The self-defining period in autobiographical memory: Evidence from a long-running radio show.

This study is the first to demonstrate that a self-defining period (SP) for personally relevant music emerges spontaneously in a public naturalistic setting. While previous research has demonstrated that people tend to have better memory and preference for songs from their teenage years, the theoretical relevance of these studies has been limited by their reliance on forced-choice methodology and a confinement to contemporary popular Western music. Here, we examine the record choices of famous guests (n = 80; mean age = 61.6 years) interviewed for Desert Island Discs, a long-running popular radio programme on BBC Radio 4. Half of all choices were shown to have been most important between the ages of 10 and 30 years, and the most popular reason for their relevance was the song's link to memories of a person, period, or place. We suggest that music is a defining feature of the SP, intrinsically connected to the developing self

What are the roles of the Internet in terrorism? Measuring online behaviours of convicted UK terrorists

Using a unique dataset of 227 convicted UK-based terrorists, this report fills a large gap in the existing literature. Using descriptive statistics, we first outline the degree to which various online activities related to radicalisation were present within the sample. The results illustrate the variance in behaviours often attributed to ‘online radicalisation’. Second, we conducted a smallest-space analysis to illustrate two clusters of commonly co-occurring behaviours that delineate behaviours from those directly associated with attack planning. Third, we conduct a series of bivariate and multivariate analyses to question whether those who interact virtually with like-minded individuals or learn online, exhibit markedly different experiences (e.g. radicalisation, event preparation, attack outcomes) than those who do not

Readiness, response, and recovery: The impacts of COVID-19 on education systems in Asia

This review provides insights into COVID-19 responses in educational systems in Asia, and to understand which policies and practices were already in place to contribute to system readiness and resilience. Although the evidence base remains scarce, reflecting on the different system and school-level responses in Asia provides opportunity to identify gaps in current policies and research, and consider new ways in which countries in Asia can strengthen their educational systems into the future. It considers what makes an education system resilient, and the importance of school level practices. It uses an analytical framework to review readiness, response and recovery, and concludes with a discussion of gaps in evidence in Asia

Designing the next generation of climate adaptation research for development

Adaptation research has changed significantly in recent years as funders and researchers seek to encourage greater impact, ensure value for money and promote interdiscipinarity across the natural and social sciences. While these developments are inherently positive they also bring fresh challenges. This Perspective reviews experiences from the delivery of past and current adaptation research and reflects on the merits and limitations of the evolving adaptation research landscape. We propose five key areas that need to be changed in order to meet the needs of future adaptation research, namely: increasing transparency and consultation in research design; encouraging innovation in the design and delivery of adaptation research programmes; demonstrating impact on the ground; addressing incentive structures; and promoting more effective brokering, knowledge management and learning. As large international funding initiatives such as the Future Earth and the Global Challenges Research Fund start to take shape we underscore the importance of learning from past experiences and scaling-up of successful innovations in research funding models

COVID-19 Education Response Mapping Study: Building Resilience in the Philippines: Readiness, Response, and Recovery

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) crisis has caused unprecedented levels of disruption to education systems worldwide. Across the Asia region, it is estimated that around 760 million children were impacted by school closures at the height of the pandemic. Government response strategies have varied across the region, with some countries imposing prolonged school lockdowns while others have had short, repeated closure periods. As countries begin to reopen schools and prepare for subsequent waves of COVID-19 infection, there is a need to develop a higher capability of education systems to safeguard learning and address persistent barriers to learning equality by harnessing the opportunities for systemic change. However, school-based practices and responses that have effectively supported learning continuity during the COVID-19 pandemic have yet to be well examined, particularly in Asia. This report presents the research findings undertaken in the Philippines and Southeast Asia. This report forms part of a broader study that explores the system and school-level practices that have supported learning continuity in Asia during the pandemic. The study will focus on the policymaker practices that supported teaching and learning and consider ways school leaders, teachers, and parents have worked to support children during periods of disruption. Rather than comparing the responses of Asia countries, this study will highlight innovations in the system and school policies and programs in the Philippines and make recommendations based on insights from the Philippines’ education system. The study will focus on the school system and participants that support students in the Philippines but will not include students themselves

Soil Buffering Capacity Can Be Used To Optimize Biostimulation of Psychrotrophic Hydrocarbon Remediation

Effective bioremediation of hydrocarbons requires innovative approaches to minimize phosphate precipitation in soils of different buffering capacities. Understanding the mechanisms underlying sustained stimulation of bacterial activity remains a key challenge for optimizing bioremediation—particularly in northern regions. Positron emission tomography (PET) can trace microbial activity within the naturally occurring soil structure of intact soils. Here, we use PET to test two hypotheses: (1) optimizing phosphate bioavailability in soil will outperform a generic biostimulatory solution in promoting hydrocarbon remediation and (2) oligotrophic biostimulation will be more effective than eutrophic approaches. In so doing, we highlight the key bacterial taxa that underlie aerobic and anaerobic hydrocarbon degradation in subarctic soils. In particular, we showed that (i) optimized phosphate bioavailability outperformed generic biostimulatory solutions in promoting hydrocarbon degradation, (ii) oligotrophic biostimulation is more effective than eutrophic approaches, and (iii) optimized biostimulatory solutions stimulated specific soil regions and bacterial consortia. The knowledge gleaned from this study will be crucial in developing field-scale biodegradation treatments for sustained stimulation of bacterial activity in northern regions

Frequency and phenotype associations of rare variants in 5 monogenic cerebral small vessel disease genes in 200,000 UK Biobank participants

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Based on previous case reports and disease-based cohorts, a minority of patients with cerebral small vessel disease (cSVD) have a monogenic cause, with many also manifesting extracerebral phenotypes. We investigated the frequency, penetrance, and phenotype associations of putative pathogenic variants in cSVD genes in the UK Biobank (UKB), a large population-based study. METHODS: We used a systematic review of previous literature and ClinVar to identify putative pathogenic rare variants in CTSA, TREX1, HTRA1, and COL4A1/2. We mapped phenotypes previously attributed to these variants (phenotypes-of-interest) to disease coding systems used in the UKB's linked health data from UK hospital admissions, death records, and primary care. Among 199,313 exome-sequenced UKB participants, we assessed the following: the proportion of participants carrying ≥1 variant(s); phenotype-of-interest penetrance; and the association between variant carrier status and phenotypes-of-interest using a binary (any phenotype present/absent) and phenotype burden (linear score of the number of phenotypes a participant possessed) approach. RESULTS: Among UKB participants, 0.5% had ≥1 variant(s) in studied genes. Using hospital admission and death records, 4%–20% of variant carriers per gene had an associated phenotype. This increased to 7%–55% when including primary care records. Only COL4A1 variant carrier status was significantly associated with having ≥1 phenotype-of-interest and a higher phenotype score (OR = 1.29, p = 0.006). DISCUSSION: While putative pathogenic rare variants in monogenic cSVD genes occur in 1:200 people in the UKB population, only approximately half of variant carriers have a relevant disease phenotype recorded in their linked health data. We could not replicate most previously reported gene-phenotype associations, suggesting lower penetrance rates, overestimated pathogenicity, and/or limited statistical power