The Business of Smuggling in south-east Scotland. John and David Nisbet and their associates c. 1740 -1790

Research into the career of the merchant-smuggler John Nisbet of Gunsgreen House, Eyemouth has led to a ‘bottom up’ analysis in this thesis of the North Sea smuggling business in the second half of the eighteenth century. Building on previous work, but supplemented by a range of new material, this thesis challenges some assumptions, notably about direct links between smaller Scottish ports and Gothenburg and highlighted the role of the merchant-smuggler in managing the import of tea from Sweden. It has also highlighted the significance of ‘Gottenburgh Teas’ as a brand, extensively advertised in newspapers in Scotland and the north of England. As well as this important addition to our understanding of the northern smuggling world, the thesis examines in detail the activities of the small port of Eyemouth, developing a knowledge of the methods adopted by smugglers and their relationships with each other and with the customs. It will also review the North Sea timber trade of the period, challenging earlier preconceptions about both the source of much of the timber that came to Scotland and how the business was managed. What it shows is that it is now possible to undertake micro historical research of a small port with, apparently, minimal local records, by combining a wider range of material, including much now available online, such as family history resources and the British Newspaper Archive. In this case, too, evidence is provided by Gunsgreen House itself, its physical fabric – the so-called tea chute, for example – and its symbolic importance for John Nisbet. The result is a detailed analysis of northern smuggling, including the importance of the role of Scottish merchants in Gothenburg, some of whom were Jacobite exiles, and of the business processes involved in smuggling which were essentially those of regular merchants

Over 60,000\ua0km in a year: remotely collecting large-volume high-quality data from a logistics truck

After the first successful large-scale demonstration of eleven self-driving vehicles at the DARPA Urban Challenge in 2007, research results from the competing teams found their way into advanced driver systems (ADAS) that support typical driving tasks like adaptive cruise control and semi-automated parking. However, as of today, SAE Level 4 vehicles are not commercially available yet, which would allow the driver to be inattentive for longer periods. Hence, SAE Level 3, which represents partial automation yet continuously monitored by a human operator, may provide a step towards a viable SAE Level 4 product especially for commercial freight logistics. However, large amounts of data from such freight operations is needed to study the unique challenges in such use cases. In this paper, we present the system and software architecture of an end-to-end data logging solution, which is capable of recording large volumes of high-quality data. The system is installed in a commercial truck that is in daily operation by a logistics company and hence, the recorded data is only accessible remotely (i.e., over-the-air). We report about the fail-safe system design, initial findings from over one year of operation, as well as our lessons learned. During its first year of operation, the truck was used for 210\ua0days by the logistics company, out of which 193\ua0days were logged resulting in more than 4.5\ua0TB of data from five cameras, two GNSS–IMU sensors, and six on-board vehicle controller area networks (CAN) busses. We demonstrate the value of the proposed end-to-end approach for traffic and driver behavior research by analyzing the uploaded data in the cloud to spot critical events such as unexpected harsh braking maneuvers caused by lane merging operations

2023 EULAR recommendations for the management of fatigue in people with inflammatory rheumatic and musculoskeletal diseases

OBJECTIVES: Fatigue is prevalent in people with inflammatory rheumatic and musculoskeletal diseases (I-RMDs) and recognised as one of the most challenging symptoms to manage. The existence of multiple factors associated with driving and maintaining fatigue, and the evidence about what improves fatigue has led to a multifaceted approach to its management. However, there are no recommendations for fatigue management in people with I-RMDs. This lack of guidance is challenging for those living with fatigue and health professionals delivering clinical care. Therefore, our aim was to develop EULAR recommendations for the management of fatigue in people with I-RMDs. METHODS: A multidisciplinary taskforce comprising 26 members from 14 European countries was convened, and two systematic reviews were conducted. The taskforce developed the recommendations based on the systematic review of evidence supplemented with taskforce members' experience of fatigue in I-RMDs. RESULTS: Four overarching principles (OAPs) and four recommendations were developed. OAPs include health professionals' awareness that fatigue encompasses multiple biological, psychological and social factors which should inform clinical care. Fatigue should be monitored and assessed, and people with I-RMDs should be offered management options. Recommendations include offering tailored physical activity and/or tailored psychoeducational interventions and/or, if clinically indicated, immunomodulatory treatment initiation or change. Patient-centred fatigue management should consider the individual's needs and preferences, their clinical disease activity, comorbidities and other psychosocial and contextual factors through shared decision-making. CONCLUSIONS: These 2023 EULAR recommendations provide consensus and up-to-date guidance on fatigue management in people with I-RMDs

Life Cycle Cost and Life Cycle Assessment of Composite Bridge with Flat and Corrugated Webs

To satisfy the sustainability criteria, a bridge design must be economically viable during its entire service life with a minimal impact on the environment. While stainless steel is known for its excellent life cycle performance, its high cost prevents it from being used in bridges to a larger extent. This study evaluates a new design solution that takes advantage of using corrugated web in bridge girders to overcome this issue. Three design concepts are evaluated for a three-span case-study bridge. These include a bridge with carbon steel flat web, stainless steel flat web, and stainless-steel corrugated web girders. Each design is optimized using a genetic algorithm. The three optimal solutions are then evaluated in terms of investment costs, life cycle costs (LCC) and life cycle impact. The results show that the investment costs in a flat web girder bridge increase by 27% when stainless steel is used instead of C-Mn (carbon) steel. However, this increase is only 10% when corrugated web girders are used. On the other hand, the LCC savings increase from 6% to 18% for corrugated web girders. Finally, the use of corrugated web in stainless steel leads to a reduction in the climate impacts of up to 32% compared to carbon steel for the studied bridge

