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The purpose of this paper is to describe four experiments evaluating post-production enhancement techniques with facial composites mainly created using the EFIT-V holistic system.

Experiments 1-4 were conducted in two stages. In Stage 1, constructors created between one and four individual composites of unfamiliar targets. These were merged to create morphs. Additionally in Experiment 3, composites were vertically stretched. In Stage 2, participants familiar with the targets named or provided target-similarity ratings to the images.

In Experiments 1-3, correct naming rates were significantly higher to between-witness 4-morphs, within-witness 4-morphs and vertically stretched composites than to individual composites. In Experiment 4, there was a positive relationship between composite-target similarity ratings and between-witness morph-size (2-, 4-, 8-, 16-morphs).

The likelihood of a facial composite being recognised can be improved by morphing and vertical stretch.

This paper improves knowledge of the theoretical underpinnings of these facial composite post-production enhancement techniques. This should encourage acceptance by the criminal justice system, and lead to better detection outcomes.

Background: Evidence from a range of major public health incidents shows that neighbour-based action can have a critical role in emergency response, assistance and recovery. However, there is little research to date on neighbour-based action during the 2020 coronavirus pandemic. This article reports on a survey of people engaged in supporting their neighbours in weeks three and four of the UK COVID-19 lockdown.

Methods: Members of area-based and community of interest COVID-19 support groups in the Bristol conurbation were invited to complete an online survey. Of 1,255 people who clicked on the survey link, 862 responded; of these, 539 responses were eligible for analysis.

Results: Respondents reported providing a wide range of support that went beyond health information, food and medical prescription assistance, to include raising morale through humour, creativity and acts of kindness and solidarity. A substantial proportion felt that they had become more involved in neighbourhood life following the lockdown and had an interest in becoming more involved in future. Neighbour support spanned all adult age groups, including older people categorised as being at-risk to the virus. With respect to most measures, there were no differences in the characteristics of support between respondents in areas of higher and lower deprivation. However, respondents from more deprived areas were more likely to state that they were involved in supporting certain vulnerable groups.

Conclusions: As with previous research on major social upheavals, our findings suggest that responses to the viral pandemic and associated social restrictions may increase existing social and health inequalities, and further research should explore this issue in more depth.

I.—Historical IN this first lecture upon the origin and development of the heavy‐oil aero‐engine, to be delivered under the Akroyd‐Stuart foundation, it is appropriate to devote some space to the early history of oil engines generally, for it is certain that the aero‐engine of the future will claim a direct descent from some parent. The early history, moreover, of the heavy‐oil engine is of quite exceptional interest, both technical and personal.

Public sector interest in methods for priority setting and program or policy evaluation has grown considerably over the last several decades, given increased expectations for accountable and efficient use of resources and emphasis on evidence‐based decision making as a component of good management practice. While there has been some occasional effort to conduct evaluation of priority setting projects, the literatures around priority setting and evaluation have largely evolved separately. In this paper, the aim is to bring them together.

The contention is that evaluation theory is a means by which evaluators reflect upon what it is they are doing when they do evaluation work. Theories help to organize thinking, sort out relevant from irrelevant information, provide transparent grounds for particular implementation choices, and can help resolve problematic issues which may arise in the conduct of an evaluation project.

A detailed review of three major branches of evaluation theory – methods, utilization, and valuing – identifies how such theories can guide the development of efforts to evaluate priority setting and resource allocation initiatives. Evaluation theories differ in terms of their guiding question, anticipated setting or context, evaluation foci, perspective from which benefits are calculated, and typical methods endorsed.

Choosing a particular theoretical approach will structure the way in which any priority setting process is evaluated. The paper suggests that explicitly considering evaluation theory makes key aspects of the evaluation process more visible to all stakeholders, and can assist in the design of effective evaluation of priority setting processes; this should iteratively serve to improve the understanding of priority setting practices themselves.

