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Cloistered justice:The opposing trends of barricade and respective secrecy
Get PDFTwo recent reports illustrate contrasting trends in open justice exceptions conceptualised as respective and barricade secrecy. Respective secrecy protects the parties involved and their constitutive social ties and, as evaluation report into the Family Court Transparency Pilot indicates, has been shrinking. In contrast, barricade secrecy conceals actions and determinations of the state, and the greatly delayed government response to the Ouseley Review of Closed Material Procedures indicates its use will continue to spread. Taking seriously the demand that justice must be seen to be done, the article applies a secrecy studies lens to the dynamics of respective and barricade secrecy and argues that the friction between them conveys the vernaculars of disorder that operate in place of consistency, stability and certainty expected in democratic society
Trust and fairness in platform–supplier contracts:Navigating supplier concerns in the sharing economy
Get PDFTrust and fairness are critical to the sustainable development of the sharing economy, particularly in platform–supplier relationships, where numerous individual suppliers offer access to their durable assets without transferring ownership. Motivated by the real-world phenomenon of personalized wages and informed through direct interactions with relevant constituents, this study examines a contracting problem between a share-based platform and its supplier, where the platform designs contracts that differ in information-sharing and revenue-sharing structures. The supplier evaluates these contracts based on their expected utility, incorporating trust in the information shared and fairness concerns over revenue sharing. In addition to trust and fairness, we incorporate deception cost for both parties: for the platform, they operationalize trustworthiness as a reluctance to misrepresent information, while for the supplier, they constrain opportunism such as underreporting revenue. Using a game-theoretical model, we derive the optimal contracting mechanism under different conditions. Our results reveal that trustworthiness, rather than trust alone, shapes optimal contracting outcomes. Under platform-managed contracts, the revenue-sharing ratio increases with either trust or fairness—but not both simultaneously. For supplier-managed contracts, dishonesty leads to a vicious cycle between commission fees and underreporting and the supplier who seeks to be treated fairly will cheat more, resembling fairness-driven supplier opportunism. Our findings offer actionable insights for platforms in designing contracts that consider suppliers' trust and fairness, ensure compliance, and mitigate opportunism, contributing to sustainable and ethical supplier relationships
Model-driven design of electrical stimulation therapy improves gait dynamics in individuals with limb amputations
Get PDFObjective: Amputation is a life-changing condition that leads to impaired gait, chronic pain, and progressive musculoskeletal deterioration. Functional electrical stimulation (FES) has the potential to improve mobility and manage pain; yet, clinically, prescribing this therapy largely depends on clinician experience, which limits its efficacy. This study aimed to design and evaluate the first FES gait rehabilitation therapy for individuals with limb amputation using musculoskeletal modelling techniques. Methods: We integrated musculoskeletal modelling with optimal control simulations to identify stimulation strategies capable of modulating joint loading during gait. An in-silico trial was conducted to determine target muscles for stimulation, followed by an in-vivo gait assessment to evaluate FES-assisted walking performance. Results: The in-silico study showed that stimulating the vasti muscles in the amputated limb provided mechanical advantages by modulating internal loading. Experimental gait analysis further confirmed these findings, demonstrating that the model-driven design produced favourable biomechanical effects, including reduced peak knee contact forces in the intact limb and increased vasti muscle forces in the amputated limb during FES-assisted walking. Conclusion: Stimulating the vasti muscles in the amputated limb can enhance gait dynamics in individuals with transtibial amputation. Significance: This study, which combines in-silico therapy design with in-vivo validation, paves the way for evidence-baseddigital tools to support effective FES-based gait rehabilitation and has potential to be extended to broader clinical populations with gait impairments arising from neurological or musculoskeletal conditions
Perceptions and Experiences of Co-Produced Positive Behaviour Support Training in Community-Based Services and Organisations for Children With Intellectual Disabilities and Behaviours That Challenge:A Qualitative Multiple Case Study Design
Get PDFBackgroundChildren with intellectual disabilities can display behaviours that challenge, often associated with poor outcomes. Despite national policy commitment to co-production, little evidence is available on how such services deliver co-produced activity.MethodsQualitative data were collected from three services that reported co-producing Positive Behaviour Support introductory workshops. Participants' experiences and perceptions of these workshops were described through individual semi-structured interviews conducted with staff and family carers (n = 24) and analysed using a Framework approach.ResultsTwo main themes were represented in the initial framework. Positives of Co-production included the advantages of obtaining and combining theoretical and practical knowledge, including personal and professional development for those delivering the intervention. Challenges to Implementation included the time and effort required to build a collaborative way of working, barriers to organisational support and family carers' history with services.ConclusionsSupport, funding and resources need to be made available and protected to make co-production activities meaningfu
Evidence of the <sup>9</sup>B(1/2<sup>+</sup>) state in the <sup>12</sup>C(<i>p,α</i>)<sup>9</sup>B reaction
