The University of Buckingham (UB) is a non-profit private university in Buckingham, England and the oldest of the country's five private universities.[a] It was founded as the University College at Buckingham (UCB) in 1973, admitting its first students in 1976. It was granted university status by royal charter in 1983. Buckingham offers baccalaureates, master's degrees, and doctorates through five "schools" (or faculties) of study.Buckingham was closely linked to Margaret Thatcher, who as Education Secretary oversaw the creation of the university college in 1973, and as Prime Minister was instrumental in elevating it to a university in 1983 – thus creating the first private university in the UK since the establishment of the University Grants Committee in 1919. When she retired from politics in 1992, Margaret Thatcher became the university's second chancellor, a post she held until 1998. Buckingham's finances for teaching operate entirely on student fees and endowments; it does not receive direct state funding (via the Office for Students or Research England) although its students can receive student loans from the Student Loans Company. It has formal charity status as a not-for-profit institution dedicated to the ends of research and education.
To every ω-categorical structure M one can associate two spaces of symmetries which determine the structure up to first-order bi-interpretability: the topological group Aut(M) of its automorphisms and the topological monoid EEmb(M) of its elementary embeddings, both equipped with the topology of pointwise convergence τ_pw. We investigate the relation of τ_pw to other topologies on these spaces: in particular, when τ_pw is minimal, i.e. does not admit any strictly coarser Hausdorff semigroup topology. A common method to prove minimality of τ_pw on EEmb(M) is to show that it coincides with the algebraically defined semigroup Zariski topology τ_Z. We show that τ_pw differs from τ_Z on EEmb(M) whenever Aut(M) has a non-trivial centre. In spite of this, we then prove that whenever algebraic closure on M is modular, then τ_pw is minimal on EEmb(M). This covers, for example, countable vector spaces and projective spaces over finite fields. Turning to Aut(M), we describe the semigroup topologies coarser than τ_pw on the automorphism groups of structures for which algebraic independence satisfies independent 3-amalgamation. We conclude by proving that for the real and the rational Urysohn space and sphere, the metric pointwise topology τ_mp is minimal on EEmb(M), equals τ_Z, and is strictly coarser than τ_pw.
This study explores water as memory and as method in African thought. It shows how rivers, rain, and oceans act not only as sources of life but also as teachers who carry a story, restore balance, and reveal moral truth. Drawing from Yoruba, Akan, Igbo, southern African, Kenyan and Afro-Atlantic traditions, this paper presents water as archive and as oracle, holding the past while speaking to the present. This article develops the idea of hydro epistemology, understood here as a way of knowing through flow, renewal, and relationship. In this framework, knowledge is created through ritual engagement with water, transmitted through oral memory and ecological observation, tested against environmental response and revised when conditions change. Water is treated as a witness, mediator and guide, rather than a passive resource. By setting these traditions alongside global discussions on water governance, nature-based ecological care and decolonial environmental ethics, this paper argues that African water imagination offers more than symbolism. It proposes a practical philosophy in which caring for water and caring for life are the same act. To listen to water is to remember, to restore and to recover a way of living that renews both people and land.
Background and Aims:Xerostomia, or dry mouth, significantly impairs quality of life and oral health, particularly in patients subjected to radiation therapy or suffering from systemic disorders. This narrative review summarizes the current evidence on the efficacy and safety of gene therapy interventions for xerostomia, exploring innovative approaches such as viral vector-mediated delivery of aquaporin-1, growth factor-based strategies, and cutting-edge CRISPR techniques. Methods:We conducted a comprehensive literature search on gene therapy interventions for xerostomia to synthesize this narrative review. Results and Conclusion:A critical evaluation of these studies reveals promising advancements alongside current limitations in medical research, including off-site therapeutic effects, delivery efficiency, and long-term efficacy. This review thus provides a comprehensive perspective on current gene therapy strategies for xerostomia, setting the stage for future research to bridge the gap between experimental therapies and everyday clinical applications.
Artificial intelligence is often framed as a neutral technical tool that enhances efficiency and consistency in institutional decision-making. This article challenges that framing by showing that automated systems now operate as social and institutional actors that reshape recognition, opportunity, and public trust in everyday life. Focusing on employment screening, welfare administration, and digital platforms, the study examines how algorithmic systems mediate social relations and reorganise how individuals are evaluated, classified, and legitimised. Drawing on regulatory and policy materials, platform governance documents, technical disclosures, and composite vignettes synthesised from publicly documented evidence, the article analyses how automated judgement acquires institutional authority. It advances three core contributions. First, it develops a sociological framework explaining how delegated authority, automated classification, and procedural opacity transform institutional power and individual standing. Second, it demonstrates a dual logic of inequality: automated systems both reproduce historical disadvantage through patterned data and generate new forms of exclusion through data abstraction and optimisation practices that detach individuals from familiar legal, social, and moral categories. Third, it shows that automation destabilises procedural justice by eroding relational recognition, producing trust deficits that cannot be resolved through technical fairness or explainability alone. The findings reveal that automated systems do not merely support institutional decisions; they redefine how institutions perceive individuals and how individuals interpret institutional legitimacy. The article concludes by outlining governance reforms aimed at restoring intelligibility, accountability, inclusion, and trust in an era where automated judgement increasingly structures social opportunity and public authority.
School curricula are a central tool of education policy and are typically reformed to improve achievement in specific subjects. Such targeted reforms may also affect learning in other domains by shifting instructional priorities. We study the adoption of the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) in math and English language arts in the United States and estimate their effects on achievement in both targeted and non-targeted subjects. Using models with state and year fixed effects, and individual-level student achievement data from NAEP, we show that the CCSS had zero to modest positive effects on student achievement in targeted subjects, and a negative effect on student achievement in non-targeted subjects. This negative effect is concentrated in science and among students in elementary school where teachers have the most flexibility to shift instructional focus. Our findings underscore that evaluating targeted education reforms without accounting for non-targeted outcomes may provide an incomplete picture of their overall effects.