Reports on an automated apparatus and test procedure to determine the convective and diffusive gas and vapor transport properties of small pieces of woven and nonwoven fabrics, membranes, and foams. The apparatus allows measurement of these properties in the very small quantities typical of material development programs, where the largest sample available may only be 1‐10cm² in area. The convection/diffusion test method is useful for determining the gas flow resistance property and water vapor diffusion properties from a single experimental run. This eliminates the need for two separate tests, which is the usual procedure. The apparatus may also be used to perform separate tests for the diffusion property or the air permeability property, which may have some advantages when materials exhibit strongly concentration‐dependent transport properties. The convection/diffusion test method is well‐suited for rapid screening and comparison of the properties of a large number of materials with widely‐varying transport properties.

Scholars often aim to conduct high quality research and their success is judged primarily by peer reviewers. Research quality is difficult for either group to identify, however and misunderstandings can reduce the efficiency of the scientific enterprise. In response, we use a novel term association strategy to seek quantitative evidence of aspects of research that are associated with high or low quality.

We extracted the words and 2–5-word phrases most strongly associated with different quality scores in each of 34 Units of Assessment (UoAs) in the Research Excellence Framework (REF) 2021. We extracted the terms from 122,331 journal articles 2014–2020 with individual REF2021 quality scores.

The terms associating with high- or low-quality scores vary between fields but relate to writing styles, methods and topics. We show that the first-person writing style strongly associates with higher quality research in many areas because it is the norm for a set of large prestigious journals. We found methods and topics that associate with both high- and low-quality scores. Worryingly, terms associated with educational and qualitative research attract lower quality scores in multiple areas. REF experts may rarely give high scores to qualitative or educational research because the authors tend to be less competent, because it is harder to do world leading research with these themes, or because they do not value them.

This is the first investigation of journal article terms associating with research quality.

Darchem Specialised Mouldings, which produces aerospace and automotive components and equipment in advanced composite materials, has announced the appointment of Graham Crow as sales manager.

The purpose of this paper describes a second‐year induction programme developed to support student transition. The sophomore slump theory suggests that students may experience a slump in the second year, resulting in poorer outcomes and increased attrition rates. Students were asked to reflect on their first year experience in order to identify learning and plan for the year ahead, in order to reduce potential for a slump during the second year.

Students beginning the second year of a four‐year BSc Honours Nursing programme participated in a one‐day induction prior to commencement of semester 1 classes. Students were assigned to groups and asked to reflect on some key questions in relation to their first year experience. Responses were collated on flip chart paper and discussed together.

Emergent themes are discussed here: forward planning, engagement with the institution, and building a strong foundation.

This process served to illustrate to staff some of the “hidden curriculum” issues and offered opportunities to focus on areas of student weakness such as referencing and academic writing. Using a combination of reflection, and experiential learning in induction may serve to transition students through the sophomore slump.

The challenge for academics is to continue to find ways to enhance the student experience in an increasingly diverse student population, and determine its effect on attrition rates. This paper offers a reflective commentary, exploring the authors’ learning, on the implementation of one innovative programme of longitudinal induction.

Theory predicts that balancing exploratory and exploitative learning (i.e., ambidexterity) across alliance portfolio domains (e.g. value chain function, governance modes) increases firm performance, whereas balance within domains decreases performance. Prior empirical work, however, only assessed balance/imbalance within and across two domains. The purpose of this study is to determine if theory generalizes beyond specific domain combinations. The authors investigated across multiple domains to determine whether alliance portfolios should be imbalanced toward exploration or exploitation within domains or balanced across domains. The authors also extended prior research by exploring whether the direction of imbalance matters. Current theory only advises managers to accept imbalance without helping with the choice between exploration and exploitation.

Hypotheses are tested using fixed-effects generalized least squares (GLS) regression analysis of a large 13-year panel sample of Fortune 500 firms from 1996 to 2008.

With respect to the balance between exploration and exploitation within each of the five domains investigated, imbalanced alliance portfolios had higher firm performance. No evidence was found that balance across domains relates to performance. Instead, for four of the five domains, imbalance toward exploration related positively to firm performance.

An alliance portfolio that allows for exploration in some domains and exploitation in other domains appears more difficult to implement than prior theory suggests. Firms benefit mostly from using the alliance portfolio for exploratory learning.