Maternal relinquishment: reforms, rights, and other myths

Certain perennial controversies within adoption law and practice cannot be ignored. In Ireland, for example, redress schemes enabling access to previously sealed birth or medical records have served to perpetuate discrimination and inequality, while reparations for abuses suffered in Mother and Baby Institutions have excluded certain categories of survivor (McGettrick). In respect of England, the UK Government still refuses to offer apology, in contrast to their Scottish and Welsh counterparts. Moreover, judicial acknowledgement of the intergenerational impacts of severing natal bonds in the present day can often be inconsistent. Recent case law at times harks back to an earlier era: parental consent to an adoption can be dispensed with quite quickly and relatively easily, and judicial bars can be placed on contact, to embed new family, adoptive “permanence.” The right to respect for family life (under Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights) remains delicate and is easily infringed—and then justified—within this area of family law.<br/

Creating an immersive learning environment for teaching agile scrum and team software process: a framework for software engineering education

Most of the principles and concepts that need to be taught in Software Engineering courses are hard to share the realistic experiences because it is difficult to give the student practical exposure to the insight and processes involved. This paper presents an innovative framework tailored for the establishment of an immersive learning environment within the context of a Software Engineering Project course. The overarching objective is to effectively tackle the inherent challenges associated with teaching intricate software engineering concepts, notably Agile Scrum and Team Software Process (TSPi). Conventional pedagogical approaches often prove inadequate in providing a comprehensive and engaging learning experience for students, educators and stakeholders. In response, our study introduces a pioneering immersive learning approach, offering a robust solution to this educational gap. To gauge the framework's efficacy and pertinence, we conducted online surveys, specifically targeting third-year students enrolled in the Software Engineering Laboratory course and the project stakeholders involved. These surveys were instrumental in collecting valuable feedback on the practicality and impact of our approach in enhancing the teaching and learning processes. This study presents a thorough exposition encompassing the framework's conceptualization, implementation and iterative evolution. Our research outcomes reveal that our immersive learning approach has successfully met the predefined course objectives, effectively addressing the intrinsic challenge of imparting hands-on experiences associated with software engineering principles and concepts. As a significant contribution to the ongoing initiatives aimed at elevating software engineering education, our study underscores the importance of providing students with tangible exposure to vital concepts such as Agile Scrum and TSPi. Moreover, this paper delineates the collaborative journey involved in the creation, execution and refinement of the course framework. Ultimately, our research endeavours to evaluate the degree to which our innovative framework aligns with the objectives established by both students and stakeholders. By doing so, it underscores the transformative potential of our approach in reshaping the landscape of software engineering education, ultimately enhancing its effectiveness and relevance

Quantification of antibiotic diffusion in biofilms using gold nanostar surface‐enhanced Raman spectroscopy

The increased resistance to antibiotics shown by bacteria in biofilms is believed to be partly the result of the limited penetration of antibiotics. However, there are no well-established techniques which allow quantitative, label-free monitoring of antibiotic transport in biofilms. Here, it is shown that surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) with gold nanostars (NS) can be used for the detection of levofloxacin (Levo) in Staphylococcus aureus biofilms at clinically relevant concentrations. Ex situ studies showed that although matrix interference reduced the sensitivity compared to aqueous solutions, quantitative detection remained possible. With intact biofilms, monitoring the SERS signals from layers of NS embedded at specific depths allowed the time-dependence of the penetration of Levo from the surface to the embedded layer to be measured and the diffusion coefficient of Levo to be calculated. The measured value of D = 2.79 ± 0.79 × 10−9 cm2 s−1 is over three orders of magnitude lower than in aqueous solutions. This work is the first demonstration that SERS can be a powerful method for investigating antibiotic transport in biofilms, offering new insights into resistance mechanisms and supporting the development of more effective antimicrobial strategies.<br/

