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Hierarchies of Desirable Demise: Cholera and (In)Glorious Death in Romania’s Bloodless Balkan War, 1913
Full text linkWhat happens when war fails to offer the opportunity for a glorious death? And what if the enemy you set out to fight fails to show up, only for you to do battle with another, more insidious foe—disease? What then of the gendered roles of martial masculinity; can heroism ever be reconciled with the perceived indignity of a sickbed? The present article aims to elucidate such questions of general significance by focusing on a specific case-study, in order to bring empirical evidence together in support of coining a conceptual category. The tension between ideals of martial death and the likelihood of death by disease in wartime, a hitherto underexplored yet far-reaching topic, is analysed with reference to the 1913 Romanian invasion of Bulgaria, a conflict in which, in the absence of armed combat, cholera became virtually the only, and therefore a particularly anxiogenic, likely cause of death. The article first offers a close reading of an ‘autosomatographic’ first-person account by a survivor of cholera, then continues with a broader corpus of narratives describing collective anxieties over contagion, showing how war narratives may also be read as plague narratives. Finally, it charts the wider post-war attempts at renegotiating the categories of ‘heroism’ and ‘sacrifice’ against this backdrop, not least through the contested inclusion of civilians across gender lines. This intervention therefore argues for a need to historicise ‘hierarchies of desirable demise’ according to which the normative ideal of glorious death in combat was placed above the perceived emasculating indignity of death from disease
Assessing Atlantic subpolar gyre influence on the northern North Sea during the Holocene: A marine palaeoenvironmental reconstruction from the Fetlar basin (Shetland, UK)
Full text linkKnowledge of the variability of Atlantic water inflow is critical for understanding the hydrography and ecology of the northern North Sea. However, long term records of this variability, which can be used to refine model projections of future environmental change in the region, are limited. The Fetlar Basin, located to the east of the Shetland Islands (UK), is a depositional basin situated at the intersection of the North Atlantic and northern North Sea, making it ideally placed for studying variability in Atlantic inflow. Datasets have been generated from a marine sediment core spanning the Late glacial and Holocene (c. 13 k cal a BP to present), including benthic foraminiferal assemblages, stable isotopes (δ18O and δ13C of Quinqueloculina seminulum), grain size, and sediment total organic carbon. Cluster and principal component analyses of benthic foraminiferal assemblages enabled the definition of five foraminiferal zones. The two basal zones (c. 12.9–11.0 k cal a BP) contain cold water, sea ice and glaci-proximal species typical of the Late glacial, as well as high abundances of juvenile forms. A transition from cool to warmer Holocene conditions occurs from c. 11.5 k cal a BP in a well-mixed water column. During the mid Holocene, high abundances of F. fusiformis are coincident with lower δ18O. These coincide with the Mid Holocene Climatic Optimum, and or indicate fresher, more nutrient rich water associated with higher contributions of Modified North Atlantic Water in relation to an expansion of the subpolar gyre. From c. 4.2 k cal a BP to the present, foraminiferal δ18O values indicate cooler and potentially more saline conditions, which align with a general late Holocene cooling pattern in Northern Europe, and or increasing salinity due to a retraction of the subpolar gyre. Our findings provide potential long-term evidence for recent studies which emphasize the role of subpolar gyre variability in regulating North and Norwegian Sea salinity. This variability should thus be considered in the modelling and management of this region
Community Engaged Learning - Addressing Societal Challenges through the Curriculum
Full text linkIreland is experiencing biodiversity loss at rates never experienced before. Plants, insects, birds and mammals are increasingly threatened as a result of destructive human activities. Academics from the Froebel Department of Primary and Early Childhood Education responded to a need identified by Maynooth Green Campus (a Maynooth campus/community strategic coalition that seeks to promote environmental sustainability and climate justice). The partnership worked to increase community awareness of biodiversity and encourage more interaction between Maynooth residents, students and staff and the natural environment. In 2020, final-year Froebel BEd and PME students partnered with Maynooth Green Campus and Kildare County Council to enhance biodiversity through a rooftop garden and the creation of the Tairseach Tree Trail for the wider Maynooth community. Students explored climate action through sustainable materials, waste valorisation, water conservation, and biodiversity initiatives, producing educational resources including GIS mapping, trail guides, and food-growing materials shared during National Biodiversity Week. The project led to a strategic alliance between the Froebel Department and Maynooth Green Campus, strengthening community engagement, ecoliteracy, and climate justice education through a HEA Future Ready–funded Project Live partnership
