192815 research outputs found
Sort by
A framework for life-cycle profit-damage assessment of floating multi-energy islands with wind-wave dynamics integration
Get PDFThis study proposes a comprehensive techno-economic assessment framework for optimal offshore energy island site selection, emphasizing both economic efficiency and structural resilience. By integrating the dynamic interaction of wind and wave conditions, the framework improves decision-making accuracy to ensure that selected locations are both cost-effective and environmentally robust. Additionally, a novel multi-energy island scenario is introduced, featuring detailed hydrogen production and storage modeling to enable efficient electricity-to-hydrogen conversion and flexible energy transport. To evaluate operational performance and life cycle sustainability, the study employs Kriging surrogate models, validated using OpenFAST simulations. These models predict turbine power output and fatigue damage across varying environmental conditions, including wind speed, wave height, and wave period. This integration significantly advances the optimization process by allowing long-term behavior prediction while minimizing computational costs. Furthermore, real historical environmental datasets and multiple floating offshore wind platforms are utilized for simulation benchmarks, enhancing the framework’s practical relevance. The results demonstrate substantial improvements in life cycle profit and structural reliability through optimal site selection. Ultimately, the framework provides a practical and scalable reference for planning offshore renewable energy systems, supporting the development of sustainable, resilient, and economically viable offshore energy islands in dynamic marine environments
How do governments frame responsible innovation: a topic modelling analysis of national policy portfolios
No full textThis paper examines how national innovation policies operationalise Responsible Innovation (RI) and identifies gaps across its core dimensions. Using BERTopic, the study analyses the semantic structure and temporal evolution of RI within China's national innovation policy portfolio from 2012 to 2024. A quantitative analysis of 116 policy documents identifies 14 core topics, revealing a multidimensional and evolving policy architecture. The findings show substantial alignment between China's innovation policies and the classical RI dimensions of anticipation, inclusion, reflexivity, and responsiveness, while also highlighting distinctive patterns in their practical policy manifestation. Anticipation and inclusion are strongly embedded within the policy landscape, whereas reflexivity and responsiveness remain comparatively underdeveloped. Methodologically, the study demonstrates the value of data-driven topic modelling for large-scale policy analysis. Substantively, it provides insights into how responsible innovation principles are translated into policy practice and offers guidance for strengthening innovation governance systems
Educator-in-the-Loop: AI-Assisted LaTeX Workflows for Rapid Development of Technical Lecture Materials in Engineering Education
No full textThis paper presents an educator-in-the-loop framework for integrating generative AI with LATEX authoring in civil
engineering education, specifically focusing on fluid mechanics
and hydrological engineering. The proposed workflow enables
instructors to use AI tools such as ChatGPT and Gemini by
providing input in the form of handwritten notes, scanned PDFs,
lecture slides, or images. These tools generate initial LATEX drafts,
which are then refined and validated by the educator using
editors like Overleaf. This collaboration streamlines the creation
of high-quality and technically accurate teaching materials,
allowing educators to focus on pedagogy rather than formatting.
Four representative case studies, deriving the Bernoulli equation,
unit hydrograph plotting, application of Manning’s formula and
schematic representation of pipe flow, demonstrate practical
implementation of the workflow. Each case highlights how AI
accelerates the writing while maintaining instructional integrity
through expert oversight. The educator-in-the-loop model enhances productivity, ensures consistency across materials, and
supports reproducibility, making it a promising strategy for
modernizing content development in STEM education
Towards appreciative assessment: integrating direct and indirect assessments for better learning outcomes
No full textBusiness and management education employs direct and indirect measures of program learning outcomes to monitor education quality and drive continuous program improvement. As learning is complex, multifaceted and often tacit, diverse methods are required to assure students have met the learning outcomes. While direct assessment measures demonstrations of learning and is often considered reliable, indirect assessment typically captures perceptions of learning and is often marginalised in assurance of learning. We examine how indirect measures are used and valued by assurance of learning (AoL) practitioners by employing a mixed-method study involving 161 survey responses and 13 interviews representing 39 countries. Findings reveal that indirect measures greatly complement direct assessment providing key insights on learning outcomes often missed by direct assessment. The study reveals that the transformative potential lies not in collecting direct and indirect measures but in their strategic integration itself. Through appreciative inquiry to assessment, educators can move beyond compliance and become reflective practitioners who use assessment integration as a tool for continuous pedagogical enhancement. We advocate for strategic assessment integration in learning assurance and introduce a new concept of appreciative assessment
