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The adsorption of polymers on solid surfaces is common in many industrial applications, such as coatings, paints, catalysis, colloids, and adhesion processes. The properties of absorbed polymers commonly vary with temperature. In this paper, inverse gas chromatography at infinite dilution was used to determine the physicochemical characterization of PMMA adsorbed on silica. A new method based on the London dispersion equation was applied with a new parameter associating the deformation polarizability with the harmonic mean of the ionization energies of the solvent. More accurate values of the dispersive and polar interaction energies of the various organic solvents adsorbed on PMMA in bulk phase and PMMA/silica at different recovery fractions were obtained, as well as the Lewis acid–base parameters and the transition temperatures of the different composites. It was found that the temperature and the recovery fraction have important effects on the various physicochemical and thermodynamic properties. The variations in all the interaction parameters showed the presence of three transition temperatures for the different PMMA composites adsorbed on silica with various coverage rates, with a shift in these temperatures for a recovery fraction of 31%. An important variation in the polar enthalpy and entropy of adsorption, the Lewis acid–base parameters and the intermolecular separation distance was highlighted as a function of the temperature and the recovery fraction of PMMA on silica. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The determination of the polar surface free energy, polar properties, and Lewis's acid base of solid materials is of capital importance in many industrial processes, such as adhesion, coatings, two-dimensional films, and adsorption phenomena. (1) Background: The physicochemical properties of many solid particles were characterized during the last forty years by using the retention time of injected well-known molecules into chromatographic columns containing the solid substrates to be characterized. The obtained net retention time of the solvents adsorbed on the solid, allowing the determination of the net retention volume directly correlated to the specific surface variables, dispersive, polar, and acid–base properties. (2) Methods: Many chromatographic methods were used to quantify the values of the different specific surface variables of the solids. However, one found a large deviation between the different results. In this paper, one proposed a new method based on the London dispersion equation that allowed the quantification of the polar free energy of adsorption, as well as the Lewis's acid–base constants of many solid surfaces. (3) Results: The newly applied method allowed us to obtain the polar enthalpy and entropy of adsorption of polar model organic molecules on several solid substrates, such as silica, alumina, MgO, ZnO, Zn, TiO2, and carbon fibers. (4) Conclusions: our new method based on the separation between the dispersive and polar free surface energy allowed us to better characterize the solid materials. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Child pedestrian injuries in Greater London are studied. • A host of exposure measures, built environment and socio-economic factors are considered. • School enrolment was found to be a better proxy exposure measure compared to number of schools. • Social inequities are found to be strongly associated with child pedestrian safety. Introduction: Child pedestrian safety remains a challenge despite the remarkable progress that has been attained in recent years, particularly, in high income jurisdictions such as London. This study sought to identify and quantify the magnitude of the effects of various explanatory variables, from the domains of transport, built and natural environment, socio-demographic and economic factors, on ward level child pedestrian injury frequencies in Greater London. Method: We adopted a multilevel random parameters model to investigate the factors associated with child pedestrian injuries given the hierarchical nature of the data comprising of wards nested within boroughs. Results: We found that crime, the Black, Asian, and Minority Ethnic (BAME) population, school enrollment, and the proportion of the population who walk five times a week had an increasing effect on the number of child pedestrian casualties. Conversely, the proportion of the population with a level 4 qualification and the number of cars per household had a decreasing effect. Conclusions: Our study identified high child pedestrian injury frequency wards and boroughs: Stratford and New Town had the highest expected child pedestrian injury frequencies followed by Selhurst, Westend, and Greenford Broadway. Some inner London boroughs are among the highest injury frequency areas; however, a higher number of high child pedestrian injury boroughs are in outer London. Practical Applications: The paper provides recommendations for policy makers for targeted child pedestrian safety improvement interventions and prioritization to optimize the utilization of often constrained resources. The study also highlights the importance of considering social inequities in policies that aim at improving child traffic safety. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Although age is the biggest known risk factor for dementia, there remains uncertainty about other factors over the life course that contribute to a person's risk for cognitive decline later in life. Furthermore, the pathological processes leading to dementia are not fully understood. The main goals of Insight 46—a multi-phase longitudinal observational study—are to collect detailed cognitive, neurological, physical, cardiovascular, and sensory data; to combine those data with genetic and life-course information collected from the MRC National Survey of Health and Development (NSHD; 1946 British birth cohort); and thereby contribute to a better understanding of healthy ageing and dementia. Methods/Design: Phase 1 of Insight 46 (2015–2018) involved the recruitment of 502 members of the NSHD (median age = 70.7 years; 49% female) and has been described in detail by Lane and Parker et al. 2017. The present paper describes phase 2 (2018–2021) and phase 3 (2021–ongoing). Of the 502 phase 1 study members who were invited to a phase 2 research visit, 413 were willing to return for a clinic visit in London and 29 participated in a remote research assessment due to COVID-19 restrictions. Phase 3 aims to recruit 250 study members who previously participated in both phases 1 and 2 of Insight 46 (providing a third data time point) and 500 additional members of the NSHD who have not previously participated in Insight 46. Discussion: The NSHD is the oldest and longest continuously running British birth cohort. Members of the NSHD are now at a critical point in their lives for us to investigate successful ageing and key age-related brain morbidities. Data collected from Insight 46 have the potential to greatly contribute to and impact the field of healthy ageing and dementia by combining unique life course data with longitudinal multiparametric clinical, imaging, and biomarker measurements. Further protocol enhancements are planned, including in-home sleep measurements and the engagement of participants through remote online cognitive testing. Data collected are and will continue to be made available to the scientific community. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Children and young people's (CYP) mental health is worsening, and an increasing number are seeking psychiatric and mental health care. Whilst many CYPs with low-to-medium levels of psychiatric distress can be treated in outpatient services, CYPs in crisis often require inpatient hospital treatment. Although necessary in many cases, inpatient care can be distressing for CYPs and their families. Amongst other things, inpatient stays often isolate CYPs from their support networks and disrupt their education. In response to such limitations, and in order to effectively support CYPs with complex mental health needs, intensive community-based treatment models, which are known in this paper as intensive community care services (ICCS), have been developed. Although ICCS have been developed in a number of settings, there is, at present, little to no consensus of what ICCS entails. Methods: A group of child and adolescent mental health clinicians, researchers and academics convened in London in January 2023. They met to discuss and agree upon the minimum requirements of ICCS. The discussion was semi-structured and used the Dartmouth Assertive Community Treatment Fidelity Scale as a framework. Following the meeting, the agreed features of ICCS, as described in this paper, were written up. Results: ICCS was defined as a service which provides treatment primarily outside of hospital in community settings such as the school or home. Alongside this, ICCS should provide at least some out-of-hours support, and a minimum of 90% of CYPs should be supported at least twice per week. The maximum caseload should be approximately 5 clients per full time equivalent (FTE), and the minimum number of staff for an ICCS team should be 4 FTE. The group also confirmed the importance of supporting CYPs engagement with their communities and the need to remain flexible in treatment provision. Finally, the importance of robust evaluation utilising tools including the Children's Global Assessment Scale were agreed. Conclusions: This paper presents the agreed minimum requirements of intensive community-based psychiatric care. Using the parameters laid out herein, clinicians, academics, and related colleagues working in ICCS should seek to further develop the evidence base for this treatment model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper is a reflection upon the research findings of Rebecca Allen and Anne West in relation to religious schools in London. While welcoming this contribution to the systematic study of faith schools (a neglected area of empirical inquiry), the paper argues that the use of 'religious schools' as a unitary category is problematic for the analysis. It also suggests that certain historical and cultural contextual knowledge is required when analysing the characteristics of different categories of religious schools. This response is intended to be helpful for future researchers into the different types of faith school. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper referred to is ‘The Future of Data Analysis,’ published in 1962. Many authors have discussed it, notably Peter Huber, who in 1995 reviewed the period starting with Hotelling's 1940 article ‘The Teaching of Statistics.’ I extend the scope of Huber's remarks by considering also the period before 1940 and developments since 1995. I ask whether statistics is a science and suggest that to attract bright students to our subject, we need to show them the excitement and rewards of applied work. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyses the spatial trends and patterns of the crime rates in London and explores how socio-economic characteristics affect crime rates with consideration of the geographic context across London. The 2015 London Crime Statistics and Socio-economic Characteristics datasets were used. First, we investigated the spatial patterns of crime rates through exploratory spatial analysis at the ward level. In addition, both the ordinary least square (OLS) model and geographically weighted regression (GWR) model, which allow the effects of factors to vary in spatial scales, were adopted and compared to explore the potential spatially varying effect across London. The results showed that there exists obvious spatial clustering for the crime rate in central London. Both global and local Moran's I values indicated the spatial dependence of crime at the ward level. The GWR model performed better in explaining crime rates than the OLS model. Only two factors, namely, the percentage of children aged from 0 to 15 and employment rates, had significant spatial variability in London. The influences of the percentage of children aged 0 to 15 on crime rates are constantly negative over a spatial scale; however, employment rates positively affect crime rates in the north-western areas near the centre of London. Therefore, this paper focuses more on the spatial perspective, which fills the gap in traditional crime analysis, especially on the spatially varying influence of socio-economic status. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An essay is presented on the poem "Ode on the Death of a Favourite Cat, Drowned in a Tub of Gold Fishes," by Thomas Gray, and a china tub owned by intellectual Horace Walpole. It comments on Walpole's home, Strawberry Hill, in Twickenham, London, England. The author examines Walpole's collecting and his Glass Closet, a section in his library. She also considers the book "Designs by Mr. R. Bentley, for Six Poems by Mr. T. Gray," by artist Richard Bentley.

Among Lester Salamon's early theoretical contributions was the introduction of the "Voluntary Failure" concept. In a series of articles published in the second half of the 1980s (Salamon, L. M. 1987a. "Of Market Failure, Voluntary Failure, and Third-Party Government: Toward a Theory of Government-Nonprofit Relations in the Modern Welfare State." Journal of Voluntary Action Research 16 (1–2): 29–49. Reprinted in Salamon (1995): 33–49, Salamon, L. M. 1987b. "Partners in Public Service: The Scope and Theory of Government-Nonprofit Relations," In The Nonprofit Sector. A Research Handbook, edited by W. Powell Walter, 99–117. New Haven: Yale University Press, Salamon, L. M. 1989. "The Voluntary Sector and the Future of the Welfare State." Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly 18 (1): 11–24. Reprinted in Salamon (1995): 203–19) Salamon rejects the existing theories concerning the existence and the growth of nonprofit entities, both demand-side theories such as "government failure" (Weisbrod) and "contract failure" (Hansmann) and supply-side theories (James). He introduces the so-called "third-party government" approach underlining the interdependence between the state and various other (profit and nonprofit) social actors (Salamon Lester M. and Toepler S. 2015. "Government–Nonprofit Cooperation: Anomaly or Necessity?" Voluntas 26: 2155–77). The "voluntary failure theory" is based on the recognition of four limits of nonprofit organizations' action: (a) philanthropic insufficiency; (b) philanthropic particularism; (c) philanthropic paternalism; (d) philanthropic amateurism. These shortcomings can be overcome by the creation of an institutional framework of collaboration between the public administration and the most organized part of civil society, namely the so-called third-sector organizations. The aim of this paper is to open a discussion around the adequacy of the above-mentioned approach to explain the complex configurations that current relationships between public administration and third sector organizations have assumed in Western democracies, especially in the field of welfare policies. We will do so through the analysis of the recent scientific literature on government-nonprofit relationships, with a particular focus on the so-called "new public governance" (Osborne Stephen, P. 2006. "The New Public Governance?" Public Management Review 8 (3): 377–87, Osborne Stephen, P. ed. 2009. The New Public Governance? Emerging Perspectives on the Theory and Practice of Public Governance. London: Routledge) and the co-creation and co-production paradigm (Torfing, J., E. Sørensen., and A. Røiseland. 2016. "Transforming the Public Sector into an Arena for Co-creation: Barriers, Drivers, Benefits, and Ways Forward." Administration & Society: 1–31), that emphasize the involvement of citizens (i.e. users or clients) and their associations in the definition of the policies, programs, and services directed to them. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Church of England's historic buildings represent the single largest group of heritage sites in the UK, playing a key public-facing role in the church's 'cultural witness'. However, they are complex historic environments implicated in the recent focus on 'contested heritage' and imperial legacies. The wider heritage sector's answer to the adversarial nature of this debate has been to turn contested histories into dialogical opportunities; participatory and collaborative approaches to interpretation and curation have become an important feature of much recent secular heritage work. Yet, the CofE has not yet articulated or embraced the value of similar initiatives for its own collections, with guidance at the institutional level aimed primarily at conservation and protection. This paper initiates a discussion about how engagement with sensitive memories enhances the importance of CofE's cultural heritage. It offers a preliminary report of a research project led by the author titled 'Inclusive Interpretations of Christian Heritage', carried out between 2021 and 2022 at iconic churches in central London. After discussing the theoretical context, project rationale, and method, the paper discusses the connections which Christians from ethnic minority or immigrant backgrounds have to ecclesiastical spaces usually associated with national history. The perspectives of previously unrepresented groups can supplement expert assessments concerning a site's significance, revealing important areas in which the