Vulnerability of blue carbon stocks to disturbance in sediments with low burial efficiency

Continental shelf sediments – particularly soft, muddy habitats - serve as significant reservoirs of organic carbon over glacial-interglacial timescales and are subject to disturbance, notably from mobile bottom fishing gear. The quantity and quality of accumulated organic carbon varies across shelf environments, with muds storing more organic carbon than other substrate types. For effective marine management, it has been recommended that the reactivity, or ‘quality’, of organic matter should be considered when assessing the vulnerability of sedimentary carbon to disturbance. If management interventions are to be made to protect vulnerable organic carbon reservoirs on the seafloor, then it is also important to consider the burial efficiency of carbon. In areas of rapid sediment accumulation, carbon will be moved from surface to geological reservoirs more quickly, thus facilitating carbon sequestration. In this study, we assess the quantity, quality, and accumulation rate of organic carbon in the muddy depocenter of the Fladen Ground, northern North Sea - an area of low active sediment accumulation, with both historic and ongoing bottom trawling. All sediment cores analysed in this study display upwards coarsening of surface sediments, consistent with sediment disturbance and winnowing. Southern Fladen Ground sediments are especially well sorted, depleted in total organic carbon, and enriched in calcium carbonate - patterns that align with intensified trawling. Our results show very low modern organic carbon accumulation rates (∼0.7 g C m−2 yr−1), low organic matter reactivity (18.5 % labile), and that modern trawl events can potentially disturb sediments and carbon accumulated over the last ∼2300 years. These results indicate that sediment and organic carbon accumulation rates are an important consideration when assessing the vulnerability of sedimentary carbon.</p

Cultural funding and financing. A guide to new and traditional models in arts and culture

This edited open access volume offers a comprehensive analysis of new and traditional funding models for the arts and culture. In the economic and political contexts of reduced art funding, the book takes an objective, pragmatic and heterodox approach to demonstrate how financial sustainability in the arts can be achieved via a range of top-down and bottom-up mechanisms which are valued either in terms of institutional or crowd-based legitimacy. The book aims to offer both a scholarly interpretation of established and emerging funding and financing practices within the cultural and creative sector, as well as guidance for artists, creators, and cultural programmers through various case studies and multiple examples of current practices. Contributions are divided into three sections. Section one outlines the most important traditional tools and models, while the second part covers the key contemporary practices premised on the use of digital platforms, and the final part introduces several case studies. The objective of this volume is to demonstrate that while traditional models show no signs of being supplanted, digitalisation has facilitated the emergence of new forms. Such an evolution has consequences for creators of works as well as those willing to support them. The contributions address these issues by investigating and analysing the individual or combined adoption of traditional and new funding and financing models in a post-digital context

Water and sulfate management manipulates soil arsenic cycling at the fine scale

Arsenic (As) is a carcinogenic environmental contaminant whose dissolution and speciation are strongly related to sulfate reactions, including reduction-oxidation, precipitation, complexation, and the microbial activities of sulfate-reducing bacteria. In lowland rice paddy fields, the interaction between As and sulfate are highly variable due to the sharp oxic/anoxic transition in the upper soils and the strongly reducing condition in the lower soils. Both water and sulfate managements have been demonstrated to reduce As bioavailability. However, interactions between these processes at sub-centimeter scales within paddy soil profiles are poorly understood and could even lead to enhanced As mobilization. To address this knowledge gap, we established mesocosms with mine-impacted soil under continuous or intermittent flooding, with and without sulfate addition. Millimeter-scale in situ profiles of dissolved AsIII, S-II and FeII were obtained using diffusive gradients in thin-films (DGT) and diffusive equilibration in thin-films (DET), and these were complemented by centimeter-scale soil DNA sampling to quantify the abundance of functional microbial groups. Our results show that high sulfate concentrations enhance AsIII in the near-surface 0-2 cm layer of the soil profile (near the soil-water interface) under continuous flooding, while in the anaerobic zone (below 4 cm), sulfate inhibits AsIII mobilization by facilitating the reduction of FeIII and SO4 2- to FeII and S-II through the enhanced activity of iron- and sulfate-reducing bacteria. The subsequent FeS precipitation adsorbs As, thereby reducing AsIII availability by 40%. Additionally, in this mesocosm experiment, differences in As mobilization between continuous and intermittent flooding were evident only in the near-surface 0-2 cm layer, with similar As profiles observed below 2 cm depth. This study provides insights into As migration and transformation mechanisms across soil depths under varying redox conditions and sulfate levels. Under flooded conditions, high-concentration sulfate increase AsIII mobility in this near-surface 0-2 cm layer, whereas intermittent flooding reduces its mobility. These findings inform remediation strategies for As contamination in high-sulfate soils

Cross-scale chip removal process analysis and optimization using hybrid CFD-DEM simulation

