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Peukert effects on domestic energy storage in virtual power plants
Get PDFIn residential homes, domestic energy storage in batteries have been proposed by many to support the grid. To foster its integration into the grid, virtual power plant (VPP) technology is used. In this paper, we evaluate Peukert condition of domestic battery storage within a given distribution level market. An evolutionary algorithm is applied to optimize the social welfare of stakeholders in a community VPP at different levels of Peukert conditions. The dynamic load performance of the VPP with respect to the grid requirements for demand-side management (DSM) is also presented to evaluate the impact of the Peukert effect on DSM. The results show that the social welfare of the VPP stakeholders decreases as Peukert effects increase
Joint microwave radiometry for inflammatory arthritis assessment.
No full textIncreased in-depth joint temperature measured by the rapid, easy-to-perform microwave radiometry (MWR) method may reflect inflammation, even in the absence of clinical signs. We hypothesized that MWR is useful for RA and spondyloarthritis patients' assessment. Clinical examination, joint ultrasound and/or MRI and MWR were performed in two independent patient-control cohorts (n = 243). Among single RA joints MWR performed best in the knee using ultrasound as reference, with 75% sensitivity-73% specificity for grey-scale synovitis score ⩾2, and 80% sensitivity-82% specificity for power Doppler positivity. A stronger agreement was evident between increased knee relative temperature (Δt) and power Doppler positivity (82%) than with clinical examination (76%). In a different patient cohort with painful knees, a knee Δt ⩽0.2 predicted power Doppler positivity with 100% positive and negative predictive values. A thermo-score summing 10 Δt values of three large and seven small RA joints (elbow, knee, ankle, wrist, four hand and two foot joints of the clinically dominant arm or hand and leg or foot) correlated with ultrasound scores of synovitis/tenosynovitis (all P < 0.001) and the 28-joint Disease Activity Score (DAS28) (P = 0.004). The agreement of the thermo-score with ultrasound-defined joint inflammation (82%) was stronger than with DAS28 (64%). The thermo-score improved significantly after 90 days of treatment in patients with active RA at baseline (P = 0.004). Using MRI as reference, Δt of sacroiliac joints could discriminate between spondyloarthritis patients with or without sacroiliitis with 78% sensitivity-74% specificity. In-depth increased MWR-derived joint temperature reflects both subclinical and clinically overt inflammation and may serve as a biomarker in arthritis. [Abstract copyright: © The Author(s) 2019. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the British Society for Rheumatology. All rights reserved. For permissions, please email: [email protected].
A positive virtual ecosystem. The theory of change for Kooth. Comprehensive Report
Get PDFKooth is an online mental health service for children and young people*. Since its launch in 2004, it has grown with the children and young people who use it, its humanistic approach shaped by their demand and our clinical expertise.
Today it is a large, thriving and diverse community of young people who use it for multifarious reasons and in multifarious ways; importantly, they have the power to direct support themselves. They and are in control of their therapeutic journey. The service is full of choices in terms of how to get help, but also in terms of the therapeutic support available. As such, it is an extremely complex entity, perhaps reflecting the very nature of wellbeing and mental health.
As well as making this an extremely rich environment where young people actively choose to spend their time, it has also taken the service well beyond what today’s quantitative outcomes measures of mental health services can capture.
This paper signals the beginning of an important, ground-breaking journey to define the role and the impact of Kooth. We have explored, mapped and categorised activity within the service with a specific goal in mind: to define our Theory of Change. This describes the Kooth experience and the many routes in and out of the service, each reliant on our understanding of an individual’s unique building blocks for wellness.
The Theory of Change (ToC) is not a clinical model and nor does it seek to be. It is not there to show how we can address specific standalone symptoms. Instead it is a characterisation of the broad, person-centred, holistic work Kooth does every day.
It is also the foundation for a future set of mental health outcome measures, which will represent each child or young person’s journey
Stakeholder perspectives of compassion in nursing: The development of the compassion strengths model
No full textAIMS:
To explore stakeholder perspectives of compassion in nursing.
