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Structure, surface composition, and magnetic properties of Mn<sup>2+</sup>-doped magnetite nanoparticles of the composition Mn<sub>x</sub>Fe<sub>3-y</sub>O<sub>4</sub>
No full textWe systematically investigated the core structure, surface composition, and magnetic properties of Mn2+doped magnetite nanocrystalline particles (∼ 8–23 nm) of the nominal composition MnxFe3-yO4 (x = 0.0–0.5;
) where the Fe3+, not Fe2+, ions are deliberately substituted with Mn2+ to create a unique defect structure formed of both substitutional and interstitial Mn2+ impurities. XRD and Raman data indicate that Mn2+ doping weakens the magnetite-to-maghemite transformation, halting it entirely for the MnxFe3-yO4 sample with x = 0.5. Rietveld analysis of XRD data favors a cationic distribution wherein Mn2+ ions exclusively substitute the tetrahedral Fe3+ ions in the spinel-related structure, removing
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of them to interstitial tetrahedral sites at low x values and to both interstitial tetrahedral and octahedral sites at higher x values. XPS data support the finding that the magnetite-to-maghemite transformation is increasingly inhibited at higher x values. The nanoparticles exhibit complex magnetic behavior, which is a manifestation of the unique defect structure wherein the saturation magnetization initially decreases and then increases as x increases. The Verwey transition observed at very low temperatures (∼10 K) in MnxFe3-yO4 nanoparticles is attributed to particle size effects rather than Mn2+ doping. The changes in the magnetic properties are clearly related to the unique defect structure developed
Spatiotemporal trends in <i>P. falciparum</i> malaria and identification of high-risk villages in Eastern Myanmar: an 8-year observational study
Get PDFOne barrier to achieving Plasmodium falciparum elimination is the persistence of villages where transmission remains high. While targeted interventions can effectively reduce transmission in these areas, identifying priority target villages is often resource-intensive. This study investigates the use of a geostatistical model to analyse routinely collected surveillance data and identify high-risk villages in Hpapun Township, Myanmar. A geostatistical model was fitted using routine surveillance data (2014-2021) collected from 507 village-based malaria posts to assess temporal changes in P. falciparum incidence and make incidence predictions while accounting for elevation, prior interventions and spatial correlation between villages. Between 2014 and 2019, P. falciparum incidence decreased by 93.9%. Villages that received targeted interventions were characterised by higher pre-intervention incidence (incidence rate ratio (IRR) = 4.72, 95% confidence interval (CI) 4.56-4.90) relative to non-intervention villages and were associated with lower incidence post-intervention (IRR = 0.26, 95% CI 0.24-0.27). In 2021, 12 high-risk villages were identified, with a reported incidence exceeding the predicted incidence for at least three months, and eight villages were identified as persistently high-risk (≥ 90th percentile difference in at least six months). Our findings suggest that geostatistical modelling can be utilised to identify persistent high-risk villages, thereby efficiently supporting malaria elimination efforts
Death, Controversy, and Capitalism: Empathy and Its Deficit in Netflix’s <i>Squid Game</i>
No full textThis chapter analyses empathy and the representation of violent death in Squid Game (2021–2025). While navigating the series’ controversial depictions of violence on screen in response to discourses around empathy, the chapter’s primary consideration is Squid Game’s critique of a broader empathy deficit in contemporary culture. To what extent does the series’ controversial representations of violence highlight the potential challenges of experiencing and developing empathy within capitalist systems
Towards a habit-rupture model of intergroup contact in everyday settings
