Votes at 16 in Wales: both a historic event and a long-term process that requires a commitment to supporting young people’s democratic education

Tom Loughran, Andy Mycock, and Jon Tonge reflect on the key lessons that can be drawn from the process of lowering the voting age in Wales, identify features that were unique to the Welsh context, and propose important policy recommendations for ensuring the long-term success of ‘Votes at 16’ in Wales

Lowering the voting age: three lessons from the 1969 Representation of the People’s Act

In 1969, the UK became the first country to lower its age of franchise to 18. Tom Loughran, Andy Mycock, and Jon Tonge argue that lowering the voting age was not in response to popular mobilisation by the public or pressure groups, nor the outcome of significant political contestation. Rather, voting age reform was a consequence of the desire of political leaders to align the voting age with what society increasingly perceived as the new age of adulthood. Lowering the voting age was part of package of reforms which attempted to streamline the age at which young people were seen to become adults

Investigation of microbubble behaviour under ultrasound for molecular imaging

Modern advances in ultrasound imaging technology have led to the development of targeted microbubble contrast agents; micrometer sized encapsulated bubbles coated with binding agents. Their gas core gives them high echogenicity, scattering incident ultrasound and allowing them to oscillate to producing a detectible sound of their own. The binding agent allows them to be used for molecular imaging. The work in this thesis aims to provide a better understanding of the behaviour of microbubble contrast agents, but with a focus on their use as molecular imaging agents. The thesis starts with an introduction to microbubble contrast agents, stating their current clinical usage both as a normal contrast agent and for molecular imaging and highlighting their strengths and limitations. In the following chapter, the theory behind the modelling of microbubble motions is introduced, discussing modelling bubble oscillations using the Rayleigh-Plesset equation, and the translation of a bubble in an acoustic field through Bjerknes forces. The first piece of novel work to be presented in this thesis is in the form of a model for non-spherical oscillations in microbubble contrast agents, with the application of modelling the destruction of microbubble contrast agents. A Boussinesq-Scriven approach was taken, to adapt a pre-existing model for shell free bubbles by taking into account the viscoelastic effect of the shell. Results calculated using the developed model showed a significant difference in destruction threshold between the shelled and shell-free bubbles. The second piece of work focuses on the effects of an ultrasound field on adherent microbubbles including their detachment and deflation. Analysis of experimental results on targeted microbubbles adherent to a micro-tube with flow shows that the effects of ultrasound are significant even at relatively low acoustic pressure. As acoustic pressure is increased, the percentage of detached and/or deflated microbubbles does also. Four forces are identified which could be responsible for detachment, namely, shear, primary and secondary Bjerknes, and oscillations and their relative significance is investigated. The results from this work are then used to make suggestions about the clinical imaging for targeted contrast agents. The final novel piece of work presented is a dual transducer arrangement as a potential method of increasing targeted microbubble binding efficiency through the creation of a simple one-dimensional acoustic manipulator, capable of being implemented in any clinical ultrasound scanner with a phased array. Simulations and experimental investigations were carried out on the system in order to demonstrate the feasibility of such an acoustic manipulator and to gain understanding of its practicalities.Open Acces

Beyond Unionism and Nationalism: Do the ‘Neithers’ want a Border Poll and a United Ireland?

This article draws upon new data from a recent Economic and Social Research Council funded project, Beyond Unionism and Nationalism, to examine whether electors in Northern Ireland identifying as neither nationalist/republican nor unionist/loyalist, the ‘neithers’, desire, firstly, a referendum on Northern Ireland’s constitutional status (often labelled a border poll) on whether it should remain part of the UK or form part of a United Ireland and, secondly, which of those two options is preferred. With surveys of public opinion and election results suggesting there are now three minorities in the region, unionists, nationalists and ‘neithers’, the views of the lattermost category may be vital in determining the arrival and outcome of a referendum. Utilising the largest n (2,045) set of face-to-face interviews with ‘neithers’ yet undertaken, the article suggests that their low levels of electoral activity extend to a current lack of enthusiasm for both an exercise in self-determination and a United Ireland. The piece also indicates, however, that national identification and religious affiliation are significant attitudinal indicators even among a group of electors located beyond the traditional bloc divide

Introduction: The 'Votes-at-16' Debate in the UK

This series of articles examines aspects of the increasingly resonant and polarised debates across the UK about the lowering of the voting age to 16 years. The previous UK-wide extension of the age of franchise, from 21 to 18 years in 1969, attracted little partisanship or attention (Loughran et al., 2021). This was remarkable given the UK was the first democracy to lower the voting age to 18 years. The largely consensual nature of the change to 18 years has not been replicated for ‘Votes-at-16’ for Westminster elections, although greater agreement has been evident in Scotland and Wales. In Wales, the Senedd has used its recently devolved constitutional powers to define its own electoral rules and join Scotland in becoming the second nation of the UK to lower the voting age for national and local elections. These moves have added to the complexity, asymmetry and division around young people’s voting rights across the UK