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The Governance of Nature-Based Approaches to Flood Risk Management in the Lower Severn Catchment (England)
Get PDFThis chapter reports on a new arena of flood risk governance in the lower river catchment of the Severn, Britain’s long river. As a result of Living Lab (LL) activity directed towards the natural management of fluvial, pluvial and surface-water run-off in the county, a new governance group was established. The ‘Working With Natural Processes’ (WwNP) sub-group reports to the regional, multi-stakeholder body The English Severn and Wye Regional and Coastal Flood Committee (RFCC), which advises on the allocation of state funds for flood protection along two river catchments. The chapter outlines complexities of flood risk management in Gloucestershire, describing locally specific flood policy and protection challenges in the light of a changing climate, plans for urban expansion and in light of defined political and geographical limits that complicate catchment-wide ESS governance. The establishment of the WwNP sub-group formalises a strategic approach to ‘green’ flood risk interventions and supports the networking of flood authorities and land managers. The chapter describes how the LL facilitated the group’s establishment, not least by trying to align different interests, and particularly by helping to connect urban and rural spatial interests in natural processes for reducing flood risk, which are usually separated into rural and urban areas
SHAX: Evaluation of SVM hardware accelerator for detecting and preventing ROP on Xtensa
Get PDFReturn-oriented programming (ROP) chains together sequences of instructions residing in executable pages of the memory to compromise a program’s control flow. On embedded systems, ROP detection is intricate as such devices lack the resources to directly run sophisticated software-based detection techniques, as these are memory and CPU-intensive.
However, a Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) can enhance the capabilities of an embedded device to handle resource-intensive tasks. Hence, this paper presents the first performance evaluation of a Support Vector Machine (SVM) hardware accelerator for automatic ROP classification on Xtensa-embedded devices using hardware performance counters (HPCs).
In addition to meeting security requirements, modern cyber–physical systems must exhibit high reliability against hardware failures to ensure correct functionality. To assess the reliability level of our proposed SVM architecture, we perform simulation-based fault injection at the RT-level. To improve the efficiency of this evaluation, we utilize a hybrid virtual prototype that integrates the RT-level model of the SVM accelerator with the Tensilica LX7 Instruction Set Simulator. This setup enables early-stage reliability assessment, helping to identify vulnerabilities and reduce the need for extensive fault injection campaigns during later stages of the design process.
Our evaluation results show that an SVM accelerator targeting an FPGA device can detect and prevent ROP attacks on an embedded processor with high accuracy in real time. In addition, we explore the most vulnerable locations of our SVM design to permanent faults, enabling the exploration of safety mechanisms that increase fault coverage in future works
Framing the shift to supported employment: Exploring the impacts of a person-centred programme evaluation approach through peer led participatory research
Get PDFEmployment support programs play a crucial role in assisting the unemployed in overcoming challenges to achieve their employment goals. The experiences of participants with multiple challenges provide insights into programme effectiveness in achieving personalised goals of employability, social development, and inclusion. This study contributes to the evaluation of supported employment by presenting a peer-derived framework grounded in participants lived experiences. Interviews with twelve participants revealed themes around employment barriers, participation opportunities, one-to-one support, achievements, and recommendations. Findings highlight the value of flexible, personalised pathways that not only enhance employability but also build confidence, motivation and support social inclusion. The developed framework including personalised support, meaningful activities, and self-perceived progress offers guidance for designing inclusive employment programmes and their evaluation. A key recommendation is the need for ongoing support to sustain employment among disadvantaged individuals managing social, mental, and physical health challenges. From an evaluation perspective, the framework demonstrates how participant-informed mechanisms—such as confidence and empowerment—drive employability and social skills, consistent with the Context–Mechanism–Outcome logic of realist evaluation. By situating peer-led evaluation within realist, empowerment, and utilisation-focused traditions, this study refines programme evaluation and strengthens its practical relevance. It shows how outcome-focused fidelity models, which capture structural quality, can be complemented by peer-led approaches capturing experiential quality. Together, these perspectives provide a holistic and transferable evaluation model that speaks to both programme design and lived experience. Beyond the local context, lessons learned highlight the value of inclusive, participatory evaluation methods in generating credible, stakeholder-driven insights and advancing more effective employment support practices globally
Characteristics of global datasets used to support biodiversity conservation action and policy
