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Porous sound absorbing materials from natural sources: data and modelling
No full textThis study reports porosity, flow resistivity, and normal incidence sound absorption spectra for samples fabricated from plant fibers, crushed fruit stones, chopped nut shells, and wood-cement composites. The Johnson–Champoux–Allard (JCA) model has been used to fit measured data and extract microstructural parameters such as tortuosity and characteristic lengths. An alternative, semi-analytical approach based on a model for a log normal size distribution of non-uniform cylindrical pores (NUPSD) is proposed. It uses porosity, flow resistivity, and the frequency of the first quarterwavelength resonance to estimate tortuosity. Also, it enables estimates of thermal permeability for making predictions with the Johnson-Champoux-Allard-Lafarge (JCAL) model. It avoids the need for direct fitting and provides comparable predictions. Typically, it predicts higher values of tortuosity than those resulting from fitting the JCA model. For many samples, particularly those with fibrous structure, the NUPSD-based predictions agree better with measured spectra than predictions based on JCA model fitting. The results indicate that the materials made from plant fibers are better sound absorbers than materials made from wood chips, wood cement, crushed fruit stones or chopped nut shells. Those with the higher tortuosity, implying broader pore size distributions, are more useful as sound absorbers for building applications
The characteristics of effective learning
No full textThis chapter champions the characteristics framework as a significant schema in child development. Its importance is affirmed by summarizing current research as well as including case studies from practitioners who have embedded the teaching of the characteristics into their own curriculum. This chapter finishes with a summary of the key points to provide a takeaway for readers
SLaVEgents: Digital Prosopography of Enslaved Persons in Western Eurasia and North Africa (1000 BCE–300 CE) 1
No full textSLaVEgents represents the first large-scale digital project to focus on the agency of enslaved persons in antiquity and explore how this group actively shaped the societies in which they lived. To facilitate an in-depth analysis of slave agency, SLaVEgents is building an open-access, interlinked digital prosopography that will provide a single point of entry for the study of all attested ancient slaves, freedpersons and possible slaves found in ancient sources from 1000 BCE to 300 AD. Based on and documenting sources across multiple ancient languages (Assyrian, Babylonian, Hebrew, Aramaic, Phoenician, Egyptian, Greek and Latin) alongside relevant archaeological data, SLaVEgents will research the multiple identities of enslaved persons; the networks and communities that they created or participated in; and the ways in which slave agency led to major political, social, economic and cultural changes in antiquity
Educational leaders’ perceptions of evidence quality and application: a paradox
No full textBackground
Although evidence is widely valued in education, differing standards of what counts as acceptable, or valid, evidence have become a major barrier to tackling deep-rooted systemic challenges. The past decade has seen concerted efforts to build consensus and a unified definition, to guide better decision-making, evidence implementation and investment in education.
Purpose
This study examined the factors that influence educational leaders’ perspectives about evidence generation and application, with the aim of deepening understanding of how these perspectives are formed and impact evidence-informed decision-making. Research questions were: 1) How do educational leaders perceive valid evidence? 2) Which challenges do they perceive in applying it to practice? and 3) What role could evidence self-assessment tools play in supporting evidence applications?
Method
The study adopted a qualitative research design, with analysis drawing on data from remote interviews with 15 leaders of educational not-for-profit organisations across 10 countries engaged in advanced evidence-based practice.
Findings
Participants’ definitions of evidence fell into three categories: a hierarchical approach, prioritising randomised controlled trials (RCTs); a pluralistic approach, valuing different types of evidence depending on context; and a multidimensional approach, integrating both the above, but difficult to operationalise in practice. All participants acknowledged the systemic governance challenges of evidence generation and application, noting that evidence was shaped by socio-political and funding agendas beyond their control. Findings are discussed in the context of an evidence paradox, where educational leaders aim for a holistic understanding, but find this pursuit threatened by systemic factors that favour evidence generation and application according to one of the three definitions.
Conclusion
Resolving the evidence paradox requires a mind-shift among decision-makers and commissioners. This is likely to involve re-positioning systems as learning systems that pivot based on mistakes and adapt based on iterative learning
Explainable deepfake detection: A multi-model framework with human-interpretable rationales for legal investigation purposes
No full textThe growing spread of deepfake images, combined with the sophistication of machine learning tools and techniques used to produce them, pose serious threats to the integrity of information, individual privacy, and the preservation of public trust. To detect these deepfake images for legal investigation purposes, it requires advanced detection mechanisms that not only achieve high accuracy but also provide transparent and understandable explanations of the decisions made.
This paper presents a new framework for deepfake detection, which not only pursues accuracy but, more crucially prioritises the explainability of detection, which is a critical need in legal investigations contexts such as policing and digital forensics. The framework is composed of advanced machine learning models, an explainable AI (XAI) component and three commonly used image processing methods for detecting manipulations, to detect and explain manipulations in deepfake images of human faces. Four independently trained CNN models were developed for the original and processed images, and through decision fusion achieved an overall detection accuracy of 97 %. Moreover, the framework achieved an F1 score of 92 % from a hidden test dataset used in the UK Home Office’s Deepfake Detection Challenge 2024, placing it third out of the competing teams in the image deepfake category. Shapley values were also used to identify the facial features that influenced the models’ detection decisions. This information enabled us to home in on various areas on the face to find features more likely to occur in deepfake images. Through Bayes’ theorem, we presented a human-understandable detection method, achieving 85 % detection accuracy on the test images while maintaining explainability of the detection rationales. Our work demonstrates that combining machine learning, image processing, XAI with human understandable rationales results in a demonstrably effective and practical deepfake detection system that could significantly streamline criminal investigations as performed in policing and digital forensics. Future research will explore the interplay between psychological factors and the acceptance and trust of such frameworks and extend the framework by incorporating additional image processing techniques to enhance detection accuracy
LGBT Research Across Seven Countries: a Roundtable Discussion on Research Trends, Challenges, and Possibilities
No full textIntroduction
We look “behind the scenes” of LGBTQ research across seven countries from the perspective of researchers exploring the type of research undertaken, the challenges of conducting research in these settings, and the direction of future research.
