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This paper challenges the simplified binary division of suppliers of goods and services into market or state categories and identifies the continued relevance of household, community, and third-sector provision in rural areas. We explain the emergence, survival, and development of place-based and collaborative action using a three-fold typology, reflecting differences in the motivations and rationales for providing goods and services in these ways. In a place-based context, some communities have acted collectively using collaborative agency. Many observers of rural community development have suggested that place-based communitarian action may be unable to break free from class-based controls, but this is contested by some compelling examples. Where supported by effective public policy, place-based communitarianism can offer an alternative mode of provision for a wide range of services. Using Scotland as an example, this paper explores the dynamics of interactions between community and policy actors in land acquisition and management, renewable energy, and social care. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Social justice is a key value within Scottish education and is listed as one of four professional values within the General Teaching Council for Scotland's (GTCS) professional standards. This paper uses the work of Nancy Fraser to question what is meant by social justice within Scottish education. Parallels are drawn between the conception of social justice as presented within the Standard for Registration and the work of Fraser, highlighting the relevance of a professional standard that seeks to orientate professionals towards social justice rather than codify the practice in reference to a single scale on which all matters of justice should be weighed. Following this, the Getting it Right for Every Child policy (GIRFEC) is problematized to demonstrate the dangers of mis-framing. This paper ends by connecting the concept of professional orientation towards justice as indicated within the Standard for Registration to Aristotle's idea of sensibilities and phronêsis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A total of 10% of children looked after in residential care in Scotland are aged 5–11. Although there has been a significant amount of information published about the care trajectories of adolescents in residential care, there is limited information about the experiences of younger children. In this paper, we explore the care trajectories and nature of care received by 5–11-year-olds identified as being in need of residential care. Our results show that younger children who enter residential care have significant trauma histories and experience significant levels of emotional and behavioural dysregulation that foster carers find challenging to manage, resulting in recurrent placement breakdowns. Residential care, particularly small-group-sized care that adopts social pedagogical and psychotherapeutic approaches, was considered beneficial for addressing the psychosocial and emotional needs of younger children. Despite these findings, there were concerns about the long-term use of residential care for younger children. Our results highlight that there is a need to improve access to paediatric mental health services for children in family-based placements. There is also a need to invest in better training and support for foster carers looking after children in severe distress. Community-based outreach services and in-home respite services provided by residential care teams are one way this could be achieved. Finally, in order to promote earlier and more timeous use of residential care, there is a need to shift societal views around residential care being a placement of last resort to rather being a place of recovery and healing that should sometimes be used as a placement of first resort. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite a widespread focus on grandparents, a large proportion of kinship care in the UK is provided by older siblings. What drives older siblings to become kinship carers, and how this might differ from other kinship carers, is not well represented in academic literature. In this study, narrative interviews were carried out with thirteen adults across England, Scotland, and Wales who had experience being the main carer for their younger sibling(s) when their parents could not care for them sufficiently. The narrative method elicited holistic accounts of participants experiences of being a sibling carer, and the analysis generated three groups of narrative accounts highlighting how and why some sibling kinship care arrangements come about—with siblings wanting to bring their younger siblings back into their family; siblings trying to keep their younger siblings in their family; or older siblings stepping in to fill a gap in parenting at home. The paper draws on the narrative accounts of participants to build the groups, presenting an illustrative narrative account to represent each group. Importantly, these accounts demonstrate how becoming a kinship carer as an older sibling may, or may not, be recognised or fit into wider narratives of what becoming a kinship carer looks like. It is hoped that these accounts will prompt practitioners and policymakers to look more closely at the role of siblings when considering who is and who should be involved in deciding how to support children to remain within their family network. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The accurate prediction of short-term platform motions in a real environment is crucial for the safe design, operation, and maintenance of floating offshore wind turbines (FOWTs). Numerical simulations of motions are typically associated with high uncertainties due to abstracted theoretical models, empirical parameters, initial environment parameters, etc. Therefore, it is necessary to integrate other sources of information associated with less uncertainty, e.g., monitoring data, for accurate predictions. In this paper, we propose a probabilistic prediction based on the Bayesian approach that logically integrates motion monitoring data with simulated motion predictions of FOWTs, considering uncertainties in the environment model, structural properties, motion prediction method, monitoring data, etc. The approach consists of constructing a prior probability density function (PDF) of a random variable (which characterizes the largest value of the initial motion response) via numerical simulations and a likelihood function based on platform motion monitoring data and deriving a posterior PDF of the random variable by Bayesian updating. Then, posterior distributions of short-term extreme motion responses are derived using the posterior PDF of the random variable, representing lower uncertainty and improved accuracy. A Metropolis–Hastings algorithm is adopted to obtain PDFs of complex probability distributions. The effectiveness of the approach is demonstrated on a real FOWT platform in Scotland. The proposed probabilistic prediction approach results in posterior distributions of short-term extreme platform motions associated with less uncertainty and higher accuracy, which is attributed to integrating prior knowledge with monitoring data. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the role participatory methods play in understanding the social values of built heritage, including people's sense of identity, belonging, and place. It is based on research in Scotland where, as in many other countries, there is an increasing emphasis on contemporary significance and public participation within domestic heritage management frameworks. The paper draws on the experiences and findings of a social values assessment for Cables Wynd House, a Brutalist block of flats in Edinburgh that was listed in 2017. Through the case study assessment, conducted over six months in 2019, Cables Wynd House is manifested as a multiplicity of connected realities, diverse experiences, and micro-locations. The participatory methods reveal interactions and tensions between the architectural design and aesthetics of the building and participants' lived experiences and connections. The article argues that the mix of participatory methods provide different opportunities and ways of knowing, surfacing diversity, dissonance, and complexity. It highlights that participatory research is a collaborative process, requiring a flexible and responsive approach to methods. The paper concludes that participatory methods and collaborative approaches can provide nuanced and contextualised understandings of the social value of built heritage, which can complement but also diverge significantly from professional assessments of value. Wider adoption of these methods and the resulting understandings into the management and conservation of built heritage would support more people-centred, inclusive, and socially relevant forms of practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Scotland is a small country with an education system whose roots lie within an inclusive and egalitarian approach to the education of young people. Subsequent legislation, policies, and curriculum frameworks have been influenced by this, and also by the international move toward equitable, inclusive, and quality lifelong learning for all. Supporting those who are highly able/gifted and talented against such a backdrop offers both opportunities and challenges. In this qualitative study, the Global Principles for Professional Learning in Gifted Education are used to interrogate recent key legislation; the current curriculum framework, Curriculum for Excellence, and the National Framework for Inclusion; to ascertain the extent to which this inclusive approach, on paper, affords in-class and school-based support for gifted and talented/highly able learners. The results indicate that the legislative and policy frameworks coalesce with the Global Principles. While legislation does not change practice, it does influence and shape practice, and so can be used as a springboard for developing dynamic, culturally appropriate opportunities for Scotland's gifted young people. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper locates the educational psychologist's (EP) involvement in addressing social justice in practice. It uses some philosophical ideas from Jacques Rancière, particularly the idea of the distribution of the sensible and dissensus, to help us question how systems that are aimed at contributing to a socially just society can limit social justice itself. Whilst the argument of this paper is applicable to educational psychologists internationally, this paper is situated within a Scottish context. It uses a vignette to draw out a philosophical reading of the EP's involvement in the narrative. This paper gives some examples of how structures that are aimed at supporting social justice often position the EPs within these systems so that thinking, being and doing are shaped according to the structures that they inhabit. The establishment of such structures and discourses have limited the meaning and implementation of social justice. This means that the identity of both those requiring the involvement of the EP, as well as the EP and other professionals is determined in terms of their 'proper place' and their activity is determined in terms of its 'proper function'. The paper argues that EPs can interrupt the procedural flow and provide a dissenting voice which can ultimately lead to social justice in ways that the normal flow of procedure does not. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Concerns have been raised globally about the impact of the pandemic on the mental health and wellbeing of children and young people (CYP). How prospective headteachers rose to the challenge posed by the pandemic in supporting the wellbeing of their school communities and reaching out to the most vulnerable CYP and families during the recovery phase is the focus of this paper. It is a longitudinal, principally qualitative study conducted in two phases with 60 former students of the Into Headship programme in Scotland. Phase 2 of the study drew on the accounts of eight students drawn from the primary, secondary, and special education sectors using individual interviews and focus group discussions. This paper draws on the accounts of three secondary sector participants in interview. Data were analysed via thematic analysis using a modified framework of King and Horrocks. The respondents had encountered a wide range of challenges and had been highly proactive in their approach through adopting both targeted and universal approaches to meeting need and addressing inequalities. The findings of this paper should inform the development of headship preparation programmes globally and the responses of schools in the recovery phase, furthering our understanding as to what constitutes inclusion in education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Simple Summary: Existing cross-cultural research on animal welfare often overlooks the way that policy and law are not the exclusive domain of central government. This can result in an over-simplification or misrepresentation of the true situation. The political culture and institutional arrangements for governing the modern state are more complex than a "one-size-fits-all" approach. It is argued that cross-cultural research needs to give greater attention to differences within as well as between unitary states. Specifically, it needs to examine developments in constituent nations and territories. Here we illustrate this by drawing on new research in the United Kingdom, and examine how 'devolution'—or decentralized government for Wales and Scotland—is providing contrasting opportunities for NGOs, campaigners, and the public to lobby to improve animal welfare policy based on local practices, beliefs, and demands (collectively known as the "political culture"). Our findings show how this is important because it results in contrasting animal welfare policies and laws in the constituent nations of the UK. It is argued that extant cross-cultural research on animal welfare often overlooks or gives insufficient attention to new governance theory, civil society, politics, and the realities of devolved or (quasi-)federal, multi-level governance in the modern state. This paper synthesizes relevant social theory and draws on new empirical findings of civil society accounts of campaigning on animal welfare policies and law in the United Kingdom. It is presented as a corrective to arguably reductive, earlier unitary state-based analyses. Our core, evidence-based argument is that cognizance of civil society activism and the contrasting institutional governance structures and political cultures of constituent nations in unitary states—such as the UK—are providing opportunities for the territorialization of legally grounded animal welfare regimes, and culturally distinctive practices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we consider how young refugees in the Drawing Together project experience integration in Scotland. We critically examine the term 'refugee integration' and emphasise its multiple dimensions. Specifically, we analyse Scotland's role as a country committed to the protection and care of young refugees by mapping some key Scottish legal, political, social and cultural policies and strategies that provide the contexts for refugee integration as a mutual endeavour based on hospitality and reciprocity. Finally, we show the ways young refugees talk of rebuilding a life in Scotland that feels coherent in relation to their past and present circumstances, and their future plans despite the challenges that they encounter in their everyday lives. We suggest that a 'relational wellbeing' approach to integration in Scotland is tangible. It confirms the importance of the practical and social opportunities available to young refugees as they resettle. This approach extends the meaning of integration beyond its political and social categories, to include young refugees' attachment to their faith of origin as well as the natural environment of Scotland. In all, we suggest that young refugees face the challenges and use the opportunities for integration in Scotland in ways that are of sustained benefit, for them as well as Scotland as their new country. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a life cycle assessment (LCA) of the International Energy Agency (IEA) 15 MW Reference Wind Turbine (RWT), on floating platforms, deployed in commercial-scale arrays at multiple locations around Scotland in the ScotWind leasing round. Site-specific energy production and vessel operations are provided by a dedicated offshore wind farm operations and maintenance (O&M) model, COMPASS, allowing service operation vessel (SOV) O&M impacts to be assessed with increased confidence. For climate change, the median global warming impact varied from 17.4 to 26.3 gCO2eq/kWh across the four sites within a 95% confidence interval using an uncertainty assessment of both foreground and background data. As is common with other offshore renewable energy systems, materials and manufacture account for 71% to 79% of global warming impact, while O&M comprise between 9% and 16% of the global warming impacts. High-voltage direct current (HVDC) export cables, floating platforms, and composite blades are significant contributors to the environmental impacts of these arrays (by mass and material choice), while the contributions from ballast, vessel transportation emissions, and power-train components are lower. The results suggest that material efficiencies, circularity, and decarbonizing material supply inventories should be a priority for the Scottish floating wind sector, followed by minimizing vessel operations and the decarbonization of vessel propulsion, while avoiding burden shifting to other impact categories. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The UK refugee sector encompasses welfare provision, systems advocacy, capacity development and research. However, to date there has been little attention on refugees' experiences of the support provided by these services or on the views of the practitioners who deliver them. This paper draws from interviews and workshops with thirty refugee beneficiaries of an integration service in Scotland and twenty practitioners to shed light on how refugees and practitioners perceive and provide meaning to the work of the refugee sector. We identify refugee sector organisations as crucial nodes in refugees' social networks and explore the multiple roles they play in the integration process. Firstly, we confirm that refugee organisations act as connectors, linking refugees with wider networks of support. Secondly, we demonstrate that the work of the refugee sector involves acts of care that are of intrinsic value to refugees, over and above the achievement of tangible integration outcomes. Finally, we demonstrate that this care also involves acts that seek to overcome and subvert statutory system barriers. We propose to understand these acts as forms of "practice-based resistance" necessitated by a hostile policy environment. The findings expand on understandings of the refugee sector, its role in integration and the multi-faceted nature of integration processes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In 2022, the UN marked the International Year of Glass, celebrating the essential role glass has, and will continue to have, in society. One element of this celebration was the importance of glass within art and its history, which the Craft Scotland 2022 Conference: The Power of Glass looked to explore. The aim of the conference was to allow a range of individuals, be they academics, researchers, or students of glass and art history within Scotland and the UK, to access contemporary thought within an under-represented field in the UK craft sector. In this paper, we look to highlight the links between the aims of the International Year of Glass and the proceedings of The Power of Glass Conference, demonstrating how glass artists, makers, and designers are part of a growing international body of creatives who are using the communicative possibilities of glass as a vehicle in which to raise pertinent questions and platform unheard and overlooked narratives. Moreover, they seek to overturn perceived biases of what glass is and its future potential by placing their craft within an arena of judgement beyond discussions of process and technique and by elevating socio-political glass art on par with other forms of artistic protest and commentary. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Queensferry Crossing in Scotland is the first multi-tower cable-stayed bridge with crossed cables in the world. This means that the conceptual design of a cross-cable multi-tower cable-stayed bridge has become a reality. In this paper, the cross-cable action mechanism is studied deeply. Suppose that the small displacement amount at the top of the side tower is ignored. The deformation coordination principle is used twice to analyze the relationship between the horizontal external force and the top displacement amount of the middle tower. Thus, derive the formula for estimating the anti-push stiffness of cross cables to the middle tower of the multi-tower cable-stayed bridge under the influence of the stiffness of the tower and beam. A numerical example is given to verify this. The research results show that the error between the analytical solution and the finite element solution is less than 8%, which meets the conceptual design requirements of cross-cable multi-tower cable-stayed bridges. The cross cables can reduce the deflection of the main beam and improve the stiffness of the bridge. After setting 10 pairs of cross cables, the displacement amount of the middle tower decreases by as high as 51%. The stiffness of the multi-tower cable-stayed bridge increases with an increase in the number of cross cables, but the increasing trend of stiffness gradually slows down. Increasing the stiffness of the tower or beam can improve the structural stiffness to a certain extent, but the effect is much less potent than that of the cross cable in the middle span. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This essay aims to give an account of separatist Presbyterian denominations in the context of Christianity in Scotland in the 20th century. After a brief introduction, attention is first given to the circumstances in which the denominations concerned were birthed. A second section looks at their current place within the wider Scottish context. In the third section, further attention is paid to the two most recent, late 20th century, divisions, those of 1989 and 2000. Concluding reflections seek to view the scene, thus sketched, through a wider lens and to look to the future with a degree of hope for reconciliation and healing. This paper is indebted to the invaluable insights, particularly in regard to the content of its third section, of the Revd Archie McPhail. Sincere thanks are also due to the Revd Martin Keane, Principal Clerk of the United Free Church, and the Revd David Meredith, Mission Director of the Free Church of Scotland, for their gracious and helpful responses to specific queries about their respective denominations. Any errors of fact or judgement are of course those of the author. In writing on a subject as difficult—and painful—as this, one inevitably brings personal perspectives to bear. Those of this writer have inevitably been formed, at least in part, in the context of an unusual ecclesiastical journey within the territory of three denominations—the Free Presbyterian Church, the Associated Presbyterian Churches and the Church of Scotland. Personal involvement in the history and denominational transfers of recent decades, together with long service as a parish minister and experience as a former Moderator, lend to the paper its distinctive angle of approach. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Young people experience significant harm in a range of social contexts and from adults and peers unconnected to their caregivers. The recognition of this by policymakers in England, Scotland, and Wales has resulted in child protection policy frameworks increasingly requiring social work responses to the extra-familial contexts where such harm occurs, as well as to the young people affected. This paper presents results from an embedded research project in which five local children's social care departments used a Contextual Safeguarding framework to respond to this shifting policy direction. The data collected via ethnographic methods over three years included meeting and practice observations (n = 65), meeting participation (n = 334), reviews of young people's case files (n = 122), interviews (n = 27) and focus groups (n = 33) with professionals, focus groups (n = 6), interviews (n = 2) and surveys (n = 78) with parents and young people, and analysis of local policies and procedures (n = 101). At two stages in the project, the researchers used this dataset to review the progress in each participant site against the Contextual Safeguarding framework. Reporting on the progress made across the five sites, this paper identifies elements of the system change that appeared most feasible or challenging. The results demonstrate four ways in which current policy reforms fall short in creating national contexts that are conducive to the implementation of Contextual Safeguarding, despite local progress towards this goal. The implications for the policy and practices are outlined, with fundamental questions asked of the statutory systems which need to protect, but all too often criminalise, young people abused beyond their front doors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Brethren were pervasive in Lowland Scottish society during the twentieth century. At the beginning of the century in Scotland, they had spilt into three main sections: the Open Brethren, the Exclusive Brethren, and the Churches of God. Schism was a recurring feature in the last two sections, and this paper traces the history of the various secessions and offers an account of why they were prone to division. Using the sociological typologies of sect and denomination, this paper examines the relationship between the Brethren and Scottish culture and society, including social class, use of leisure, and withdrawal and engagement in the cultural and business worlds, noting commonalities and variegations across the various streams. The final sections examine the growth and decline of the various streams and the reasons for both. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Offshore wind is in a rapid transitional phase, pushed worldwide by efforts of those to reduce climate change. Wind power is becoming a commercialised, unsubsidised competitive form of low carbon generation of renewable energy. Marketplaces reflect this growing trend with the first introduction of subsidy free bids in a tender for the Dutch and German governments. The analysis of surrounding literature of subsidy free bids and governmental policies revealed that integration of subsidy free bids have been carried out to various extents. Bids like those seen in the German and Dutch governments have been done in accompaniment with supportive policies and measures. For the UK, a possible subsidy free bid could be developed under the Scottish Sectoral Marine Plan. Owing to that, this paper investigates the feasibility of a subsidy free bid for the Scottish government. Utilising the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) levelised cost of electricity (LCOE) metric were inserted into a detailed excel spreadsheet. This paper calculates multiple financial scenarios under the LCOE metric to provide an insight into the possible scenarios of which different models of subsidy free bids can be implemented. The main parameters associated with the BEIS metric and calculator design were investigated. These included financial cost predictions, discount rate, generational capacity and net capacity factors. The final conclusion of the generated output data, showed it was indeed possible to adopt a subsidy free bid under the current UK contract for difference (CfD) scheme under strict and favourable conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hybrid renewable hydrogen energy systems could play a key role in delivering sustainable solutions for enabling the Net Zero ambition; however, the lack of exact computational modelling tools for sizing the integrated system components and simulating their real-world dynamic behaviour remains a key technical challenge against their widespread adoption. This paper addresses this challenge by developing a precise dynamic model that allows sizing the rated capacity of the hybrid system components and accurately simulating their real-world dynamic behaviour while considering effective energy management between the grid-integrated system components to ensure that the maximum possible proportion of energy demand is supplied from clean sources rather than the grid. The proposed hybrid system components involve a solar PV system, electrolyser, pressurised hydrogen storage tank and fuel cell. The developed hybrid system model incorporates a set of mathematical models for the individual system components. The developed precise dynamic model allows identifying the electrolyser's real-world hydrogen production levels in response to the input intermittent solar energy production while also simulating the electrochemical behaviour of the fuel cell and precisely quantifying its real-world output power and hydrogen consumption in response to load demand variations. Using a university campus case study building in Scotland, the effectiveness of the developed model has been assessed by benchmarking comparison between its results versus those obtained from a generic model in which the electrochemical characteristics of the electrolyser and fuel cell systems were not taken into consideration. Results from this comparison have demonstrated the potential of the developed model in simulating the real-world dynamic operation of hybrid solar hydrogen energy systems for grid-connected buildings while sizing the exact capacity of system components, avoiding oversizing associated with underutilisation costs and inaccurate simulation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper is a literature review of fuel and transport poverty in the U.K. with a focus on contextualising this challenge in Scotland. Building on the discussion in the literature, we see that the objective of policy interventions should be to provide a mechanism for identifying vulnerable households. First, we analyse the definitions of fuel, energy, and transport poverty and observe that definitions in policy have been used to limit the scope of the issue to make it more easily addressable. In contrast, academic research points out that fuel poverty should not only encompass all energy use, including household heating, but that transport poverty should be considered under the same umbrella as the drivers overlap. We then consider the indicators used to measure fuel and transport poverty, finding that the thresholds set are arbitrary and only measure one of many possible drivers, namely expenditure. Through an analysis of the drivers, it is clear that both fuel and transport poverty are complex multidimensional challenges requiring a combination of indicators to allow the policy to accurately identify vulnerable households. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Antonine Wall Distance Sculptures are iconic and unique sculptural reliefs that marked Rome's most north-westerly frontier across central Scotland. Their inscribed texts and iconography depict graphic tales of frontier life, and recent non-invasive analysis has confirmed they were originally brought to life through vibrant polychromy. This paper tracks the trajectory of one Distance Sculpture that was embedded into the dramatic setting of Dunnottar Castle off the north-east coast of Scotland during the 16th century, where it was recorded as having been repainted during that episode of use. A suite of complementary analytical techniques, including pXRF, FTIR, and SEM/EDS, was recently reported on which identified pigments and surface treatments as well as their chronology of application, confirmed through stratigraphic sequencing visible in cross-section. That approach facilitated the investigation of all episodes in the itinerary of this iconic sculpted relief from the second century to the Scottish Renaissance. That vanguard research has provided an unprecedented opportunity to unravel the rich hidden history behind this unique monumental inscription and re-tell a fascinating transformational tale of a pivotal period in its past. The combination of historical, archaeological, and scientific approaches to an understudied, and overlooked, phenomenon of post-antique colouration is revolutionary in polychromy studies. It provides innovative and well-contextualised information that lifts an aesthetically modest Roman monument into a vibrant, colourful, and sumptuous decorative feature fit to grace the walls of a Renaissance castle emulating Roman imperial practices. We can now trace its journey through time by delving into the detail of its Renaissance repainting to present, for the first time, an accurate digital reconstruction as it performed for 16th century audiences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Over the past two decades, the relative socio-economic importance of land-based sectors has declined in comparison to non-land-based businesses such as tourism, food and beverage activities. However, policy implementation and research have primarily focused on the economic contributions of land-based businesses, leaving businesses outside these sectors and in rural areas, referred to as non-land-based businesses, largely overlooked. Therefore, this study aims to examine the importance of non-land-based businesses and the key determinants of the relationships between non-land-based businesses and land-based (farming, forestry and landed estate) sectors in rural Scotland. Through a survey of 1500 businesses whose primary focus is not agriculture, forestry or landed rural estates in four Scottish regions, the key findings of the logit model reveal that businesses located in rural areas are more likely to have relationships, both direct (supplying or purchasing goods/services) and indirect, with farming, forestry and landed estate sectors than their urban counterparts. Focusing on rural businesses, the results show that business size, sectors, business age, exporting, importing and business constraints related to cash flow, digital connectivity and government financial support significantly influence their relationships with land-based sectors. The results of crosstab analysis also reveal differences in business performance, business challenges related to Brexit and future plans between non-land-based rural businesses having relationships with land-based sectors in different rural classifications: accessible/remote small towns, accessible rural areas and remote rural areas. The paper concludes with policy recommendations to support rural businesses and future land-based and non-land-based sectors in rural Scotland. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the experiences and aspirations of migrant young people in Scotland. It focuses on students approaching the end of compulsory education and presents findings from a study on the outcomes of young migrants in the transition to adulthood. The research is based on empirical fieldwork carried out with students in two schools (n = 95 in depth interviews). It finds evidence of unique and distinct educational pathways for school leavers with a migrant background. Three themes emerge about the practice of transition for young migrants, (1) the significance of family support and expectations, (2) the impact of the migration process and (3) the changing nature of migrant identity through transition. The study highlights the need for local and national policies which support transition for young migrants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The main obstacle against the penetration of wind power into the power grid is its high variability in terms of wind speed fluctuations. Accurate power forecasting, while making maintenance more efficient, leads to the profit maximisation of power traders, whether for a wind turbine or a wind farm. Machine learning (ML) models are recognised as an accurate and fast method of wind power prediction, but their accuracy depends on the selection of the correct hyperparameters. The incorrect choice of hyperparameters will make it impossible to extract the maximum performance of the ML models, which is attributed to the weakness of the forecasting models. This paper uses a novel optimisation algorithm to tune the long short-term memory (LSTM) model for short-term wind power forecasting. The proposed method improves the power prediction accuracy and accelerates the optimisation process. Historical power data of an offshore wind turbine in Scotland is utilised to validate the proposed method and compare its outcome with regular ML models tuned by grid search. The results revealed the significant effect of the optimisation algorithm on the forecasting models' performance, with improvements of the RMSE of 7.89, 5.9, and 2.65 percent, compared to the persistence and conventional grid search-tuned Auto-Regressive Integrated Moving Average (ARIMA) and LSTM models. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the nature of traffic loading in recurrent congested traffic conditions on a long-span suspension bridge. Traffic flow and percentage of trucks are extracted from image data and a cluster analysis performed to classify the data into four clusters. One cluster (MTHF, medium truck percentage and high flow) is identified that incorporates almost 50% of the hours of traffic data scattered throughout the day. Site-specific load assessment confirms that this MTHF cluster is the most critical for the bridge considered, the Forth Road Bridge in Scotland. For non-recurrent congestion, another cluster (HTLF, high percentage of trucks and low flow) is shown to govern but this finding is highly site-specific, depending on the relative frequency of the different types of congestion. A comparison of the maximum hourly/daily MTHF load effect of the cable force for five notional bridges shows that a 100% increase in the bridge span generates an increase of about 65% in the characteristic load effect. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

J. M. Barrie (1860–1937) remains best known as the creator of Peter Pan (1904), celebrated as a whimsical eccentric who wrote sad stories about lost children. In his own day, however, he was respected as Scotland's leading dramatist and a trenchant social critic. His writings from the years following the First World War are much darker in tone than his earlier work, as a series of intense personal bereavements shook his aesthetic embrace of Christian Humanism. God exists in Barrie's post-war works as the presence of absence, a vacancy where the divine ought to be but where an inexplicable experience of bereavement hangs instead. This paper considers the nature of God's absence in two of Barrie's major post-war works, the drama Mary Rose (1920) and the lecture Courage (1922), through the interrelated images of the crucified body of Christ and the absent λόγος. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the impact of the Great War (1914–1918) on Christianity in Scotland. This includes the attitudes of various denominations to the war, the rise and fall of religious attendance, and the impact of the war on Sabbatarianism, Sunday schools, church attendance, theology, and social and moral issues in Scottish society. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Social innovation is gaining momentum in academia, policy and practice, as a process by which local communities generate new social relations and become more capable of addressing social needs and opportunities. However, there is significant ambiguity about the role of the different types of actors involved in social innovation, particularly in rural areas. This article aims to examine which actors make social innovation in rural areas possible, and the roles they play in these processes. Drawing on 33 interviews carried out with key informants of three socially innovative initiatives developed in rural areas of Spain and Scotland, this paper illustrates the scale, role and logic of the actors involved. The findings of the study clarify the central role of local processes and local actors, the impact of facilitators and perceived neutrality. They also show the contribution of social economy organizations as an arena for coordinating plural networks and civil society initiatives. The way the public sector and LEADER participate in social innovation processes in rural areas are also reflected in the results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The COVID-19 lockdown has substantially disrupted the established facets of teacher engagement with their students, and, given the significance of this multidimensional interaction, it brings into question what we know as teachers' identity. The lockdown has offered a dilemmatic context where the processes of teaching and learning and being(s) a teacher are being re-visited and re-negotiated. This paper looks specifically at the perceptions of two teachers of their lockdown experience working within a special education context in Scotland, supporting children with disabilities and/or learning difficulties while at home. The question that this paper addresses is: what is the understanding of these two teachers of their role in a specialised educational context while in COVID-19 lockdown? This paper uses 'practical wisdom' (also known as phronêsis) as its theoretical basis, where the focus is on teachers' judgements at precisely those moments where guidelines and procedures are unclear, and the criteria open to multiple interpretations. The COVID-19 pandemic certainly provided this context. Richard Smith's interpretation of phronêsis as 'attentiveness' are central to this paper. In-depth interviews carried out with teachers are analysed through this theoretical framework and two themes are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article identifies community-based alternatives to secure care being utilised in The Netherlands, Canada, Hawaii and Scotland. These countries offer ways to not only reduce or eliminate the need to deprive children and young people of their liberty in secure care but also reduce rates of child removal and alternative care placements. Secure care is the containment of children and young people, often subject to child protection interventions and residing in residential care, in a locked facility when they pose a significant risk of harm to the community and themselves. An admission to secure care exposes children to restrictive practices, such as seclusion, use of force and restraint. Jurisdictions have an ethical imperative, and often legislative obligation, to ensure there are less intrusive community-based supports available, which could be utilised instead of a secure care admission where possible. However, there is little research on what alternatives effectively divert secure care admissions. Hawaii, Canada, The Netherlands and Scotland demonstrate how countries can reduce the number of vulnerable children deprived of their liberty and exposed to restrictive practices by enhancing research linkages, responding to the voice of lived experience, and positioning secure care and alternatives within system-wide reform. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper, based on 355 survey responses from secondary Religious Education (RE) teachers in England (n = 238) and Scotland (n = 117), explores the background of these educators in terms of qualifications, personal (a)theistic belief, and religion. This research seeks to establish the degree backgrounds of RE teachers, what religion they belong to (if any), and the range of theistic, agnostic, and atheistic teachers currently within the RE profession. This paper, acknowledging the similar and contrasting natures of England and Scotland in terms of the history, status and purpose(s) of the subject, demonstrates that RE teachers in these countries come from diverse academic backgrounds, and that most RE teachers in England and Scotland do not believe in God(s). Nearly half of RE teachers in England and more than half in Scotland have no religion. The granulation to England and Scotland allows us to make tentative links with national census and social attitudes research, and with literature, which posits nuanced secularisation trajectories. Furthermore, the data allow us to cross-tabulate (for example, between degree background and religious beliefs), as well as with the data in extant research about the risks of sanitised and essentialised approaches to teaching religion in schools. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper looks at the impact of digital technology on teaching and learning in primary schools in Scotland during the first COVID-19 lockdown from March to June 2020. The pandemic has challenged our understanding of schooling as, for the first time in many years, schools as we know them were shut and the school building was removed as the site of teaching and learning. This paper uses the concept of Thirdspace as developed by Edward Soja (1996), where Thirdspace is understood as an in-between space between binaries that enables the possibility to think and act otherwise. Drawing from qualitative data from interviews with primary school teachers, this paper explores how the lockdown in general, and digital technology in particular, facilitated a Thirdspace in the first COVID-19 lockdown. Findings from the study indicate that engaging with digital technology offers the teacher more possibilities than they have come to expect in the physical space of traditional schooling. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is now a consensus that the potential contribution of the humanities to wider environmental debate is significant, although how to develop it effectively is still unclear. This paper therefore focusses on realizing the potential of the environmental humanities through building interdisciplinary collaboration. A four-stage research model is outlined for areas where there is limited humanities scholarship, based on ongoing experience of the humanities in action in the Royal Society of Edinburgh Research Network in the Arts and Humanities, Connecting with a low-carbon Scotland. The model has two key objectives: (1) to enable humanities disciplines to articulate their own contributions to pre-identified environmental research issues; and (2) to develop interdisciplinary humanities collaboration on these issues. It can be adapted to develop understanding in local, national and international contexts, depending on the number of scholars involved and the available resources. The knowledge which emerges can facilitate further interdisciplinary working between the humanities, STEM subjects and social sciences, and be of value to environmental policy-makers [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A submarine landslide on the edge of the Norwegian shelf that occurred around 8150 ± 30 cal. years BP triggered a major ocean-wide tsunami, the deposits of which are recorded around the North Atlantic, including Scotland. Ground-penetrating radar (GPR) was used here to investigate tsunami sediments within estuaries on the coast of northeastern Scotland where the tsunami waves were funnelled inland. Around the Dornoch Firth, the tsunami deposits are up to 1.6 m thickness, which is exceptionally thick for tsunami deposits and about twice the thickness of the 2004 IOT or 2011 Tohoku-oki tsunami deposits. The exceptional thickness is attributed to a high sediment supply within the Dornoch Firth. At Ardmore, the tsunami appears to have overtopped a beach ridge with a thick sand layer deposited inland at Dounie and partly infilled a valley. Later, fluvial activity eroded the tsunami sediments locally, removing the sand layer. At Creich, on the north side of the Dornoch Firth, the sand layer varies in thickness; mapping of the sand layer with GPR shows lateral thickness changes of over 1 m attributed to a combination of infilling an underlying topography, differential compaction, and later reworking by tidal inlets. Interpretation of the GPR profiles at Wick suggests that there has been a miscorrelation of Holocene stratigraphy based on boreholes. Changes in the stratigraphy of spits at Ardmore are attributed to the balance between sediment supply and sea-level change with washovers dominating a spit formed during the early Holocene transgression, while spits formed during the subsequent mid-Holocene high-stand are dominated by progradation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

(1) Background: As part of the Scottish Government's five-year recovery plan to address the backlog in NHS care following the COVID-19 pandemic, community pharmacies in Scotland are planned to provide a Hospital Discharge Medicines Supply and Medicines Reconciliation Service. We aimed to qualitatively explore patients' experiences with this new service. (2) Method: Adult patients (≥18 years age) who consented to participate in the Community Pharmacy Hospital Discharge and Medicines Reconciliation Service were invited for an interview within 21 days of discharge from hospital. Qualitative, one-to-one, semi-structured patient interviews were conducted by telephone and audio-recorded using Microsoft Teams®. The interview audio recordings were transcribed verbatim and underwent thematic analysis. (3) Results: Twelve patients were interviewed, evenly split by sex and with a median age of 62 years (range 36 to 88 years). Our analysis generated main five themes: patient engagement, stakeholder communication, practical factors, human factors, and comparative experiences. Many of these were interdependent. (4) Conclusions: Patients appreciated that the service ensured a quicker discharge from hospital. Good stakeholder communication, practical factors (including choice, location, and the realities of obtaining their medication from the community pharmacy), and a pre-existing and trusted relationship in their usual community pharmacy were the key factors that regulated the patient experience. Generally, patients were positive about the introduction of this new service. However, the lack of a previous relationship or trust with a community pharmacy, and previous experiences with medication supply problems were factors which had the potential to negatively impact patient experiences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Social disability is a process or event that significantly disrupts, paralyzes, or prevents the formation and/or sustaining of interpersonal social relations required for meeting human needs. When prolonged, the 'disabling' of essential human interrelationships can have a destructive impact. This is especially true in communities where people are highly interdependent and where individuals living with disabilities rely upon social relationships to prevent isolation and decline in overall wellbeing. Meanwhile, disaster response systems have developed to first rescue or protect individuals' 'bare life' and immediate, bodily needs. We argue that these systems, intended to mitigate disaster, can exacerbate social disability as a kind of collateral damage. We explore this problem as it unfolded amidst the COVID-19 pandemic in two research sites: one located in rural, northern Scotland and another located in rural, Midwestern United States. The Scottish research focuses on experiences, causes and risks of social disability for adults living with disabilities within a small rural community, while the U.S. research focuses on emergence of and resistance to social disability among residents of a continuing care retirement community for 55+ aged adults. We conclude with implications and recommendations for disaster intervention and future research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Applications of remote sensing data for archaeology rely heavily on repurposed data, which carry inherent limitations in their suitability to help address archaeological questions. Through a case study framed around archaeological imperatives in a Scottish context, this work investigates the potential for existing satellite systems to provide remote sensing data that meet defined specifications for archaeological prospection, considering both spatial and temporal resolution, concluding that the availability of commercial data is currently insufficient. Tasking a commercial constellation of 12 spacecraft to collect images of a 150 km2 region in Scotland through the month of July 2020 provided 26 images with less than 50% cloud cover. Following an analysis of existing systems, this paper presents a high-level mission architecture for a bespoke satellite system designed from an archaeological specification. This study focuses on orbit design and the number of spacecraft needed to meet the spatial and temporal resolution requirements for archaeological site detection and monitoring in a case study of Scotland, using existing imaging technology. By exploring what an ideal scenario might look like from a satellite mission planning perspective, this paper presents a simulation analysis that foregrounds archaeological imperatives and specifies a satellite constellation design on that basis. High-level design suggests that a system of eight 100 kg spacecraft in a 581 km altitude orbit could provide coverage at a desired temporal and spatial resolution of two-weekly revisit and <1 m ground sampling distance, respectively. The potential for such a system to be more widely applied in regions of similar latitude and climate is discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Offshore wind could both play a significant role in decarbonising the global energy system and supporting the energy needs of cities. Recent trends in offshore wind have seen the installation of turbines in deeper and more remote waters due to the presence of stronger and more consistent wind resources. This has led to the development of floating foundations for turbine mounting in water depths above 40 m, where conventional bottom-fixed foundations are not considered economically feasible. However, due to its emerging nature, floating wind must attain market maturity to be considered cost competitive. It is a widely accepted belief that market expansion yields technological maturity. Therefore, this paper adopts a systems approach to investigate the viability of floating offshore wind power generation in Scotland and South Africa. It does this through a content analysis of relevant secondary documentation, including policy documents, industry reports, press releases, online publications, and databases to determine the drivers and barriers of floating wind in the case contexts. The key findings are that substantial technical potential is required to attract floating wind investments, political support is necessary in order to scale up, a strong offshore wind supply chain could cushion the high-cost effects of floating wind projects, and more innovative business models such as corporate Power Purchasing Agreements could serve as social drivers for such projects. The main contextual conclusions drawn from this paper are that Scotland's inaugural floating wind projects benefitted from the Scottish government's Renewable Obligation scheme, however its discontinuation threatens the prospects of future projects. Alternatively, South Africa's technical potential, coupled with its government's healthy appetite for renewable energy development, could see the take up of this technology in the near future, with corresponding benefits for more sustainable energy in densely populated areas, compliant with SDG 7. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In August 2018, a group of experts working with terrestrial/marine geophysics and remote sensing methods to explore archaeological sites in Denmark, Finland, Norway, Scotland and Sweden gathered together for the first time at the Workshop 'Sensing Archaeology in The North'. The goal was to exchange experiences, discuss challenges, and consider future directions for further developing these methods and strategies for their use in archaeology. After the event, this special journal issue was arranged to publish papers that are based on the workshop presentations, but also to incorporate work that is produced by other researchers in the field. This paper closes the special issue and further aims to provide current state-of-the-art for the methods represented by the workshop. Here, we introduce the aspects that inspired the organisation of the meeting, a summary of the 12 presentations and eight paper contributions, as well as a discussion about the main outcomes of the workshop roundtables, including the production of two searchable databases (online resources and equipment). We conclude with the position that the 'North', together with its unique cultural heritage and thriving research community, is at the forefront of good practice in the application and development of sensing methods in archaeological research and management. However, further method development is required, so we claim the support of funding bodies to back research efforts based on testing/experimental studies to: explore unknown survey environments and identify optimal survey conditions, as well as to monitor the preservation of archaeological remains, especially those that are at risk. It is demonstrated that remote sensing and geophysics not only have an important role in the safeguarding of archaeological sites from development and within prehistorical-historical research, but the methods can be especially useful in recording and monitoring the increased impact of climate change on sites in the North. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tackling diffuse pollution from agriculture is a key challenge for governments seeking to implement the European Union's Water Framework Directive (WFD). In the research literature, how best to integrate and align effective measures for tackling diffuse pollution, within the context of the EU's multilevel governance structure, remains an open question. This paper focuses on the first and second implementation cycles of the WFD to explore how national governance arrangements either facilitated or hindered the adoption of effective policies, especially with regards to the delivery of agricultural and water policies on the ground. It draws on data collected through systematic document analysis and interviews with key experts, policymakers and interest groups, and presents a comparative analysis of two case studies: England and Scotland. The case studies show that Scotland's joined-up governance structure, which enabled policymakers and interest groups to work together and to build trust and cooperation, facilitated the adoption of stricter measures for tackling diffuse pollution. In contrast, in England institutional fragmentation prevented a meaningful engagement of all parties and acted as a barrier. The analysis unpacks the design of policy mixes and the conditions that allow national governments to pursue more holistic and integrated governance approaches to overcome opposition from interest groups and gain their support. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Curriculum work is a key part of teachers' practice and involves engaging with different types of knowledge. The way in which teachers use this knowledge will influence pupils' experience of the curriculum in their classroom. In the globalised world of the 21st century, knowledge questions are important considerations, as schooling is situated in inequitable systems and social structures. This qualitative research study examined teachers' use of knowledge as they made the curriculum in their classrooms. Data were generated via interviews with primary school teachers in Scotland and thematically analysed. Five types of knowledge were identified and then critically examined using Nancy Fraser's framework for social justice. This enabled examination of the implications of teachers' use of knowledge in their curriculum work. Findings were congruous with previous research on this topic, highlighting the complexity of curriculum work. Our analysis suggests that while the focus on 'pupil-centred' education is important, as it acts to recognise pupils in curriculum work, the redistribution of knowledge is a key consideration in the globalised and digitised present day. Digital tools and spaces not only provide access to information but also provide new opportunities for inequity and oppressive social relations; continual reflection on the knowledge flow into schools is an important consideration for both teachers and policy-makers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: In this study, objects are used as a representation of relational wellbeing to help young refugees living in Norway, Scotland, and Finland to talk about important persons who make them feel well. At the time of this research, there is no known study that uses objects to facilitate narratives of how young refugees and members of their social networks generate relational wellbeing. Methods: Using a qualitative approach, young refugees participated in individual interviews about the objects they brought to art workshops to understand their experiences, feelings, and acts of wellbeing. Results: Treating each object as unique to the owner was powerful in revealing how relational wellbeing is experienced and expressed. There were overlaps in experiences and expressions of wellbeing, hence our themes of discussion: overlaps between old and new social ties; between time and space; and between the three constructs of relational wellbeing. Old ties were not forgotten; instead, they evolved to a different form, supporting young refugees from a distance, while new ties contributed to what is needed in their present and at their current age. Experiences of relational wellbeing transcended time and space between their disrupted places of origin, their experiences on the journey, and settling in their new countries. The constructs of relational wellbeing—feeling good, being connected, and having enough—were inseparable in the participants' experiences. Conclusions: We conclude that these overlaps have implications for a relational wellbeing approach in theory and practice. The results leave a challenge for both researchers and practitioners to develop complex research and intervention methods that can capture these tapestries of young refugees' experiences of relational wellbeing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is widely recognised that trauma-informed care is fundamental to meeting the needs of children who experience residential care. Service design is central to this, and the aim of this article is to illustrate the experiences of 13 young people who have lived within group care settings, to highlight how a service's capacity can impact on children's needs being met. Using findings from a PhD thesis engaging 18–29-year-olds in Scotland, the research used a mixed methodological approach of questionnaires and semi-structured interviews to elicit young people's retrospective care experiences. The findings show that the number of children within a setting can adversely affect the feeling of being emotionally and practically supported, resulting in some children feeling that their needs were not fully met. This will offer insight to practitioners, managers and decision makers who are engaged in the delivery and development of children's services. Background: The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) articles 3, 9 and 20 and Scotland's Independent Care Review state what children should expect from authorities and services responsible for providing alternative care. The ambition for Scotland's children is that they "grow up loved, safe, and respected so that (they) realise their full potential". For those who spend a period of their childhood growing up in residential care, they should experience a relational, trauma-informed and caring approach from staff. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article, we explore the role of family-like relationships in creating wellbeing for unaccompanied minor refugees (UMRs) to Europe. Our theoretical point of departure is a relational approach to wellbeing as conceptualized by Sarah C. White. The data comprises interviews with 51 settled UMRs in Finland, Norway, and Scotland, focused on their social networks, and a selection of paired interviews with young people alongside someone they defined as family-like and important for their wellbeing today. Findings illuminate the important role family-like relationships have in meeting the daily needs of young refugees. These relationships are ascribed meaning in the context of young people's wider networks and ideas of 'what family should do'. Family-like relationships gain particular importance for UMRs in two different ways: first, the physical absence of the family of origin enforces children and young people's need to create trusted, reciprocal networks. Second, building family-like relationships is necessary in a new country where UMRs grow up and face new expectations, needs, and opportunities. We argue that relational wellbeing is built in a hybrid 'third space'. A welfare state should support the wellbeing of UMRs by nurturing welcoming communities and providing UMRs help with building family-like relationships through formal and other support networks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Understanding how marine animals behave around tidal turbines is essential if we are to quantify how individuals and populations may be affected by the installation of these devices in the coming decades. Our particular interest is in collision risk, and how this may be affected by the fine-scale behaviour of seals and small cetacean species around devices. We report on a study in which multibeam sonar data were collected close to an operational tidal turbine in Scotland continuously over a twelve-month period. The sonars provide high-resolution (a few cm) data over a 120° angle out to a range of 55 m at a rate of 10 frames per second. We describe a system which uses automatic computer algorithms to detect potential targets of interest, verified by human analysts using a sophisticated computer user interface to confirm detections and assign target species. To date, we have identified 359 tracks of marine mammals in the data, as well as several thousand tracks from fish and diving birds. These are currently being parameterised to study how these species react to the moving turbine rotors, and the data are now being used to explore the development of improved automated detection and classification algorithms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The farming of shellfish plays an important role in providing sustainable economic growth in coastal, rural communities in Scotland and acts as an anchor industry, supporting a range of ancillary jobs in the processing, distribution and exporting industries. The Scottish Government is encouraging shellfish farmers to double their economic contribution by 2030. These farmers face numerous challenges to reach this goal, among which is the problem caused by toxin-producing microplankton that can contaminate their shellfish, leading to harvesting site closure and the recall of product. Food Standards Scotland, a non-ministerial department of the Scottish Government, carries out a monitoring programme for both the toxin-producing microplankton and the toxins in shellfish flesh, with farms being closed when official thresholds for any toxin are breached. The farm remains closed until testing for the problematic toxin alone, often diarrhetic shellfish toxin (DST), shows the site to have dropped below the regulatory threshold. While this programme has proved to be robust, questions remain regarding the other toxins that may be present at a closed site. In this study, we tested archival material collected during site closures but only tested for DSTs as part of the official control monitoring. We found the presence of amnesic shellfish toxin (AST) in low concentrations in the majority of sites tested. In one case, the level of AST breached the official threshold. This finding has implications for AST monitoring programmes around Europe. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This manuscript focuses on analyzing the growth dynamics of the Central Taiwan Science Park (CTSP) and Silicon Glen in Scotland with a specific emphasis on their approaches to energy, environmental conservation, and economic management. The objective is to provide insights into their sustainable development strategies. In terms of energy, CTSP addresses Taiwan's energy security and green transformation challenges, while Silicon Glen concentrates on Scotland's wind energy generation technologies. Both regions prioritize the advancement of renewable energy sources and smart grid technologies. In the realm of environmental conservation, both CTSP and Silicon Glen prioritize environmental protection and sustainability by implementing rigorous environmental monitoring measures. Regarding economic management, CTSP and Silicon Glen serve as vital technology industry hubs in Taiwan and Scotland, respectively, attracting a multitude of high-tech and startup enterprises. This growth is facilitated through various means, including policy support, access to research resources, and robust infrastructure. This manuscript presents a comparative analysis of these two industrial parks, focusing on their environmental and economic management strategies. It aims to elucidate the principles underpinning the sustainable development and economic growth of industrial parks, offering valuable insights to decision-makers and stakeholders involved in the planning of sustainable industrial parks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Records of asylums, schools, and benevolent organisations that intervened in the lives of disabled children in Scotland during the long nineteenth century have survived to varying degrees in public and institutional archives. This might suggest the existence of detailed primary source material that stands in contrast to the sparse data about those disabled children who 'escaped' the attention of organisations that aimed to support and direct their lives. However, the records of these formal organisations are inconsistent in what they reveal about the lives of the children under their patronage. This article explores the challenges presented by the records of three organisations, namely, the Scottish National Institution for the Education of Imbecile Children in Larbert, Edinburgh's Gayfield Square blind school, and East Park Home for Aiding Infirm Children in the Maryhill district of Glasgow. Among the deficiencies of surviving institutional records are the frequent paucity of insights into the lives of their young residents. This article will consider how some of their life journeys can nonetheless be researched by marshalling data from the likes of mandatory registration records and decennial census enumerators' books. In addition to benefits afforded to genealogists, such records provide historians with materials from which disabled lives can be reconstructed and analysed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Paediatric palliative medicine (PPM) is a holistic approach to care for children and their families. Services are growing and developing worldwide but significant disparity in service provision remains. The Paediatric Supportive and Palliative Care Team (PSPCT) at the Royal Hospital for Children in Glasgow was established in 2019, but there is still no clear integrated role within the paediatric intensive care unit (PICU) at present. Through analysing the attitudes, meaning, knowledge and understanding of PPM in the PICU environment, we hoped to explore the experiences of those providing paediatric palliative care and to identify any barriers to or facilitators of integrated working to gain a better understanding of providing this care. Methods: This qualitative study used a survey composed of five open-ended and five closed questions. Sixteen out of a possible thirty-two responses (50%) were accrued from PICU healthcare professionals, including consultants (n = 19), advanced nurse practitioners (n = 4) and band-seven nurses (n = 9). The data were comprehensively studied and analysed by two coders using summative content analysis with assistance from data management software. Codes were further developed to form categories and subcategories. Results: Two categories were found: (1) the role of palliative care and (2) experiences of providing palliative care. A total of five subcategories were found, demonstrating that the PSPCT can enhance care in PICU through collaborative working. Barriers identified included staffing, funding and stigma around palliative care. Conclusions: This study shows that PICU professionals have a good understanding of the concepts of PPM and view it as an essential part of PICU work. Barriers related to resources and misperceptions of palliative care can be overcome through improved education, funding and staff retention, but this would require buy-in from policymakers. The perspective from our relatively small team increases generalizability to growing teams across the country. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]