pressures, media internalization, body dissatisfaction and eating disorder symptoms. Results: Stronger perceived sociocultural pressures and greater media internalization were associated with higher levels of body dissatisfaction and more eating disorder symptoms in both boys and girls. Perceived sociocultural pressure from family, friends and the media was the strongest predictor of body dissatisfaction in hierarchical regression models. Although general media internalization did not predict body dissatisfaction, athletic internalization emerged as a significant predictor for girls in exploratory analyses. Girls showed lower body dissatisfaction and lower media internalization compared to boys. Compared to participants of Afro-descended ethnicity, Indigenous participants showed higher body dissatisfaction, higher media internalization and higher perceived sociocultural pressure. There were no gender or ethnic differences in eating disorder symptoms. Conclusions: Our results suggest that perceived pressures from family, friends and the media are stronger predictors for body dissatisfaction than media internalization - for both boys and girls. Furthermore, differences between Indigenous and Afro-descended participants highlight the importance of taking cultural context and ethnicity into account when assessing body dissatisfaction and eating disorder symptoms in rural, Latin American populations
The role of agency theory in stock price crashes during the COVID-19 crisis
Get PDFThis study tests the empirical relevance of agency theory in explaining stock price crashes in U.S. firms. We construct two novel multidimensional indices of managerial opportunism using a broad set of agency-related variables linked to bad news hoarding. Using the COVID-19 pandemic as a natural experiment, we examine whether crisis-induced survival pressures intensify the relation between agency problems and the release of previously withheld bad news. Contrary to expectations, we find no significant association between the agency-based indices and future crashes. These findings challenge the traditional agency-based crash risk explanations and underscore the need to explore alternative mechanisms
Freedom in a Time of Climate Catastrophe
No full textThe failure of Western publics to respond congruently to the scale of the climate catastrophe should be understood as a lack of freedom. This article describes four ways in which collective agency is likely to be exercised in the coming decades in relation to the climate crisis: climate governance, reactionary populism, green authoritarianism, and pluriform localism. The prospect that these may fail to achieve climate goals within the necessary time horizon raises the question of the meaning of freedom if the window of opportunity for adequate climate action is closing. Drawing on Walter Benjamin’s theological and materialist conception of messianic time in the face of the loss of the future, we can delineate a Christian account of freedom indexed to participation in the cross and resurrection of Christ
Fostering tolerance through museums: assessing visitor engagement with historical analogies at three archaeological galleries in the UK
No full textThis study is the first to quantitatively investigate museum visitors’ perceptions of historical analogies that compare concepts from the deep past to modern political ideas. Specifically, we assess the capacity of heritage sites to influence visitors’ historical consciousness in ways that foster tolerance by exposing and challenging those analogies that feature in exclusive nationalist discourse. This is achieved by analysing the responses submitted by 803 visitors who engaged with the Tolerant Futures interactive, which was displayed in the archaeological galleries of three UK museums. Our findings show that visitors’ views did not align with the positions implied by the historical analogies used in exclusive nationalist discourse. By contrast, most participants held critical and non-binary understandings of the Iron Age and Roman past, as well as liberal values. We conclude that museums have a limited ability to attract adults with authoritarian views and to alter their beliefs. However, we propose that they could play a crucial role in activating intergenerational attitude change and tolerance through programmes aimed at promoting nuanced and non-binary interpretations of the ancient past among children. These results are significant for researchers and practitioners in heritage, museum studies, cultural sociology, psychology and cultural policy
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