Methods
Collaborators from the Global Pride pilot Study (from Argentina, Canada, India, Israel, New Zealand, Taiwan, and the UK) participated in an asynchronous roundtable in April, 2024, contributing word-limited written responses to the key areas above.
Results
Across nations, social sciences predominated with a focus on health and well-being and a marked recognition of diversity. There was a noted absence of national data across most countries, along with an absence of funding and other support with reference to varying cultural influences and heteronormativity. Addressing this diversity and inequalities were seen as future issues to consider, including issues of transgender and nonbinary experiences, housing, safety, and social connectedness, among others.
Conclusions
The roundtable is an effective forum for gathering and sharing individual-level research experiences within countries and a window onto the international state of the field.
Social-Policy Implications
Language (e.g., acronyms and terms) vary from country to country limiting both inclusion and comparison, with identified opportunities for curricular, programmatic and research innovation
The Wolfenden Report, homosexuality, and women
No full textIn 1957, the Committee on Homosexual Offences and Prostitution, better known as the Wolfenden Committee, published its report. That publication retains a higher profile than many other legal developments of the 1950s thanks to its cultural as well as legal effects. Legislation implementing its recommendations – the Street Offences Act 1959 and Sexual Offences Act 1967 – remained in force for the remainder of the century. More profoundly, the Wolfenden Report encouraged the shift to a liberal approach for sexual offences law which remains influential in the Sexual Offences Act 2003.
This chapter focuses upon the part of the Report addressing homosexual offences, especially its implications for women. The Report is well-known for its recommendation that sexual activity between men should be partially decriminalised; this was eventually given legal effect by the 1967 Act. Academic analysis has also established its importance in importing the concepts of ‘homosexuality’ and ‘the homosexual’ into the law of England and Wales. Its significance for legal understandings of women’s same-sex relationships is less obvious, since it made no recommendations on these, and statute law on sex between women was unchanged. Indeed, ‘female homosexuality’ receives only passing mention in the Report. Nonetheless, this chapter argues that Wolfenden was a watershed moment for the regulation of sex between women, as well as for public perceptions of it. Lesbianism had previously been understood as a distinct phenomenon but was now reconceptualised as ‘female homosexuality’. This marked it as parallel to, but also less prevalent, less troublesome, and less sexual than, male homosexuality. The Wolfenden Report was therefore the start of a transformation in the wider approach of courts, Parliament, and broader campaigns whose repercussions continue to be felt today in both law and wider culture
Ichthyoplankton assemblages and dispersal pathways in the South‐Central Tyrrhenian Sea
No full textThis thesis investigates ichthyoplankton communities in the South-Central Tyrrhenian Sea, with a focus on two submarine canyons: Dohrn, in the Gulf on Naples and Cuma in the Gulf of Gaeta, and the coastal LTER-MC station in the Gulf of Naples. By integrating ecological, molecular, and modelling approaches, it assesses spatial and temporal differences in larval assemblages between canyon and coastal sites. These patterns were examined in relation to physical variables such as temperature, salinity, chlorophyll and dissolved oxygen.
Taxonomic identification of fish larvae, often constrained by the absence of diagnostic morphological traits and convergent morphologies, was enhanced through DNA barcoding of the COI gene. This approach confirmed preliminary morphological assignments, resolved ambiguous specimens and improved overall taxonomic resolution, highlighting the potential underestimation of species richness using traditional methods.
Larval dispersal dynamics were examined using Lagrangian Particle Tracking simulations combined with connectivity analyses. The simulations revealed seasonal variability in dispersal patterns, with the two gulfs exchanging roles as sources and sinks across seasons.
Seasonal and spatial patterns in ichthyoplankton assemblages were strongly influenced by both hydrographic conditions and canyon morphology. In summer, Gobiidae dominated the canyon assemblages, while European anchovy (Engraulis encrasicolus) was the most abundant pelagic species. Autumn assemblages were characterized by high abundances of Myctophidae, Clupeidae (Sardina pilchardus), and Mugilidae, reflecting a mix of mesopelagic and neritic taxa. Winter larval assemblages, under vertically homogeneous conditions, were dominated by Sardina pilchardus eggs and balanced larval communities, whereas spring showed variable contributions from mesopelagic taxa such as Cyclothone braueri Interannual variability further modulated these patterns, with shifts in the relative abundance of dominant taxa corresponding to changes in stratification, temperature, and sampling timing.
By combining ecological, molecular, and modelling approaches, this study provides an integrated perspective on larval diversity, dispersal, and connectivity. This work addresses a knowledge gap in ichthyoplankton ecology of the South-Central Tyrrhenian Sea, a region where larval dynamics remain largely unexplored. The findings also hold societal relevance, as understanding patterns of larval dispersal and connectivity is fundamental for the conservation and sustainable management of fisheries in one of the most heavily exploited areas of the Mediterranean
Understanding the world
No full textThis chapter investigates the variety of studies which aim to provide evidence towards the fundamentals of shaping children’s understanding of this specific area of learning. It then includes a series of provision ideas, presented by a range of EYFS practitioners, which show how children have been supported in this area of the EYFS. This chapter finishes with a summary of the key points to provide a takeaway for readers