Healthy universities: an example of a whole-system health-promoting setting

The health-promoting settings approach is well established in health promotion, with organisational settings being understood as complex systems able to support human wellbeing and flourishing. Despite the reach and evident importance of higher education as a sector, ‘healthy universities’ has not received high-level international leadership comparable to many other settings programmes. This study explores how the concept of a healthy university is operationalised in two case study universities. Data collection methods included documentary analysis, observation field notes and semi-structured interviews with staff and students. Staff and students understood the characteristics of a healthy university to pertain to management processes relating to communication and to a respectful organisational ethos. Enhancers of health and wellbeing were feeling valued, being listened to, having skilled and supportive line managers and having a positive physical environment. Inhibitors of health and wellbeing were having a sense of powerlessness and a lack of care and concern. The concept of the healthy university has been slow to be adopted in contrast to initiatives such as healthy schools. In addition to challenges relating to lack of theorisation, paucity of evidence and difficulties in capturing the added value of whole-system working, this study suggests that this may be due to both their complex organisational structure and the diverse goals of higher education, which do not automatically privilege health and wellbeing. It also points to the need for a wholeuniversity approach that pays attention to the complex interactions and interconnections between component parts and highlights how the organisation can function effectively as a social system

Toric varieties and spherical embeddings over an arbitrary field

We are interested in two classes of varieties with group action, namely toric varieties and spherical embeddings. They are classified by combinatorial objects, called fans in the toric setting, and colored fans in the spherical setting. We characterize those combinatorial objects corresponding to varieties defined over an arbitrary field $k$. Then we provide some situations where toric varieties over $k$ are classified by Galois-stable fans, and spherical embeddings over $k$ by Galois-stable colored fans. Moreover, we construct an example of a smooth toric variety under a 3-dimensional nonsplit torus over $k$ whose fan is Galois-stable but which admits no $k$-form. In the spherical setting, we offer an example of a spherical homogeneous space $X_0$ over \mr of rank 2 under the action of SU(2,1) and a smooth embedding of $X_0$ whose fan is Galois-stable but which admits no \mr-form

From the Shadows: Setting as an Expression of Character Development in the Epic Fantasy Genre

Epic fantasy is a genre defined by its setting. It offers writers the opportunity to be incredibly specific with the way setting contributes to the overall story, specifically as an aid character development. In order to successfully use setting to support character development, the writer must understand what preconceptions with which the reader enters the epic fantasy genre and what purpose setting plays in the overarching story world. The writer must determine what setting elements to include and, just as importantly, which to leave out. Finally, because setting is such an abstract component of writing, it is useful not only to discuss generalities that apply to all writers but to examine a specific example in order to better understand how worldbuilding can be implemented in a way that feels natural to the reader

A Rigorous Computational Approach to Linear Response

We present a general setting in which the formula describing the linear response of the physical measure of a perturbed system can be obtained. In this general setting we obtain an algorithm to rigorously compute the linear response. We apply our results to expanding circle maps. In particular, we present examples where we compute, up to a pre-specified error in the $L^{\infty}$-norm, the response of expanding circle maps under stochastic and deterministic perturbations. Moreover, we present an example where we compute, up to a pre-specified error in the $L^1$-norm, the response of the intermittent family at the boundary; i.e., when the unperturbed system is the doubling map.Comment: Revised version following reports. A new example which contains the computation of the linear response at the boundary of the intermittent family has been adde