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Southern Ocean CO2 outgassing and nutrient load reduced by a well-ventilated glacial North Pacific
Get PDFFunding: This work was supported by the following funding awards: a St Leonard’s World-Leading Doctoral Scholarship from the University of St Andrews (M.G.S.), UKRI grant MR/W013835/1 (G.A.M.), support from the French national LEFE program through the ROOF project (W.R.G., C.dL.), Australian Research Council grant SR200100008 (L.C.M.), and NERC grant NE/N011716/1 (J.W.B.R., A.B.). This research was supported by the Australian Government’s National Collaborative Research Infrastructure Strategy (NCRIS), with access to computational resources provided by the National Computational Infrastructure (NCI) through the National Computational Merit Allocation Scheme (L.M.).Southern Ocean biogeochemistry impacts global nutrient distributions, carbon cycling, and climate, motivating study of its underlying controls across different climate states. Today, poorly-ventilated North Pacific waters supply the majority of carbon and nutrients upwelling in the Southern Ocean, outpacing biological carbon uptake and fueling CO2 outgassing. Reducing this supply is both central to glacial CO2 theories involving reduced outgassing and well-supported by paleo-proxy reconstructions. While past studies emphasize physical processes (reduced upwelling, enhanced stratification), we propose a complementary mechanism where the carbon/nutrient load of waters feeding the Southern Ocean surface is reduced remotely, prior to being upwelled. Comparing glacial North Pacific and Southern Ocean proxy records, alongside Earth System Model simulations, we show that ventilating the glacial North Pacific reduces the carbon/nutrient content of waters supplying the Southern Ocean surface and Subantarctic CO2 outgassing. This highlights an interhemispheric influence on Southern Ocean biogeochemical conditions that could modulate glacial-interglacial CO2 variability.Peer reviewe
Imagination in science
Get PDFWhile discussions of the imagination have been limited in philosophy of science, this is beginning to change. In recent years, a vast literature on imagination in science has emerged. This paper surveys the current field, including the changing attitudes towards the scientific imagination, the fiction view of models, how the imagination can lead to knowledge and understanding, and the value of different types of imagination. It ends with a discussion of the gaps in the current literature, indicating avenues for future research.Peer reviewe
A multinuclear approach to characterising disordered (Al,Sc)-MIL-53 using solid-state NMR spectroscopy
Get PDFFunding: The authors would like to thank the Allan Handsel Postgraduate Research Scholarship for Chemistry at the University of St Andrews for studentship funding for E.A.L.B. We also acknowledge funding for Z.H.D. from the European Research Council under Advanced Grant 787073. We also gratefully acknowledge funding from the EPSRC for microscopy through grant numbers EP/L017008/1, EP/R023751/1 and EP/T019298/1 and EP/V034138/1 for powder diffraction.A series of new mixed-metal (Al,Sc)-MIL-53 MOFs has been synthesised solvothermally using DMF. The materials have been characterised using a combination of solid-state NMR spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, electron microscopy, and energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy. The breathing behaviour was followed using 13C MAS NMR spectroscopy and showed that the mixed-metal MOFs exhibited different pore forms to the two end members. The cation distribution in the framework was investigated using 17O NMR spectroscopy. The low natural abundance of 17O (0.038 %) requires isotopic enrichment for spectra to be acquired on a reasonable timescale, but the high cost of enriched reagents necessitates a cost-effective and atom-efficient approach. Materials were enriched using post-synthetic steaming and the cation distribution in the enriched frameworks was shown to be close to random. Evidence for framework degradation and the formation of impurities (an alumina-based material and the small-pore MOF Sc2(BDC)3) upon any heating (i.e., during calcination, dehydration or enrichment) was provided from 27Al and 45Sc NMR spectroscopy, leading to the enriched mixed-metal frameworks having very similar compositions (with 70–77 % Al present). Further work would be required to overcome some of the synthetic challenges encountered, but the possibility of tailoring the breathing response of a mixed-metal MOF in the presence of a guest molecule or with changes in external conditions offers interesting possibilities for the future.Peer reviewe
