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"Wayfaring Strangers: The Musical Voyage from Scotland and Ulster to Appalachia" is a book by Fiona Ritchie and Doug Orr that explores the cultural pathways of traditional Scottish and Irish folk music as it traveled to Appalachia. The book examines the influences of Welsh, English, German, Dutch, French, African American, and Cherokee cultures on these songs. It is structured into three main sections and includes photographs, maps, and sidebars covering various topics related to folk music. The authors also exchange letters discussing their perspectives on Old and New World music. The book sheds light on the history of American folk music and its connection to immigrant experiences. It includes a contextual timeline, resource centers, a discography, and a bibliography for further exploration. Scholars and music enthusiasts will find this book to be a valuable resource. [Extracted from the article]

The International Review of Scottish Studies (IRSS) is a leading interdisciplinary journal that focuses on Scottish history and culture. It aims to provide a platform for scholars at all career levels to explore Scotland's past and present. The journal seeks to expand the global reach of Scottish scholarship and connect innovative research from various disciplines to a scholarly audience and the public. The current call for papers is for a special issue on the significance of the ocean in Scotland's culture and history. Submissions are welcome from all humanities and social science disciplines and should be sent to the IRSS Editor by December 16, 2024. [Extracted from the article]

Background: Universal health visiting has been a cornerstone of preventative healthcare for children in the United Kingdom (UK) for over 100 years. In 2016, Scotland introduced a new Universal Health Visiting Pathway (UHVP), involving a greater number of contacts with a particular emphasis on the first year, visits within the home setting, and rigorous developmental assessment conducted by a qualified Health Visitor. To evaluate the UHVP, an outcome indicator framework was developed using routine administrative data. This paper sets out the development of these indicators. Methods: A logic model was produced with stakeholders to define the group of outcomes, before further refining and aligning of the measures through discussions with stakeholders and inspection of data. Power calculations were carried out and initial data described for the chosen indicators. Results: Eighteen indicators were selected across eight outcome areas: parental smoking, breastfeeding, immunisations, dental health, developmental concerns, obesity, accidents and injuries, and child protection interventions. Data quality was mixed. Coverage of reviews was high; over 90% of children received key reviews. Individual item completion was more variable: 92.2% had breastfeeding data at 6–8 weeks, whilst 63.2% had BMI recorded at 27–30 months. Prevalence also varied greatly, from 1.3% of children's names being on the Child Protection register for over six months by age three, to 93.6% having received all immunisations by age two. Conclusions: Home visiting services play a key role in ensuring children and families have the right support to enable the best start in life. As these programmes evolve, it is crucial to understand whether changes lead to improvements in child outcomes. This paper describes a set of indicators using routinely-collected data, lessening additional burden on participants, and reducing response bias which may be apparent in other forms of evaluation. Further research is needed to explore the transferability of this indicator framework to other settings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is growing concern among policymakers and researchers about the negative health and climate impacts of meat consumption. Consumers are encouraged to re-evaluate their dietary choices to preserve our ecosystem and reduce the burden of diet-related diseases. However, limited information is available about how price changes in animal protein sources affect plant-based protein demand and the consequences for nutrient intake and/or diet quality. The goal of the present paper is to fill this gap by explaining how consumers react to price changes in animal protein types and to present the implications for nutrition or diet quality. This paper applied the exact affine stone index implicit (EASI) Marshallian demand system to 2021 home scan panel data collated by the Kantar Worldpanel to estimate both price and expenditure elasticities. Twelve food groups of seven animal-based protein products and five plant-based protein products were considered. The results revealed that dairy and eggs are daily necessities for the people of Scotland. The demand for fish and non-dairy milk are the most sensitive to price. Estimates based on expenditure elasticities show that beef is considered a luxury and a highly substitutable product in the Scottish diet. Peas are relatively basic, essential foodstuffs. In general, increasing the price of animal protein sources will shift demand towards plant protein. On the positive side, there will be a significant reduction in cholesterol and fat purchases. However, there would also be a significant reduction in the total amount of protein, carbohydrates, and healthy fats, such as unsaturated fatty acids, purchased by the average household. This shows that increases in plant-based protein are not enough to compensate for the reductions in essential macro- and micronutrient purchases from animal protein. From the climate perspective, reductions in meat purchases could reduce emissions from production and consumption. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Acoustic telemetry can provide valuable space-use data for a range of marine species. Yet the deployment of species-specific arrays over vast areas to gather data on highly migratory vertebrates poses formidable challenges, often rendering it impractical. To address this issue, we pioneered the use of acoustic telemetry on basking sharks (Cetorhinus maximus) to test the feasibility of using broadscale, multi-project acoustic receiver arrays to track the movements of this species of high conservation concern through the coastal waters of Ireland, Northern Ireland, and Scotland. Throughout 2021 and 2022, we tagged 35 basking sharks with acoustic transmitters off the west coast of Ireland; 27 of these were detected by 96 receiver stations throughout the study area (n = 9 arrays) with up to 216 detections of an individual shark (mean = 84, s.d. 65). On average, sharks spent ~ 1 day at each acoustic array, with discrete residency periods of up to nine days. Twenty-one sharks were detected at multiple arrays with evidence of inter-annual site fidelity, with the same individuals returning to the same locations in Ireland and Scotland over 2 years. Eight pairs of sharks were detected within 24 h of each other at consecutive arrays, suggesting some level of social coordination and synchronised movement. These findings demonstrate how multi-project acoustic telemetry can support international, cost-effective monitoring of basking sharks and other highly mobile species. Decision support tools such as these can consolidate cross-border management strategies, but to achieve this goal, collaborative efforts across jurisdictions are necessary to establish the required infrastructure and secure ongoing support. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Deaths due to drug overdose are an international issue, causing an estimated 128,000 global deaths in 2019. Scotland has the highest rate of drug-related deaths in Europe, with those in the most deprived areas at greater risk than those in affluent areas. There is a paucity of research on digital solutions, particularly from the perspective of those who use drugs who additionally access harm reduction and homelessness support services. The Digital Lifelines Scotland programme (DLS) provides vulnerable people who use/d drugs with digital devices to connect with services. Methods: This paper reports on the evaluation of the DLS from the perspective of service users who accessed services for those at risk of drug-related harms. A mixed methods approach was used including an online-survey (n = 19) and semi-structured interviews (n = 21). Survey data were analysed descriptively and interview data through inductive coding, informed by the Technology, People, Organisations and Macroenvironmental factors (TPOM) framework, to investigate the use, access, and availability of devices, and people's experiences and perceptions of them. Results: Most participants lived in social/council housing (63.2%, n = 12), many lived alone (68.4%, n = 13). They were mainly over 40 years old and lived in a city. Participants described a desire for data privacy, knowledge, and education, and placed a nascent social and personal value on digital devices. Participants pointed to the person-centred individuality of the service provision as one of the reasons to routinely engage with services. Service users experienced an increased sense of value and there was a palpable sense of community, connection and belonging developed through the programme, including interaction with services and devices. Conclusions: This paper presents a unique perspective which documents the experiences of service users on the DLS. Participants illustrated a desire for life improvement and a collective and individual feeling of responsibility towards themselves and digital devices. Digital inclusion has the potential to provide avenues by which service users can safely and constructively access services and society to improve outcomes. This paper provides a foundation to further cultivate the insight of service users on digital solutions in this emerging area. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Raumforschung und Raumordnung is the property of Oekom Verlag GmbH and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Social justice is a key value within Scottish education and is listed as one of four professional values within the General Teaching Council for Scotland's (GTCS) professional standards. This paper uses the work of Nancy Fraser to question what is meant by social justice within Scottish education. Parallels are drawn between the conception of social justice as presented within the Standard for Registration and the work of Fraser, highlighting the relevance of a professional standard that seeks to orientate professionals towards social justice rather than codify the practice in reference to a single scale on which all matters of justice should be weighed. Following this, the Getting it Right for Every Child policy (GIRFEC) is problematized to demonstrate the dangers of mis-framing. This paper ends by connecting the concept of professional orientation towards justice as indicated within the Standard for Registration to Aristotle's idea of sensibilities and phronêsis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: The aim of this study was to gain consensus among young people with a stoma due to inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) on the priorities for the content of an intervention for the self‐management of stoma‐related distress. The current identification and management of distress in young people with a stoma is often suboptimal in clinical settings and there is a need for improved support resources. Methods: Two consensus group meetings were carried out via online video conferencing, using nominal group technique. Participants generated, rated on a Likert scale and discussed, topics for inclusion in a future self‐management intervention. Results: Nineteen young people, aged 19–33, with a stoma due to IBD took part in one of two group meetings. Participants were located across England, Scotland, and Northern Ireland. Twenty‐nine topics were generated by participants, seven of which reached consensus of ≥80%, that is, a mean of ≥5.6 on a 7‐point Likert scale. These were: receiving advice from young people with lived experience of stoma surgery; advice on/addressing concerns about romantic relationships, sex and intimacy; information about fertility and pregnancy related to stoma surgery; stoma 'hacks', for example, useful everyday tips regarding clothing, making bag changes easier and so forth; reflecting on and recognising own emotional response to surgery; tips on managing the stoma during the night; and processing trauma related to the illness and surgery journey. Conclusions: Findings extend previous research on young people's experiences of stoma surgery, by generating consensus on young people's priorities for managing distress related to surgery and living with a stoma. These priorities include topics not previously reported in the literature, including the need for information about fertility and pregnancy. Findings will inform the development of a self‐management resource for young people with an IBD stoma and have relevance for the clinical management of stoma‐related distress in this population. Patient or Public Contribution: Three patient contributors are co‐authors on this paper, having contributed to the study design, interpretation of results and writing of the manuscript. The study's Patient and Public Involvement and Engagement advisory group also had an integral role in the study. They met with the research team for four 2‐h virtual meetings, giving input on the aims and purpose of the study, recruitment methods, and interpretation of findings. The group also advised on the age range for participants. The views of young people with a stoma are the central component of the study reported in this paper, which aims to gain consensus among young people with an IBD stoma on their priorities for the content of a resource to self‐manage distress related to stoma surgery. