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The competing effects of recent and long-term star formation histories on oxygen, nitrogen, and stellar metallicities
Get PDFFunding: NFB and VW acknowledge Science and Technologies Facilities Council (STFC) grant ST/Y00275X/1. NVA acknowledges support of Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Cientıfico e Tecnologico (CNPq). FDE acknowledges support by the Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC), by the ERC through Advanced Grant 695671 “QUENCH”, and by the UKRI Frontier Research grant RISEandFALL.The fundamental metallicity relation (FMR) – the three-way trend between galaxy stellar masses, star-formation rates (SFRs) and gaseous metallicities – remains amongst the most studied extragalactic relations. Furthermore, metallicity correlates particularly tightly with gravitational potential. Simulations support a shared origin for these relations relating to long-term gas inflow history variations; however, differences between simulated and observed galaxy samples make it unclear whether this holds for real galaxies. We use MaNGA integral field observations to probe these relations in star-forming galaxies at one effective radius. We confirm the FMR and equivalent relations for stellar metallicity (FMR*) and gaseous N/O (fundamental nitrogen relation, FNR). We find that all relations persist when considering gravitational potential in place of stellar mass and/or considering stellar ages in place of SFR, with the gaseous relations strengthened significantly by considering potential. The gaseous FMR disappears at high masses/potentials, while the FNR persists and the FMR* strengthens. Our results suggest a unified interpretation of galaxies’ gaseous and stellar metallicities and their N/O abundances in terms of their formation histories. Deeper gravitational potentials correspond to earlier star-formation histories (SFHs) and faster gas consumption, producing tight potential-abundance relations for stars and gas. In weak potentials, galaxy SFR variations primarily result from recent gas inflows, mostly affecting gas abundances. In deeper potentials, SFR variations instead correspond to broad differences in SFH shapes resulting from differences in long-term gas consumption histories, which is most visible in stellar abundances. This unified interpretation could be confirmed with upcoming higher redshift spectroscopic surveys.Peer reviewe
Symmetry breaking in the subgraph isomorphism problem
Get PDFThe Subgraph Isomorphism Problem has many applications, including bioinformatics, computer vision and graph databases. Current state-of-the-art solvers using constraints programming techniques can handle cases with up to 1000 pattern vertices and 10,000 target vertices. Symmetry breaking identifies symmetric states during the search process, and avoids searching both. Symmetry breaking techniques have shown promising results in improving the efficiency of algorithms for similar combinatorial problems; presented here are two strategies for implementing symmetry breaking for the Subgraph Isomorphism Problem.Peer reviewe
Empty land, empty time? : Anthropological theory and the challenge of nomadic civilization
Get PDFThis paper, based on lectures given at the National University of Mongolia, examines the effect of treating land and time as ‘empty’. It argues that the force of those effects is felt particularly acutely by nomadic peoples, and therefore that the study of nomadic civilizations has a crucial part to play in developing anthropological theory that can resist this misrepresentation. In particular, sedentary presumptions have exerted a powerful influence on our understanding of both land and time, treating unenclosed land as ‘waste’ and erasing the rhythm and time-depth of ‘unsettled’ landscapes. So what happens instead if we make mobility and movement the starting point for social theory?Peer reviewe
Protocol for self-regulated learning in English vocabulary : a scoping review of frameworks and practice
Get PDFSelf-regulated learning (SRL) is critical to effective vocabulary learning; yet its application, pedagogical impact, and conceptual boundaries between SRL and learner autonomy remain complex for English language teachers. This scoping review aims to systematically map out the landscape of primary studies on English vocabulary teaching and learning that address SRL. By searching five databases, Scopus, Web of Science, ERIC, J-Stage, and CiNii, the review team will gather primary studies published between 2006 and 2025. The start date stems from Tseng, W. T., Z. Dörnyei, and N. Schmitt. 