CofE's cultural assets hold meaning beyond national or aesthetic importance. The paper argues that widening community engagement represents a crucial task for accentuating the social and civic importance of the CofE's cultural heritage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One of the main pathways that cities are taking to reduce greenhouse gas emissions is the decarbonisation of the electricity supply in conjunction with the electrification of transport and heat services. Estimating these future electricity demands, greatly influenced by end-users' behaviour, is key for planning energy systems. In this context, support tools can help decision-makers assess different scenarios and interventions during the design of new planning guidelines, policies, and operational procedures. This paper presents a novel bottom-up decision support framework using an agent-based modelling and simulation approach to evaluate, in an integrated way, transport and heat electrification scenarios in urban areas. In this work, an open-source tool named SmartCityModel is introduced, where agents represent energy users with diverse sociodemographic and technical attributes. Based on agents' behavioural rules and daily activities, vehicle trips and building occupancy patterns are generated together with electric vehicle charging and building heating demands. A representative case study set in London, UK, is shown in detail, and a summary of more than ten other case studies is presented to highlight the flexibility of the framework to generate high-resolution spatiotemporal energy demand profiles in urban areas, supporting decision-makers in planning low-carbon and sustainable cities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: The proliferation of providers and practitioners of cosmetic botulinum toxin and dermal filler has profound public health implications. The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) regulates the use of advertising materials in the United Kingdom and prohibits the promotion of prescription‐only medicines. Aims: We aim to perform a cross‐sectional analysis of the practitioners in London, UK to evaluate the distribution of clinics within Greater London, prices advertised for interventions, and compliance with the ASA code. We also aim to identify whether there are any differences in cost of botulinum toxin or dermal filler between the boroughs. Methods: Between December 2021 and January 2022, we performed a systematic search using the internet search engine Google. Five searches were performed (1) [london] botox, (2) [london] botulinum toxin, (3) [london] anti wrinkle injection, (4) [london] filler, (5) [london] dermal filler. One hundred websites per search string were systematically reviewed and those which met the inclusion/exclusion criteria of each search string were included and analyzed. Each clinic's product/service range compliance with the ASA/CAP code was assessed. Any reference to Botulinum Toxin or anti‐wrinkle injections was noted and analyzed. Further analysis would look to calculate price per milliliter (mL) of botulinum toxin and dermal filler per borough and to calculate whether there were any statistical differences between the 32 different London boroughs. Results: A total of 500 websites were visited and evaluated. After removal of duplicates, a total of 233 independent clinics was identified. A total of 206 out of the 233 clinics sampled (88%) were in direct infringement of the enforcement notice through advertising a prescription medicine. The overall average cost per mL of dermal filler was £330.89 and there was a statistically significant variance across London boroughs (p < 0.05). The overall average cost per mL of Botulinum Toxin was £284.45 and the variance across London boroughs was close to significant (p = 0.058). Conclusion: This paper demonstrates poor compliance with the ASA/CAP guidelines and further provides an insight into the industry mechanics associated with aesthetic injectables in a major UK city, identifying regional variance in price and clinic density. The advertising of prescription‐only medication may pose a potential risk to patients and will be an important consideration in proposed legislation to introduce licensing to the industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The notion of approximate fixed point sequence, emphasized in Chidume (Geometric properties of Banach spaces and nonlinear iterations. Lecture Notes in Mathematics, 1965. Springer-Verlag London, Ltd., London, 2009), is a very useful tool in proving convergence theorems for fixed point iterative schemes in the class of nonexpansive-type mappings. In the present paper, our aim is to present simple and unified alternative proofs of some classical fixed point theorems emerging from Banach contraction principle, by using a technique based on the concepts of approximate fixed point sequence and graphic contraction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article explores Michel Foucault's heterotopia and Fredric Jameson's cognitive mapping in JM Coetzee's Foe (1986). It also finds links between social colonialism and socio-spatial identities within the terrain of the cities of London and Bristol. The paper thoroughly examines the crucial role of cities in shaping the spatial identities of the main characters in the novel. The urban space of London and Bristol is the third space for Susan and Friday, where they strive to find their true selves. Susan Barton and Friday are embroiled in a world divided into center and periphery, where they are grappling with a serious identity crisis. This is all happening within a closely monitored system under Mr. Foe's watchful eye. The cities bestow a sense of freedom on neither Susan nor Friday and under the supreme power of Mr. Foe, Susan's endeavor to give voice to Friday ended in a debacle. The novel unequivocally illustrates the perpetuation of urban authority by deploying panopticism and heterotopic space, albeit at the cost of fragmenting identities within the city. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Experiences during the early years shape our lives as adults, including our appreciation and understanding of science. Even though early years audiences make up a significant number of visitors in many museums, they are an underresearched age group, particularly in science museums. This paper addresses this gap by considering young children's learning at the Science Museum in London. Two approaches to support learning from unfamiliar objects were tested with 4-7 year-olds in family groups. The first approach involved families creating a display that featured a small replica of the original object. The second approach involved displaying familiar objects or modern versions with conversation prompts next to the original objects. The testing included observations and semi-structured interviews with a total of 16 family groups. Findings show that families use play to create familiarity and context around objects. Guided play provides opportunities for families to tap into their existing understanding and interests, and in this way allows families to learn from objects. These findings highlight the importance of providing for and encouraging play on gallery to support young children's learning from objects. Young children can successfully be supported to learn from unfamiliar objects in object-rich galleries in a science museum. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As known, the realistic, exponential, fall-off of the rate of production of light mesons in the chromo-electric field of a quark–antiquark string, as a function of the meson mass, can be obtained from the Schwinger-formula Gaussian fall-off within a phenomenological approach which assumes a certain distribution of the string tension. This approach gets a clear meaning in the London limit of the dual superconductor, where the logarithmic increase of the chromo-electric field towards the core of the string leads precisely to the change of the Gaussian fall-off to the exponential one, thus allowing for an identification of the phenomenological distribution of the string tension. In this paper, we demonstrate that, for this distribution of the string tension, the distribution of large-size Yang–Mills instantons, which are interacting with the confining monopole background, becomes O (1 / ρ 3) , where ρ is the size of an instanton. Since such a distribution of large-size instantons is known to yield confinement, we conclude that, in the London limit of the dual-superconductor vacuum, instantons can form a confining medium, and we evaluate their contribution to the total string tension. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The current COVID-19 pandemic has profoundly impacted people's lifestyles and travel behaviours, which may persist post-pandemic. An effective monitoring tool that allows us to track the level of change is vital for controlling viral transmission, predicting travel and activity demand and, in the long term, for economic recovery. In this paper, we propose a set of Twitter mobility indices to explore and visualise changes in people's travel and activity patterns, demonstrated through a case study of London. We collected over 2.3 million geotagged tweets in the Great London Area (GLA) from Jan 2019 –Feb 2021. From these, we extracted daily trips, origin-destination matrices, and spatial networks. Mobility indices were computed based on these, with the year 2019 as a pre-Covid baseline. We found that in London, (1) People are making fewer but longer trips since March 2020. (2) In 2020, travellers showed comparatively reduced interest in central and sub-central activity locations compared to those in outer areas, whereas, in 2021, there is a sign of a return to the old norm. (3) Contrary to some relevant literature on mobility and virus transmission, we found a poor spatial relationship at the Middle Layer Super Output Area (MSOA) level between reported COVID-19 cases and Twitter mobility. It indicated that daily trips detected from geotweets and their most likely associated social, exercise and commercial activities are not critical causes for disease transmission in London. Aware of the data limitations, we also discuss the representativeness of Twitter mobility by comparing our proposed measures to more established mobility indices. Overall, we conclude that mobility patterns obtained from geo-tweets are valuable for continuously monitoring urban changes at a fine spatiotemporal scale. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Focusing on a collaborative storytelling project with refugees and asylum seekers in the London borough of Waltham Forest, this paper explores the potential offered by creative storytelling and story-sharing for providing alternative narratives and spaces for inclusion, welcome and mutual care against a backdrop of hostility and exclusion. It challenges tendencies within prevailing discourses to either treat asylum narratives as 'bogus' or to essentialise individual refugee stories through the prevailing tropes of 'victim' or 'hero'. Instead, we draw attention to the actual process of making, telling and sharing stories between refugees and local residents, in the Global Story Café project led by Stories & Supper. The paper examines how the spaces that emerged through sharing stories with refugees and asylum seekers in a series of creative workshops and targeted storytelling cafes with public participation opened up possibilities for what we refer to as a quiet politics of welcome - a form of welcome that moves beyond notions of charity or sympathy, disrupts perceived host-guest binaries and instead demonstrates the importance of 'being with'. The paper highlights the need for more engagement and understanding of these 'quiet' acts of welcome, which can provide insights for challenging the overriding discourses about, and practices towards, refugees and asylum seekers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Poor water quality is a widespread issue in urban rivers and streams in London. Localised pollution can have impacts on local communities, from health issues to environmental degradation and restricted recreational use of water. The Salmons and Pymmes Brooks, located in the London Borough of Enfield, flow into the River Lee, and in this paper, the impacts of misconnected sewers, urban runoff and atmospheric pollution have been evaluated. The first step towards finding a sustainable and effective solution to these issues is to identify sources and paths of pollutants and to understand their cycle through catchments and rivers. The INCA water quality model has been applied to the Salmons and Pymmes urban catchments in north-east London, with the aim of providing local communities and community action groups such as Thames21 with a tool they can use to assess the water quality issue. INCA is a process-based, dynamic flow and quality model, and so it can account for daily changes in temperature, flow, water velocity and residence time that all affect reaction kinetics and hence chemical flux. As INCA is process-based, a set of mitigation strategies have been evaluated including constructed wetland across the catchment to assess pollution control. The constructed wetlands can make a significant difference reducing sediment transport and improving nutrient control for nitrogen and phosphorus. The results of this paper show that a substantial reduction in nitrate, ammonium and phosphorus concentrations can be achieved if a proper catchment-scale wetland implementation strategy is put in place. Furthermore, the paper shows how the nutrient reduction efficiency of the wetlands should not be affected by climate change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aiming at the imbalance of urban ecological carrying capacity, this paper proposes a method to estimate the ecological and cultural carrying capacity of British urban agglomeration. The difference method and standardization method are used for positive combination and dimensionless processing of the indicators to realize the data preprocessing of the indicators. Through questionnaire survey, consulting relevant scholars and experts, and referring to the specified values in relevant British policies, determine the ideal value of the index. The index weight is determined by the open-scoring method. According to the index weight, the ecological and cultural carrying capacity of British urban agglomeration is calculated by vector model method. Calculate the index weight according to the ideal value of the index and the ecological text. The strength of ecological culture carrying capacity is calculated by the actual value of carrying capacity. Taking London urban agglomeration as the experimental object, this paper calculates the ecological and cultural carrying capacity and analyzes the ecological and cultural carrying capacity of three subsystems. The results show that this method can effectively estimate the ecological and cultural carrying capacity of British urban agglomeration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper explores President Muhammadu Buhari of Nigeria use of language in political setting. As a President, his choice of words and the language use speak a lot. Being a formal Military leader, his broadcast was more ‘khakitocratic’ (military) than democratic. His speech lasted five minutes but assessed using critical discourse analysis (CDA). The paper discusses context and culture in discursive interactions. Political language democratically, is important to national unity as it can illicit positive or otherwise reactions from electorates. Analysis for the study was based on Fairclough’s three dimensional conceptualisation of discourse with the aid of tabular illustrations. Findings reveal assumptions that unsaid words have implicit meanings than the said, being that words are neutral and, of course, the unsaid ideological politics of meanings could establish ‘khakitocratic’ language through discourse. The study concludes that people need ontological and epistemological inferences to develop societal consciousness about sociopolitical engagements to enhance understanding of undefined expressions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The textile industry's resource use, waste, and emissions have led to severe scrutiny, worsened by fast fashion's rise, making clothing disposable. The circular economy (CE) offers a solution to address these issues but achieving circular fashion requires systemic and comprehensive stakeholder engagement across the value chain. Current research often overlooks wider stakeholders beyond internal company members, neglecting calls to incorporate a systems perspective in CE transitions. Moreover, the potential of stakeholder engagement for social learning, where stakeholders mutually share and acquire knowledge, remains largely untapped. To this end, this paper provides a systematic methodology of stakeholder engagement based on an empirical setting of transition towards CE in fashion textiles in London. It entails identifying contexts, aligning stakeholders' actions, negotiating interventions, and communicating insights effectively. Based on the learnings from an empirical stakeholder engagement process, findings suggest a lack of alignment in the understanding of the CE concept across actors, that is underpinned by a fragmented knowledge of the overall value chain, often leading to also fragmented siloed policy approaches. While this paper uses fashion textiles as an illustrative case study, the process-led framework is largely applicable across different areas of the CE transition. • Stakeholder engagement fosters social learning in circular transitions. • The fashion industry lacks alignment on circularity interventions across the value chain. • Actors in fashion lack a cohesive understanding of the value chain. • Circular fashion requires design, business models, and behaviour changes. • The stakeholder engagement framework applies to circular economy transitions in general. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pharmacogenomics (PGx)‐based personalized medicine (PM) is increasingly utilized to guide treatment decisions for many drug‐disease combinations. Notably, London Health Sciences Centre (LHSC) has pioneered a PGx program that has become a staple for London‐based specialists. Although implementational studies have been conducted in other jurisdictions, the Canadian healthcare system is understudied. Herein, the multistakeholder perspectives on implementational drivers and barriers are elucidated. Using a mixed‐method qualitative model, key stakeholders, and patients from LHSC's PGx‐based PM clinic were interviewed and surveyed, respectively. Interview transcripts were thematically analyzed in a stepwise process of customer profiling, value mapping, and business model canvasing. Value for LHSC located specialist users of PGx was driven by the quick turnaround time, independence of the PGx clinic, and the quality of information. Engagement of external specialists was only limited by access and awareness, whereas other healthcare nonusers were limited by education and applicability. The major determinant of successful adoption at novel sites were institutional champions. Patients valued and approved of the service, expressed a general willingness to pay, but often traveled far to receive genotyping. This paper discusses the critical pillars of education, awareness, advocacy, and efficiency required to address implementation barriers to healthcare service innovation in Canada. Further adoption of PGx practices into Canadian hospitals is an important factor for advancing system‐level changes in care delivery, patient experiences, and outcomes. The findings in this paper can help inform efforts to advance clinical PGx practices, but also the potential adoption and implementation of other innovative healthcare service solutions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] Graphene is of great interest for many far-reaching applications that involve interparticle interactions in adsorbents, coatings, and composites. A deep understanding of the surface components has been crucial but achieving the most accurate and reliable values of these, unaffected by experimental conditions or the analytical techniques used, remains a major challenge. To this end, we have proposed in this paper a novel approach for the first time, to the best of our knowledge, to determine London dispersive and specific (polar) components including the Lewis acid-base character of the surface free energy of graphene materials (graphene oxide (GO), reduced graphene oxide (rGO), and graphite) using inverse gas chromatography (IGC) technique at an infinite dilution. We have estimated the London dispersive surface energy values of graphite, GO, and rGO as van der Waals interaction to be 156–179, 89–106, and 110–119 mJ m−2, respectively, in the temperature range of 320–360 K. These are attributable to the surface properties impacted by the oxygen moieties, defects, and micropores on the carbon frameworks. Further, the acceptor (K A) and donor (K D) parameters of GO were found to be 0.71 and 0.96, respectively, while those of rGO were 0.54 and 1.05. Notably, the GO is more of the Lewis acid character that could be amphoteric, while the Lewis base characteristics of both GO and rGO are not significantly changed. These results provide foundational knowledge to understand the physicochemical properties of graphene surfaces, which should be helpful to designing interface engineering in various applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Due to the cell size decrements and limited sojourn time on a high speed train mobility, unnecessary handovers (HOs) occur, which can lead to higher network communication costs, and affect passengers quality of service (QoS). This paper proposes a novel blockchain‐enabled privacy preserving HO skipping framework by using train mobility dataset from the city of London. Using a complex dataset parameters, passenger traffic flows are modelled by averaging various train lines and station's footfall numbers utilising blockchain to maintain privacy. The framework stores pseudonym addresses in order to track the path of users. The proposed framework allows for a better trade‐off in terms of 2% (approx.) gain in average throughput, over 100% gain in the last‐hop signal quality, and a 50% reduction in HO costs, while also addressing the needs for resources to operate the blockchain. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The building and transportation sectors are responsible for the greatest proportion of energy consumption in cities. While they are intrinsically interlinked with urban built form and density, climate change and technological innovation are having an effect on their relative contributions. This paper aims to develop an optimisation framework to facilitate the identification of the most energy-efficient urban built forms and urban geometry for the future built environment that can be adapted to the changing climate and ongoing technological development. It examines future scenarios for the city of London as a temperate climate zone (as a case study), in 2050, and contrasts it with the present situation. Specifically, the impact of climate change along with the penetration of electric vehicles into the transportation system that can be charged via rooftop photovoltaics is investigated. This study initially develops the geometrical models of four selected urban built forms and, secondly, analyzes their energy performance using an urban energy simulation software. The results, showing the impact of future scenarios on building energy performance, urban built form and density, demonstrate that court and tunnel-court built forms show better energy performance for future development. It is therefore recommended that for future urban developments in London, deep plan court and tunnel-court buildings with a lower number of storeys and a large cut-off angle are more advantageous in terms of building energy to accommodate the expected climate change. Finally, results of simulation trials indicate that the total building energy demand in 2050 is considerably higher than in the present climate as a result of additional cooling load and electric vehicle charging load. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim: To determine the predictors of magnitude of change in response to a participation‐focused leisure‐time physical activity intervention in children with cerebral palsy (CP) using the ParticiPAte CP protocol. Method: We included 33 children (16 males, 17 females) aged 8 to 12 years (mean age=10y, SD=1y 6mo) with CP with pre/postintervention data from a wait‐list randomized trial. The hypothesized linear predictors of change in primary outcomes (Canadian Occupational Performance Measure [COPM]‐performance and COPM‐satisfaction, Belief in Goal Self‐Competence Scale (BiGSS), and minutes per day moderate‐to‐vigorous physical activity [MVPA]) were: age; Gross Motor Function Classification System level; comorbid autism spectrum disorder (ASD); Goal Attainment Scaling T score; Problems in Schools Questionnaire; Physical Activity Climate Questionnaire; Motives for Physical Activities Measure‐Revised; and stage of behaviour change. Multivariable models were selected using the Bayesian information criterion. Results: Overcoming barriers to participation, age, and comorbid ASD explained 49% of the variance in change in COPM‐performance. Being motivated by interest and/or enjoyment and age explained 32% of the variance in change in COPM‐satisfaction. Being motivated by physical activity competence or appearance (extrinsic motivation) explained 24% of the variance in change in BiGSS. Parental autonomy supportiveness, overcoming barriers to participation, appearance motivation, and baseline MVPA explained 59% of the variance in change in MVPA. Interpretation: These findings support a behaviour paradigm for conceptualizing physical activity in children with CP. What this paper adds: Children who met their treatment goals showed a greater increase in physical activity participation.Children who were more intrinsically motivated by physical activity at baseline improved more.Being older and having a comorbid diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder were associated with an attenuated effect of the therapy. What this paper adds: Children who met their treatment goals showed a greater increase in physical activity participation.Children who were more intrinsically motivated by physical activity at baseline improved more.Being older and having a comorbid diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder were associated with an attenuated effect of the therapy. Editor's Choice More and more, participation in any life situation is rightly highlighted as a goal for intervention, and a most relevant outcome measure.1 This contrasts with previews views that focused on the ability to perform tasks as expected. My Editor's Choice for the May issue is this study of change observed in children with cerebral palsy following an individualized family‐centred, ecological leisure‐time physical activity intervention focused on motivation and participation. It illustrates that participation can be supported meaningfully by organizing therapy in settings that are natural to the child and family. REFERENCE 1. Imms C, Green D, editors. Participation: Optimising Outcomes in Childhood‐Onset Neurodisability. London: Mac Keith Press, 2020. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Distinguishing what employers in different areas of Great Britain need to pay to attract and retain labour has been a central component of public-sector resource allocation decisions. This paper examines how changes in the pattern of spatial wage differentials following the global financial crisis have impacted on the formulae which allocate government funding to local government and health providers in the NHS. Design/methodology/approach: Using employer-reported data on earnings, we examine spatial patterns of private-sector wages in Great Britain between 2007 and 2017. The method permits the analysis of finely defined geographical areas and controls for differences in industry and workforce composition to distinguish those differences that are attributable from unmeasured characteristics, such as differences between areas in the cost of living and amenities. These standardised spatial wage differentials (SSWDs) underpin the funding allocation formulae. Findings: The analysis shows that since 2007 private-sector wage dispersion, both within and between regions, has reduced: lower paid areas have experienced a relative increase in wages and higher paid a relative decline. Over the period, there was a significant reduction in the London wage premium. Originality/value: This paper demonstrates the importance of ensuring established policies are applied using contemporary data. The SSWDs used to distribute government funds have not been re-estimated for some time. As a result, the current resource allocation model has overcompensated the London region and undercompensated others during this period. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper proposes an accurate short-term prediction model of bike-sharing demand with the hybrid TCN-GRU method. The emergence of shared bicycles has provided people with a low-carbon, green and healthy way of transportation. However, the explosive growth and free-form development of bike-sharing has also brought about a series of problems in the area of urban governance, creating a new opportunity and challenge in the use of a large amount of historical data for regional bike-sharing traffic flow predictions. In this study, we built an accurate short-term prediction model of bike-sharing demand with the bike-sharing dataset from 2015 to 2017 in London. First, we conducted a multidimensional bike-sharing travel characteristics analysis based on explanatory variables such as weather, temperature, and humidity. This will help us to understand the travel characteristics of local people, will facilitate traffic management and, to a certain extent, improve traffic congestion. Then, the explanatory variables that help predict the demand for bike-sharing were obtained using the Granger causality with the entropy theory-based MIC method to verify each other. The Multivariate Temporal Convolutional Network (TCN) and Gated Recurrent Unit (GRU) model were integrated to build the prediction model, and this is abbreviated as the TCN-GRU model. The fitted coefficient of determination R2 and explainable variance score (EVar) of the dataset reached 98.42% and 98.49%, respectively. Meanwhile, the mean absolute error (MAE) and root mean square error (RMSE) were at least 1.98% and 2.4% lower than those in other models. The results show that the TCN-GRU model has strong efficiency and robustness. The model can be used to make short-term accurate predictions of bike-sharing demand in the region, so as to provide decision support for intelligent dispatching and urban traffic safety improvement, which will help to promote the development of green and low-carbon mobility in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Researchers conducting cohort studies may wish to investigate the effect of episodes of COVID-19 illness on participants. A definitive diagnosis of COVID-19 is not always available, so studies have to rely on proxy indicators. This paper seeks to contribute evidence that may assist the use and interpretation of these COVID-indicators.Methods: We described five potential COVID-indicators: self-reported core symptoms, a symptom algorithm; self-reported suspicion of COVID-19; self-reported external results; and home antibody testing based on a 'lateral flow' antibody (IgG/IgM) test cassette. Included were staff and postgraduate research students at a large London university who volunteered for the study and were living in the UK in June 2020. Excluded were those who did not return a valid antibody test result. We provide descriptive statistics of prevalence and overlap of the five indicators.Results: Core symptoms were the most common COVID-indicator (770/1882 participants positive, 41%), followed by suspicion of COVID-19 (n = 509/1882, 27%), a positive symptom algorithm (n = 298/1882, 16%), study antibody lateral flow positive (n = 124/1882, 7%) and a positive external test result (n = 39/1882, 2%), thus a 20-fold difference between least and most common. Meeting any one indicator increased the likelihood of all others, with concordance between 65 and 94%. Report of a low suspicion of having had COVID-19 predicted a negative antibody test in 98%, but positive suspicion predicted a positive antibody test in only 20%. Those who reported previous external antibody tests were more likely to have received a positive result from the external test (24%) than the study test (15%).Conclusions: Our results support the use of proxy indicators of past COVID-19, with the caveat that none is perfect. Differences from previous antibody studies, most significantly in lower proportions of participants positive for antibodies, may be partly due to a decline in antibody detection over time. Subsequent to our study, vaccination may have further complicated the interpretation of COVID-indicators, only strengthening the need to critically evaluate what criteria should be used to define COVID-19 cases when designing studies and interpreting study results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, DFT computations revealed the mechanisms of the asymmetric catalytic reactions of diisopropylzinc with pyrimidylaldehyde catalyzed by 1- and 2-aza[6]helicenes, which make them effective inductors of the autocatalytic chiral amplification Soai reaction. The generation of chirality takes place through the formation of adducts of aldehyde and helicenes stabilized via non-covalent disperse interactions strictly defining the orientation of the aldehyde molecule in the corresponding transition state. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Load shapes derived from smart meter data are frequently employed to analyze daily energy consumption patterns, particularly in the context of applications like Demand Response (DR). Nevertheless, one of the most important challenges to this endeavor lies in identifying the most suitable consumer clusters with similar consumption behaviors. In this paper, we present a novel machine learning based framework in order to achieve optimal load profiling through a real case study, utilizing data from almost 5000 households in London. Four widely used clustering algorithms are applied specifically K-means, K-medoids, Hierarchical Agglomerative Clustering and Density-based Spatial Clustering. An empirical analysis as well as multiple evaluation metrics are leveraged to assess those algorithms. Following that, we redefine the problem as a probabilistic classification one, with the classifier emulating the behavior of a clustering algorithm, leveraging Explainable AI (xAI) to enhance the interpretability of our solution. According to the clustering algorithm analysis the optimal number of clusters for this case is seven. Despite that, our methodology shows that two of the clusters, almost 10% of the dataset, exhibit significant internal dissimilarity. As a result, these clusters have been excluded from consideration for DR programs. The scalability and versatility of our solution makes it an ideal choice for power utility companies aiming to segment their users for creating more targeted DR programs. • Assessment of four ML clustering algorithms of different nature. • Re-definition of the problem using probabilistic classification and xAI. • Optimization of demand-side management clusters combining ML and empirical knowledge. • Experimental application on historical data from 4438 households in London. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article reports on the celebration made by the Linnean Society of London for the 150 years anniversary since the reading of the seminal evolution papers by British naturalists Charles Darwin and Alfred Russel Wallace at one of the meetings of the organization in England in 1858. According to the article, the reading of the papers marks the removal of humanity from the center of creation to promote the concept of evolution that theorizes that life came into being by a process of natural selection.

Women played fundamental roles in the establishment of London as a 'science city' in the period 1650-1800.Taking its inspiration from the themes explored in the Science Museum's new permanent gallery, Science City 1550-1800:The Linbury Gallery, this paper explores four broad categories of contribution that women made - as scientific instrument makers or retailers, as teachers, as students or participants, and as authors or correspondents in science - to demonstrate that they played more significant roles than has been fully accounted for previously.To do so, we consider the examples of 25 specific individuals and various other virtually unidentifiable women spanning the period 1650-1800. By bringing together examples of different types of contribution, we show that women did not play a single role; they contributed to the emergence of a scientific culture in London in many different ways. All of the women discussed in this paper were individuals with their own reasons for involvement in science. But several factors such as contemporary perceptions of women, networks in London, and the growing demand for scientific knowledge united them all and influenced their experiences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Empirical research on human–robot interaction (HRI) has demonstrated how humans tend to react to social robots with empathic responses and moral behavior. How should we ethically evaluate such responses to robots? Are people wrong to treat non-sentient artefacts as moral patients since this rests on anthropomorphism and 'over-identification' (Bryson and Kime, Proc Twenty-Second Int Jt Conf Artif Intell Barc Catalonia Spain 16–22:1641–1646, 2011)—or correct since spontaneous moral intuition and behavior toward nonhumans is indicative for moral patienthood, such that social robots become our 'Others' (Gunkel, Robot rights, MIT Press, London, 2018; Coeckelbergh, Kairos J Philos Sci 20:141–158, 2018)?. In this research paper, I weave extant HRI studies that demonstrate empathic responses toward robots with the recent debate on moral status for robots, on which the ethical evaluation of moral behavior toward them is dependent. Patienthood for robots has standardly been thought to obtain on some intrinsic ground, such as being sentient, conscious, or having interest. But since these attempts neglect moral experience and are curbed by epistemic difficulties, I take inspiration from Coeckelbergh and Gunkel's 'relational approach' to explore an alternative way of accounting for robot patienthood based on extrinsic premises. Based on the ethics of Danish theologian K. E. Løgstrup (1905–1981) I argue that empathic responses can be interpreted as sovereign expressions of life and that these expressions benefit human subjects—even if they emerge from social interaction afforded by robots we have anthropomorphized. I ultimately develop an argument in defense of treating robots as moral patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The performance of different filtering algorithms combined with 3D mapping-aided (3DMA) techniques is investigated in this paper. Several singleand multi-epoch filtering algorithms were implemented and then tested on static pedestrian navigation data collected in the City of London using a u-blox EVK M8T GNSS receiver and vehicle navigation data collected in Canary Wharf, London, by a trial van with a Racelogic Labsat 3 GNSS front-end. The results show that filtering has a greater impact on mobile positioning than static positioning, while 3DMA GNSS brings more significant improvements to positioning accuracy in denser environments than in more open areas. Thus, multi-epoch 3DMA GNSS filtering should bring the maximum benefit to mobile positioning in dense environments. In vehicle tests at Canary Wharf, 3DMA GNSS filtering reduced the RMS horizontal position error by approximately 68% and 57% compared to the single-epoch 3DMA GNSS and filtered conventional GNSS, respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, driving strategy optimization for a track is proposed for an energy efficient battery electric vehicle dedicated to the Shell Eco-marathon. A measurement-based mathematical vehicle model was developed to simulate the behavior of the vehicle. The model contains complicated elements such as the vehicle's cornering resistance and the efficiency field of the entire powertrain. The validation of the model was presented by using the collected telemetry data from the 2019 Shell Eco-marathon competition in London (UK). The evaluation of applicable powertrains was carried out before the driving strategy optimization. The optimal acceleration curve for each investigated powertrain was defined. Using the proper powertrain is a crucial part of energy efficiency, as the drive has the most significant energy demand among all components. Two tracks with different characteristics were analyzed to show the efficiency of the proposed optimization method. The optimization results are compared to the reference method from the literature. The results of this study provide an applicable vehicle modelling methodology with efficient optimization framework, which demonstrates 5.5% improvement in energy consumption compared to the reference optimization theory. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Examining the complexity of urban form may help to understand human behavior in urban spaces, thereby improving the conditions for sustainable design of future cities. Metrics, such as fractal dimension, ht-index, and cumulative rate of growth (CRG) index have been proposed to measure this complexity. However, as these indicators are statistical rather than spatial, they result in an inability to characterize the spatial complexity of urban forms, such as building footprints. To overcome this problem, this paper proposes a graph-based fractality index (GFI), which is based on a hybrid of fractal theory and deep learning techniques. First, to quantify the spatial complexity, several fractal variants were synthesized to train a deep graph convolutional neural network. Next, building footprints in London were used to test the method, where the results showed that the proposed framework performed better than the traditional indices, i.e., the index is capable of differentiating complex patterns. Another advantage is that it seems to assure that the trained deep learning is objective and not affected by potential biases in empirically selected training datasets Furthermore, the possibility to connect fractal theory and deep learning techniques on complexity issues opens up new possibilities for data-driven GIS science. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Trigeminal neuralgia (TN) is a relatively rare condition which has a profound impact not only on the patient but also on those around them. There is no cure for TN, and the management of the condition is complex. The most effective forms of treatment are either through medication, neurosurgery, or combination of the two. Each option has risks and implications for the patient. As with all clinical decisions, it is important for patients to understand and be fully informed of the treatments available to them. A London UK unit adopted a joint-consultation clinic approach where the patient meets with both physician and neurosurgeon at the same time to discuss treatment options. The purpose of this evaluation is to understand patients' level of satisfaction with the joint-consultation clinic and evaluate utilisation of a clinical decision-making tool. Method: Patients who had attended the joint-consultation clinic over a period of 12 months were invited to participate in a telephone or paper survey (N = 55). Responses were analysed using descriptive statistics and thematic analysis. Results: Forty-one patients (77% response rate) participated in the survey, and the results were overwhelmingly positive for the joint-consultation clinic regarding satisfaction. The benefits were broad ranging including increased understanding, collaboration and confidence in decision-making. Conclusions: A joint-consultation clinic comprising a neurosurgeon and a physician for the treatment of TN is valued by patients who become better informed and able to make decisions about their care. Positive application of clinical decision-making aids in this situation offers potential across specialities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Diabetes foot ulceration (DFU) presents an enormous burden to those living with diabetes and to the local health systems and economies. There is an increasing interest in implementing integrated care models to enhance the quality of care for people living with diabetes and related complications and the value of coproduction approaches to achieve sustainable change. This paper aims to describe the evaluation methodology for the North West London (NWL) Diabetes Foot Care Transformation project. Description: A mixed methods design including: i) a quasi-experimental quantitative analysis assessing the impact of the implementation of the local secondary care multidisciplinary diabetes foot team clinics on service utilisation and clinical outcomes (amputations and number of healed patients); ii) a phenomenological, qualitative study to explore patient and staff experience; and iii) a within-trial cost-effectiveness analysis (pre and post 2017) to evaluate the programme cost-effectiveness. Discussion and Conclusion: Demonstrating the impact of multidisciplinary, integrated care models and the value of co-production approaches is important for health providers and commissioners trying to improve health outcome. Evaluation is also needed to identify strategies to overcome barriers which might have reduced the impact of the programme and key elements for improvement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Inspired by actual parcel delivery operations in London, this paper describes a two-echelon distribution system that combines the use of driving and walking as part of last-mile deliveries in urban areas for a single driver. The paper presents an optimisation model that explicitly treats and integrates the driving and walking elements, and describes a branch-and-cut algorithm that uses new valid inequalities specifically tailored for the problem at hand. Computational results based on real instances obtained from a courier operating in London are presented to show the performance of the algorithm. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose - This paper aims to provide an important perspective to the predictive capacity of Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) meeting dates and production announcements for energy futures (crude oil West Texas Intermediate (WTI), gasoline reformulated gasoline blendstock for oxygen blending (RBOB), Brent oil, London gas oil, natural gas and heating oil) market returns and volatilities. Design/methodology/approach - To examine the impact of OPEC news on energy futures market returns and volatilities, the authors use a conditional quantile regression methodology during the period from April 01, 2013 to June 30, 2017. Findings - From the empirical findings, the authors show a conditional dependence between energy futures returns and OPEC-based predictors; hence, the authors can find clear the significance of relationship in the process of financialization of the OPEC announcements and energy futures in the case of this paper. From the quantile-causality test, the authors find that the effect of OPEC news is important to energy futures. Specifically, OPEC announcements dates predict the quantiles of the conditional distribution of energy futures market returns. Originality/value - The authors confirm the presence of unidirectional nexus between OPEC news and energy commodities futures in the long term. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Drawing on the recent advances in complex network theory, urban mobility flow patterns, typically encoded as origin-destination (OD) matrices, can be represented as weighted directed graphs, with nodes denoting city locations and weighted edges the number of trips between them. Such a graph can further be augmented by node attributes denoting the various socio-economic characteristics at a particular location in the city. In this paper, we study the spatio-temporal characteristics of "hotspots" of different types of socio-economic activities as characterized by recently developed attribute-augmented network centrality measures within the urban OD network. The workflow of the proposed paper comprises the construction of temporal OD networks using two custom data sets on urban mobility in Rome and London, the addition of socio-economic activity attributes to the OD network nodes, the computation of network centrality measures, the identification of "hotspots" and, finally, the visualization and analysis of measures of their spatio-temporal heterogeneity. Our results show structural similarities and distinctions between the spatial patterns of different types of human activity in the two cities. Our approach produces simple indicators thus opening up opportunities for practitioners to develop tools for real-time monitoring and visualization of interactions between mobility and economic activity in cities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The attentional blink (AB) phenomenon reveals a bottleneck of human information processing: the second of two targets is often missed when they are presented in rapid succession among distractors. In our previous work, we showed that the size of the AB can be changed by applying transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) over the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (lDLPFC) (London & Slagter, Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, 33, 756–68, 2021). Although AB size at the group level remained unchanged, the effects of anodal and cathodal tDCS were negatively correlated: if a given individual's AB size decreased from baseline during anodal tDCS, their AB size would increase during cathodal tDCS, and vice versa. Here, we attempted to replicate this finding. We found no group effects of tDCS, as in the original study, but we no longer found a significant negative correlation. We present a series of statistical measures of replication success, all of which confirm that both studies are not in agreement. First, the correlation here is significantly smaller than a conservative estimate of the original correlation. Second, the difference between the correlations is greater than expected due to sampling error, and our data are more consistent with a zero-effect than with the original estimate. Finally, the overall effect when combining both studies is small and not significant. Our findings thus indicate that the effects of lDPLFC-tDCS on the AB are less substantial than observed in our initial study. Although this should be quite a common scenario, null findings can be difficult to interpret and are still under-represented in the brain stimulation and cognitive neuroscience literatures. An important auxiliary goal of this paper is therefore to provide a tutorial for other researchers, to maximize the evidential value from null findings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Personality is a complex, nuanced aspect of the human experience. In this paper, Nyary explores the theme of personality as it relates to Susanna Clarke's novel Piranesi. In this novel, the main character Piranesi, a London native, is trapped in the House, a labyrinth with hundreds of rooms, where he has no memory of his past life. Piranesi transforms into a different person after a prolonged stay in the House. As a consequence of human nature, individuals tend to create personas that they present to others to appear more likable while withholding their true personalities. Nyary asserts that the House represents one's true personality while London represents the version one shows to the world. Broadening the scope of this metaphor, Nyary emphasizes the importance of understanding and nurturing one's true personality and the implications this has for society. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]