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite a widespread focus on grandparents, a large proportion of kinship care in the UK is provided by older siblings. What drives older siblings to become kinship carers, and how this might differ from other kinship carers, is not well represented in academic literature. In this study, narrative interviews were carried out with thirteen adults across England, Scotland, and Wales who had experience being the main carer for their younger sibling(s) when their parents could not care for them sufficiently. The narrative method elicited holistic accounts of participants experiences of being a sibling carer, and the analysis generated three groups of narrative accounts highlighting how and why some sibling kinship care arrangements come about—with siblings wanting to bring their younger siblings back into their family; siblings trying to keep their younger siblings in their family; or older siblings stepping in to fill a gap in parenting at home. The paper draws on the narrative accounts of participants to build the groups, presenting an illustrative narrative account to represent each group. Importantly, these accounts demonstrate how becoming a kinship carer as an older sibling may, or may not, be recognised or fit into wider narratives of what becoming a kinship carer looks like. It is hoped that these accounts will prompt practitioners and policymakers to look more closely at the role of siblings when considering who is and who should be involved in deciding how to support children to remain within their family network. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Drug checking services (DCS) provide harm reduction support and advice to individuals based on chemical analysis of submitted substances of concern. Whilst there are currently no DCS in Scotland, community-based services are being planned in three cities. Methods: In this paper, we report qualitative findings based on interviews with 43 participants, focused on perceptions of DCS and their implementation. Participants were relevant professionals, those with experience of drug use, and family members of those with experience of drug use. The Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research (CFIR) was used to inform data collection and analysis. We report findings under nine constructs/themes across the five CFIR domains. Results: Participants noted the importance of DCS being implemented in low-threshold, trusted services with a harm reduction ethos, and outlined a range of further service design considerations such as speed of testing, and information provided through the analysis process. In relation to the 'inner setting', a key finding related to the potential value of leveraging existing resources in order to expand both reach and effectiveness of drug trend communication. The approach of local and national police to DCS, and the attitudes of the public and local community, were described as important external factors which could influence the success (or otherwise) of implementation. Bringing together a range of stakeholders in dialogue and developing tailored communication strategies were seen as ways to build support for DCS. Overall, we found high levels of support and perceived need for DCS amongst all stakeholder groups. Conclusions: Our findings present initial implementation considerations for Scotland which could be further explored as DCS are operationalised. Further, our focus on implementation contexts is relevant to research on DCS more generally, given the minimal consideration of such issues in the literature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Angles: French Perspectives on the Anglophone World is the property of Societe des Anglicistes de l Enseignement Superieur and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Renewable energy infrastructures, such as wind and solar farms, require land on which they can be deployed. While politics and conflicts over accessing land for renewables are well documented, the role, conditions and potential agency of landownership have been often overlooked or oversimplified as a powerful terrain in the field of renewables development. In this paper, we explore the relationship between landed property and community renewable energy projects. In particular, we focus on how landed property variously influences the development modes of renewables by acting as a mediator, barrier and enabler for different types of wind energy projects. We show how this takes place through appropriation of rents in processes of assetisation and value grabbing by landowners. In this way, value grabbing acts as a vital intermediary process to understand green grabbing and wider processes of capital accumulation through renewables. We draw on insights from the Netherlands and Scotland to illuminate different mechanisms, social and historical conditions, and policies through which landed property constrains or enables community wind energy projects. The paper finishes by sketching out some alternative ways of allocating land for the deployment of renewable energy projects, which could help shift the balance of power in favour of community energy developments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The English alternative embedded passive (AEP), or "needs washed" construction, is a noncanonical morphosyntactic feature found in some American and British Englishes. It involves a matrix verb surfacing immediately before a participle. Previous research has described this construction as only licit with matrix need, want, and like; however, isolated examples of the AEP with additional matrix verbs have surfaced. These rarely attested instances raise questions regarding the basic description of the construction and how matrix verb availability is constrained, as well as whether the AEP is truly the same feature across AmE and BrE varieties. This paper utilizes a large-scale grammaticality judgement survey to obtain as exhaustive a set of AEP matrix verbs as possible. Results show that far more verbs can be used in the AEP than previously attested. Acceptance is constrained by lexical semantics, verbal syntax, and verb productivity. This alternative view of the AEP as a more generalized phenomenon nevertheless shows a strong link between AmE and BrE varieties, as the constraints are nearly identical across the nations. The findings illustrate how attention to rarely attested or non-attested data can inform morphosyntactic and dialectological research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The accurate prediction of short-term platform motions in a real environment is crucial for the safe design, operation, and maintenance of floating offshore wind turbines (FOWTs). Numerical simulations of motions are typically associated with high uncertainties due to abstracted theoretical models, empirical parameters, initial environment parameters, etc. Therefore, it is necessary to integrate other sources of information associated with less uncertainty, e.g., monitoring data, for accurate predictions. In this paper, we propose a probabilistic prediction based on the Bayesian approach that logically integrates motion monitoring data with simulated motion predictions of FOWTs, considering uncertainties in the environment model, structural properties, motion prediction method, monitoring data, etc. The approach consists of constructing a prior probability density function (PDF) of a random variable (which characterizes the largest value of the initial motion response) via numerical simulations and a likelihood function based on platform motion monitoring data and deriving a posterior PDF of the random variable by Bayesian updating. Then, posterior distributions of short-term extreme motion responses are derived using the posterior PDF of the random variable, representing lower uncertainty and improved accuracy. A Metropolis–Hastings algorithm is adopted to obtain PDFs of complex probability distributions. The effectiveness of the approach is demonstrated on a real FOWT platform in Scotland. The proposed probabilistic prediction approach results in posterior distributions of short-term extreme platform motions associated with less uncertainty and higher accuracy, which is attributed to integrating prior knowledge with monitoring data. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Person-centred healthcare focuses on placing the beliefs and values of service users at the centre of decision-making and creating the context for practitioners to do this effectively. Measuring the outcomes arising from person-centred practices is complex and challenging and often adopts multiple perspectives and approaches. Few measurement frameworks are grounded in an explicit person-centred theoretical framework. Aims: In the study reported in this paper, the aim was to develop a valid and reliable instrument to measure the experience of person-centred care by service users (patients)–The Person-centred Practice Inventory-Care (PCPI-C). Methods: Based on the 'person-centred processes' construct of an established Person-centred Practice Framework (PCPF), a service user instrument was developed to complement existing instruments informed by the same theoretical framework–the PCPF. An exploratory sequential mixed methods design was used to construct and test the instrument, working with international partners and service users in Scotland, Northern Ireland, Australia and Austria. A three-phase approach was adopted to the development and testing of the PCPI-C: Phase 1 –Item Selection: following an iterative process a list of 20 items were agreed upon by the research team for use in phase 2 of the project; Phase 2 –Instrument Development and Refinement: Development of the PCPI-C was undertaken through two stages. Stage 1 involved three sequential rounds of data collection using focus groups in Scotland, Australia and Northern Ireland; Stage 2 involved distributing the instrument to members of a global community of practice for person-centred practice for review and feedback, as well as refinement and translation through one: one interviews in Austria. Phase 3: Testing Structural Validity of the PCPI-C: A sample of 452 participants participated in this phase of the study. Service users participating in existing cancer research in the UK, Malta, Poland and Portugal, as well as care homes research in Austria completed the draft PCPI-C. Data were collected over a 14month period (January 2021-March 2022). Descriptive and measures of dispersion statistics were generated for all items to help inform subsequent analysis. Confirmatory factor analysis was conducted using maximum likelihood robust extraction testing of the 5-factor model of the PCPI-C. Results: The testing of the PCPI-C resulted in a final 18 item instrument. The results demonstrate that the PCPI-C is a psychometrically sound instrument, supporting a five-factor model that examines the service user's perspective of what constitutes person-centred care. Conclusion and implications: This new instrument is generic in nature and so can be used to evaluate how person-centredness is perceived by service users in different healthcare contexts and at different levels of an organisation. Thus, it brings a service user perspective to an organisation-wide evaluation framework. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The 2022/23 influenza season in the United Kingdom saw the return of influenza to prepandemic levels following two seasons with low influenza activity. The early season was dominated by A(H3N2), with cocirculation of A(H1N1), reaching a peak late December 2022, while influenza B circulated at low levels during the latter part of the season. From September to March 2022/23, influenza vaccines were offered, free of charge, to all aged 2–13 (and 14–15 in Scotland and Wales), adults up to 49 years of age with clinical risk conditions and adults aged 50 and above across the mainland United Kingdom. Methods: End‐of‐season adjusted vaccine effectiveness (VE) estimates against sentinel primary‐care attendance for influenza‐like illness, where influenza infection was laboratory confirmed, were calculated using the test negative design, adjusting for potential confounders. Methods: Results In the mainland United Kingdom, end‐of‐season VE against all laboratory‐confirmed influenza for all those > 65 years of age, most of whom received adjuvanted quadrivalent vaccines, was 30% (95% CI: −6% to 54%). VE for those aged 18–64, who largely received cell‐based vaccines, was 47% (95% CI: 37%–56%). Overall VE for 2–17 year olds, predominantly receiving live attenuated vaccines, was 66% (95% CI: 53%–76%). Conclusion: The paper provides evidence of moderate influenza VE in 2022/23. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper looks at the theme of collaboration through the prism of game design, and especially the example of serious games. At its heart, this is a consideration of two collaborative projects between experts. The first is a current collaboration between computer scientists, game designers, and a theatre company in Scotland, in which the author is also a collaborator and the project's ethnographer. The second is perhaps the largest and most high-profile collaborative project recently led and documented by anthropologists, Meridian 180, which aims to experiment with the norms of collaboration itself, and which has already been theorised and extensively reflected upon by one of its founders, Annelise Riles. The paper aims to put these two collaborations into some kind of conversation in order to throw each into productive relief and to ask some new questions about how we think about both the exercise of collaboration and the deliberate subversion of its norms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the prevalence and benefits of upward social mobility in the early accountancy profession by analyzing the lifespan of chartered accountants admitted to membership in Scotland between 1853 and 1940. We find that 76 percent of the chartered accountants in our sample experienced upward social mobility, a greater percentage than found in previous studies. The chartered accountants in our sample experienced an average life expectancy premium of approximately three years over the general population, irrespective of social origins, and were less likely to die from most preventable causes than the general population. Upwardly mobile chartered accountants achieved lifespans consistent with their achieved professional status rather than their previous social class. While the findings confirm the existence of a social mortality gradient, the increase in longevity is likely attributable to the superior resources of higher social class and other factors affecting self-selection into the accountancy profession. Data Availability: Data are available from the public sources cited in the text. JEL Classifications: I1; I3; M4; N3. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this perspective paper we use publicly-available data to show that, despite much positive rhetoric in support of reforms in Scotland to integrate health and social care, these reforms, in their current state, have failed to meet their stated objectives. Rather than regress to the previous system, we propose continued evaluation of even more radical forms of such integration. This analysis, and set of future proposals, are timely given current considerations with respect to a National Care Service in Scotland and recent similar reforms in England and in other countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Simple Summary: Existing cross-cultural research on animal welfare often overlooks the way that policy and law are not the exclusive domain of central government. This can result in an over-simplification or misrepresentation of the true situation. The political culture and institutional arrangements for governing the modern state are more complex than a "one-size-fits-all" approach. It is argued that cross-cultural research needs to give greater attention to differences within as well as between unitary states. Specifically, it needs to examine developments in constituent nations and territories. Here we illustrate this by drawing on new research in the United Kingdom, and examine how 'devolution'—or decentralized government for Wales and Scotland—is providing contrasting opportunities for NGOs, campaigners, and the public to lobby to improve animal welfare policy based on local practices, beliefs, and demands (collectively known as the "political culture"). Our findings show how this is important because it results in contrasting animal welfare policies and laws in the constituent nations of the UK. It is argued that extant cross-cultural research on animal welfare often overlooks or gives insufficient attention to new governance theory, civil society, politics, and the realities of devolved or (quasi-)federal, multi-level governance in the modern state. This paper synthesizes relevant social theory and draws on new empirical findings of civil society accounts of campaigning on animal welfare policies and law in the United Kingdom. It is presented as a corrective to arguably reductive, earlier unitary state-based analyses. Our core, evidence-based argument is that cognizance of civil society activism and the contrasting institutional governance structures and political cultures of constituent nations in unitary states—such as the UK—are providing opportunities for the territorialization of legally grounded animal welfare regimes, and culturally distinctive practices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper shares the story of a group of four care experienced young people who participated in an arts project in Aberdeenshire. The research was an evaluative case study which gathered the views and experiences of the young people and the arts educators. The findings showed that by adopting a pedagogical approach to arts education, which was participant-led, a climate of trust and mutual respect was supported. The young people developed a growing sense of their potential as creative individuals and an awareness of possible careers in the creative industries, which previously had not been on their radar. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: The Mental Welfare Commission for Scotland published a report into the death of a young person, with recommendations for the Royal College of Psychiatry in Scotland Child and Adolescent Faculty; to explore if there were barriers to the use of Clozapine in young people in Scotland. Methods: A mixed-methods study was performed using a cross-sectional survey of clinicians working in child and adolescent psychiatry across Scotland, to determine attitudes towards clozapine use and the perceived barriers and facilitators to clozapine treatment. Results: Results suggest that there may be a lack of clearly defined pathways within and between services, as well as a lack of resources provided for the necessary monitoring of a young person started on clozapine. Multiple respondents felt unskilled in clozapine initiation and had not accessed formal training. The most frequently mentioned themes for improving facilitation of clozapine prescription were that of increased resources and training. Discussion: National policymakers including the Mental Welfare Commission, NHS Education for Scotland, and NHS Scotland should consider these findings to address the potential underutilisation of clozapine for people aged under 18 in services across Scotland. A review of current service provision should take place, with consideration of whether the facilitators to clozapine prescription which our study has highlighted could be implemented more effectively. This may help reduce identified barriers and increase clozapine prescription to those who would benefit from it, potentially improving outcomes for young people with treatment-resistant psychosis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Scotland was a premier destination for American direct investment from the 1940s to the 1970s. Multinationals were attracted by regional policy inducements that sought to develop modernised engineering sectors. This paper examines the evolution of four American-owned manufacturing subsidiaries between the 1940s and 1980s using correspondence between plant managers and policymakers. Reconciling existing Scottish subsidiary literature, success and failure are both documented. Subsidiary entrepreneurial behaviour was displayed in each case, but developmental outcomes were inhibited. Centralised American management exercised power over Scottish plants, including stripping subsidiaries of innovative products that were developed in Scotland. However, corporate product market competitiveness, a subsidiary's existing strength within a multinational's global region presence and business governance structures coalesced to condition success and failure. Policymakers must attempt to embed competitive advantages within localised linkages, but their ability to do so is strongly conditioned by the domestic industrial structure's capacity to respond favourably to these challenges. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To inform interventions focused on safely reducing urgent paediatric short stay admissions (SSAs) for convulsions. Methods: Routinely acquired administrative data from hospital admissions in Scotland between 2015–2017 investigated characteristics of unscheduled SSAs (an urgent admission where admission and discharge occur on the same day) for a diagnosis of febrile and/or afebrile convulsions. Semi-structured interviews to explore perspectives of health professionals (n = 19) making referral or admission decisions about convulsions were undertaken. Interpretation of mixed methods findings was complemented by interviews with four parents with experience of unscheduled SSAs of children with convulsion. Results: Most SSAs for convulsions present initially at hospital emergency departments (ED). In a subset of 10,588 (11%) of all cause SSAs with linked general practice data available, 72 (37%) children with a convulsion contacted both the GP and ED pre-admission. Within 30 days of discharge, 10% (n = 141) of children admitted with afebrile convulsions had been readmitted to hospital with a further convulsion. Interview data suggest that panic and anxiety, through fear that the situation is life threatening, was a primary factor driving hospital attendance and admission. Lengthy waits to speak to appropriate professionals exacerbate parental anxiety and can trigger direct attendance at ED, whereas some children with complex needs had direct access to convulsion professionals. Conclusions: SSAs for convulsions are different to SSAs for other conditions and our findings could inform new efficient convulsion-specific pre and post hospital pathways designed to improve family experiences and reduce admissions and readmissions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

"The Press and the People: Cheap Print & Society in Scotland, 1500-1785" is a comprehensive survey of cheap print and popular literature in early modern Scotland. The book explores the relationship between increased book production and circulation, mass communication, and popular culture. It examines the emergence of a literate society in Scotland and the role of cheap prints in promoting literacy. The book also highlights the contributions of women printers and the importance of caddies and paper criers in sustaining the book trade. Overall, this book provides valuable insights into the history of cheap print in Scotland and its impact on society. [Extracted from the article]

The article discusses two books, "Bought & Sold: Scotland, Jamaica and Slavery" by Kate Phillips and "The Glasgow Sugar Aristocracy: Scotland and Caribbean Slavery, 1775–1838" by Stephen Mullen, which explore Scotland's involvement in slavery and the slave trade. The author criticizes Phillips' book for its lack of original manuscript sources and superficial approach, pointing out errors and unsupported claims. Mullen's book is praised for its scholarly apparatus but criticized for not citing previous works, particularly a 1971 doctoral thesis by Tom Devine. The article emphasizes the importance of careful and rigorous research in contributing to the understanding of slavery and its legacies. [Extracted from the article]