Plastic debris facilitates the survival of multidrug-resistant bacterial pathogens in an urban agricultural environment
Get PDFRapid urbanisation in Low- and Middle-Income Countries (LMICs) has driven the expansion of urban and peri-urban farming to enhance food security. However, these systems are highly vulnerable to contaminated irrigation waters, urban runoff, open defecation and inadequate sanitation, and anthropogenic pollution, such as plastic and microplastic waste. Here, we investigated the role of plastic debris as a reservoir and vector for multidrug-resistant (MDR) enteric bacterial pathogens in a real-world agronomic setting. Focusing on two peri-urban agricultural sites in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, we analysed 140 environmental samples (soil, water, vegetation, and surface and buried plastic debris) for the presence of four key enteric pathogens: E. coli, Salmonella spp., V. cholerae, and K. pneumoniae. The concentration of total culturable pathogens was higher on plastic debris compared to soil, water and vegetation, with presumptive E. coli loads of ∼1 × 103 CFU per individual piece of plastic debris. Importantly, plastic debris harboured a greater proportion of MDR strains; specifically, 69% of E. coli isolates were resistant to two or more antimicrobials, with plastics at one site accounting for over half of all MDR E. coli. While MDR E. coli were absent from soil, plastic debris supported strains of E. coli and K. pneumoniae that were resistant to critically important antimicrobials (e.g., ciprofloxacin and cefixime).This study provides robust evidence that in a real-world setting, plastic waste can act as an ecological reservoir which concentrates and facilitates the survival of MDR pathogens. Therefore, the widespread presence of contaminated plastic in agricultural systems could pose significant occupational health risks for farmers, in addition to a potential environment-to-food risk for consumers
Genetic diversity, population structure and differentiation of farmed and wild African catfish (Clarias gariepinus) in Nigeria
Get PDFThe African catfish (Clarias gariepinus) is a commercially important species, for both fisheries and aquaculture, and is now the most commonly farmed fish in sub-Saharan Africa. However, knowledge about the genetic diversity and population structure of natural and farmed populations, which is crucial for effective conservation and sustainable aquaculture management, is scarce. Using mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) cytochrome c oxidase 1 gene (COI) sequencing and genomic analysis using triple restriction site-associated DNA sequencing (3RAD), we investigated the genetic diversity and population structure of farmed and natural C. gariepinus populations from Nigeria including an albino form found in the natural environment. Eleven COI haplotypes were identified, of which seven were unique to natural samples. From the 3RAD results, natural sampling sites had a slightly broader range and higher maximum values for observed heterozygosity (Ho = 0.150–0.178), expected heterozygosity (He = 0.173–0.213) and nucleotide diversity (pi = 0.181–0.228) compared to the farmed populations (Ho = 0.133–0.161, He = 0.116–0.149, pi = 0.121–0.156). Conversely, genetic differentiation (Fst) was higher among farmed sampling sites compared to the natural ones and there was high genetic differentiation between the farmed and natural C. gariepinus sampling sites (Fst = 0.29–0.44). Admixture patterns suggested occasional mixing, possibly driven by hydrological connectivity and fish transport practices. Notably, five albino individuals sampled from the wild supported evidence of farm escapees. Outlier analyses and GO enrichment revealed loci potentially under selection related to lipid metabolism, immune signalling and apoptotic processes, indicating metabolic and immune-related adaptations to environmental stress. Our finding of potential farm escapees highlights the potential risks associated with increasing aquaculture activities and the need for greater regulation of fish farms, which could aid monitoring and reduce the risk of escapes
Defining conservation units in a highly diverse species: a case on Arctic charr
Get PDFDefining appropriate conservation units is crucial to the protection and management of biodiversity. These delineations deliver further benefit when they include assessments of population vulnerability to extinction from pressures such as climate change. However, delineations and vulnerability assessments are particularly difficult within highly diverse species, such as the salmonid fish Arctic charr (Salvelinus alpinus), that show extensive phenotypic and genetic variation within and across locations, variable and complex life histories and broad geographic distributions. As yet, the nature and scope of Arctic charr diversity has not been characterised at the scale needed to delineate key conservation units in Scotland. To identify evolutionarily significant and vulnerable populations to prioritise for conservation, we conducted a genomic study of Arctic charr populations across Britain and Ireland with a focus on Scottish populations (N = 64 populations; 24,878 SNPs; 410 individuals). We