70015 research outputs found
Sort by
“You lose the person; they’re still there but you don’t recognise them”: A qualitative study examining the consequences of conspiracy beliefs for romantic partners
No full textThis study examined how conspiracy beliefs influence romantic relationships. We conducted semi-structured interviews with 17 partners (or ex-partners) of conspiracy believers, asking questions about their experiences in their relationships. A thematic analysis generated several key themes. Specifically, participants described how their partner’s beliefs led to relational strain in the form of conflict and communication breakdown, which was tied to the psychosocial death of the partner and the relationship. There were several negative effects on participants, as their partner’s beliefs not only affected their relationship dynamic but also took a psychological and physical toll on the participant themselves. Sense-making became important as participants tried to understand their partner’s beliefs. Ultimately, most relationships deteriorated, and many ended, though some remained intact due to financial or emotional barriers. During this process, participants reported seeking support and started to navigate endings in the case of relationship dissolution. These findings extend current knowledge on the consequences of conspiracy theories for interpersonal relationships, suggesting that they pose significant barriers to successful romantic attachments
Managerial job security and firm diversification
No full textWe analyze the effects of managerial job security on firm diversification. Our results indicate that enacting legal protection for managers’ employment is conducive to less corporate diversification. Our findings suggest that, in relation to managerial entrenchment and empire-building theories, hedging against employment risk is more likely to be the primary factor for managers when deciding to conduct firm diversification. Consistent with the explanation of agency theory in relation to firm diversification, we also document that refocusing firms increase firm value after enacting the implied-contract exception. The incremental firm value likely reflects the improved efficiency of capital allocation across divisions, as we find that firms increase the efficiency of their capital allocation after the adoption of the law
The periodicity of enamel laminations in human deciduous molars
Get PDFObjective: Enamel laminations are closely spaced incremental lines that run parallel to striae of Retzius or the developing enamel surface. Here, the timing of enamel laminations is calculated for naturally exfoliated deciduous molars (n=111) from three modern-day populations (Aotearoa New Zealand, Britain and Canada).
Design: Teeth were sectioned using standard histological methods and examined using a high-powered microscope. Mean daily secretion rates (DSR) were calculated for the outer enamel of each molar in cuspal, lateral and cervical enamel regions. These DSRs were used to determine the periodicity of enamel growth across laminations in each region. Lamination periodicity was compared between populations and sexes, and within molars to assess the relationship between lamination periodicity and the angle between laminations and the outer surface.
Results: Laminations were present in 57% of all molars (n=63 out of n=111). Their presence did not vary between populations or by sex. A mean two-day periodicity was observed in cuspal and lateral outer enamel sampling regions. A mean one-day periodicity was observed in the cervical outer enamel. The angle of laminations relative to the outermost surface of the enamel was significantly related to the presence of laminations.
Conclusions: A two-day periodicity for laminations indicates that this incremental marking is not a reliable proxy for a circadian 24-hour rhythm in human deciduous molars. The orientation of laminations was similar to Retzius lines but differed to the orientation of cross-striations
Vietnamese millennial teachers’ career identity during and after the transition to work
No full textThis article, using identity-agency and positioning theory, studies millennial university teachers’ (MUTs) experiences during and after the graduate transition to work (GTW). The teachers reported their reflection on their pre-entrance into the labour market, the first few years as early career teachers, their current performance at work, and their future projection of their career development. The MUTs encountered professional and socialization challenges during the GTW due to their deliberate self-positioning, other positioning and forced self-positioning, but they enacted their identity-agency and continuously worked on their career identity through repositioning. The findings also highlight specific traits of Millennials, such as adaptability, embracement of work-life balance, self-development, and self-driven career
Explosive growth of secondary roads is linked to widespread tropical deforestation