No full textAccording to intergroup contact theory, meaningful interactions between members of different social identity groups can lead to decreases in prejudice. However, the literature on intergroup contact has generally emphasized contact-based interventions that involve positive contact experiences in highly controlled environments like research laboratories or classrooms, or infrequent intimate intergroup contact experiences, like intergroup friendships. In this Perspective, we review the literature on how intergroup contact manifests in everyday settings, which challenges established views that contact is readily available, positive and leads to consistently positive within-person changes. We describe how variations in contact valence and environmental affordances for self-selection influence individual- and macro-level segregation dynamics, which create conditions for stable trajectories of contact and intergroup bias, or contact habits. We then propose a habit–rupture model of contact, according to which changes in intergroup relations through lifespan and macro-level disruptions act as ruptures, leading to the development of new contact habits. Considering contact and its effects through a habit and rupture lens identifies realistic and ecologically valid opportunities to apply intergroup contact in the service of the social good
Incorporating Sustainability and Resilience to Disruption in a Supply Chain Performance Measurement System
Get PDFA Resilient-Sustainable Supply Chain (RSSC) is a supply chain that has the capacity to detect, resist, and cope with unexpected disruptions while managing resources efficiently to strike a balance between profitability, environmental impact, and social welfare across the supply chain. However, there is a significant gap in studies that examine resilience and sustainability concurrently within a supply chain context. Furthermore, it is noted that the performance measures and concepts contributing to the development of an RSSC lack clarity and merit further exploration to identify their interdependencies. To this end, this research conducted a systematic literature review that identified nine characteristics of a RSSC: flexibility, agility, transparency, collaboration, information sharing, innovation, reengineering, supply chain risk management culture, and top management support. A conceptual framework was created by examining the interdependencies and interrelationships among these characteristics. This has enabled the categorisation of these characteristics into capabilities (flexibility, agility, transparency, and collaboration), enablers (information sharing, innovation, and reengineering), and moderators (supply chain risk management culture and top management support). This framework extends the current understanding of SCPM systems by identifying the strategic level measures that are concurrent in resilience and sustainability. The framework also contributes to the field of SCM where the categorisation of the characteristics as enablers, moderators and capabilities extends the understanding of the interconnected roles played by them in simultaneously developing resilience and sustainability in a SC context.
However, resilience and sustainability within a supply chain context are recognised to have contradictory and complementary relationships, which give rise to trade-offs and synergies. To effectively develop a Resilient and Sustainable Supply Chain (RSSC) through the application of the conceptual framework, it is essential to identify these trade-offs and synergies. To this end, this research has developed a Resilience and Sustainability Evaluator Tool (ReSET). This tool has the potential to enable practitioners to concurrently evaluate the impact of strategic decisions on resilience and sustainability. By using simulation, ReSET facilitates the identification of how strategic decisions affect aspects of resilience and sustainability. The study also designed an interrelationship matrix that allows for the analysis and interpretation of the identified impacts of operational level performance measures on the aspects of resilience (anticipation, resistance, response & recovery) as well as sustainability (environmental, social, and economic) concurrently. The simulation results are utilised in conjunction with the interrelationship matrix to assess the impact of strategic decisions on resilience and sustainability through the lens of operational level measures. This tool makes a contribution to the area of SCPM systems by providing a novel approach to linking strategic decisions with SC performance through the lens of resilience and sustainability.
A discrete event simulation model of a bottle supply chain (BottleSC) was developed. Additionally, a set of strategic decisions was designed to represent the characteristics identified for a Resilient and Sustainable Supply Chain (RSSC) in the conceptual framework. These strategic decisions were then modelled following scenarios using simulation. By deploying the ReSET, this research identified the trade-offs and synergies that emerge when the characteristics of a RSSC are implemented as SC strategic decisions. These trade-offs and synergies contribute to SCM by identifying avenues for concurrently developing resilience and sustainability by enhancing the synergies and managing the trade-offs.
