Responsible AI UK response to the DSIT’s call for evidence on the AI Growth Lab

A response to the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) open call for evidence regarding the AI Growth Lab1 on behalf of Responsible AI UK (RAi UK), an open and multidisciplinary network that brings together experts from across the four nations of the UK to understand how we should shape the development of AI to benefit people, communities and societ

Towards an inclusive future for the lingerie industry: redefining gendered representations of 'sexiness' and eliminating stereotypes within an interdisciplinary framework

Amid recent movements toward greater inclusivity, diversity, and authenticity in fashion, the lingerie industry faces unique challenges and opportunities in reshaping its perceived (mis)representation of gender and sexuality. A multifaceted and interdisciplinary theoretical framework is used to analyse the role of major lingerie brands - Victoria’s Secret, Aerie, and Savage X Fenty - and their actions in defining, (re)shaping and sometimes reiterating traditional representations of femininity and sexuality. By integrating perspectives of feminist theories, gendered brand identity, and inclusive marketing practices, this framework reveals how key factors interact and intersect across brand strategy and operations within the lingerie sector, with sometimes unintended impacts. Divided into distinct levels - cultural, institutional and consumer – brands are challenged to adopt more authentic and diverse portrayals of femaleness by considering consumer-facing elements and underlying cultural and institutional factors that influence brand image and reputation. From these actionable insights, long-term strategies can be planned and carefully implemented through brand operations on inclusivity, paving the way for brands as potential advocates for progressive social change on gender and beauty

Non-metal organic frameworks exhibit high proton conductivity

Porous materials such as metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) and porous organic salts are promising materials for proton conduction. Recently, we developed a new sub-class of porous materials, isoreticular non-metal organic frameworks (N-MOFs), that can be designed using crystal structure prediction (CSP). Here, two porous, isostructural and water-stable halide N-MOFs were prepared and found to show good proton conductivity of up to 1.1 x 10-1 S cm-1 at 70 °C and 90% relative humidity. Changing the halides in these N-MOF materials affects the resulting proton conductivity, as observed in previous studies involving MOFs and lead halides. Although this is the first study of proton conductivity in N-MOFs, the bromide salt, TTBT.Br, shows higher conductivity than most polycrystalline MOFs and porous organic salts, approaching that of Nafion

Labour pains: mothers and motherhood on the British left in the twentieth century

British left-wing politics does not know what to think about mothers. In left-wing women’s movements, motherhood has been recognised as essential and difficult; necessary for future revolutions, not least in raising future revolutionaries. In less radical circles, it has been understood as a crucial contribution to the functioning of society, often forming the basis of women’s claims to citizenship and maternalist forms of politics. On the other hand, motherhood has been seen as a ‘natural’ function of women and a private responsibility, rather than a public good or a collective act which needs comprehensive state support. The family, in this reading, is a rather conservative force, better left to social reactionaries. Mothering has added additional hurdles to the gendered obstacles women already face in pursuing politics as activists or elected representatives. Perhaps because of this, many mothers in politics have sought to downplay or distance themselves from their roles as mothers, emphasising instead their contributions as workers and activists who can be fully committed to the left cause. Feminist historians have often followed their lead and have tended to write around political mothers’ maternal roles in their scholarship. This roundtable develops themes first explored in our November 2023 workshop, generously supported by the Royal Historical Society

Associations between skeletal muscle strength and chronic kidney disease in patients with MASLD

Background: A skeletal muscle strength (SMS) decline is associated with metabolic diseases, but whether SMS also declines with chronic kidney disease (CKD) in individuals with metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD) is uncertain. This study examined the associations between SMS and the risk of CKD in MASLD population. Method: We performed a large-scale study with four cohorts: PERSONS and NHANES 2011–2014 cohorts for the cross-sectional investigation, and TCLSIH and UK Biobank cohorts for the longitudinal investigation. A handgrip dynamometer measured handgrip strength as a proxy for overall SMS. Participants were stratified according to CKD status [non-CKD vs. CKD (stages 1–5) groups]. Results: In the PERSONS cohort, the CKD group has a lower handgrip strength than the non-CKD group (27.14 ± 9.19 vs. 33.59 ± 11.92 kg, P &lt; 0.001). Higher handgrip strength is associated with lower odds of abnormal albuminuria or CKD (OR: 0.96, 95%CI:0.92-0.99 and OR:0.95, 95%CI: 0.91-0.99 respectively). The highest handgrip strength tertile is associated with the lowest risk of having abnormal albuminuria or CKD (compared with the lowest or middle tertile). Results are similar in NHANES cohort. Furthermore, the highest handgrip strength is independently associated with the lowest risk of incident CKD in MASLD (HR: 0.95, 95%CI: 0.92-0.99 and HR:0.99, 95%CI: 0.98-0.99 in TCLSIH and UK Biobank cohorts). In Kaplan-Meier curve analysis, the cumulative incidence of CKD is lowest in the highest handgrip strength tertile compared to the lowest or the middle tertile. Conclusions: Higher handgrip/muscle strength is independently associated with a lower risk of CKD and abnormal albuminuria in MASLD population.</p

