26729 research outputs found
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Sanctioned by the legal system: a systems approach to women, child contact, and intimate partner violence and abuse
No full textThis book considers women’s child contact experiences in the context of abuse and comes from a feminist epistemology. It brings together survivor and professional experiences of the family contact system in England and Wales, applying systems theories to examine how the whole system works together to drive change across different organisations and settings. It focusses on three studies from England and Wales which make use of innovative designs to capture the perspectives of survivors and professionals. It develops the field by emphasizing survivor voices and providing theory-based explanations of the findings to aid understanding and drive change. This book is led by survivor voices who suggest the system is ineffective and hinders progress, well-being and safety. Professional insights add to the discussion, highlighting ineffective practice across the system and damaging myths that impact survivor and child outcomes. The book provides a broad picture, considering how women navigate child contact with fathers who have been abusive, and the challenges they face with the current system. It speaks to those looking to compare systems and practices across countries. The book may be of interest to those working, studying or researching in child protection, family law, domestic abuse, social work, and/or policing
Inhibition of autophagy reveals ATR protein kinase as a key mediator of cisplatin sensitivity in osteosarcoma
No full textIntroduction
Osteosarcoma (OS) is the most common primary malignant bone tumor. Although the introduction of chemotherapy has improved the survival rate of OS patients, chemoresistance remains a major clinical problem underlying poor survival outcome. This study investigated the role of autophagy in OS chemoresistance and identified ATR as a novel upstream regulator linking DNA damage signaling, autophagy, and chemoresistance.
Results
Elevated levels of autophagy were found in advanced grade and stage OS tumors, and higher autophagy levels were shown to be associated with poorer OS disease outcome. Chemotherapy significantly increased autophagy levels in HOS-143B cells, while autophagy inhibition by autophagy-related gene 7 knockout (ATG7−/−) significantly enhanced cisplatin (CIS) sensitivity in HOS-143B cells. A kinase screen revealed a reduction in the phosphorylation of p53 (S15) in ATG7−/− HOS-143B cells. ATR phosphorylates p53 at S15 responsible for DNA Damage Response (DDR), and ATR inhibition increased CIS sensitivity of HOS-143B cells via apoptosis. Subsequent analysis verified that ATR inhibition decreased phosphorylation of p53 at S15 and blocked autophagy in CIS-treated HOS-143B cells.
Conclusion
These findings highlight ATR inhibition as a unique therapeutic strategy that simultaneously disrupts DDR signaling and autophagy, thereby enhancing CIS sensitivity. Targeting ATR could reduce the required CIS dosage, limit treatment-associated toxicity, and ultimately improve survival and clinical outcomes for OS patients
“They walked in and walked straight out of adult treatment”: creating tailored drug outreach and service provision for young adults in England
No full textBackground: In England and Wales, drug use and related harms among young adults aged 18-25 remain high. They are neglected in existing service provision. Drawing on evaluation findings of a multi-component drug outreach service in England and informed by the concept of ‘emerging adulthood’, this paper explores the possibilities for the development of bespoke interventions for young adults.
Methods: This paper draws on semi-structured interviews (n=19) conducted with managers and practitioners within the outreach service, regional leads for young people’s services, and strategic stakeholders in public health, police and education.
Results: The co-produced outreach model was found to be agile, innovative and responsive to local drug trends. It was able to reach groups vulnerable to drug-related harms, by employing a different conceptualisation of ‘harm reduction’ centered on safety. Outreach interactions were limited in scope at some transition points to adulthood, with contact often lost when individuals reached age 18. Onward referral for those who need more intensive interventions was often difficult from ad hoc interactions, and existing adult treatment services were deemed unsuitable for young adult needs.
Conclusion: Emerging adults aged 18-25 are a diverse group with distinct substance use profiles. Outreach activities are effective for education, harm reduction messaging, and signposting for further support. However, there is a need for the development of bespoke young adult service provision with skilled, specialist staff who can help young adults navigate these transitions without harm
RiDE 2056: the futures of drama education and applied theatre and performance
No full textAs RiDE celebrates its 30-year anniversary in 2026, this themed issue invites critical and imaginative consideration of applied theatre and drama education futures. What will the terrain of applied theatre, drama education and applied performance look like by 2056? In assembling the issue, we have conceived of three sections: articles focusing on the past and present, practices which gesture towards the future and articles that envision imagined futures. We hope this issue provokes you to think about where the discipline has been, worry about where it might be going and imagine what else might be possible …
DFRC systems co-existing in licensed spectrum: cognitive beamforming designs
Full text linkThis paper introduces a dual-function radar-communication (DFRC) system with cognitive radio capability to tackle the spectral scarcity problem in wireless communications. Particularly, a cognitive DFRC system operates on a spectrum owned by a primary system to simultaneously perform data communication and target tracking with the condition that its interference to the primary users (PUs) is below a certain threshold. To achieve this, an optimization problem is formulated to jointly design the beamforming vectors for both the radar and communication functions in such a way that the mean square error (MSE) of the beam pattern between the designed and desired waveforms is minimized. The optimization problem has the following three constraints: i) the signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio (SINR) at each data communication user is above a predetermined level; ii) the per-antenna transmit power is maintained at a given level; iii) the interference imposed on each PU is below a certain threshold. Both the semidefinite relaxation and nature-inspired firefly algorithms are proposed in order to search for the optimal solutions to the optimization problem. The simulation results indicate that our proposed algorithms can enable the DFRC system to protect the PUs while simultaneously performing its communication and radar functions
Bounce or step: the evolutionary leap in elite épée fencing footwork and its impact on performance
