11237 research outputs found
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The role of nature in migrant integration: an eco-social perspective
No full textDespite the local turn in UK integration policy, which advocates for community-based approaches (Phillimore, 2020), the focus of academia and policy remains on the social structural dimensions of integration, neglecting the role that nature plays. In this paper we address this gap by investigating the role of nature in integration experiences. To explore this, we conducted interdisciplinary research using participatory, aesthetic and social science methods in three UK case studies—Blackburn with Darwen, the Isle of Lewis, and the London Borough of Haringey. Our findings reveal that nature engagement fosters integration through three key processes: (1) socializing within natural spaces, which facilitates new communal ties; (2) aesthetic and sensory interactions, which enhance psychological well-being and sense-making; and (3) deep ecological connections, which shape personal and collective belonging and identity. Importantly, these findings challenge traditional assimilationist paradigms by advocating for integration as a relational and multidirectional process in which both migrants and host communities negotiate belonging within shared ecological spaces. This study contributes to contemporary integration theories by foregrounding the active agency of nature within an expanded eco-social framework. Drawing on Latour (2018), we argue that nature is not a passive backdrop but an active participant in shaping integration experiences. By recognizing the entanglement of social and ecological systems, we advocate for a revised UK integration policy that embeds environmental considerations alongside social and structural factors. Future research should examine the long-term impacts of nature-based integration initiatives and explore ways to enhance equitable access to natural spaces for all community members.</p
Sport students experiences of their first year at a post-92 English university: an exploration through the U-curve theory of adjustment
No full textExtending the work of Hibbs et al. (2024), this study qualitatively captured the academic and social experiences of 13 first-year undergraduate sports students through the U-Curve Theory of Adjustment (Risquez et al., 2008). There was evidence supporting each phase of the theory but some differences from the original framework also surfaced. Although participants had made new friendships within programme cohorts and wider university populations and built the necessary confidence and independence to engage with the academic demands of their studies, experiences were unique and did not always fit with the proposed timelines. Implications, limitations and future research avenues are discussed.</p
Variation in the pollen diet of managed bee species across European agroecosystems
No full textBee-mediated pollination plays a crucial role in sustaining global food production. However, while the demand for these pollination services is increasing, many bee species are in decline. To address this discrepancy, farmers use managed bee species to improve crop pollination. One key factor affecting pollination efficiency is the affinity for the crop of interest (i.e., the extent to which a bee integrates floral resources of a crop into its diet). In this study, we characterised and compared the pollen foraging preferences of three managed bee species: Apis mellifera, Bombus terrestris, and Osmia bicornis, across European agricultural landscapes and across biogeographic regions. Managed populations of each bee species were experimentally established at 128 agricultural sites growing either apple or rapeseed, in landscapes representing gradients in terms of the proportion of cropland, in eight European countries. We conducted pollen store sampling and employed palynological analyses to describe the foraging preferences of these species and to extrapolate their suitability as pollinators for both crops. Our findings reveal that A. mellifera and B. terrestris exhibited a more generalised pollen diet compared to O. bicornis, which showed stronger preference to certain pollen forage plants, but these were mainly non-crop rather than crop plants. These results question the relevance of using O. bicornis in apple orchards and rapeseed crops given their poor affinity with these crops. Overall, A. mellifera collected the highest proportion of rapeseed pollen in its diet, and A. mellifera and B. terrestris collected higher proportions of apple pollen than O. bicornis. Our findings also highlight substantial variation in the percentage of focal crop pollen in the diet across biogeographic regions, while landscape composition had virtually no impact. These results provide valuable insights for selecting the most suitable managed bee species to enhance the pollination of two key crops in Europe.</p
Space Act Agreements and new product development: collaborative approaches and the expected benefits to New Space
No full textThis article explores the pivotal role of Space Act Agreements (SAAs) in shaping product innovation and development within the rapidly expanding New Space economy. By offering a flexible and collaborative framework, SAAs enable NASA to partner with private industry, academia, and other organizations, facilitating the acceleration of technological advancements without the constraints of traditional government contracts. The article demonstrates how SAAs contribute to reducing risks and costs, expanding commercial opportunities, and fostering sustainability in space operations. These agreements not only enhance NASA’s mission capabilities but also empower private companies to scale their operations and maintain a competitive edge in the global space industry. As the New Space sector continues to grow, SAAs will remain crucial for driving innovation, promoting environmental stewardship, and ensuring the United States’ leadership in space exploration and commercialization, ultimately delivering long-term benefits for humanity.</p
