UK National Survey on Attitudes to AI Companions: Aggregate Data

To ascertain how the British public feel about AI companions, we conducted a UK-wide demographically representative national survey (implemented by professional company Walnut Unlimited - a human understanding agency, part of the Unlimited Group), across 10-12 December 2024, 2073 respondents aged 18 years or over, online omnibus). This was a part of a Responsible AI award, to create soft governance of autonomous systems that interact with human emotions and/or emulate empathy. The survey asks 22 closed-ended, multiple-choice questions on AI companions. The first set of questions (Q.1-2) glean participants’ familiarity with, and usage of, companion apps. The second set of questions (Q.3-4) explore the acceptability of design features of AI companions. The third set of questions (Q.5-7) explore the broad benefits and concerns from using AI companions. The fourth set of questions (Q.8-13) explore views on children and companion apps. The fifth set of questions (Q.14-15) explore views on older adults and companion apps. The sixth set of questions (Q.16-18) explore views on mental health issues and companion apps. The seventh set of questions (Q.19-21) explore views on desired governance of companion apps to consider the practicalities of what societies should do about AI companions, if anything. The final question (Q.22) is an evaluative question on whether participants feel AI companions are generally a positive or negative addition to society

Mapping Contributions of the Anterior Temporal Semantic Hub to the Processing of Abstract and Concrete Verbs

Multiple representation theories of semantic processing propose that word meaning is supported by simulated sensorimotor experience in modality-specific neural regions, as well as in cognitive systems that involve processing of linguistic, emotional, and introspective information. According to the Hub and Spoke Model of Semantic Memory, activity from these distributed cortical areas feeds into a primary semantic hub located in the ventral anterior temporal lobe (vATL). In the present pre-registered study, we examined whether different types of abstract verbs (mental, emotional, nonembodied) and concrete (embodied) verbs all engage the vATL, and also whether they differentially recruit a broader set of distributed neurocognitive systems (consistent with multiple representation theories). Finally, we investigated whether there is information about different verb types distributed across the broader ATL region, consistent with a Graded Semantic Hub Hypothesis. We collected data from 30 participants who completed a syntactic classification task (is it a verb? Yes or no) and a numerical judgement task which served as an active but less semantic baseline task. Whole brain univariate analyses revealed consistent BOLD signal throughout the canonical semantic network, including the left inferior frontal gyrus, left middle temporal gyrus, and the vATL. All types of abstract verbs engaged the vATL except for mental state verbs. Finally, a multivariate pattern analysis revealed clusters within the ATL that were differentially engaged when processing each type of abstract verb. Our findings extend previous research and suggest that the hub-and-spoke hypothesis and the graded semantic hub hypothesis provide a neurobiologically constrained model of semantics that can account for abstract verb representation and processing

Investigating the relationship between language exposure and explicit and implicit language attitudes towards Welsh and English

Positive attitudes toward regional/minority languages are an essential precondition to language maintenance/revitalization. We investigate implicit and explicit attitudes toward Welsh and English and their relationship with childhood and adolescent age exposure among adult Welsh speakers from northwest Wales. Results indicate that implicit and explicit attitude constructs diverge and therefore bear differentially on language maintenance/revitalization.Specifically, comparing speaker data from the Language and Social Background Questionnaire with results from two independent studies, employing the Attitudes towards Languages (AToL) Scale and an Implicit Association Task respectively, we show that the implicit measure reveals a positive correlation between attitudes and exposure in primary school age. Conversely, the AToL returned no statistically significant factors, suggesting differential sensitivity of the explicit and implicit measures.We argue that an understanding of both types of attitude constructs, and attending to exposure levels especially as they relate to intergenerational transmission, is necessary to implement an effective language maintenance/revitalization strategy

