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• Drivers on slip roads want vehicles on the target lane to decelerate. • Drivers in target lanes rate the behaviour of vehicles on slip roads ambiguously. • AVs are rated identically or even more positively than MVs with identical behaviour. • No different safety distance is kept from automated vehicles. • Results show that cross-border traffic between Germany and UK with AVs is feasible. • Intercultural aspects must still be considered in the development of AVs. To ensure safe and uninterrupted traffic flow, (semi-)automated vehicles must be capable of providing comprehensible and agreeable implicit communication cues to human drivers. This driving simulator study investigated the assessment of implicit communication at a motorway slip road through longitudinal driving dynamics (acceleration, deceleration, and maintaining speed). The second aim of the study was to determine whether expectations of automated vehicles are different from those of human drivers. And thirdly, we investigated whether these findings are country-specific or can be (partially) generalised to other countries. The perception of three means of communication in connection with the presence of a labelling as an automated vehicle (eHMI) was examined in two samples in Germany and England. 27 participants drove from a slip road onto the motorway and interacted with another vehicle. After a stretch on the motorway, they passed a second slip road on which there was a vehicle merging onto the participants lane. This was repeated six times to test all variables. After each situation, the perceived cooperativity and criticality was recorded, as well as the time headway (THW) to the other vehicle. This paper presents the findings from the UK sample and compares them with the German results, which were previously published. Results show, that when the cooperating vehicles are on the slip road, participants from both countries prefer this vehicle to decelerate. However, when participants themselves are on the slip road, expectations for vehicles on the target lane are ambiguous in the UK sample. Except for one aspect (perceived cooperativity of decelerating vehicles on the slip road), the perception of automated vehicles is similar to those of manual drivers. Also, UK participants do not maintain a different safety distance from these vehicles, while this is the case in the German sample. This paper contributes valuable insights into the cross-cultural evaluation of driving dynamics, shedding light on implications for the development and acceptance of automated vehicles. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper discusses the digital transformation journey of a small and medium enterprise (SME) based in the UK. With the proposed digital transformation archetype, the paper highlights the improvement in various key performance indices (KPIs) for the case SME. The core KPIs and operational KPIs show improvement through the technology adoption as part of the digital manufacturing initiative. While embracing technology, such as Industry 4.0, it is important to highlight the importance of the change and other benefits of technological changes. The paper uses socio-technological system principles to achieve a successful transition. An action research approach and a specific soft system thinking methodology known as Process-Oriented Holonic (PrOH) modeling were used in this paper. A digital twin architecture is presented in the paper that showcases the use of integrated technologies for a digital manufacturing roadmap. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Shifting from fossil fuels to clean alternative fuel options such as hydrogen is an essential step in decarbonising the road freight transport sector and facilitating an efficient transition towards zero-emissions goods distribution of the future. Designing an economically viable and competitive Hydrogen Supply Chain (HSC) to support and accelerate the widespread adoption of hydrogen powered Heavy Goods Vehicles (H 2 -HGVs) is, however, significantly hindered by the lack of the infrastructure required for producing, storing, transporting and distributing the required hydrogen. This paper focuses on a bespoke design of a hydrogen supply chain and distribution network for the long-haul road freight transportation in the UK and develops an improved end-to-end and spatially-explicit optimisation tool to perform scenario analysis and provide important first-hand managerial and policy making insights. The proposed methodology improves over existing grid-based methodologies by incorporating spatially-explicit locations of Hydrogen Refuelling Stations (HRSs) and allowing further flexibility and accuracy. Another distinctive feature of the method and the analyses carried out in the paper pertains to the inclusion of bulk geographically agnostic, as well as geological underground hydrogen storage options, and reporting on significant cost saving opportunities. Finally, the curve for H 2 -HGVs penetration levels, safety stock period decisions, and the transport mode capacity against hydrogen levelized cost at pump have been generated as important policy making tools to provide decision support and insights into cost, resilience and reliability of the HSC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hydrogen energy technologies are envisioned to play a critical supporting role in global decarbonisation. While low-carbon hydrogen is primarily targeted for reducing industrial emissions, alongside decarbonising parts of the transport sector, environmental benefits could also be achieved in the residential context. Presently, gas-dependent countries such as Japan and the United Kingdom are assessing the feasibility of deploying hydrogen home appliances, as part of their national energy strategies. However, prospects for the transition will hinge on consumer acceptance, alongside an array of other socio-technical factors. To support potential ambitions for large-scale and sustained technology diffusion, this study advances a Unified Theory of Domestic Hydrogen Acceptance. Through an integrative, comparative literature review targeting hydrogen and domestic energy studies, the paper proposes a novel Domestic Hydrogen Acceptance Model (DHAM), which accounts for the cognitive and emotional dimensions of human perceptions. Through this dual interplay, the proposed framework can increase the predictive power of hydrogen acceptance models. [Display omitted] • A unified theory of domestic hydrogen acceptance is proposed. • Researchers should integrate multiple acceptance constructs into survey studies. • Comprehensive perceived risks, costs, and benefits predict attitudes toward hydrogen. • Cognitive and emotional processes influence perceptions of hydrogen homes. • Community-level factors should be incorporated into hydrogen acceptance research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper summarizes the results of the Improving Mood with Psychoanalytic and Cognitive Therapies (IMPACT) study and its implications for psychological treatment of adolescents with moderate to severe unipolar major depression. IMPACT was a pragmatic, superiority, randomized controlled trial conducted in the United Kingdom, which compared the clinical and cost-effectiveness of short-term psychoanalytic therapy (STPP), cognitive−behavioral therapy (CBT), and a brief psychosocial intervention (BPI) in reducing depression symptoms in 465 adolescents with unipolar major depression, aged 11 to 17 years. Although this was a clinically heterogeneous group of adolescents, some symptoms (eg, sleep and concentration difficulties, irritability/anger) were common and disabling. The trial reported no significant difference among the 3 treatments in reducing depression symptoms. One year after treatment, 84% of participants showed improvement in depressive symptoms (<50% of baseline symptoms) and improved psychosocial functioning, achieving this through different symptom reduction trajectories. Although participants attended fewer treatment sessions than planned, the 3 treatments were delivered with fidelity to their respective models. Ending treatment without therapist agreement occurred in 37% of cases. This was not associated with outcomes by treatment group. Adolescents emphasized the importance of the therapeutic relationship in all 3 treatments. Results suggest that although most adolescents respond to time-limited, structured psychological therapy, subgroups of depressed adolescents are likely to need additional treatment or support. These include adolescents who live in complex circumstances and/or who believe that their needs are not met in therapy, some who stop treatment early, and the 16% to 18% of adolescents who do not respond to treatment. Improving Mood and Preventing Relapse With Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy and Cognitive Behaviour Therapy; https://www.isrctn.com ; ISRCTN83033550. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• There has been a limited scope of investigation of the contextual factors affecting driver decision-making during narrow passage interactions. • The study found that the likelihood of giving way may alter due to characteristics of the interaction partners, including their vehicle type. • It was also found that factors, external to the direct interaction partners, may affect the likelihood of giving way, such as the presence of vehicles beyond the direct interaction partners. • This paper validates previous communication findings in a UK context. Narrow passage interactions have received increased attention from academics seeking to create behavioural models of the interaction and those looking to define how autonomous vehicles (AVs) should interact with their human counterparts in a composite road system. Despite this increased attention, many factors remain unexplored in the narrow passage literature, with the literature also encompassing few driving culture contexts. To this end, this study employs an explorative survey to identify additional factors that affect driver decision-making during narrow passage interactions, as well as driver perceptions of different communications in a UK context. The study's 243 participants were presented with a range of different narrow passage scenarios and asked to indicate how likely they were to give way/yield to a vehicle approaching the narrow passage from the opposite direction. In addition, they also completed the Multidimensional Driving Style Inventory to identify their driving styles and asked to identify which signals they look for from their interaction partner during narrow passage interactions, as well as the meaning of those signals. The results of the study show that situational characteristics such as the vehicle type being interacted with, being in a rush and being followed by vehicles alter the likelihood of drivers giving way at narrow passages, whilst a person's driving style can also indicate how likely someone is to give way to another vehicle. These results highlight the factors that are considered by drivers, increasing our understanding of the factors that need to be incorporated in driver behaviour models and in AV development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The design of energy and climate policy is usually seen as an 'expert' domain, relying on technical tools such as economic analysis. However, policy requires the support of politicians and citizens alike, through the democratic process. Many policies, such as reducing carbon emissions from homes and transport, also affect people's lives directly. It is thus necessary to supplement technical analysis with methods that allow an exploration of people's views, values and behaviours. One such method is codesign, whereby groups of citizens work with policy analysts to develop strategies informed by the lived experience of citizens, as well as the specialist knowledge of analysts. There is a history of co-design approaches in public services such as healthcare, but there have been few attempts to co-design public policy measures. This paper reports on a Citizens' Panel, a representative group of people working with specialists to create co-designed policy recommendations for reducing carbon emissions from homes. The process revealed that policy co-design can provide detailed, viable proposals. In this case, panellists emphasised the necessity of leadership and support from government; tailored, consistent information; targeted regulation; and financial incentives. Finally, the wider potential role for policy co-design for energy and climate is addressed. • Co-design processes are widely used but rarely applied to the design of energy and climate policy. • Co-design processes can embed citizen perspectives in policy design. • The paper reports on an experimental panel on home energy decarbonisation. • Co-design can ensure that policies are effective and will gain support of politicians and publics. • Changes to cultures of policymaking are needed to embed such approaches. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Agri-environmental policies in the UK stand on the threshold of significant change, with wide acceptance that radical changes are needed to ensure a better delivery of public goods in future. The UK's departure from the EU presents an opportunity to fully realise the "Public Money for Public Goods" principle in the new suite of Environmental Land Management schemes. A likely priority will be the delivery of conservation goals at a landscape scale, which will require the recruitment of a broader range of actors and institutions than at present, including an emerging group of what we call in this paper 'new land managers'. Understanding the changing dynamics of rural land occupancy, and the characteristics and motivations of these new land managers, will be essential in the future for the effective delivery of these public schemes. Data on land market trends is nevertheless patchy and poorly researched. For this paper, we drew on a survey of land agents in England, all of whom were members of the Central Association for Agricultural Valuers (CAAV), in order to gather information and reflections on contemporary land markets. A key finding is that agricultural policy reform and retrenchment is seen by many of these experts as a significant driver of future change. Taken together with other interacting factors such as the overall tax burden on businesses and the economic and personal situation of farmers and their succession status, many of our respondents predicted significant structural change, with more land coming on to the market for resale. At the same time, increasing demand for land from "lifestyle/non-farming landholders" and the growing presence of people entering the market interested in enroling land for carbon sequestration and natural capital improvements, will mean a shift in the types of individuals and organisations holding land. Those holding and managing land in coming years are likely to comprise an ever more diverse and fragmented community of land owners and occupiers The task for policymakers then, is to deliver a suite of interventions specifically tailored to the various types of landholders in order to engage them effectively into public goods delivery under ELMs. • Traditional focus of UK agri-environmental policies is on main occupation farmers. • Emphasis on landscape scale delivery requires broader set of public good providers. • Knowledge gaps in rural land occupancy mean that successful recruitment is limited. • Findings reported here indicate a continued diversification of landholder types. • A suite of interventions tailored to the broadening landholders types will be key. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Globally, the ecological and socio-economic impacts of non-indigenous species (NIS) are increasingly recognised, prompting the development of international policies and legislation that aim to reduce these impacts. Monitoring programmes are required to assess compliance with legislation and progress towards management targets. However, monitoring programmes often need to fulfil the requirements of several legislative drivers, as well as adapt to changing political circumstances and environmental targets, and thereby face design and implementation challenges. In this paper, we summarise the current legislative drivers for monitoring of non-indigenous marine species and provide a review of existing monitoring in UK waters. This paper also discusses aspirations for NIS monitoring, outlines progress, and provides recommendations to address remaining gaps. While the focus is on the drivers for NIS monitoring in UK marine waters, the key messages, in particular recommendations for future improvements, are applicable on a global scale. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rising demand for emergency food during the last couple of decades in the UK has led to a great deal of academic interest in food aid provision, and food banking in particular. Efforts have also been made to examine food poverty and responses to it in more critical terms, which has entailed moving beyond a focus on emergency food support to engage with 'more than food aid' approaches. In this paper, I discuss how these latter approaches are beginning to be mobilised by national organisations, local authorities and place-based food partnerships in the UK. An important catalyst for this shift was the Covid-19 pandemic, which provided the crisis conditions that encouraged public and third-sector actors to think about, and act upon, food poverty in different ways. Drawing on an analysis of submissions to a Covid-19 food inquiry, place-based food initiatives implemented during the pandemic period and more recent initiatives instigated by national food support and anti-hunger groups, the paper examines how a diverse range of organisations are becoming more critical of existing (food aid) responses to food poverty and are seeking to develop more supportive local foodscapes based on a 'more than food aid' approach. The paper concludes with a discussion of the implications of this shift for future research on food poverty. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Promoting social information disclosure can develop sustainable banking. This paper aims to evaluate the social sustainability of banks by constructing a new interval-based composite indicator using the Thomson Reuters database. In this paper, to measure the social sustainability of European banks, we propose an approach to construct interval-based composite indicators that usefully extends the construction of the composite indicator and allows us to measure the uncertainty generated by the choices made in the construction of the composite indicator. The methodological approach is based on Monte Carlo simulation and allows us to improve the information provided by the composite indicators. Thus, we measure the value of the social indicator and its subcomponents and the uncertainty of the value due to the different possible weightings. The results show that the best international ESG practices in European banks are found in French and British banks, especially in Italian ones. Finally, we analyze innovative perspectives and propose policy recommendations to support sustainable banking ecosystems in light of the increasing attention to ESG indicator disclosure and its correspondence to reality. • The best practices are found in French and U.K. banks. • Skandinavian banks face non-excellent results. • The work is a first attempt to elaborate on a specific social disclosure index. • Results are a valuable baseline to understand the actions to take. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Trapping indices stabilization is lagged as injection period is active. • Greater CO 2 cumulative volume occurs as reservoir pressure is far from caprock fracture pressure. • Larger closures will require pressure management-based brine production to reach theoretical storage capacity. • ML-based CO 2 storage modelling preliminary de-risked saline aquifers lacking numerical models. This paper presents a machine learning (ML) model designed to speed up the appraisal of geologic CO 2 storage sites by predicting the effectiveness in trapping and accommodating CO 2 in saline aquifers. Considering the urgency of de-risking as much geologic CO 2 storage resources as possible to help with CO 2 emission reduction Paris' goal, ML-based reservoir modelling has been documented as proper tool when a faster, good approximate, and less expensive approach is needed to surrogate multiple assessments of storage sites traditionally performed by long-timeframe and multi-stage geologic CO 2 storage numerical modelling approach. In this paper, a case study is presented. It consisted of a dataset comprised of six geologic aquifer parameters (CO 2 residual saturation, horizontal permeability, vertical to horizontal permeability ratio, porosity, brine salinity, and CO 2 flow rate) and elapsed time as input data, and as output data the CO 2 trapping mechanism indices (Solubility Trapping Index, Residual Trapping Index, and Structural Trapping Index) along with the dynamic storage capacity (CO 2 injected volume). Such dataset was used to train and test the artificial neural network (ANN) model. The dataset was generated from thousands of post-processed numerical realizations at several injection periods by applying design of experiment using a synthetic aquifer model derived from the Bunter Sandstone Closure 36 aquifer numerical model, from the Southern North Sea. The ANN architecture designed in Python consisted of 3 hidden layers and 40 nodes and its performance was assessed using the coefficient of determination (R2) and root mean squared error (RMSE). The ANN performance showed accuracies (R2) for training and testing with 96% and 95% of precision respectively. Practical application of the ANN model was successfully implemented to CO 2 storage aquifer sites selected from CO2Stored® database which lacking numerical models (Bunter Closure 3, 9, 35, and 40), obtaining at the end of 100-years injection case a Structural, Residual, and Solubility Trapping Index averaging 83%, 11%, and 6% respectively, with low variation coefficient indicating that trapping indices were predicted properly because aquifers selected for ANN model application have similar structures (dome-like shape) and reservoir properties. In addition, CO 2 injected volume predictions for 100-years injection case were ranging from 397 to 456 million ton (Mt) totalling 2.1 giga ton (Gt) of potential storage capacity which represents 70% of total theoretical volumetric capacity. These results show the significant impact to accelerate geologic CO 2 storage sites assessment by implementing ML-based modelling to preliminary de-risking groups of saline aquifers and reasonably consider them technically feasible CO 2 storage sites in UK. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper begins with the common phrase 'good girl' as a lens through which to explore the insidious nature of patronising and paternalistic language on women's agency in obstetric care. Here we see how misogynistic language is both violence against women in its own right, and serves to create a context in which more extreme obstetric violence can be precipitated. Based on thematic analysis of discussion on Mumsnet, and on contributions to a research-focused Facebook group, this paper illustrates the complexity of recognising and refuting misogyny as a female patient as well as the damage that can occur from a cultural context in which this language is normalised. Here, words both boast a materiality through the environments they reify, and become transient and slippery, with semiotic uncertainty. • Use of misogynistic language in obstetric and fertility care is widespread. • This language may be difficult to identify and address. • Language that positions women as incompetent creates a context in which violence may occur during childbirth. • Experiences of obstetric violence are common even in the UK, amongst well-educated women. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The scale of the decarbonisation challenge and the short timeframes over which action is required demand urgent action. This paper is set within the surface transport sector, now the largest sector of emissions with the slowest pace of change in many advanced liberal economies. It focuses on the strategies and actions of local government which is recognised to be a central player in catalysing change. Our evidence is derived from the actions of two UK local areas which claim to be at the forefront of the decarbonisation challenge. The paper focuses on the role of funding and financial mechanisms in addressing the climate crisis. In the face of an established pattern of austerity and hollowing out of local government we explore how deep transformation is being envisaged. We find a recursive set of issues which derive from a dependence on funding from outwith. This dependence means that despite comprehensive overarching strategies and goals the funding available is the core of the strategy. This means that the nature of the funds, such as the requirement for experimentation, innovation or private sector leverage, defines direction. In turn, and to maintain success in attracting funds, there is an emphasis on presenting 'premium spaces of ambition' with little evidence of attention to broader systemic change. This duality is openly recognised. This paper advances a wider point that greater emphasis should be placed on the 'financialisation' of climate policy and the reality rather than the rhetoric of change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyses the potential implications of the proposed European Union Deforestation Regulation (EUDR) and the recently adopted United Kingdom (UK) legislation on deforestation-free supply chains (henceforth 'the legislation') for different stakeholders in Brazil. These regulations intend to address global commodity-driven deforestation and forest degradation by ensuring that targeted commodities and products placed on (or exported from) markets are of minimal risk of being associated with - in the EU - deforestation and forest degradation or - in the UK - illegal deforestation. The paper examines potential compliance readiness in cattle, cocoa, coffee, palm oil, soybean and tropical timber supply chains in Brazil, indicating specific challenges that may arise. Through the construction of a "Compliance Likelihood Index", our research provides comparable indications to policymakers on sectors and stakeholders that may need stronger support to meet the requirements, in order to maintain Brazil's access to EU and UK markets. The paper indicates that coffee is the sector with the highest level of incentivization and smallest hurdles for compliance, while the cattle sector may face stronger challenges to rapidly adjust its production system towards a deforestation-free value chain and prove compliance. Results of our analysis also highlight the need for collaboration between the EU/UK and Brazil in order to promote alignment between domestic and demand-side legislations so that they are mutually reinforcing. Results of this exercise, which has a focus on the producer-country view of demand-side legislation, will contribute to discussions on the merits of different approaches to strengthen the governance of deforestation-risk commodity trade. [Display omitted] • Brazil's coffee sector may currently have the greatest likelihood of ready compliance. • Cattle may be the sector to which the regulations may pose the greatest challenges. • The EU and UK should focus on providing financial means and technical assistance for smallholders. • The EU and UK legislation will need to be accompanied by domestic policies and regulations in Brazil. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The proliferation of pledges to reach net-zero emissions has revealed a wide range of understandings of what such a pledge entails. The lack of international standards to define decarbonisation pathways and the many kinds of speculative offsets available for net-zero calculations have generated a multiplication of public commitments not tethered to any specific mechanism of accountability. Many have criticised this state of affairs as a governance vacuum allowing extravagant forms of 'greenwashing,' with corporations and countries asserting ostensibly ambitious goals without adopting verifiable instruments for their delivery. This paper addresses the situation from a slightly different perspective, exploring instead how net-zero pledges create new climate publics and counter-publics. Drawing on three case studies (UK national net-zero policy, the Race to Zero campaign, and the Science Based Targets Initiative), and informed by a pragmatist understanding of 'public' and 'public formation,' we examine how the adoption of a formal but ambiguous target leads to a collective consideration of consequences, thus expanding the range of actors engaged in disputes over alternative climate futures. • Imaginations of net zero futures are unavoidably ambiguous and open to interpretation. • Setting net zero targets and delineating their consequences can enable the formation of new publics and counter publics. • This process hinges on the deployment of specific devices to imagine and deliberate on plausible futures. • The paper develops a pragmatist framework for investigating the formation of publics as a political consequence of net zero publics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using the concept of policy story-lines, this paper analyses the use of accounts of farmers' emotional well-being in policy disputes about the management of animal disease. Recent research on the emotional well-being of farmers in the face of climate change, market uncertainty and animal disease has sought to objectively assess its scale and extent. Studies of the policy process, however, suggest that discourses of farmer well-being can be put to use in policy argumentation by establishing story-lines that disrupt and challenge dominant policy perspectives. Using a case study from the United Kingdom, this paper analyses the use of a social impacts of animal disease story-line, the evidence used to construct the story-line, and its use in coupling policy problems and solutions. To do this, the paper analyses 24 years of elected politicians' speeches in two different government administrations. Firstly, the paper describes how the story-line was used in response to a competing story-line of 'sound science', and defines its core rhetorical components as: universal devastation, emotional trauma, helplessness, shared suffering, and regulative stress. Secondly, the paper shows how the story-line relies on spatially situated anecdote and 'proximate experience' – direct experience or the visiting and listening to farmers – rather than formal research. Thirdly, the paper shows how the story-line was used strategically to couple specific policy solutions to the problem of farmer well-being but was also captured to justify other solutions. The paper concludes by considering the wider implications of this story-line for the politics of the rural, farmer identity and the role of social research • Investigates farmer well-being as a policy story-line in animal disease policy. • Farmer well-being is discursively constructed using rhetoric and anecdote. • Evidence is derived from 'proximate experience' rather than quantified research. • Politicians use the farmer well-being story-line to challenge dominant policy story-lines. • Academic research must develop new methods to contribute to this policy debate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Seaside resorts face socio-economic challenges which can exacerbate family crises. • Inequalities in seaside resorts can complicate delivery of family support services. • Innovative embedded research approach within Children's Social Care. • Preventative Early Help strategies need to be attuned to differing care ecologies. Effective Early Help services are key to halting rising rates of children in care in the UK. Yet despite family support and child welfare interventions being unequally distributed across the country, the role of 'place' has received limited attention in the children's social care arena. This paper examines the connections between coastal challenges, Early Help and child welfare interventions, drawing on embedded research undertaken within a Local Authority on England's coast with elevated levels of children in care. We focus on families' experiences raising children in a seaside resort area as well as professionals' perspectives on the place-based challenges faced delivering effective and accessible Early Help support. The study generated data from ethnographic observations, semi-structured interviews, and focus groups with local parents/carers (n = 57), service managers and frontline professionals (n = 14), and the Voluntary, Community, and Social Enterprise (VCSE) sector (n = 22). The findings highlight how the socio-economic challenges associated with many seaside resort areas, including housing pressures, a seasonal and low-wage economy, and the transience of the population, present difficulties for parents/carers in raising and supporting their children. For professionals delivering Early Help, high levels of housing instability, elevated inward migration, resource constraints and challenges around recruitment and retention presented challenges to delivering services. This paper recommends increased emphasis in regulation and resourcing around family support that considers the spatial and geographic dynamics that influence the incidence, structuring, and experiences of child and family welfare. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Much literature views South Asian women in the UK through the prism of arranged marriage and, when discussing gender-based violence, forced marriage. Little attention is paid to South Asian women's experiences of dating, with no commitment to marriage. This paper is based on qualitative research using the theoretical framework of Black Feminist Theory and Intersectionality to analyse how women, who feel they are making their own choices and exercising agency by dating, can, through gendered power dynamics be pressured into marriages. This paper explores how such experiences can elucidate the manifestations of forced marriage and adds to this complex picture of how women entering an intimate relationship of choice, can be entrapped into forced marriage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the role of partnerships in the governance of UK migration policy, considering how partnerships have been mobilised to navigate tensions between multiple state and non-state actors. The paper focuses on the work of regional strategic migration partnerships (SMPs) across the UK, bodies that bring together national and local government, statutory agencies, third sector organisations, and private contractors, all concerned with the management of migration and asylum. Considering SMPs as sites of collaboration and contention within local 'battlegrounds' of policy, the paper examines how enrolment and socialisation shape relations between actors, serving to sustain governmental authority but also offer openings for the formation of advocacy coalitions. Through examining how SMPs addressed the outsourcing of asylum support services, I argue that for many non-state actors enrolment into an SMP produces an ambivalent politics centred on forms of tactical closeness and critical discomfort. In concluding, I suggest the forms of intimacy created through enrolment serve to extend ambivalence as actors become torn between relationships and commitments, highlighting the fraught and often unstable nature of SMPs as bodies of policy coordination and advocacy potential. