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The REFRESH Project: historical water management at Blenheim Palace
Get PDFThe REFRESH (Water Cycle for Resilient Heritage) project, funded by the AHRC and Belmont Forum, investigates how the water cycle affects the conservation and resilience of cultural heritage sites under changing climate conditions. Working across four case studies: the Louvre Palace (France), Gruuthusemuseum (Belgium), Doge’s Palace (Italy) and Blenheim Palace (UK),the project addresses how historical hydraulic systems might inform contemporary water and energy management for future-resilient heritage sites. This poster presents pre-liminary findings from the first, exploratory phase at the Blenheim Palace, which examines how water has been managed historically across the 300-year evolution of the site. Through extensive archival research (maps, ledgers, correspondences, architectural and landscape plans, drawings, etc.) and oral histories with Palace staff and consultants, this phase reconstructs the design, function, and transformation of hydraulic systems. The analysis focuses on how these systems have corresponded to the climatic conditions and landscape changes such as aridity, drought and floods and how traditional practices might inform contemporary conservation and sustainability strategies. Preliminary findings suggest that Blenheim’s historical water systems reflect a dynamic interplay between engineering function, landscape design, and environmental adaptation in the past 300 years. These findings contribute to the wider REFRESH research framework by demonstrating how historical studies and stakeholder knowledge can support modelling and monitoring phases aimed at identifying climate adaptation solutions in line with conservation principles. By reinterpreting the past management of water as a resource for future resilience, this work highlights the value of heritage hydrology as a bridge between cultural heritage, environmental science, and climate adaptation
Water content and iron oxidation state analysis of silicate glass using the electron probe
Get PDFThe water content (H2O) and iron oxidation state (Fe3+/FeT) of silicate glass are useful compositional parameters to measure in volcanology and igneous petrology due to: (1) their influence on the chemical and physical properties of magmas, and (2) their use in constraining the pressure-temperature-composition conditions of magma storage and ascent. We present techniques using electron probe microanalysis (EPMA) that carefully mitigate for the effects of sub-surface charging, which causes beam damage and modifies X-ray emission. The calibrated volatiles-by-difference technique quantifies H2O (assuming that this is the dominant volatile species) in silicate glass at a spatial resolution of 5-10 μm diameter with uncertainties of ±0.5-0.7 wt% and has been tested on basaltic glasses. The time-dependent-ratio flank method quantifies Fe3+/FeT at a spatial resolution of 20-60 μm diameter with uncertainties of ±0.1 and has been tested on a wide range of basaltic and peralkaline rhyolitic glasses. EPMA often requires straightforward sample preparation and is more accessible than other techniques used to quantify both H2O and Fe3+/FeT (e.g., SIMS, FTIR, Raman, XANES, Mössbauer), although uncertainties are typically larger using EPMA. For H2O, the spatial resolution of EPMA is often higher than other techniques (e.g., SIMS, FTIR), whereas for Fe3+/FeT it is often lower (e.g., Raman, XANES). Both EPMA techniques can be used on natural (e.g., melt inclusion and matrix glass) and experimental glasses, in addition to standard EPMA for quantification of major and minor element concentrations, for extensive chemical characterisation using EPM
Crosslinguistic influence on Chinese-English postgraduate students' written production of adverbial clauses in different language environments
Get PDFThe interplay between a bilingual learner’s first language (L1) and second language (L2), referred to as crosslinguistic influence (CLI), has received considerable attention in second language acquisition (SLA) research. Contrary to how most previous CLI studies have treated this phenomenon, this study emphasizes on the bidirectional nature of CLI: it can occur from the L1 to the L2 (i.e., forward transfer) or from the L2 to the L1 (i.e., reverse transfer). Since forward transfer has been extensively investigated, more research into the under-investigated reverse direction is needed as L1 has also been evidenced to be subject to influence from the L2. This study aimed to explore the underlying mechanisms that contribute to CLI in both directions, with a focus on three major contributing factors: language environment, syntactic priming, and L2 proficiency level. Although language environment has been widely recognized as an effective source of language input (e.g., Seliger, 