Environmental Product Declaration (EPD) of LUMIN® TRP Plywood

This study presents a comprehensive Lifecycle Assessment (LCA) of LUMIN® TRP Plywood (Mill 2), leading to the development of an Environmental Product Declaration (EPD) in accordance with EN 15804: 2012 + A2: 2019 and PCR 2019:14 v1.3.4. The cradle-to-gate analysis evaluates environmental impacts, including materials, transport, energy use, and end-of-life considerations, ensuring no process exclusions. The assessment highlights LUMIN's sustainable forest management practices in Uruguay, where eucalyptus plantations provide a reliable and environmentally responsible timber supply.The results indicate that per 1m³ of LUMIN® TRP Plywood, 410.46 kg CO₂e is emitted, reducing to -492.10 kg CO₂e when biogenic carbon uptake is considered. Resin usage is identified as the major environmental hotspot, contributing over 70% of greenhouse gas emissions, with transport playing a secondary role. Despite higher resin-related emissions, the biogenic carbon uptake of eucalyptus results in a strong environmental performance. The study underscores the significance of material selection, energy efficiency, and biomass utilisation in reducing the overall environmental impact of plywood production

A feasibility trial of an early childhood, violence prevention, parenting program integrated into early childhood educational provision in Jamaica: A study protocol

Violence against children (VAC) is a global public health issue that can lead to long-lasting negative consequences for child outcomes. The Irie Homes Toolbox (IHT) is an early childhood, violence-prevention, parenting program designed for integration into early childhood educational services in Jamaica. We have previously shown that the program is effective in reducing child maltreatment when implemented by the research team. For wide-scale dissemination, the IHT needs to be delivered by preschool staff as part of their routine duties. We adapted the IHT using results from our previous evaluations and we are conducting a mixed-method feasibility trial of the IHT fully integrated into preschool provision. Twenty-four basic schools in Kingston and St Andrew, Jamaica have been randomly assigned to intervention (n=12) or wait-list control (n=12) with ten caregivers per school participating in the study (240 caregivers, 120/group). The intervention is delivered through twelve, weekly, one-hour sessions by a preschool teacher with groups of ten caregivers of children aged 2-6 years. An ongoing process evaluation includes quantitative measures of caregiver attendance, teacher compliance, and fidelity of intervention implementation and qualitative measures of enablers and barriers to implementation and suggestions for improvement. In the impact evaluation, the primary outcome is frequency of caregivers’ use of violence against their child. Secondary outcomes are caregiver attitudes to violence, preferences for harsh punishment, involvement with their child and child conduct problems. All outcomes are measured through caregiver-report. The results of the study will be used to inform revisions of the IHT for implementation at scale

Duncan Bush's Welsh Petrofiction: Energy Transition and Neoliberalism in 'Glass Shot'

Duncan Bush’s novel 'Glass Shot', set in south Wales during the 1984 Miners’ Strike, registers the social effects of the final shift from a south Walian economy and community organised around the extraction of coal to one based on individual consumption and the servicing of oil-based products . I argue that the novel critiques the car as a symbol of a dangerous individualism that – through its attendant ideas about the backwardness of Welsh coal communities and the future-orientation of American petroculture – lays the ideological groundwork for the ‘breaking of the miners’ and the neoliberal economy that follows. By making this case, I hope to show how a petro-critical approach to Welsh literature can deepen understanding of our own energy history, and remind us, as we embark on a green energy transition, of the need to put community and social justice at the heart of any change

Photonic-assisted Broadband RF Receivers with Low IF Frequencies Based on Kramers-Kronig Processing

A simplified photonic-based Radio Frequency (RF) receiver with a low intermediate frequency (IF) is proposed and experimentally demonstrated by utilizing direct detection and Kramers-Kronig (KK) processing. In the proposed approach, the RF and local oscillator (LO)signals are modulated onto an optical carrier using a dual-drive Mach-Zehnder modulator (DDMZM) biased at a minimum transmission point. The modulated optical signal is then directed to a single photodetector (PD) to produce the IF signal, which is designed to fall within1.5 times the bandwidth of the RF signal. KK processing effectively mitigates the signal-signal beat interference (SSBI) when the frequency gap between the RF signal and the LO signal is 1.5 times less than the bandwidth of the RF signal, thus enabling the generation of a low IF signal. This allows for subsequent processing with a low-speed PD and an analog-to-digital converter operating at a lower sampling rate. Experimental validation using a 16-QAM RFvector signal showsthat KK processing reducesthe error vector magnitude (EVM) of the downconverted 16-QAM signal to 4.61%, compared to 18.57% without it, when no frequency gap exists. This approach provides a streamlined design and straightforward implementation for photonic RF down-conversion