Drones, lasers and satellites measure forests with seemingly unprecedented detail. In Scotland, private companies are bringing these Advanced Measurement Technologies (AMTs) from ecological science to market. Companies offer landowners the chance to independently measure and verify natural capital commodities, such as woodland carbon credits, using these technologies. Drawing from 61 interviews with stakeholders in the Scottish land sector, alongside six months of ethnographic research, this paper explores the climate governance consequences of high-tech forest carbon measurement. The argument develops from the well-established premise within environmental STS that technologies' apparent objectivity and impartiality obscures the political-economic motivations shaping their use. In Scotland, AMTs are reflexively developed to generate increased financial value from forest creation schemes. AMTs find more carbon in forests than standard measurement practices allow. Carbon is 'known not grown': more numerous and legitimate carbon credits can be created through a shift in knowledge practices rather than a material shift in nature-based carbon sequestration. Three epistemic processes allow for more carbon to be 'known not grown'. Firstly, more carbon volume can be identified within a forest by using sophisticated measurement techniques. Secondly, conservative carbon estimates can be bypassed because of the perceived precision of AMTs. Thirdly, AMT developers cultivate a situated form of measurement accuracy by drawing upon a selective uptake of science. This paper argues 'known not grown' is a novel type of mitigation deterrence. It is a dangerous yet increasingly widespread phenomenon in neoliberal environmental governance and requires further empirical investigation. • Carbon measurement is developing along a privatised and technocratic trajectory. • Measurement technologies are taken from science to 'find' more carbon in forests. • Carbon is 'known not grown': more carbon is measured but not necessarily sequestered. • 'Known not grown' is a novel frontier of mitigation deterrence. • Finding natural capital is increasingly likely in neoliberal nature restoration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Being the 'mother' of most clinical specialties, general practice is as old as medicine itself. However, as a recognized academic discipline within medical schools, general practice has a relatively short life span. A decisive step forward was taken in 1956 when the University of Edinburgh established its Department of General Practice, and appointed the world's inaugural professor in the field in 1963. During the 1960s, the pioneering move in Edinburgh was followed by universities in the Netherlands (University of Utrecht), Canada (Western University, Ontario), and Norway (University of Oslo), marking the beginning of global academic recognition for general practice/family medicine. Despite its critical role in healthcare, the academic evolution of general practice has been sparingly documented, with a notable absence of comprehensive accounts detailing its integration into medical schools as an independent discipline with university departments and academic professors. Last year (2023) marked the 60th anniversary of Dr. Richard Scott's historic appointment as the first professor of General Practice/Family Medicine. Through the lens of the first four professors appointed between 1963 and 1969, we explore the 'birth' of general practice to become an academic discipline. In most western countries of today, general practice has become a recognized medical discipline and an important part of the medical education. But many places, this development is lagging behind. The global shaping of general practice into an academic discipline is therefore definitively not completed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The range of keystone species is increasing in some parts of the world, particularly Europe, through a combination of natural recolonization, government‐sanctioned and covert reintroductions. Reintroductions are an important conservation tool, particularly in the increasingly popular approach of rewilding.There is relatively little understanding of the politics, broadly conceived, of species reintroduction, particularly around how people who live alongside these newly introduced species might react, and what underpins this reaction, and how the method of reintroduction affects reactions.Here, we explore these issues through a case of beavers in central Scotland, which were covertly reintroduced. We explore opposition to reintroduction as manifest in beaver killing and dam destruction by land managers, quantifying these using the sensitive 'bean count' method.We also explore what underpins land managers' reactions, particularly their views and values around land and land management.We found considerable resistance. We found that beaver killing and dam destruction were widespread, both before and after beavers became a protected species. Nevertheless, beaver populations and ranges in Scotland continue to grow.We found attitudes were grounded in a strong set of relational values around land custodianship. We find a range of views towards beavers, including widespread opposition, particularly regarding the covert nature of beaver introduction, the challenge beavers and beaver protection provide to ideas of proper land management and custodianship, and a lack of trust in formal methods of beaver governance.We argue that species reintroductions policies and research should give careful consideration to potential opposition, its material impacts on reintroduction projects and how it is grounded in wider environmental values and politics. Read the free Plain Language Summary for this article on the Journal blog. Read the free Plain Language Summary for this article on the Journal blog. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Staphylococcus pseudintermedius is an opportunistic pathogen in dogs, and infection in humans is increasingly found, often linked to contact with dogs. We conducted a retrospective genotyping and antimicrobial susceptibility testing study of 406 S. pseudintermedius isolates cultured from animals (dogs, cats and an otter) and humans across Scotland, from 2007 to 2020. Seventy-five sequence types (STs) were identified, among the 130 isolates genotyped, with 59 seen only once. We observed the emergence of two methicillin resistant Staphylococcus pseudintermedius (MRSP) clones in Scotland: ST726, a novel locally-evolving clone, and ST551, first reported in 2015 in Poland, possibly linked to animal importation to Scotland from Central Europe. While ST71 was the most frequent S. pseudintermedius strain detected, other lineages that have been replacing ST71 in other countries, in addition to ST551, were detected. Multidrug resistance (MDR) was detected in 96.4% of MRSP and 8.4% of MSSP. A single MRSP isolate was resistant to mupirocin. Continuous surveillance for the emergence and dissemination of novel MDR MRSP in animals and humans and changes in antimicrobial susceptibility in S. pseudintermedius is warranted to minimise the threat to animal and human health. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Over 30,000 people experience out-of-hospital cardiac arrest in the United Kingdom annually, with only 7–8% of patients surviving. One of the most effective methods of improving survival outcomes is bystander intervention in the form of calling the emergency services and initiating chest compressions. Additionally, the public must feel empowered to act and use this knowledge in an emergency. This study aimed to evaluate an ultra-brief CPR familiarisation video that uses empowering social priming language to frame CPR as a norm in Scotland. Methods: In a randomised control trial, participants (n = 86) were assigned to view an ultra-brief CPR video intervention or a traditional long-form CPR video intervention. Following completion of a pre-intervention questionnaire examining demographic variables and prior CPR knowledge, participants completed an emergency services-led resuscitation simulation in a portable simulation suite using a CPR manikin that measures resuscitation quality. Participants then completed questionnaires examining social identity and attitudes towards performing CPR. Results: During the simulated resuscitation, the ultra-brief intervention group's cumulative time spent performing chest compressions was significantly higher than that observed in the long-form intervention group. The long-form intervention group's average compressions per minute rate was significantly higher than the ultra-brief intervention group, however both scores fell within a clinically acceptable range. No other differences were observed in CPR quality. Regarding the social identity measures, participants in the ultra-brief condition had greater feelings of expected emergency support from other Scottish people when compared to long-form intervention participants. There were no significant group differences in attitudes towards performing CPR. Conclusions: Socially primed, ultra-brief CPR interventions hold promise as a method of equipping the public with basic resuscitation skills and empowering the viewer to intervene in an emergency. These interventions may be an effective avenue for equipping at-risk groups with resuscitation skills and for supplementing traditional resuscitation training. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Patients with severe mental illness (SMI) die 10–20 years earlier than the general population. They have a higher risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD) yet may experience lower cardioprotective medication prescribing. Aim: To understand the challenges experienced by GPs in prescribing cardioprotective medication to patients with SMI. Design & setting: A qualitative study with 15 GPs from 11 practices in two Scottish health boards, including practices servicing highly deprived areas (Deep End). Method: Semi-structured one-to-one interviews with fully qualified GPs with clinical experience of patients with SMI. Interviews were transcribed verbatim and analysed thematically. Results: Participants aimed to routinely prescribe cardioprotective medication to relevant patients with SMI but were hampered by various challenges. These structural and contextual barriers included the following: lack of funding for chronic disease management; insufficient consultation time; workforce shortages; IT infrastructure; and navigating boundaries with mental health services. Patient-related barriers included patients’ complex health and social needs, their understandable prioritisation of mental health needs or existing physical conditions, and presentation during crises. Professional barriers comprised GPs' desire to practise holistic medicine rather than treating via cardioprotective prescribing in isolation, and concerns about patients' medication concordance if patients were not prioritising this aspect of their health care at that particular time. In terms of enablers for cardioprotective prescribing, participants emphasised continuity of care as fundamental in engaging this patient group in effective cardiovascular health management. A cross-cutting theme was the current GP workforce crisis leading to ‘firefighting’ and diminishing capacity for primary prevention. This was particularly acute in Deep End practices, which have a high proportion of patients with complex needs and greater resource challenges. Conclusion: Although participants aspire to prescribe cardioprotective medication to patients with SMI, professional-, system- and patient-level barriers often make this challenging, particularly in deprived areas owing to patient complexity and the inverse care law. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The general practice out-of-hours (GPOOH) service is under pressure to treat more patients in less time, while reducing referrals and minimising diagnostic errors. Point-of-care (POC) testing involves rapid clinical tests that can be used to generate results during the consultation, and has the potential to facilitate managing these competing demands safely. Aim: To describe current availability of POC tests in GPOOH in Scotland, and identify barriers, enablers, benefits, and drawbacks to its use. Design & setting: Cross-sectional mixed-methods study, which surveyed opinions of clinicians working in the GPOOH service in NHS Scotland. Method: An electronic questionnaire was developed, designed, piloted, and distributed to clinicians, which had closed questions and areas for free text. Results: In total, 142 responses were received. Urine dipstick testing (99.2%), pregnancy tests (98.5%), oxygen saturation (97.7%), and blood glucose testing (93.9%), were the only POC tests commonly available in GPOOH in NHS Scotland. There was strongest support for the provision of POC tests, particularly C-reactive protein (CRP; 79.4%), strep A (76.0%), and D-dimer (75.2%). Responders felt that POC tests would improve confidence (92.3%) and safety (89.8%) surrounding clinical decision making, improve patient satisfaction (80.6%), and reduce hospital and secondary care referrals (77.5%). Barriers to POC test use were availability of the test kits and machines (94.5%), training requirements on how to use the machine (71.1%) and interpret results (56.3%), and time to do the test (62.0%). Conclusion: Few POC tests are in regular use in GPOOH in Scotland. GPOOH clinicians are supportive of using POC testing. They identified a number of benefits to its use, with very few drawbacks. Increased provision of POC testing in GPOOH in NHS Scotland should be considered urgently. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We aimed to describe how breastfeeding relates to adherence to complementary feeding (CF) recommendations, diet diversification and feeding skills development and whether sociodemographic factors explain any differences observed. The Scottish Maternal Infant and Nutrition Survey for infants aged 8–12 months collected breastfeeding history, CF practices, diet and sociodemographic data using a self‐completion questionnaire. Non‐healthful CF practices were starting CF < 6 months, any consumption of sugar‐sweetened beverages (SSBs), sweet or salty snacks (treats) or unmodified cow's milk and regular consumption of commercial baby foods. Diet diversification and feeding skills were assessed by amount of self‐feeding and number of food groups, meals and snacks eaten daily. Of the 2730 mothers, 20% were solely infant formula fed (IFF) and 48% continued breastfeeding ≥6 months. Compared to IFF babies, mothers who gave any breast milk ≥6 months were more likely to start CF ≥ 6 months compared to those IFF (66% vs. 37%) and less likely to give treats (15% vs. 45%), SSBs (11% vs. 20%) and commercial baby foods (31% vs. 53%). These associations remained highly significant (p < 0.001) even after sociodemographic factor adjustment. Despite starting CF later, infants breastfed ≥6 months ate the same number of food groups and meals as those IFF, were just as likely to self‐feed purees and more likely to self‐feed finger foods daily (87% vs. 81% p < 0.001). Mothers who breastfeed beyond 6 months adhere more to CF recommendations and start CF later compared to IFF, but their babies eat a similarly diverse diet and have similar feeding skills. Key messages: Adhering to breastfeeding recommendations is associated with delayed introduction of complementary foods, without influencing diet diversity or development of infant feeding skills.Breastfeeding duration is a predictor for healthful complementary feeding practices.These associations between breastfeeding duration and healthful complementary feeding practices are not explained by differences in maternal age or deprivation level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• We compare the performance of predictive models for wildcat hybrid occurrence based on (1) global pooled data across individuals, (2) geographically weighted aggregation of individual models, (3) ecologically weighted aggregation of individual models, and (4) combinations of global, geographical and ecological weighting. • We developed predictive models both using GLM and random forest machine learning to compare the performance of these differing algorithms and how they compare in stationary and nonstationary analyses. • We validated the predicted models in four different ways. • Our results show that validation using hold-out data from the individuals used to train the model provides highly biased assessment of true model performance in other locations, with random forest in particular appearing to perform exceptionally (and inaccurately) well when validated by data from the same individuals used to train the models. • Each of these three independent validation data sets gave a different result in terms of the best overall model. • The best overall model produced for potential wildcat occurrence and habitat suitability was obtained by an ensemble average of the global generalized linear model (GLM) and random forest models with the ecologically weighted GLM and random forest models. Species distribution modeling has emerged as a foundational method to predict occurrence and suitability of species in relation to environmental variables to advance ecological understanding and guide conservation planning. Recent research, however, has shown that species-environmental relationships and habitat model predictions are often nonstationary in space, time and ecological context. This calls into question modeling approaches that assume a global, stationary ecological realized niche and use predictive modeling to describe it. This paper explores this issue by comparing the performance of predictive models for wildcat hybrid occurrence based on (1) global pooled data across individuals, (2) geographically weighted aggregation of individual models, (3) ecologically weighted aggregation of individual models, and (4) combinations of global, geographical and ecological weighting. Our study system included GPS telemetry data from 14 individual wildcat hybrids across Scotland. We developed predictive models both using Generalized Linear Models (GLM) and Random Forest machine learning to compare the performance of these differing algorithms and how they compare in stationary and nonstationary analyses. We validated the predicted models in four different ways. First, we used independent hold-out data from the 14 collared wildcat hybrids. Second, we used data from 8 additional GPS collared wildcat hybrids from a previous study that were not included in the training sample. Third, we used sightings data sent in by the public and researchers and validated by expert opinion. Fourth, we used data collected by camera trap surveys between 2012 – 2021 from various sources to produce a combined camera trap dataset showing where wildcats and wildcat hybrids had been detected. Our results show that validation using hold-out data from the individuals used to train the model provides highly biased assessment of true model performance in other locations, with Random Forest in particular appearing to perform exceptionally (and inaccurately) well when validated by data from the same individuals used to train the models. Very different results were obtained when the models were validated using independent data from the three other sources. Each of these three independent validation data sets gave a different result in terms of the best overall model. The average of independent validation across these three validation datasets suggested that the best overall model produced for potential wildcat occurrence and habitat suitability was obtained by an ensemble average of the global Generalized Linear Model (GLM) and Random Forest models with the ecologically weighted GLM and Random Forest models. This suggests that the debate over whether which of GLM vs machine learning approaches is superior or whether global vs aggregated nonstationary modeling is superior may be a false choice. The results presented here show that the best prediction applies a combination of all of these approaches in an ensemble modeling framework. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Oncotype DX Breast RS test has been adopted in Scotland and has been the subject of a large population-based study by a Scottish Consensus Group to assess the uptake of the recurrence score (RS), evaluate co-variates associated with the RS and to analyse the effect it may have had on clinical practice. Materials & Methods: Pan-Scotland study between August 2018–August 2021 evaluating 833 patients who had a RS test performed as part of their diagnostic pathway. Data was extracted retrospectively from electronic records and analysis conducted to describe change in chemotherapy administration (by direct comparison with conventional risk assessment tools), and univariate/multivariate analysis to assess relationship between covariates and the RS. Chemotherapy treatment was strongly influenced by the RS (p < 0.001). Only 30 % of patients received chemotherapy treatment in the intermediate and high risk PREDICT groups, where chemotherapy is considered. Additionally, 55.5 % of patients with a high risk PREDICT had a low RS and did not receive chemotherapy. There were 17 % of patients with a low risk PREDICT but high RS who received chemotherapy. Multivariate regression analysis showed the progesterone receptor Allred score (PR score) to be a strong independent predictor of the RS, with a negative PR score being associated with high RS (OR 4.49, p < 0.001). Increasing grade was also associated with high RS (OR 3.81, p < 0.001). Classic lobular pathology was associated with a low RS in comparison to other tumour pathology (p < 0.01). Nodal disease was associated with a lower RS (p = 0.012) on univariate analysis, with menopausal status (p = 0.43) not influencing the RS on univariate or multivariate analysis. Genomic assays offer the potential for risk-stratified decision making regarding the use of chemotherapy. They can help reduce unnecessary chemotherapy treatment and identify a subgroup of patients with more adverse genomic tumour biology. A recent publication by Health Improvement Scotland (HIS) has updated guidance on use of the RS test for NHS Scotland. It suggests to limit its use to the intermediate risk PREDICT group. Our study shows the impact of the RS test in the low and high risk PREDICT groups. The implementation across Scotland has resulted in a notable shift in practice, leading to a significant reduction in chemotherapy administration in the setting of high risk PREDICT scores returning low risk RS. There has also been utility for the test in the low risk PREDICT group to detect a small subgroup with a high RS. We have found the PR score to have a strong independent association with high risk RS. This finding was not evaluated by the key RS test papers, and the potential prognostic information provided by the PR score as a surrogate biomarker is an outstanding question that requires more research to validate. • Real-world data across NHS Scotland, providing insights into the implementation of genomic decision tools in the management of EBC • The RS test has caused significant decreases in chemotherapy use with benefits including reduced patient morbidity and cost savings for the NHS. • The PR score is a strong independent predictor of the RS with future integrated use with genomic tests an avenue of future research and validation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper characterises current rewilding activities in the UK, through the analysis of 66 rewilding projects. Project information was obtained from online data (65 %), and direct mail data requests (35 %). The analyses showed an exponential growth in the number of new rewilding projects since 2010, with 8 % of projects started prior to 2000, and 60 % initiated after 2010. Seventy-three percent of projects involved rewilding areas of less than 1000 ha, 17 % being between 1000 and 10,000 ha, and 9 % greater than 10,000 ha. In Scotland, 80 % of the area being rewilded involved mountain, heath and bog habitats. For England the largest rewilded areas (58 %) were semi-natural or improved grasslands. Fifty-six percent of sites were formerly used for livestock farming, and 24 % for arable cultivation. A total of 72 % of sites employed tree planting, 64 % introduced herbivores, and 33 % introduced non-herbivores. The removal of sheep and cattle took place in 51 % of projects, with deer control in 33 %, wetland creation in 39 %, and the removal of artificial drainage in 36 % of projects. There was a close geographical proximity between rewilding sites and Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI), with 69 % of areas being within 4 km, and only two sites greater than 8 km. Twelve project funding sources were recorded, and most projects utilised multiple funding sources. The benefits of an evidence-led and nationally co-ordinated rewilding approach were identified in relation to using well-established decision tools and frameworks to enhance future rewilding spatial planning. This would allow the development of a map of 'appropriate' rewilding areas, based on landscape scale characteristics, national species and habitat priorities, and predicted future landscape changes. Importantly, these 'target' areas would also be sensitive to local social, economic and agricultural contexts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• We explore spatially varying limiting factors in species-environment relationships using high resolution telemetry data from 14 individual wildcat hybrids distributed across geographical and environmental gradients in Scotland. • We proposed five hypotheses for how nonstationary limiting factors related to the strength of predictor variable effect size. • Our results show that assumptions of global, stationary habitat associations are likely not met in many habitat models. • We found that there were strong relationships between nonstationarity and spatially varying limiting factors. • Future habitat modeling research should explicitly consider scale and context dependence in a nonstationary modeling