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Ruth Borchard Self portrait prize 2025
No full textThis online display presents a selection of artworks entered into the 2025 Self Portrait Prize. Displaying self-portraits by artists from all backgrounds and at different stages of their artistic careers, it demonstrates the continuation of the long established tradition of the artist as a subject for their own work. Including painting, drawing, collage, sculpture, photography, video and mixed media artworks, it reveals the diversity and ingenuity apparent amongst contemporary practices
Multi-domain analysis and optimisation for plate heat exchangers:Integrating theory, Experiment, and CFD-based approaches
No full textThe compactness and the high thermal efficiency of plate heat exchangers (PHEs) are key attributes that make them crucial in various industrial applications. This research aims to optimise the performance of PHEs by improving their effectiveness, maximising the heat transfer capabilities, and reducing the associated pressure drop. The optimisation was performed for the geometrical parameters using the multi-objective technique, employing the Kriging model for the predictions. The study developed a complete representation of a 1D mathematical model to estimate the PHE performance and validate the result against experimental data. The computational fluid dynamic (CFD) model integrated into this research captured complex flow behaviours inside the channels and analysed the optimised shape. The result revealed that the strategy used in this research obtained an optimised design with superior thermal-hydraulic performance. Specifically, the optimised design exhibited a thermal effectiveness increase of up to 13% over the original design. Additionally, it achieved a 30.49% improvement in heat transfer rate. Remarkably, the optimised design achieved a substantial pressure drop reduction of up to 56.9% compared to the initial design, relative to the mass flux through the channels. Moreover, the optimised design provided improved flow uniformity and distribution, reducing maldistribution by 25.2% in turbulent flow and 48.7% in laminar flow. The exergy metrics highlighted the preference for the optimised design to maintain higher exergy efficiency. Furthermore, it indicated a 29% reduction in irreversibilities, making the optimised shape more energy efficient and sustainable. The sensitivity analysis identified the channel gap as the primary governing parameter for pressure drop, accounting for over half of the variability, while plate thickness had the most significant impact on the effectiveness of the heat exchanger and was responsible for 42.6% of the direct and interaction effects of variables.</p
Retaining the Dose:How Cast Material and Particle Properties Affect Nasal Powder Rebound
No full textThe site of nasal deposition is critical when targeting specific areas of the nose and is studied in-vitro using nasal casts. Reliable information demands that particles remain where they deposit; however, dry powder formulations routinely ricochet from the cast surface. This study provides the first systematic data set quantifying that rebound. Lactose and colloidal microcrystalline cellulose (cMCC) powders (dmax ≤ 150 µm) were released from controlled heights or propelled by compressed air to impact aluminium, steel or silicone rubber plates at mean velocities of 0.2, 0.5 and 5 ms-1. High-speed imaging (20 kHz) captured every trajectory, allowing calculation of the percentage of particles that bounce (BP) and normal coefficient of restitution (COR).On aluminium at 0.5 ms-1, all lactose particles rebounded (BP=100%, COR=0.62). cMCC exhibited a reduced BP (62.5%) and COR of 0.45 (-27% relative to lactose (p < 0.001). On steel, the COR of lactose was reduced (0.53), while silicone rubber suppressed rebound still further (BP=23.6%, COR=0.33). Increasing impact speed to 5 ms-1 diminished COR by an additional 11–12% on both metals and halved the rebound on silicone rubber. Cohesive aggregates (≤ 75 µm) returned a 26% lower COR than free-flowing 150–212 µm particles under otherwise identical conditions.These results show that particle material, size distribution and nasal cast material must be considered simultaneously when designing test methodologies and delivery devices, because each independently alters the energy dissipation that determines whether a particle is retained on a surface after deposition and may affect the requirement for coating. <br/
Wild canids and felids differ in their reliance on reused travel routeways
No full textDiverse factors, including environmental features and cognitive processes, can drive animals' movements and space use, with far-reaching implications. For example, repeated use of individual-level travel routeways (directionally constrained but imperfectly aligned routes), which results in spatial concentration of activity, can shape encounter-based processes including predation, mate finding, and disease transmission. However, how much variation in routeway usage exists across species remains unknown. By analyzing GPS movement tracks for 1,239 range-resident mammalian carnivores-representing 16 canid and 18 felid species from six continents-we found strong evidence of a clade-level difference in species' reliance on repeatedly used travel routeways. Across the global dataset, tracked canids had a 15% (±7 CI) greater density of routeways within their home ranges than did felids, rising to 33% (±16 CI) greater in landscapes shared with tracked felids. Moreover, comparisons within species across landscapes revealed broadly similar home range routeway densities despite habitat differences. On average, canids also reused their travel routeways more intensively than did felids, with hunting strategies and spatial contexts also contributing to the intensity of routeway usage. Collectively, our results suggest that key aspects of carnivore routeway-usage have an evolutionary component. Striking interspecific and clade-level differences in carnivores' reliance on reused travel routeways within home ranges identify important ways in which the movement patterns of real-world predators depart from classical assumptions of predator-prey theory. Because such departures can drive key aspects of human-wildlife interactions and other encounter-based processes, continued investigations of the relationships between movement mechanisms and space use are critical.</p
The REAL Resource Bank:Race, Ethnicity and Antiracism Learning for the Social Sciences in Higher Education
