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MBenes on the rise: progress, prospects, and multifunctional applications.
No full textMBenes, an emerging family of two-dimensional (2D) transition metal borides, have attracted considerable interest owing to their tunable electronic structures, rich physicochemical properties, and broad application potential. In recent years, extensive research efforts have led to the development of diverse synthetic strategies and a rapidly expanding range of applications across multiple disciplines. Although several excellent reviews have summarized the progress of MBenes from specific perspectives, a comprehensive review that innovatively categorizes their synthesis methods, unique properties, and functional applications remains absent. To address this gap, this review provides a thorough overview of the synthesis, structural attributes, distinctive properties, and diverse applications of MBenes. Beginning with a critical evaluation of synthesis methodologies, the review highlights advances in etching and delamination techniques, along with their impacts on material morphology and structure. It further examines the electronic structure and surface chemistry of MBenes to elucidate their physicochemical and mechanical properties. Subsequently, the key performance metrics of MBenes are comprehensively surveyed in applications spanning energy storage and conversion, physical devices, sensors, water purification, and biomedical fields. Finally, the review discusses persistent challenges such as scalable synthesis and defect control, and suggests promising future research directions, including green synthesis routes, machine learning-assisted optimization, and the integration of multifunctional devices. By positioning MBenes as a versatile platform for interdisciplinary innovation, this work aims to provide foundational insights that will guide the development of next-generation 2D materials
A novel EEG-ECG based fusion model for multimodal emotional classification.
No full textThe identification of emotional states through physiological signals is vital in human-computer interaction, mental health monitoring, and management. In contrast to existing models, which use either a combination of visual and Electroencephalogram (EEG) features or individual features, the present study introduces a hybrid multimodal machine learning framework that fuses EEG and ECG (Electrocardiogram) features for emotion classification. The EEG indeed captures the brain's neural activity associated with emotional states, while the ECG monitors the heart's electrical signals, reflecting autonomic responses that are highly responsive to emotional fluctuations. Integrating these physiological signals enhances the representation of emotional states by capturing complementary information from both the cortical and autonomic nervous systems. To exploit this observation, we explore the combination of a Temporal Convolutional Network (TCN) and a Long Short-Term Memory (LSTM) network. This work considers four distinct emotion levels based on valence and arousal dimensions. Experiments on two benchmark datasets, namely, DREAMER and Multimodal, demonstrate the superiority of the proposed method over state-of-the-art methods
Non-traditional routes to healthcare professional degree with relevance to pharmacy in Great Britain: a scoping review.
Full text linkWorkforce shortages cause disparity in access to healthcare for patients. Exploring non-traditional (off campus) routes to healthcare professional degree may widen access to professional registration. The aim of this scoping review is to explore the published literature describing non-traditional routes to healthcare professional degree, with relevance to pharmacy degree education. A systematic search of the international literature was conducted using four electronic databases (Medline, Embase, ERIC and CINAHL). Articles were eligible for inclusion if they were published in English and comprehensively described non-traditional routes to healthcare professional degree. Articles were collated and tabulated to facilitate a narrative analysis of the non-traditional routes found. There were eight non-traditional routes to healthcare professional degree found in the literature (n=35) across five countries. These were: online and digital; hub and spoke; community-based distance education; degree apprenticeship; academic medical centre; articulation; accelerated degree; and longitudinal. Most papers related to the apprenticeship route (n=14) and medical profession (n=19). The main barriers to implementation included: regulatory and infrastructure complexity, adequate resources (staff recruitment; financial; technology), lack of targeted student selection & support, and cultural resistance. Facilitators included collaborative partnerships, adequate resources (technical support; funding; staffing), community engagement and need, targeted student selection, and measuring and sharing outcomes. This review found the following non-traditional routes offer most in terms of flexible degree-level programmes to enhance current provision of pharmacy degree programmes: online and digital; community-based distance education; and longitudinal placements. All future non-traditional approaches to pharmacy degree should be evaluated and published
Multiobject tracking in satellite videos with multiperception fusion and gaussian process regression.
Full text linkAs an emerging topic in remote sensing, multi-object tracking in satellite video can provide important support for dynamic earth observation. The major challenges stem from the diverse sizes of objects and sparse pixel occupancy in wide satellite observation areas, leading to a high frequency of missing detection and severe false alarms, and thus fragmented trajectories. In this study, a novel multi-object tracking technique (MP-GRMOT) is proposed, under the framework of detection-based multi-object tracking (DBT). Firstly, for objects of diverse sizes, task perception, scale perception, and spatial perception are combined into a single framework via a self-attention mechanism based on a dynamic detection head. Additionally, for sparse pixel occupancy of the objects, a P2 layer is introduced into the shallower layers of the detection network to obtain high-resolution feature maps. Finally, for more accurate and complete prediction of the trajectories, Gaussian process regression is applied after Kalman filtering to reduce errors caused by the lack of observations while updating the trajectory state. MP-GRMOT provides competitive performance, as verified by thorough experimental analyses utilizing the typical satellite video dataset (VISO). MP-GRMOT can enhance the tracking accuracy (MOTA) and ID F1 score by roughly 3% in comparison to state-of-the-art techniques
Displacement, resettlement, and the sacred: negotiating religious identity in post-disaster Nepal.