2006. ‘A New Approach to Assessing Strategic Learning: The Case of Self-regulation in Vocabulary Acquisition.' Applied Linguistics 27 (1): 78–102 approach to SRL in vocabulary, marking a significant shift in the field. Employing the SMART framework (Chong, S. W. 2025. ‘Synthesis Methods and Reporting Tool (SMART) for Research Syntheses in Applied Linguistics.' Research Synthesis in Applied Linguistics: 1–22.) to ensure methodological rigour, this review will demonstrate key information including conceptual frameworks, students’ experiences and barriers, and teacher/researcher-led interventions. Extracted data on experiences and perceptions will be further analysed following thematic analysis. The findings of this scoping review will provide a comprehensive understanding of current SRL in English vocabulary learning. This review will also offer insights for future research, pedagogical practice, and the development of effective intervention strategies in English language education.Peer reviewe
Factors influencing UK arthroplasty surgeons' decision-making between total and medial unicompartmental knee surgery : a vignette-based behavioural experiment
Get PDFFunding: National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) Imperial Patient Safety Translational Research Centre; NIHR Doctoral Fellowship. Grant Number: NIHR302632PURPOSE: Surgical options for end-stage knee osteoarthritis (OA) include total and medial unicompartmental knee replacement (TKR and UKR). Deciding which surgery to perform is complex and ill-defined, yet it has important implications for patients and the health service. The study aimed to identify clinical and surgeon factors predicting surgeons' preferences. METHODS: Based on a preliminary survey of 162 UK surgeons, we identified clinical features frequently considered when deciding between TKR and UKR. By systematically varying patient age, obesity, site of pain, anaesthetic risk and anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) integrity, we constructed 32 clinical vignettes. We used these in a new survey, where surgeons indicated which surgery they would recommend on an 11-point rating scale with end points anchored at 'definitely TKR' and 'definitely medial UKR'. Data were analysed with mixed-effects linear regressions. RESULTS: Eighty-three UK arthroplasty surgeons completed the vignettes. Preference for UKR over TKR was significantly lower for patients over 50 years (b = -0.57 [-0.82 to -0.33], p < 0.001) with abnormal ACL (b = -1.93 [-2.17 to -1.68], p < 0.001) and severe systemic disease (b = -0.46 [-0.70 to -0.21], p < 0.001). Obesity was a weak and unreliable predictor, and we did not detect any influence of site of pain. The surgeons' habitual practice (proportion of UKRs over all knee replacements performed in a typical year) was the second strongest predictor after ACL (b = 1.26 [0.54-1.99], p = 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: ACL integrity was the most important determinant of surgeons' preferences between TKR and UKR. Their habitual practice was also a strong predictor, outweighing most clinical factors in the vignettes. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: Level II, prospective cohort study.Peer reviewe
The CHEOPS view on the climate of WASP-3 b
Get PDFFunding: ACC acknowledges support from STFC consolidated grant number ST/V000861/1, and UKSA grant number ST/X002217/1. LCa and ChH acknowledge the European Union H2020-MSCA-ITN-2019 under Grant Agreement no. 860470 (CHAMELEON). PM acknowledges support from STFC research grant number ST/R000638/1. TWi acknowledges support from the UKSA and the University of Warwick. NCSa acknowledges funding by the European Union (ERC, FIERCE, 101052347). NAW acknowledges UKSA grant ST/R004838/1.Context. Hot Jupiters are giant planets subject to intense stellar radiation. The physical and chemical properties of their atmosphere make them the most amenable targets for atmospheric characterization. Aims. In this paper we analyze the photometry collected during the secondary eclipses of the hot Jupiter WASP-3 b by CHEOPS, TESS, and Spitzer. Our aim is to characterize the atmosphere of the planet by measuring the secondary eclipse depth in several passbands and constrain the planetary dayside spectrum. Methods. We updated the radius and the ephemeris of WASP-3 b by analyzing the transit photometry collected by CHEOPS and TESS. We also analyzed the CHEOPS, TESS, and Spitzer photometry of the occultations of the planet, measuring the eclipse depth at different wavelengths. Results. Our update of the stellar and planetary properties is consistent with previous works. The analysis of the occultations returns an eclipse depth of 92±21 ppm in the CHEOPS passband, 83±27 ppm for TESS, and >2000 ppm in the IRAC 1-2-4 Spitzer passbands. Using the eclipse depths in the Spitzer bands, we propose a set of likely emission spectra that constrain the emission contribution in the CHEOPS and TESS passbands to approximately a few dozen parts per million. This allowed us to measure a geometric albedo of 0.21±0.07 in the CHEOPS passband, while the TESS data lead to a 