Virtual mobility to enhance intercultural competencies for a more sustainable future

The UN locates education at the heart of the process to achieve a more sustainable future and deliver the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (UN-SDGs) by 2030. Within this context, this paper outlines the experience of designing and delivering an international virtual mobility workshop which brought together university students from the UK and Ghana. It offers a critical evaluation of the extent to which the workshop’s objectives were achieved, through comparison of pre- and post-workshop survey results, with a particular emphasis on changing levels of understanding of the UN-SDGs and the development of key intercultural competencies. The discussion highlights positive trajectories of change in student learning, and the challenges of delivering workshops of this nature. It is concluded that such challenges can be embraced as learning opportunities and that the associated discomfort and uncertainty is important to facilitate impactful learning experiences

Spinal disinhibition: evidence for a hyperpathia phenotype in painful diabetic neuropathy

The dominant sensory phenotype in patients with diabetic polyneuropathy and neuropathic pain is a loss of function. This raises questions as to which mechanisms underlie pain generation in the face of potentially reduced afferent input. One potential mechanism is spinal disinhibition, whereby a loss of spinal inhibition leads to increased ascending nociceptive drive due to amplification of, or a failure to suppress, incoming signals from the periphery. We aimed to determine whether a putative biomarker of spinal disinhibition, impaired rate dependent depression of the Hoffmann-reflex, is associated with a mechanistically appropriate and distinct pain phenotype in patients with painful diabetic neuropathy. In this cross-sectional study, ninety-three patients with diabetic neuropathy underwent testing of H-reflex rate dependent depression and detailed clinical and sensory phenotyping, including quantitative sensory testing. Compared to neuropathic patients without pain, patients with painful diabetic neuropathy had impaired H-reflex rate dependent depression at 1, 2 and 3Hz (p=These findings support the hypothesis that spinal disinhibition is an important centrally mediated pain amplification mechanism in painful diabetic neuropathy and that abnormal H-reflex rate dependent depression is associated with a distinct phenotype, arguably akin to hyperpathia, with combined loss and relative gain of function leading to increasing nociceptive drive

Depoliticization, participation and social art practice : On the function of social art practice for politicization

The purpose of this article is to explore how the process of depoliticization occurs in neoliberal governance, with the aim of identifying approaches to counter its control over the way we live together. Depoliticization is a process of neoliberal political and social organization that undermines democracy. An instance of how depoliticization happens is through a lack of accountability in the way that government devolves responsibility through non-governmental agencies or quangos. Arts Council England is a quango with an increasingly instrumental policy agenda. Arts-based participation is being fostered through policy agendas; art projects that are funded in this arrangement are expected to promote social inclusion or audience engagement. While this is superficially laudable, a reduced gap between state policy objectives and commissioned artistic outcomes sees artworks utilized as interpretive publicity for policy objectives. In this way, the funding of the arts can be considered as part of the wider process of depoliticization. Yet, we argue, contra much of the depoliticization literature with its formalist understandings of power, that politics is not limited to the actions and non-actions of the state alone and can be radically understood as an everyday process. In this conception of politics, we conclude that certain forms of art practice, those that employ social praxis and critical citizenship through critical pedagogical and participatory methods, can perform a politicizing function and thus potentially reshape democracy in more emancipatory ways

The Role of the Mass Vaccination Programme in Combating the COVID-19 Pandemic: An LSTM-based Analysis of COVID-19 Confirmed Cases

