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Smart wearable sensing systems mediating the digital monitoring of Loneliness – A review
No full textAs mental health difficulties are of increasing concern and people are encouraged to communicate their feelings, loneliness has become a critical issue for the community, with the number of people identifying as lonely being higher than ever. Loneliness can lead to conditions ranging from simple changes in social behaviors to adverse health situations, with depression and anxiety being the dominant ones. These conditions are known to trigger a cascade of emotions then translated into alterations of physiological signals which can be detected and monitored with digital means, such as wearable sensors. The purpose of this work is to review the smart wearable sensing systems that have been used for the detection of these conditions and the recent advances in the development of these sensors. We first review the physiological signals associated with each one of the main loneliness manifestations, then we present the real-life studies performed involving participants and the use of wearable sensors and subsequently we analyze the main categories of sensors used in the studies, the technological advances and the remaining drawbacks for each one of them. Through this review we managed to examine thoroughly the current smart wearable sensing systems on digital monitoring of loneliness and to identify the most promising fields for development.</p
The making of neoliberal families: managerial governance and the reorganisation of social reproduction in Britain
No full textThis thesis examines the impact of neoliberalism on the social reproduction of families in Britain. Departing from its traditional role as provider of social welfare, it appears that as the neoliberal state retreats, families have become increasingly responsible for providing welfare previously shouldered by the public sector. The growing reliance on families to take on social welfare responsibilities is often attributed to increasing levels of marketisation driven by neoliberal policies. Such accounts illuminate important distributive changes to productive and reproductive forces And yet, although neoliberalism is often described as a project of state withdrawal, the family has become increasingly governed, monitored and responsibalised. As a result, it remains challenging to understand how and why the neoliberal family has evolved into a site of intensified managerial oversight and moral regulation.Drawing on historical materialist feminist method, the thesis demonstrates that the neoliberal family did not emerge in response to market forces alone but crystallised through managerial governance logics developed within mid-century social housing, anti-poverty planning and the administrative revolutions of the 1960s. Techniques of systems analysis, rooted in Cold War planning rationalities, gradually made families legible and actionable as policy objects. These managerial methods enabled the state to recode structural crises of labour, housing and welfare into matters of household conduct and responsibility.This political reclassification produced what I term a managerial class consciousness, a form of false consciousness in which class antagonisms are displaced onto moralised narratives of parenting and domestic order, and ‘good’ family management. Families were not left to absorb the consequences of neoliberal restructuring; they were reconstructed as a mechanism through which neoliberal governance sought to stabilise the crisis. The thesis reframes the neoliberal family as an actively produced modality of governance rather than a causality of marketisation. In doing so, it advances a feminist historical materialist account of how managerial techniques, conservative moralities and welfare institutions converge to make the family a pivotal infrastructure for the reproduction of labour and the depoliticization of class struggle.This approach to regulating the family through managerial techniques introduced new imperatives into parenting, which presumed a gender-neutral position but reinforced deeply embedded intersectional inequalities. I trace how slum clearance, housing allocation criteria, community development schemes and eventually, New Public Management formed the apparatus through which the family became a disciplinary, self manging relay for the neoliberal state objectives. By historicising these processes, the thesis reveals the family as a site through which class is remade and where the political struggles of labour are recoded into intimate questions of domestic adequacy.</p
What are emerging markets? Unpacking emergence: a critical perspective on emerging markets in international business
No full textNo description supplied</p
Translocalism in displacement: informal aid on the Thai-Myanmar border
No full textThe military coup of February 2021 in Myanmar intensified a long-standing situation of conflict-induced displacement within and from the country. In this context, existing networks of informal support become ever more important for displaced people’s immediate survival, and mid-term livelihoods. Drawing on data from a larger project on protracted displacement economies, we investigate how social networks become conduits for cross-border support; how ex-isting modes of aid are being transformed, and how new ones come into being. These do not necessarily consist of conventional inter-national organisations, but rather a multitude of actors which are often overlooked. They include networks sustained by kinship links, ethnic solidarities, faith-based groups, and diasporic support. Many of the people involved have past or current experience of dis-placement themselves. Our broader aim is therefore, to make visi-ble patterns of support and solidarity that extend among displacement-affected populations, translocally across borders, and further afield. This also builds a different picture informal aid in displacement, which comes into view as formal actors become less prominent.</p
Building high involvement work systems in the digital era: employee experience-oriented digital HRM and employee involvement
No full textDespite the increasing application of digital technology in management practices, its implications for employee involvement and high involvement work systems (HIWSs) remain largely unexplored. Based on an in-depth qualitative case study of Tencent – one of China’s largest information technology companies – this article explores whether and in what ways employee experience (EX)-oriented digital HRM contributes to the development of HIWSs. Drawing on socio-technical systems theory, we examine the goals, tasks, structures, actors, and technical elements of the digital HRM system in the case company, as well as the interactions among these elements. Our findings suggest that the EX-oriented digital HRM system enhances two key dimensions of HIWSs: technological empowerment and organizational involvement. First, EX-oriented digital HRM provides employees with digital tools that enable them to exercise some autonomy in various facets of their work life. This includes self-management, team collaboration, and personalized learning and development opportunities. Second, EX-oriented digital HRM arguably promotes employee involvement in both product development and some aspects of organizational management by leveraging user experience design. This study contributes to the theory of socio-technical systems and the literature on HIWSs in the digital era. </p
Barriers and facilitators of engagement with app-based pain self-management strategies among chronic pain patients (CPPs)
No full textThis study explored barriers and facilitators to digital self-management engagement among individuals with chronic pain. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 24 participants, guided by a 32-item schedule informed by digital health adoption literature and the Capability, Opportunity, Motivation and Behaviour (COM-B) model. Reflexive thematic analysis identified key influences on engagement, which were then mapped onto the COM-B framework to inform intervention design. Barriers were linked to physical and cognitive limitations, information access, financial constraints, self-efficacy, and individual differences. Facilitators included social connection, enhanced pain awareness, autonomy, and accessibility. While themes aligned with most COM-B components, no clear influences were mapped to Automatic Motivation. Findings provide nuanced insights into the behavioural and contextual factors shaping engagement with app-based interventions. By applying the COM-B model, this study offers a theoretically grounded understanding of digital self-management uptake, supporting the development of more responsive and accessible interventions for people living with chronic pain.
