Framework for food governance in Bangladesh

This thesis was submitted for the award of Doctor of Philosophy and was awarded by Brunel University LondonThis thesis investigates the issue of food adulteration in Bangladesh through the lens of systemic governance, with a focus on its profound socio-economic and public health ramifications. It critically examines how the historical evolution of governance mechanisms, fragmented legal frameworks, overlapping institutional mandates, and ineffective enforcement mechanisms have perpetuated food adulteration. This thesis contends that addressing this problem necessitates a preventive, governance-oriented strategy rather than reactionary enforcement approaches. The strengthening and optimisation of existing regulatory frameworks is key to tackling systemic inefficiencies and reducing consumer vulnerabilities. Additionally, preventive regulation, multi-stakeholder collaboration, and gradual improvements are identified as foundational pillars for meaningful progress. Technological advancements and consumer empowerment are pointed out as important drivers of long-term regulatory effectiveness. In emphasising the interconnected roles of the law, government and society, this thesis integrates socio-legal methodology with doctrinal analysis, historical inquiry, and comparative insights. This desk-based research critiques the deficiencies of Bangladesh’s existing food safety governance structures by drawing on international best practices, particularly those recommended by the Codex Alimentarius and United Nations. It synthesises legal analysis with policy-driven insights by drawing from case law, legislation, academic publications, regulatory reports, media sources, and legal commentaries across various jurisdictions to develop a governance blueprint tailored to Bangladesh’s institutional and socio-economic context. This thesis concludes that reorganising internal governance, forming collaborative partnerships with industry, and actively empowering consumers are the three areas where the government must take the lead to effectuate change. However, regulatory systems must be continuously adjusted and improved, as complete eradication of food adulteration remains an unrealistic goal. A preferable approach could be to adopt modest adjustments through open communication rather than attempting to achieve perfection all at once. The safety of Bangladesh's food supply and the overall health of the population depend on this collaborative and preventative model

From silos to synthesis: ensuring interdisciplinary education through synoptic assessment

Modular education limits students to narrow perspectives without interdisciplinary connections and leads to in silo learning. We show here how embedding synoptic assessments in the BSc Life Sciences at Brunel University has broken such silos to support holistic understanding and critical thinking

Traditional methods, consumers’ stereotyping of farmers and the compensatory effects of ethical food cues

Purpose: Attesting to the growing interest in ethical food, scholarship has examined how consumers respond to different cues associated with food ethicality. However, the psychological mechanisms through which ethical food cues shape consumer preferences have been overlooked. Focusing on an underexamined cue (traditional production methods) and drawing from the Stereotype Content Model, this study aims to examine whether a warmth stereotyping of farmers may explain the influence of this cue on consumer preferences. Moreover, the paper also explores how the interaction of cues of localness and traditionality affect consumers’ perceptions of farmers. The paper documents compensatory effects between traditional methods and localness in specific circumstances. Design/methodology/approach: Two online experiments (Study 1, n = 291; Study 2, n = 183) were conducted to test the hypotheses. This paper manipulates farming methods and localness and measure perceptions of warmth and consumer responses to the profile of a fictitious farm. A model of moderated mediation is examined which identifies compensatory effects between traditional farming methods and perceptions of localness. Findings: A warm stereotype of farmers explains the positive effect of traditional farming methods and localness on consumers’ food attitudes and preferences. Furthermore, different ethical cues can have a compensatory effect on consumers’ perceptions of warmth. Specifically, for consumers with strong opposition to long supply chains, the adoption of traditional farming methods compensates for the perceived warmth of geographically distant farmers. Thus, consumers who would usually dislike distant farmers retain a positive impression of them if these farmers can boast traditional farming cues. Furthermore, we find no evidence of an additive effect between traditional farming methods and localness on warmth: the addition of the two cues does not significantly increase perceptions of warmth. Research limitations/implications: The study demonstrates that the social perception of farmers plays a key role in food preferences and the perception of ethical cues in food consumption. Moreover, it shows how different cues may influence perceptions of warmth depending on consumers’ involvement. Practical implications: For the promotion of ethical food systems, farmers could increase favourable consumer attitudes by foregrounding the ethical cues of localness and traditional farming methods. Originality/value: The results extend our understanding of the mechanisms underpinning preferences for ethical food and explicate how multiple ethical cues influence ethical food consumption