No full textIn the tropics and beyond, roads are key proximate drivers of environmental impacts, including forest fragmentation,1,2 fires,3 mining,4,5 and land clearing.6,7,8 Such impacts may be amplified for the initial roads constructed in intact forests—which we term “first-cut roads”—which often promote a rash of associated secondary roads branching off the new infrastructure. These secondary roads in turn can dramatically elevate forest and biodiversity losses. Although widely seen as a conservation concern, the magnitude and effects of secondary road development have not been previously quantified. Without such information, impact assessment procedures for road projects risk misjudging the level of expected forest loss, hampering decision-making. Here, we quantify the environmental impacts of both first-cut and secondary roads in three of the world’s major tropical regions where high-quality road maps have recently become available: the Brazilian Amazon, the Congo Basin, and New Guinea. We identified 92 first-cut roads across our study region for which we quantified the length of adjoining secondary roads and the area of related forest loss and degradation. On average, we found 4.8, 9.8, and 49.1 km of secondary road for every kilometer of first-cut road in the Congo Basin, New Guinea, and Brazilian Amazon regions, respectively. Forest loss and degradation associated with these secondary roads was remarkably heavy, being 31.5, 22.2, and 305.2 times greater, respectively, than that directly linked with first-cut roads. Our findings provide key insights into the potential scale and extent of forest loss and degradation that will emerge with proposed roads and development corridors in tropical for
Crystal Engineering of Spin-Crossover Materials
No full textSpin-crossover (SCO) materials are transition metal complexes that can switch their spin state in response to external stimuli such as changes in temperature and pressure. They have potential applications in sensing, actuation and cooling technologies. Crystal engineering concepts have been applied to develop a huge range of new SCO materials based on the [Fe(3-bpp)2] 2+ SCO complex (where 3-bpp = 2,6-di(pyrazol-3-yl)pyridine). Chapter 2 focuses on the initial development of this approach by synthesising a series of eleven spin-crossover cocrystals using ditopic coformers, where the supramolecular architectures are dictated by the structure of the coformers. Eight of these new SCO materials were found to be SCO-active, displaying interesting switching properties including hysteresis, stepped SCO and irreversible transitions, and structure-property relationships were developed based on the findings. Chapter 3 investigates the effects of solvates and anions on SCO materials, showing that the choice of anion affects the resulting supramolecular structure of SCO cocrystals. A series of four SCO-active isostructural cocrystal solvates were synthesised and analysed by variable temperature single-crystal X ray diffraction, showing that stronger hydrogen bond acceptors stabilise the low-spin state. Chapter 4 builds on the work from Chapter 2 and Chapter 3 by developing the cocrystallisation strategy further and looking into the effects of using more complex coformers. This resulted in supramolecular structures that deviate from those seen in Chapter 2. Cocrystals were also synthesised using monotopic coformers, which do not form extended supramolecular architectures but were found to be SCO-active and showed interesting domain formation. Mixed cocrystallisation was used to synthesise new materials, demonstrating that it is another strategy that can be implemented to modify SCO V materials. Chapter 5 demonstrates that mechanochemistry using a pestle and mortar or a ball mill can be used to synthesise SCO materials and SCO cocrystals. The SO4 2- salt of the [Fe(3-bpp)2] 2+ SCO complex was synthesised using mechanochemistry and a crystal structure of the material has been reported for the first time. Liquid-assisted grinding in the ball mill was investigated, showing that specific SCO cocrystal polymorphs can be obtained selectively by modifying the milling condition
Towards a fully inclusive environment for disabled people in STEMM: A NADSN White Paper
Get PDFThis White Paper aims to:
● Raise awareness of the inequity and discrimination experienced by disabled people in STEMM;
● Highlight the benefits of an inclusive STEMM environment that values disabled people and supports their career development;
● Provide short, medium, and long-term recommendations to address systemic ableism in STEMM; and
● Promote understanding and transformative change to improve the experiences of disabled people in STEMM including the sharing of good practice.
Our recommendations are that funders, learned societies, and higher education and research institutions work together to:
In the short-term:
1. Recognise the specific challenges and barriers for disabled researchers to enter, remain, and progress in STEMM.
2. Improve work-based training for managers and allies around disability, neurodivergence, chronic illness and intersectionality.
3. Build inclusivity into operational systems and structures, and provide clear, timely routes for requesting and receiving adjustments/accommodations.
4. Ring-fence and publicise specific funds for disability support.
5. Budget for and improve physical environments for disabled researchers.
6. Provide support for accessing research funding from pre-application to post-award.
In the medium-term:
7. Endorse an intersectional framework for disability and inclusion in higher education and research.
8. Require organisations to be held accountable to their working practice policies; with regular reviews to ensure they are accessible, inclusive, embed meaningful consultation, co-design, Equality Impact Assessments, and Equality/Equity, Diversity, Inclusion and Accessibility (EDIA).