The Politics of Counting Homelessness: The Case of Ireland
Full text linkHomelessness remains a critical social issue in Ireland, yet its true scale is systematically obscured by definitional limitations, methodological inconsistencies, and political interference in data collection. While official statistics reported 16,058 individuals relying on emergency accommodation as of July 2025 (a rise of +244% since July 2015), this figure excludes substantial populations: rough sleepers, domestic violence survivors, asylum seekers, and those experiencing hidden homelessness through enforced parental co-residence. This article examines the politics of homelessness enumeration through a critical analysis of seven data sources, policy documents spanning 2014–2025 and stakeholder interviews. The study reveals how Ireland’s measurement system exemplifies the political life of numbers. The analysis exposes five interconnected dimensions of measurement failure: fragmentation of sources and measurement approaches, methodological inconsistencies that undermine longitudinal analysis, systematic undercounting that renders substantial populations invisible, documented political manipulation and data integrity concerns, and structural barriers that impede comprehensive data collection and analysis. The findings demonstrate how apparently technical decisions about data collection and analysis become sites of political contestation. The research reveals the measurement politics in contemporary welfare states, demonstrating the need for inclusive frameworks, integrated systems, and transparent practices that prioritize social justice over administrative convenience
Procrastination as a marker of cognitive decline: Evidence from longitudinal transitions in the older adult population
Full text linkINTRODUCTION
Cognitive decline is a global health concern, making the identification of early, modifiable risk factors essential. While apathy is a recognized prodromal marker, procrastination may also signal early executive dysfunction.
METHODS
We used longitudinal secondary data from the United States Health and Retirement Study among adults aged 60+ . Cognitive function, procrastination, depression, and a proxy measure of apathy were assessed. Transitions between normative cognitive function, mild cognitive impairment (MCI), and dementia were modeled using a discrete‐time first‐order Markov model.
RESULTS
Procrastination scores were higher among individuals with MCI or dementia than those with normative cognitive function. Procrastination also interacted with age, disproportionately increasing the risk of decline in the oldest participants.
DISCUSSION
Procrastination was associated with cognitive impairment and predicted transitions to MCI, suggesting it may serve as both an early behavioral marker and compounding risk factor.
Highlights
Procrastination predicts cognitive decline in older adults.
Effects remain after accounting for apathy.
Longitudinal study links everyday behavior to dementia risk.
Procrastination may be a potentially modifiable early behavioral marker
Biofilms: from the cradle of life to life support
Full text linkBiofilms are intricately associated with life on Earth, enabling functions essential to human and plant
systems, but their susceptibility to spaceflight stressors and functional disruption in space remains
incompletely understood. During spaceflight, biofilms have largely been considered as potential
infrastructure, life support or infection risks. This review focuses on the prevailing beneficial roles of
biofilms in human and plant health, and examines evidence of biofilm adaptability in space
environments
The Role of EU Law in Enabling the Participation of Professionals with Disabilities in the Cultural and Creative Sectors: Socio-legal Perspectives
Full text linkAdopting a socio-legal approach, this thesis investigates the role of European Union (EU)
law in enabling professionals with disabilities to take part in cultural life, and in
implementing Article 30(2) of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.
Drawing on qualitative data collected with stakeholders in the cultural and creative
sectors (CCS), the thesis discusses the challenges faced by cultural and creative
professionals, and provides novel insights into the key issues underlying the participation
of professionals with disabilities in cultural life. On this basis, the thesis considers the
extent to which the EU legal framework can facilitate this participation. It focuses on four
issues identified during the data analysis: non-discrimination and equality; accessibility;
the EU funding system; and knowledge-building and awareness-raising –with the latter
theme being addressed in a cross-cutting manner.
