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The CLASS (Cerebral visual impairment Learning and Awareness for School Staff) pilot study : an evaluation of the awareness of CVI amongst teachers and comparative evaluation of two different educational resources on understanding
Get PDFFunding: This research was supported by a Laidlaw Scholarship at the University of St Andrews.Cerebral visual impairment (CVI) is the leading cause of visual impairment in children in high income countries. Despite its prevalence, awareness of CVI among educators remains low, meaning that many affected children may not receive the support they need in school. While previous research has highlighted the challenges faced by children with CVI, few studies have systematically assessed teacher awareness and the effectiveness of targeted educational interventions in improving classroom practices. This study addresses this gap by evaluating: (1) teacher awareness of CVI, (2) existing classroom practices that may impact children with CVI, (3) the effectiveness of two CVI educational media formats (video and text) in increasing understanding, and (4) the changes teachers would be willing to implement following exposure to these resources. By comparing the impact of these two formats, this study provides insights into how best to deliver CVI training for teachers in a way that is both accessible and effective. A total of 111 teachers from primary, secondary, and special schools across the UK participated in a survey incorporating either a three-minute video simulation or a 1.5-minute text-based resource about CVI. Before exposure, 72% of participants had not heard of CVI, with awareness particularly low among mainstream teachers (98% of primary and 80% of secondary teachers were unaware). Teachers also reported inconsistent use of CVI-supportive practices, such as reducing classroom clutter and simplifying smart screen content. Both media formats significantly increased teachers' willingness to implement changes (p < 0.0001). The text format showed a slightly greater increase in average Likert scores, and the Wilcoxon signed-rank test revealed a larger statistical effect for text (z = -12.91) compared to video (z = -8.90). However, the video format was also highly effective, producing a similarly strong impact, with both formats achieving an identical median increase of 1.0. These results suggest that while text may have led to slightly larger shifts in rank-based scores, the video format remained a powerful and engaging tool for increasing teachers' willingness to implement CVI-supportive strategies. The findings suggest that small, manageable adaptations, such as reducing visual distractions and maintaining consistency in classroom layouts, are practical for teachers and may have a meaningful impact on children with CVI. This study highlights the potential of bite-size learning resources in raising awareness and encouraging evidence-based teaching adaptations. By providing concise, accessible materials, teachers can be equipped with strategies to support children with CVI while minimising additional workload demands. Future efforts should focus on scaling these resources to reach a wider audience, including families and caregivers, to foster a more inclusive understanding and response to CVI.Peer reviewe
Unearthing the histories of agrarian landscapes : a research framework for terraces as sustainable environments
Get PDFFunding: This project received funding from ARPAMED (PID2020-119365GA-I00) and ECOLOC (EUR2021-122009), Spanish Ministry of Science—UKRI AHRC Terraces as sustainable environments—TerraSAgE (AH/T000104/1) and European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under the Marie Skłodowska-Curie grant agreement No. 890561, Historic Landscape and Soil Sustainability (HiLSS).This article presents an interdisciplinary programme for research on historic landscapes that has emerged since 2020 in the framework of the project Terraces as Sustainable Agricultural Environments (‘TerraSAgE’). While the methodology has been tested in specific Mediterranean case studies, it is also applicable in other locations and regions. Our integrated approach provides new insights into the development of terraced agrarian landscapes and the changing dynamics in land management. It can provide knowledge of the extent to which past change has influenced present-day landscapes and has implications for the development of sustainable landscape practices. The research framework proposed here has been tested through case studies in different landscape types across southern Europe, including small-scale mixed farming landscapes of the Aegean islands (Naxos, Greece); terraces for vines and olives (Pelješac, Croatia); a landscape of dairy production (northern Apennines, Italy), which was until quite recently agroforestry; modern cereal cultivation (around Els Prats de Rei, Catalonia, Spain); upland irrigated landscapes on the slopes of the Sierra Nevada (Andalucia, Spain) and mixed farming in a wooded Atlantic environment (Galicia, Spain).Peer reviewe
