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Perceptions and experiences of receptive anal intercourse among women : a systematic review and thematic analysis
Get PDFIntroduction: Receptive anal intercourse (RAI) is an increasingly reported sexual practice across diverse populations and carries a higher risk of certain health consequences, including HIV and other sexually transmitted infections, anal trauma and anorectal disorders, compared with vaginal intercourse. Despite these risks, research exploring women’s experiences, motivations and perceptions of RAI remains limited. Much of the existing literature has focused on gay and bisexual men, leaving women’s perspectives comparatively underexamined and their ability to make fully informed sexual-health decisions constrained by this evidence gap. Objectives: This qualitative systematic review and thematic synthesis aimed to explore women’s perceptions, motivations and experiences of RAI, including how societal attitudes and gender dynamics shape these experiences. Methods: A qualitative systematic review and thematic analysis was conducted following Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses guidelines. Searches of PubMed, PsycINFO, CINAHL and Embase identified peer-reviewed qualitative studies published between January 2010 and June 2025 that examined women’s views and experiences of RAI. The Sample, Phenomenon of Interest, Design, Evaluation, Research type framework guided study selection, and data extraction captured study characteristics and verbatim qualitative findings for synthesis. Results: 22 studies encompassing 593 women across 12 countries were included. Participants represented diverse ages (14–84 years) and socioeconomic backgrounds. Three overarching themes emerged: (1) motivations for engaging in RAI, often linked to partner expectations, intimacy or curiosity; (2) experiences, spanning pain, discomfort and coercion, but also instances of pleasure and agency and (3) societal views, which reflected both normalisation and enduring stigma. Women’s accounts revealed that RAI is negotiated within relational and cultural constraints, where agency and coercion, pleasure and pain, frequently coexist rather than oppose one another. Conclusions: Women’s experiences of RAI reveal a complex interplay between sexual agency, bodily autonomy and social meaning. Recognising that pleasure and discomfort can coexist and that decisions are often shaped by relational and cultural dynamics highlights the need for open, non-judgemental discussion of RAI within sexual-health education and clinical practice. Addressing stigma and providing evidence-based guidance can support informed, consensual and safe sexual decision-making for women
Studying Greenland ice sheet processes with high-resolution digital elevation models
Get PDFIce sheets are vast expanses of ice. The Greenland ice sheet (GrIS) is the second largest ice sheet on Earth at 1.7 million km2 and is currently losing mass at an accelerating rate, contributing ~14 mm to global sea level rise between 1992 and 2020. Understanding the processes driving this mass imbalance is essential for projecting ice sheet evolution. This thesis explores methods for studying key GrIS processes using digital elevation models (DEMs), focusing on supraglacial lake depth estimation, floating ice tongue identification, and grounding line delineation. Chapter 4 assesses the use of DEMs for measuring supraglacial lake depth, comparing ArcticDEM and ICESat-2 LiDAR-derived bathymetry with estimates from the radiative transfer equation (RTE) applied to Sentinel-2 imagery. While elevation-based methods agree strongly (r = 0.98), RTE-derived depths show large biases and uncertainties with the green band overestimating depths by ≤ 153% and the red band underestimating depths by ≤ 63%. This highlights limitations in current optical approaches, demonstrating the value of multi-sensor validation for improving volume estimates. Chapter 5 introduces an approach for identifying floating ice tongues using DEM deviation analysis across fifteen northern Greenland glaciers. The method identifies floating ice signatures on five lobes, confirms the absence of signatures on eight, and suggests ambiguous signatures on two. This provides a proof-of-concept that DEMs can be used to dynamically locate floating ice signatures. Chapter 6 combines ArcticDEM with a tidal model to detect timestamped grounding lines based on tidal flexure. This method yields > 200 new grounding line estimates across three major glaciers, identifying a previously undocumented 3.45 km² ice tongue on one of these glaciers as of 2018. These studies provide new tools for monitoring ice sheet processes, and their findings will support future research into the impact of climate change on our ice sheets and their stability
Using quadratic programming to reconstruct data from published survival and competing risks analyses
Get PDFThe ability to retrieve pseudo-individual patient data (IPD) from published survival study results is important to facilitate meta-analysis, evidence synthesis or secondary data analyses for the purpose of decision modelling for cost effectiveness analysis. While established methods exist for retrieving pseudo-IPD from Kaplan--Meier plots, these algorithms are not easily extendable to other types of survival data, nor do they allow all available information to be incorporated. An optimization-based approach is proposed where the task of reconstructing the IPD is formulated as a quadratic program (QP) with linear constraints. The method easily allows auxiliary information such as marked censoring times. Moreover, the same approach can be used to reconstruct patient-level competing risks survival data from published cumulative incidence functions. In simulation, the QP-based method is shown to outperform existing algorithms particularly when data on numbers at risk and marked censoring times are available. The methods are illustrated through reconstruction of data from a published study on patients with advanced stage follicular lymphoma
Open or Blocked Skies? : Community Moderation Practices in Bluesky
Get PDFContent moderation is a major challenge for online platforms. While user-driven blocking is a common tool, its dynamics are usually hidden as moderation data is private. Bluesky makes moderation actions public-by-design, providing an unprecedented opportunity to study a community-driven moderation ecosystem at scale. We leverage this transparency to (1) map the ecosystem of moderation blocking actions across 34 million users, including both individual blocks and the through blocklists, (2) identify the signals that correlate with blocking, and (3) measure the consequences of these actions. We demonstrate that community blocking is widespread, with a volume several orders of magnitude higher than official takedowns, and affects the visibility of more than 90% of Bluesky content. The blocked accounts represent the most active, popular, toxic, and politically inclined users. However, different blocklists target different types of accounts and behaviors. Finally, blocking does not decrease the popularity and activity of the blocked users and has a limited effect on the social graph. By quantifying its dynamics and trade-offs, our study provides empirical grounding for designing future moderation systems that are transparent, pluralistic, and resistant to centralized control. Taken together, this study provides the first large-scale, quantitative analysis of a community- driven moderation ecosystem, demonstrating how individual and collective interventions influence user behavior
