32151 research outputs found
Sort by
Toxic effects of fluoxetine-loaded onto virgin or aged polypropylene, polyamide and polyvinyl chloride microparticles on Daphnia magna
Get PDFFunding: The authors would like to thank the Hydro Nation Scholar Programme funded by the Scottish Government through the Scottish Funding Council and managed by the Hydro Nation International Centre for funding this research.There is an increasing recognition that microplastics can act as a vector for micropollutants when co-occurring in the environment and that pollutant-loaded microplastics can become integral to food-webs. To evaluate whether fluoxetine-loaded microplastics can act as a vector for fluoxetine to enter the food chain, a toxicity assay with Daphnia magna neonates was performed. This study evaluated the fluoxetine availability when adsorbed onto virgin or aged polypropylene, polyamide, and polyvinyl chloride (PVC). Results demonstrated that fluoxetine-loaded microplastics displayed toxic effects for all microplastic types, with varying toxicity depending on plastic type and weathering. D. magna ingested microplastics in all experiments that microplastics were present, but survival rates were not significantly affected by microplastics alone. Neonate mortality did not correlate with the adsorption/desorption capacity of the microplastics. Fluoxetine showed the highest adsorption on virgin and aged polypropylene (83–98 %), followed by aged polyamide (25–68 %) and PVC (38–90 %). While negligible desorption occurred with polypropylene, polyamide and PVC exhibited up to 20 % desorption. However, higher mortality was observed with fluoxetine-loaded virgin polypropylene (30 %), polyamide (40 %), and PVC (35 %) compared to aged particles (0–10 %). The results indicate that microplastic can enter the food-chain and act as a vector for pollutants, exhibiting hazardous effects to wildlife.Peer reviewe
Embracing “community” : the museum profession at a social museology turn
Get PDFThe article addresses a current paradox within the museum sector, which increasingly embraces “communities” as part of its renewed commitment to social inclusion and co-creation, whilst often lacking the professional skills and ethical parameters required in collaborative work. The discussion examines examples from the UK to trace how the term “community” has migrated from aspirational international policies and codes of ethics to inform new collective practices across museums of different kinds. By exploring the multiple ways in which museums and communities nurture one another, the article considers how collaboration has been practised under emerging ethical imperatives – particularly those involving care work and the negotiation of power imbalances that frequently arise in such exchanges. The redistribution of authority between communities and professionals is highlighted as a persistent challenge in developing a truly collective expertise founded on knowledge-sharing and mutual understanding. The concept of “community sovereignty” is introduced to articulate a sociomuseological shift in power: one that frames the community as a form of political imagination capable of mobilising action. In conclusion, the article draws on the framework of social museology to conceive some basic principles for a relational ethics.Peer reviewe
Preferences for consumption and leisure across countries
Get PDFWorktimes differ across countries and over time. The economics literature usually explains these differences by financial incentives such as wages and taxes, assuming identical and constant preference for leisure versus consumption. Non-economic researchers recognize different attitude towards work across countries and over time and connect them to living standards. Recently, Ek (2021) uses an economic model and data to show preferences for leisure differ among OECD countries. We follow a similar approach to estimate preferences across developed and developing countries and find more significant differences in their preferences than among OECD countries and a stronger negative relationship between these preferences and per capita GDP. These results may provide another angle to better explain worktime differences and changes. We further investigate relations of the estimated preferences with growth and happiness. While we do not find a significant relationship of preferences with growth, we find a significant and negative one with happiness.Peer reviewe
A multimode cavity QED Ising spin glass
Get PDFFunding: The authors are grateful for funding support from the Army Research Office (Grant No. W911NF2210261). Y. J. acknowledges support from the Q-NEXT DOE National Quantum Information Science Research Center. J. K., B. M., and H. H. acknowledge support from EPSRC (Grant No. EP/Z533713/1), the Stanford QFARM Initiative, and the Stanford Shoucheng Zhang Graduate Fellowship, respectively.We realize a driven-dissipative Ising spin glass using cavity QED in a novel “4/7” multimode geometry. Gases of ultracold atoms trapped within the cavity by optical tweezers serve as effective spins. They are coupled via randomly signed, all-to-all Ising cavity-mediated interactions. Networks of up to = 25 spins are holographically imaged via cavity emission. The system is driven through a frustrated transverse-field Ising transition, and we show that the entropy of the spin glass states depends on the rate at which the transition is crossed. Despite being intrinsically nonequilibrium, the system exhibits phenomena associated with Parisi’s theory of equilibrium spin glasses, namely, replica symmetry breaking (RSB) and ultrametric structure. For system sizes up to = 16, we measure the Parisi function (), Edwards-Anderson overlap EA, and ultrametricity correlator; all indicate a deeply ordered spin glass under RSB. The system can serve as an associative memory and enable aging and rejuvenation studies in driven-dissipative spin glasses at the microscopic level.Peer reviewe