Aesthetic selves as objects of interpersonal understanding
Get PDFThis paper raises puzzles concerning our grasp of others’ aesthetic selves. I first articulate a conception of an aesthetic self, understood as an autonomously adopted orientation to objects of aesthetic value, encompassing the embrace of aesthetic reasons and the qualitative appreciative states that follow. This articulation is motivated by the commonplace observation that people’s aesthetic identities are important to them. Given this importance, we might think it salutary to grasp other people’s aesthetic selves, under the general auspices of ‘interpersonal understanding’. Given the conception of aesthetic selves, we might think that empathy is an appropriate way to do so. But, second, I argue that you can’t find out about another’s aesthetic self via empathy. We might instead think that aesthetic conversation is the way to grasp aesthetic selves. However, third, I argue that the aim of finding out about others’ aesthetic selves is at odds with the ostensible aims of aesthetic conversation, which are to do with effacing individuality and creating commonality. So aesthetic selves seem hard to grasp. I finally briefly canvass some ways of solving this problem, without settling on a firm answer, and consider how the thoughts might extend to practical identities more generally.Peer reviewe
Writing truth to power : whistleblowing as counter-imaginary to neoliberal culture in contemporary writing
No full textThis thesis examines how different forms of contemporary writing represent whistleblowing as a counter-imaginary to neoliberal culture. Public interest in stories about whistleblowing has been noteworthy since the 1970s. Given neoliberalism has been hegemonized, it has shaped the way in which we have come to think about whistleblowing through lenses of individualism, risk, and economised life. This, I suggest, is problematic as it delegitimises whistleblowing’s disruptive potentials by organising it within the narrative frames of neoliberalism. I show how contemporary writing has responded to this by offering alternative imaginaries of public interest whistleblowing which stage themselves specifically against neoliberal culture. The texts I examine emphasise the democratisation of knowledge- and meaning-making, offer critiques of deregulation, articulate the inability for whistleblowing to become an institutionalised process of dissent, and imagine whistleblowing’s speculative potential for our uncertain future. Thus, I argue that through the presentation of whistleblowing as counter-cultural to neoliberalism, contemporary writing creates imaginaries which allow us to articulate a wider cultural function of whistleblowing. Chapter 1 analyses narratives about Edward Snowden, identifying how texts by The Guardian, Snowden himself, and Mike Bartlett engage with questions of mediacy in an attempt to capture whistleblowing’s politics of disclosure. Chapter 2 examines representations of whistleblowing in the context of contagion narratives written by Frances Ya-Chu Cowhig, Christopher Wylie, and Tess Gerritsen. In Chapter 3, I theorise representations of dead or transformed whistleblowers in the context of institutional rhetoric in works by Chelsea Manning, Tim Price, and John Le Carré. Chapter 4 is concerned with whistleblowing in forms of futurist speculative writing by Ali Smith and Elisa Cristallo. The thesis therefore expands on our understanding of the cultural value of whistleblowing in the twenty-first century."This research was supported by the University of St Andrews School of English Handsel Scholarship. I am very grateful to have received funding to present parts of this research at different conferences:
• The Secrecy, Power, and Ignorance Network (SPIN) which allowed me to speak at the SPIN Doctoral Colloquium 2022
• The School of English and the Modern Language Association (MLA) for attending the MLA Convention in San Francisco in 2023
• The Interdisciplinary PhD Research and Travel fund from the Graduate School for Interdisciplinary Studies which enabled me to present my research at the annual conference of the British Society for Literature and Science in 2024
• The School of English for attendance at the British Association for Contemporary Literary Studies annual What Happens Now conference at the University of Stirling in 2025
I am also thankful to have received financial support from the University of St Andrews accommodation award, and the University of St Andrews postgraduate and international student discretionary funds."--Fundin
Do chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) attribute preferences to virtual competitors?
