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Walking in an unwalkable context: exploring methodology for co-producing knowledge in secondary cities
Get PDFThis study explores the methodologies used to acquire knowledge on pedestrian walking experience in secondary cities in Ghana and Nigeria. The study adopts a participatory and community-based approach, leveraging digital innovation (eyeglasses concealing a camera) and other approaches to capture data. In contrast to conventional walkability studies in African cities, which use traditional methods, this innovative approach positions participants as active contributors to knowledge production. Moreover, it provides rich, real-world audio-visual data that offers deeper insights into the quality of their walking experiences. The study highlights how effective planning and timely execution of community engagement in the walking environment affect urban residents. Despite the cost-free nature of walking and its critical role in connecting people to opportunities, video evidence and other methods highlighted significant dissatisfaction with walking environments. Participants expressed varying levels of discontent: residents of Cape Coast described their walking spaces as unattractive and inconvenient, while those in Owerri identified safety and security concerns. This collaborative approach effectively uncovered and documented essential insights into commuters' walking experiences across both locations. The study recommends extending this method to vulnerable population groups to provide a more inclusive understanding of walkability challenges from diverse demographics perspectives
Comparative analysis of diurnal thermal stress responses and lag effects in Acer campestre using chlorophyll fluorescence during UK summers 2022–2023
Get PDFUrban trees face increasing extreme heat, yet the timing of their short-term physiological responses remains unclear. This study investigated thermal stress dynamics in Acer campestre during two contrasting UK summers (2022 and 2023) and examined how sampling frequency affects the detection of temporal lag effects. Chlorophyll fluorescence parameters (NPQ and ETRmax) were measured daily during the 2022 high heat days and weekly under the milder conditions of 2023. Generalised linear mixed models and cross-correlation analyses explored the relationships between leaf temperature and photosynthetic performance. In 2022, NPQ showed increased morning thermal sensitivity under extreme heat, but detrended analyses did not reveal strong multi-day lag effects. ETRmax responded in synchrony with temperature, showing no detectable time lag. In 2023, apparent multi-day correlations matched exactly with the weekly sampling interval and were diminished or nullified by detrending, suggesting sampling artefacts rather than physiological memory. Across both years, morning measurements consistently indicated the greatest thermal sensitivity. These findings reveal that Acer campestre exhibits threshold-dependent stress responses and highlight the importance of high-frequency sampling for accurately capturing short-term physiological dynamics. Sparse sampling can produce misleading lag patterns, emphasising the need to match measurement frequency with the biological response timescales in urban tree monitoring
Dynamics of the fermion-rotor system
Get PDFWe explore the dynamics of the fermion-rotor system, a simple impurity model in d = 1 +1 dimensions consisting of a collection of purely right-moving fermions interacting with a quantum mechanical rotor localised at the origin. This was first introduced by Polchinski as a toy model for monopole-fermion scattering and is surprisingly subtle, with ingoing and outgoing fermions carrying different quantum numbers. We show that the rotor acts as a twist operator in the low-energy theory, changing the quantum numbers of excitations that have previously passed through the origin to ensure scattering consistent with all symmetries. We further show how generalisations of this model with multiple rotors and unequal charges can be viewed as a UV-completion of boundary states for chiral theories, including the well-studied 3450 model. We compute correlation functions between ingoing and outgoing fermions, and show that fermions dressed with the rotor degree of freedom act as local operators and create single-particle states, generalizing an earlier result obtained in a theory with a single rotor and equal charges. Finally, we point out a mod 2 anomaly in these models that descends from the Witten anomaly in 4d
Livelihood and season determine human-carnivore conflict around Zakouma National Park, Chad
Get PDFTranshumant pastoralists and their livestock spend the dry season in the floodplains around Zakouma National Park, Chad, where resident people practice mixed farming. We used interview data from 146 households to investigate the differences between these user groups in terms of vulnerability to depredation, attitudes and impact on conservation. Predation by spotted hyaena and disease were the major causes of livestock loss for both cattle and small ruminants, followed by lion depredation and theft. We found that seasonality and livelihood interact in shaping depredation patterns, with presence of nomads in the dry season attenuating the pressure of depredation on the livestock of resident people, who become more vulnerable in the wet season, when nomads are not present and more wildlife stays outside the Park. Local mitigation techniques were not effective, and 98% of all households suffered hyaena attacks. Only solid enclosures, which were employed uniquely by some villages, mitigated lion depredation. Attitudes varied between groups, with nomads more likely to turn to retaliation in case of depredation. For coexistence, there is a need to differentiate between different resource users with different needs and different attitudes