Drilling is a critical process in the manufacturing of aerospace components, and the quality of drilled connection holes directly determines the service reliability of high-end equipment. During drilling, different materials produce chips of varying sizes (ranging from micrometers to millimeters), leading to issues such as high temperature and tool wear. Efficient removal of these multi-scale chips is essential for improving drilling quality. However, the narrow and complex internal structure of enclosed or semi-enclosed chip removal systems often result in inefficient chip evacuation. In addition, experimental observation of airflow and chip velocity within such system is challenging, hence numerical simulation of the chip removal process become a practical alternative. This study utilizes a hybrid approach combining CFD and DEM simulation (CFD-DEM) to systematically investigate the characteristics of cross-scale chip removal processes. Simulation results show that the diffused airflow and low/negative velocity flow regions of the existing system are unfavorable for chip removal. To address this issue, different eccentric designs and diversion holes were introduced, and their impacts on the chip removal performance have been evaluated. The results were then used to guide the optimization of the chip removal system. Through combined/optimized eccentric design and diversion hole design, the overall chip removal performance of the system shows a significant improvement (48.27%)

Scarring and selection in the Great Irish Famine

How do famines shape the health of survivors? We examine the long-term impact of the Great Irish Famine (1845–1852) on human stature, distinguishing between adverse scarring effects and the apparent resilience of survivors due to selection. Using anthropometric data from over 14,500 individuals born before, during, and after this famine, we find that selection effects were most pronounced in areas with the highest mortality rates. Individuals born in severely affected regions exhibited no evidence of stunted growth, indicating that the Famine disproportionately eliminated the most vulnerable. In contrast, stunting is observed only in areas with lower excess mortality, where selective pressures were weaker. These findings contribute to debates on the biological consequences of extreme catastrophic risks, demonstrating how selection effects can obscure long-term health deterioration. More broadly, our study provides a methodological framework for assessing selection in historical anthropometric research

Tensile behaviour of basalt textile-reinforced mortar (TRM) composites at intermediate strain rates for structural strengthening

Textile-reinforced mortar (TRM) composites have become a preferred solution for strengthening masonry and concrete structures owing to their durability, ease of application, and compatibility. The quasi-static tensile response of TRMs is well established; however, their performance under dynamic loading remains poorly understood. This study investigates the tensile behaviour of BTRM composites at strain rates ranging from 10−5 to 9/s, using high-speed servo-hydraulic and Zwick testing systems and the digital image correlation (DIC) technique. Two specimen preparation methods were explored: moulded (M) and cut (C). The BTRM composites demonstrated strain-hardening behaviour, displaying bi-linear or tri-linear stress-strain responses depending on the strain rate and specimen type. C specimens maintained relatively consistent mechanical properties across the strain rates, while M specimens experienced enhanced first cracking stress, tensile strength, strain capacity, and toughness beyond 5/s. The post-cracking stiffness and efficiency of the reinforcing grid were reduced with increasing strain rate, with efficiency factors dropping from &gt;0.9 in quasi-static tests to as low as 0.5 under dynamic loading. The common failure mechanisms were multiple cracking, grid rupture and telescopic failures. Extensive grid pullout and delamination failures were observed only under dynamic loading conditions. Compared to glass and carbon TRM composites, BTRMs at dynamic strain rates showed similar stress-strain relationships but lower strength and strain capacity. The results reveal the potential and constraints of BTRMs in dynamic structural applications, pointing to the need for stronger grid-to-mortar interactions to improve performance at dynamic strain rates.<br/

Postdigital epistemology

This entry discusses epistemology with respect to the postdigital condition. It provides a necessarily simple overview of traditional and social epistemology, before discussing what postdigital epistemology means in online environments where distortions in knowledge practices and procedures can be difficult to detect and rectify. The procedures are the same as with offline epistemology, requiring research and digital literacy, the motivation to evaluate, verify, evaluate, compare, and contrast, and an open mind about the truth claims of any assertion or image

Project delivery system selection via overlapping strategy: a multi-mode resource-constrained scheduling model

The continuous evolution of the project delivery system (PDS) in recent years has posed a conundrum to practitioners in choosing the appropriate PDS for a project. This study tries to solve this challenge from the perspective of the overlapping strategy. An optimal PDS should balance overlapping and rework by analysing the relationships between project activities. This study develops a multiple overlapping modes resource-constrained project scheduling problem with a generalised precedence relations (MOM-RCPSP-GPR) model. This model generalises the traditional precedence constraints between activities and extends the search space for better resource usage compared to the current overlap literature. It adopts innovative hybrid methods based on heuristics and genetic algorithms. Computational experiments and a case study are conducted to verify the effectiveness and efficiency of the framework and its application in practice. The results show that the proposed model can better reflect the overlapping role compared to existing research, and the adopted hybrid approach can effectively solve this problem. Hence, this study contributes to the literature on overlapping and PDS selection and has substantial practical applicability.<br/

Postdigital literacies

Literacy researchers across various perspectives have demonstrated a notable agility in responding to the emergence of digital technologies and their impacts on literacy practices. As digital technologies permeate human existence, writing and other literacy practices occur in postdigital literacy ecologies. Examining how literacy is bound up postdigitally in everyday life offers opportunities to comprehend the complex relationships between technology, society, and individuals. It also reflects ongoing efforts in Literacy Studies to understand the social, epistemological, and ideological nature of mediatized representation as occurring at the level of everyday literacy