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Grief and suicide
No full textAccording to extant philosophical literature, grief is not a straightforward emotional episode like sadness. It is rather a prolonged process with many different emotional and cognitive constituents, which is scaffolded socioculturally and involves navigating interpersonal connections with the dead. This chapter argues that attention to these aspects of grief’s nature allows us to discern several ways in which the experience of suicide loss is likely to diverge from other forms of grief. For those bereaved by suicide, the grief process will have distinctive constituent ingredients, which are disclosive of the particularities of one’s loss and often include high rates of guilt, shame, anger, and confusion. This type of bereavement is also associated with challenges for one’s continuing bonds with the dead and for one’s interpersonal relationships with the living. One’s relatedness to the dead may be complicated by challenges in reconciling the nature of the death with one’s memories, expectations, and feelings of interpersonal connection, while relationships with the living may be hampered by stigma and a lack of helpful narratives surrounding suicide, such that this form of grief may be ‘disenfranchised’. These features of suicide grief can go along with difficulties in making sense of the loss and in adapting to one’s new reality, making it harder to distinguish ‘normal’ experiences from those that may be deemed pathological
Welsh accents and social identity: A study on perceptions of new and traditional speakers
Full text linkThis paper presents the results of an accent rating study of Welsh in which 59 raters were asked to listen to speech samples of three speaker groups (Welsh home language speakers, immersion education learners, and adult learners). The study aimed to ascertain (a) whether these groups are identifiable based on their accents, (b) how raters evaluate the three speaker groups socially, and (c) what phonetic features they associate with them. The results revealed that all groups could be identified well above chance and received positive social evaluations. However, traditional speakers were correctly identified significantly more often and were perceived more favorably in the social evaluations. In the feature analysis, new speakers’ accents were largely described as deviant from traditional speakers’ although some distinctive patterns were also identified. These findings have important implications for discussions surrounding accent bias and the perception of new speakers’ accents in the context of minority language revitalization
Enhancing urease for calcium carbonate precipitation in Lysinibacillus Pakistanensis through nutrient optimisation for self-healing concrete applications
No full textMicrobially induced calcium carbonate (MICP) has emerged as a well-documented approach for self-healing concrete, focused on remediating microcracks. In this study, multiple soil-derived bacteria were assessed for suitability in self-healing concrete. Among these, nutrients for L. Pakistanensis were optimised to enhance urease activity and calcium carbonate precipitation. A total of 155 soil isolates were screened using morphological and biochemical tests. In this study, L. Pakistanensis was selected as the most promising strain for further optimisation, studying the response of various nutrients such as yeast extract, nutrient broth, glucose, l-alanine, and inosine, by measuring the urea decomposed and calcium carbonate precipitation. SEM, EDS and FTIR were used to characterise L. Pakistanensis precipitate. L. Pakistanensis hydrolysed 100 % of urea within 72 h and produced up to 0.43 g/100 mL. Nutrient optimisation revealed that germinates in particular l-alanine and inosine, significantly enhancing spore germination and urea hydrolysis, whereas excessive calcium inhibits activity. Previous research has explored self-healing concrete using bacteria, with research on optimising nutrients for L. Pakistanensis remaining scarce. This study provides new insight into a potential alternative bacterium to use in self-healing, accompanied by a preliminary optimised medium, to develop a more efficient and sustainable remediation method for microcracking
The politics of abstentionism: Comparing Sinn Féin’s Westminster abstentionism to the Basque Nationalist left’s engagement with the Spanish parliament, 1979-2025
No full textIrish Republicans and the Basque Nationalist Left have been close allies throughout conflict and peace. One previous commonality was that their left-wing political wings Sinn Féin and Batasuna refused to participate in the British or Spanish parliament. For over a century, Sinn Féin has abstained from Westminster. In contrast, a new Basque left group Euskal Herria Bildu (EH Bildu) decided to consistently take their seats in Madrid. Utilising various sources including interviews with Irish Republicans and left-wing Basque Nationalists, we explore why the Basque Nationalist Left has abandoned abstentionism, in contrast to Sinn Féin’s position towards Westminster. Ultimately, different historical and contemporary factors produce contrasting strategies. These include the fact that Sinn Féin secured the right to Irish self-determination while Basques have not, and public opinion. This study provides a unique comparison on why some nationalist parties abstain from political institutions if elected while others end that tactic
Common variation at 1q23.3, 2p23.3, 2q33.3, and 2p21 influences risk of acute myeloid leukemia
Full text linkAcute myeloid leukemia (AML) is a complex hematological malignancy with multiple disease sub-groups defined by somatic mutations and heterogeneous outcomes. Although genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have identified a small number of common genetic variants influencing AML risk, the heritable component of this disease outside of familial susceptibility remains largely undefined. Here we perform a meta-analysis of four published GWAS plus two new GWAS, totalling 4710 AML cases and 12938 controls. We identify a new genome-wide significant risk locus for pan-AML at 2p23.3 (rs4665765; P=1.35x10-8; EFR3B, POMC, DNMT3A, DNAJC27) which also significantly associates with patient survival (P=6.09x10-3). Our analysis also identifies three new genome-wide significant risk loci for disease sub-groups, including AML with deletions of chromosome 5 and/or 7 at 1q23.3 (rs12078864; P=7.0x10-10; DUSP23) and cytogenetically complex AML at 2q33.3 (rs12988876; P=3.28x10-8; PARD3B) and 2p21 (rs79918355; P=1.60x10-9; EPCAM). We also investigated loci previously associated with risk of clonal hematopoiesis (CH) or clonal hematopoiesis of indeterminate potential (CHIP) and identified several variants associated with risk of AML. Our results further inform on AML etiology and demonstrate the existence of disease sub-group specific risk loci