No full textNatural disasters in Nepal - ranging from earthquakes to landslides and floods - have displaced communities on a massive scale, disrupting both physical and cultural landscapes (Shrestha, 2022). While disaster studies often emphasise shelter and livelihood recovery, the loss of sacred sites represents a profound rupture in spiritual continuity and social identity (Jones & Aryal, 2021). This paper argues that, for displaced Nepali populations, reconstructing religious identity in new resettlement contexts is central to community resilience and belonging. Drawing on recent ethnographic insights and disaster recovery literature (Simkhada, 2023; Karki, 2024), it highlights how displaced groups recreate sacred spaces, sustain rituals, and use religion as a resource for resilience. By situating these practices within broader debates on displacement and cultural heritage, the paper underscores religion's central role in negotiating belonging and rebuilding identity in the aftermath of ecological crises
Quite a pickle: understanding how consumer sustainability behavior influences willingness to pay for sustainable food products and services.
Full text linkThis paper examines the relationship between consumers' perceptions of sustainability in the foodservice industry and willingness to pay, identifying customer satisfaction and loyalty as mediators. The purpose is to establish how foodservice businesses can attract and retain consumers to sustain their performance amid the global market uncertainties and low consumer confidence. The data were collected from 204 diners in the UK foodservice industry to test the study's hypothesized relationships using partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) in SmartPLS 4. The findings show no significant relationship between diners' environmental perceptions and willingness to pay. The findings further show that customer satisfaction and loyalty mediate the relationship between environmental perceptions and willingness to pay. The findings of the conditional analysis reveal that the mediated relationship is moderated by economic sustainability, with distinct economic sustainability conditions identified under which the mediated relationship is most significant. This study contributes to the current knowledge in sustainability research by establishing whether consumer expressive sustainability behavior translates into a willingness to pay. The paper identifies a set of theoretical and managerial implications to help foodservice businesses and scholars implement sustainability initiatives. These implications relate to conceptualization, theoretical and methodological approaches in sustainability research. This study enhances the understanding of how consumers' perceptions of sustainability contribute to willingness to pay and the competitiveness of foodservice businesses. It enables targeted marketing by segmenting consumers based on their sustainability views
We have no voice, and we must scream: the social science academic journal publication model is systemically broken, predominantly damaging early career researchers.
No full textAchieving scholarly publication in social science journals is now near-normatively marred by review periods that can last years. This arises primarily from an influx of submissions driven by "publish-or-perish" culture in UK academia, particularly among academic early-career researchers (AcECRs) most subjected to this demand. This article examines the documented issues surrounding publication and their impacts on AcECRs, professional services ECRs, and others within the scholarship-producing community whose experiences are often sidelined. All ECRs are invariably required to publish to maintain contracts, demonstrate expertise, secure grants, and remain in employment, leaving ECRs most harmed by these systemic problems. Collating diverse observations, the author argues that the journal publication model is broken. In response, this article advocates prioritising open-access preprints and withdrawing articles where no review action occurs within reasonable timelines. Pathways for equity are discussed, including the relevance of the Contributor Role Taxonomy, while encouraging further ECR-led dialogue
Assessing the feasibility of repurposing the existing natural gas pipelines for hydrogen transport: a comprehensive review. [Preprint]
Full text linkIn a bid to investigate the optimum transportation method for the offshore wind produced hydrogen (H2) and assess the feasibility of repurposing the existing oil and gas infrastructure for H2 transmission; this paper assesses the existing H2 transportation methods with a comprehensive review of the H2 impact on the existing natural gas pipelines infrastructure. To establish the possibility of repurposing the existing natural gas (NG) pipelines for H2 gas transport, this paper reviews the influential technical measures; composition, pressure, temperature, volumetric energy density, density, and pressure drop to assess whether the characteristics of hydrogen gas are compatible with the natural gas pipeline infrastructure. Based on these reviews, it was found that the current NG pipelines pressure exacerbates the H2 embrittlement and for the existing NG pipelines to be repurposed, the operating pressure should be reduced, and the pipeline material should be revised. It was found that higher strength steels can be re-used with major modifications, or the pipeline should be constructed from X52 material grade or below. Nevertheless, the fitness of the existing NG pipelines for H2 transmission should be assessed on a case-by-case basis and other factors such as erosion, leakage, monitoring and rigorous assessment of welds and joints should also be considered
ESG ratings in motion: the global market response to upgrades and downgrades.
Full text linkWe employ a calendar-time portfolio approach to investigate the effects of ESG rating changes on a comprehensive sample of global stocks rated by MSCI between 2017 and 2021 (2,841 stocks, including 2,100 upgrades and 813 downgrades). Rating upgrades (downgrades) result in positive (negative) abnormal returns of approximately 1% per month, both statistically and economically significant, aligning with previous studies. These effects remain robust to holding period definitions, alternative factor models and weighting schemes, and they appear relatively consistent across sectors and regions becoming more synchronised since the COVID-19 pandemic. The market is shown to partially anticipate ESG rating upgrades but not downgrades. The impact of ESG rating changes on stock returns is particularly stronger for large firms, growth firms, and those operating in countries with low power distance. Overall, these findings add to the sustainable finance literature, especially on ESG rating heterogeneity, by revealing key determinants of the ESG–financial performance relationship
Safeguarding Orkney’s vernacular buildings in a climate crisis. [Case study]
Full text linkThis case study discusses the impacts of climate change on Scotland's vernacular architectural heritage, examining both the physical degradation of these structures and the cultural transformation, making it challenging to create wider community attention. Using Orkney as an example, we will explore the inadequacies of existing conservation frameworks. We propose adaptive, community-based strategies that merge traditional practices with contemporary climate resilience science and argue for a paradigm shift, from static preservation to dynamic resilience, in how we value, protect, and sustain vernacular heritage in a warming world
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