No full textThis study investigates the evolution of footwork techniques in elite épée fencing, focusing on the traditional stepping method versus a modern bouncing technique. Using time-motion analysis of 163 bouts from the 2012 and 2020 Olympic Games, the research categorised footwork into two types: stepping (heel-to-toe) and bouncing (ball-of-foot, synchronous movement). Results revealed a significant shift in footwork preferences over time, with female fencers predominantly using bouncing footwork, which was significantly associated with higher attack success in both Olympic cycles. Male fencers, however, showed greater success with stepping footwork. Statistical analysis confirmed moderate to weak associations between footwork type and attack success, with 66.7% of Olympic medallists using bouncing footwork, though gold medals were more often won with stepping. The findings suggest that while both footwork styles can be effective, their success may depend on sex, tactical preference, and possibly national coaching strategies. This is the first empirical study to directly compare these footwork styles in fencing, highlighting the need for further biomechanical research and supporting a more individualised approach to athlete development
Analysis and optimization of probabilities of beneficial mutation and crossover recombination in a hamming space
Full text linkInspired by Fisher's geometric approach to study beneficial mutations, we analyse probabilities of beneficial mutation and crossover recombination of strings in a general Hamming space with arbitrary finite alphabet. Mutations and recombinations that reduce the distance to an optimum are considered as beneficial. Geometric and combinatorial analysis is used to derive closed-form expressions for transition probabilities between spheres around an optimum giving a complete description of Markov evolution of distances from an optimum over multiple generations. This paves the way for optimization of parameters of mutation and recombination operators. Here we derive optimality conditions for mutation and recombination radii maximizing the probabilities of mutation and crossover into the optimum. The analysis highlights important differences between these evolutionary operators. While mutation can potentially reach any part of the search space, the probability of beneficial mutation decreases with distance to an optimum, and the optimal mutation radius or rate should also decrease resulting in a slow-down of evolution near the optimum. Crossover recombination, on the other hand, acts in a subspace of the search space defined by the current population of strings. However, probabilities of beneficial and deleterious crossover are balanced, and their characteristics, such as variance, are translation invariant in a Hamming space, suggesting that recombination may complement mutation and boost the rate of evolution near the optimum
The case for caring compassionately for the well-being of others in the University
No full textHigher education is being sought by growing numbers of students whose ambitions are various but at their core there seems to be an economic imperative to improve their well-being rather than caring about those who make up the higher education community and beyond. The neoliberal consensus on the necessity of market capitalism has led to the dominance of rights and duties around choice, independence and personal achievement, as well as competition, selfishness and the pursuit of profit, status and power. Construing the purpose of the university primarily in economic terms limits a wider contribution it can make as a social institution to framing and forming futures. To achieve that I suggest that, amongst other things we need to be more compassionate to ourselves and to others. Compassion gives rise to altruism, generosity, social connectedness, and kindness towards oneself and others focused on others, which naturally results in greater social connectedness. This is surely a good thing but those of us who have the privilege to facilitate the well-being goals of the university also have other civic responsibilities. In this chapter, this distinction is explored through the weaving of a transdisciplinary attitude to care and the role of the university community
Mental health issues, risks and barriers to care for Bangladeshi children and adolescents: insights from lived experiences
Full text linkBackground: Mental health issues among Bangladeshi children and adolescents are increasing due to sociocultural factors. Despite its importance, in-depth research is scarce. This study addresses the gap by exploring mental health issues, risk factors and barriers to accessing care in rural and urban Bangladesh through qualitative methods. Methods: We conducted semi-structured interviews with 38 participants across both rural and urban areas, including 12 in-depth interviews with children and adolescents, 10 key informant interviews with caregivers and 2 focus group discussions with community representatives, educators and healthcare providers. All interviews were transcribed verbatim and a thematic analysis was employed to identify key themes. In addition to the interviews, we utilized observational data and yearly records from ADD International Bangladesh, a community-based mental health organization, to provide contextual depth and triangulate findings. Results: The findings revealed three themes: mental health issues such as anxiety, depression, suicidal ideation and substance abuse; risk factors including device overuse, family conflicts and substance availability; and barriers to care such as lack of services, low mental health literacy and stigma from religious and societal beliefs. Conclusions: The study provides an in-depth understanding of mental health issues, risk factors and barriers to care in rural and urban areas of Bangladesh. The findings enhance the understanding of the mental health status of young people and can inform policy development and the formation of suitable psychosocial interventions
Judges on trial: the future of research on judicial decision-making
No full textIn the future, the methodological challenges hampering research on judicial decision-making will be overcome, thus putting judicial decision-making on trial. This will be facilitated by development of tools that capitalize on Artificial Intelligence (AI), Machine Learning (ML),
Natural Language Processing (NLP) and Human-in-the-Loop technologies. An example of this type of game-changing tool is called JUDDGES (Judicial Decision Data Gathering, Encoding
and Sharing), which is currently in the early stages of development and testing (see https://juddges-project.eu/).It will allow researchers to study of large, representative samples of court records and legal judgments in a cost- and time-efficient manner. Researchers will be able to gather and
encode data from (structured or unstructured) textual legal sources in order to identify, quantify and qualitatively characterize meaningful theory-, policy- and practice-relevant patterns. Importantly, such data gathering and encoding can be (fully or partially) automated, and both
the tool and data gathering and encoding procedures can be openly shared for re-use, progressive enrichment of data samples, and scrutinizing the reliability, validity and
replicability of findings. In addition, researchers will be able to study all types of legal documents, across jurisdictions, and languages, thus facilitating tests of generalizability and development of theories explaining judicial behavior that surmount jurisdiction-specific
peculiarities