Differential roles of cyclin–CDK1 complexes in cell migration and invasion

Data and resource availability: All relevant data can be found within the article and its supplementary information available online at: https://journals.biologists.com/jcs/article/138/13/jcs263697/368562/Differential-roles-of-cyclin-CDK1-complexes-in#supplementary-data .We have previously described a central role for CDK1 at the nexus of adhesion signalling and cell cycle progression, demonstrating that CDK1 has a non-canonical role in regulating integrin adhesion complexes and in the migration of cancer cells in 3D interstitial matrix. Here, we show that the CDK1-binding partners cyclinB1 and cyclinA2 also have roles in cell migration and invasion in both cancer and non-transformed cells. CyclinB1 plays a key role in RhoA activation to promote rear retraction in a membrane tension-dependent manner, whereas cyclinA2 has a general role in promoting motility. Knockdown of either cyclin significantly perturbs migration with contrasting phenotypes, whereas knockdown of both together has an additive effect, which arrests both migration and division. Our findings therefore describe how cyclin–CDK1 complexes orchestrate migration as well as division of cells, and that cyclinA2–CDK1 and cyclinB1–CDK1 complexes play distinct roles in motility.This work is supported by an Academy of Medical Sciences Springboard Award and an Action Bladder Cancer IOPP grant to M.C.J. J.H.R.H., M.H. and P.T.C. are supported by Cancer Research UK (DCRPGF\100002) and the Wellcome Trust (203128/A/16/Z and 226804/Z/22/Z). M.J.J. is supported by a Peninsula Medical School PhD Studentship award. Open Access funding provided by University of Manchester

A Multi-Objective Genetic Programming with Size Diversity for Symbolic Regression Problem

Genetic programming has been positioned as a fit-for-purpose approach for symbolic regression. Researchers tend to select algorithms that produce a model with low complexity and high accuracy. Multi-objective genetic programming (MOGP) is a promising approach for finding appropriate models by considering tradeoffs between accuracy and complexity. The MOGP has gained significant attention for non-dominated sorting genetic algorithm II (NSGA-II). However, NSGA-II tends to excessively select individuals of lower complexity, making NSGA-II inefficient in real world applications. SD can be a strategy to promote the evolutionary process by adapting selection pressures for individuals of various size. It deals with the excessive tendency to select low complexity individuals in NSGA-II.We also introduce a practical industrial case of defect detection for dispensing machines. By modeling the dispensing volume of the fluid dispensing systems, defects in the dispensing machine can be detected under different external environmental factors.For the validation of SD, other MOGP algorithms are compared with the improved NSGA-II algorithm, NSGA-II with SD. By comparing multi-objective optimization methods tested on seven general datasets and an industrial case about defect prediction, the experimental results show that performance of the proposed approach is superior or same to other models in terms of accuracy. In terms of complexity, performance of the proposed approach is satisfactory.10.13039/501100001809-National Natural Science Foundation of China

Rising compound hot-dry extremes engendering more inequality in human exposure risks

Data availability: Data analyzed during the current study is the NASA Earth Exchange Global Daily Downscaled Projections (NEX-GDDP-CMIP6) gridded dataset distributed data archive [https://ds.nccs.nasa.gov/].Supplementary information is available online at: https://www.nature.com/articles/s44304-025-00119-x#Sec16 .Compound hot-dry events, with their amplified negative impacts on ecosystems and societies, are attracting growing attention. This study investigates the global-scale inequality and risks of hot-dry compound events under various shared socioeconomic pathways (SSP) scenarios, considering hazards, exposure, and vulnerability. Results show a worldwide increase in hot-dry extreme events and population exposure by mid-century (2041–2070), with variations among scenarios and regions. Climate factors are identified as the primary contributors to future changes in population exposure. SSP1-2.6 shows lower risks than SSP5-8.5 notably. Spatially, ASIA and the Middle East and Africa (MAF) will likely face higher exposure risks due to large populations, lower income levels and aging demographics, which amplify climate impacts. Under SSP3-7.0, rapid population growth introduces greater uncertainty in exposure estimates, particularly in ASIA, MAF, Latin America and the Caribbean (LAM). Aging populations, especially under SSP3-7.0 and SSP5-8.5 scenarios, exacerbate exposure risks through climate-demographic interactions.This paper is supported by the Academy of Medical Sciences, British Academy, Royal Academy of Engineering, Royal Society and the International Science Partnerships Fund (NGR2\1867)