No full textThe bank is intended to offer an easy-to-access resource site for university educators who teach race and ethnicity topics across a range of social science subjects and related disciplines. Some of the resources may be suitable for use with students in class, others may help students to structure their self-guided learning, while others may act as helpful reference points for lecturers. The resource bank is organised into different sections, encompassing top tips for teaching race and ethnicity, curriculum and pedagogical guidance, and addressing ethnic inequalities in higher education, followed by various categories of teaching resources, including key people, books (academic and popular), journal articles, reports, guides, strategies, magazine articles, blogposts, websites, documentaries, lectures, debates, podcasts, video and audio clips, film, music, poetry, photography, interactive teaching resources, and resources for schools. Additional markers specify whether teaching resources may be more suitable for general or subject specific purposes.The resource bank has been developed from a wider research project on university educators’ views and experiences of teaching race and ethnicity topics to students in the social sciences. ‘Exploring Race and Ethnicity on Social Science Degree Programmes’ was a Santander Universities funded study running from 2021-24 and involving a national survey of educators at 30 UK universities and five subsequent focus groups. The research aimed to contribute to pedagogical debates about how race and ethnicity topics are approached in university classrooms across different social science disciplines, and how educators can best be supported in this endeavour. The project was led by Dr Peter Hemming (University of Surrey), Lis Bundock (University of Brighton) and Rosie Moore (University College London), with assistance from Bettina Teegen (University of Surrey), and Nisrin Chamlal Zinane (University of Surrey), Sarah Harrison (University of Surrey), Ananya Nair (University of Brighton), Varsha Satyavaram (University of Surrey), and Shona Williamson (University of Brighton).Most items featured in the REAL resource bank were put forward either by research participants of the above project, or colleagues associated with University of Brighton, as items they had found useful in their own teaching. These suggestions were made in response to dedicated open-ended questions forming part of the national survey, during some of the focus groups, and/or in response to email calls for further ideas from colleagues. The listings are not intended as definitive recommendations from the project team, and readers should make their own judgements as to which items would be most useful and appropriate for their needs. Similarly, the short summaries of each listed item (which were created with the assistance of generative artificial intelligence) are meant as approximate indicators rather than comprehensive synopses and should act primarily as a starting point for further exploration. Special thanks go to Bridie Budgen, Emily Campbell, and Madeleine Manning, all of whom helped Peter Hemming prepare the resource item listings for inclusion in the bank during their A-Level work experience at University of Surrey. Sincere thanks also to all the project participants and colleagues who put forward resource suggestions for the bank – their contributions are much appreciated
Reflections of euphoria within festival lights
No full textThis paper analyses the role of euphoria as experienced through moments of ‘glimmer’ within light festivals. Drawing on two light festivals—one in Bexhill-on-Sea, Southeast England, and the other at the University of East London—the research examines how euphoria creates opportunities for light festivals to move beyond passive consumption by offering communities opportunities for active engagement, participation, and production. The paper begins by exploring the concepts of euphoria and glimmer, providing a theoretical framework for understanding their role in light festivals, both as concepts and as lived experiences. This is followed by a brief introduction to light festivals, along with a detailed account of the ‘After Dark’ festivals. An action-research methodology is employed, incorporating researcher–practitioner reflection and the analysis of multiple data sources, including photographic and documentary records, field observations, and festival reviews. Through this process, moments of euphoria and glimmer within the ‘After Dark’ festivals are identified and discussed. The findings are organised around three themes: Programming Moments of Euphoria; Participation, Place and Euphoria; and Euphoria and Opportunities for Inclusivity. The first theme highlights the vital role euphoria plays in breaking down barriers and creating atmosphere by encouraging people to pause and engage. The second examines how euphoria and glimmer help animate space and foster a sense of belonging within festival contexts. Lastly, the third theme explores how these moments can be harnessed to create inclusive outreach opportunities. This research contributes to the field by using the lens of euphoria to understand and evaluate the programming of light festivals, advocating for approaches that move beyond passive consumption. It emphasises the importance of active community engagement and the role of euphoric and glimmer moments in shaping inclusive, dynamic spaces. The paper concludes by recommending that festival programmers intentionally identify and plan for moments designed to deliver inclusive, community-based euphoric experiences
Digital Rebranding and Quotidian Self-Reinvention:Wellness Influencer-Healers’ Negotiations of Authenticity and Tellability Crises on Instagram
No full textThis paper examines practices of digital rebranding, characterised as the strategic overhaul and staged revitalization of one’s digital persona, within wellness influencer cultures on Instagram. Processes of rebranding, which are communicatively afforded by and performatively augmented through platform tools, features and semiotic resources, introduce a narrative disjuncture that requires delicate rhetorical management of self-historicity in relation to neoteric self-presentation practices in order to preserve impressions of authenticity. Drawing on data collected during a longitudinal blended digital ethnographic study, including screen-based participant observations, social media content extraction and oral interviews, I explore the ways in which female wellness influencer-healers discursively (re)negotiate their self-positioning in connection to their current and past digital brands and, relationally, their (imagined) audiences. I suggest that rebranding practices are narratively structured by and, in turn, enact authenticity through discourses of ‘personal growth’ and ‘pedagogical self reflection,’ thereby constructing self-presentational shifts as emergent and organic evolutions in one’s online presence. The paper further argues that digital rebranding manifests from compounded crises of authenticity and tellability, compelling users to continuously recalibrate their online personas in alignment with evolving platform norms and audience expectations. The analysis therefore foregrounds the paradoxical struggle of maintaining a stable personal brand whilst adapting to the dynamic nature of social media