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Redefining SME Productivity Measurement and Assessment for a Low Carbon Economy
Get PDFYesThe UK faces the joint economic policy challenges of raising productivity and tackling climate
change. This report challenges prevailing narrow market-based views of productivity, by
examining the £4bn UK early stage Cleantech innovation finance market. We find that Cleantech
innovation is frequently capital intensive and long horizon (5-10+ years), measured by shorterterm technology readiness level (TRL) and intellectual property (IP) progression. Longer-term
sustainable productivity impacts remain little understood and, where applied, narrowly relate to
customer adoption. This leads to Cleantech environmental impact investor logics that primarily
relate to end user financial value (customer sales). There is little consideration for non-market
values from, for example, circular economy (CE) and wider environmental spillover impacts (e.g.
supply chains). Whilst few Cleantechs currently successfully commercialise, a small proportion
exhibit high employment and sales growth and global environmental impact. Improved
understanding of the broader environmental impacts of Cleantechs, through the adoption of
environmental impact metrics (EIMs) can (i) add to a more holistic notion of productivity and (ii)
improve the efficiency of the finance escalator, enabling more Cleantechs to contribute
significantly to establishing the UK as a globally leading low carbon economy.ESR
CCR7 as a therapeutic target in Cancer
Get PDFYesThe CCR7 chemokine axis is comprised of chemokine ligand 21 (CCL21) and chemokine ligand 19 (CCL19) acting on chemokine receptor 7 (CCR7). This axis plays two important but apparently opposing roles in cancer. On the one hand, this axis is significantly engaged in the trafficking of a number of effecter cells involved in mounting an immune response to a growing tumour. This suggests therapeutic strategies which involve potentiation of this axis can be used to combat the spread of cancer. On the other hand, the CCR7 axis plays a significant role in controlling the migration of tumour cells towards the lymphatic system and metastasis and can thus contribute to the expansion of cancer. This implies that therapeutic strategies which involve decreasing signaling through the CCR7 axis would have a beneficial effect in preventing dissemination of cancer. This dichotomy has partly been the reason why this axis has not yet been exploited, as other chemokine axes have, as a therapeutic target in cancer. Recent report of a crystal structure for CCR7 provides opportunities to exploit this axis in developing new cancer therapies. However, it remains unclear which of these two strategies, potentiation or antagonism of the CCR7 axis, is more appropriate for cancer therapy. This review brings together the evidence supporting both roles of the CCR7 axis in cancer and examines the future potential of each of the two different therapeutic approaches involving the CCR7 axis in cancer
Context matters: Problematizing the policy-practice interface in the enactment of gender equality action plans in universities
Get PDFYesThis study argues for recognition of the constitutive role of context in shaping the dynamics of the policy‐practice
interface in the field of gender equality in universities. Using a comparative and reflective case‐study approach,
we draw on our experiences, as action‐researchers, of developing and implementing Gender Equality Action Plans (GEAPs) in four universities in four different European countries and we explore the role of national and local
context in the mediation and translation of the GEAP model. Drawing on the concepts of gendered organizations, dialogic organizational change, and policy mobilities, we argue for the need to be critical of approaches to gender
equality in higher education (HE) that presume policy measures and good practice models transfer unproblematically to different HE organizations in different international contexts; instead, we draw attention to the contingent ways in which uneven gender relations articulate and manifest in different contexts, shaping possibilities for, and obstacles to, gender equality intervention. Thus, we argue that context plays a crucial constitutive role in
the interpretation, enactment, and impact of gender equality policy in HE.FP7 Science in Society. Grant Number: 32137
Effects of criterion bias on perimetric sensitivity and response variability in glaucoma
Get PDFYesThe purpose of this study was to isolate and quantify the effects of observer response criterion on perimetric sensitivity, response variability, and maximum response probability.
Twelve people with glaucoma were tested at three locations in the visual field (age = 47-77 years, mean deviation = -0.61 to -14.54 dB, test location Humphrey field analyzer [HFA] sensitivities = 1 to 30 dB). Frequency of seeing (FoS) curves were measured using a method of constant stimuli with two response paradigms: a "yes-no" paradigm similar to static automated perimetry and a criterion-free two interval forced choice (2IFC) paradigm. Comparison measures of sensitivity, maximum response probability, and response variability were derived from the fitted FoS curves.
Sensitivity differences between the tasks varied widely (range = -11.3 dB to 21.6 dB) and did not correlate with visual field sensitivity nor whether the visual field location was in an area of steep sensitivity gradient within the visual field. Due to the wide variation in differences between the methods, there was no significant difference in mean sensitivity between the 2IFC task relative to the yes-no task, but a trend for higher sensitivity (mean = 1.9 dB, SD = 6.0 dB, P = 0.11). Response variability and maximum response probability did not differ between the tasks (P > 0.99 and 0.95, respectively).
Perimetric sensitivity estimates are demonstrably altered by observer response criterion but the effect varies widely and unpredictably, even within a single test. Response bias should be considered a factor in perimetric test variability and when comparing sensitivities to nonperimetric data.