The COVID-19 virus has impacted all facets of our lives. As a global response to this threat, vaccination programmes have been initiated and administered in numerous nations. The question remains, however, as to whether mass vaccination programmes result in a decrease in the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases. In this study, we aim to predict the future number of COVID-19 confirmed cases for the top ten countries with the highest number of vaccinations in the world. A well-known Deep Learning method for time series analysis, namely, the Long Short-Term Memory (LSTM) networks, is applied as the prediction method. Using three evaluation metrics, i.e., Mean Absolute Error (MAE), Root Mean Square Error (RMSE), and Mean Absolute Percentage Error (MAPE), we found that the model built by using LSTM networks could give a good prediction of the future number and trend of COVID-19 confirmed cases in the considered countries. Two different scenarios are employed, namely: ‘All Time’, which includes all historical data; and ‘Before Vaccination’, which excludes data collected after the mass vaccination programme began. The average MAPE scores for the ‘All Time’ and ‘Before Vaccination’ scenarios are 5.977% and 10.388%, respectively. Overall, the results show that the mass vaccination programme has a positive impact on decreasing and controlling the spread of the COVID-19 disease in those countries, as evidenced by decreasing future trends after the programme was implemented

Financial Fair Play and Competitive Balance in European Football: A Long-Term Perspective

PurposeThe paper analyzes the effects of financial fair play (FFP) in the competitive balance of European football industry throughout a long-term perspective.Design/methodology/approachThe authors analyze the evolution of the competitive balance in the European football industry through a time-series analysis from season 1992/93 to 2018/19.FindingsResults indicate an industry by nature dominated by a few clubs showing a general stationary behavior. FFP has had very little impact in local competitions. Just in some leagues, such as the Spanish, German, and French leagues, we can observe an increase in the imbalance in some indicators, but these results are not very robust. The improvement on the financial situation happens especially in a small group of firms that coincide with the big leagues with a strong European market orientation and strict local financial control standards.Research limitations/implicationsAlthough the study covered 17 European Leagues, there are several leagues not accounted for and thus results should be generalized with caution.Practical implicationsThe authors observe heterogeneity of the results of FFP in the competitive balance, associated to how the standard has been implemented in each market. This opens opportunities to study and deepen the local codes and their influence, especially in the recommendations of future financial control standards.Originality/valueThe authors’ main contribution to the literature is to examine the impact of the FFP rules in the competitive balance utilizing a very broad study of 17 European markets with a rich and unusual overview and long-term perspective

Covid-19 and Technologically Enhanced Trials under the Police, Crime, Sentencing, and Courts Act 2022 : Have Remote Jury Trials Shifted from Criminal Justice Fiction to Virtual Reality?

This chapter examines the use of technology which has been designed to enhance the criminal trial in England and Wales. It argues that buried deep in the Police, Crime, and Sentencing Act is s.200 which, through the amendment of s.51 of the Criminal Justice Act 2003, seeks to broaden the way in which video and audio connectivity are used in the criminal justice process in England and Wales. Notably, the Act empowers a judge to direct that jurors may participate in a trial remotely, but only where such an order is applied to the entire jury panel. In addition, the Act clearly paves the way for increased remote participation by counsel, witnesses, and defendants. In the midst and wake of Covid-19 such a move is, on its face, sensible. The Courts system all but ground to a halt during 2020 and 2021, adding to the already unacceptable backlog of cases and these changes may reduce the delays caused by the absence of key participants at a criminal trial. This chapter explores the extent to which an increased use of technology in the criminal trial can ensure that cases continue to be dealt with in a fair, just, and safe manner

Experimental and response surface study on additive manufacturing of functionally graded steel-inconel wall using direct laser metal deposition

In the present study, the effective parameters in the Direct Laser Metal Deposition Method (DLMD) of SS316L-Inconel 625 grade material were investigated. A 1000 W continuous-wave fiber laser was used to manufacture a five-layered gradient wall. The weight percentages of Inconel 625 and SS316L were different in each layer. Response Surface Methodology (RSM) was used to study the effects of scanning speed and laser power -each in three levels- on the average width, surface roughness, average microhardness, standard deviation of the width, and standard deviation of the height of the gradient walls. Also, the microstructure of the gradient walls was investigated using SEM images and EDS analysis. The results showed that the average width and surface roughness of the walls would increase by decreasing the scanning speed and increasing the laser power. The increase in the scanning speed and decrease in the laser power decreased the standard deviation of the width and the height of the walls. The lowest surface roughness of 96 µm was obtained at the highest scanning speed of 200 mm/min while the lowest values of the standard deviation of the width and standard deviation of height were 76 and 70 μm, respectively at this speed. It was also found that the microhardness value increased significantly with the increase in the scanning speed due to the higher solidification rate

