Inspiration

This piece was written to mimic the mind of an anxious student in a creative field of study. Each line in the first half of the poem ads a syllable, the inhale, the anxiety rising. Each line in the second half subtracts a syllable, the exhale, the realization that everything will be okay. It is something I feel that most students in artistic fields experience at some point, the approach of a deadline accompanied by the absence of an idea

The trial of Thomas Kwoyelo: opportunity of spectre? Reflections from the ground on the first LRA prosecution

The trial of Thomas Kwoyelo – the first war crimes prosecution of a former Lord's Resistance Army fighter, and the only domestic war crimes prosecution in Uganda at the time of writing – has been packed with drama, intrigue and politics. The article considers what Kwoyelo's trial means for those most affected by the crimes he allegedly committed, and, more broadly, what it means for the ‘transitional justice’ project in Uganda. The article is concerned primarily with how the trial has been interpreted ‘on the ground’ in Acholiland: by local leadership; by those with a personal relationship to Kwoyelo; by direct victims of his alleged crimes; and by those who were not. Responses to the trial have been shaped by people's specific wartime experiences and if or how his prosecution relates to their current circumstances – as well as by the profound value of social harmony and distrust of higher authorities to dispense justice. We conclude with a discussion of the relevance of our findings for the practice of ‘transitional justice’ across the African continent

The trial of Thomas Kwoyelo: opportunity or spectre – a new paper by Anna Macdonald and Holly Porter

In this blog post, Anna Macdonald and Holly Porter examine the political and social dynamics that shape local perspectives on the first war crimes prosecution of a former Lord’s Resistance Army fighter, Thomas Kwoyelo. This week they published an open-access article in Africa, exploring these issues in depth, based on long-term research on the case since it began in 2009

The role of drinking context in the relationship between impulsivity and alcohol use in daily life

Alcohol consumption among young adults is prevalent, with 29 percent of individuals reporting binge drinking in the past month. Impulsivity is a well-established risk factor for problematic alcohol use. However, little is known about the real-time association between momentary impulsivity and alcohol use, particularly in naturalistic settings. This study employed Ecological Momentary Assessment (EMA) to investigate the relationship between trait and state impulsivity and alcohol-related behaviors, focusing on the moderating role of drinking context. Results revealed that both state and trait impulsivity were positively associated with breath alcohol concentration (BrAC) during drinking occasions. The association between momentary impulsivity and BrAC was moderated by drinking location, showing a stronger association when away from home. There was not a significant relationship between day-level impulsivity and alcohol-related consequences. This study contributes valuable insights into the nuanced relationship between impulsivity, drinking context, and alcohol-related behaviors, highlighting the importance of considering both trait and state impulsivity measures in naturalistic settings. The findings have implications for personalized interventions targeting impulsivity and contextual factors to mitigate alcohol-related harm among young adults.Includes bibliographical references

Popular life of Saint Teresa of Jesus

Copia digital : Junta de Castilla y León. Consejería de Cultura y Turismo, 201

Pursuing justice in northern Uganda #LSEreturn

Anna Macdonald and Holly Porter explore issues of justice, accountability and social repair in the context of postconflict northern Ugand

Revisiting 'justice' in northern Uganda #LSEreturn

Two studies in the current issue of the Journal of Eastern African Studies re-visit the fascinating debate about justice and reconciliation in northern Uganda, nearly ten years since the fighting between the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) and the Government of Uganda (GoU) stopped on Ugandan soil, as Anna Macdonald, Holly Porter and Letha Victor discuss in this article

Combining astrophysical datasets with CRUMB

At present, the field of astronomical machine learning lacks widely-used benchmarking datasets; most research employs custom-made datasets which are often not publicly released, making comparisons between models difficult. In this paper we present CRUMB, a publicly-available image dataset of Fanaroff-Riley galaxies constructed from four "parent" datasets extant in the literature. In addition to providing the largest image dataset of these galaxies, CRUMB uses a two-tier labelling system: a "basic" label for classification and a "complete" label which provides the original class labels used in the four parent datasets, allowing for disagreements in an image's class between different datasets to be preserved and selective access to sources from any desired combination of the parent datasets.Comment: Accepted in Machine Learning and the Physical Sciences Workshop at NeurIPS 2023; 6 pages, 1 figure, 1 tabl