9. Establish Access to Work pathways for disabled researchers.
10. Reconceptualise the indicators for ‘good’ research, researchers, and environments.
11. Stop promoting and funding toxic research cultures.
12. Allow disabled academics to work part-time with no detriment to their pension or opportunities for progression.
In the long-term:
13. Create inclusive research cultures and ecosystems.
14. Recognise and reward work in research cultures and ecosystems.
15. Change equality law to recognise the impact of intersectional discrimination
The current clinical practice and experiences in buccal midazolam prescribing in community for status epilepticus termination in the United Kingdom: The Rescue Epilepsy Medication and Training (REMIT) study
Get PDFBackground
Epilepsy is one of the commonest neurological conditions worldwide and confers a significant mortality risk, partly driven by status epilepticus (SE). Terminating SE is the goal of pharmaceutical rescue therapies. This survey evaluates UK-based healthcare professionals’ clinical practice and experience in community-based rescue therapy prescribing.
Methods
A cross-sectional, 21 item questionnaire composed of Likert-style and free-text based questions was administered online. It was distributed through a non-discriminative snow-balling methodology to members of the Epilepsy Specialist Nurses’ Association (ESNA) and the British International League Against Epilepsy (ILAE). Quantitative analysis used Chi-squared, Fishers’ exact and Mann-Whitney tests. Qualitative data were analysed through NVivo 14 software, following Braun and Clarke methodology.
Results
86 participants comprising of nurses (n=64) and doctors (n=21) responded. Participants’ responses reflected guideline-concordant use of emergency management plans and buccal midazolam (BM) as a first-choice therapy for terminating tonic-clonic seizures in SE. However, significant variation (P<0.05) was found between doctors and nurses in prescribing practices of BM including maximum dose prescribed/day, withdrawal plans and the use in multimorbid patients. Eight themes were identified with some suggestive of concerns of overuse, misuse and abuse of BM by patients/carers.
Conclusion
This is the first study to give insights to community management of SE using rescue therapies particularly BM. Further evidence-based guidelines are needed for BM use in multimorbid patients and for its deprescribing. Robust safeguarding protocols and vigilance is needed to regulate BM's misuse and abuse potential. Oncoming community-based technology could provide objective assurance for evidencing utility of rescue medications
Exploring unintentional ‘carer harm’ — Insights from family carers and professionals: An Irish case study
Get PDFThis article explores the poorly understood and under-researched topic of carer harm, where family carers experience harm from the person they are caring for. Nine narrative interviews were conducted with family carers of people living with dementia and autism, and two with professionals. Three focus groups were convened with professionals, including social workers, nurses, and advocacy organizations, with four to five participants in each (n = 14). Four key themes emerged: ‘Understanding Carer Harm’, ‘Stigma and Guilt’, ‘Types of Harm Experienced’, and ‘Expectations, Responses and Systems that Harm’. Conflicts existed for many professionals when balancing the needs, safety, and protection of all family members. We conclude that a range of intersecting enforceable legal rights would help to ensure that carers are better protected. These rights would include the right to an assessment of need for both the carer and the child or adult with care and support needs, as well as a statutory entitlement to services that the assessment identifies for both parties. Proactive support from a social worker could go some way to addressing the challenges, putting in place a range of supports that prevent harm, reduce risk, and meet the needs of all family members
Advances in systematic conservation planning to meet global biodiversity goals
Get PDFSystematic conservation planning (SCP) involves the cost-effective placement and application of management actions to achieve biodiversity conservation objectives. Given the political momentum for greater global nature protection, restoration, and improved management of natural resources articulated in the targets of the Global Biodiversity Framework, assessing the state-of-the-art of SCP is timely. Recent advances in SCP include faster and more exact algorithms and software, inclusion of ecosystem services and multiple facets of biodiversity (e.g., genetic diversity, functional diversity), climate-smart approaches, prioritizing multiple actions, and increased SCP accessibility through online tools. To promote the adoption of SCP by decision-makers, we provide recommendations for bridging the gap between SCP science and practice, such as standardizing the communication of planning uncertainty and capacity-building training courses
Access Repository Dashboard
Do you manage Kent Academic Repository? Access insider analytics, issue reports and manage access to outputs from your repository in the CORE Repository Dashboard!