Hybrid radiation hydrodynamics scheme with adaptive gravity-tree-based pseudo-particles
Get PDFFunding: This work was supported by the STFC training grant ST/W507817/1 (Project reference 2599314).H II regions powered by ionizing radiation from massive stars drive the dynamical evolution of the interstellar medium. Fast radiative transfer methods for incorporating photoionization effects are thus essential in astrophysical simulations. Previous work by Petkova et al. established a hybrid radiation hydrodynamics (RHD) scheme that couples smoothed particle hydrodynamics (SPH) to grid-based Monte Carlo radiative transfer (MCRT) code. This particle-mesh scheme employs the Exact mapping method for transferring fluid properties between SPH particles and Voronoi grids on which the MCRT simulation is carried out. The mapping, however, can become computationally infeasible with large numbers of particles or grid cells. We present a novel optimization method that adaptively converts gravity tree nodes into pseudo-SPH particles. These pseudo-particles act in place of the SPH particles when being passed to the MCRT code, allowing fluid resolutions to be temporarily reduced in regions which are less dynamically affected by radiation. A smoothing length solver and a neighbour-finding scheme dedicated to tree nodes have been developed. We also describe the new heating and cooling routines implemented for improved thermodynamic treatment. We show that this tree-based RHD scheme produces results in strong agreement with benchmarks, and achieves a speed-up that scales with the reduction in the number of particle-cell pairs being mapped.Peer reviewe
Encoding CO2 adsorption in sodium zirconate by neutron diffraction
Get PDFFunding: This research was partially funded by STFC–ISIS Neutron and Muon Source (award 1920083). FH was funded through the EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Critical Resource Catalysis (EP/L016419/1).Recent research into sodium zirconate as a high-temperature CO2 sorbent has been extensive, but detailed knowledge of the material’s crystal structure during synthesis and carbon dioxide uptake remains limited. This study employs neutron diffraction (ND), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), and X-ray diffraction (XRD) to explore these aspects. An improved synthesis method, involving the pre-drying and ball milling of raw materials, produced pure samples with average crystal sizes of 37–48 nm in the monoclinic phase. However, using a slower heating rate (1 °C/min) decreased the purity. Despite this, the 1 °C/min rate resulted in the highest CO2 uptake capacity (4.32 mmol CO2/g Na2ZrO3) and CO2 sorption rate (0.0017 mmol CO2/g) after 5 min at 700 °C. This was attributed to a larger presence of microstructure defects that facilitate Na diffusion from the core to the shell of the particles. An ND analysis showed that the conversion of Na2ZrO3 was complete under the studied conditions and that CO2 concentration significantly impacts the rate of CO2 absorption. The TGA results indicated that the reaction rate during CO2 sorption remained steady until full conversion due to the absorptive nature of the chemisorption process. During the sorbent reforming step, ND revealed the disappearance of Na2O and ZrO2 as the zirconate phase reformed. However, trace amounts of Na2CO3 and ZrO2 remained after the cycles.Peer reviewe
Thinking with images : An interview with Thomas E. Wartenberg
Get PDFIn his most recent book, Thoughtful Images: Illustrating Philosophy Through Art (2023), Thomas E. Wartenberg explores the variety of ways in which visual art has illustrated philosophy. Employing a new framework for thinking about the nature of illustration, Wartenberg surveys a wide variety of cases which, he argues, show not only that philosophical concepts can be illustrated but that such illustrations have the capacity to do philosophy in a substantial way. In this interview, Professor Wartenberg and I discuss the book and its central themes, including the nature and aesthetics of illustration, how art can cultivate philosophical understanding, and how it can contribute unique philosophical insight.Peer reviewe
Thermal properties of TiNiSn and VFeSb half-Heusler thermoelectrics from synchrotron x-ray powder diffraction