2010), most of pertinent studies targeted immigrants that have stayed in an L2 environment for several years. Little attention has been given to L2 learners who have experienced an L2-immersive context for a shorter period of time. Additionally, few CLI studies have rigorously measured learners’ L2 proficiency level, which also has an important modulating effect on CLI. This study thus addressed these two issues with Chinese- English postgraduate students studying in both L1- and L2-immersive language environments and proper L2 proficiency tests. As syntax serves as a significant aspect in investigating CLI, this study targeted the written production of adverbial clauses to showcase the interactions between the two languages. An adverbial clause comprised of a subject and a verb that is dependent on and serves to modify the main clause, which is placed differently in Chinese and English and thus, constitutes a proper structure for CLI exploration. Specifically, adverbial clauses are most commonly placed at the initial position and rarely after a main clause, whereas the placement of adverbial clause is more flexible in English. To achieve a successful elicitation of this particular syntactic structure, syntactic priming (i.e., a tacit tendency of interlocutors to use similar structures as the ones they encountered in preceding discourse) should also be taken advantage of. As another source of language input, syntactic priming’s effect on CLI was also explored. Hence, the main research objectives of this study are: 1) to examine the influence of language learning environment (i.e., China or English-speaking country, such as the U.K. or the U.S.) on Chinese postgraduate students’ written production of adverbial clauses in either L1 Chinese or L2 English; 2) to investigate whether L2 English proficiency also has an effect on the production of adverbial clauses; and 3) to understand the impact of syntactic priming on effective elicitation of the targeted adverbial clauses and whether it affects CLI. This study adopted a quantitative design to answer these questions. 80 Chinese postgraduate students (who were L2 English learners) were recruited, with 40 of them learning in a Chinese-dominant environment and the other 40 in an English-dominant environment. They first completed a set of English proficiency tests, including both vocabulary and grammar questions, and then were given a writing task for which they were randomly allocated to four different routes: a) syntactic priming in English and writing task in English; b) syntactic priming in Chinese and writing task in Chinese; c) no syntactic priming and writing task in English; d) no syntactic priming and writing task in Chinese. The writing task was followed by a questionnaire aiming to obtain information on participants’ L1 and L2 use on a daily basis. The results indicated that living in the L2 environment contributed significantly to reverse transfer, such that the participants used more English-featured adverbial clauses. Syntactic priming was found to interact with learners’ L1 experience to strengthen their existing knowledge, with both the English- and Chinese-dominant groups producing more Chinese featured patterns under priming in Chinese. While for the English-dominant group, syntactic priming provided in English was able to strengthen the reverse transfer effect coupled with the influence of the L2-immersive environment. However, L2 proficiency level seemed to have a positive correlation with forward transfer, as the more proficient L2 speakers produced more Chinese-featured sentences. The findings together verified the bidirectional, dynamic, and complex nature of CLI, and provided insights for language teaching in terms of the importance of language exposure and the awareness of the correspondences between learners’ L1 and L2
Migration status and internet use: gender differences in mental health among rural older adults in China
Get PDFBackground: A study was conducted to examine the impact of Internet use on the mental health of male and female older adults with different migration statuses living in rural China. Methods: Data came from the China Family Panel Studies (CFPS) 2020. The propensity score matching method was adopted to analyze the effect of Internet use on mental health of rural older adults as a function of migration status and gender. Results: Our findings indicated a progressive decline in depressive symptoms and a corresponding increase in mental well-being among older migrants, left-behind older adults, and those without migrant children. Furthermore, the mental health benefits associated with Internet use increased alongside this improvement. Importantly, older migrant women derived fewer mental health benefits from Internet use than their male counterparts, as did left-behind older women relative to men in the same cohort. Conclusion: Since the mental health of the older migrants was worse than that of left-behind older adults or those without migrant children, and older migrant women derived fewer mental health benefits from Internet use than their male counterparts, it is necessary to pay more attention to rural older migrants, especially older women, to improve their willingness and ability to use the Internet