Get PDFFunding: ERM and JC were funded by a Diverse Intelligences Grant from the Templeton World Charity Foundation. Grant ID: TWCF-2020-20540. TWCF (https://www.templetonworldcharity.org/) played no role in study design, data collection, analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.Many animal species live in multi-level societies regulated by complex patterns of dominance. Avoiding competition with dominant group-mates for resources such as food and mates is an important skill for subordinate individuals in these societies, if they wish to evade harassment and aggression. Chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) are an example of such a species. This study investigated whether chimpanzees could understand the food preferences of their competitors, and make use of this understanding to select non-contested food items. Fifteen chimpanzees were given thorough experience of the differing target preferences of two virtual competitors. In the test, subjects had to select which of the two targets to approach, based on which competitor was present. To choose correctly, they would have to integrate the competitors’ preferences from across disparate observations, and then infer, before the competitor acted, what they would do in a novel situation. We also included a control condition featuring two targets for which subjects had no information about the competitors’ potential biases. The chimpanzees rapidly learned to direct their virtual agent to collect the targets, and some responded with vocalizations and hard knocking against the screen when competitors “stole” targets from the agent the subject was guiding. However, statistical analyses showed that, both at the individual and the group level, they did not succeed in selecting the correct target item at above-chance levels. Additionally, there was no significant difference between their performance in the test and control. We identify theoretical and methodological discrepancies that could explain the contrasting results of this and other studies.Peer reviewe
The utility of the integrated behavior change model as an extension of the theory of planned behavior
Get PDFIntroduction: There are several widely used theories of health behavior change, which mostly utilize the social cognitive approach. These theories tend to posit that intention is a direct predictor of behavior, do not include automatic influences on behavior, and propose a one-size-fits-all theory for both initiators and maintainers. However, the intention-behavior gap is a well-observed phenomenon, researchers have highlighted that both automatic and reflective factors promote behavioral engagement, and predictors of behavior have been shown to differ between initiators and maintainers—three issues that necessitate theory advancement. To that end, the present research compares the utility of the Integrated Behavior Change Model (IBCM) – a social cognitive model that includes automatic factors involved in behavioral engagement and a moderator of the intention-behavior gap – to its theoretical predecessor, the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB). Further, the relevance of the IBCM factors for predicting exercise behavior is compared in initiators versus maintainers. Method: Participants were 494 US undergraduates. Participants reported on variables from the IBCM (and TPB) at baseline and reported on their exercise behavior in two surveys at seven- and 14-days post-baseline. Results: Findings supported the first hypothesis that the IBCM would be more relevant for initiators in comparison with maintainers, using structural equation modeling. Specifically, only the paths between intrinsic motivation and affective attitude, affective attitude and intention, and intention and behavior were reliably found for maintainers. For initiators, the aforementioned paths were also reliably supported and the additional following paths were also supported: intrinsic motivation and perceived behavioral control, perceived behavioral control and intention, and intention and action planning. However, results did not support the second hypothesis that the IBCM would predict significantly more variance in behavior than its theoretical predecessor, the TPB. Specifically, the addition of action planning, implicit attitude, implicit motivation, and the interaction between intention and action planning only predicted an additional 0.3% (p < 0:05) of the variance in exercise behavior above and beyond intention. Conclusion: Results highlight the continued need for theoretical refinement in terms of delineating mechanisms of initiation and maintenance and the need for further development in terms of improving upon current predictions of behavior engagement and change.Peer reviewe
What features should an effective system for declaring and managing conflicts of interest in healthcare have? An adapted Delphi study of key stakeholders in the UK