Semi-structured interviews were conducted with experts in the relevant field to validate the methods, processes, and findings of the research. While the interviews validated the research, the recommendation also identified that the scope of the results concerning the trade-offs and synergies between resilience and sustainability required additional confirmation to ensure generalisability. To this end, a second discrete event simulation model was developed for a strawberry supply chain (StrawSC). The findings from this model supported those from the manufacturing supply chain model (BottleSC). Through these findings, this study further emphasises the trade-offs and synergies that exist between resilience and sustainability. Understanding these trade-offs and synergies will allow practitioners to enhance resilience and sustainability in their supply chains simultaneously
Share Friday Disseminations to all Faculty wide Staff tutors : Transition Tutors Project 2024-25
No full textThis project aligned with many University wide initiatives about students support, Transition to level 1, bridging the awarding gaps or the specialist populations across the Open University. The key stake holders SST, Students, AOCCI team, and transitions tutors were at the centre of this project. Ensuring that the Access student has individually shaped calls relevant to the long-term aspirations and motivates the students to move to the next level here in the Open University. The Transition tutors were themselves Associate lecturers across the four faculties and teach at level 1. This gave them the expertise of setting the expectations and highlighting the options across the various faculties that link to the modules at Access level. SST were able to contact 32 students - 13 have registered at Level 1 and 17 indicated they intend to. All the students who responded to the question rated the helpfulness 3/5-5/5. TTs and SST colleagues commented on positives of working together and building relationships. The project highlighted personalised, timely support significantly boosts student confidence and progression from Access to Level 1.Strong collaboration between tutors, SST, and faculty potential for scalabilit
Navigating Ethical and Responsible Business Practices amid Geopolitical Uncertainty
No full textThis introductory chapter serves two purposes. First, it provides an overview of the twelve chapters included in this edited volume, highlighting their central theories, methodologies, and key findings. In doing so, it identifies several pressing challenges currently facing the fields of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and sustainability, with emphasis on the prevailing climate of global geopolitical uncertainty. Second, the chapter outlines four major avenues for future research emerging from the contributions in this volume: (1) reflections on the theorization of CSR; (2) the relationship between CSR research and organizational behavior; (3) traditional and emerging approaches to CSR and sustainability communication; and (4) new frontiers in CSR research
Regional-scale trends in floral community change through the Pennsylvanian of the Maritimes Basin, Atlantic Canada
Get PDFThe Pennsylvanian saw one of the most significant periods of turnover in the fossil record of vascular plants, commonly characterized by the disappearance of lycopsid-dominated wetland rainforests. This series of events was heterogeneous across space and time, with the pace of disturbance varying between regions. The Paleozoic Maritimes Basin in Atlantic Canada has an extensive paleobotanical record of particular interest with regard to the evolution of floral communities. We explore changes in floral community composition through the Pennsylvanian of Atlantic Canada to identify disturbances to community structure. To do so, we assembled a fossil plant database spanning 607 unique assemblages across the Maritimes Basin. We quantified changes in the means and dispersions of assemblage compositions through time, along with changes in relative species richness, first appearance rates, and last appearance rates within multiple plant orders. Ready distinction of Cantabrian and Asturian community compositions with respect to a null model support the utility of the “Cantabrian” as a stratigraphic unit with a recognizable base within the Maritimes Basin, but does not provide any insight into the validity of the substage with respect to inter-basinal geochronology. When compared to a simulated neutral model, our results show evidence of a substantial shift in community compositions in the Middle Pennsylvanian, followed by a greater than expected compositional stability through to the Cantabrian, despite substantial turnover. Patterns in relative richness, last appearance rates, and the dispersion of community compositions through the same interval demonstrated only partial evidence for significant disturbance events to wetland community structure through the Pennsylvanian record of the Maritimes Basin. Our results are therefore able to identify at least one ecologically significant disturbance in wetland community structure through the Upper Carboniferous of Atlantic Canada
Starlings, olives and the idealised fascist landscape: Tracing the time-spaces of a more-than-human Rome
Get PDFThis article seeks to make sense of the Italian city of Rome as a more-than-human city through tracing a particular set of temporal and spatial relations that constitute and connect the worlds of humans and the European starling ( Sturnus vulgaris ) in the city. It will explore these geographical relations through the practices and materials of human and starling lives and consider the ways in which city space is formed through shared spatial logics, processes of social organisation and boundary making between humans and starlings. It will also argue that olives play a fundamental role in mediating human-starling relations in the city not least through their significance in articulating the circulation of temporal-spatial connections between present day Rome, the idealised fascist landscapes created under the rule of Benito Mussolini in the 1920s and 1930s and ancient Augustan Rome at the beginning of the first century CE. These three temporal moments will primarily be articulated through three related sites: a columbarium discovered in 1984 beneath the Villa Doria Pamphili in western central Rome, the reclaimed Pontine marshes of the Agro Pontino to the south-east of Rome and the streets of the present-day city centre. Through this temporal-spatial framework I will explore how starlings have inscribed themselves into the spatial politics of Roman life, how they map the city through the extension of their bodies through space and how the entangled spaces of Rome represent both the wilful agency of starlings and the wildness of the city. In doing so I seek to compliment and extend recent thinking about the constitution of the more-than-human city in two particular ways: through observing specific sites where human-starling worlds co-operate, overlap, abrade or conflict and through recentring the role of the temporal in tracing the geographies of the more-than-human city