Does the double reduction policy in China threaten the motivation of teachers? An investigation on the changing motivation of professional teachers during the implementation of double reduction policy in China
Get PDFThis dissertation examines the impact of China's Double Reduction Policy (DRP) on the motivation of professional teachers. Implemented in 2021, the DRP aims to alleviate the academic burden of students by reducing homework and curbing private extracurricular tutoring. This study focuses on understanding how the policy affects teachers' motivation by employing a qualitative research design that includes small-scale studies, in which the use of semi-structured interviews with teachers from Suzhou as the main method of data collection. It is worth noting that this research might not represent the context in entire China since the research was conducted in Suzhou, a city often considered a leader in educational reform.The theoretical framework for this study draws on Expectancy-valence Theory and Self-Determination Theory to analyze teachers' motivation. Expectancy-valence Theory explores how teachers' beliefs about the achievability and value of the DRP's goals influence their motivation, while Self-Determination Theory examines intrinsic, extrinsic, and altruistic motivational factors.The findings reveal a complex picture of teachers' responses to the DRP. Teachers generally acknowledge the policy's noble objectives of reducing student stress and promoting holistic development. However, there is a notable difference in perceptions between urban and rural teachers. Urban teachers, who are often confronted with significant mental health issues among students, view the policy as necessary and beneficial. In contrast, rural teachers see the policy as misaligned with their primary challenges, such as inadequate resources and socio-economic hardships.A significant challenge identified is the existing accountability policy, which ties teachers' professional evaluations to student performance. This creates a paradox where teachers feel pressured to produce good grades, conflicting with the DRP's objective to reduce academic workloads. Additionally, the lack of clear guidelines on homework reduction and the disparity in resources between affluent and underprivileged schools further complicate the policy's implementation.Despite these challenges, many teachers demonstrate a high level of intrinsic and altruistic motivation. They express a deep commitment to their students' development and often go above and beyond their official duties without additional compensation. This dedication is rooted in the belief that their role extends beyond imparting knowledge to shaping students' lives and futures.The study also highlights the need for more comprehensive stakeholder engagement in policy implementation. It is suggested that teachers should be more involved in the policy-making process to provide valuable insights and foster a sense of ownership and commitment. Additionally, ongoing professional development and support for teachers are essential to help them adapt to new pedagogical demands
Keyworkers’ Mental Health during the COVID-19 Infection Peaks: Mapping the Role of Gender and Sector Differences
Get PDFThis study investigates the mental health impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on key workers in the UK, with a focus on gender and sectoral differences. Utilising longitudinal data from the UK Household Longitudinal Study (UKHLS) and its COVID-19 survey, I analyse mental health outcomes during three key infection peaks: May 2020, November 2020, and January 2021. Keyworkers faced heightened exposure to the virus and increased work demands compared to non-keyworkers, with significant implications for their mental health. I employ fixed-effects models to account for pre-pandemic mental health baselines, offering a more nuanced understanding of the psychological toll. My findings reveal stronger associations between keyworker status and mental health decline compared to non-keyworkers, particularly during the pandemic’s second peak. Gender disparities were also evident, with female keyworkers reporting stronger associations with distress, exacerbated by increased domestic responsibilities. Sectoral analysis shows that health and social care workers, although at the forefront of the pandemic response, had slightly weaker associations with psychological morbidity compared to those in other key sectors like transportation and retail, due to greater institutional support. These findings highlight the need for tailored mental health interventions for keyworkers, particularly women and those in under-resourced sectors, to mitigate the adverse effects of future pandemics
Clinical-R1: empowering large language models for faithful and comprehensive reasoning with clinical objective relative policy optimization
No full textRecent advances in large language models (LLMs) have shown strong reasoning capabilities through large-scale pretraining and post-training reinforcement learning, demonstrated by DeepSeek-R1. However, current post-training methods, such as Grouped Relative Policy Optimization (GRPO), mainly reward correctness, which is not aligned with the multi-dimensional objectives required in high-stakes fields such as medicine, where reasoning must also be faithful and comprehensive. We introduce Clinical-Objective Relative Policy Optimization (CRPO), a scalable, multi-objective, verifiable reinforcement learning method designed to align LLM post-training with clinical reasoning principles. CRPO integrates rule-based and verifiable reward signals that jointly optimize accuracy, faithfulness, and comprehensiveness without relying on human annotation. To demonstrate its effectiveness, we train Clinical-R1-3B, a 3B-parameter model for clinical reasoning. The experiments on three benchmarks demonstrate that our CRPO substantially improves reasoning on truthfulness and completeness over standard GRPO while maintaining comfortable accuracy enhancements. This framework provides a scalable pathway to align LLM reasoning with clinical objectives, enabling safer and more collaborative AI systems for healthcare while also highlighting the potential of multi-objective, verifiable RL methods in posttraining scaling of LLMs for medical domains