Obstacles and Distortions : A Speculative Approach to Ideology

Building on Hegel’s speculative philosophy, this paper seeks to critically engage with Ernesto Laclau’s highly influential theory of ideology. Three central points of contention are developed. First, while Laclau’s view of the ideological distortion as a distortion of a lack is well taken the paper affirms that in order to sustain itself this distortion becomes a paradoxical two, or in Hegelian terms an oppositional unity. In other words, the distortive illusion of fullness (the concealment of basic lack) only becomes operational via a reciprocal supplementary distortive illusion of an external obstacle to that fullness – the illusion of fullness is thus sustained by its opposite. Second, in contrast to Laclau’s view of the extra-discursive as a distant imaginary it is argued that the existing capitalist power structure functions effectively as its own extra-discursive in a far more immediate and direct sense in the organization of reality. Third, the real problem of ideology is not simply that (extra-discursive) closure is absent and has to be imposed but rather that the very proximity of closure generates unbearable tensions and antagonisms that need to be externalized and re-staged in more manageable ways. Drawing on a range of examples, the paper aims to synthesize an alternative speculative approach to ideology

Functionally Graded Additive Manufacturing of Thin-Walled 316L Stainless Steel-Inconel 625 by Direct Laser Metal Deposition Process : Characterization and Evaluation

Direct Laser Metal Deposition (DLMD) is a state-of-the-art manufacturing technology used to fabricate 316L stainless steel/Inconel 625 functionally graded material (FGMs) in this research. For the practical application of these materials in the industry, the effects of process parameters on the geometric characteristics and surface roughness require more investigation. This FGM was additively manufactured in five layers by changing the 316L stainless steel/Inconel 625 ratio in each layer. The effects of laser power on geometric characteristics, height stability, and surface roughness were investigated. The microstructural analysis and microhardness profiles were studied. The results show that despite the high solidification rate, the segregation of alloying elements into dendritic areas occurred. It was also found that increasing the laser power will increase the height, width, height stability, and surface roughness of the gradient walls. The maximum width and height of the deposited layers were 1.615 and 6.42 mm, respectively, at the highest laser power (280 W). At the laser power of 220 W, the least surface roughness (Ra = 105 µm) and the best height stability (0.461 mm) will be obtained. The microhardness values will differ in various sections of the gradient walls in a range of 225–277 HV

Simultaneous FDM 4D Printing and Magnetizing of Iron-Filled Polylactic Acid Polymers

4D printing magnetic structures with excellent strength activated with a low level of magnetic field are always desired but challenging. This work studies the influence of simultaneous magnetization on the magnetomechanical performance of 4D-printed active polymers. The main aim is to magnetise magnetic iron polylactic acid (PLA) material during 4D printing via fused deposition modelling (FDM) process. During the printing process, the magnetization of samples is performed in various magnetic field states. Specimens are printed in three states with two magnets around the printing area, magnets under the printing area, and without magnets, at three angles of 0, 45, and 90◦ to the applied magnetic field. Vibrating sample magnetometer (VSM), mechanical tests, and scanning electron microscope (SEM) are used to investigate the effects of the applied magnetic field on the magnetization with different printing conditions, mechanical properties of different printing angles, and the microstructure of printed samples. Results show that printed samples on the edge of the magnet are saturated in a higher specific magnetization compared to the printed samples with magnets around and without a magnetic field. The specific magnetization in the magnetic field in the direction of the sample deposition increases by 63.46% by applying a magnetic field. The strength increases 21.4% when a magnetic field is present, and the sample is printed at 0◦ angle along the tension direction. The printed sample has better mechanical properties when two magnets are used around the printing region rather than one under it, which is independent of the impact of the printing angle. Finally, the optimal printing mode for obtaining the appropriate magnetic and mechanical characteristics is 4D printing with magnets under the printing bed at 0◦ angle along the tension direction