95% upper limit of ∼0.2. Conclusions. WASP-3 b belongs to the group of ultra-hot Jupiters that are characterized by a low Bond albedo (<0.3±0.1), as predicted by different atmospheric models. On the other hand, it seems to efficiently recirculate the absorbed stellar energy, which is not typical for similar, highly irradiated planets. To explain this inconsistency, we propose that other energy recirculation mechanisms are at play besides advection (for example, the dissociation and recombination of H2). Another possibility is that the observations in different bandpasses probe different atmospheric layers; this would make the atmospheric analysis difficult without an appropriate modeling of the thermal emission spectrum of WASP-3 b, which is not feasible with the limited spectroscopic data available to date.Peer reviewe
The good energy : community, ethics, and the economy in an Italian electricity cooperative
Get PDFBased on 17 months of ethnographic fieldwork — conducted both online and in-person — with ènostra, a renewable energy cooperative headquartered in Milan, Italy, this doctoral research investigates the cooperative’s trajectory within the electricity market. It examines how ènostra’s members, workers, and clients perceived and enacted an ‘energy transition from below’ through the establishment and participation in a ‘community enterprise’. The thesis delves into how my interlocutors pursued ‘doing good’ through collective and personal endeavours, encompassing economic interactions between the cooperative and its members, aspirations for individual and societal well-being, the development of an ‘institutional’ framework for social and environmental sustainability, and the envisioning of a future energy system based on collective efforts. Drawing primarily from interviews, field observations, and documents, the research illustrates how participants strove to reconcile the pursuit of an alternative, cooperative approach to renewable energy with participation in a capitalist electricity sector. Ethical and moral considerations intersected with and were influenced by the market economy that governed the electricity infrastructure.
I argue that exploring the mobilisation of ethical and community ideals within the techno-economic context of the electricity infrastructure can transcend politico-economic analyses that pit energy cooperatives against corporate and state power. The thesis reveals the transition to renewables as a multifaceted process of disengagement from the current fossil-based energy system, which involves not only technical, economic, political, and social dimensions, but also moral, emotional, and symbolic ones. Overall, the research contributes to advancing anthropological scholarship on energy, organisations, alternative economies, and infrastructure by examining the intricate ethical dilemmas arising within the intersection of non-profit organisations and capitalism."This work was supported by an Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) Studentship award from the
Scottish Graduate School of Social Science (SGSSS)."--Fundin
A programmatic assessment of dolutegravir adverse events and discontinuations in Uganda
Get PDFFunding: This work was funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) research grant #D43TW009771 “HIV and co-infections in Uganda” (funded by the Fogarty International Center of the NIH Award), NIH Research Training Grant # D43 TW009345 (funded by the Fogarty International Center; the NIH Office of the Director Office of AIDS Research; the NIH Office of the Director Office of Research on Women's Health; The National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute; the National Institute of Mental Health; and the National Institute of General Medical Sciences), and a Ph.D. scholarship to Eva Agnes Laker Odongpiny funded by the Scottish Funding Council GCRF 2020–21. The IDI clinic is supported by funding from the Government of Uganda and the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief through the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the terms of cooperative agreement.Introduction : Dolutegravir is now extensively used in sub-Saharan Africa as a preferred component of antiretroviral therapy (ART). There is a paucity of large studies using routinely collected data from African people living with HIV on dolutegravir-based regimens to inform HIV programmes. We reviewed data in a large programme clinic of people living with HIV on dolutegravir to determine the real-world safety and tolerability of dolutegravir and to describe drivers of treatment discontinuation. Methods : We carried out a retrospective dynamic cohort analysis of people living with HIV who started on or switched to dolutegravir-based ART at the Infectious Diseases Institute in Kampala, Uganda, between February 2017 and December 2020. Types of adverse events (AEs) were