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Allies in action: Co-creating cinematic narratives to explore intersectional empathy
Get PDFIn times of international humanitarian crises in Gaza, Ukraine and elsewhere, empathy building is a vital concern. Thus, in the spring of 2024, our practice research project Allies in Action empowered students from diverse backgrounds to collaborate in a manner promoting cultural sensitivity and empathy building. It applies a novel conceptual framework that deploys interconnected multiple concepts, founded on the African philosophy, Ubuntu, along with the application of positionality, intersectionality, and reflection & critical reflection to develop empathy and allyship. Methodologically, our project was influenced by and drew on the principles of Participatory Action Research (Stringer, 1999) and took multi-methods approach that entailed combining practice research with sociological inquiry. Student teams were tasked with making and appearing in short films centring on the theme of empathy. Our findings demonstrate the value of creative practice-based approaches to foster empathy building among university students. Along with theoretical and methodological contributions, this paper aims to contribute to ongoing discourse on empathy-building through a critical practice approach whilst providing a platform to consider how educators can help students develop empathic skills for interacting with one another in inclusive and supportive ways
PhD Virtual Connect: Exploring the Development of a Community of Practice in Nursing Doctoral Education
No full textBackground: Virtual scholarly events play an increasing role in doctoral education, particularly in nursing. The PhD Virtual Connect-event has been held annually for the past decade, evolving as a platform for engagement, knowledge exchange and professional development. However, its potential as a structured virtual Community of Practice remains underexplored. Aim: This study explores the experiences of PhD students participating in the 9th and 10th editions (2023 and 2024) of the Sigma Theta Tau European Region's PhD Virtual Connect, examining how they perceive its alignment with Community of Practice principles and its role in doctoral nursing education. Method: A qualitative, open-ended survey was administered to the event participants who presented their studies across both editions, with responses being analysed using reflexive thematic analysis, followed by a comparative discussion of findings. Results: A total of 36 participants answered the survey. The analysis identified four key themes: developing a scholarly identity, reciprocity in feedback, structuring engagement and broadening research perspectives. Participants highlighted the event's role in strengthening academic confidence and fostering a sense of belonging. A shift towards peer-driven feedback and structured engagement in 2024 reflected increasing demand for organised discussions and thematic breakout sessions. These findings support the event's function as a dynamic Community of Practice, where participants co-construct knowledge, refine collaborative processes and navigate interdisciplinary learning. Conclusion: The PhD Virtual Connect fosters scholarly engagement, mentorship and interdisciplinary exchange as an evolving virtual Community of Practice. While it sustains meaningful academic interaction, addressing digital inequities, enhancing interactive elements and formalising mentorship structures will be key to ensuring long-term inclusivity and engagement. Future research should examine the long-term impact of the virtual Community of Practice on academic career trajectories and professional networking in doctoral education. Patient or Public Contribution: No Patient or Public Contribution. This study focused on PhD nursing students' experiences in a virtual scholarly event, involving only academic participants. As it was not a healthcare intervention or service-related study, patient or public involvement was not applicable
Dietary Differentiation Between Sympatric Ecotypes of Astatotilapia calliptera From Lake Masoko (Kisiba), Tanzania Revealed by Metabarcoding
Get PDFSympatric speciation is defined as the formation of new species in the absence of geographic barriers, but the genomic and life history strategy mechanisms underpinning sympatric speciation are still far from clear. It has recently been discovered that the cichlid fish Astatotilapia calliptera from crater Lake Masoko in Tanzania have diverged sympatrically into littoral (shallow water) and benthic (deep water) ecotypes, which differ in head and pharyngeal jaw morphology. Carbon stable isotope analysis has also broadly indicated trophic differentiation between ecotypes. Here, we explore trophic niche divergence on a finer scale, using metabarcoding of stomach contents. A combination of the mitochondrial COI region and 18S V4 region from the eukaryotic nuclear small subunit ribosomal DNA was used to target macroinvertebrate and broader eukaryotic taxonomic diversity, respectively, revealing dietary divergence between the ecotypes. Large proportions of Arthropoda (dipterans and copepod) were found in both ecotypes, indicating some food sources common to both microhabitats. However, gut contents of benthic A. calliptera individuals were characterized by an abundance of annelids and diatoms, while Lepidoptera, mayflies, fungi, freshwater mussels, and bivalves were common in littoral ecotypes. The variation observed in the dietary contents of the ecotypes indicates the presence of resource partitioning, facilitating adaptation to unique feeding strategies
Passing the baton: age, action and mentorship in three Hollywood films
Get PDFAction narratives have long offered the ageing male star a role as mentor to a younger successor - passing on, as it were, the baton of patriarchal power, with a spot of Oedipal sparring along the way. His female counterpart, however, is largely absent from our screens. Indeed, where our female action heroes have the benefit of a mentor, that mentor is typically male, reinforcing a sense that her power is inherently masculine and provisional. When it comes to the relationship between an older woman and the younger woman preparing to replace her, Hollywood has traditionally portrayed them as jealous rivals rather than allies. Such relationships are haunted by the spectres of the ‘wicked stepmother’ of fairy tales or that of the dangerous usurper epitomised in Mankiewicz’s All About Eve (1950). This paper explores how traditional patterns are disrupted in three female-led action films: The Old Guard (Prince-Bythewood, 2020), Mulan (Caro, 2020) and Charlie’s Angels (Banks, 2019). Despite the generic and structural differences between them, all three challenge the trope of the jealous ‘older woman’ threatened by the usurping ingénue and replace it with a narrative of mentorship and intergenerational allegiance
Humanising the digital public: From user models to civic systems