“They can praise us… without giving equal rights”: a qualitative study exploring experiences of discrimination among Gurkha and Fijian veterans of the UK armed forces
No full textThis study explores whether Nepalese and Fijian nationals serving in the UK Armed Forces experienced discrimination and, if so, what impact it had on their careers, wellbeing and mental health. A Community-Engaged Research approach was adopted to recruit 25 Gurkha and 14 Fijian veterans from different generations and across a range of ranks and military roles. Data were collected within 10 months using semi-structured interviews (in-person, on the telephone, and video-calls). A reflexive thematic analysis of the transcripts was informed by discussions between the research team, participants, a Patient and Public Involvement and Engagement group, and stakeholders. Whilst participants acknowledged improvements to their terms of employment and immigration processes, Gurkha and Fijian veterans of all ages and ranks experienced financial and employment disadvantages during and after their military careers. These impacted on their family relationships and mental health. Their narratives suggest that the roots of discrimination were laid in an Imperial past, which continues to sanction a culture of differential treatment and racism in service. Participants also expressed a strong military identity and took pride from their achievements in the armed forces. The findings show the importance of addressing racism and discrimination in service and improving access to welfare and health support. Despite progressive reforms, immigration and pension remain a source of concern
Variation in multimorbidity estimates due to clinical coding: a cross-sectional study of 7.2 million adults in England
Get PDFObjective: To examine how variation in clinical coding systems and the number of conditions included under different study criteria influence estimates of multimorbidity prevalence in a nationally representative adult population in England. Methods and analysis: We conducted a cross-sectional analysis of anonymised records from 7.2 million adults in the Clinical Practice Research Datalink, linked to Hospital Episode Statistics, covering the period from 1987 to 2020. Adults were included if they had at least two recorded health conditions. Multimorbidity was defined as ≥2 health conditions selected from a list of 54 conditions. Prevalence was estimated separately using general practice (GP) data, hospital data and combined sources, and stratified by age, sex, ethnicity and deprivation. A stepwise inclusion approach assessed the impact of expanding the number of conditions included after different study criteria. Gradient boosting (XGBoost) with Shapley Additive Explanations values identified predictors of multimorbidity recorded only in GP data. Directionality was examined using Pearson correlations. Results: Multimorbidity prevalence was 92.3% using GP data, 63.2% using hospital data and 100% when both sources were combined. Prevalence increased consistently as more conditions were included under different study criteria and was always higher in GP data. Discrepancies were most pronounced among younger adults and ethnic minority groups. GP-only coding was associated with younger age, female sex, shorter hospital stays, absence of Accident & Emergency use, no palliative care coding and lower deprivation. Conclusion: Estimates of multimorbidity prevalence are highly sensitive to both the clinical coding system used and the number of conditions included under different study criteria. Standardised approaches to condition selection and the integration of data sources are essential to ensure accurate measurement and equitable representation
The Capability Approach in intercultural virtual exchange: investigating potential capabilities and functionings. A case study
Get PDFThe purpose of this qualitative study is to investigate whether Virtual Exchange promotes social justice globally by equipping its participants with new capabilities and opportunities. Virtual Exchange is considered here as a representative form of intercultural education, and this study constitutes the first attempt to apply the Capability Approach to assess its outcomes. Semi‑structured interviews were conducted with ten alumni from different countries to explore what new capabilities they gained through this experience, what new goals (functionings) they developed, and whether their awareness of global social justice issues increased. Thematic analysis of the collected data revealed four main themes related to capabilities: cultural awareness, connections with people met through the programme, communication skills, and personal development. An additional theme also emerged regarding the restrictions on capabilities. Three themes related to functionings were identified: further education, involvement in the organisational aspects of intercultural education programmes, and the expansion of personal horizons through applications to other projects and scholarships or considering moving abroad. Most participants reported that the Virtual Exchange experience increased their awareness of global social justice issues, however, they did not share any concrete actions taken, suggesting that the impact was largely theoretical. The study concludes that Virtual Exchange holds potential as a tool for promoting global social justice by fostering the development of capabilities and functionings. However, further research is needed to determine whether this increased awareness translates into sustained action and to address the limitations of the present study