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The breast appreciation scale: an examination of its psychometric properties in French-Canadian women
No full textScholars are increasingly focused on women’s positive, embodied “breasted experienced”, which includes breast appreciation. This positive body image facet is assessed using the 9-item Breast Appreciation Scale (BrAS; Swami et al., 2022), but assessments of its psychometric properties in diverse cultural communities are limited. Here, we report on the translation and validation of a French translation of the BrAS in French-Canadian women. A sample of 365 women from Quebec, Canada, completed the French BrAS alongside additional measures. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis in two split-half subsamples identified a stable unidimensional model of the BrAS, with six of the nine original items retained. This BrAS model was fully invariant across both split-half subsamples and showed no evidence of differential item functioning in relation to participant age. Latent breast appreciation also evidenced strong composite reliability, as well as adequate convergent and concurrent validity. Specifically, greater breast appreciation was associated with higher overall body appreciation, lower breast size dissatisfaction, better psychological well-being and lower distress, and lower disordered eating patterns. While the present results provide initial psychometric support for the BrAS in French-Canadian women, more work can be done to confirm and extend our findings.</p
Indigenous peoples and local communities as agents of transformative change for sustainability
No full textAchieving just, equitable, and effective sustainability transformations requires diverse social engagement. This paper identifies five key roles played by Indigenous Peoples and local communities as agents of transformative change: embodying sustainable lifeways, resisting harm and defending rights, extending their practices to influence broader systems, and offering foundational models for care-oriented economies and governance. Through illustrative examples, we show how Indigenous Peoples and local communities actively contribute to global transformation. We emphasize the importance of engaging with a wide range of actors in supporting, expanding, and deepening these contributions to realize meaningful, systemic change toward a sustainable and just future.</p
The body acceptance by others scale-2: an examination of its psychometric properties in a French-Canadian adult sample
No full textThe 13-item Body Acceptance by Others Scale-2 (BAOS-2) is an instrument designed to measure generalised perceptions of body acceptance by others. Here, we examined the psychometric properties of a novel French translation of the BAOS-2. A total of 763 French-speaking adults from Canada were asked to complete the BAOS-2, alongside additional validated measures of positive body image, psychological well-being, and eating patterns. Exploratory factor analysis in a first split-half subsample (n = 382) indicated that a unidimensional model with all 13 items had good fit to the data. This model was cross-validated in a second split-half subsample (n = 381) using confirmatory factor analysis. A partial factors-only model indicated, as a function of subsamples, that the French BAOS-2 has differential item functioning based on respondent age, body mass index (BMI), and gender identity (men, women). In addition, higher respondent BMI was associated with lower body acceptance in both subsamples. Our results also supported convergent and concurrent validity of the French BAOS-2, with body acceptance by others associated with greater body appreciation and psychological well-being, as well as lower symptoms of maladaptive eating patterns. The present results indicate that the French BAOS-2 has strong psychometric properties in French-speaking Canadian adults.</p
Trends and cross-country inequalities in the global burden of Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias among adults aged 65+ years, 1990–2021: a population based study with projections into 2050
No full textBackground
Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias (ADOD) pose a significant global health challenge, with projected annual increases. The growing elderly population exacerbates burdens, underscoring the need for interventions.
Methods
Using data from the Global Burden of Disease Study 2021, we analysed global ADOD trends from 1990 to 2021 among adults aged 65+ and projected to 2050. Average annual percentage change (AAPC) in the age-standardised prevalence, mortality and disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) rates of ADOD were calculated to quantify the temporal trends.
Results
Globally, the number of adults aged 65 years or older living with ADOD increased from 18.1 (95% uncertainty interval [UI] 14.4–22.5) million in 1990 to 49.1 (38.7–61.3) million in 2021 (AAPC 0.09%). While mortality rates remained relatively stable (AAPC 0%), DALYs increased by 176% (AAPC 0.02%). Females consistently exhibited a higher age-standardised prevalence (7,603 [95% UI 6,023–9,469] cases per 100,000 population) vs. 5,744 [4,486–7,205]) and mortality (304 [78 to 782] vs. 225 [54–626]) rate compared to males, with notable regional variations. From 1990 to 2021, the age-standardised prevalence of ADOD increased only in East Asia and High-income Asia Pacific (AAPC 0.79% and 0.16%). High fasting plasma glucose, high body-mass index, and smoking were identified as primary risk factors. Projections indicate a 50.1% increase in age-standardised prevalence by 2050, with an estimated 191 (52–330) million cases, and a predicted death toll of 6.8 (2.4–11.3) million.
