FOI data on the Prevent Duty in universities raise serious questions about necessity and proportionality

Drawing upon 157 responses to Freedom of Information Requests sent to UK Higher Education Institutions, Andrew Whiting discusses how the Prevent Duty has been enacted within the sector. He explains that the legislation has brought further bureaucratic conservatism across the sector and that a low number of referrals have been made since 2015

Constructing Cyberterrorism as a Security Threat: a Study of International News Media Coverage

This article examines the way in which the English language international news media has constructed the threat of cyberterrorism. Analysing 535 news items published by 31 different media outlets across 7 countries between 2008 and 2013, we show that this coverage is uneven in terms of its geographical and temporal distribution and that its tone is predominantly apprehensive. This article argues that, regardless of the ‘reality’ of the cyberterrorism threat, this coverage is important because it helps to constitute cyberterrorism as a security risk. Paying attention to this constitutive role of the news media, we suggest, opens up a fresh set of research questions in this context and a different theoretical approach to the study of cyberterrorism

Localized buckling of an elastic strut in a visco-elastic medium

Certain types of long, axially compressed structures have the potential to buckle locally in one or more regions rather than uniformly along their length. Here, the potential for localized buckle patterns in an elastic layer embedded in a visco-elastic medium is investigated using a strut-on-foundation model. Applications of this model include the growth of geological folds and other time-dependent instability processes. The model consists of an elastic strut of uniform flexural stiffness supported by a Winkler-type foundation made up of discrete Maxwell elements. Mathematically, this model corresponds to a nonlinear partial differential equation which is fourth­order in space and first-order in time. The nature of the buckling process is charac­terized by an initial period of elastic deformation followed by an evolutionary phase in which both elasticity and viscosity have a role to play. Two different formulations are studied: the first combines linear strut theory with a nonlinear foundation and is valid for small, but finite, deflections; the other incorporates the exact expression for curvature of the strut resulting in geometrical nonlinearities and is capable of modelling large deflections. The evolution of non-periodic buckle patterns in each system is examined under the constraint of controlled end displacement. Two independent methods are used to approximate the solution of the governing equations. Modal solutions, based on the method of weighted residuals, complement accurate numerical solutions obtained with a boundary-value solver. In either case, the results suggest that for the perfect system, localized solutions follow naturally from the inclusion of nonlinear elasticity with softening characteristics. Emphasis throughout is on the qualitative features displayed by the phenomenon of localization rather than specific applications. Nevertheless, the ideas and results are a step towards accounting for the rich variety of deformed shapes exhibited by nature.Open Acces

Copper(II)-catalyzed aerobic oxidation of hydrazides to azo intermediates and their Diels–Alder versus ene trapping

The oxidation of diethyl 1,2-hydrazinedicarboxylate using a catalytic Cu(II)-oxazoline system occurs at RT in air, resulting in azo generation, which can then be trapped in situ via hetero-Diels-Alder (HDA) and competitive ene-reactions, with chemoselectivity being both temperature and solvent dependent. The procedure was extended to other azo systems and mechanism studies are reported

Life cycle environmental impacts of generating electricity and heat from biogas produced by anaerobic digestion

AbstractFinancial incentives in many European countries have led to a surge in anaerobic digestion (AD) installations to produce heat and/or electricity from biogas. This paper presents the life cycle environmental impacts of a system producing biogas from agricultural wastes by AD and co-generating heat and electricity in a combined heat and power (CHP) plant. The results suggest that this can lead to significant reductions in most impacts compared to fossil-fuel alternatives, including the global warming potential (GWP) which can be reduced by up to 50%. However, the acidification and eutrophication potentials are respectively 25 and 12 times higher than for natural gas CHP. The impacts are influenced by the type and source of feedstock, digestate storage and its application on land. Using energy crops such as maize instead of waste reduces the GWP owing to higher biogas yields, but eight out of 11 impacts increase compared to using waste feedstocks. If digestate is not used to displace artificial fertilisers, the majority of impacts are higher than from natural gas CHP. Some other bioenergy options have lower GWP than energy from biogas, including woodchip CHP plants. Implications for policy are discussed based on the results of the study

Measurement of cruelty in children: The Cruelty to Animals Inventory

Cruelty to animals may be a particularly pernicious aspect of problematic child development. Progress in understanding the development of the problem is limited due to the complex nature of cruelty as a construct, and limitations with current assessment measures. The Children and Animals Inventory (CAI) was developed as a brief self- and parent-report measure of F. R. Ascione''s (1993) 9 parameters of cruelty. The CAI emerged as a reliable, stable, and readily utilized measure of cruelty using parent and child reports. Children (especially the older children) reported higher rates of cruelty than their parents and boys reported more cruelty than girls. Self- and parent-reports showed good convergence with independent observations of cruelty versus nurturance during free interactions with domestic animals. The results indicate that cruelty to animals can be reliably measured using brief child and parent report measures

Analogy and Authority in Cyberterrorism Discourse: An Analysis of Global News Media Coverage

This article explores constructions of cyberterrorism within the global news media between 2008 and 2013. It begins by arguing that the preoccupation with questions of definition, threat and response in academic literature on cyberterrorism is problematic, for two reasons. First, because it neglects the constitutivity of representations of cyberterrorism in the news media and beyond; and, second, because it prioritises policy-relevant research. To address this, the article provides a discursive analysis drawing on original empirical research into 31 news media outlets across the world. Although there is genuine heterogeneity in representations of cyberterrorism therein, we argue that constructions of this threat rely heavily on two strategies. First, appeals to authoritative or expert ‘witnesses’ and their institutional or epistemic credibility. And, second, generic or historical analogies, which help shape understanding of the likelihood and consequences of cyberterrorist attack. These strategies have particularly discursive importance, we argue, given the lack of readily available empirical examples of the ‘reality’ of cyberterroris