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Metrology provides the underpinning science that supports the practical use of testing standards; ensuring that different users, be it academia, government or industry, develop a common language regarding the capabilities of many materials sectors. For the hardmetal community, after a century of fundamental and effective applications, it isn't surprising that there are already a considerable number of formal International Standards. For example, ISO and ASTM are well known [1], and over time these have evolved, with international consensus, from metrological studies. Currently important properties of hardmetals such as Stiffness, Density, Hardness, Toughness, Abrasion Resistance, Macroscopic Strength and Phase and Magnetic properties are comprehensively supported by these international standards. However, there are other testing strategies where improved knowledge could contribute to enhanced carbide functionality. These might include high resolution microscopy, indentation strength measurements, micro-tribology, thermal fatigue testing and modelling in all its diverse approaches which are not yet addressed through standards, though they often feature strongly in published academic papers. The hardmetal research community is international, diverse and productive in addressing these many facets and frequently embed metrological studies that are relevant to the practical characterisation of hardmetals. In the UK the Materials Group at the National Physical Laboratory, NPL, has a prime remit to focus on metrology and our contribution to the WC-Co 100 year anniversary publication provides some specifics of typical metrological issues that need further attention before addressing the formal stage of standardisation. In this celebratory paper we have chosen examples of recent metrological activities that fall under this remit and which have only partly been contributed to the scientific published domain. These five examples are High Hardness measurements, Dislocation Analysis, Micro-Tribology, Nanoindentation and Structural Characterisation. • Issues associated with high hardness metrologies. • Assessment of dislocations in WC using slip trace analysis. • Micro-tribology as a metrology tool for hardmetal wear. • Nanoindentation of WC crystals at ambient and high temperatures. • WC grain size issues using EBSD, especially in large data files. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The offshore wind industry is growing rapidly around the world. Many governments have set ambitious targets for growth to achieve their decarbonisation goals. As the industry grows it can become more challenging to build and operate wind farms safely. Wind farms are being constructed further from shore in tougher weather and sea conditions. In the UK, the Health and Safety Executive has raised concerns about safety performance. This paper aims to review the current state of health and safety in the offshore wind industry. It reviews the latest research, injury statistics and the state of legislation covering the sector. It also considers how the risk profile of the industry may change in coming years. The paper finds there is a need for more research specific to the safety challenges of offshore wind. Injury rate statistics show that performance is 3–4 times worse than comparable industries, and industry reports do not currently include large parts of the sector. Rapid growth and the implementation of new technologies will create additional challenges. Regulators should consider the implementation of industry specific safety legislation to manage the unique challenges of offshore wind. [Display omitted] • Injury rates are up to 4 times higher than the offshore oil and gas industry. • Risk exposure to workers is expected to increase due to growth and technology. • Safety legislation requires reform to address specific industry risks. • Innovations from other industries in safety management should be adopted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we address two key features of the behaviour of Fe-rich amphibole at high temperatures: (1) the Fe2+ → Fe3+ + e − exchange within the crystal bulk, and (2) the consequent rise in electrical conductivity. Cycling heating-cooling experiments were done in situ up to 542 °C (815 K) at beamline B11 of the Diamond Synchrotron Laboratory (UK). X-ray absorption spectra at the Fe K-edge and electrical resistivity were measured simultaneously on a single crystal of riebeckite with a composition very close to the ideal formula A□BNa 2 C(Fe2+ 3 Fe3+ 2)TSi 8 O 22 W(OH) 2. The Fe3+/Fe tot ratio was monitored via analysis of the pre-edge feature in the XANES spectra. Our data show slight oscillations of the oxidation state of Fe with temperature cycling up to around 400 °C (673 K), followed by a substantial gradual increase in Fe2+ → Fe3+ oxidation that starts at ~450 °C (~723 K) and is completed at ~525 °C (~798 K). The conductivity (σ) measured along the crystallographic c-axis oscillates strongly with cycling temperature allowing us to conclude that it is intrinsically related to the electron hopping induced by thermal treatment. The activation-energy derived from the σ(T) trend is E a = 74.4 ± 0.6 kJ/mol (0.77 ± 0.01 eV), in agreement with small-polaron conduction. This study provides direct and robust support of the conduction mechanisms in Fe-amphibole previously inferred from indirect methods. Given that riebeckite is a significant component in the glaucophanitic amphiboles common in blueschists associated with subducted oceanic crust, our data provide a link between atomic-scale processes and Earth-scale anomalous conductivity observed via geophysical measurements. [Display omitted] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article aims to add to the emerging empirical mitigation deterrence literature by drawing on ongoing research into a particular form of greenhouse gas removal technology – biochar – and associated biochar carbon markets. As such, the aim of this paper is to explore whether the UK carbon market for biochar, in practice is likely to contribute to delays in emissions reduction. In other words, we explore whether UK biochar carbon markets are (likely to be) as much of a problem for mitigation deterrence as imagined or envisaged within the mitigation deterrence literature. We draw from original data collected in 2022 from 33 semi-structured interviews with mostly UK based experts who have an interest or potential interest in biochar, supplemented with a document analysis. Conceptual approaches from the social studies of finance have guided the analysis, an approach that enables systematic investigation of experts' understandings of the biochar carbon market landscape in the UK. Although biochar proponents forwarded narratives – or fictional expectations – about how the future trading of carbon credits in carbon markets could lower the cost of producing biochar on a large scale, other experts doubted the credibility of these narratives. Whilst the construction and sustainable functioning of a UK-based biochar carbon market remains a speculative, rather than credible proposition, it nevertheless constitutes a threat of mitigation deterrence because of the assumption that a UK biochar carbon market will become a reality. There is the promise of future removals even if this is only imagined. • Biochar carbon markets are resisted by most experts in the study. • Techno-optimism about biochar production is based on fictional expectations. • Biochar carbon markets are a mitigation deterrence threat. • Consider failure to reduce emissions instead of mitigation deterrence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we test the contribution of foreign management to firm productivity. We use a novel data set on the careers of 115,505 managers employed in 10,238 firms in the UK from 2009–2017. We find that domestic manufacturing firms become, on average, 4.9% more productive and about 23.3% more capital intensive after hiring foreign managers. In particular, we find that prior industry-specific experience of foreign managers abroad allows spillover effects to domestic recruiting firms. On the other hand, we find no significant effect on foreign-owned firms after hiring foreign managers, possibly because technological spillovers have already occurred after takeovers by headquarters. The marginal productivity gain is twice as high when the new hires end up on all-British boards without a history of diversity. Our identification strategy combines matching techniques, difference-in-difference and pre-recruitment trends to challenge reverse causality. The results are robust to different specifications and sample composition effects. Ultimately, our results show how restrictions on the global mobility of managerial talent hamper the competitiveness of the domestic industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Models that utilize self-attention mechanisms, including but not limited to Vision Transformers (ViTs), have shown promising performance in visual tasks like semantic segmentation. This is attributed to their capacity to capture global features of images, enabling them to learn more comprehensive representations. However, transformer-based models typically demand a considerable amount of training data to achieve satisfactory performance, while being deficient in the ability to efficiently extract local image features. As a result, these models may not be as effective in some computer vision tasks that involve small-scale datasets, like medical image segmentation. To address these issues, this paper proposes a dual-stream encoding-based transformer dubbed as Dual-stream Transformer (DS-Former). The dual-stream module in DS-Former can simultaneously acquire local and global features in the image and construct relation between the two kinds of features via self-attention. Compared with the simple splicing or serial connection, the dual-stream module can extract more comprehensive and hierarchical feature information from the fusion interaction of the two features. Our method is evaluated on the UK Biobank (UKBB) cardiac magnetic resonance imaging (CMR) dataset and The Beyond the Cranial Vault (BTCV) abdominal challenge dataset. The experimental results indicate that our DS-Former outperforms other state-of-the-art approaches on both datasets, indicating its potential for medical images semantic segmentation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Urban Green Infrastructure (UGI) is crucial for socio-ecological systems that tackle urbanisation challenges. Participatory approaches involve the public in local environmental decision-making, and they are receiving renewed