BACKGROUND:
Studies show that nurses' compassion can be characterized by 11 characteristics. A growing body of research illustrates how courses aimed at teaching nursing students about compassion can be effective. Including the views of key stakeholders in the design of these programmes is recommended, yet the number of studies that have explored this are limited.
DESIGN:
This study used a qualitative exploratory design, applying a directed content and thematic analysis to the data.
METHODS:
Key stakeholders (N = 34), including nurse educators, nursing students, registered nurses and service user/patients, were recruited between September 2016 - July 2017. Focus groups and semi-structured one-to-one interviews were conducted. Data were transcribed verbatim. Directed content analysis and thematic analysis were applied to transcripts to address two separate research questions.
RESULTS:
In relation to question 1, 'What are the characteristics of a compassionate nurse'? eight themes: (a) character; (b) self-care; (c) connection; (d) empathy; (e) interpersonal skills; (f) communication; (g) competence; and (h) engagement, emerged from the content analysis. For question 2, 'How can compassion be taught to nursing students'? there were five separate themes that emerged from the thematic analysis: (a) beliefs about teaching compassion; (b) motivation; (c) the 5 W's needed to teach compassion to nursing students; (d) barriers to compassion in practice; and (e) compassion requires strength CONCLUSION: The findings of this research support previous research into compassion in nursing. The Compassion Strengths model may serve as a framework for nursing students and nurses' compassionate practice. This may also assist nurses internationally to develop further research in this vital area
Positive psychology: mindfulness and its role within mental health nursing
Get PDFThis is the fourth article in a series of articles that explores the meaning of positive psychology and the importance of applying the latest related research findings for the wellbeing of the mental health workforce. It will focus on mindfulness as a positive psychology intervention from its development to present day use and how it is relevant to mental health nursing. Finally, it will emphasise the importance of effective leadership in how the application of mindfulness can benefit the individual, the organisation and the client. The practical tasks provided in the boxes throughout the article will help the reader identify what mindfulness means for them and understand how to further develop its transferability through evidence-based, user-friendly exercises
Theory of free trading markets for non-scarce goods and services and its application in electronic commerce of digital products.
Get PDFThe Author brings forth principles and theory of primary and secondary free trading markets for non-scarce goods and services operating on principles of supply, demand and price discovery, and postulates that such markets can exist and contribute to the advancement of society and the world economy. Advances in science and technology have enabled digital duplication and the distribution of electronic content, and opened new pathways of doing business, but have also enabled illicit activities in digital goods, namely digital theft and piracy. An extremely low cost of copying, in a trivially short amount of time, has made digital copies of creative works practically non-scarce, thus destroying the equilibrium of supply and demand. As the majority of digital goods are currently sold and distributed on the Internet through retail outlets, which dictate prices and restrict users through monopolistic terms of use agreements, the rights of creators supersede the rights of consumers. Existing copyright laws serve as a legal basis for such operation of the markets. There are no pre-existing, legally operating secondary trading markets for digital goods, and primary markets do not utilise competitive price discovery, as only the copyright owners are entitled to set arbitrary trading prices. There is no pre-existing scientific framework for the operation of free trading markets for non-
scarce goods to serve as a model for establishing electronic trading exchanges, for digital goods in particular, and non-scarce goods in general. This thesis provides a theoretical framework of free trading markets for non-scarce goods and services, as well as examples of practical applications for the theoretical framework in electronic commerce of digital goods and services. A software simulation of a free trading market for non-
scarce goods, operating on the principles of this theoretical framework, is also provided. The applied theoretical framework is intended to create equitable trading of digital goods in a free market environment, provide a remedy for the growing piracy of digital goods, and enable investing in commoditised creativity, in a manner similar to investing in stocks or commodities
The impact of notches on the fracture strength of complete upper dentures: A novel biomechanical approach
