Great Britain Research Articles

The persistence and pervasiveness of racial discrimination in Great Britain: capturing experienced racial discrimination over time and life domains

ABSTRACT Racism has been long-established to be associated with social, economic, and health inequalities for minoritised ethnic groups, but existent evidence likely under-estimates the extent and persistence of experienced racial discrimination due to limitations in the measurement of timing and domains of life where racial discrimination occurs. We analysed data captured by a novel retrospective measure of life course experiences of racial discrimination that measures the extent, persistence, and accumulation of experienced racial discrimination over the life course. Our findings show higher levels of experienced racial discrimination than previously reported, and uncover the pervasiveness of racial discrimination across life domains. By asking about different time periods we find that people who report experiencing racial discrimination are likely to have had these experiences in multiple domains, and multiple time periods, documenting the insidiousness of racial discrimination over time and domains of people’s lives.

Human performance in the rail freight yard

Human performance in the rail freight yard has been identified as a source of risk for rail freight operations. This is both within the yard itself, and also with train preparation issues leading to incidents on the network. The rail freight yard is an area that has received limited research attention. Over 30 hours of observations were conducted at five major freight yards in Great Britain, along with 30 interviews of rail freight ground staff. Task models, human performance factors and potential solutions that were further explored in a workshop with freight personnel. This analysis led to an understanding of freight yard activities, the impact of freight yard design and environment, and the role external pressures on freight yard performance including upstream planning. The implications are discussed for both current freight operations, and for future technology and process change within the rail freight sector.

Sending Couriers to Czechoslovakia as Part of Anticommunist Resistance in the First Half of the 1950s

The anticommunist resistance in Czechoslovakia, organized from abroad, was led primarily by groups of experienced Czechoslovak intelligence officers who fled to the West after the coup d'état in February 1948. Financed and organized by the intelligence services of France, Great Britain, and the United States, and in isolated cases by the Czechoslovak exile organizations, these groups sent hundreds of couriers to Czechoslovakia to carry out various intelligence tasks. Recruited mainly from young individuals placed in refugee camps, these people faced a perilous mission. The State Security Service apprehended many of them. Those deemed unsuitable for intelligence use by the communist security apparatus faced years of imprisonment or even execution. A few years after the communist coup d'etat in Czechoslovakia, when it became clear that World War III would not break out, activities of the Western intelligence services that previously sent couriers dramatically changed. Risks when crossing the national border and working in Czechoslovakia became enormous. The state borders with Western countries were heavily guarded. Czechoslovak society was overcome by fear, and it was difficult to find people willing to cooperate with patriots in exile. In the middle of the 1950s, Western intelligence services stopped sending couriers to Czechoslovakia. They began to focus more on the use of legal channels and tried to recruit collaborators from among Czechoslovak citizens who regularly visited Western countries for business or cultural purposes.

Spatio-temporal clustering of extreme floods in Great Britain

ABSTRACT Quantifying the tendency of flood events to demonstrate clustering in time and space is crucial for flood risk assessments. We analyse the temporal (TC) and spatial (SC) coherence of floods in 554 catchments over Great Britain. TC was assessed using the dispersion-index and Conway-Maxwell-Poisson regression, with both methods applied to aggregation windows of 1–5 years. SC was investigated using the flood susceptibility index. Results show that i) most of the UK peak floods are overdispersed and ii) a positive relationship exists between winter mean North Atlantic Oscillation anomalies and the annual number of peak floods across western Britain. The susceptibility to widespread floods is higher for the southeast parts of Britain and for the Clyde-Forth valleys, and it increases with catchment permeability and with the influence of lakes/reservoirs. These findings are relevant to enhance existing flood hazard estimation methods and, in turn, will lead to more realistic flood risk quantification.

Disorganisation of basement membrane zone architecture impairs melanocyte residence in vitiligo.

