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Adapting the TOURQUAL scale for accessible tourism: assessing service quality for people with physical disabilities
No full textTraditional service-quality frameworks often fail to adequately capture the experiences of people with disabilities in tourism contexts. Although accessibility has been increasingly discussed in tourism research, limited guidance exists on how existing service-quality models can be meaningfully adapted from the perspective of tourists with physical disabilities. This study explores how the TOURQUAL scale can be adapted to better reflect accessibility-related quality perceptions among tourists with physical disabilities in the Brazilian context. Using a qualitative approach, a focus group was conducted with six participants presenting different types of physical disability, enabling an in-depth examination of lived tourism experiences. Data were analysed using Bardin’s content analysis and organised using the hierarchical model proposed by Philip and Hazlett, which classifies indicators into pivotal, core, and peripheral attributes. The findings highlight that accessibility-related service quality extends beyond physical infrastructure, encompassing attitudinal, communicational, technical, emotional, and relational dimensions, including indicators related to staff sensitivity and training, accuracy of accessibility information, autonomy-supportive service delivery, maintenance of accessible infrastructure, and trust in service provision. The hierarchical organisation of indicators provides a structured way to prioritise accessibility-related attributes based on their perceived relevance to autonomy, safety, and dignity in tourism experiences. Rather than proposing a universal protocol, this study offers a user-informed and context-sensitive framework that illustrates how service-quality models such as TOURQUAL can be adapted to incorporate accessibility considerations. The results contribute conceptually and methodologically to the literature on accessible tourism, as well as providing practical insights for tourism managers seeking to improve inclusive service quality
The cost of AI
No full textThe Cost of AI: A Curated Critical Reading List is a comprehensive resource examining the multifaceted impacts of artificial intelligence beyond promotional narratives. Compiled for educators and students, this collection integrates peer-reviewed research, policy analysis, investigative journalism, and independent critical perspectives to address persistent gaps in mainstream AI discourse.
The reading list spans seven interconnected domains: energy consumption and environmental impact, including AI's water usage and carbon footprint; labour exploitation and the invisible human work powering AI systems; job displacement and workforce transformation; algorithmic bias and discrimination; copyright and creative worker displacement; AI's effects on education and critical thinking development; and governance frameworks including the EU AI Act.
Drawing from authoritative sources including Stanford HAI, MIT, Brookings Institution, and the International Energy Agency alongside voices from the independent web development community, the resource provides both foundational critical texts and emerging research. Over 150 sources—from 2022 through early 2026—document systemic harms, technological limitations, and regulatory responses with particular attention to often-overlooked costs: data centre water consumption, Kenyan content moderators earning under $2 per hour, and measurable erosion of academic integrity.
This curated collection challenges the assumption that AI's benefits are self-evident, instead centring the perspectives of affected communities: artists whose work trains systems without compensation, workers whose labour is rendered invisible, and educators grappling with assessment integrity. Ideal for university courses, student self-directed learning, and institutional resource development, the list maintains rigorous academic standards while remaining accessible to those new to critical AI scholarship
Evaluating the economic co-benefits of soil carbon sequestration: the test case of the UK
No full textThere are no known valuations for ecosystem service flows from soil carbon for any country or region in the world. In this paper we make a first attempt to generate such data. The study aims were: develop a framework for acquiring international data for application to a specific region (UK); determine whether data limitations render it insufficient to inform the design of policies to encourage more C sequestration. Total ESS flows from existing soil carbon stock were estimated at £ 1140/ha, excluding food and feed. Accounting for different soil types and land uses, total ecosystem service value delivered by soil carbon in England and Wales, adjusted for C stock, was £ 50.8 billion (0–30 cm) and £ 59.7 billion (0–100 cm). The limited international data lacks both depth and coverage, with some ESS very under-represented. A further significant data weakness is that valuations represent ESS flows from the total stock of carbon in soils, rather than the more policy-useful metric of ESS flows from additions to carbon in soils. Further studies are needed to create a more varied range of experimental sites, using a mix of valuation methods, but particularly those that capture the preferences of a variety of stakeholders. In spite of these data limitations, this study has successfully demonstrated that there are significant ESS benefits of C sequestration beyond climate regulation, both for the farmer and wider society. We contend that this evidence is sufficient for use by policy makers in the design of policies to stimulate farming for greater ESS provision
'It felt as if someone else was acting on my behalf.’ Voices of Women Sentenced for Infanticide in Sweden 2000-2025
Full text linkIn earlier studies of infanticide in Sweden, I used the verdicts in seven cases of attempted and completed infanticide between 2000-2024 to discuss legal aspects of the Swedish infanticide section. The material can also shed light on the more personal aspects, which is explored here, as the verdicts contain, among other things, a retelling of what the women themselves said during the trial and in police interviewing and even if written in third person, they still provide an insight into what the women themselves experienced, felt and how they tried to make sense of their actions. A lot of research on infanticide look at background factors and it is less common that the women themselves are actually heard. I therefore analyse the women’s stories as they appear in the verdicts and utilise a thematic approach to identify issues the women brought forward, whether these were accepted by the court or not. Identified themes regard the awareness, denial and concealment of pregnancy, another theme regards the inability to speak – either about the pregnancy or about their mental health after birth – and a third theme regards post-natal mental health such as depression, suicidal thoughts and the development of psychosis. These insights challenge the common description of infanticide committed by rational women who consciously chose to kill