Get PDFThe low-lying excitation region in 9B has been studied through the 12C(p,α)9B reaction with a proton beam energy of 33 MeV at the Birmingham MC40 Cyclotron. Coincident recoil -particle and 9B breakup products were detected by a silicon double-sided strip detector array and reconstructed to identify signatures of the elusive 9B(1/2+) state. Data were collected for two distinct -particle recoil angles, 31∘ and 106∘, with a total beam exposure of ≈ 0.52 mC. -matrix analysis indicates the presence of a state at x=1.83±0.05 MeV with a width of Γ=850±11088 keV with a confidence level of 99.1% and no signature of any lower-lying state. This result is shown to be consistent with four previous measurements over the last 25 years, signifying strong evidence that the first excited state in 9B lies at a weighted average excitation of x=1.84±0.04 MeV with Γ=740±7766 keV
Early Results from the Coma Legacy IFU Survey (CLIFS):Ram Pressure Induced Shocks and Ionization in Jellyfish Tails
Get PDFJellyfish galaxies, which exhibit tails of gas opposite to their direction of motion, are a galaxy population showcasing the most extreme effects of ram pressure stripping (RPS). We present the emission line properties of a preliminary sample of five jellyfish galaxies in the Coma cluster, observed with the WEAVE Large-IFU as part of the Coma Legacy IFU Survey (CLIFS). When complete, CLIFS will form a sample of 29 jellyfish galaxies in Coma, selected based on the presence of one-sided tails in the radio continuum, enabling a comprehensive picture of the effects of ram pressure on galaxies in the Coma cluster. We extract emission line properties and confirm consistency between disk fluxes measured from WEAVE and MaNGA for galaxies with overlapping disk coverage between surveys. Comparing resolved radio and Hα-based star formation rates, we find that, in contrast to the disk, the dominant source of tail emission is not star formation. We find evidence for diffuse ionized gas excited by RPS-driven shocks in the tails, as indicated by: (1) LINER-like tail emission with the [O i]/Hα Baldwin-Phillips-Terlevich diagnostic; (2) enhanced [O ii]/Hα ratios in the tails relative to the disks; and (3) similarly elevated emission line velocities and velocity dispersions in the tails with respect to the disks. These results demonstrate that ram pressure driven shocks dominate the ionized emission in jellyfish galaxy tails
Multimodal Control of Manipulators:Coupling Kinematics and Vision for Self-Driving Laboratory Operations
Get PDFAutonomous experimental platforms increasingly rely on robust, vision-guided robotic manipulation to support reliable and repeatable laboratory operations. This work presents a modular motion-execution subsystem designed for integration into self-driving laboratory (SDL) workflows, focusing on the coupling of real-time visual perception with smooth and stable manipulator control. The framework enables autonomous detection, tracking, and interaction with textured objects through a hybrid scheme that couples advanced motion planning algorithms with real-time visual feedback. Kinematic analysis of the manipulator is performed using the screw theory formulations, which provide a rigorous foundation for deriving forward kinematics and the space Jacobian. These formulations are further employed to compute inverse kinematic solutions via the Damped Least Squares (DLS) method, ensuring stable and continuous joint trajectories even in the presence of redundancy and singularities. Motion trajectories toward target objects are generated using the RRT* algorithm, offering optimal path planning under dynamic constraints. Object pose estimation is achieved through a a vision workflow integrating feature-driven detection and homography-guided depth analysis, enabling adaptive tracking and dynamic grasping of textured objects. The manipulator’s performance is quantitatively evaluated using smoothness metrics, RMSE pose errors, and joint motion profiles, including velocity continuity, acceleration, jerk, and snap. Simulation results demonstrate that the proposed subsystem delivers stable, smooth, and reproducible motion execution, establishing a validated baseline for the manipulation layer of next-generation SDL architectures
Investigating the effects of post-exercise serum treatments on APP processing in iPSC-derived neurons and astrocytes
Get PDFThe number of people living with Alzheimer's disease (AD) is increasing worldwide as populations age. A hallmark of AD is the accumulation of amyloid-β (Aβ) in the brain, and pathways regulating amyloid-β precursor protein (AβPP) processing are of major interest for disease-modifying and preventive strategies such as exercise. Regular exercise is associated with a reduced risk of AD, potentially through limiting Aβ accumulation, yet the underlying cellular mechanisms remain unclear. Acute bouts of exercise induce the release of circulating signalling molecules that may influence AβPP metabolism. To investigate the effects of exercise on AβPP processing, human induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC)-derived neurons and astrocytes were treated with serum collected before and immediately after high-intensity exercise. Both healthy control and familial AD (PSEN1 A246E) neurons and astrocytes were independently exposed to 10 % pre- or post-exercise serum for 30 min, after which markers of AβPP processing were quantified. Post-exercise serum contained increased amounts of Lacate, BDNF, IL-6, sAβPPα, and Aβ₁–₄₂, and reduced neprilysin activity (p < 0.05). Treatment with post-exercise serum acutely elevated ADAM10 activity in neurons, which was replicated by spiking lactate in pre-exercise serum. sAβPPα was also increased in PSEN1 neurons following post exercise serum treatment with increased Aβ₁–₄₂ secretion in both PSEN1 neurons and astrocytes (p < 0.05). These findings demonstrate that human post-exercise serum can modulate AβPP processing in iPSC-derived neural cells. This supports the concept that circulating exercise-induced factors can influence neuronal pathways relevant to AD pathology.</p
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