Introduction to the Research Handbook on the International Court of Justice

This Research Handbook presents an in-depth examination of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) and its jurisprudence. Contributing authors dissect the global governance functions of the ICJ and its impact on national legal orders worldwide.This project was funded by the CaPE Project, Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions, grant agreement number 708228, Horizon 2020

Circular economy and taxation: The implications for tax policy

Magazine articleWe consider how a move towards a circular economy can bridge the gap for sustainable growth - and how this would impact tax policy

Development and optimization of a photoautotrophic phycoerythrin production process

Data availability: The experimental data underlying this work have been uploaded here: https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.17633/rd.brunel.25880428.v1.Acknowledgements: The authors would like to acknowledge the excellent technical team at Brunel University London in particular Mr. Paul Josse, Mr. Paul Barrett, Mr. William Pierce and Mr. William Schkzamian for their assistance in constructing the photobioreactors.Supplementary Information is available onlineat: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10811-025-03524-x#Sec9 .Phycoerythrin is a pink pigment produced by photosynthetic microorganisms which has potential to be used as a sustainable colorant in the food, cosmetics and textile industries. In order for this to happen it is necessary to identify suitable strains for large-scale production and develop and optimize production processes. Relatively few species of red algae have been evaluated for their biotechnological potential and to address this gap this work examined five different species of red algae and three cyanobacteria to identify the most suitable candidates for phycoerythrin production. Results from initial screening experiments found a wide range of specific phycoerythrin contents (0.75–28 mg g−1). The four most promising species (Porphyridium purpureum, Rhodella violacea, Timspurckia oligopyrenoides and Flintiella sanguinaria) were grown in 3-L photobioreactors; of the species examined it was found that P. purpureum and R. violacea had the highest growth rate (approximately 0.6 day^−1). As part of the scale-up process it was found that ensuring sufficient nitrate was available in the medium was key in maintaining a high specific phycoerythrin content, with maximum values being 170 ± 34 mg g^−1 for P. purpureum and 120 ± 60 mg g^−1 for R. violacea. Increasing the applied light intensity led to increases in the cell density (to a maximum of 3.46 ± 0.36 g L^−1 for P. purpureum), while the specific phycoerythrin content was generally constant. Applying these insights led to a final volumetric phycoerythrin concentration of 360 ± 37 mg L^−1 for P. purpureum this being a 50-fold improvement over the original values. Results from this work provide valuable data about the growth and phycoerythrin productivity of diverse species of red algae as well as providing valuable insights into how the phycoerythrin production can be optimized.Not applicable

Macroeconomic shocks and income inequality: An empirical investigation on the distributional channels of monetary policy and oil price news shocks

This thesis was submitted for the award of Doctor of Philosophy and was awarded by Brunel University LondonThis thesis provides a deeper insight into the connection between macroeconomic shocks and income inequality across various economies. Through empirical analysis of the distributional channels of propagation, the study reveals that macroeconomic shocks, such as monetary policy and oil price news, impact the income distribution asymmetrically. This observation is consistent across both economies studied, the US and the UK. Particularly, a contractionary monetary policy shock in the UK is found to produce an increase in inequality through the earnings heterogeneity and income composition channel. While low-income households are mainly left unaffected due to their high exposure to social benefits, high-income households race away because of the higher proportion of capital income components. These asymmetric effects also exist in the US, an economy investigated by looking at the time-varying effects of a contractionary monetary policy shock. In line with previous findings in the UK, the study finds that the same channels are in place. However, by adding another layer of complexity to the model, the study shows that the US income distribution became more responsive to monetary contractions in the more recent periods of the sample. This is mainly rooted in the dominant effects of the capital income components leading to a stronger effect of the income composition channel. Finally, the thesis examines a different macroeconomic shock: oil price news shocks. When including all deciles of the income distribution in the modelling approach the asymmetric effects of these shocks again are detected. The overall picture i.e. capital income components make up a significant part of rich households and hence, are the main drivers for the different reactions of this group, is confirmed