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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]