No full textAccess to global datasets that describe the ‘state’ of biodiversity across all nation states, are essential to provide the means by which national and international conservation agencies and organisations can: (1) identify priorities, (2) focus limited financial resources, (3) develop and enhance legislative frameworks, (4) identify capacity needs, (5) evaluate progress and compliance in relation to commitments, and (6) support biodiversity-related research. This paper reports on an evaluation of the characteristics of 336 open source global datasets in relation to whether a dataset: (1) includes ‘contemporary’ information less than five years old, (2) provides longitudinal, repeat-measure information, (3) contains missing data for one or more nation states, (4) has the ability to support trend analysis, (5) contains information on projected likely future conditions or state, and (6) requires operator extraction or manipulation prior to use. Searches were conducted for global open source datasets via the internet and grey literature. A total of 336 datasets were identified and allocated into one of three broad thematic areas (biodiversity, the abiotic environment, and socio-economics), and further into 17 sub-areas. Of the 336 datasets evaluated 37% provided information that was more than five years out of date. Nearly a fifth of all datasets (18%) provided only a ‘snap-shot’ information i.e. data that were not longitudinal, and trend analysis was not possible for 22% of datasets. Only 5% of the collated datasets provided information about future potential ‘state’, and 29% had missing data (i.e. with one or more countries not providing information). In terms of the readiness for immediate use of the data, 11% of the datasets required some form of post-access management. Characterising available datasets is an essential element of supporting improvements to the information and evidence available for conservation practitioners. Our evaluation suggests that despite a range of important initiatives and national structural changes in the way data are collected, there is still some way to go before truly high utility data are available to the global conservation community
Payments for Ecosystems Services—Their Role in Creating Rural-Urban Synergies
Get PDFIn this chapter, rural-urban synergies are examined in the context of land and water management interventions and how these are stimulated by payments for ecosystems services (PES). A review of PES literature highlights, by drawing on 10 European case studies, that PES are based on core principles of (i) the recognition of both ESS suppliers and users; and (ii) that payment is conditional on ESS improvements flowing from ESS interventions. Key findings from the analysis include that the most successful PES schemes are cross-sectoral and multi-scalar in their impacts and may represent a correction of prevailing market relations of subsidy dependencies. The opportunities to combine the valorisation of rural distinctiveness with the enhanced opportunity for urban ESS delivery should be an ambition of PES schemes. Such objectives demand clear compensations for lost earnings in PES schemes, a flexible (or ESS-centric) territorial approach to developing PES partnerships and a greater understanding of public-private blended finance to devise PES innovations
EU Policy Framework for Ecosystem Services Promoting Rural-Urban Synergies
Get PDFThis chapter offers a review of eight selected European Union policies and strategies which, to a greater or lesser extent, engage with ecosystem services (ESS). The review reveals three types of policy reference to ESS. Some policies include explicit objectives and mechanisms designed to underpin different types of ESS; others mention ESS explicitly but without suggesting specific policy actions. Lastly, implicit mentions of ESS functions also appear without any direct mention of the term. Our analysis seeks to examine the extent to which EU policies with an explicit or implicit focus on ESS might better secure rural urban synergies. Findings suggest that EU policies which focus on ESS are more likely to support rural-urban synergies if they have eco-social objectives, for example sustainable agriculture or rural development, as outlined for example in the Farm2Fork Strategy and the Long-Term Vision for Rural Areas. Such policies foresee functioning rural-urban links including producer-consumer relations and the economic interaction of rural and urban dwellers. Policies more narrowly concerned with the biological functioning of ecosystems, such as the Soil Strategy or the Biodiversity Strategy are less synergistic, not least because their arena of operation remains predominantly rural
Patients’ and family carers’ experience of community-based end of life care during the COVID-19 pandemic in a Scottish health and care partnership
No full textA sharp increase in demand for home-based end of life care in Fife,Scotland during the COVID-19 pandemic, was the catalyst for a mixed methods study examining the reality of such care. This study sought to understand how patients and families experienced care and support at the end of life in their own homes during the pandemic. The qualitative arm of a wider study used narrative methodology. Purposive sampling ensured that current patients and their families and families bereaved during the pandemic were included, as well as representation of people with both cancer and non-cancer illnesses and those receiving different models of care. Semi-structured interviews allowed patients and families to tell their own story and rich data was analysed thematically. Communication and continuity were identified as two core dimen-sions that helped or hindered their experience of professional sup-port and key components of end of life care at home. Inter-agency communication and care planning are central when considering end of life care at home in a post-pandemic landscape, especially if there is to be any chance of addressing inequalities. Practitioner research provides another lens into our understanding of how services are experienced and has the added benefit of developing the communication and interpretation skills of clinicians through qualitative research practic
