Queer pedagogies: insights for the international studies classroom from an international perspective

Most pedagogical interventions default to heteronormative and cisnormative assumptions, marginalizing queer and trans perspectives, literatures, and experiences. This chapter considers both the political risk as well as transformative potential of “queer pedagogy.” Central to debates about how to teach lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) topics in the international studies classroom are definitional questions related to what issues are “LGBTQ,” and how to adopt an inclusive pedagogical approach. This chapter explores the politics of queer pedagogy, the queer politics of studying sexuality in the international studies classroom, and how engaging in a queer pedagogy in teaching IR relates to the push for queer inclusion on campuses. Finally, the chapter reflects on the backlash faced by those doing this work in higher education today.<br/

The Honest Ulsterman and poetic depictions of the Troubles (1968–1986)

Quite often cited as the beginning of the Ulster ‘Troubles’, summer 1968 was also the season the poet James Simmons established the Honest Ulsterman. This little magazine would run until summer 2003 and was reestablished as an online journal in 2014. From its first issues, it published work by prominent writers from across the globe as well as Northern Irish poetry, prose and criticism. Conterminous with the rise of the Heaney Generation, the Honest Ulsterman was instrumental in providing a platform for Paul Muldoon, Ciaran Carson and Medbh McGuckian, as well as already established poets such as Padraig Fiacc. All too aware of the international turmoil of 1968, in his editorial for the debut issue Simmons identified the moment as a ‘watershed in history’. Although he may have hoped, he didn’t know that the Honest Ulsterman would become the site of a very specific aesthetic watershed in literary history, where Irish poetry was forced to confront head-on political violence. Throughout the mid-1970s, as the ‘Troubles’ intensified, the Honest Ulsterman became a forum where writers debated – often heatedly – the ethics of addressing sociopolitical upheaval in verse. The eminent instance is Ciaran Carson’s review of Seamus Heaney’s North from the 1975 winter issue. The young poet took issue with what he perceived as unethical historiography, crass image-making and poetic exploitation. This paper will investigate the extent to which contributions to the Honest Ulsterman throughout the mid-1970s played a role in forging new aesthetical and ethical understanding of poetry’s relationship with politics, one which would have drastic formal consequences in ‘postmodernist’ Northern poetry in the succeeding decade. Key here will be Heaney’s and Carson’s still-unacknowledged debt to Fiacc, who incorporated violent sectarianism within his poetry years before North, whilst holding to self-described principles of verisimilitude and authenticity decades before Carson’s long-lined and kitchen-sinked collection the Irish for No (1987).<br/

The role of mathematical vocabulary in the development of mathematical skills for Spanish-speaking students

Does mathematical vocabulary predict the change in students’ performance on mathematical tasks from one academic year to the next? Chilean Spanish-speaking students (N = 87) completed measures of mathematical vocabulary, mathematical skills (i.e., arithmetic fluency, calculation, and applied problems), receptive vocabulary, and working memory in Grade 2 (T1, Mage = 7:11 years:months, SD = 0:5, 46% girls). One year later (T2) they completed the same mathematical measures. Concurrent relations were found between mathematical vocabulary and the three mathematical skills at both time points. Together, general and mathematical vocabulary at T1 explained significant unique variance in the change in applied problems and calculation from T1 to T2. For calculation however, only mathematical vocabulary predicted significant unique variance in the change from T1 to T2. Change in arithmetic fluency was only predicted by working memory. These results address the roles of general and mathematical vocabulary in students’ mathematical development in elementary school

Immune cell subsets in young kidney transplant recipients: mechanistic and clinical perspectives

Kidney transplantation provides the best survival advantage for children, adolescents, and young adults with end-stage kidney disease, yet this group paradoxically experiences the poorest long-term graft survival. Immune-mediated rejection is the predominant cause, but the cellular mechanisms that underpin this age-related disparity remain incompletely defined. This review synthesises current evidence on the impact of immune ageing across adaptive and innate compartments, focusing on T cells, B cells, and natural killer (NK) cells. In younger recipients, a large naïve T- and B-cell pool, robust thymic output, and efficient germinal centre activity confer heightened alloimmune reactivity, driving increased risk of acute cellular and antibody-mediated rejection. In contrast, older recipients exhibit features of immunosenescence, including loss of CD28 expression, accumulation of terminally differentiated effector subsets, impaired germinal centre responses, and attenuated NK cytotoxicity, resulting in diminished capacity to mount de novo responses but greater vulnerability to infection. These immune trajectories have direct clinical implications: younger recipients may require intensified, mechanism-targeted immunosuppression, whereas older recipients may be more amenable to minimisation or tolerance protocols. We further highlight emerging evidence for premature immunosenescence in paediatric dialysis populations, the contribution of age-associated B cells and NK subsets, and the role of immunophenotype-guided therapeutic strategies. Current uniform immunosuppression protocols inadequately account for developmental and age-related immune heterogeneity. We argue for an age- and immune phenotype–informed approach to therapy, integrating longitudinal immune profiling, biomarker development, and systems immunology to improve risk stratification, promote tolerance, and ultimately extend allograft survival across all age groups.<br/