Autonomous battery research: principles of heuristic operando experimentation
Full text linkUnravelling the complex processes governing battery degradation is critical to the energy transition, yet the efficacy of operando characterisation is severely constrained by a lack of Reliability, Representativeness, and Reproducibility (the 3Rs). Current methods rely on bespoke hardware and passive, pre-programmed methodologies that are ill-equipped to capture stochastic failure events. Here, using the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory's multi-modal toolkit as a case study, we expose the systemic inability of conventional experiments to capture transient phenomena like dendrite initiation. To address this, we propose Heuristic Operando experiments: a framework where an AI pilot leverages physics-based digital twins to actively steer the beamline to predict and deterministically capture these rare events. Distinct from uncertainty-driven active learning, this proactive search anticipates failure precursors, redefining experimental efficiency via an entropy-based metric that prioritises scientific insight per photon, neutron, or muon. By focusing measurements only on mechanistically decisive moments, this framework simultaneously mitigates beam damage and drastically reduces data redundancy. When integrated with FAIR data principles, this approach serves as a blueprint for the trusted autonomous battery laboratories of the future
Tourism mobility (in)justice: exploring lived experiences of cross-border tourists
Full text linkTourism is often seen as driver for equality and sustainable development, yet the differential scrutiny tourists face at the border directly challenge this narrative. Using a narrative inquiry, we examine how marginalised tourists with low-ranking passports navigate border-crossing predicaments, despite meeting pre-entry requirements. Findings reveal that marginalised tourists experience border-crossing as a continuous feedback loop between the felt border and the performed border. We demonstrate how borders become imprinted on and internalised within tourists’ bodies, producing automatic confessions and obedience. This study advances critical border thinking, highlights ongoing uneven tourism mobilities and calls for humane and equitable travel experiences
eCyanation: a dual strategy for electrochemical cyanation of amines using potassium thiocyanate
No full textElectrophilic cyanation has long relied on highly toxic cyanogen halides, which limits practical use. Here we present eCyanation, an electrochemical approach that uses inexpensive, bench-stable potassium thiocyanate as the cyanide source. Under mild anodic conditions, electrophilic cyanating species are generated from thiocyanate, enabling N- and S-cyanation without handling cyanide salts or isolating cyanogen halides. For oxidation-sensitive substrates, we also provide a complementary two-step variant: bromine-mediated activation of thiocyanate generates a reactive cyanating solution, which is then combined with the nucleophile after electrolysis. Together, these two operational modes offer a practical entry point to electrophilic cyanation chemistry from thiocyanate
Compensation for miscarriages of justice in England and Wales: how s.133(1ZA) could still be challenged
No full textThe compensation system for miscarriages of justice in England and Wales is the only scheme that conflates the criminal standard of beyond reasonable doubt, with a civil and administrative process where the standard is to the balance of probabilities. The European Court of Human Rights held that the scheme did not breach the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) art.6, but this article argues that the procedure could be challenged again on the basis that it is has created a significant departure from civil procedure norms, to the extent that it is not proportionate either to the aim of protecting public funds or to the goal of limiting compensation to those who are factually innocent
Restorative practices in further education: a forgotten sector
No full textIn the UK, research on restorative practices (RP) in education focuses primarily on primary and secondary schools, while the Further Education (FE) sector remains a largely overlooked and underdeveloped area of inquiry — a forgotten sector in RP research and policy. Based on data collected over 14 months, this study explored how staff at FE institutions understood RP and their experiences of its successes, constraints, and the conditions required for effective policy implementation. Findings indicate that both top-down and bottom-up approaches to implementation are pivotal. However, RP policy is often interrupted or reversed due to institutional mergers or changes in Senior Leadership Teams (SLT). Additionally, a lack of regular training and professional development on RP hampers its consistent and meaningful application
Towards cleaner air: PM2.5 exposure and disparities around childcare providers in England
Full text linkAir pollution poses a significant health risk for young children, particularly in urban and deprived areas. Exposure to fine particulate matter (PM2.5) during early life may contribute to long-term adverse health outcomes. This study examined changes in PM2.5 concentrations around Early Years Providers (EYPs; childcare providers) in England from 2018 to 2022. We assessed associations between small-area socio-demographic characteristics and exposure levels exceeding the World Health Organisation (WHO) 2021 annual air quality guideline (>5 μg/m3). We integrated data on EYPs locations from Ordnance Survey with annual PM2.5 estimates from DEFRA using Geographic Information Systems and socio-demographic indicators — deprivation, urbanicity, and ethnic composition. A Bayesian spatial regression model with random effects was used to estimate adjusted associations between PM2.5 levels and local population characteristics. The number of EYPs ranged from 15,780 in 2018 to 18,427 in 2019. Mean PM2.5 levels around EYPs changed by 17.8 % over the study period (from 9.4 μg/m3 [SD = 1.8] in 2018 to 7.8 μg/m3 [SD = 1.5] in 2022). However, PM2.5 levels at over 96 % of EYPs remained above the WHO, 2021 annual guideline throughout. Higher PM2.5 concentrations were observed in EYPs located in more deprived, urban, and predominantly non-white communities. Despite recent improvements, PM2.5 levels around most EYPs in England remain above recommended thresholds. Targeted interventions in deprived urban areas are needed to reduce young children's exposure and address environmental health inequalities
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