Get PDFThis paper focuses on introducing a new biomechanical method for estimating the fracture strength of complete upper dentures (CUDs) and evaluating which notch mode has the greatest impact on their strength reduction. Forty identical CUDs were constructed according to a previously applied methodology, and it was divided into four groups of ten specimens. This is dependent on the location and size of the notches in the labial region of the denture. The upper grip of a universal testing machine was replaced by a newly designed and constructed loading element for simulating the intraoral denture loading conditions. The fracture load and the deflection at fracture were measured, while the fracture energy was calculated (product of the load to the deflection) under compression. The measurement of fracture energy through the present novel method leads to more precise outcomes. The highest impact on the reduction of CUDs strength was for the combination group 4 with both the midline (incisal) diastema and deepened labial fraenal notch. Nevertheless, it gradually reduced for group 2 with midline (incisal) diastema, group 3 with deep labial fraenal notch, and group 1 with initial-shallow labial fraenal notch (P<0.001). The conditions for groups 2 and 4 strongly require reinforcement of the denture bases
High-isolation leaky-wave array antenna based on CRLH-metamaterial implemented on SIW with ±30o frequency beam-scanning capability at millimetre-waves
Get PDFThe paper presents a feasibility study on the design of a new metamaterial leaky-wave antenna (MTM-LWA) used in the construction of a 1 × 2 array which is implemented using substrate-integrated waveguide (SIW) technology for millimetre-wave beamforming applications. The proposed 1 × 2 array antenna consists of two LWAs with metamaterial unit-cells etched on the top surface of the SIW. The metamaterial unit-cell, which is an E-shaped transverse slot, causes leakage loss and interrupts current flow over SIW to enhance the array’s performance. The dimensions of the LWA are 40 × 10 × 0.75 mm3. Mutual-coupling between the array elements is suppressed by incorporating a metamaterial shield (MTM-shield) between the two antennas in the array. The LWA operates over a frequency range of 55−65 GHz, which is corresponding to 16.66% fractional bandwidth. The array is shown to exhibit beam-scanning of ±30° over its operating frequency range. Radiation gain in the backward (−30°), broadside (0°), and forward (+30°) directions are 8.5 dBi, 10.1 dBi, and 9.5 dBi, respectively. The decoupling slab is shown to have minimal effect on the array’s performance in terms of impedance bandwidth and radiation specifications. The MTM-shield is shown to suppress the mutual coupling by ~25 dB and to improve the radiation gain and efficiency by ~1 dBi and ~13% on average, respectively
Positive psychology and its role within mental health nursing
Get PDFThis is the second article in a series of Continuing Professional Development papers that explores the meaning of positive psychology and the importance of applying the latest research findings for the wellbeing of the mental health workforce. There will be an historical outline of positive psychology showing it is not as ‘ new’ as we might think. It sets the context and explains key terms through the underpinning theoretical work of Martin Seligman. This is followed by a contemporary lens on the topic in mental health nursing as the growing field of research shares its finding on taking the potential to the actual in making new skills via neuroplasticity. The practical element will help us to understand what happiness means to the individual and how it can be developed with evidence based user-friendly effective exercises
Using learning technology to embed professionalism : a team approach
No full textProfessionalism is an essential attribute, which is fundamental to personal development, self-awareness and preparation for future employment across all disciplines. We often expect our learners to have the essential knowledge and understanding of professional attitudes and behaviours at the start of their programme of study. However, it is widely recognised that due to societal and cultural change, social media, and many other factors, the term `Professionalism` does not always share the same meaning. In order to develop a greater awareness and promote individual development of learners, our aim is to prepare them for professional practice and regulation through professional bodies. Our overall strategic agenda is to bring professionalism to the forefront of education, and embed it with our programmes of study.
This presentation will discuss how the School of Nursing and Midwifery has worked with the Academic Librarian for the School to develop a section in LEAP Online about Professionalism.
We will discuss how we collaborated to design the content explaining professionalism and its importance, developed scenario based activities for the students to measure their understanding of professionalism and finally test their knowledge and understanding by gaining a digital badge.
We will reflect on how our experience as practitioners has helped shape this exciting new content and our plans to develop it further and embed across all subject areas within the university