Dataset for "Disease in the Cretaceous: A comparative study of Iguanodon and hadrosaur palaeopathology"

The following dataset represents the list of material and supplementary analyses for the thesis entitled “Disease in the Cretaceous - A Comparative Study of Iguanodon and Hadrosaur Palaeopathology”, reporting all the specimens from the visited museum collections and those published in the literature. Appendix 1 is a list of all the palaeopathological specimens known from the ornithopod literature, subdivided in 11 body parts. Appendices 2 to 4 represent the complete list of studied material, added to the literature revision, that describes each pathological element in the three morphotypes (corresponding to basal (e.g. Dryosaurus), “intermediate” (e.g. Iguanodon) and derived ornithopods e.g. (Edmontosaurus)). The specimens are subdivided into 16 body parts, as their identification was done personally, helping to discern between, for example, middle to distal caudals. Graphical representations are proposed at the end of each appendix. In Appendix 5, specimens belonging to Morphotype C from four museum collections are compared to each other, treated as different “populations”, with graphical distributions and codification for the linear regression, the latter done in the software SPSS. Appendix 6 is a complete schematical description of all caudal vertebrae from Morphotype C, reporting measurements and type of injuries/deformations. Although the studied specimens are listed in Appendix 2 to 4, their osteology is extensively described in Appendix 7, grouped per body regions between the three morphotypes. Some of the most peculiar and/or uncertain specimens were scanned via a microCT device, and their descriptions are reported in Appendix 8. A wide number of caudal neural spines from Appendix 4 are extensively described in Appendix 9 and listed in tables together with the angulation of the bending of the pathological spines. The final Appendix 10 corresponds to the published article about the palaeopathologies detected in the holotype of Parasaurolophus walkeri during the collection visit at the Royal Ontario Museum (Canada). The palaeopathological analysis provided an unexpected reevaluation of the neck musculature of the species. Included below is a list of the current filenames of the dataset and the corresponding thesis chapter in which they first appeared with original short file name: Appendix1: List of the published palaeopathological specimens in ornithopoda = Appendix1_Chapter2_Published_pathologies Appendix 2: List of palaeopathological specimens recognised in basal ornithopods (e.g. Dryosaurus) = Appendix2_Chapter3_MorphotypeA Appendix 3: List of palaeopathological specimens recognised in “intermediate” ornithopods (e.g. Iguanodon) = Appendix3_Chapter3_MorphotypeB Appendix 4: List of palaeopathological specimens recognised in derived ornithopods (e.g. Edmontosaurus) = Appendix4_Chapter3_MorphotypeC Appendix 5: Statistical overview and analysis of four museum collections of hadrosaurid specimens = Appendix5_Chapter3_Analysis Appendix 6: Schematical description of hadrosaurid caudal vertebrae = Appendix6_Chapter3_CaudalVertebrae Appendix 7: Osteological and pathological description of the palaeopathological specimens from the three morphotypes = Appendix7_Chapter3_DescriptionPathologicalBones Appendix 8: Internal anatomy of hadrosaurid pathological bones using microtomographic scanning = Appendix8_Chapter3_CTscans Appendix 9: Isolated caudal neural spines: Osteological description, pathologies and measurements = Appendix9_Chapter5_DescriptionMatingInjuries Appendix 10: Publication about the palaeopathological description of the injuries in the holotype of Parasaurolophus walkeri = Appendix10_Bertozzo et al 2020 The current dataset files are embargoed until 31 Dec 2026

The mechanisms by which a whole-school intervention might improve sexual health: qualitative realist research nested in a trial in English secondary schools

