ESF Science Policy briefing on research infrastructures in the digital humanities: landscapes, ecosystems and cultures

Last September the European Science Foundation (ESF) published a so called Science Policy Briefing (SPB) on Research Infrastructures in the Digital Humanities;1 the first ESF publication of this type entirely commissioned by the scientific governance representing the Humanities – a unique body in Europe: the Standing Committee for the Humanities (SCH), chaired by Professor Milena Žic Fuchs. The report aims both at serving a research community that is expanding and eager to see its efforts of engaging with computational modelling recognised as authoritative research in need of adequate research infrastructures, and the policy makers arena, where strategies on research infrastructures for the humanities are rarely shared at the international and sometimes national level. The research community and information professionals – involved in various fashions in the development of this ESF publication as workshop participants, authors,2 reviewers,3 commentators – can make and are making use of this report to legitimise their research questions and funding requests, while policy makers – from research funders to University deans - will also find strategical directions to take on or be inspired by

Managing 100 Digital Humanities Projects: Digital scholarship and archiving in King’s Digital Lab.

During the 2016–2017 financial year, King's Digital Lab (King's College London) undertook an extensive archiving and sustainability project to ensure the ongoing management, security, and sustainability of ~100 digital humanities projects, produced over a twenty-year period. Many of these projects, including seminal publications such as Aphrodisias in Late Antiquity, Inscriptions of Roman Tripolitania, Henry III Fine Rolls, Jonathan Swift Archive, Jane Austen Manuscripts, The Gascon Rolls, The Gough Map, and Inquisitions Post Mortem, occupy important positions in the history of digital humanities. Of the projects inherited by the lab, about half are either of exceptionally high quality or seminal in other ways but almost all of them struggled with funding and technical issues that threatened their survival. By taking a holistic approach to infrastructure, and software engineering and maintenance, the lab has resolved the majority of the issues and secured the short to medium term future of the projects in its care. This article details the conceptual, procedural, and technical approaches used to achieve that, and offers policy recommendations to prevent repetition of the situation in the future

Re-design of EU DEMO with a low aspect ratio

The design point that had been chosen for EU DEMO in 2016 is reviewed here and a modification is proposed with a lower aspect ratio. Previously the same aspect ratio, A, was chosen for EU DEMO as in major tokamak experiments including ITER (A = 3.1), and, to rely on mature technology, a peak magnetic field no greater than 13 T was considered. Here we do not consider these limitations recognizing the recent commissioning of JT60-SA with A = 2.5 and the successful recent operation of a model coil at a field of >20 T. EU DEMO must have a burning plasma and meet performance requirements relevant to a fusion power plant - at present, 2 GW fusion power and 2 h pulse length. The better plasma confinement at higher magnetic field allows reaching this condition in a smaller plasma. Thus, increasing the magnetic field appears as an obvious strategy to reduce the machine size. We confirmed though previous observations that the choice of a high magnetic field is associated with a large aspect ratio, mainly to generate space for the larger TF coils. In practice the magnetic field strength on DEMO-size TF coils is limited to ∼12 T by the high electromagnetic loads. Also, the extreme heat flux on the divertor increases further with the magnetic field. Hence the magnetic field on the plasma axis is limited in EU DEMO to ∼5.4 T, its aspect ratio to approximately 3. The limiting factor to lowering the aspect ratio is the space on the inboard side. This is primarily driven by the requirement to integrate the central solenoid to drive the plasma current inductively. Our literature review suggests that non-inductive plasma scenarios, as considered in most power plant studies in literature, are optimistic and not sufficiently supported by experimental results. Also, the space required for the superconducting toroidal field coils, the tritium breeding blanket, and the neutron shield is substantial. For a DEMO device the space on the inboard side becomes insufficient for aspect ratios below ∼2.6. We therefore conclude the aspect ratio of EU DEMO should be chosen within the range ∼2.6 - ∼3.0 trading-off lower magnetic field and lower divertor heat loads against machine compactness