Nanodrug therapy for salmonella biofilm disruption

Salmonella infections pose a significant global health threat, affecting millions of people each year. These infections can cause a range of illnesses, from mild gastroenteritis to severe systemic diseases, such as typhoid fever. Bacteria are particularly hazardous due to their ability to form biofilms, which provide a robust defense mechanism, making traditional antibiotic treatments largely ineffective. Biofilms, which are composed of bacterial cells and extracellular polymeric substances (EPSs), create a protective barrier that impedes the penetration of antibiotics, allowing bacteria to survive even under adverse conditions. The innovative use of nanomedicine therapeutics to address the persistent challenge of Salmonella biofilm infections is explored in this chapter. Various nanodrug strategies, including the use of metallic, polymeric, and lipid-based nanoparticles, have been investigated for their potential to penetrate and disrupt biofilm structures. The mechanisms by which nanoparticles enhance antibiotic delivery are also highlighted. This chapter emphasizes the role of nanotechnology in developing more effective treatments against multidrug-resistant Salmonella strains. This chapter also focuses on the urgent need for further research to find innovative solutions for combating persistent bacterial infections

Parental attitudes and digital parenting in the early years: development and validation of the PADTS Scale

BackgroundThis paper reports on the development and validation of the 15-item Parental Attitudes to Digital Technology Scale (PADTS), a brief, psychometrically validated measure assessing parents' beliefs confidence, and concerns about their very young children's use of digital technologies.MethodDeveloped as part of the UK-wide Toddlers, Tech and Talk (TTT) study, PADTS addresses a gap in existing research by focusing on children from birth to 3 years, a stage often overlooked in digital parenting literature. Co-developed with parents and early years experts, the scale was tested with a nationally balanced UK sample (N = 934).ResultsExploratory and confirmatory factor analyses supported a four-factor structure: perceived risks, perceived learning benefits, parental confidence and technology-related anxiety. The PADTS showed strong model fit and measurement invariance across parent gender, ethnicity and region, with some variation by child age. Correlational analyses indicated that benefits, perceptions and confidence were associated with supportive digital parenting, while anxiety was more weakly linked.ConclusionPADTS shows potential as a practical tool for researchers, practitioners and policy-makers and may support a more nuanced understanding of how parental attitudes shape early digital experiences.<br/

Hybrid CNN–GRU–XGBoost framework for optimized coronary artery disease diagnosis and risk stratification

Coronary artery disease (CAD) remains a leading driver of cardiovascular mortality, requiring diagnostic systems that deliver high discrimination, stability under class imbalance, and reproducible deployment. This work presents a hybrid pipeline that integrates convolutional encoders for localized feature interactions, gated recurrent units (GRUs) for conditional dependency modeling over ordered clinical attributes, and an extreme gradient-boosted tree classifier (XTree) for nonlinear decision refinement and feature-level attribution. The data pathway applies strict train-split isolation with source-aware quantile imputation, proximal denoising, robust trimmed standardization, stratified partitioning that preserves class and source distributions, and manifold-conformal minority augmentation to improve boundary coverage without leakage. Evaluation on the UCI Heart Disease cohort (Cleveland, Long Beach V, Switzerland, Hungary; p=14 attributes) used an 80/20 holdout and standard metrics. The proposed CNN–GRU–XTree attained 96.03% accuracy, 94.70% precision, 97.66% sensitivity, 96.17% F1, and 94.35% specificity. Relative to the strongest non-proposed baseline (CNN–LSTM–XTree: 95.63% accuracy, 94.70% precision, 96.90% sensitivity, 95.80% F1, 94.47% specificity), gains reached ＋0.40 percentage points (pp) in accuracy, ＋0.76 pp in sensitivity, and ＋0.37 pp in F1, with parity in precision and a negligible specificity delta (−0.12 pp). Against CNN–GRU–RF (95.24%/94.70%/96.15%/95.42%/94.18%), improvements were ＋0.79 pp accuracy, ＋1.51 pp sensitivity, ＋0.75 pp F1, and ＋0.17 pp specificity. Case-based simulations (600 min each) probed model behavior under clinically distinct conditions. In severe, unequivocal CAD, sensitivity remained ≥97% with specificity &gt;93%; in low-risk asymptomatic profiles, specificity remained ≥95% with precision ≥93%; in borderline phenotypes with overlapping risk markers, F1 exceeded 94% while maintaining balanced error profiles.</p

