University of Kent

Sustained academic effort in short-duration online learning environments

Academic success in Online Learning Environments (OLEs) depends on sustained effort, yet little is known about how initial motivation translates into engagement over time. In this paper we examine motivation, effort, and performance in a five-week online programme, focusing on th...

Compiling with the Sequent Calculus

Compiling a high-level functional programming language to machine code that can be executed efficiently on a modern machine is complicated, since we have to traverse many different levels of abstraction. This is particularly challenging if the language contains some form of contr...

Intraoperative diagnosis of a giant pedunculated uterine myoma mimicking an adnexal mass presenting with acute abdomen in a resource-limited setting

Uterine myomas are common benign tumors of the female reproductive tract and are typically diagnosed in women of later reproductive age. Presentation as an acute abdomen due to a giant pedunculated subserosa myoma is uncommon, particularly in very young women. Such cases may clos...

Conjunctive dynamic searchable symmetric encryption

Abstract A practical searchable symmetric encryption (SSE) should allow users to privately store documents on untrusted servers with the abilities to (1) search with multiple keywords, and (2) add or delete documents dynamically. The oblivious cross tag () construction from Crypt...

Beyond Legality: Students’ Moral Attitudes Toward Non-invasive Brain Stimulation for Cognitive Enhancement

Abstract Cognitive enhancement involves using substances or technologies to improve mental performance in healthy individuals. While methods such as caffeine are widely accepted, others, including prescription stimulants and non-invasive brain stimulation (tDCS), evoke ethical co...

Structural genome variation drives adaptation of the xylose-fermenting yeast Scheffersomyces stipitis to lignocellulosic hydrolysates

Abstract Second-generation (2G) bioethanol from lignocellulosic feedstocks is a sustainable alternative to fossil fuels. However, its production is constrained by the poor performance of industrial microbes in hydrolysates that are generated during biomass pretreatment. Scheffers...

Oral health and systemic health outcomes: A call for interdisciplinary action

Abstract Objectives To make the case, from periodontology and dental public health, for interdisciplinary action on oral and systemic health, and to set out recommendations for practice, policy, education, and research. Materials and Methods A joint working group of the European...

The rich, the poor and the plague. Accounting for poverty in 17th-century Florence

Purpose The paper analyses the role of accounting in giving rise to a specific configuration of poverty defined by moral evaluation and behavioural discipline. It does so by focussing on the 17th-century Grand Duchy of Tuscany when it was hit by a deadly plague. Design/methodolog...

Public perceptions of polygenic testing and embryo selection for non-medical traits

Abstract Some advances in reproductive technologies raise substantial ethical and psychological challenges, for example, the use of preimplantation genetic testing to select embryos based on non-medical traits. While studies have explored public willingness to use preimplantation...

Quantifying temporal changes in the monetary value of forest cultural ecosystem services globally: a meta-analysis

Abstract The world’s forests, and the biodiversity they contain, provide multiple cultural ecosystem services that are essential to people’s well-being. However, interactions between people and forests evolve alongside broader societal and environmental change, raising questions...

Same Coeffect, Different Base: Connecting Two Dominant Approaches to Graded Types

Graded types provide a way to augment a type system with fine-grained information, e.g., to track side effects or context dependence and resource use (called coeffects ). Graded types for coeffects have found their way into languages such as Haskell, Idris, and Granule, enabling...

Human papillomavirus vaccine acceptability in Cameroon: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Abstract Background Human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination is a key strategy for cervical cancer elimination. In Cameroon, HPV vaccine was introduced into the expanded program on immunization in 2020. However, synthesized evidence on vaccine acceptability is needed to guide polic...

Plasma p-tau217 as a two-cutoff approach to improve tau-PET screening and trial recruitment in Alzheimer’s disease

Abstract Blood-based biomarkers could broaden access to Alzheimer’s disease diagnostics, but their ability to approximate tau PET, and to address gray-zone results, remains uncertain. We evaluated plasma p-tau217 against tau PET using a harmonized ADNI baseline cohort and an inde...

Rethinking hair cropping in Ghanaian schools: coloniality, discipline, and the path to reform

Grooming rules for Black hair are contested as racialised discipline, yet their colonial afterlives in African schooling remain underexplored. This article examines Ghana’s compulsory hair-cropping mandate for girls in Senior High Schools as a socio-legal problem of embodied gove...

Uncovering the Societal Harm of Cross-Sector Partnerships: An Intervention Perspective

Cross-sector partnerships (CSPs) are widely recognized as vehicles for addressing societal challenges. Yet, their potential to generate harm to communities, the environment, and broader societal systems remains underexamined. Evidence is fragmented and context-dependent, obscurin...