paradigm. Species distribution modeling is widely used to quantify and predict species-environment relationships. Most past applications and methods in species distribution modeling assume context independent and stationary relationships between patterns of species occurrence and environmental variables. There has been relatively little research investigating context dependence and nonstationarity in species distribution modeling. In this paper we explore spatially varying limiting factors in species-environment relationships using high resolution telemetry data from 14 individual wildcat hybrids distributed across geographical and environmental gradients in Scotland. (1) We proposed that nonstationary limiting factors would be indicated by significant association between statistical measures of variability of predictors and the predictive importance of those variables. (2) We further proposed that most of the limiting factor relationships observed would be related to spatial variation and a lesser amount to mean value of environmental variables within individual study sites. (3) Additionally, we anticipated that when there was a relationship between variation of an environmental factor and its importance as a predictor this relationship would be positive, such that higher variation would be associated with higher importance of the variable as a predictor (following the theory of limiting factors). (4) Conversely, we proposed that when there was a relationship between the mean value of an environmental variable and its importance as a predictor this relationship would be roughly evenly split between positive and negative relationships, given that environmental variables could become limiting either when they are highly abundant or high value, or when they are rare or low value in a particular landscape, depending on the nature of the species-environment relationship for that ecological variable. (5) Finally, we hypothesized that the frequency of supported limiting factor relationships would differ among variable groups, with variables that were directly related to key environmental resources more likely to be limiting than those that would have more indirect impacts on wildcat hybrid habitat selection or foraging. Our results show that assumptions of global, stationary habitat associations are likely not met in many habitat models, requiring explicit consideration of scale and context dependence in a nonstationary modeling paradigm. We found that both the mean value and the standard deviation are strong predictors of whether that variable will be limiting and differentially important as a predictor of occurrence. We confirmed that limiting factors become more limiting when it has higher variability across the sampled data, or when it is rare or not abundant. The frequency of supported limiting factor relationships differed among variable groups, with variables that were directly related to environmental resources likely to be essential for wildcat hybrid ecology more likely to be limiting than those that would have more indirect impacts on wildcat hybrid habitat selection or foraging. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Fidelity to a given foraging location or route may be beneficial when environmental conditions are predictable but costly if conditions deteriorate or become unpredictable. Understanding the magnitude of fidelity displayed by different species and the processes that drive or erode it is therefore vital for understanding how fidelity may shape the demographic consequences of anthropogenic change. In particular, understanding the information that individuals may use to adjust their fidelity will facilitate improved predictions of how fidelity may change as environments change and the extent to which it will buffer individuals against such changes. Methods: We used movement data collected during the breeding season across eight years for common guillemots, Atlantic puffins, razorbills, and black-legged kittiwakes breeding on the Isle of May, Scotland to understand: (1) whether foraging site/route fidelity occurred within and between years, (2) whether the degree of fidelity between trips was predicted by personal foraging effort, and (3) whether different individuals made more similar trips when they overlapped in time at the colony prior to departure and/or when out at sea suggesting the use of the same local environmental cues or information on the decisions made by con- and heterospecifics. Results: All species exhibited site and route fidelity both within- and between-years, and fidelity between trips in guillemots and razorbills was related to metrics of foraging effort, suggesting they adjust fidelity to their personal foraging experience. We also found evidence that individuals used local environmental cues of prey location or availability and/or information gained by observing conspecifics when choosing foraging routes, particularly in puffins, where trips of individuals that overlapped temporally at the colony or out at sea were more similar. Conclusions: The fidelity shown by these seabird species has the potential to put them at greater risk in the face of environmental change by driving individuals to continue using areas being degraded by anthropogenic pressures. However, our results suggest that individuals show some flexibility in their fidelity, which may promote resilience under environmental change. The benefits of this flexibility are likely to depend on numerous factors, including the rapidity and spatial scale of environmental change and the reliability of the information individuals use to choose foraging sites or routes, thus highlighting the need to better understand how organisms combine cues, prior experience, and other sources of information to make movement decisions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Stronger social and emotional well-being during primary school is positively associated with the health and educational outcomes of young people. However, there is little evidence on which programmes are the most effective for improving social and emotional well-being. Objective: The objective was to rigorously evaluate the Social and Emotional Education and Development (SEED) intervention process for improving pupils' social and emotional well-being. Design: This was a stratified cluster randomised controlled trial with embedded process and economic evaluations. Thirty-eight primary schools were randomly assigned to the SEED intervention or to the control group. Hierarchical regression analysis allowing for clustering at school learning community level was conducted in R (statistical package). Setting: The SEED intervention is a whole-school intervention; it involved all school staff and two cohorts of pupils, one starting at 4 or 5 years of age and the second starting at 8 or 9 years of age, across all 38 schools. Participants: A total of 2639 pupils in Scotland. Intervention: The SEED intervention used an iterative process that involved three components to facilitate selection and implementation of school-based actions: (1) questionnaire completion, (2) benchmarked feedback to all staff and (3) reflective discussions (all staff and an educational psychologist). Main outcome measure: The primary outcome was pupils' Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire-Total Difficulties Score when pupils were 4 years older than at baseline. Results: The primary outcome, pupils' Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire-Total Difficulties Score at follow-up 3, showed improvements for intervention arm pupils, compared with those in the control arm [relative risk −1.30 (95% confidence interval −1.87 to −0.73), standardised effect size −0.27 (95% confidence interval −0.39 to −0.15)]. There was no evidence of intervention effects according to deprivation: the results were significant for both affluent and deprived pupils. Subgroup analysis showed that all effect sizes were larger for the older cohort, particularly boys [relative risk −2.36 (95% confidence interval −3.62 to −1.11), standardised effect size −0.42 (95% confidence interval −0.64 to −0.20)]. Although there was no statistically significant difference in incremental cost and quality-adjusted life-years, the probability that the intervention is cost-effective at a willingness-to-pay threshold of £20,000 per quality-adjusted life-year was high, at 88%. Particularly valued mechanisms of the SEED intervention were its provision of time to reflect on and discuss social and emotional well-being and its contribution to a culture of evaluating practice. Limitations: It was a challenge to retain schools over five waves of data collection. Conclusions: This trial demonstrated that the SEED intervention is an acceptable, cost-effective way to modestly improve pupil well-being and improve school climate, particularly for older boys and those with greater levels of psychological difficulties. It was beneficial during the transition from primary to secondary school, but this diminished after 6 years. The SEED intervention can be implemented alongside existing systems for addressing pupil well-being and can be complementary to other interventions. Future work: Assess whether or not the SEED intervention has a beneficial impact on academic attainment, is transferable to other countries and other organisational settings, would be strengthened by adding core training elements to the intervention process and is transferable to secondary schools. Understand the gender differences illustrated by the outcomes of this trial. Conduct further statistical research on how to handle missing data in longitudinal studies of complex social interventions. Trial registration: This trial is registered as ISRCTN51707384. Funding: This award was funded by the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) Public Health Research programme (NIHR award ref: 10/3006/13) and is published in full in Public Health Research; Vol. 12, No. 6. See the NIHR Funding and Awards website for further award information. Plain language summary: We studied the Social and Emotional Education and Development (SEED) primary school intervention to see if it could improve the social and emotional well-being of pupils in Scotland. The SEED intervention is a process with several elements. We collected information from school pupils, staff and parents, and assessed if the schools involved were happy, safe and caring environments. We sought to highlight any strengths or weaknesses in how each school approaches social and emotional well-being. The SEED intervention also measures the social and emotional well-being of pupils. This includes pupils' strengths and difficulties, confidence, understanding of emotions and quality of relationships. We gave the information back to each school to help them decide what they can do to improve the social and emotional well-being of their pupils. We gave schools a guide to available resources, reviewed according to how well they are known to work elsewhere. The same social and emotional well-being measurements were repeated every 1 or 2 years, to see if any improvements had been made, and to guide any further adaptions of activities. The study ran in 38 schools over 7 years; half of the schools were randomly selected to receive the SEED intervention and half carried on as normal. Two age groups of pupils were recruited; the younger group was aged 4 or 5 years and the older group was aged 8 or 9 years at the start of the study. We found that the SEED intervention did slightly improve social and emotional well-being. Improvements were greater for older pupils, in particular for boys, and lasted beyond their transition from primary to secondary school. We also found that it was cost-effective for schools to run the SEED intervention. Schools valued the structure and shared ownership associated with the process. We concluded that the SEED intervention is an acceptable way to modestly improve pupil well-being and school ethos. Scientific summary: Background: Improved social and emotional well-being (SEW) during primary school years has been shown to have an impact on health and academic performance and protect against risk behaviours in later years. However, there is little evidence on which school-based programmes are most effective, particularly in the UK. This trial rigorously evaluated one such innovative programme in Scotland. The Social and Emotional Education and Development (SEED) intervention was designed to promote SEW in primary schools in Scotland. Rather than adopting a one-size-fits-all approach whereby SEW packages are delivered in schools to all pupils regardless of need, the SEED intervention was designed to draw on principles of co-production to tailor activities in response to school need. It has three components: (1) an assessment of school needs through staff, pupil and parent questionnaires; (2) feedback of needs assessment