found that most lake populations represented distinct genetic clusters, with limited gene flow between them and resulting in substantial genetic differentiation. Higher level groupings of genetic similarity across catchments likely reflect historic anadromy and migration, with populations primarily grouping east or west of the central watershed divide in Scotland. Analysing genetic offset, also known as genomic vulnerability, we identified strong inverse correlations between genetic vulnerability and latitude and distance to the sea, suggesting that more southern and more inland populations are more vulnerable to the effects of climate change. Additionally, patterns of vulnerability across several additional metrics identified other populations that may be at higher risk of loss. We further used our genetic data, along with phenotypic and geographic information, to identify populations of greatest evolutionary significance. This highlighted that the most important ones to protect are those in locations with multiple ecotypes, a key facet of functional Arctic charr biodiversity, and populations that are the only ones in their Hydrometric Area
Tissue resident colonic macrophages persist through acute inflammation and adapt to aid tissue repair
Get PDFMacrophages are crucial for the maintenance of intestinal homeostasis, are considered key proinflammatory effector cells during intestinal inflammation and are implicated in tissue repair following injury or inflammation. Whether these roles are attributed to distinct subsets of macrophages or if macrophages retain a degree of plasticity in the intestine remains poorly understood. Here, through a combination of single cell RNA sequencing, lineage-tracing and immunofluorescence imaging, we define three major subpopulations of murine, colonic macrophages on the basis of CD11c and CD163 expression. These macrophages occupy discrete anatomical niches and display distinct replenishment kinetics. They all accumulate during acute colitis and Cx3cr1-based fate mapping shows that they persist through to inflammation resolution. Moreover, marked transcriptional differences exist between the macrophages present in health and their counterparts in the post-inflammation environment, demonstrating that inflammation leads to transcriptional rewiring of the resident macrophages in a subset-specific manner. Intriguingly, there were minimal transcriptional changes between long-lived macrophages and their recently differentiated counterparts, indicating the environment exerted a greater influence than ontogeny or the time of residency on their functional states in inflammation resolution
Map room conversations: mapping objects
Get PDFThis article presents a summary and reflection on our ‘Map Room Conversation’ at the RGS-IBG Annual International Conference 2024. ‘Mapping Objects’ comprised a session that sought to link together commonalities between two collections from the Royal Geographical Society's archives, both of which had been the focus of PhD research projects based at the Society (both projects were funded via the Arts and Humanities Research Council's Collaborative Doctoral Award scheme—see https://www.rgs.org/our-collections/research-using-our-collections/collaborative-doctoral-research). The pair of talks considered three-dimensional aspects of map-making, both the objects and methods involved in producing maps, and the construction of maps in three dimensions in the form of relief models. The discussion centred on the knowledge required to use and produce the objects, their users, audiences, and varying verisimilitudes. Following earlier calls to refocus cartographic research from representations towards practices (Kitchin and Dodge, Progress in Human Geography, 31, 2007), this collaborative session sought to enliven the objects of mapping and modelling, while interrogating the assumptions of infallibility underlying their usage. Centring audience participation and encouraging their interaction with the archival materials, this Map Room conversation illuminated the varying ways we can envisage and respond to the processes of mapping practices
Teaching sociology in turbulent times: ethical pedagogy and the politics of the classroom
Get PDFThis article calls for a critical reimagining of sociology teaching in today’s political climate, where post-pandemic learning, rising inequalities and institutional power demand urgent reflection. Inspired by bell hooks’ question – what truly matters most? – it asks: what does an ethical praxis of teaching sociology entail, and how do we navigate its politics? I foreground positionality, care and epistemic justice as normative commitments to guide ethical pedagogy, acknowledging they are deliberate choices rather than historically universal ethics. Using the concepts of pedagogic discomfort and doing good harm, I propose interventions that foster ethical reflexivity – an orientation grounded in responsibility, attention to power and relational accountability. The article explores what it means to teach ethically, not the teaching of ethics, considering how classroom decisions reproduce or resist inequalities. Ultimately, it advocates for a sociology classroom of hope: critical, reflective and transformative, ethically and politically engaged, and committed to social justice
Data sources:
Access Repository Dashboard
Do you manage Open Research Online? Become a CORE Member to access insider analytics, issue reports and manage access to outputs from your repository in the CORE Repository Dashboard! 👇