Sustaining the Digital Humanities in the UK

The Sustaining Digital Humanities in the UK report is timely for the UK Digital Humanities (DH) landscape. The establishment of UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) has created an opportune moment for the strategic planning of research infrastructure between and across all the research areas. Led by Giles Bergel and Pip Willcox, this report is based on the findings of a workshop held at the University of Oxford’s e-Research Centre (OeRC) on 21 June 2018 and sponsored by the Software Sustainability Institute. The workshop was led by an advisory board of Digital Humanities practitioners, representing a range of career stages, roles, and disciplines. The workshop’s organisers and advisory board are the joint authors of this report, with contributions from workshop participants. The mission of the Software Sustainability Institute (SSI) is to cultivate better, more sustainable, research software to enable world-class research. Currently celebrating its 10th year, the SSI has achieved broadening engagement across academic communities including humanities – for example as a longstanding supporter of the Digital Humanities at Oxford Summer School (DHOxSS), and with SSI Fellows in the arts and humanities areas. This report was commissioned by the SSI with the aim of advancing its mission within the humanities. Digital Humanities, a broad intersection of models, methods, tools, materials, career paths and affiliations, in both established and novel disciplines was identified as the area within the humanities that most closely aligns with the SSI’s role

A point-of-care lateral flow assay for neutralising antibodies against SARS-CoV-2

Background: As vaccines against SARS-CoV-2 are now being rolled out, a better understanding of immunity to the virus, whether from infection, or passive or active immunisation, and the durability of this protection is required. This will benefit from the ability to measure antibody-based protection to SARS-CoV-2, ideally with rapid turnaround and without the need for laboratory-based testing. Methods: We have developed a lateral flow POC test that can measure levels of RBD-ACE2 neutralising antibody (NAb) from whole blood, with a result that can be determined by eye or quantitatively on a small instrument. We compared our lateral flow test with the gold-standard microneutralisation assay, using samples from convalescent and vaccinated donors, as well as immunised macaques. Findings: We show a high correlation between our lateral flow test with conventional neutralisation and that this test is applicable with animal samples. We also show that this assay is readily adaptable to test for protection to newly emerging SARS-CoV-2 variants, including the beta variant which revealed a marked reduction in NAb activity. Lastly, using a cohort of vaccinated humans, we demonstrate that our whole-blood test correlates closely with microneutralisation assay data (specificity 100% and sensitivity 96% at a microneutralisation cutoff of 1:40) and that fingerprick whole blood samples are sufficient for this test. Interpretation: Taken together, the COVID-19 NAb-testTM device described here provides a rapid readout of NAb based protection to SARS-CoV-2 at the point of care

Poor Children in Rich Households and Vice Versa: A Blurred Picture or Hidden Realities?

An expanding evidence base suggests that children experiencing monetary and multidimensional poverty are not the same. This article breaks new ground by providing a unique mixed methods investigation of drivers of child poverty mismatch in Ethiopia and Vietnam, considering the role of measurement error and individualistic and structural factors. The analysis capitalises on large-scale secondary quantitative panel data and combines this with purposively collected primary qualitative data in both countries. It finds that factors at the household and structural level can mediate the effects of monetary poverty in terms of multidimensional poverty and vice versa, but that the size and sign of these effects are specific to place and time. The policy mix aiming to reduce all forms of child poverty need to be targeted on the basis of a multidimensional assessment of poverty and reflect the complex and contextspecific interactions between determinants of child poverty

iDAH Research Software Engineering (RSE) Steering Group working paper

This is the final version. Available from the iDAH Research Software Engineering (RSE) Steering Group via the DOI in this record. Our purpose was to convene a broad and representative group from the UK Research Software Engineering (RSE) community to discuss opportunities for and barriers to the development of Arts & Humanities (AH) RSE capability, with a specific focus on contributing to the AHRC Infrastructure for Digital Innovation and Curation in Arts and Humanities (iDAH) project and a wider remit to consider longer term strategic priorities and opportunities for alignment with UKRI and EU initiatives. The discussion was intended to be foundational, inclusive, and broad-ranging, involving a wide stakeholder group encouraged to engage in ‘blue-sky’ thinking over short, medium, and long-term time horizons. The analysis contained in this working paper should be read in that context, as a reflection of early stage discussions intended to provide a platform for future more focused activity. Additional discussion and analysis is needed to produce substantive actionable conclusions

A survey of current research related to the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory with primary consideration given to scales and interpretation systems developed for use in normal and less pathological personality assessment

There is no abstract available for this research paper.Thesis (M.A.

A survey of current research related to the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory with primary consideration given to scales and interpretation systems developed for use in normal and less pathological personality assessment

There is no abstract available for this research paper.Thesis (M.A.