The basement membrane zone is the interface between the epidermis and dermis, and it is disrupted in several skin conditions. Here, we report the results of a comprehensive investigation into the structural and molecular factors of the basement membrane zone in vitiligo, a dermatological disorder characterised by depigmented patches on the skin. Using electron microscopy and immunofluorescence staining, we confirmed abnormal basement membrane zone morphology and disrupted basement membrane zone architecture in human vitiliginous skin. Furthermore, we identified elevated expression of matrix metalloproteinase 2 (MMP2) in human dermal fibroblasts as a key factor responsible for basement membrane zone matrix degradation. In our in vitro and ex vivo models, overexpression of MMP2 in fibroblasts led to basement membrane zone disruption and melanocyte disappearance. Importantly, we reveal that the loss of melanocytes in vitiligo is primarily linked to their weakened adhesion to the basement membrane, mediated by binding between integrin β1 and laminin and discoidin domain receptor 1 and collagen IV. Finally, inhibition of matrix metalloproteinase 2 expression reversed depigmentation in a mouse model of vitiligo. In conclusion, our research shows the importance of basement membrane zone integrity in melanocyte residence and offers new avenues for therapeutic interventions to address this challenging skin condition. © 2024 The Author(s). The Journal of Pathology published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of The Pathological Society of Great Britain and Ireland.

Pedestrian safety on the road to net zero: cross-sectional study of collisions with electric and hybrid-electric cars in Great Britain

BackgroundPlans to phase out fossil fuel-powered internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles and to replace these with electric and hybrid-electric (E-HE) vehicles represent a historic step to reduce air pollution and...

The Entente’s Support for the White Armies in Southern Russia (Late 1918–1919)

This article examines a previously underexplored aspect of the Russian Civil War during its critical phase in late 1918–1919: the logistical support provided by the Entente to the White armies in the South, set against the backdrop of the final military interventions. The authors concentrate on the interactions between General A.I. Denikin's regime and the British authorities, who were the primary proponents of the Entente's intervention in Russia, as well as the conditions surrounding the involvement of the French armed forces.The research primarily draws on documents from the Russian State Military Archive, created by officers of the White armies of Southern Russia, and the National Archives of Great Britain. This comprehensive source base enables a reassessment of some long-held views in Russian historiography regarding the Entente's intervention in the Black Sea region. The study aims to delineate the scope and nature of the Entente’s support and to understand why this assistance failed to secure a victory for the White forces.Post-Soviet historiography commonly posits that the Red Army enjoyed an economic advantage in terms of weapons and ammunition supply for most of the Civil War. This article, however, reveals that the support from Entente countries was substantial and that the use of foreign weapons and equipment significantly influenced the late 1918-1919 period. Nonetheless, the critical factor, as argued by the authors, was the timing of deliveries. The peak of the Entente’s military-technical support to the Armed Forces of Southern Russia occurred after the Red Army had already fortified its positions with adequate firepower. The lengthy strategic decision-making processes of the British Cabinet, characteristic of British democratic and bureaucratic systems, resulted in delayed assistance to Denikin’s troops, ultimately undermining its effectiveness.

Development of a multi-scanner facility for data acquisition for digital pathology artificial intelligence.

Whole slide imaging (WSI) of pathology glass slides using high-resolution scanners has enabled the large-scale application of artificial intelligence (AI) in pathology, to support the detection and diagnosis of disease, potentially increasing efficiency and accuracy in tissue diagnosis. Despite the promise of AI, it has limitations. 'Brittleness' or sensitivity to variation in inputs necessitates that large amounts of data are used for training. AI is often trained on data from different scanners but not usually by replicating the same slide across scanners. The utilisation of multiple WSI instruments to produce digital replicas of the same slides will make more comprehensive datasets and may improve the robustness and generalisability of AI algorithms as well as reduce the overall data requirements of AI training. To this end, the National Pathology Imaging Cooperative (NPIC) has built the AI FORGE (Facilitating Opportunities for Robust Generalisable data Emulation), a unique multi-scanner facility embedded in a clinical site in the NHS to (1) compare scanner performance, (2) replicate digital pathology image datasets across WSI systems, and (3) support the evaluation of clinical AI algorithms. The NPIC AI FORGE currently comprises 15 scanners from nine manufacturers. It can generate approximately 4,000 WSI images per day (approximately 7 TB of image data). This paper describes the process followed to plan and build such a facility. © 2024 The Author(s). The Journal of Pathology published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of The Pathological Society of Great Britain and Ireland.