Balancing the specificity and generalisability of learning: roles of sleep and wakefulness [Abstract]
No full textUnderstanding the context and needs of adolescents experiencing subclinical anxiety and depression symptoms in Wales: Document analysis and qualitative data collection
No full textThis study aimed to understand the context and needs of adolescents experiencing elevated but subclinical anxiety and depression symptoms, who have been termed the “missing middle” in Wales (UK). It is part of a project to identify and adapt an effective secondary school-based intervention to Wales. The methods used were document analysis, and qualitative primary data collection. Sixteen documents were analysed: Welsh policy (n=2), primary research (n=3), research overviews (n=2), and reports of stakeholders’ views on adolescent mental health (n=9). Next, focus groups and interviews were conducted with 35 students aged 11-18 years old; 18 school staff; 23 practitioners involved in managing, delivering or referring to non-clinical and clinical mental health services; and two policy officials. A hybrid approach of deductive and inductive thematic analysis was conducted which produced four themes. Firstly, we identified definitions and understandings of the “missing middle”. Secondly, contextual factors included an increase in help seeking, alongside challenges of self-diagnosis and the striving for specialist support even when this was inappropriate. A third theme highlighted enablers and barriers to implementing targeted provision e.g., while funding had increased for school services, this was still not adequate to meet demand. Fourthly, desired intervention targets were at the intrapersonal (cultivating emotional regulation and problem-solving skills) and the interpersonal levels (reducing loneliness and supporting social relationships), with school-based, one-to-one delivery via external providers preferred. These findings offer insights into how preventive interventions should include those experiencing high levels of distress and/or functional impairment even in the absence of high symptoms
The minimum age of criminal responsibility internationally—history, systems and the future
Full text linkBackground: In most countries, a criminal conviction requires evidence that the individual committed the act and that they had the mental capacity to understand what they were doing and that it was wrong. Youth, as an indicator of brain development, is one factor affecting criminal capacity. Worldwide, this has commonly been managed in part by setting in law an age below which criminal incapacity is presumed, so no prosecution is possible. Considerable variation in the MACR was confirmed across 195 countries. Some countries have no MACR. Otherwise, the MACR ranges from 7 years (some African and South Asian countries) to 18 (some South American countries); many North Asian, European and a few African countries set theirs at 14 which is the most frequently found level, and also the minimum age recommended by the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. Therefore, how do countries set or change their MACR? Aims: To explore change, efforts to change and impact of change in MACR internationally. Methods: Between February 1st 2022 and December 31st 2023, members of an international research group (GIRAF—Group of International Researchers in Adolescent Forensics) were asked to complete an emailed questionnaire about changes in the MACR, or efforts to change it, in their country since 2000. Reports were then collated, circulated and discussed within the group. Results: Among the 14 countries responding in detail about the MACR, efforts to raise the MACR had been successful in three, but in nine such efforts had been unsuccessful; in at least two countries pressures were to lower their MACR, but in only one, Denmark, did that happen (from 15 to 14) in the data collection period (though this change was subsequently reversed). Factors most influencing retention of a lower age were exceptional individual cases, which triggered press and political interest in retaining a higher age, and well‐evidenced and developed arguments from legal, social and medical or other clinical bodies. Conclusions and Implications: The wide differences in the MACR between countries suggest under‐use of evidence in deciding it. We need more governmental willingness to bring the MACR at least to the UN‐recommended level—but accompanied by research into the impact of this. Efforts targeted exclusively on child and adolescent welfare may have less effect if they also force children through the criminal justice system, with consequent impact on self‐identity and sense of citizenship. A low MACR is also likely to be more directly and indirectly costly than a higher one
Congruence of detection probabilities and co-occurrence of threatened Afromontane damselflies with diverging functional traits (Odonata: Chlorocyphidae, Coenagrionidae)
No full textThe biodiversity crisis is exceptionally severe in the freshwater systems of the highly threatened Afromontane region. We estimated abundance, occupancy and detection probabilities and studied functional traits of ecological significance for adults and larvae of Kenya Jewel (Platycypha amboniensis Martin, 1915) and Giant Sprite (Pseudagrion bicoerulans Martin, 1907) in Mount Kenya Forest. Our estimates of abundance were based on replicated counts, while occupancy and detection probabilities were estimated using a single-season, two-species occupancy formulation. We found that detection probabilities of one species were influenced by the detection probabilities of the other, but conversely, occupancy was not. This was supported by morphological traits, as the larvae of P. amboniensis are adapted to rocky and fast-flowing lotic streams, while P. bicoerulans is adapted to vegetated, littoral, and slow-moving reaches of the same streams. This means that, while these species have different adaptations, their co-occurrence depends on the heterogeneity of the microhabitats. We recommend implementation of ecosystem restoration approaches that will contribute to maintain habitat complexity and therefore increase the resilience of these co-occurring species to future environmental changes.
Implications for conservation
The occurrence of Kenya Jewel was not influenced by the occurrence of Giant Sprite, and there was neither competition nor niche overlap. This aligns with the differences in ecological adaptations based on the functional morphology of adults and larvae. This evidence is useful for restoration of the ecosystem to ensure that these species are conserved concurrently in their range of co-occurrence