Whole-school interventions go beyond classroom education, promoting health by modifying school environments. These can be effective in delaying sexual debut and increasing contraception use but mechanisms are poorly understood. Qualitative research within realist evaluation can explore mechanisms via building ‘context-mechanism-outcome configurations’, describing how interventions trigger mechanisms that interact with context to generate outcomes. We explored these for the Positive Choices whole-school sexual health intervention within the intervention arm of a randomised trial conducted 2021–2025. Using ‘dimensional analysis’, we analysed 52 interviews with teachers and 40 focus-groups involving 266 students from 22 English secondary schools. Our results suggest seven mechanisms through which whole-school interventions might ‘work’: improving knowledge using diverse pedagogies; improving confidence and ability to talk by normalising talk about sexual health; changing gender attitudes through challenging stereotypes and providing insights and empathy with others' perspectives; promoting access to sexual health and other services via helping students understand their needs and entitlements; building school engagement by providing new student roles on decision-making groups; increasing inclusion of sexual-minority students by normalising consideration of non-heterosexual identities and practices; and reducing sexual harassment and abuse by helping students understand consent and when to intervene in harassment. Contextual contingencies included: high initial student needs; teacher skills and commitment; and school commitment and capacity. Our research suggests novel mechanisms via which whole-school interventions might promote sexual health. Quantitative analyses will now be conducted to examine these mechanisms and contingencies

Advances in drug-releasing vaginal rings

In recent years, there have been significant advances in the development of vaginal rings for administration of drugs aimed at improving women’s sexual and reproductive health, including the approval of two new products (DapiRing® and Annovera®). Much of the progress and innovation has been driven by efforts to develop new ring products for contraception, HIV prevention, and treatment/prevention of sexually transmitted infections, including multipurpose prevention technologies targeting multiple clinical indication. In this article, we provide a comprehensive review of the most recent advances in vaginal ring technology for drug delivery applications, focusing primarily on original research articles published within the past ten years. Initial sections of the review article are structured around the application of ring technologies to specific clinical indications, while later sections address next-generation devices, advances in ring testing methods, key challenges, and future opportunities and perspectives. This article will provide a useful reference source to academic, industrial and clinical researchers working in this field

A comparison of time-dependent Cloudy astrophysical code simulations with experimental X-ray spectra from keV laser-generated argon plasmas

We have generated strongly photoionized Ar plasmas in experiments designed to use primarily X-ray l-shell line emission generated from Ag foils irradiated by the VULCAN high-power laser at the UK Central Laser Facility. The principle of the experiment is that use of line emission rather than the usual sub-keV quasi-blackbody source allows keV radiation to play a more dominant role compared to softer X-rays and thus mimic the effect of a blackbody with a higher effective spectral temperature. Our aim is to reproduce in the laboratory the extreme photoionization conditions found in accretion-powered astrophysical sources. In this paper, we compare the experimental results on K-β X-ray Ar spectra with modelling using the time-dependent version of the Cloudy astrophysical code. The results indicate that photoionized laboratory plasmas can be successfully modelled with codes such as Cloudy that have been developed for application to astrophysical sources. Our comparison of simulation and experiment shows that the flux of sub-keV photons that photoionize the outer-shell electrons can have a significant effect, and that detailed measurements of the X-ray drive spectrum across all photon energy ranges are crucial for accurate modelling of experiments.<br/

Transformers for stratified spectropolarimetric inversion: proof of concept

Solar spectropolarimetric inversion—inferring atmospheric conditions from the Stokes vector—is a key diagnostic tool for understanding solar magnetism, but traditional inversion methods are computationally expensive and sensitive to local minima. Advances in artificial intelligence offer faster solutions, but are often restricted to shallow models or a few spectral lines. We present a proof-of-concept study using a transformer machine learning model for multiline, full-Stokes inversion, to infer stratified parameters from synthetic spectra produced from 3D magnetohydrodynamic simulations. We synthesize a large set of Stokes vectors using forward modeling across 15 spectral lines spanning the deep photosphere toward the chromosphere. The model maps full-Stokes input to temperature, magnetic field strength, inclination, azimuth (encoded as sin2ϕ , cos2ϕ ), and line-of-sight velocity as a function of optical depth. The transformer incorporates an attention mechanism that allows the model to focus on the most informative regions of the spectrum for each inferred parameter, and uses positional embedding to encode wavelength and depth order. We benchmark it against a multilayer perceptron (MLP), test robustness to noise, and assess generalization. The transformer outperforms the MLP, especially in the higher layers and for magnetic parameters, yielding higher correlations and more regularized stratifications. The model retains strong performance across a range of noise levels typical for real observations, with magnetic parameter inference degrading predictably while temperature and velocity remain stable. We explore attention maps, linking the transformer’s learned behaviour to line-formation physics

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