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Social class differences in political participation are a pressing issue for democracies and they are particularly severe among young people in the UK. Disadvantaged young people are the least likely to be politically engaged in the UK and it is assumed that with declining levels of participation inequalities in political participation increase. What happens to political inequality though when levels of youth participation increase? Do more advantaged young people account for most of the extra participation or do disadvantaged young people ‘catch up’? Based on representative survey data, this paper investigates levels of political inequality among 16- and 17-year-olds in a context of increasing participation in Scotland. We find that in Scotland young people of all social classes were equally likely to be politically engaged, while among young people in the rest of the UK and adults from Scotland those of higher social status were more likely to be engaged in politics. Overall, social class differences in political engagement were less pronounced amongst 16- and 17-year-olds in Scotland than in the rest of the UK. The paper offers some possible explanations of this finding and suggestions for further research.

SummaryEssential features of cancer tissue cellular heterogeneity such as negatively selected genome topologies, sub-clonal mutation patterns and genome replication states can only effectively be studied by sequencing single-cell genomes at scale and high fidelity. Using an amplification-free single-cell genome sequencing approach implemented on commodity hardware (DLP+) coupled with a cloud-based computational platform, we define a resource of 40,000 single-cell genomes characterized by their genome states, across a wide range of tissue types and conditions. We show that shallow sequencing across thousands of genomes permits reconstruction of clonal genomes to single nucleotide resolution through aggregation analysis of cells sharing higher order genome structure. From large-scale population analysis over thousands of cells, we identify rare cells exhibiting mitotic mis-segregation of whole chromosomes. We observe that tissue derived scWGS libraries exhibit lower rates of whole chromosome anueploidy than cell lines, and loss of p53 results in a shift in event type, but not overall prevalence in breast epithelium. Finally, we demonstrate that the replication states of genomes can be identified, allowing the number and proportion of replicating cells, as well as the chromosomal pattern of replication to be unambiguously identified in single-cell genome sequencing experiments. The combined annotated resource and approach provide a re-implementable large scale platform for studying lineages and tissue heterogeneity.

In this work, a noninvasive low-cost TDR-based system for monitoring moisture content in Cultural Heritage structures is presented. The proposed system relies on an adhesive (removable) tape, constituted by two copper strips which run parallel to each other and act as sensing element. Experimental tests were carried out by intentionally moistening a portion of a wall, and monitoring the TDR response as the moistened area naturally dried up. Preliminary results showed that, thanks to the non-invasiveness features, the proposed system is a good candidate for noninvasive monitoring of moisture in monumental buildings.

Germany has long been viewed as a country of Europhiles, but recently the country has been displaying signs of growing Euroscepticism. When asked to think about Europe, a sizeable minority of Germans expresses concern over a loss of social security or jobs, a loss of national identity and culture, or Germany's financial contributions to the European Union (EU). German political elites across the left–right spectrum have left these concerns largely unaddressed and continue to advocate for the European project. This raises questions about there being a potential gap between public and elite conceptions of EU fears.\ud \ud Our comparison of survey data on German public opinion with insights from elite interviews with political leaders reveals that there is indeed a gap between public opinion and elite interpretations of the EU. Political decision-makers across the left–right spectrum perceive fears in Germany to be largely generalised, non-concrete and unrelated to evaluations of the EU. However, this is the case for a minority of Germans only. The majority show a pattern of concrete, distinguishable concerns, suggesting that we cannot speak about EU fears in the aggregate. Citizens' levels of anxiety are directly related to their evaluations of Germany’s future strategy in the EU: those who are more worried overall are more likely to want Germany to leave the EU or work towards reducing the EU's powers. While we find citizens' concerns to be dependent on both pragmatic economic evaluations and more emotive variables such as the degree of national and European identification, politicians focus on pragmatic economic evaluations. They underestimate the impact of emotional affiliations as expressed through identity on German public opinion.\ud \ud Given German political elites' limited understanding of the public’s concerns, it is not surprising to find that 3 Germany politicians have difficulties addressing them. Although politicians recognise the importance of representation for citizens' evaluations of the legitimacy of the EU, the measures they suggest remain largely one-dimensional, centred on explaining the EU’s procedures and increasing identification with the EU. Politicians, it seems, struggle to think of measures to improve the EU's problem-solving capacity.\ud \ud In order to close the gap between public and elite conceptions about the EU in Germany, it is crucial to support politicians in their task of understanding and addressing citizens' worries. This requires research and debate on EUrelated concerns, strategies for the transfer of knowledge about their underlying drivers and instruments to facilitate public–elite interaction about the EU as well as a broader range of policy options to address EU concerns across several levels of governance.

In this work, the performance of three time domain reflectometry (TDR) instruments (with different hardware architectures, specifications and costs) is comparatively assessed. The goal is to evaluate the performance of low-cost TDR instrumentation, in view of the development of a completely permanent TDR-based monitoring solution, wherein the costs of the instrument is so low, that it can be left on-site, even unguarded, and controlled remotely. Without losing generality, the applications considered for the comparative experiments are the TDR-based detection of leaks in underground pipes and, more in general, of soil water content variations. For this reason, both laboratory and in-the-field experiments are carried out by comparatively using three TDR instruments, in conjunction with wire-like sensing elements (SEs).

Cereals and legumes are invaluable resources, as they represent the raw materials of many foods and beverages. Cereals are also largely used as livestock feeds, thus indirectly influencing the quality of dairy products and meat. Because of their key role in human nutrition and well-being, the safety and quality of these agri-food materials are extremely important topics in food science. In this regard, moisture content is one of the ultimate factors influencing the quality, safety and price of the final food product; hence, it is crucial to monitor water content of materials in the food production line. Starting from these considerations, this paper describes the use of time domain reflectometry (TDR) for both in-line and off-line moisture content sensing of agrifood materials. In particular, after a brief description of the basic principles of TDR, two representative application cases for moisture content measurements of agri-food materials are reported and commented on.

In this work, time domain reflectometry (TDR) is used in conjunction with an innovative type of low-cost, wirelike diffused sensor for diffused soil water content monitoring in agriculture. Thanks to its wire-like configuration, these passive, maintenance-free sensors can be rolled out and buried along the perimeter/path to be monitored (for example, along a row of plants/trees). A single sensor can be long up to 150 meters, and several sensors can be simultaneously installed in a large area, thus creating a diffused sensor network which can be controlled through a single measurement instrument. To assess the practical feasibility of the proposed TDR-based system, a practical experiment was carried out by employing a bifilar, wire-like sensing element (SE) for monitoring soil water content in a watermelon cultivation. For comparative purposes, also in view of continuous remote monitoring, measurements were carried out through three TDR instruments with different specifications and costs.