Conclusion
The global number of people living with dementia nearly tripled from 1990 to 2021, mainly due to increases in population ageing and growth. The findings emphasize the need for comprehensive strategies to address ADOD, including prevention, early diagnosis, and effective management, with a focus on gender and regional disparities.</p
Accelerometers dataset for Criollo horses performing perfromance manouevres
No full textWearable inertial measurement units (IMUs) offer unprecedented opportunities for field‑based quantification of complex equine manoeuvres. In this study, we applied fetlock‑mounted Pegasus accelerometers (±16 g, 100 Hz) and Pegasus Poseidon® processing to five adult Criollo breed horses performing three linear gaits (walk, trot, canter) and two Freio de Ouro–specific reining manoeuvres (esbarrada, volta sobre patas). Raw acceleration data were band‑pass filtered (0.5–30 Hz) and hoof‑on/off events detected with < 10 ms error. From 38 valid stride cycles, we derived stride length, duration, protraction range, medio‑lateral displacement and symmetry index. Principal component analysis (PCA) retained two components explaining 71% of variance, separating observations by symmetry (PC1) and lateral displacement versus protraction amplitude (PC2). K‑means clustering (k = 3) delineated high‑symmetry, low‑displacement gaits; intermediate patterns; and asymmetric, high‑load manoeuvres. Esbarradas exhibited peak hindlimb decelerations of ~37.9 m/s² (∼3.9 g), generating transient loads up to 30 kN, whereas spins produced sustained mediolateral acceleration cycles and extended forelimb suspension. A strong positive correlation (r = 0.90) between trot symmetry and manoeuvre balance suggests baseline gait assessments can predict performance in asymmetric tasks. These findings validate fetlock‑mounted accelerometry for objective monitoring of discipline‑specific equine movements and hold promise for performance optimisation, injury risk mitigation, and welfare enhancement in Criollo Freio de Ouro and reining-like competitions.</p
Achieving justice and getting closer to the truth: Problematising the gap in communication between experts and judges in immigration & asylum cases
No full textNo description supplied</p
Evaluating the balanced score card for strategic HRM in a higher education institution
No full textThis thesis explores the applicability of the Balanced Scorecard (BSC) as a performance management tool to measure, manage, and improve Human Resource Management (HRM) performance in higher education institutions (HEI). Using a case study approach at an internationally operating, multi-campus university, the research addresses strategic and operational challenges in HRM and investigates how the implementation of the BSC can drive both individual and institutional effectiveness.The research critically examines the broader trends impacting the higher education sector —globalisation, technological advancements, and demographic shifts — and their implications for human resources. It identifies key academic theories, concepts, and frameworks related to HRM and performance management, forming the foundation for a problem definition and research questions. Through the design and implementation of a tailored HR-BSC, the research evaluates its impact on aligning HR practices with institutional goals, addressing organisational complexities, and fostering continuous improvement.Reflecting the interdisciplinary and practical focus of the Doctor of Business Administration (DBA) programme, this thesis integrates published theories on performance evaluation with real-world application, offering actionable recommendations for enhancing HRM practices in HEI. By doing so, it contributes to the ongoing scholarly debate on adapting corporate performance management models to academic contexts and highlights the critical role of strategic HRM in sustaining institutional competitiveness.</p
The Cambridge and Oxford Majlis: Nationalist Activities among Indian Students in Colonial Britain
No full textWhile the transnational and diasporic dimensions of the Indian freedom movement have received scholarly attention, the nationalist and political engagements of Indian students in the United Kingdom remain largely neglected. By foregrounding the activities of the Cambridge and Oxford Majlis, the paper addresses this gap, situating them both within the struggle for Indian self-rule and the wider networks of anti-colonial internationalist politics that shaped 20th century nationalism.</p
Understanding the spirituality of Christian Chinese-Singaporean older adults who are positively engaged with life
No full textThe purpose of this research was to understand the spirituality of Christian Chinese-Singaporean older adults and how it helped them to be positively engaged with life.Interpretative phenomenological analysis methodology was adopted where one-to-one interviews were conducted with a sample of six participants who were above 65 years old.The findings indicated that they used the contents of their faith to create a Christian worldview which they used to live their daily lives. Their five key beliefs were: that God cares about them; that He is in charge or in control of everything; and He has a plan which they are a part of. They also believed in heaven and the Bible. The research participants demonstrated skills including the ability to find themselves in the Christian master story; to own/disown local concepts and practices; to reframe their lived lives within the master story; and to reframe the master story. The participants also engaged in spiritual practices that helped them stay at peace through the vicissitudes of life. These were: attending church and small group, praying, “quiet time” with God and studying the Bible.The findings were coded and then analysed using literature from gerontology, faith development and theology. The conclusion was that all the participants had the “owned faith” style of Westerhoff’s theory. They did not fit well into Fowler’s theory, showing characteristics of non-consecutive stages though most showed characteristics of Fowler’s third stage, i.e. Synthetic-Conventional Faith. Using the skills identified above, a model of faith development from the Singaporean context is presented for testing and use in this and other contexts.</p
Scalable hybrid online machine learning for real-time intrusion detection in electric vehicle charging systems
No full textElectric Vehicle Charging Systems (EVCS) are increasingly integrated into smart grids, but their openness and connectivity expose them to diverse cyber threats. Intrusion Detection Systems (IDS) are essential for securing these infrastructures; however, conventional offline models struggle with real-time data streams, evolving attack patterns, and concept drift. This study investigates online machine learning for real-time IDS in EVCS. Two approaches are evaluated: a baseline Adaptive Random Forest (ARF) with ADWIN drift detection, and a scalable hybrid ensemble integrating ARF with Naïve Bayes, k-Nearest Neighbors, and Logistic Regression under a meta-learning framework. Experimental results show that while the baseline ARF achieves competitive performance, it incurs high computational cost (267.98 minutes for the 15-class task). In contrast, the hybrid model reduces runtime to 81.65 minutes while improving accuracy (0.8582 vs. 0.8142), precision (0.8796 vs. 0.8341), recall (0.8582 vs. 0.8142), and F1-score (0.8344 vs. 0.8002). Notably, in binary classification, the hybrid ensemble achieves near-perfect detection (F1 = 1.0000) while maintaining stability under drift-free conditions. These findings demonstrate that combining diverse classifiers enhances drift resilience, improves computational efficiency, and strengthens real-time detection, offering a scalable IDS solution tailored to EVCS and advancing the security and reliability of modern smart grids.</p
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