Reparations
No full textThis chapter examines the intersection of reparations and technology within the framework of transitional justice, focusing on the growing role of corporate actors, particularly in the context of surveillance capitalism. It explores how digital technologies, while often enabling human rights violations, challenge traditional approaches to reparations. The chapter calls for a rethinking of reparations to address both tangible and diffuse harms caused by data exploitation and mass surveillance, emphasizing that both state and corporate actors must collaborate in delivering comprehensive redress. It discusses key principles and forms of reparations, including restitution, compensation, and guarantees of non-repetition, and how these must evolve to account for technology-driven harms. The chapter also underscores the importance of victim participation and the need to address vulnerabilities of marginalized groups disproportionately affected by surveillance technologies. Through a detailed analysis of Latin American examples, it argues for more inclusive and forward-looking reparations frameworks.</p
Visualizing ESG performance in an integrated GIS–BIM–IoT platform for strategic urban planning
No full textAs cities confront intensifying environmental challenges and increasing expectations for sustainable governance, extending Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) evaluation frameworks to the urban scale has become a pressing need. However, existing ESG systems are typically designed for corporate contexts, lacking city-specific indicators, integrated data representations, and reliable ESG information with high spatial and temporal resolution for informed decision-making. This study proposes a comprehensive ESG evaluation framework tailored to green cities, which consists of three core components: (1) The construction of a green-oriented ESG indicator system with an expert-informed weighting system; (2) the design of a GIS-BIM-IoT integrated ontology that semantically aligns spatial, infrastructure, and observational data with ESG dimensions; and (3) the implementation of a web-based data integration and visualization platform that dynamically aggregates and visualizes ESG insights. A case study involving a primary school and an air quality monitoring station in Hong Kong demonstrates the system’s capability to infer material recycling rates and pollution concentration scores using ontology-driven reasoning and RDF-based knowledge graphs. The results are rendered in an interactive 3D urban interface, supporting real-time, multi-scale ESG evaluation. This framework transforms ESG assessment from a static reporting tool into a strategic asset for transparent, adaptive, and evidence-based urban sustainability governance.</p
‘The photograph is handsome, as is the boy’: the ‘hot felony’ of Luigi Mangione
No full textThis essay explores the transformation of ‘CEO killer’ Luigi Mangione into a ‘hot felon’. It argues that the public desire for Mangione derives from the online currency of his mugshot and the ways in which it lends itself to a digital ‘face culture’ of celebrity, sexual appraisal and public judgement. Exploring the explosion of memes that position Mangione as a sex object, the essay examines what is at stake in the hyper-sexualised focus on him and how that relates to his wider valorisation as a white folk hero and patron saint of healthcare justice in the United States. Through an analysis of the vibes and affects generated by Mangione memes and photographs, I explore the ways in which his online recognisability, and the attendant sympathy produced for him, is inextricably tied to his idealised whiteness and masculinity.</p
Prediction model for type 2 diabetes mellitus and its association with mortality using machine learning in three independent cohorts from South Korea, Japan, and the UK: a model development and validation study
No full textBackground: Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) is a significant global public health concern that has steadily increased over the past few decades. Thus, this study aimed to predict the incidence of T2DM within 5 years and the risk of mortality following the onset of T2DM. Data from three independent cohorts worldwide were used.Methods: We utilized data from three independent, large-scale, general population-based, and worldwide cohort studies. The Korean cohort (NHIS-NSC cohort; discovery cohort; n = 973,303), conducted between 1 January, 2002 and 31 December, 2013, was used for training and internal validation, whereas the Japanese cohort (JMDC cohort; validation cohort A; n = 12,143,715) and UK cohort (UK Biobank; validation cohort B; n = 416,656) were used for external validation. We employed various machine learning (ML)-based models, using 18 features, to predict the incidence of T2DM within five years of regular health checkups and calculated the Shapley Additive Explanation (SHAP) values. To ensure the robustness of our ML-based prediction model, we investigated the potential association between the model probability divided into tertiles and the risk of mortality following the onset of T2DM.Findings: In the discovery cohort, the ensemble model using voting with logistic regression and adaptive boosting achieved a