attention from academics, policymakers, and design professionals to achieve more inclusive urban development practices. This paper examines public participation in UGI delivery in the UK by evaluating the relationship between policy and practice. The study uses a mixed-methods approach, including expert interviews and a nationwide survey, to explore financing, governance, perceptions of participation, and public willingness to engage in UGI delivery. The data reveals factors that influence people's inclination to participate in UGI delivery. Attitudes toward UGI and nature are favourable, but not the primary motivators for participation in UGI-related community or conservation activities. The research highlights the potential of deliberative public participation with the right policy instruments and support infrastructure to deliver effective UGI addressing ecological and socio-cultural priorities. The research emphasises the importance of public involvement in achieving sustainable urban development and the critical role of UGI in developing socio-ecological systems that address urbanisation challenges. It also highlights differences between rhetoric and practice in inclusive urban planning discourse. • This study provides empirical data indicating the factors which affect people's inclination participate in UGI delivery. • The majority of UGI strategies in the UK still adopt a top-down and expert-driven approach. • We examined the overarching motivations and barriers to the adoption of participatory approaches toward UGI development. • Most respondents agreed community greening projects would enhance social interactions amongst residents. • Awareness of UGI benefits may foster interest in participation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is a growing consensus that the distribution system operator (DSO) role is changing, given the implications of net zero. The transition process requires additional roles for the DSO in facilitating the new technologies and business models that will contribute to decarbonization. Although discussions on the active DSO abound, a working definition is still missing. This paper proposes a working definition and a methodology for measuring the extent to which a DSO is active. The methodology will be applied to electricity and natural gas DSOs in the UK, and the challenges will be presented and analyzed. • The roles of Distribution System Operators (DSOs) due to increasing penetration of variable renewable sources, additional electrification of consumption, gas decarbonization, decentralization, and energy storage. • The active DSO facilitates new processes, technologies and business models required for system decarbonization. • Measuring the extent to which the DSO is active will enable policymakers and regulators to evaluate the current and future role of DSOs. • The dimensions for measuring the active DSO are transport, heating, flexibility and Distributed Energy Resources (DER) integration, adaptive indicative planning, and innovation. • Based on limited data, the United Kingdom electricity DSOs are most active on flexibility and DER integration , while gas DSOs are most active on the decarbonization of heating. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the process of implementing circular economy within the built environment, quantifying progress and performance towards this effort has posed a substantial challenge. In response, this paper reviews the current state of building-specific circularity indicators, creates a taxonomy, and integrates them within the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) Plan of Work, a commonly employed framework within the UK's built environment. Through a systematic literature review considering both academic and grey literature, 32 building circularity indicators, developed by academia, consulting agencies, and governments, are identified. The first contribution of this study is the creation of a taxonomy of building circularity indicators, which classifies the identified indicators into 8 categories, such as basic characteristics of indicators, circularity level, and sustainability pillars. The second contribution of this study is the alignment of circularity within the stages of Plan of Work framework. It is revealed that the framework does not currently incorporate circularity, resulting in the proposal of a new Stage 8: End of Life to encompass demolition, disassembly, and deconstruction activities. Alignment of the taxonomy to Plan of Work framework provides a guide in utilization of building circularity indicators throughout the process of designing, constructing and operating building projects. • Building-specific circularity indicators are reviewed for the built environment. • A taxonomy of 32 building circularity indicators is created across eight categories. • A new Stage 8: End of Life is proposed for RIBA framework to enhance circularity. • The circularity indicators are integrated with the RIBA Plan of Work framework. • A traffic light approach is employed to guide the use of circularity indicators. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In Britain more men participate in gambling than women, although the gender gap is narrowing; and online gambling is increasing among women and men. Gambling practices differ between men and women but also between different groups of women, with evidence that younger women are diversifying to gamble in different ways from older women. Complex and powerful spatial, socio-cultural and economic forces shape women's experiences of gambling, the problems gambling may cause, and wider societal efforts to minimise these harms. This paper presents the findings of a Rapid Evidence Assessment (REA) of research on women and gambling and conceptual reflections on these findings to argue for greater attention to the gendered and spatial dimensions of gambling in three ways. First, we discuss the geographical focus and scope of the research we reviewed on women and gambling; second, we analyse the changing geographies of where women gamble; and finally, we consider how qualitative notions of space as experiential and co-constitutive can offer a more nuanced conceptual framework for understanding women's lived experience of gambling and gambling harm. We identify areas for further research on gambling and gambling harm that attends to gendered and spatial dimensions of gambling, including online spaces; the intersectional dynamics that shape gambling practice and gambling harms; and the experiences of those affected by others' gambling. • A public health approach that addresses women's experiences of gambling is needed. • Review of research on women and gambling reveals important gaps in knowledge. • Gambling research has tended to study women as a homogenous group. • Much less research has focused on those who are affected by another's gambling. • Power dynamics in women's lives shape their experiences of gambling. • Intersectional approaches are needed to address differences between women. • Stigma and lack of awareness of women's gambling are important elements to consider when developing public health interventions around gambling. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is substantial diversity within and between contexts globally in caregiving practices and family composition, which may have implications for the early interaction's infants engage in. We draw on data from the Brain Imaging for Global Health (BRIGHT, www.globalfnirs.org/the-bright-project) project, which longitudinally examined infants in the UK and in rural Gambia, West Africa. In The Gambia, households are commonly characterized by multigenerational, frequently polygamous family structures, which, in part, is reflected in the diversity of caregivers a child spends time with. In this paper, we aim to 1) evaluate and validate the Language Environment Analysis (LENA) for use in the Mandinka speaking families in The Gambia, 2) examine the nature (i.e., prevalence of turn taking) and amount (i.e., adult and child vocalizations) of conversation that infants are exposed to from 12 to 24 months of age and 3) investigate the link between caregiver diversity and child language outcomes, examining the mediating role of contingent turn taking. We obtained naturalistic seven-hour-long LENA recordings at 12, 18 and 24 months of age from a cohort of N = 204 infants from Mandinka speaking households in The Gambia and N = 61 infants in the UK. We examined developmental changes and site differences in LENA counts of adult word counts (AWC), contingent turn taking (CTT) and child vocalizations (CVC). In the larger and more heterogenous Gambian sample, we also investigated caregiver predictors of turn taking frequency. We hereby examined the number of caregivers present over the recording day and the consistency of caregivers across two subsequent days per age point. We controlled for children's cognitive development via the Mullen Scales of Early Learning (MSEL). Our LENA validation showed high internal consistency between the human coders and automated LENA outputs (Cronbach's alpha's all >.8). All LENA counts were higher in the UK compared to the Gambian cohort. In The Gambia, controlling for overall neurodevelopment via the MSEL, CTT at 12 and 18 months predicted CVC at 18 and 24 months. Caregiver consistency was associated with CTT counts at 18 and 24 months. The number of caregivers and CTT counts showed an inverted u-shape relationship at 18 and 24 months, with an intermediate number of caregivers being associated with the highest CTT frequencies. Mediation analyses showed a partial mediation by number of caregivers and CTT and 24-month CVC. The LENA provided reliable estimates for the Mandinka language in the home recording context. We showed that turn taking is associated with subsequent child vocalizations and explored contextual caregiving factors contributing to turn taking in the Gambian cohort. • It is unclear how caregiver diversity affect language development. • LENA measures were used at 12, 18 and 24 months in the UK and The Gambia (GM). • Turn taking & child vocalizations were associated in GM and, less clearly, in UK cohort. • Caregiver consistency was associated with turn taking at 18 & 24 m in GM. • Number of caregivers mediated the turn taking & child vocalizations link in GM. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper estimates the causal effect of a health treatment on patients' beliefs, preferences and memories about the treatment. It exploits a natural experiment which occurred in the United Kingdom during the COVID-19 vaccination campaign. UK residents could choose to opt into the vaccination program, but not which vaccine they received. The assignment to a vaccine offered little objective information for learning about its qualities, but triggered strong psychological demand for reassuring beliefs. We surveyed a sample of UK residents about their beliefs on the different COVID-19 vaccines before and after receiving their jab. Before vaccination, individuals exhibit similar prior beliefs and stated preferences about the different vaccines. After vaccination, however, they update their beliefs overly optimistically about the safety and effectiveness of the vaccine they received, state that they would have chosen it if they could, and have distorted memories about their past beliefs. These results cannot be explained by conventional experience effects. At the aggregated level, they show that random assignment to a health treatment predicts a polarization of opinions about its quality. At the individual level, these findings provide evidence in line with the predictions of motivated beliefs and over-inference from weak signals in a real-world health setting. • We interviewed UK residents before and after they received a COVID-19 vaccine. • Individuals could not choose the type of vaccine (Pfizer or Moderna) that they received. • Right after the vaccination, they view their own vaccine as better than they used to think. • They wrongly remember that they thought well of it all along, and would have chosen it if they could. • These results cannot be explained by conventional experience effects but are consistent with motivated reasoning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The long-term field experiments at Rothamsted in south-east England (UK) are an important resource that has been used extensively to study the effects of land management, atmospheric pollution and climate change on soil fertility and the sustainability of crop yields. However, for these and other long-term experiments around the world to remain useful, changes are sometimes needed. These changes may be required to ensure that the experiment is not compromised by e.g. acidification or weeds, but often they are needed to ensure that the experiment remains relevant to current agricultural practice, e.g. the introduction of new cultivars and the judicious use of pesticides. However, changes should not be made just for the sake of change or to investigate aspects of management that could be better resolved in a short-term experiment. Rather, modifications should only be made after carefully considered discussion, involving scientists from different disciplines. It must be remembered however that there are limitations to what can be achieved in one experiment. In this paper we give examples of why certain changes were made to the Rothamsted experiments and what the results of those changes have been. We also highlight the value of archiving crop and soil samples for future studies. • The management of Rothamsted's long-term experiments (LTEs) is discussed. • The effects of that management on soil fertility and crop yields are considered. • The need for changes to LTEs to ensure their continued relevance is emphasised. • Reasons for changes to Rothamsted's LTEs and the results of those changes are given. • The value of archived soil and crop samples is highlighted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tree populations worldwide are facing an unprecedented threat from a variety of tree diseases and invasive pests. Their spread, exacerbated by increasing globalisation and climate change, has an enormous environmental, economic and social impact. Computational individual-based models are a popular tool for describing and forecasting the spread of tree diseases due to their flexibility and ability to reveal collective behaviours. In this paper we present a versatile individual-based model with a Gaussian infectivity kernel to describe the spread of a generic tree disease through a synthetic treescape. We then explore several methods of calculating the basic reproduction number R 0 , a characteristic measurement of disease infectivity, defining the expected number of new infections resulting from one newly infected individual throughout their infectious period. It is a useful comparative summary parameter of a disease and can be used to explore the threshold dynamics of epidemics through mathematical models. We demonstrate several methods of estimating R 0 through the individual-based model, including contact tracing, inferring the Kermack–McKendrick SIR model parameters using the linear noise approximation, and an analytical approximation. As an illustrative example, we then use the model and each of the methods to calculate estimates of R 0 for the ash dieback epidemic in the UK. • Computational individual-based models can simulate the spread of plant disease. • Disease progression can be summarised by the epidemiological parameter R 0. • R 0 can be calculated from an individual-based model in several ways. • Methods include: analytic expressions, parameter inference, and contact-tracing. • Each has (dis)advantages — the best choice will vary depending on requirements. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this multi-study paper, we adopted a mixed methods approach to examine the motivational profiles of sub-elite student footballers participating in UK university sport, in relation to their wellbeing, burnout, and drop-out intentions. In Study 1 we used a cross-sectional survey design to collect quantitative measures of motivational regulations, wellbeing, burnout, and drop-out intentions in 260 (n = 129 female) and (n = 131 male) sub-elite university footballers from UK universities (M age = 20.7 y, SD = 1.5 y). Latent profile analysis revealed five distinct motivational regulation profiles that we deemed ranged from less to more motivationally adaptive in the following order: High-controlled, Amotivated (n = 27), Very-low Motivation (n = 32), Average Motivation (n = 104), High-autonomous, High-controlled (n = 38), and High-autonomous, Low-controlled (n = 59). Wald chi-square tests revealed between-profile differences in wellbeing (χ2 = 115, p <.001), burnout (reduced accomplishment: χ2 = 74, p <.001, exhaustion: χ2 = 34, p <.001, devaluation: χ2 = 121, p <.001), and drop-out intentions (university football: χ2 = 40, p <.001, football in general: χ2 = 91, p <.001). Pairwise comparisons suggested more adaptive motivational profiles had higher wellbeing, and lower burnout and drop-out intentions, than less adaptive profiles. Subsequently, in Study 2 we qualitatively explored the experiences of footballers from the different motivational profiles. We purposefully sampled 2–4 participants from each of the five motivational profiles to take part in focus groups, resulting in a total of 15 participants (M age = 21.6 y, SD = 1.41 y; n = 8 female, n = 7 male). Results revealed commonalities across the motivational profiles, including that while motivation was complex, individualized, dynamic and interactive in nature; a central, underlying motivator for all players was their passion for football. However, results also suggested that compared to those from less motivationally adaptive profiles, those from more adaptive profiles tended to perceive the environment more positively and tended to feel more valued by those around them. Thus, protecting players' passion for football and helping them feel more valued within their university-sport environment may support players in remaining in, or moving towards, more adaptive motivational regulation profiles and experiencing associated positive outcomes. • The motivational profiles of sub-elite student footballers participating in UK university sport were examined. • Underpinned by critical realism, a multi-study mixed methods approach was adopted. • Adaptive motivational regulation profiles were associated with positive outcomes (Study 1). • A passion for football and feeling valued within the university sport environment were key themes (Study 2). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Energy poverty is driven by four factors: poverty; high energy prices; energy-inefficiency; and specific household characteristics. Increasingly refined definitions of energy poverty (and/or vulnerability) identify types or locations of households most likely to be suffering it. But there is also a place for a different approach, considering poverty reduction directly, as poverty is a necessary component within all energy poverty definitions. This paper investigates how high the UK's top marginal tax rates would need to be, to provide funds to lift low-income UK households above the poverty threshold as defined by the low-income-high-cost (LIHC) and 10% energy poverty indicators. It finds that the increased top tax rates would still be in line with those of other European OECD countries. Using recent and new research on income elasticities of CO2 emissions, it then estimates the net direct effects on CO2 emissions of this redistribution. For both scenarios the most likely effect is a small reduction in net CO2 emissions. Further, indirect downward pressures on CO2 emissions due to reduced income among the highest earners are likely to lead to yet more favourable outcomes for net CO2 emission reduction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

High-frequency financial data is more difficult to predict than low-frequency data because it possesses nonlinearity, nonstationarity, higher volatility, and long memory and is frequently accompanied by the jump phenomena. In this paper, the nonparametric regression (NR) model based on kernel function is used to fit the nonlinear relationship between the nonstationary series Y t and its lagging series to model the trend of high frequency financial time series. Furthermore, the deep learning LSTM (long short-term memory) model is applied to capture the high volatility and frequent jumps of high frequency financial data and to improve the forecasting accuracy of the residual series. The results demonstrate that the hybrid NR and LSTM model has greatly improved the forecasting accuracy in several evaluation criteria. In comparison to NR, support vector machine (SVM), LSTM, ARIMA and NR-SVM models, the mean absolute error (MAE) of NR-LSTM has reduced by 89.78%, 97.85%, 86.48%, 32.47% and 89%, respectively. In addition, we have constructed the trading strategy for the Shanghai-Shenzhen 300 index by using the NR-LSTM model. The NR-LSTM model can continue to provide good returns even during a bear market, which can serve as a guide for investors. Furthermore, the NR-LSTM model also exhibits the best forecasting effect when we model the high-frequency data of Ping An bank in China, the FTSE 100 index in the UK, and the S&P 500 index in the US. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A city region established around a smaller city typically has a higher percentage of its region being rural relative to city regions based around larger cities. Appreciation of this observation leads to the realisation that much of the existing literature focuses on city regions based around larger cities with small rural hinterlands. This paper develops a conceptual model outlining linkages within and beyond city regions and identifies that not all city regions embrace their rural hinterlands. To operationalise this conceptual model we draw on UK city region data collated from policy documents and socioeconomic performance indicators to analyse the long-term vision of development policies, evaluate how policymakers integrate rural areas in policy, and assess whether the introduction of city regions represents a change in policy focus and/or a change in the effectiveness of policies affecting rural hinterlands. The advantage of the conceptual model is that it is generalisable across any spatial entity and across an evolving urban-rural development landscape. Our analysis of policy documents and socioeconomic data for three UK city regions with large rural hinterlands (Aberdeen, North of Tyne, and Swansea Bay) reveals the marginalisation and peripheralisation of rural areas due to the direction of city region policies and the socioeconomic flows of resources towards their urban cores. The city region approach to development tends not to be cognizant of the potential of rural areas and our findings suggest the need for development strategies that ensure rural areas are not marginalised because disconnected rural areas experience aggravated core-periphery divisions. • We develop a conceptual model outlining linkages within and beyond city regions. • Not all city regions embrace their rural areas, which are often overlooked. • Development strategies are needed to ensure rural areas are not marginalised. • Disconnected rural areas experience aggravated of core-periphery divisions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A skilled workforce is essential for producing high quality construction work, efficiently and effectively. This paper is formulated to improve the understanding and knowledge surrounding the skill shortage currently being faced within the UK, and the significant impact it is having on quality management. It surrounds around each main area, and the impacts of recent years: Brexit, Covid-19 and ageing workforce. A mixed method approach was applied to collect data from the quantitative and qualitative sources. The quantitative survey data was collected through snowball sampling from the 130 construction professionals working the UK construction industry. Moreover, a case study has been conducted on a large-scale construction project located in the Northeast of England where the outcome of these issues can be seen in all aspects of the work. Training and development are the fundamental issues highlighted during the literature review and then subsequently expressed by participants of the surveys. In addition, the moderation analysis also provides the important role of training and development in reducing the negative impacts of COVID-19 and Brexit towards quality management. However, it was also revealed that the training and development are not useful for the aging workforce in combating the skilled shortage challenges towards quality management system in the construction industry. This research will allow the industry to understand the need for a skilled workforce and how it benefits the quality management elements of a construction project. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines how servant leadership influences an organisation's readiness for strategic value co-creation through service climate, innovation climate, locus of control and self-efficacy. A model that draws on servant leadership and social cognitive theories is tested by surveying 222 hospitality and tourism business managers operating in France and the UK, and the data is analysed with structural equation modelling and ordinary least squares. The study contributes to personality research showing that servant leadership practices influence a manager's internal locus of control and self-efficacy. We demonstrate that service climate and innovation climate mediate between servant leadership and readiness for strategic value co-creation, and moderate between a manager's beliefs and the firm's readiness for strategic value co-creation. The findings show that servant leadership has a stronger effect on innovation climate than on service climate, and that innovation climate has more influence on readiness for strategic value co-creation than on service climate. • Servant leadership improves an organisation's value co-creation. • The practice of servant leadership influences manager's beliefs. • Value co-creation fuel more via innovation than customer service. • Environment moderate the relations between manager's beliefs and behaviour. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The growing literature around reparative futures in education agrees on the importance of multiple and inclusive narratives for learning about the past. Indeed, it is recognised that multiplicity has to be part of a reparative account of history given the harms caused by single, exclusionary and hegemonic historical narratives. However, there is limited literature, pedagogical guidance or accounts of how multiple perspectives approaches apprehend competing narratives of the past specifically on questions of responsibility. Drawing on experiences in Cambodia and the UK – where violent and colonial pasts (and presents) are poorly apprehended in the formal school system – this paper reflects on the place and absence of histories of responsibility within history education. We do so in order to explore the potential role such histories can play in securing more just and inclusive presents and futures. We explore the relevance of multiple perspectives pedagogies for futures research and ask questions around how multiple perspectives can interact, including whether they are treated equally, decontextualised, relativised, or can be weighted ethically towards narratives that are seen to be more 'true' or more in service of reparative goals. We identify limitations in multiple perspectives approaches around questions of 'balance' and representation before reflecting on lessons from theorists engaged in postcolonial and decolonial thinking to parse the ethical and political opportunities afforded through concepts that redefine responsibility around implication, shared future responsibility, and mutual interdependence. • Reparative futures approaches in education agree that multiple and inclusive narratives are an important part of a reparative account of history. • We explore how multiple perspectives approaches have dealt with competing narratives about responsibility for past harms in Cambodia and the UK • We identify limitations in multiple perspectives approaches around questions of 'balance' and representation • We explore the potential value of concepts that redefine responsibility around collective implication and shared future responsibility [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper describes a new approach for understanding urban mobility called geospatial and temporal (GeoST) mapping, which translates telematics (location) data into travel characteristics. The approach provides the speed-acceleration profile of transport flow at high spatial and temporal resolution. The speed-acceleration profiles can be converted to vehicle-specific power (VSP), which can be used to estimate vehicle emissions. The underlying data used in the model is retrieved from a large telematics dataset, which was collected from GPS-connected vehicles during their journeys over the UK's West Midlands region road network for the years 2016 and 2018. Single journey telematics data were geospatially aggregated and then distributed over GeoST-segments. In total, approximately 354,000 GeoST-segments, covering over 17,700 km of roads over 35 timeslots are parameterized. GeoST mapping of the average vehicle speed (traffic flow), and VSP over different road types are analysed. The role of road slope upon VSP is estimated for every GeoST-segment through knowledge of the elevation of the start and end points of the segments. Previously, road slope and its effect upon VSP have been typically ignored in transport and urban planning studies. A series of case studies are presented that highlight the power of the new approach over differing spatial and temporal scales. For example, results show that the total vehicle fleet moved faster by an average of 3% in 2016 compared to 2018. The studied roads at weekends are shown to be less safe, compared to weekdays, because of lower adherence to speed limits. By including road slope in VSP calculations, the annually averaged VSP results differ by +12.6%, +14.3%, and + 12.7% for motorways, primary roads, and secondary roads, respectively, when compared to calculations that ignore road slope. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As cities continue to expand and climate change exacerbates flooding, development within flood risk zones becomes an increasingly pressing concern. Engineered solutions alone cannot fully address the risks to individuals and communities, especially when local officials and residents have conflicting understanding of the risk. Participatory GIS (PGIS) offers a unique opportunity to bridge this gap by engaging with communities to better understand their perceptions of flood risk. While PGIS has traditionally been used in developing nations as an alternative to numerical flood models, its potential for use in developed nations is largely unexplored. This paper presents a case study of survey-based PGIS conducted in Reading, a large town in Berkshire, UK. Findings suggest that local residents possess a surprisingly accurate understanding of flood risk zones, but discrepancies with modelled flood risk were also identified. These discrepancies may be due to issues with cartographic representation, but also raise concerns about the accuracy of numerical flood models. By examining local perceptions of flood risk, this study highlights the importance of considering community perspectives in flood risk management and offers valuable insights for practitioners seeking to bridge the gap between modelled and perceived flood risk zones. • Participants show remarkably robust local knowledge of flood risk in a UK city. • Findings highlight the value of stakeholder engagement in FRM. • Participatory GIS can help bridge the gap between modelled and perceived flood risk. • Approach could help address conflicts between flood managers and stakeholders. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

State-estimation plays a vital role to monitor, observe and understand the combined heat and electric network. In this paper, a hybrid framework is presented to accurately estimate the system states of electric distribution network and heat network, using the limited non-redundant measurements obtained from supervisory control and data acquisition and advanced metering infrastructure systems. The presented hybrid framework involves two steps, namely, the state-forecasting and the state-estimation. The state-forecasting uses a deep neural network to forecast the system states at every fifteen minutes interval, while these forecasted states are further used by the hybrid estimator, which uses a robust extended Kalman filter to estimate the system states with help of both datasets corresponding to supervisory control and data acquisition and advanced metering infrastructure systems, at hourly interval. The proposed framework does not completely rely on the system model at different instants. The effectiveness of the method is validated through thorough comparisons with simulation studies carried out using the Barry Island test system, United Kingdom. Satisfactory performance is observed even with the presence of bad data in the measurements. • A framework to estimate states of electric and heat networks with SCADA and AMI data • A method of forecasting the CHEN states using only a limited SCADA dataset • A robust Kalman filter for accurate estimation under gross errors in data. • Test results that validate the method on Barry Island CHEN system. • Comparative results over the state-of-art WLS and ANN based estimators. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Comparing the United Kingdom's Renewables Obligation and Australia's Renewable Energy Target, this paper reconstructs the market for green certificates in which penalties are imposed on missed certificates. Our analysis shows that excess demand in the Renewables Obligation makes the penalty the minimum certificate price, but excess supply in the Renewable Energy Target makes the penalty the maximum certificate price. Further, excess supply also implies that the sales of certificates are not guaranteed in the Renewable Energy Target. Therefore, compared to the Renewables Obligation, generators face greater risk under the Renewable Energy Target as there is more uncertainty about the price of certificates and the possibility of sales. • Reconstruct demand and supply curves for TGC models. • Excess demand (supply) makes the penalty the minimum (maximum) certificate price. • The recycling mechanism pushes up the certificate price in the RO. • The refunding mechanism pushes down the certificate price in the RET. • Generators under TGC with excess supply face greater price risk and volume risk. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Measuring participation in undeclared work using surveys has been criticized for under-estimating the level of engagement due to social desirability bias that leads to an under-reporting of "bad" behavior. Until now, few studies have sought to quantify the amplitude of this bias in surveys of undeclared work. The aim of this paper is to fill this gap by using the most appropriate methodologies for estimating the probability of misleading responses in such surveys. Reporting data from special Eurobarometer survey no. 498 conducted in 2019 and involving 27,565 respondents in EU-27 countries and the UK, only 3.5% openly admitted to participating in undeclared work. The results of a Probit model with correction for misclassified cases (i.e., those undertaking undeclared work but declaring that they do not) reveals that nearly a quarter (23.3%) of the respondents undertaking undeclared work refused to openly admit this during the survey, due to the social desirability bias. The estimated overall proportion of undeclared workers is 17.3%. We obtained this value by correcting for both misclassification and the additional source of negative bias due to the large imbalance in the data (i.e., observations in one class are much lower than the other). The outcome of this new advanced approach in analysing undeclared work is that survey estimates can now report its size and determinants in a more accurate manner than has been previously the case. • Respondents hide participation in undeclared work due to social desirability bias. • Current methods have limited validity as estimates of undeclared work. • Novel methodology that estimates the probability of misleading responses. • Nearly a quarter of respondents undertook undeclared work but did not admit it. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Determinants of motorcyclists' injury severities are studied. • Methodological issues of scale and random heterogeneity are captured. • Mixed logit models considering generalized scale heterogeneity are estimated. • Random parameters logit model considering heterogeneity in means and vaeiances are also estimated. • Temporal instability warrants for estimation of separate year-specific models. • Significant differences in sources of heterogeneity over the years are observed. The presence of unobserved factors in the motorcycle involved two-vehicle crashes (MV) data could lead to heterogenous associations between observed factors and injury severity sustained by motorcyclists. Capturing such heterogeneities necessitates distinct methodological approaches, of which random and scale heterogeneity models are paramount. Herein, we undertake an empirical evaluation of random and scale heterogeneity models, exploring their efficacy in delineating the influence of external determinants on the degree of injury severity in crashes. Within the effects of scale heterogeneity, this study delves into two dominant models: the scaled multinomial logit model (S-MNL) and its generalized counterpart, the G-MNL, which encompasses both the S-MNL and the random parameters multinomial logit model (RPL). While the random heterogeneity domain is represented by the random parameters multinomial logit and an upgraded variant – the random parameters multinomial logit model with heterogeneity in means and variances (RPLHMV). Motorcycle involved two-vehicle crashes data were extracted from the UK STATS19 dataset from 2016 to 2020. Likelihood ratio tests are computed to assess the temporal variability of the significant factors. The test result demonstrates the temporal variations over a five-year study period. Some very important differences started to show up across the years based on the model estimation results: that the RPLHMV model statistically outperforms the G-MNL model in the 2016, 2018, and 2019 models, while the S-MNL model is statistically superior in the 2017 and 2020 years. These important findings suggest that the origin of heterogeneity in explaining factor weights can be captured by scale effects, not just random heterogeneity. In addition, the model results further show that motorcyclists' injury severities are significantly affected by motorcycle-related characteristics; there is the added factor of external influences, such as non-motorcycle drivers (males, young drivers, and elderly drivers) and vehicles (the moving status, age, and types of vehicles) that collide with motorcycles. The results of this paper are anticipated to help policymakers develop effective strategies to mitigate motorcycle involved two-vehicle crashes by implementing appropriate measures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is limited provision of inpatient detoxification relative to other treatments for alcohol and other drug (AOD) use. This means people often need to wait prior to detoxifying. However, waiting for healthcare is generally perceived as negative and stressful. This paper aims to understand patients' experiences of waiting for inpatient AOD detoxification to ascertain whether and how service-level policies and practices might be improved. Semi-structured telephone interviews were conducted with 32 people (20 males, 12 females; aged 25–67 years) who were waiting for inpatient detoxification. Data collection was part of a wider evaluation of a policy initiative started in 2021 to increase detoxification service capacity in England, UK. Interviews were professionally transcribed and data on waiting experiences were coded using qualitative software. Analyses were informed by new materialist thinking and undertaken via Iterative Categorisation. We found that waiting was constituted through five dimensions: i. duration; ii. support; iii. information; iv. preparations; and v. emotions. These five dimensions were multi-faceted and operated in and through wider interacting social, material, and affective forces (e.g., professional judgements, formal and informal relationships, the availability of beds and funding, bureaucratic procedures, the utility and relevance of information, and participants' diverse feelings, including desperation for treatment). Not all accounts of waiting were negative. The experience was complex, non-uniform and variable over time. Moreover, it affected how people felt and how they behaved. Changes to service-level policies and practices can potentially minimise the stress of waiting for inpatient AOD detoxification. The negative impact of waiting may be reduced if professionals more consistently engage patients in a wider range of constructive pre-treatment activities, offer regular 'check-ins' to mitigate any anxiety, explain changes in wait duration to help with planning and demonstrate fairness, and facilitate contact between those waiting to lessen feelings of isolation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Carbon capture usage and storage (CCUS) is emerging as an important solution in delivering deep emissions reductions in energy-intensive industries, enabling hydrogen production, and possibly directly capturing existing carbon dioxide (CO 2) from the atmosphere. The potential for associated new industry activity – for example in CO 2 Transport and Storage (T&S) – could also be important in transitioning economies with legacy investment in oil and gas extraction. This paper addresses the question of how introducing a nascent T&S industry may impact the wider UK economy in the presence of persisting national labour supply constraints. It does so by refining a multi-sector economy-wide computable general equilibrium (CGE) model of the UK to run scenarios focussed on the emergence of a nascent sector, involving identification of benchmark activity – here, the existing oil and gas industry – where that nascent sector is not currently represented in national accounting data. Crucially, the CGE model embeds a theoretically and empirically tested wage bargaining function to consider how cost and price pressures triggered will condition dynamic outcomes for producers, consumers and government budgets. Results suggest that emergence of a new T&S industry is likely to deliver sustained net gains in UK employment and GDP. However, maximising T&S-linked jobs gains while minimising displacement of employment and price pressures elsewhere in the economy requires policy action to alleviate labour supply and skills constraints. This reinforces policy and industry recommendations around the need for net zero workforce planning and attention to the potential fiscal implications of taking action, or not/in different timeframes. • Introducing a new CO 2 Transport and Storage industry could boost the UK economy. • Wage responses in a supply constrained labour market substantially condition outcomes. • Wage-cost driven price impacts affect all producers, consumers and government budgets. • Mitigating wage bargaining pressure requires policy action on workforce planning. • Findings reinforce the need for economy-wide and fiscal analysis of net zero actions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Transport-related activities represented 34% of the total carbon emissions in the UK in 2022 and heavy-duty vehicles (HGVs) accounted for one-fifth of the road transport greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Currently, battery electric vehicles (BEVs) and hydrogen fuel cell electric vehicles (FCEVs) are considered as suitable replacements for diesel fleets. However, these technologies continue to face techno-economic barriers, creating uncertainty for fleet operators wanting to transition away from diesel-powered internal combustion engine vehicles (ICEVs). This paper assesses the performance and cost competitiveness of BEV and FCEV powertrain solutions in the hard-to-abate HGV sector. The study evaluates the impact of battery degradation and a carbon tax on the cost of owning the vehicles. An integrated total cost of ownership (TCO) model, which includes these factors for the first time, is developed to study a large retailer's HGV fleet operating in the UK. The modelling framework compares the capital expenditures (CAPEX) and operating expenses (OPEX) of alternative technologies against ICEVs. The TCO of BEVs and FCEVs are 11% to 33% and 37% to 78% higher than ICEVs; respectively. Despite these differences, by adopting a longer lifetime for the vehicle it can effectively narrow the cost gap. Alternatively, cost parity with ICEVs could be achieved if BEV battery cost reduces by 56% or if FCEV fuel cell cost reduces by 60%. Besides, the pivot point for hydrogen price is determined at £2.5 per kg. The findings suggest that BEV is closer to market as its TCO value is becoming competitive, whereas FCEV provides a more viable solution than BEV for long-haul applications due to shorter refuelling time and lower load capacity penalties. Furthermore, degradation of performance in lithium-ion batteries is found to have a minor impact on TCO if battery replacement is not required. However, critical component replacement and warranty can influence commercial viability. Given the high costs, we propose financial incentives and vehicle tax reforms to reduce costs of critical components that will encourage the roll-out of zero emission HGVs. • TCO model employs real-world fleet data to compare HGV powertrain technologies. • Maximising vehicle lifetime is key to reduce the TCO gap and get closer to parity. • BEVs have a TCO 11%–33% higher than ICEVs. • FCEVs have a TCO 37%–78% higher than ICEVs. • Degradation in lithium-ion batteries is found to have a minor impact on TCO value. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]