Cumulative impact assessment for ecosystem-based marine spatial planning

Claims for ocean space are growing while marine ecosystems suffer from centuries of insufficient care. Human pressures from runoff, atmospheric emissions, marine pollution, fishing, shipping, military operations and other activities wear on habitats and populations. Ecosystem-based marine spatial planning (MSP) has emerged worldwide as a strategic instrument for handling conflicting spatial claims among competing sectors and the environment. The twofold objective of both boosting the blue economy and protecting the environment is challenging in practice and marine planners need decision support. Cumulative Impact Assessment (CIA) was originally developed to provide an overview of the human imprint on the world\u27s ocean ecosystems. We have now added a scenario component to the CIA model and used it within Swedish ecosystem-based MSP. This has allowed us to project environmental impacts for different planning alternatives throughout the planning process, strengthening the integration of environmental considerations into strategic decision-making. Every MSP decision may entail a local shift of environmental impact, causing positive or negative consequences for ecosystem components. The results from Swedish MSP in the North Sea and Baltic Sea illustrate that MSP certainly has the potential to lower net cumulative environmental impact, both locally and across sea basins, as long as environmental values are rated high and prevailing pressures derive from activities that are part of MSP. By synthesizing innumerous data into comprehensible decision support that informs marine planners of the likely environmental consequences of different options, CIA enables ecosystem-based MSP in practice

"You can't be up there" - youth cultural participation and appropriation of space

This article investigates the relationship between youth cultural practices and young people's spatial appropriation. For this purpose, we analyse case studies into groups of young people involved in two forms of practices that are marked by particular perceptions of the (urban) space: two Parkour groups and a Scouts group. The questions we are dealing with concern the way to which young members of these groups are appropriating ‘free space’ through participating in activities like the Scouts or Parkour. Furthermore, this article also explores important questions concerning processes of how young people’s participation in urban areas should be understood and what consequences this understanding has for youth policy.Dieser Artikel untersucht das Verhältnis zwischen jugendkulturellen Praktiken und Raumaneignung junger Menschen. Im Mittelpunkt stehen Fallstudien zu zwei unterschiedlichen Formen der Wahrnehmung (städtischen) Raums: zwei organisierte Parkour-Gruppen und eine Pfadfindergruppe. Die Autor*innen beschäftigen sich mit der Frage nach Formen der Aneignung von ,freien Räumen‘ im Rahmen organisierter Aktivitäten wie den Pfadfindern und Parkour. Darüber hinaus untersucht dieser Artikel wichtige Fragen in Bezug auf das Verständnis von Prozessen der Beteiligung junger Menschen in urbanen Gebieten und welche Konsequenzen dieses Verständnis für die Jugendpolitik hat

The faith and actions of Greta Andrén, missionary to the Jews of Vienna, 1938–41

In this microhistorical study of the Swedish Mission to the Jews (Svenska Israelsmissionen) in Vienna, I explore the everyday life and work of the deaconess Greta Andrén (1909–71) during the time of the Nazi occupation of Austria. Andrén’s actions are presented and related to the parts of her faith that are revealed in the sources. From this I distil a triad of meaningful categories, namely her work, the children she worked with, and God. These resulted in her sustaining an on­­going state of over-exertion during her wartime refugee work

Behaviour of grey seals (Halichoerus grypus) and their prey in and near set traps

The seal populations of the Baltic Sea Area were at historically low levels in the 1970’s, due to two factors. The first was an extensive hunt and the second was emissions of organochlorines, which affected the reproductive abilities of the females. Laws and regulations were set in force to improve the marine environment and from the early 1990’s the populations of the grey seal (Halichoerus grypus), the harbour seal (Phoca vitulina) and the ringed seal (Pusa hispida) have recovered. It is a success for the management of the Baltic Sea Area environment that the seal populations have increased. Coupled with the increase of the populations, is also an increase of conflicts with the inshore fisheries. The seals frequenting the fishing gear takes fish and damage gear. It is mainly the grey seal which is the culprit and it is predominantly males. These males have been proven to be specialists. Two studies were conducted to learn more about the behaviour of seals and of their prey. The first study investigated the pattern of seal visits in the middle chamber of a herring pontoon trap. A camera filmed the seals which entered and the seals were identified. There were almost 1400 visits by 12 individuals. Of all visits, 84 % took place within 5 minutes of each other. Of all visits, 3.7 % were concurrent visits, i.e. two males inside the middle chamber at the same time. By studying these visits in detail, it could be concluded that there was a dominance hierarchy among the seals in the trap. A simulation of the visits was executed to examine whether the proportion of concurrent visits was random or non-random. The simulations used the same distribution pattern of the realized visits. If the visits had been random, then c 9.5 % of them would have been concurrent. This suggests that there is a pattern to their visits. The second study investigated the effect of a Seal Exclusion Device (SED) on seal visits and on catch. The experiment was conducted during two years. In 2012, using a SED with a diamond mesh and in 2016 using two SEDs; the diamond mesh and a square mesh - with the entire frame rotated 45°. The expectation was that the SEDs would reduce the number of seal visits, increase the catch and possibly deter larger fish from entering. In 2012, the diamond mesh had an effect on the size of trout, with larger trout entering the control trap, whereas large salmon were not affected by the presence of the SED. In 2016, larger salmon were caught in the traps with a SED. There was no significant result regarding the catch of trout, possibly due to small samples. The number of seal visits in both sets of experiments were too low to be able to draw any conclusions regarding presence of seals. The SEDs did not have any effect on the quantity of caught fish