The effect of response criterion on perimetric response variability varies widely and unpredictably, even within a single test.Supported by ARC LP130100055; ARC LP150100815 (AT and AMM), College of Optometrists Research Fellowship (JD)
Offering flexible working opportunities to people with mental disabilities: The missing link between sustainable development goals and financial implications
Get PDFYesA global response to Covid‐19 pandemic has triggered issues related to stress and social restrictions; thus, mental health is seen as a particular area of concern for social well‐being for both policymakers and corporate regulators/companies. Given that mental health intersects with most, if not all, of the 17 sustainable development goals (SDGs), this research brought to light issues surrounding employment of people with mental disabilities (PWMDs) and the financial merits of employing them. An online survey was administered to PWMDs to elicit what possible flexible opportunities could enable them to gain or stay at work. Interviews were also conducted with human resource managers and financial managers. Our results show that there are currently no flexible working opportunities available for PWMDs, which could enable them work effectively to improve both self and general economic growth
Citizens' continuous use of eGovernment services: The role of self-efficacy, outcome expectations and satisfaction
Get PDFYesThe continuous use of eGovernment services is a de facto for its prosperity and success. A generalised sense of
citizens' self-efficacy, expectations, and satisfaction offer opportunities for governments to further retain needed
engagements. This study examines the factors influencing citizens' continuance use of eGovernment services.
Through the integration of Social Cognitive Theory, Expectation Confirmation Theory, DeLone and McLean IS
success model, and E-S-QUAL, a survey of 471 citizens in the UK, engaging in online public services, found that
prior experience, social influence, information quality, and service quality, personal outcome expectation, and
satisfaction, are significant predictors of citizens' intention to use eGovernment, when they are regulated,
through citizens' self-efficacy. The present study extends the roles of pre-adoption and post-adoption by offering
a self-regulating process. Therefore, it demonstrates how critical it is for the government's leaders to understand
the patterns of the long-term process for electronic systems continually.There is a corrigendum for this paper at https://doi.org/10.1016/j.giq.2020.101492. Elvira Ismagilova was not included as an author on the original record when she should have been
Outcomes of implementing Team-Based Learning (TBL): the experiences of UK educators
Get PDFYesTeam-Based Learning (TBL) is a collaborative learning model that refocuses classroom time to solving relevant problems instead of dispensing information. This is accomplished by a pre-class readiness assurance process that promotes accountability to self-directed learning and teamwork. While research related to the student experience with TBL is present in the literature, there is a relative lack of research published on the experiences of academic staff with TBL. Using a qualitative approach and a semi-structured interview format, this study explored the experiences of 26 academic staff in the UK who implemented TBL using a semi-structured interview format. Thematic analysis of interview text yielded five themes related to curriculum design, student outcomes, and the professional development of academic staff.Supported by a grant from the Regis University Research and Scholarship Council
EU-Africa Relations, China, and the African Challenge
Get PDFYesThe African continent is a sleeping giant which will increasingly be a player to be reckoned with on the global stage. At the same time, its migration potential will be multiplied by Africa’s forthcoming demographic explosion. Consequently, the EU and Africa have a shared interest in working together towards making African development sustainable. African integration will be key towards speeding up this process.
This paper first evaluates the stakes of the African challenge for the European Union. It considers the economic potential that can be unleashed by speeding up integration processes in Africa. Second, it argues that Africa will be ‘the China of the 21st Century’, and that any development, positive or negative, taking place there will have large repercussions in Europe, and that therefore the EU and Africa are communities of destiny in need of a joint approach towards African industrialisation. Finally, it provides a roadmap of important steps that Europe needs to consider in its endeavour to support African development
A meta-analysis based modified unified theory of acceptance and use of technology (Meta-UTAUT): A review of emerging literature
Get PDFYesOver the last more than four decades, several theoretical models have been developed to understand the acceptance and use of information systems. Realising the dilemma in selecting the appropriate theoretical model to assess the acceptance and use of technology and considering the pattern of using the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT), a modified version (meta-UTAUT) has been developed based on the synthesis of results from 162 existing studies. The aim of this article is to review the emerging literature on meta-UTAUT and offer some future research recommendations. The analysis suggests that studies have started citing the relationships suggested by meta-UTAUT and researchers have reviewed it alongside other alternative models while analysing acceptance and use of technology
The co-development and feasibility-testing of an innovative digital animation intervention (DAISI) to reduce the risk of maternal sepsis in the postnatal period
Get PDFYesSepsis is one of the most common causes of mortality in postnatal women globally and many other women
who develop sepsis are left with severe morbidity. Women’s knowledge of postnatal sepsis and how it can be prevented by
simple changes to behaviour is lacking.
Methods: This paper describes the co-development and feasibility testing of a digital animation intervention called DAISI
(digital animation in service improvement). This DAISI is designed to enhance postnatal women’s awareness of sepsis and
how to reduce their risk of developing the condition. We co-designed the digital animation over a six-month period underpinned
by theory, best evidence and key stakeholders, translated it into Urdu then assessed its use, firstly in a focus group
with women from different Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) groups and secondly with 15 clinical midwives and
15 women (including BAME women). Following exposure to the intervention, midwives completed a questionnaire developed
from the COM-B behaviour change model and women participated in individual and focus group interviews using
similar questions.
Results: The animation was considered acceptable, culturally sensitive and simple to implement and follow.
Discussion: DAISI appears to be an innovative solution for use in maternity care to address difficulties with the postnatal
hospital discharge process. We could find no evidence of digital animation being used in this context and recommend a study
to test it in practice prior to adopting its use more widely. If effective, the DAISI principle could be used in other maternity
contexts and other areas of the NHS to communicate health promotion information.This study was funded by Translate Medtech, Leeds City Region. DAISI was developed by HMA Digital, Barnsley, UK