Principio, mezzo, fine : Vasari, la Sala grande e la forma dell’epos
Get PDFThis essay focuses on the pictorial cycle of the Sala grande devised by Giorgio Vasari and Vincenzo Borghini in 1563-1564. Existing scholarship traditionally discusses the cycle in relation to contemporary historiographical practices, describing it as a painted counterpart to the work of Florentine court historians. Vasari’s and Borghini’s scrupulous gathering of sources and concern for historical accuracy, however, did not entail an equal commitment to the forms and modes of historiography. As this essay shows, it was the contemporary surge of debates about the proper length, unity, and sequence of epic that informed the design of the cycle and the language employed to describe it, which Vasari borrowed from a key passage of Aristotle’s Poetics. Shifting the attention from history to poetry, from accuracy to artifice, this contribution frames the discourse on the visual depiction of war within the theoretical debates that presided over its literary representation in the Cinquecento, highlighting shared concerns and solutions.Peer reviewe
Beyond the metaphysical : the growth and dynamics of atheist identity in Nigeria
Get PDFThis paper examines the trends and underlying drivers of contemporary atheism in Nigeria. Drawing on qualitative data from 76 participants and five waves of World Values Survey (WVS) data, we analyse the historical dynamics of atheist identity and its sociocultural triggers in the Nigerian context. Findings show that the percentage of Nigerians identifying as unreligious has steadily increased since the early 2000s, particularly among male youths under the age of 30. Contrary to classical secularisation theory, which links atheism to scientific and technological advancement, this growth is primarily driven by personal discontent with the doctrines and practices of Nigeria’s dominant religions, as well as their perceived complicity in Nigeria’s socio-political decline. In this context, atheist identity emerges as a subtle form of protest or civic activism against perceived religious dysfunction. The study offers new insights into the complex intersections of belief, identity, and political expression in contemporary Nigeria.Peer reviewe
Cross-paradigm modelling : a study of Puzznic
Get PDFFunding: Ian Miguel is funded by EPSRC grant EP/V027182/1, Mateu Villaret is funded by MCIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033 grant PID2021-122274OB-I00, and Peter Nightingale is funded by EPSRC grant EP/W001977/1.Puzznic is a tile-matching video game published by Taito in 1989 and ported to many platforms. The player manipulates blocks in a given grid until they match when two or more blocks of the same pattern are adjacent and are removed from play. The goal is to match all patterned blocks in the grid. Puzznic is rich in structure: levels have internal platforms and the blocks are affected by gravity, leading to complex state changes and the possibility of a cascaded series of matches following each move by the player. The puzzle is therefore a significant challenge to model, motivating our study. We study Puzznic from both constraint modelling and AI Planning perspectives, identifying their complementary strengths and weaknesses for this problem. We further exploit our constraint model to produce an automated tool for instance generation, parameterised on the grid, the combination of patterned blocks, and the steps required
Sources, sinks and subsidies of organic carbon in saltmarsh habitats
Get PDFSaltmarshes accumulate and store organic carbon through the drawdown of atmospheric CO₂ (autochthonous carbon), and the deposition of externally derived carbon (allochthonous) during tidal inundation. These organic carbon sources can be different ages and remain stored in the soil for variable lengths of time, from minutes to millennia. International policy frameworks recognise that the management of saltmarshes can provide a climate mitigation service, yet uncertainties remain regarding the inclusion of allochthonous organic carbon in saltmarsh projects.
This study employs a novel methodology to compare the radiocarbon (¹⁴C) contents of saltmarsh soils and CO₂ evolved from aerobic laboratory incubations to show that young (¹⁴C-enriched) organic carbon is preferentially respired over old (¹⁴C-depleted) organic carbon. The ¹⁴C contents of the respired CO2 were compared to the ¹⁴C content of carbon pools defined by their thermal reactivity, measured by ramped oxidation. In most cases, the ¹⁴C content of the most thermally labile carbon pool was closest to the ¹⁴C content of the CO₂ evolved from aerobic incubations of the same soils, suggesting the thermal and biological lability of saltmarsh soil carbon in oxic conditions is closely related. These results highlight the role of saltmarshes as stores of both old, thermally recalcitrant organic carbon, as well as younger, thermally labile organic carbon. Management interventions, such as restoration, may help mitigate CO₂ emissions by limiting oxygen exposure and preserving these stores of thermally labile carbon.
This PhD study also highlights inconsistencies in the treatment of allochthonous carbon across blue carbon (saltmarsh, seagrass and mangrove) accounting methodologies. A review of these frameworks and their scientific basis reveals a lack of standardized, evidence-based approaches for determining the proportion of allochthonous carbon that should be discounted in additionality calculations. This PhD provides crucial evidence towards addressing these gaps and improving the robustness of blue carbon policy and accounting
Access Repository Dashboard
Do you manage St Andrews Research Repository? Access insider analytics, issue reports and manage access to outputs from your repository in the CORE Repository Dashboard!