data to all school staff and reflective discussion (RD), facilitated by the schools' educational psychologists (EPs), to select and co-produce school-appropriate, evidence-based actions and initiatives at both class and whole-school levels; and (3) implementation and maintenance of initiatives. Objectives: The overarching aim of this study was to rigorously evaluate the impact of the SEED intervention on improving pupils' SEW via a stratified cluster randomised controlled trial (RCT). The main research questions were addressed by the complementary outcome, process evaluations and economic evaluations. The pupil-related research questions were as follows: Does the SEED intervention improve pupils' SEW? If so, is the impact different for specific subgroups of pupils (e.g. gender, deprivation)? Is the SEED intervention more effective if started with younger children [ SEED trial younger cohort (YC) vs. older cohort (OC)]? What is the duration of the SEED intervention effect? Does the SEED intervention improve the social and emotional experience of transition from primary to secondary school? What is the impact on health behaviours of the SEED intervention during early secondary school years? What are pupils' experiences of the SEED intervention? The teacher-related research questions were as follows: Are there changes in teachers' knowledge, attitudes and behaviour relating to developing pupils' SEW? Were teachers involved, and, if so, how were they involved, in selecting initiatives to respond to the pupils' needs assessment? What contextual factors facilitate or inhibit the delivery of the SEED intervention? What contextual factors support or hinder the ability of the SEED intervention to improve pupils' SEW? Which teachers engage best with the SEED intervention? What are teachers' experiences of the SEED intervention? The parent-related research questions were as follows: Do parents report a difference in their child(ren)'s emotional and social development? If applicable, what are parents' experiences of the SEED intervention? The economic research question was as follows: is SEED cost-effective? Methods: A stratified cluster RCT was undertaken across 38 schools in the central Scotland area between 2013 and 2019. We invited state-funded denominational and non-denominational schools from three Scottish local authorities; we did not include independently funded schools. The intervention was delivered in primary schools, but the evaluation took place in primary and secondary schools. Baseline questionnaire data were collected from two cohorts of pupils in primary school, one in year 1 (aged 4–6 years) and the other in year 5 (aged 8–10 years), their parents and school staff. After a 1-year gap, to enable commencement of action plans, three waves of follow-up data were collected annually, then a further final follow-up wave was carried out 2 years after that with the OC of pupils only. Main trial outcomes: The primary outcome was the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire-Total Difficulties Score (SDQ-TDS) at time 3 (T3) (follow-up 3), when the younger pupils were aged 8–10 years and the older pupils were aged 12–14 years. Secondary outcomes included all five subscales of the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ); additional measures included pupil and staff well-being, school ethos and relationships. Hierarchical regression analysis allowing for clustering at school learning community level was conducted in the statistical package R (The R Foundation for Statistical Computing, Vienna, Austria). Missing data were handled using repeated measures. Process evaluation: The process evaluation design was guided by the UK Medical Research Council framework for the evaluation of complex interventions. Mixed methods included semistructured interviews with head teachers/depute head teachers and EPs, ethnographic notes from RD sessions and focus groups with pupils. An initial analysis was carried out on data collected from case study schools prior to knowing the main trial outcomes using an agreed coding framework. Further thematic analysis was conducted using NVivo (QSR International, Warrington, UK) to interpret trial outcomes and understand mechanisms of change. Economic evaluation: The economic evaluation was conducted from a public sector perspective, including the NHS, Personal Social Services and local government. A validated child-specific preference-based measure, the Child Health Utility-9 Dimensions, was used to obtain utility values, which, together with costs, were used to conduct a cost–utility analysis. In addition, a within-trial cost-effectiveness analysis was conducted using the SDQ-TDS , the primary outcome measure for the trial. Data on the costs include costs associated with the provision of the intervention, including staff time, travel and consumables at each stage of the intervention, as well as the resource use cost collected at time 1 (T1) (follow-up 1) and T3 in the public sector, such as general practitioner visits and police visits. Resource use data were collected via the self-completed questionnaires, and the unit costs were obtained from standard UK sources. All analyses were undertaken according to the principle of intention-to-treat and in Stata®/SE 14.0 (StataCorp LP, College Station, TX, USA). Results (research findings): We recruited 38 primary schools with > 2600 pupils. The primary outcome, pupils' SDQ-TDSs at T3 , showed statistically significant improvements for pupils in the intervention arm, compared with those in the control arm [relative risk −1.30, 95% confidence interval (CI) −1.87 to −0.73]. There was no evidence of intervention effects according to deprivation: the results were significant for both affluent and deprived pupils. A subgroup analysis showed that all effect sizes were larger for the OC , particularly older boys (relative risk −2.36, 95% CI −3.62 to −1.11). All five SDQ subscales also showed beneficial and statistically significant results. A secondary analysis showed that the intervention had a range of positive effects on social and emotional skills, and school ethos and relationships. Only boys showed significant results for conduct problems and prosocial behaviour; all the other subscales showed effects for both genders. The intervention effect appeared to be diminished at the longer-term, final follow-up, 6 years post baseline. The economic evaluation concluded that the SEED intervention was likely to be cost-effective, but more so for the OC than the YC. Among the YC , the intervention was associated with a £166 increase in the cost and a 0.19 decrease in the SDQ-TDS , leading to a result of £856 per decrease in SDQ-TDS. Costs were lower in the OC because of the smaller incremental cost and much larger treatment effect, with an incremental cost-effectiveness ratio of £1.22 per 1-unit decrease in the SDQ-TDS. The probability of the SEED intervention being cost-effective at £20,000 per quality-adjusted life-year was > 80%. The process evaluation showed that there was an appreciation for the timing of the SEED intervention in terms of its alignment with the Scottish curriculum. The intervention was perceived as complementary to, rather than competing against, other established initiatives and priorities. Although there was variability in fidelity to the SEED intervention process, the data collection and the process of feeding back data at whole-school staff sessions were the most consistently implemented aspects. Particularly valued mechanisms of the SEED intervention were its provision of time to reflect on and discuss SEW and its contribution to a culture of evaluating practice. Limitations: It was a challenge to retain schools over five waves of data collection. At two waves of data collection (T2 and T4), we lost three schools; however, we did have good school participation at the other three waves of data collection. We caution readers that there is more uncertainty about our results for these two waves. Low parental participation in our survey meant that parent data were unlikely to be a fair basis for influencing school-level decision-making, and this was communicated to schools. Conclusions: The SEED cluster RCT provides robust evidence about the effects of the SEED intervention, a school-based intervention to promote SEWamong children. We have demonstrated that the SEED intervention is an acceptable, cost-effective way to modestly improve pupil well-being and improve school climate, particularly for older pupils and, among the older pupils, particularly for boys and those with greater levels of psychological difficulties of both genders. There is no evidence of the intervention being more beneficial for advantaged pupils, so it should not widen the inequalities gap. It was beneficial during the transition from primary to secondary school, but longer-term analysis suggests that the effect is diminished after 6 years. The SEED intervention can be implemented alongside existing systems for addressing pupil well-being and can be complementary to other intervention initiatives. Future work: Our recommendations for future implications in relation to action, in numbered order, are to: conduct data linkage to SEED pupils' external examination results (aggregated linkage rather than individual-pupil level), to assess whether or not the SEED intervention had any beneficial impact on academic attainment explore the transferability of the SEED intervention to other countries within the UK and beyond investigate the impact of adding core training elements (e.g. teacher training on young people's mental health and well-being) to the intervention process extend the SEED intervention-style process to secondary schools understand the gender differences illustrated by the SEED outcomes develop and evaluate the SEED intervention concept in different settings across the life course further statistical research on how to handle missing data in longitudinal studies of complex social interventions. Trial registration: This trial is registered as ISRCTN51707384. Funding: This award was funded by the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) Public Health Research programme (NIHR award ref: 10/3006/13) and is published in full in Public Health Research; Vol. 12, No. 6. See the NIHR Funding and Awards website for further award information. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim: The aim of this study was to uncover perspectives on the COVID‐19 pandemic and the responses implemented by the UK and Scottish Governments to help control the spread of infection. Such understanding could help to inform future responses to pandemics at individual, community and national levels. Method: Q methodology was used to elicit perspectives from people in England and Scotland with different experiences of the pandemic including public health officials, key workers, those on furlough, those who were unvaccinated or vaccinated to different levels, those who were 'shielding' because they were at higher risk and people with different scientific expertise. Participants rank‐ordered phrases about different aspects of COVID‐19 according to their viewpoint. Factor analysis was then conducted in conjunction with interview material from the same respondents. Results: A four‐factor solution was statistically supported and was interpretable alongside the qualitative accounts of participants loading on these factors. These four perspectives are titled Dangerous and Unaccountable Leadership, Fear and Anger at Policy and Public responses, Governing Through a Crisis and Injustices Exposed. Conclusion: The four perspectives demonstrate plurality and nuance in views on COVID‐19 and the associated policies and restrictions, going beyond a binary narrative that has been apparent in popular and social media. The four perspectives include some areas of common ground, as well as disagreement. We argue that understanding the detail of different perspectives might be used to build cohesion around policy initiatives in future. Patient or Public Contribution: The development of the statement set, which is rank‐ordered by participants in a Q study, and factor interpretations were informed by views of the general public. The statement set was initially developed using existing publicly available material based on members of the general public experiencing the pandemic first hand. It was then piloted with members of the public experiencing different challenges as a result of COVID‐19 and the subsequent lockdown and updated based on feedback. Finally, interpretations of the identified factors were presented publicly and edited according to their feedback. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A submarine landslide on the edge of the Norwegian shelf that occurred around 8150 ± 30 cal. years BP triggered a major ocean-wide tsunami, the deposits of which are recorded around the North Atlantic, including Scotland. Ground-penetrating radar (GPR) was used here to investigate tsunami sediments within estuaries on the coast of northeastern Scotland where the tsunami waves were funnelled inland. Around the Dornoch Firth, the tsunami deposits are up to 1.6 m thickness, which is exceptionally thick for tsunami deposits and about twice the thickness of the 2004 IOT or 2011 Tohoku-oki tsunami deposits. The exceptional thickness is attributed to a high sediment supply within the Dornoch Firth. At Ardmore, the tsunami appears to have overtopped a beach ridge with a thick sand layer deposited inland at Dounie and partly infilled a valley. Later, fluvial activity eroded the tsunami sediments locally, removing the sand layer. At Creich, on the north side of the Dornoch Firth, the sand layer varies in thickness; mapping of the sand layer with GPR shows lateral thickness changes of over 1 m attributed to a combination of infilling an underlying topography, differential compaction, and later reworking by tidal inlets. Interpretation of the GPR profiles at Wick suggests that there has been a miscorrelation of Holocene stratigraphy based on boreholes. Changes in the stratigraphy of spits at Ardmore are attributed to the balance between sediment supply and sea-level change with washovers dominating a spit formed during the early Holocene transgression, while spits formed during the subsequent mid-Holocene high-stand are dominated by progradation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Predating Darwin's theory of evolution, the holotype of Saurodesmus robertsoni is a long-standing enigma. Found at the beginning of 1840s, the specimen is a damaged stylopodial bone over decades variably assigned to turtles, archosaurs, parareptiles, or synapsids, and currently nearly forgotten. We redescribe and re-assess that curious specimen as a femur and consider Saurodesmus robertsoni as a valid taxon of a derived cynodont (?Tritylodontidae). It shares with probainognathians more derived than Prozostrodon a mainly medially oriented lesser trochanter and with the clade reuniting tritylodontids, brasilodontids, and mammaliaforms (but excluding tritheledontids) the presence of a projected femoral head, offset from the long axis of the femoral shaft; a thin, plate-like greater trochanter; a distinct dorsal eminence proximal to the medial (tibial) condyle located close to the level of the long axis of the femoral shaft and almost in the middle of the width of the distal expansion; and a pocket-like fossa proximally to the medial (tibial) condyle. Saurodesmus robertsoni is most similar to tritylodontids, sharing at least with some forms: the relative mediolateral expansion of the proximal and distal regions of the femur, the general shape and development of the greater trochanter, the presence of a faint intertrochanteric crest separating the shallow intertrochanteric and adductor fossae, and the general outline of the distal region as observed dorsally and distally. This makes Saurodesmus robertsoni the first Triassic cynodont from Scotland and, possibly, one of the earliest representatives of tritylodontids and one of the latest non-mammaliaform cynodonts worldwide. Moreover, it highlights the need for revisiting historical problematic specimens, the identification of which could have been previously hampered by the lack of adequate comparative materials in the past. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aims: To assess the extent of Coronavirus-related disruption to health and social care treatment and social interactions among people with lived or living experience of substance use in Scotland, and explore potential reasons for variations in disruption. Design: Cross sectional mixed methods interview, incorporating a social network 'egonet interview' approach asking about whether participants had interactions with a range of substance use, health, social care or third sector organisations, or informal social interactions. Setting: Five Alcohol and Drug Partnership Areas in Scotland. Participants: 57 (42% women) participants were involved in the study, on average 42 years old. Measurements: Five-point Likert scale reporting whether interactions with a range of services and people had gotten much better, better, no different (or no change), worse, or much worse since COVID19 and lockdown. Ratings were nested within participants (Individuals provided multiple ratings) and some ratings were also nested within treatment service (services received multiple ratings). The nested structure was accounted for using cross classified ordinal logistic multilevel models. Findings: While the overall average suggested only a slight negative change in interactions (mean rating 2.93), there were substantial variations according to type of interaction, and between individuals. Reported change was more often negative for mental health services (Adjusted OR = 0.93 95% CI 0.17,0.90), and positive for pharmacies (3.03 95% CI 1.36, 5.93). The models found between-participant variation of around 10%, and negligible between-service variation of around 1% in ratings. Ratings didn't vary by individual age or gender but there was variation between areas. Conclusions: Substance use treatment service adaptations due to COVID19 lockdown led to both positive and negative service user experiences. Social network methods provide an effective way to describe complex system-wide interaction patterns, and to measure variations at the individual, service, and area level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Older age is associated with increased prevalence of sensory impairment and use of medicines. Objectives: To explore the daily "medicine journey" of older people with sensory impairment. Methods: The study used ethnographic-informed methods (using audio-, photo- and video-recordings, diary notes and semi-structured interviews with researchers) and involved community-dwelling adults (aged > 65) in Scotland, with visual and/or hearing impairment and using >4 medicines. Data analysis used the constant comparative method. Results: Fourteen older people with sensory impairment participated and used a mean of 11.0 (SD 5.0) medicines (range 5–22). Participants reported difficulties with medicine ordering, obtaining, storage, administration and disposal. They used elaborate strategies to manage their medicines including bespoke storage systems, fixed routines, simple aids, communication, and assistive technologies. Conclusion: Older people with sensory impairment experience substantial burden, challenges and risk with medicines management. Tailored medicine regimens and assistive technologies could provide greater support to older people with sensory impairment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: In Scotland, a third of all deaths of people experiencing homelessness (PExH) are street-drug-related, and less than half of their multiple physical- and mental health conditions are treated. New, holistic interventions are required to address these health inequalities. PHOENIx (Pharmacist Homeless Outreach Engagement and Non-medical Independent prescribing Rx) is delivered on outreach by National Health Service (NHS) pharmacist independent prescribers in partnership with third sector homelessness charity workers. We describe participant's perspectives of PHOENIx. Methods: This study aims to understand experiences of the PHOENIx intervention by participants recruited into the active arm of a pilot randomised controlled trial (RCT). Semi-structured in-person interviews explored participants' evaluation of the intervention. In this study, the four components (coherence, cognitive participation, collective action, reflexive monitoring) of the Normalisation Process Theory (NPT) framework underpinned data collection and analyses. Results: We identified four themes that were interpreted within the NPT framework that describe participant evaluation of the PHOENIx intervention: differentiating the intervention from usual care (coherence), embedding connection and consistency in practice (cognitive participation), implementation of practical and emotional operational work (collective action), and lack of power and a commitment to long-term support (reflexive monitoring). Participants successfully engaged with the intervention. Facilitators for participant motivation included the relationship-based work created by the PHOENIx team. This included operational work to fulfil both the practical and emotional needs of participants. Barriers included concern regarding power imbalances within the sector, a lack of long-term support and the impact of the intervention concluding. Conclusions: Findings identify and describe participants' evaluations of the PHOENIx intervention. NPT is a theoretical framework facilitating understanding of experiences, highlighting both facilitators and barriers to sustained engagement and investment. Our findings inform future developments regarding a subsequent definitive RCT of PHOENIx, despite challenges brought about by challenging micro and macro-economic and political landscapes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

By focusing on individualised theories of entrepreneurship, mainstream entrepreneurship literature often marginalises entrepreneurship as a product of collaborative action. Addressing this limitation, our emphasis on collective entrepreneurship is contextualised in the setting of low-income communities and draws out three important components: collective ownership, collective processes and collective goods. Through our qualitative research into two community organisations in the West of Scotland, we demonstrate the important interplay of each component. We provide a deeper understanding of the dynamics at play as collective forms of entrepreneurial behaviour result in community actors empowered to pursue a commercial activity, negotiate with the state and exploit existing and newly emerging social and cultural capital. Our theoretical contribution explains the linkages and connections of the three components to better understand collective entrepreneurship in low-income communities and entrepreneurial processes more generally. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The lower limb of the Atlantic meridional overturning circulation (AMOC) is the equatorward flow of dense waters formed through the cooling and freshening of the poleward‐flowing upper limb. In the subpolar North Atlantic (SPNA), upper limb variability is primarily set by the North Atlantic Current, whereas lower limb variability is less well understood. Using observations from a SPNA mooring array, we show that variability of the AMOC's lower limb is connected to poleward flow in the interior Irminger Sea. We identify this poleward flow as the northward branch of the Irminger Gyre (IG), accounting for 55% of the AMOC's lower limb variability. Over 2014–2018, wind stress curl fluctuations over the Labrador and Irminger Seas drive this IG and AMOC variability. On longer (>annual) timescales, however, an increasing trend in the thickness of intermediate water, from 2014 to 2020, within the Irminger Sea coincides with a decreasing trend in IG strength. Plain Language Summary: In the subpolar North Atlantic, warm salty waters get transported northwards by the upper branch of the meridional overturning circulation. As they travel northwards, they transform: cooling, densifying, and sinking. The cooler deeper waters then get transported back southwards toward the equator in the lower branch of the overturning circulation. The transformation and transport of these waters plays a critical role in our climate system. However, the lower branch of the overturning circulation and the mechanisms controlling how it changes are still not well understood. Observations from a fixed array of moorings between Greenland and Scotland are used here to identify the interior (away from land boundaries) Irminger Sea as a region important for the overturning's lower branch. Specifically, we find that a closed system of currents in the western Irminger Sea, known as the Irminger Gyre, plays an important role in the overturning's variability. Gyre strength is then linked to the recirculation of newly transformed waters that get exported as part of the overturning's lower branch. Finally, we investigate the impact of the atmosphere on Irminger Sea circulation and find that fluctuations of the winds are important drivers of change in this gyre and the overturning. Key Points: The interior Irminger Sea, where the poleward limb of the Irminger Gyre (IG) dominates, is a hotspot for the overturning's lower limb variabilityA trend in IG transport is linked to deep intermediate water masses found in the Irminger SeaWind stress curl over the Labrador and Irminger Seas drives IG and Atlantic meridional overturning circulation variability [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]