The Correlation between Net Impulse and Phases of Linear Sprint Performance in University American Football Players
Get PDFImpulse has been proposed as a reliable performance measure when assessing force generating capacity, during
a given time frame, and in recent literature has been investigated to its degree of relationship with sprint
performance. This study investigated the correlation between early epochs of net impulse from isometric actions
and selected phases of linear sprint performance. A within subject design was employed to assess the correlation
between linear sprint performance and epochs of net impulse in 29 university American Football athletes
(mean±SD: age = 20.10±1.53 years; height = 181.69±5.63cm; weight = 95.92±22.81kg). Net impulse was
measured over epochs of 0-100, 0-150, and 0-200 milliseconds (Newtons per second) via an isometric mid-thigh
pull protocol while linear speed was assessed using linear sprint testing (10 and 36.58 metres). Pearson’s r
correlation coefficient was used to evaluate correlations between assessed variables and effect size. The analysis
demonstrated trivial to small correlations (r=-0.06 to 0.18) between early epochs of net impulse and linear sprint
performance. The 10-metre linear sprint performance demonstrated small correlations at 0-150 milliseconds
(r=0.18) while the remaining variables revealed trivial correlations. The effect size indicated trivial to small
correlations between the assessed variables. Although no significant correlation was found between isometric
mid-thigh pull metrics and linear sprint performance these findings provide meaningful insight into the
complexity of sprinting mechanics, in the assessed population. If net impulse does not strongly correlate with
sprint performance, it may indicate the need to reassess the emphasis placed on isometric strength assessments
in sprint profiling
Predicting Long-Term Electricity Consumption Using Time Series Data: Use Case of the UK Electricity Data
No full textIn the modern era, the United Kingdom (UK) is moving towards a future enriched with sustainability and energy efficiency. Thus, accurate electricity consumption predictions are one of the major factors in the UK. This research focuses on electricity consumption in the UK for the next year using historical data and analyzing them through time series analysis. Traditional statistical methods such as Autoregressive Integrated Moving Average (ARIMA), and Seasonal Autoregressive Moving Average (SARIMA) and machine learning algorithms such as XGBoost, Linear Trees and Prophet are used in this research to predict the consumption patterns of electricity in the UK. Moreover, this study will further focus on evaluating the performances and the behavioral patterns of each model in forecasting electricity consumption by developing a comparative analysis that highlights the strengths and weaknesses of each model. The main objective of the following research is to create a model which can forecast the consumption of electricity for the next year in the UK whilst identifying the consumption patterns of electricity in the UK. Hence, this analysis encompasses valuable information for energy providers, consumers and policymakers to enhance energy efficiency and maintain energy sustainability in the UK. Furthermore, by this analysis it was determined that Prophet model is the best model to be used in predicting the electricity consumption for next year in the UK as it has generated significant results compared to other models making the Mean Absolute Percentage Error (MAPE) 0.14% and the Root Mean Squared Error (RMSE) 4409.71
The Virtues and Vices Of Employee Engagement and Its Drivers in an Informal Network Context: A Cultural Approach
No full textInformal networks are potentially central yet underexplored antecedents of employee engagement. Much of the existing literature assumes engagement drivers to be universally applicable, often overlooking cultural and moral specificities, particularly in emerging markets. To address this gap, we adopt a cultural and ethical lens to examine whether employee engagement drivers are context-bound. We focus on wasta, a pervasive informal network in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, often associated with favoritism, cronyism, and nepotism, yet also rooted in traditions of solidarity, sociability, and reciprocity. By conceptualizing wasta as an ambivalent social force situated at the intersection of tradition and modernity, and by drawing on justice theory and virtue ethics, we identify three culturally embedded drivers of employee engagement: trust and commitment, favor exchange for mutual benefit, and satisfaction and gratitude. These mechanisms shape engage-ment in both positive and negative ways, depending on the nature and strength of informal ties. Our study contributes to the employee engagement literature by offering a culturally and ethically grounded perspective on engagement antecedents within informal network contexts. It also advances informal network research by providing a conceptual framework for analyzing and comparing such systems across cultures. Theoretically, our work bridges moral philosophy and human resource management (HRM) by showing how informal practices function as value-laden mechanisms influencing employee attitudes, inclusion, and organizational life. The propositions developed lay the groundwork for future empirical research and offer practical insights for HR practitioners operating in contexts where informal networks significantly influence organizational life
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