Get PDFThis paper proposes a paradigm shift in how digital publics are conceptualised and modelled. Current platform monetisation relies on reductive personalisation metrics that shape incentives across infrastructure, interface, and user interaction—producing systemic effects detrimental to civic resilience and information integrity. We argue for a reconceptualisation of digital publics as emergent sociotechnical collectives, drawing on modelling approaches from live event and civic design. We outline a multi-method programme combining tabletop games, megagames, and simulations to develop and test new metrics that support alternative incentives and human-centred platform governance
British Covid Fictions: Reading Pandemic Politics
No full textThis book argues that despite its construction as a unique event, the Covid-19 pandemic provoked state and ideological responses that were not exceptional to the already-existing modes of social and political thought that had become predominant in Britain before it. Whilst it is undoubtedly true that the pandemic changed millions of people’s lives in many different ways, the book interrogates the assumption of a fundamental difference in the dominant ideology before and after Covid-19, identifying instead a strong degree of continuity between the pervasive structures of British society before, during and after the pandemic. In turn, those structures are marked by a neoliberal political outlook, an outlook which, the book shows, writers of Covid fiction use their work to examine and critique. However, it also shows that, precisely because they write from positions within the dominant ideology, such writers cannot entirely escape or transform it in spite of the critical perspectives they bring to bear on it. This means that their work is involved in the material reproduction of the existing social order which it nevertheless critiques, so that its critical orientation with regard to neoliberalism is one of complex ambivalence
Towards an Application of the Life Cycle Assessment Framework for GHG Emissions of the Dairy System: A Literature Review
Get PDFFarm simulation models are a popular form of measuring greenhouse gas emissions (GHGe) from the agricultural industry as they are holistic and cost effective. The simulation models often follow the well-accepted life cycle assessment (LCA) framework to estimate the GHGe from the complete system from cradle to farm-gate. However, several studies have highlighted flaws in the methodology and accuracy of the application of the LCA tool, underestimating emissions based on the scope of the study. GHGe vary considerably across livestock species, with cattle contributing to the highest proportion, from dairy and beef production. An extensive literature review evaluating the application of the LCA tool for measuring and comparing dairy farm GHGe has not been conducted. The current review evaluates the literature on LCAs of the dairy system across the globe, to highlight the flaws in poor scope design, the potential to underestimate emissions, and significant trade-offs disregarding vital variables
Ancestors call me home: Cultural distance and settlement intention of domestic migrant workers in China
No full textEmploying data from the 2017 China Migrants Dynamic Survey, this paper investigates how deep-rooted cultural distance—measured by genetic distance between domestic migrants' origin and destination cities—affect their settlement intention. Our findings reveal that greater genetic distance significantly reduces domestic migrant workers' local identity in their current cities, thereby hindering their intention to settle. This causal effect prevails after controlling for other dimensions of inter-city cultural distance. This deterrent effect is particularly pronounced among migrants with lower educational attainment, those migrating from rural to urban areas, or those without a family history of domestic migration. Additionally, migrants facing greater cultural distance tend to report shorter expected settlement durations and a stronger intention to return to their hometown
Political resistance, representation, and identity during English local government re-organisation: a micro-case study
Get PDFThis paper examines the political and identity-based consequences of the 2019 Local Government Reorganisation (LGR) in Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole (BCP), where three historic towns were merged into a single unitary authority. Contrary to claims that LGR typically weakens local and independent representation, findings from BCP suggest that reorganisation spurred resistance and reassertions of local identity, which in turn mobilised support for independents and cross-party alliances. This paper explores how discontent with both local and national politics, strong town-based civic identities, and a perceived imbalance in power, fuelled enduring tensions. These dynamics, compounded by political instability and governance challenges, reveal how top-down amalgamation can deepen rather than resolve intra-local divides. In BCP, LGR became a site of political transformation, not merely administrative reform, highlighting the importance of identity, place, and local agency in shaping post-reform governance across England’s evolving subnational landscape
Optimization of RED-PID Chaotic-Subpopulation Strategy-based Aquila and Math Algorithms
Get PDFThe Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) plays a crucial role in congestion control by adjusting packet send-ing rates, but it falls short of addressing the buffer bloat issue in critical routers. To mitigate this, Active Queue Management (AQM) mechanisms like Random Early Detection (RED) have been introduced to form a TCP/ RED feedback system for congestion control. However, by analyzing the magnitude-frequency characteristic of TCP/RED, this paper finds it has sluggish response time and slowly stabilizes in congestion control. Therefore, this paper presents a novel AQM controller named RED-PID, which integrates a Proportional-Integral-De-rivative (PID) adjustor into RED, enhancing the control structure. Furthermore, frequency domain analysis provides the stability criteria and parameters for TCP/RED-PID. Given the lack of a special optimization of control parameters for adapting to TCP/RED-PID effectively, this paper introduces a novel heuristic algorithm (AOMOA), which combines the global exploration strengths of the Aquila Optimizer (AO) with the local exploitation capabilities of the Math Optimizer (MO). Meanwhile, a chaotic-subpopulation strategy is proposed,utilizing two subpopulations simultaneously to fasten the converging speed. Moreover, the dynamic k-worst shift is introduced to strike a balance between global exploration and local exploitation across both optimizers. The TCP/RED-PID model was analyzed and validated using the NS3 simulator. Comprehensive simulations demonstrate that RED-PID, optimized by AOMOA, significantly outperforms the standard RED controller, ex-hibiting superior congestion control performance