Aquatic Plants of Northern and Central Europe Including Great Britain and Ireland

The introduction takes the reader back to early explorers of river systems and aquatic habits in the 1800s for the geographical areas highlighted in the book. Pages are filled with color photographs illustrating plant morphological examples along with taxonomic key couplets. Each species is profusely illustrated with line drawings and color photographs along with distribution maps. There is an illustrated glossary (pp. 728–733) that aids in interpreting the species descriptions. A literature citation section (pp. 734–738) is organized by topical headings, e.g., Species Identification and Biology. The Index of Latin Names locates the species by page numbers. I found this book easy to use because the authors have focused their attention on organization, function, and usability for the public, as well as aquatic taxonomists. Everything about this book is first class! The size and weight will limit its use in the field and will be more appropriate for in house laboratory or classroom use. The design, layout, printing, binding, and overall quality of the text is of exceptional high quality. I highly recommend this book for botanists interested in European aquatic habitats at a bargain price.

The The role of women during the first world war in Great Britain 1914-1918

The The role of women during the first world war in Great Britain 1914-1918

Forgive Me, Your Honour, For I Have Sinned

This paper explores the use of rap lyrics in criminal trials across the United States and Great Britain. Rap is a multibillion-dollar industry and has soared in popularity since its inception. In recent years, rap lyrics have been used to ascertain guilt or innocence through the perceived meaning of the specific lyrics. However, there have been no advancements toward appreciating the cultural significance of rap or its status as a legitimate art form. The criminal justice system has favoured treating lyrics as confessions and fails to consider the nuance of the socio-historical context of the rap industry or the implications of the street code. This paper does not argue that all rap lyrics are either exclusively true or false; it instead argues that the uncritical approach to examining rap lyrics in the context of the criminal justice system has replicated systems of harm that have disproportionately affected young Black men.

PECULIARITIES OF FUNCTIONING OF NEOLOGISMS IN POLITICAL DISCOURSES OF UKRAINE, GREAT BRITAIN, AND THE USA

The article examines the peculiarities of the formation of neologisms in modern Ukrainian and English political discourses. We set the task: to analyze the current ways of word formation in modern political discourse. The lexical features of the political discourses of Ukraine, Great Britain, and the USA are studied. Language is one of those types of human activity that is one of the first to reflect changes in social, political, economic, cultural, and other aspects of human activity. A living language develops very quickly, under the influence of internal and external factors it adapts to constant changes in social, cultural, and scientific life. Each change in society gives rise to new words and terms, that is, the creation of new words in the language is carried out as a reflection in the language of social needs in the expression of new concepts.New words in the language are a reflection of objective reality. New formations in a certain historical period are determined by both intra-speech and extra-speech factors, which play a key role in the study of certain language changes. Understanding neology as the lexical renewal of the national language by borrowing new formations and new meanings, it should be noted the importance of this process for the phenomenon of political discourse.

LINGUISTIC BATTLEFIELD: NEOLOGISMS IN THE MASS-MEDIA DISCOURSE OF UKRAINE, THE UK AND THE USA IN THE CONTEXT OF THE RUSSIAN-UKRAINIAN WAR

The article under consideration examines the peculiarities of the formation and use of neologisms in the publicistic discourse of Ukraine, Great Britain, and the United States in the context of Ukraine’s war against the Russian invaders. The purpose of this study is to investigate neologisms in Ukrainian, British English, and American English from a comparative point of view. Due to the constant change and transformation of languages, a large number of neologisms have been created, which remain unexplored and through which can be seen as the aspect the development of languages and societies can be studied from. The nature and functional peculiarity of neologisms in British English, American English, and Ukrainian are still an unexplored area in modern Ukrainian linguistics.The object of the given investigation is neologisms that appear in the contemporary mass media discourse. The language of the media is very dynamic, and one cannot help but notice the activity of innovative processes in the vocabulary of modern media. The relevance of the work is because the latest media resources of Ukraine, the UK, and the USA of recent years were chosen as the research materials. The significance of the study lies in gaining knowledge about the types, nature, features, and main ways of formation of Ukrainian and English neologisms in the context of the Russian-Ukrainian war.

Spatial disparities across labour markets

Abstract We consider disparities across local labour markets in Great Britain. Disparities in wages and employment rates are large and persistent, although smaller than 20 years ago. These disparities largely reflect the concentration of high-skilled workers, who would have better labour market outcomes wherever they live. This concentration is driven by differences in the demand for, and supply of, skills and the self-reinforcing interaction between the two, which is particularly pronounced in the highest-wage areas and at the upper end of the wage distribution. The highest-paid jobs are concentrated in London and a handful of other areas and wage disparities are mostly driven by the higher-paid. Places that offer higher earnings also have higher rents, which may entirely offset gains in earnings. Consistent with this, people in higher-paid places are no happier than those in lower-paid places.