Fluvial terraces of the lower Mekong river reflect quaternary global sea level fluctuations as a likely response to Himalayan glacial/deglacial runoff

Knowledge of the Quaternary history of the lower Mekong, the major river within Cambodia, is basic. Herein we advance understanding by investigations of river terrace topographic expression and stratigraphy. Satellite images, digital elevation models and fieldwork have been used to define the terrace elevations and extent. Three terrace levels can be recognized, separated in the vertical, lateral and temporal dimensions by distinctive sedimentary signatures. Strath surfaces and alluvial cover have been dated using terrestrial cosmogenic and optical luminescence protocols. The highest level (T1: notionally +100 m above present sea level) is a discontinuous, degraded, bedrock strath with a patchy veneer of well-weathered fluvial cobble gravel. T1 is younger than a regionally significant meteorite impact ~800 ka (Marine Isotope Stage 20), and older than basalt flows on its surface (600 ka?). The T1 level was abandoned before 99.42 ± 7.52 ka (the end of the glacial MIS 5d), as the river incised in response to a rapidly falling sea level, to form a broad continuous strath terrace (level T2) exhibiting a thin alluvial cover, between 70 m and 40 m above sea level. The T2 terrace is composed of partially lateritic, interlayered, sand and gravel beds lying above weathered bedrock (blue/red clay). The basal deposits on the T2 level date to 70.65 ± 5.13 ka, following a sea level rise to a short-lived elevation of around +30 m around 80 ka (MIS 5a). The T2 level was progressively down cut between 57.73 ± 5.31 ka and 38.66 ± 2.40 ka (MIS 3). Steadily falling sea level sustained MIS 3 incision which reached c., 10 m above the modern river level c., 33.03 ± 3.09 ka, before the offshore minimum in sea level, c., 23 ka, i.e., towards the end of the Last Glacial Maximum. A loam-rich sandy terrace (T3; c., 0.45 ka (MIS 1)) is developed locally at c., +20 m above sea level. The timing of abrupt incisions, leading to the abandonment of the T1 and T2 levels, coincide with the onset of cool glacial stadials and falls in global sea level, whilst initial aggradation on the T2 level broadly can be associated with MIS 4. Despite a reduction in the contribution of glacial runoff from the Himalaya and Tibet towards the end of the Pleistocene, channel narrowing from T1 onwards has sustained the erosive power of the river, such that the rate of incision has only slowed within the Holocene.</p

Homelessness and resilience in East Asia: Punitive policies, poverty management, and hope in Taiwan’s welfare state

Homelessness is a complex problem in cities and is shaped by local factors, including economic inequality, punitive policies, poverty management, and individual everyday practices. In East Asia, the local factors in relation to homelessness usually develop within the context of developmental welfare states possessing neoliberal characteristics (e.g., a shadow state and a precarity of care provision) and Confucian characteristics (e.g., a blood-degree relationship and collective familial welfare duty under legislation). Taiwan encompasses both these strands and, therefore, provides a compelling case for understanding homelessness in the East Asian context. Drawing on the complex relationships within homelessness in Taiwan, I conducted 55 semi-structured interviews (i.e., with a policymaker, 21 managers, and 33 homeless support workers), complemented by participant observation to answer three research questions: How has the blend of neoliberalism and Confucianism in cities in Taiwan shaped homeless policies and poverty management? How are homeless services provided by Taiwan’s state and the voluntary sector, and what punitive and supportive characteristics do they exhibit? How do the relational and spatial dynamics of community-based homeless support in Taiwan shape the variety of homeless service workers' motivations and hope for persevering in supporting homeless people? I demonstrate the empirical evidence I gathered to provide answers and make valuable contributions to the literature on the geographies of homelessness and related homeless studies. Firstly, the developmental welfare state blends neoliberalism with Confucianism. It shapes the resilience of homeless people and homeless support workers, involving Confucian merits as the main factor in residual arrangements instead of Keynesian considerations. Secondly, homeless services in Taiwan are employment-led instead of housing-led. Employment-led services possess an essential punitive characteristic and a peculiar accommodating characteristic. Finally, the various motivations to become homeless support workers in Taiwan are driven by secular motives, such as empathising with homeless people and practising social justice. Meanwhile, the motivations are intertwined with various feelings of hopefulness and hopelessness. For example, the promise of improving homeless services and reworking social policies is interwoven with the hopefulness of persisting in providing precarious care and moving to burnout

ECOWind BOWIE Project submission to the DEFRA consultation for the establishment of the Marine Recovery Fund

This response is compiled by the Southampton Marine and Maritime Institute (SMMI) on behalf of the ECOWind BOWIE Project. BOWIE is a 4-year multi-institutional research project led by the University of Southampton with partners at the University of Hull, the University of East Anglia, Cefas and the National Oceanography Centre