Teaching about the British Empire, migration, and belonging: a research-led strategy for secondary education in England
Get PDFTeaching about the British Empire, migration, and belonging: A research-led strategy for secondary education in England reports findings from the Portrait EMB project, a national study of teaching practice across English secondary schools. Drawing on surveys, case studies, and interviews, it identifies key challenges and proposes principles and recommendations to strengthen curriculum and teacher support
Electromechanical modelling and simulation of human‐induced pluripotent stem cell‐derived cardiomyocytes predict drug‐induced contractility effects
Get PDFHuman‐induced pluripotent stem cell‐derived cardiomyocytes (hiPSC‐CMs) hold promise in personalized medicine, particularly for cardiac diseases and human‐data‐based pharmacology studies. Assessing hiPSC‐CM mechanics and their changes in response to drug action in silico enables more efficient drug testing. For such investigations, hiPSC‐CMs also provide a versatile alternative to adult human cardiac tissue which is limited in availability for research. To enable in silico investigations of hiPSC‐CM electrophysiology and contraction, we developed and evaluated two versions of hiPSC‐CM electromechanical models with different maturation states. The models were based solely on human cardiomyocyte and hiPSC‐CM data. The evaluation process involved comparing simulation outcomes with an extensive dataset of experimental data to ensure the reliability of the model within the context of hiPSC‐CM pharmacology studies. The models uniquely incorporated the mechanical properties of hiPSC‐CMs, providing insights into the mechanisms underlying their contractile behaviour. In our in silico studies, we simulated the effects of 64 different drugs, including those with previously untested inotropic effects. We demonstrated agreement between the simulation and experimental datasets, correctly identifying the inotropic effects of 41 out of 48 drugs. We also compared the effect of pharmacological agents with unknown inotropic effects and conducted novel experiments demonstrating agreement with simulation outcomes. Finally, using the models, we demonstrated the mechanisms of previously unrecognized rate‐dependent inotropic effects of paliperidone. Altogether this study presents an in vitro – in silico framework which is evaluated against experimental data and allows for simulating drug‐dependent electromechanical effects with high accuracy and prediction of rate‐dependent inotropic effects. image Key points: Human‐induced pluripotent stem cell‐derived cardiomyocytes (hiPSC‐CMs) are promising for drug testing and disease modelling, but current computer models that allow us to simulate hiPSC‐CM behaviour lack human‐specific mechanical properties. We developed and validated hiPSC‐CM electromechanical models, allowing accurate simulations of contraction, calcium signalling and electrophysiology for two different maturation stages. Simulations with the new models correctly predicted inotropic effects for 41 out of 48 drugs and identified previously unknown effects of two drugs, later confirmed experimentally. Simulations revealed novel rate‐dependent inotropic effects of paliperidone linked to calcium handling differences in paced versus non‐paced cells. This in silico framework can enhance drug testing accuracy and understanding through mechanistic studies by integrating experimental data with computational predictions
Hierarchical neurocognitive model of externalizing and internalizing comorbidity
Get PDFMounting evidence suggests that hierarchical psychopathology factors underlie psychiatric comorbidity. However, the exact neurobiological characterizations of these multilevel factors remain elusive. Here, leveraging the brain-behavior predictive framework with a 10-year longitudinal imaging-genetic cohort (IMAGEN, ages 14, 19 and 23, N = 1,750), we constructed 2 neural factors underlying externalizing and internalizing symptoms, which were reproducible across 6 clinical and population-based datasets (ABCD, STRATIFY/ESTRA, ABIDE II, ADHD-200 and XiNan, from age 10 to age 36, N = 3,765). These two neural factors exhibit distinct neural configurations: hyperconnectivity in impulsivity-related circuits for the externalizing symptoms and hypoconnectivity in goal-directed circuits for the internalizing symptoms. Both factors also differ in their cognitive-behavior relevance, genetic substrates and developmental profiles. Together with previous findings, we propose a hierarchical neurocognitive model of comorbid psychopathology (NeuroHiP) from preadolescence to adulthood, comprising a general neuropsychopathological factor (manifested as inefficient executive control) and two stratified factors of externalizing (deficient inhibition control) and internalizing (impaired goal-directed function) symptoms, respectively. These holistic insights are crucial for the development of stratified therapeutic interventions for mental disorders