Pyroclast textures generated during the explosive eruption of carbonatite
No full textExplosive eruptions of low viscosity lava, such as basalts and basanites, are widespread and are a dominant form of volcanism on Earth. They commonly display Hawaiian and Strombolian eruption styles and are relatively well documented. Carbonatite, another magma composition distinguished by a high volume fraction of carbonate minerals, is also characterised by low melt viscosities. However, documented examples of explosive carbonatite eruptions are very rare. We examined the composition and textural features of carbonatite pyroclasts from the Miocene Kaiserstuhl Volcanic Complex, Germany. Three pyroclastic rock samples from the Kirchberg and Henkenberg regions of the complex were studied using optical petrography, scanning electron microscopy, and image analysis techniques. Our observations indicate that after primary fragmentation, the pyroclasts underwent in-flight relaxation and experienced pyroclast-pyroclast collisions to form complex, agglutinated pyroclasts. The vesicles within the pyroclasts are well preserved by secondary mineralisation of carbonates. Comprehensive image analysis enabled the reconstruction of both the primary and secondary (agglutinated) grain size and shape distributions, which represent the initial, primary formation of pyroclasts and their textural features after agglutination. Finally, these data are used interpret the potential fragmentation processes and eruption conditions for the extrusive carbonatites of the Kaiserstuhl volcanic complex
Beyond ‘doing both’ : framing carbon removal carefully
Get PDFThere is a common framing in communications about carbon dioxide removal (CDR) which amounts to saying 'we need to do both' CDR and emissions reductions, but without explaining further what this means or how to achieve it. This leaves the impression that such framing is empty and performative, doing little to counteract the risk of mitigation deterrence, i.e. that the pursuit of CDR undermines and delays emission reductions, which the framing is meant to address. This article substantiates and illustrates this claim, and develops recommendations for how to frame CDR more carefully. Such careful framing crucially involves indicating the relatively minor role CDR can play compared to emissions reductions on the path to net zero. Finally, we reflect on the barriers to and importance of these recommendations being taken up
Digital health interventions for women in frontline public service roles : A systematic review of effectiveness in reducing substance use
Get PDFFrontline occupations, including military, healthcare, and first responders, often include frequent exposure to traumatic events, increasing the risk of substance use disorders (SUDs). Research has shown that those in high-intensity occupations are at higher risk of developing SUDs compared to the general population. Women face unique experiences related to substance use, including greater functional impairment and barriers to treatment access. Yet, understanding of the effectiveness of digital health technologies in addressing substance use among women in frontline occupations is limited. This systematic review evaluates the effectiveness of digital health interventions in reducing substance use among women in frontline roles. Four databases (PsycINFO, Ovid MEDLINE, Embase, PsycArticles) were searched for English language full-text articles (2007–2024) that (1) evaluated a digital intervention designed to reduce substance use, (2) reported changes in substance use outcomes such as frequency, intensity or duration, using validated tools (3) included current or former frontline public service workers, and (4) included women as the primary target population or as a subgroup within the sample. 13 papers met inclusion criteria, focusing on eight distinct web and mobile-based interventions for alcohol, tobacco and illicit substances. Most studies (n = 11) reported substantial post-intervention reductions in alcohol and tobacco use, although results for PTSD symptoms, illicit drug use, and quality of life were mixed. This review highlights the potential of digital health interventions for reducing substance use but underscores significant gaps in research. The scarcity of studies focused on women, small and heterogeneous samples, and focus on veterans limits the generalisability to women in frontline roles. These gaps present a pressing challenge in understanding gender-specific digital intervention efficacy. Future research should prioritise larger, representative samples of women across diverse frontline occupations to drive the development of digital technologies tailored to the unique challenges faced by women in these roles
Thermal treatment of high-density polyethylene films to increase crystallinity for the fabrication of superior radiation-grafted anion-exchange membranes for fuel cells
Get PDFWhen fabricating radiation-grafted anion exchange membrane (RG-AEMs), it is important to understand the microstructure of the precursor film (such as high-density polyethylene, HDPE). This study builds on recent work showing that variations in the degree of crystallinity of the HDPE precursor led to variations in the final RG-AEM properties (up to a threshold of 81%, above which the properties become more consistent). This study shows that the degree of crystallinity of the HDPE film can be increased to >81% by thermal treatment at 115 °C for 24 h (followed by natural cooling in the oven). In addition to increasing the bulk degree of crystallinity, it was shown that thermal treatment increased crystalline domain sizes and lamella width distributions, while it reduced orientational order of the lamellae. The treated HDPE films resulted in optimised RG-AEMs with increased IECs and water uptakes values at high relative humidities (RH > 70%); there was also a small improvement in Cl− conductivities in water. Terahertz time domain spectroscopy (THz-TDS) showed that the proportion of bulk water present in the optimised RG-AEM was greater than its untreated counterpart (66% vs. 58% when fully hydrated); bulk water is essential for high ion conductivities and rapid water diffusion. In fuel cell testing, the optimised RG-AEM had improved in situ water transport compared to the untreated benchmark, as it required lower operating RHs to achieve a peak power density of 2.8 W cm−2. Furthermore, the optimised RG-AEM maintained a higher operating current at intermediate voltages, 2.7 A cm−2 at 0.7 V vs. 2.1 A cm−2 for the benchmark RG-AEM