Get PDFFunding: J-W G B and S R P acknowledge the EPSRC for supporting the research on half-Heusler thermoelectrics (EP/N01717X/1). The STFC is acknowledged for allocation of synchrotron x-ray powder diffraction beamtime at the Diamond Light Source (EE17825).Half-Heusler (HH) alloys are an important class of thermoelectric materials that combine promising performance with good engineering properties. This manuscript reports a variable temperature synchrotron x-ray diffraction study of several TiNiSn- and VFeSb-based HH alloys. A Debye model was found to capture the main trends in thermal expansion and atomic displacement parameters. The linear thermal expansion coefficient α(T) of the TiNiSn-based samples was found to be independent of alloying or presence of Cu interstitials with αav = 10.1 × 10−6 K−1 between 400 and 848 K. The α(T) of VFeSb and TiNiSn are well-matched, but NbFeSb has a reduced αav = 8.9 × 10−6 K−1, caused by a stiffer lattice structure. This is confirmed by analysis of the Debye temperatures, which indicate significantly larger bond force constants for all atomic sites in NbFeSb. This work also reveals substantial amounts of Fe interstitials in VFeSb, whilst these are absent for NbFeSb. The Fe interstitials are linked to low thermal conductivities, but also reduce the bandgap and lower the onset of thermal bipolar transport.Peer reviewe
Tailoring high-energy storage NaNbO3-based materials from antiferroelectric to relaxor states
Get PDFFunding: This work was supported by the Hessian State Ministry for Higher Education, Research and the Arts under the LOEWE collaborative project FLAME (Fermi level engineering of antiferroelectric materials for energy-storage and insulation systems). P.G. acknowledges financial support by the Dutch Research Council (NWO) for the ECCM Tenure Track funding under project number ECCM.006. We acknowledge DESY (Hamburg, Germany), a member of the Helmholtz Association HGF, for the provision of experimental facilities. Parts of this research were carried out at PETRA III using beamline P02.1. Beamtime was allocated for proposal I-20210563. We additionally acknowledge the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility (ESRF). Parts of this research was carried out at the beamline ID15 under proposal number MA 4993.Reversible field-induced phase transitions define antiferroelectric perovskite oxides and lay the foundation for high-energy storage density materials, required for future green technologies. However, promising new antiferroelectrics are hampered by transition's irreversibility and low electrical resistivity. Here, we demonstrate an approach to overcome these problems by adjusting the local structure and defect chemistry, delivering NaNbO3-based antiferroelectrics with well-defined double polarization loops. The attending reversible phase transition and structural changes at different length scales are probed by in situ high-energy X-ray diffraction, total scattering, transmission electron microcopy, and nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy. We show that the energy-storage density of the antiferroelectric compositions can be increased by an order of magnitude, while increasing the chemical disorder transforms the material to a relaxor state with a high energy efficiency of 90%. The results provide guidelines for efficient design of (anti-)ferroelectrics and open the way for the development of new material systems for a sustainable future.Peer reviewe
A high-quality reference genome and comparative genomics of the widely farmed banded cricket (Gryllodes sigillatus) identifies selective breeding targets
Get PDFFunding: The authors gratefully acknowledge funding support from the Australian Research Council to J.H. (DP180101708), the UK Natural Environment Research Council to N.W.B. (NE/W001616/1), the China Scholarship Council to S.Z. (202106180022), and the United States National Science Foundation to S.K.S., B.M.S., and J.H. (IOS 16–54028). This research was also supported in part by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service (Project Number: 6064-32000-001-000D to K.R.D. and 5010-22410-023-00-D to J.L.R.). The authors thank the UK Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BB/S019669/1 and BB/X019683/1) and James Hutton Institute for access to the UK's Crop Diversity Bioinformatics High Performance Computing ClusterFarmed insects have gained attention as an alternative, sustainable source of protein with a lower carbon footprint than traditional livestock. We present a high-quality reference genome for one of the most commonly farmed insects, the banded cricket Gryllodes sigillatus. In addition to its agricultural importance, G. sigillatus is also a model in behavioural and evolutionary ecology research on reproduction and mating systems. We report comparative genomic analyses that clarify the banded cricket's evolutionary history, identify gene family expansions and contractions unique to this lineage, associate these with agriculturally important traits, and identify targets for genome-assisted breeding efforts. The high-quality G. sigillatus genome assembly plus accompanying comparative genomic analyses serve as foundational resources for both applied and basic research on insect farming and behavioural biology, enabling researchers to pinpoint trait-associated genetic variants, unravel functional pathways governing those phenotypes, and accelerate selective breeding efforts to increase the efficacy of large-scale insect farming operations.Peer reviewe