The influence of plantation forest legacy on blanket bog hydrology

Human activities in headwater blanket bogs can lead to downstream flooding due to changes in land cover; however, the effects of the geographic distribution of these land cover modifications, especially the role of legacy of plantation forestry on hydrological regime, remains poorly characterized. Therefore, the focus of this research is to estimate the impact of legacy of plantation forestry on streamflow in small (21 ha) blanket bog catchment of Ireland. A network of groundwater monitoring and hydro-meteorological stations were installed to collect high-resolution (15 min to 1 h) hydro-meteorological and groundwater level data. Generalized Multistep Dynamic (GMD) TOPMODEL was calibrated using high resolution (1 m × 1 m) Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) and hydro-meteorological data in intact blanket bog watershed. The calibrated model was validated before simulating in degraded (legacy of plantation forestry) catchment. The effect of legacy of plantation forestry on streamflow was examined by comparing observed and simulated streamflow series at various timescales (monthly, seasonal, and yearly). The results indicated that streamflow increased by 106 % annually due to legacy of plantation forestry, with the highest monthly increase recorded in February (275 %) and the lowest in September (16 %) when compared to intact blanket bog. Seasonal analysis revealed an increase in streamflow attributed to legacy of plantation forestry, with the highest increase observed in winter (237 %) and the lowest in summer (24 %). Minimal interception losses, reduced evapotranspiration, and compact bog contribute to elevated runoff relative to undisturbed conditions. The results of this study assist water managers, stakeholders, and policymakers in facilitating effective planning and decision-making

Dataset for "Polar Discontinuities, Emergent Conductivity, and Critical Twist-Angle-Dependent Behaviour at Wafer-Bonded Ferroelectric Interfaces"

Atomic Force Microscopy data associated with the submitted paper: "Polar Discontinuities, Emergent Conductivity, and Critical Twist-Angle-Dependent Behaviour at Wafer-Bonded Ferroelectric Interfaces", Nature Communications. Abstract for paper: "Probing novel functional properties, arising from twisted interfaces, has traditionally relied on the stacking of exfoliated 2D materials and the spontaneous formation of van der Waals (vdW) bonds. So far, investigations involving more intimate covalent or ionic bonds have not been a major focus. Yet, we show here that an established technique, involving high temperature thermocompressional bonding of bulk single crystalline wafers, works well for creating twisted non-vdW interfaces. We have successfully bonded z-cut lithium niobate single crystals to deliberately create ferroelectric oxide interfaces with strong polar discontinuities and have mapped the associated emergent interfacial conductivity. In some instances, a dramatic change in microstructure occurs, involving local dipolar switching. Such behaviour implies a twist-induced collapse in the capability of the system to effectively screen interfacial bound charge. Importantly, this phenomenon only occurs around specific moiré twist angles which have sparse coincident lattices and associated short-range aperiodicity. In quasicrystals, aperiodicity is known to induce pseudo-bandgaps and we suspect a similar phenomenon here.

Cohesive zone modelling of mesoscale thin ply bridging in CFRP composites

Fibre bridging is a phenomenon which resists crack propagation during Mode I fracture toughness (GIC) tests of Fibre Reinforced Polymer (FRP) composite materials, causing an increased demand for energy with increasing crack extension. Ply bridging, where the entire ply locally bridges the propagating crack, has not been studied for its toughening effects. A thin Spread Tow (ST) Uni-directional (UD) tape (32 g/m2) is applied to the mid-plane of a Carbon Fibre Reinforced Polymer (CFRP) composite laminate to induce ply bridging. This stochastic generation of ply bridging increased the Mode I fracture toughness at initiation and propagation by 118.8 % and 126 % respectively, compared to the control, which is a non-ST UD interface, with an areal weight of 150 g/m2. Both interfaces were modelled using a bi-linear softening law embedded in the cohesive elements during cohesive zone modelling. Excellent agreement in terms of force–displacement behaviour, peak force, crack front shapes taken from micro-CT (micro-Computed Tomography) evaluation and also crack extensions were observed. This study highlights the possibility of this phenomenon to greatly increase the fracture toughness of CFRP composites by splitting the matrix-rich interlaminar region into two smaller planes surrounding the thin ply interleaf.<br/