Areas of modernization of the system of training and certification of forensic experts in Ukraine based on the adaptation of foreign experience

Abstract The article is devoted to the study of the existing system of training and certification of forensic experts in Ukraine and to the provision of proposals for its modernization, taking into account the positive experience in the field of forensic science of the USA, Great Britain and some countries of the European Union. In Ukraine, the procedure for the training and certification of forensic experts is determined by ministries and other central executive authorities, which manage state specialized institutions that carry out forensic activities. A study of foreign experience in the training and certification of forensic experts made it possible to identify general and specific elements, sustain the benefits of the implemented measures, and formulate priorities and guidelines. The research resulted in the justification of the need to develop a single regulatory act that would determine the procedure for training, internships and certification of forensic experts, as well as the creation of a single qualification body that would help ensure uniform approaches to determining the qualification of forensic experts working in state specialized forensic institutions, their territorial branches, expert institutions of municipal ownership, and forensic experts who are not employees of these institutions. It is proved that the development and implementation of uniform standards for training forensic experts on the basis of a centralized approach, regardless of where these specialists will work in the future, will help address the problem of training personnel. The author concludes that improving the quality of training, internship and certification of forensic experts requires new approaches to organizational, economic, teaching, methodological and technical provision. The author substantiates the need for fundamentally new forms of activity which will ensure the effectiveness and transparency of the assessment of knowledge by means of modern information technologies in the current reform environment. It is stated that Ukraine should raise the criteria for admission to the profession of a forensic expert. The author specifies the issues that need to be enshrined in law.

Agile Methods in the Social Work: Research Landscape Analysis

The use of flexible methods in social work allows social workers to be more flexible, client-oriented, adaptive and responsive in a dynamic environment, respond to changes faster, achieve better social impact results, and be more coordinated in cooperation with other professionals. The article demonstrates the results of descriptive bibliometric analysis and scientific mapping (using the Biblioshiny software) of more than 750 articles and monographs indexed by Scopus. Since the appearance of the first study in 1969 and until 2000, this topic was almost not the focus of scientists; the year 2000 was determined using Reference Publication Year Spectroscopy as the key date of interest growth (the year preceding the appearance of the Manifesto for Agile Software development), since 2001, the number of publications on this topic has grown exponentially. By a Sankey plot, interdependence between top references, top authors and top keywords was summarized. According to Bradford’s law, scientific journals are structured according to the contribution to the dissemination of knowledge in the subject area. Scientists from the USA, Great Britain, China, Australia and Canada have scientific leadership in this field. The TOP-10 global and local cited documents were analyzed in detail, and “occasional” and “sore” authors were distinguished according to Lotka’s law. The most popular thematic research areas on applying flexible methods in social work are presented in visual design as a word cloud (tag cloud, weighted list) and a treemap. The analysis proved that keywords across various clusters and research sub-themes are closely interconnected. The most relevant and advanced research categories were identified by analyzing the increase in relevance and the level of subject development, as well as their trends over time. A trend toward convergence in scientific research thematic progression in scholarly literature was explored using an alluvial diagram (a longitudinal thematic map). Constructed maps of relevance degree and development degree of subtopic in documents with a focus on agile or adaptive social work methods made it possible to determine niche, emerging, and declining topics.

Re-evaluating the urban wage premium: The changing roles of geographical and job transitions for women and men

This paper investigates gender as a new source of heterogeneity in the urban wage premium, using a representative panel of 1.2 million worker observations in Great Britain over the period 1999–2019. Pre-2008, women's urban wage premium was more than twice as large as men's (2.8% versus 1.2%), but this difference disappears during the Financial Crisis as women's urban wage premium drastically and permanently drops. This drop is due to the disappearance of women's relative sharing advantages. Moreover, contrary to men, women's urban wage premium is now driven by a wage penalty incurred when changing occupation while transitioning from urban to rural jobs.