balanced accuracy of 72.6% and an area under the receiver operating characteristics curve (AUROC) of 0.792. The SHAP value analysis of our proposed model revealed that age was the most important predictor of incident T2DM, followed by fasting blood glucose, hemoglobin, γ-glutamyl transferase level, and body mass index. The model probability is associated with an increased risk of mortality (T1: adjusted hazard ratio, 2.82 [95% CI, 2.01–3.94]; T2: 3.89 [2.74–5.53]; and T3: 7.73 [5.37–11.12]). Similar patterns and trends were observed in the validation cohorts (T1: 1.74 [1.49–2.03], T2: 1.97 [1.69–2.30], and T3: 3.31 [2.82–3.38] in validation cohort A; T1: 1.33 [1.03–1.71], T2: 1.54 [1.21–1.96], and T3: 1.73 [1.36–2.20] in validation cohort B).Interpretation: This study derived and validated an ML-based model to predict the incidence of T2DM within 5 years across three countries (South Korea, Japan, and the UK), showing that the model probability is associated with an increased risk of mortality.Funding: Institute of Information & Communications Technology Planning & Evaluation, South Korea.</p
Knowledge and practice among caregivers having children with autism in Bangladesh: findings from a cross-sectional study
No full textBackground: Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a term used to describe a group of conditions characterized by difficulties with social skills, speech, repetitive behaviors, and nonverbal communication. There is no cure for autism, however, early diagnosis and intervention can increase the chance of treatment success. If parents or caregivers do not have sound knowledge about autism, problems can become more complicated. The study aimed to assess the knowledge and practice among caregivers having children with ASD in Bangladesh. Methods: A cross-sectional survey was conducted among 68 caregivers of children with ASD in the selected area of Mymensingh city, Bangladesh. The data were collected from May to June 2021 through face-to-face interviews by a semi-structured questionnaire including informed consent, socio-demographics, as well as questions regarding knowledge (12-item) and practice (6-item) towards children with ASD using a purposive sampling technique. The data were analyzed using the SPSS software (version 25.0). Results The mean score of knowledge among caregivers having children with ASD was 7.16 (SD = 2.09) out of 12 (59.67%). The mean score of practice among caregivers having children with ASD was 3.16 (SD = 1.10) out of 6 (52.67%). There were no significant mean differences in the mean knowledge and practice scores among participants’ different socio-demographic categories. 95.6% of caregivers have not received any formal training to care for children with ASD, and more than half (57.4%) believed that mixing with good friends would make the necessary change in children with ASD. 97.1% of the children with ASD did not have any health insurance with 72.1% receiving government allowance for ASD. Conclusions: The findings indicated inadequate knowledge and practice among caregivers of children with ASD. The study suggests an immediate health education program is needed, as well as appropriate practice for children with ASD in Bangladesh.</p
Geometric characteristics of stromal collagen fibres in breast cancer using differential interference contrast microscopy
No full textBreast cancer (BC) is characterised by a high level of heterogeneity, which is influenced by the interaction of neoplastic cells with the tumour microenvironment. The diagnostic and prognostic role of the tumour stroma in BC remains to be defined. Differential interference contrast (DIC) microscopy is a label‐free imaging technique well suited to visualise weak optical phase objects such as cells and tissue. This study aims to compare stromal collagen fibre characteristics between in situ and invasive breast tumours using DIC microscopy and investigate the prognostic value of collagen parameters in BC. A tissue microarray was generated from 200 cases, comprising ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS; n = 100) and invasive tumours (n = 100) with an extra 50 (25 invasive BC and 25 DCIS) cases for validation was utilised. Two sections per case were used: one stained with haematoxylin and eosin (H&E) stain for histological review and one unstained for examination using DIC microscopy. Collagen fibre parameters including orientation angle, fibre alignment, fibre density, fibre width, fibre length and fibre straightness were measured. Collagen fibre density was higher in the stroma of invasive BC (161.68 ± 11.2 fibre/µm2) compared to DCIS (p < 0.0001). The collagen fibres were thinner (13.78 ± 1.08 µm), straighter (0.96 ± 0.006, on a scale of 0–1), more disorganised (95.07° ± 11.39°) and less aligned (0.20 ± 0.09, on a 0–1 scale) in the invasive BC compared to DCIS (all p < 0.0001). A model considering these features was developed that could distinguish between DCIS and invasive tumours with 94% accuracy. There were strong correlations between fibre characteristics and clinicopathological parameters in both groups. A statistically significant association between fibre characteristics and patients’ outcomes (breast cancer specific survival, and recurrence free survival) was observed in the invasive group but not in DCIS. Although invasive BC and DCIS were both associated with stromal reaction, the structural features of collagen fibres were significantly different in the two disease stages. Analysis of the stroma fibre characteristics in the preoperative core biopsy specimen may help to differentiate pure DCIS from those associated with invasion.</p
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