classified according to the Medical Dictionary for Regulatory Activities. Incident rates for AEs and treatment discontinuation were determined using Cox proportional hazard methods. Results : Of 4529 people living with HIV started on or switched to dolutegravir, 2094 (45.9%) were female, and the median age was 49 years (interquartile range [IQR] 41–56). During 8907.93 person-years (PY) of follow-up, 1069 (23.6%; 95% confidence interval [CI] 22.4–24.8) people living with HIV had an AE, at a rate of 10.43 per 1000 PY (95% CI 9.77–11.14). Neuropsychiatric, gastrointestinal, and endocrine AEs were most common. The main AEs driving dolutegravir discontinuation were hyperglycaemia (140/356; 39.3%) and erectile dysfunction (19/356; 5.3%). Only 1.2% (4/356) of the dolutegravir discontinuations were because of neuropsychiatric AEs. Being female (adjusted hazard ratio [aHR] 1.35; 95% CI 1.02–1.78) and previous use of stavudine (aHR 1.46; 95% CI 1.04–2.05) were the main predictors of neuropsychiatric AEs. Risk factors for hyperglycaemia included being overweight (aHR 1.66; 95% CI 1.11–2.47) or obese (aHR 1.84; 95% CI 1.12–3.05), having hypertension (aHR 1.92; 95% CI 1.35–2.73), having diabetes mellitus (aHR 12.6; 95% CI 8.34–19.1), and taking previous ART containing zidovudine (aHR 1.76; 95% CI 1.19–2.59) or stavudine (aHR 1.68; 95% CI 1.15–2.44). These risk factors for hyperglycaemia were also the main drivers of dolutegravir discontinuation. Conclusion : AEs were common in this African cohort, and dolutegravir discontinuation was driven by hyperglycaemia and erectile dysfunction. Previous use of older ART with known mitochondrial toxicity was associated with neuropsychiatric AEs and hyperglycaemia. African countries used these drugs for longer periods, and this may contribute to this risk.Peer reviewe
Sulphur dioxide in the mid-infrared transmission spectrum of WASP-39b
No full textFunding: T.B. acknowledges funding support from the NASA Next Generation Space Telescope Flight Investigations programme (now JWST) through WBS 411672.07.05.05.03.02. J.K.B. is supported by a UKRI STFC Ernest Rutherford Fellowship (grant ST/T004479/1). J.T. is supported by the Eric and Wendy Schmidt AI in Science Postdoctoral Fellowship, a Schmidt Futures programme. J.Bl. acknowledges the support received in part from the NYUAD IT High Performance Computing resources, services and staff expertise. G.M. has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under the Marie Skłodowska-Curie grant agreement no. 895525 and from the Ariel Postdoctoral Fellowship Program of the Swedish National Space Agency (SNSA). B.-O.D. acknowledges support from the Swiss State Secretariat for Education, Research and Innovation (SERI) under contract number MB22.00046. E.A.M.V. acknowledges support from the Centre for Space and Habitability (CSH) and the NCCR PlanetS supported by the Swiss National Science Foundation under grants 51NF40_182901 and 51NF40_205606. Y.M. has received funding from the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme (grant agreement no. 101088557, N-GINE). M.Z. is a 51 Pegasi b fellow. L.W. and R.J.M. are NHFP Sagan fellows.The recent inference of sulfur dioxide (SO2) in the atmosphere of the hot (approximately 1,100 K), Saturn-mass exoplanet WASP-39b from near-infrared JWST observations suggests that photochemistry is a key process in high-temperature exoplanet atmospheres4. This is because of the low (<1 ppb) abundance of SO2 under thermochemical equilibrium compared with that produced from the photochemistry of H2O and H2S (1–10 ppm). However, the SO2 inference was made from a single, small molecular feature in the transmission spectrum of WASP-39b at 4.05 μm and, therefore, the detection of other SO2 absorption bands at different wavelengths is needed to better constrain the SO2 abundance. Here we report the detection of SO2 spectral features at 7.7 and 8.5 μm in the 5–12-μm transmission spectrum of WASP-39b measured by the JWST Mid-Infrared Instrument (MIRI) Low Resolution Spectrometer (LRS). Our observations suggest an abundance of SO2 of 0.5–25 ppm (1σ range), consistent with previous findings4. As well as SO2, we find broad water-vapour absorption features, as well as an unexplained decrease in the transit depth at wavelengths longer than 10 μm. Fitting the spectrum with a grid of atmospheric forward models, we derive an atmospheric heavy-element content (metallicity) for WASP-39b of approximately 7.1–8.0 times solar and demonstrate that photochemistry shapes the spectra of WASP-39b across a broad wavelength range.Peer reviewe
Records of the Isle of Man at the Bodleian Library
Get PDFFunding: The research for the present article was part-funded by Culture Vannin and by a Marshall Cubbon Student Bursary from the Isle of Man Natural History and Antiquarian Society.Peer reviewe
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