British-Chilean Newspapers

Since the 1820s, Chile and Great Britain have shared a unique relationship that shaped the development of both countries and is still influential today. Despite their importance, however, the historical connections between Britain and Latin America are understudied. This essay analyzes the English-language periodical press published in nineteenth-century Chile, using the newspapers digitized by the authors' Anglophone Chile Newspaper Project (http://anglophonechile.org/news-archive/) to build on the bifocal post-colonial studies established by Fernando Coronil, the transatlantic and transdisciplinary model developed by Julio Ortega and the notion of the contact zone pioneered by Mary Louise Pratt. By tracing the Anglophone periodical press through three stages of development, from the colony's beginnings in commerce, through the era of informal empire, to the eventual hybridization of the Anglo colony with the local culture, the essay maps longstanding interrelations between the global north and south and illuminates the changing dynamics of informal empire.

Development of the Country’s Sustainable Cyberspace Strategy to Ensure the Country’s National Security

This article is devoted to the assessment of the country’s sustainable cyberspace strategy by comparing the cyber security strategies of those countries that are economically developed and use advanced information and communication technologies. Based on the components of the National Cyber Security Index, a calculation was made for 10 countries, which made it possible to monitor the effectiveness of their cyber strategies and identify their shortcomings. The calculation is made for the years 2018 and 2021. During this period, no significant critical changes form abnormal indicators, but it is possible to reflect a particular trend. Application of the PROMETHEE method (I and II) and the formation of net flows, determination of importance and comparison of alternatives allowed to carry out an in-depth analysis of various aspects of cyber security, such as protection measures, response to cyber threats and general resistance to cyber-attacks. It is determined that Belgium and Lithuania are the most resistant to threats from cyber-attacks and in the fight against money laundering among the countries considered, as they are rapidly developing and implementing new measures. Their indicators increased by 0.1 values in 2021 compared to 2018. According to the calculations, Great Britain is the most conservative in implementing certain strategies, and its indicators remained at the level of 0-0.2 according to various criteria for the years studied. Most countries improve their indicators by a total of 0.2 values, which reflects their development. Ukraine tends to decrease some indicators by 0.1 value; some are at the same level. The regulatory framework’s introduction rate in the cyber security field increases. It shows that Ukraine has many rapidly changing risks, but is trying to achieve flexibility in responding to them. The research findings identify each country’s cybersecurity strengths and weaknesses, as well as potential risks and vulnerabilities. Thanks to this analysis, recommendations are made for developing and implementing effective cyber security strategies, both at the national and international levels. The study contributes to the understanding of the complexity of modern cyber threats. It emphasizes the need for continuous improvement and adaptation of protection measures to ensure the stability and security of financial and information systems in a global digital environment.

The genomic trajectory of ovarian high-grade serous carcinoma can be observed in STIC lesions.

Ovarian high-grade serous carcinoma (HGSC) originates in the fallopian tube, with secretory cells carrying a TP53 mutation, known as p53 signatures, identified as potential precursors. p53 signatures evolve into serous tubal intraepithelial carcinoma (STIC) lesions, which in turn progress into invasive HGSC, which readily spreads to the ovary and disseminates around the peritoneal cavity. We recently investigated the genomic landscape of early- and late-stage HGSC and found higher ploidy in late-stage (median 3.1) than early-stage (median 2.0) samples. Here, to explore whether the high ploidy and possible whole-genome duplication (WGD) observed in late-stage disease were determined early in the evolution of HGSC, we analysed archival formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded (FFPE) samples from five HGSC patients. p53 signatures and STIC lesions were laser-capture microdissected and sequenced using shallow whole-genome sequencing (sWGS), while invasive ovarian/fallopian tube and metastatic carcinoma samples underwent macrodissection and were profiled using both sWGS and targeted next-generation sequencing. Results showed highly similar patterns of global copy number change between STIC lesions and invasive carcinoma samples within each patient. Ploidy changes were evident in STIC lesions, but not p53 signatures, and there was a strong correlation between ploidy in STIC lesions and invasive ovarian/fallopian tube and metastatic samples in each patient. The reconstruction of sample phylogeny for each patient from relative copy number indicated that high ploidy, when present, occurred early in the evolution of HGSC, which was further validated by copy number signatures in ovarian and metastatic tumours. These findings suggest that aberrant ploidy, suggestive of WGD, arises early in HGSC and is detected in STIC lesions, implying that the trajectory of HGSC may be determined at the earliest stages of tumour development. © 2024 The Author(s). The Journal of Pathology published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of The Pathological Society of Great Britain and Ireland.