Get PDFFunding: We thank the University of St Andrews LIFT fund for support. This paid-for research assistance time from KM.Objective To identify views and establish agreements of key stakeholders on the features of an effective system for declaring and managing conflicts of interest in healthcare. Design A modified Delphi study consisting of two surveys and semi-structured interviews. Surveys included closed and free-text questions. Setting and participants UK, purposefully and generally invited participants including academics, researchers, healthcare professionals, regulators, patients and citizens from 10 countries, during 25 August 2024 and 20 January 2025. Main outcome measures Quantitative and qualitative analysis of two surveys and 21 interviews. Descriptive statistics were used to describe the sample and analyse closed survey questions. Thematic analysis was used to analyse free-text survey responses and interview data. Results were synthesised to describe the perceived importance and purposes of declaration of interest systems. Results In the first survey round, 616 invitations were sent, along with social media advertisements. 237 questionnaires were returned and 200 full responses were analysable. 129 respondents consented to recontact on the online form. In the interview round, 37 invitations were sent and 21 interviews completed (response rate 59.5%). Invitations for the second survey were sent to all 129 participants who consented to recontact. 91 responses were received and 89 questionnaires were analysable (response rate 82%). Features of ideal systems to declare and manage the interests of healthcare professionals identified by participants were categorised under seven themes: regulatory issues, the healthcare environment, human vices, professional virtues, the use of judgement, features of a better system and patients and public. There was broad agreement on the need for transparency and clarity in declaration systems. The most agreed features were: clarity on what information was needed; it should be a centralised ‘deposit’ for all declarations; it should be publicly accessible, educating and informing people accessing and using the register. Having a lifelong personal identifier, some flexibility in declarations and some privacy features were also rated highly. Respondents were less concerned about scrutiny or a loss of trust. Small numbers of participants raised concerns about serious adverse effects, including loss of privacy, personal safety and the potential of information to contribute to conspiracy theories. There were also major disagreements between participants concerning whether or not healthcare professionals should work with industry, and whether conflicts of interest from working with industry can be safely managed. Individuals with each perspective felt they were acting ethically. Conclusions While many agreements were identified, disagreements were also found. If improved declaration systems are to be accepted by professionals and useful to regulators, patients and citizens, the potential for benefit and harm from new declaration systems must be addressed.Peer reviewe
Rooftop exploration and the creation of alternative spaces in St. Petersburg
Get PDFFunding: This work was partially supported by the CEELBAS-Arts and Humanities Research Council CDT.This article investigates the ways in which power relations structure urban public space and privilege certain behaviors, while marginalizing others, and how these structures are resisted by young people through the creation of alternative spaces on the city’s rooftops. It examines the activity of “roofing” in St. Petersburg, a popular youth-culture practice of urban exploration, investigating the factors that have enabled the widespread flourishing of this activity, despite its illegality. The article explores how the rooftops offer a distinctive realm for the youth in modern-day St. Petersburg to defy authority; reestablish their rights to the city; and counteract the escalating social, economic, and political control that has come to define Russia’s public sphere during Putin’s reign.Peer reviewe
Propagating C++ exceptions across the user/kernel boundary
Get PDFException handling is an important and useful feature of modern programming languages, ensuring robustness and error resilience in software systems. In user-space programming, exceptions raised by application code are easily propagated and caught within the same execution context. However, when an exception originates from the Operating System (OS) kernel, such as during a system call, or a memory access violation, the ability to catch and handle these exceptions in user code becomes significantly more challenging. This paper introduces a novel technique for passing C++ exceptions across the user-space/kernel-space boundary, enabling the seamless propagation and subsequent catching of exceptions raised by the OS kernel in user code. Our proposed method requires a specific Application Binary Interface (ABI) to be implemented by both the user-space application, and the OS kernel, but this is not unreasonable as user applications typically conform to a specific OS ABI anyway, which are often abstracted by the standard libraries. We have developed a proof-of-concept implementation of our approach in a research operating system, and conducted experiments to evaluate its effectiveness and performance. The results demonstrate that our method successfully enables the capture and handling of exceptions raised by the OS kernel in user code, and provides a richer mechanism for propagating kernel error information
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