Fundamental workings of chemical substitution at the A-site of perovskite oxides— a 207Pb NMR study of Ba-substituted PbZrO3
Get PDFFunding: This work was supported by the Hessian State Ministry for Higher Education, Research and the Arts under the LOEWE collaborative project FLAME (Fermi level engineering of anti-ferroelectric materials for energy storage and insulation systems). B. M. acknowledges the financial support by the Slovenian Research Agency (core funding P2-0105). G. B. acknowledges the financial support by the German Research Foundation under the contract Bu-911/28-1. P. G. acknowledges the financial support by the Dutch Research Council (NWO) for the ECCM Tenure Track funding under the project number ECCM.006.Lead zirconate (PbZrO3, PZ) is a prototype antiferroelectric (AFE) oxide from which state-of-the-art energy storage materials are derived by chemical substitutions. A thorough understanding of the structure–property relationships of PZ-based materials is essential for both performance improvement and the design of more environmentally friendly replacements. (Pb1−xBax)ZrO3 (PBZ) can serve as a model system for studying the effect of A-site substitution in the perovskite lattice, with barium destabilizing the AFE state. Here, the two-dimensional 207Pb solid-state NMR spectra of PZ and PBZ were recorded to analyze the local structural role of barium substitution. At low substitution levels, 207Pb NMR spectroscopy reveals the presence of Pb–O bond length disorder. Upon crossing the threshold value of x for the macroscopic phase transition into a ferroelectric (FE) state, the barium cations cause local-scale lattice expansions in their vicinity, resulting in the collapse of two lead lattice sites into one. The stabilization of the larger volume site coincides with the favoring of larger lead displacements. We also observed more covalent bonding environments which may originate from the lower polarizability of the barium cations, facilitating the formation of stronger Pb–O bonds in their vicinity. From the local structural point of view, we propose that the substitution-induced AFE → FE phase transition is therefore related to an increasing correlation of larger lead displacements in larger oxygen cavities as the barium content increases. Our results also highlight 207Pb NMR spectroscopy as a valuable method for the characterization of the structure–property relationships of PbZrO3-based AFE and FE oxides.Peer reviewe
The rarity of mutations and the inflation of bacterial effective population sizes
Get PDFFunding: This research was funded in total by the Austrian Science Fund (FWF) (10.55776/P34524 and 10.55776/P37050) to Rui Borges.1. Mutations are fundamental for evolution, and their mathematical modelling in population genetics heavily relies on our perception of their frequency and the timescale over which they occur. A common assumption is that mutations are infrequent, so when a new mutation arises, the previous one has either become fixed or lost. This assumption implies that mutations occur exclusively at fixed sites and is referred to as the boundary mutation model. However, one can alternatively assume a recurrent mutation model, which additionally considers mutations contributing to shifts in allele frequency. 2. In this study, we compare these two models. By examining mutation rates and effective population sizes across the Tree of Life, we demonstrate that the boundary mutation model remains valid for most species but significantly deviates in bacteria. Our analyses further reveal that the boundary mutation model tends to overestimate the effective population size, particularly in bacteria, where estimated population sizes can be more than five times larger than those expected by the recurrent mutation model. We address these biases by proposing a Bayesian estimator for population size that accounts for recurrent mutations. 3. To illustrate how mutation models can influence the quantification of forces other than drift, we further present a case study showing that the boundary mutation model exaggerates the intensity of selective constraints acting on the three codon positions of the bacterium Pseudomonas fluorescens. 4. This study emphasizes the importance of considering recurrent mutations in highly diverse species for accurate population genetics inference.Peer reviewe
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