Sociality, diurnal temperature range and isothermality: Significant determinants of mass-independent resting metabolic rate in subterranean African mole-rats (Superfamily Bathyergidae)
Get PDFAnimals exhibit a diverse range of sociality from the strictly solitary to the highly social. Different forms of sociality have evolved in response to ecological constraints and selective habitat pressures, which are governed by the energetic and fitness costs to an individual. Uniquely among mammals, the clade of African mole-rats (Bathyergidae and Heterocephalidae) covers three distinct life-history forms of sociality: solitary, social and eusocial species. This variety in social structure makes them a model clade to study how metabolic traits vary between different forms of sociality. Resting metabolic rates (RMR) of seven African mole-rat species, ranging from solitary to eusocial, were measured using open-flow respirometry. Results were combined with published data, enabling the inclusion and statistical analysis of 16 species in total. We identified distinct allometric scaling of RMR, with eusocial species exhibiting a considerably greater rise in RMR with increases in body mass. This is likely attributable to reproductive and behavioural divisions of labour, and mass-dependent colony roles in eusocial species. Phylogenetically-informed analyses further identified that sociality, in addition to select bioclimatic traits – diurnal temperature range (°C) and isothermality (%) – significantly explain variation in the mass-independent RMR of African mole-rats. These findings elucidate, for the first time, that sociality can be a determinant of RMR, and calls for further study to identify the wider significance of sociality on mammalian metabolism, as well as exploring the allometric scaling of metabolic rate with respect to mammalian sociality
Imaging three-dimensional molecular structure and dynamics with multiparticle covariance and cumulant Coulomb explosion analysis
Get PDFCoulomb explosion imaging (CEI) provides a direct means of imaging molecular geometry by correlating fragment ion momenta following the fragmentation of a molecular polycation. Here, we demonstrate the use of three-body covariance and four-body cumulant analysis to extract three-dimensional (3D) structural information from the X-ray-induced Coulomb explosion of tert-butyl iodide (C4H9I). Site-selective ionization at the iodine 4d edge with intense femtosecond soft X-ray pulses from an X-ray free-electron laser (XFEL) enables rapid charge buildup and molecular breakup. By correlating ionic fragments in the molecular frame, we isolate complete dissociation channels and reveal subtle structural changes, such as umbrella-type motion of the branched alkyl chain, during the ionization process. Comparison with point-charge simulations of the Coulomb explosion shows close agreement, validating the approach. These results establish covariance/cumulant mapping as a powerful strategy for imaging complex three-dimensional molecular structures and point the way toward time-resolved CEI using both XFEL and tabletop sources for capturing ultrafast structural dynamics
Perinatal palliative care: how to approach antenatal counselling
No full textThere is a growing recognition that perinatal palliative care is appropriate whenever there is uncertainty about a baby’s survival outcome. Many aspects of this care can, and should, be provided by existing perinatal teams, with support from community and specialist services where required. However, delivering perinatal palliative care can be practically, ethically and emotionally challenging for professionals without adequate guidance and training. In this best practice paper, we offer practical guidance for clinicians who may be involved in antenatal counselling when a baby has been diagnosed with a potentially life-limiting condition during pregnancy. We consider how to approach antenatal counselling in the context of prognostic uncertainty, how to support families in being able to treasure their pregnancy, how to remain open to all possibilities, how to develop individualised care plans for families and finally consider how to close the consultation and arrange follow up. Drawing on the parental experience of one of our authors we explore how to navigate the concept of hope in perinatal consultations