Guided by the issues deemed essential by the participants for fostering the participation
of professionals with disabilities in the CCS, the thesis demonstrates how the EU legal
framework can support these professionals in developing and utilising their potential. It
notes that various instruments promoting the application of the principle of equal
treatment in the EU, such as the Employment Equality Directive, can benefit CCS
professionals with disabilities. However, the research also considers the incomplete
protection against disability-based discrimination in the EU and its consequences for CCS
professionals with disabilities. Additionally, the thesis emphasises how EU accessibility
legislation can facilitate the participation of professionals with disabilities in the CCS,
while also highlighting the fragmented and limited nature of accessibility provisions.
Furthermore, it argues that the EU funding system can support these professionals in
many ways through programmes, such as Creative Europe, and other funds. However, it
also stresses how the EU funding system can perpetuate precarity in the CCS and can
practically prevent persons with disabilities from accessing opportunities in these sectors
Protecting the ‘Privacy’ in Privacy-Enhancing Technologies: Lessons from Apple’s NeuralHash Detection Proposal and Google’s Privacy Sandbox (Joint Research Report, 2026)
Full text linkPrivacy-Enhancing Technologies (PETs) are often presented as tools that enable the free flow of data while protecting personal information. In practice, however, PETs often fall short on their promise of safeguarding privacy without limiting data use. When privacy is reduced to a narrow conception of confidentiality, the tools marketed to enhance privacy risk undermining protection and entrenching existing concentrations of power. Drawing on two high-profile attempts at real-world deployment that were ultimately discontinued, this report shows how current approaches to PETs can obscure important risks, and that PETs must be understood as one component of a wider, rights-based governance framework rather than a technical fix for privacy problems. Crucially, broad engagement with diverse interdisciplinary stakeholders is an essential part of the process. In a time of legislative flux, where ‘simplification’ in pursuit of innovation is prominent in policy discussions, the limitations of PETs as a catch-all ‘solution’ must be accurately understood. This is especially the case as ongoing debates on the very ‘notion of personal data’, as reflected in the EU Digital Omnibus proposals, have the potential to further emphasise technical protections based on concepts of identifiability at the expense of full consideration of privacy harms
Concealed Conscientization: A Case Study of a Commercial Dungeons & Dragons Adventure
Full text linkThis study presents a case study of a Dungeons & Dragons (D&D) adventure that embeds
key concepts from Karl Marx and Franz Fanon with the goal of provoking conscientization, the critical
awakening advocated by Paolo Freire, for those who play it. The adventure was written under a pseud
onym and has been accepted and published by a commercial publisher. Results from a playtest group
provide empirical evidence that players received and made sense of the adventure in line with the intent
of the author to critique contemporary religious fundamentalism and prompt reflection on colonial
ism. This research indicates that commercial publication of critical game design specifically within the
context of the hegemonic D&D rules system has the potential to reach a significant audience
Global ocean indicators: Marking pathways at the science-policy nexus
Full text linkOcean knowledge is crucial for shaping policies that enable sustainable development, adaptation, and well-being at all levels, as everyone—either directly or indirectly—depends on the ocean, which today faces escalating threats from climate change, pollution, and biodiversity loss, pushing us beyond critical planetary boundaries. Ocean indicators are crucial for translating ocean science and data into practical metrics, guidance, and tools informing on the state and health of the ocean that can be directly applied by policymakers, practitioners, and the public. Despite their critical importance, ocean indicators trail behind those for continental areas, limiting effective monitoring and policy integration. Developing reliable, comparable, and regularly updated ocean in
dicators, backed by a unified international framework, is essential for delivering coherent, actionable insights that can guide global goals and protect the ocean’s future. This paper establishes a scientific foundation for ocean indicators through international and multidisciplinary collaboration, presenting defined criteria and a set of pilot indicators for the ocean’s physical, biogeochemical, biodiversity, and ecosystem aspects. The proposed
work offers a solid foundation for generating indicators that not only track the ocean state but also provide outputs for application in informing policy and decision-making