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Use of a pronotal shield as an extraretinal short-wavelength filter for the dorsal compound eye of an insect
No full textAdaptations of nocturnal insects’ visual systems to dim light environments include increased photon capture and sensitivity. Yet this risks saturation, which is countered by screening pigments limiting the photons reaching the photoreceptors. Male glow-worms must detect the females’ green bioluminescence at night to mate. In addition to screening pigments, males possess a differentially pigmented pronotal shield beneath which they can retract their compound eyes. The possible role of the pronotal shield in behavioural regulation of the light reaching their eyes has not, to our knowledge, been investigated. Here, we characterize the spectral filter properties of the pronotal shield and combine this with behavioural assays of males’ response to light exposure. We show that the pronotal shield acts as a differential filter transmitting longer wavelengths of light to the compound eyes beneath while blocking shorter wavelengths. Male glow-worms in the dark or in the presence of green light extend their head but rapidly retract it beneath the pronotal shield when exposed to white or UV light, thereby shielding their compound eyes. Thus, our findings suggest the pronotal shield acts as a behaviourally implemented extraretinal optical filter for the compound eye.</p
Confidence intervals for multiple change points in linear models with heteroscedastic errors
No full textNo description supplied</p
The impact of a story-based intervention on language, literacy, and cognitive development in South African pre-schoolers: randomised controlled trials for two language groups
No full textLiteracy rates in South Africa are low and many children start school without the requisite levels of emergent language and literacy skills needed to succeed. We report two RCTs of a story-based intervention delivered by preschool teachers to two language groups of children from low income backgrounds (isiXhosa: Nchildren=82, Nteachers=20; Afrikaans, Nchildren=118, Nteachers=24). The story-based intervention involved a 36-week programme, of 2-week cycles, each using a different culturally-appropriate story in the target language with activities designed to foster emergent language and literacy skills. Training for the teachers before and during the intervention was provided. The post-intervention assessment took place after 26 weeks. For both language groups (compared with the corresponding control group), the intervention had a positive impact on vocabulary taught in the programme and also developmental status across key learning domains. For early language and emergent literacy measures, baseline ability was the most consistent predictor for all outcome measures, with additional important contributions of initial vocabulary for some measures. This study demonstrates the feasibility of conducting gold-standard randomised controlled trials in low-resource settings. We draw on the data to set out practice and policy recommendations, critically the need to support school and literacy-learning readiness in homes and preschools, to enhance practice and children’s outcomes.</p
The experiences of autistic doctors transitioning into clinical practice in the UK: a phenomenological study
No full textAutistic doctors bring valuable contributions to healthcare but face challenges like managing healthcare’s unpredictable nature and difficult colleague interactions. Significant life changes, such as the shift from medical student to resident doctor, can be stressful for autistic people. No research yet has examined how autistic doctors experience and make sense of the critical transition from medical student to qualified doctor, which is what this study aims to do. We utilised an interpretive phenomenological approach for this study, conducting qualitative interviews between October 2024 and February 2025 that we subsequently analysed using interpretive phenomenological analysis. Participants were UK-based doctors recruited through the Autistic Medical Students or the Autistic Doctors International online support groups. Ethical approval was obtained from the Brighton and Sussex Medical School Research Governance and Ethics Committee. Five people took part in the study, and we identified five Group Experiential Themes (GETs). Participants felt powerless due to a system driven by luck (GET 1), where their placements and support were unpredictable, leaving them with little control or agency. This feeling of powerlessness (GET 2) was compounded by a medical culture that felt misaligned with their identities as autistic doctors and made them feel subordinated and excluded from the rest of the medical team. This led to attempts to claw back control (GET 3) by carefully managing their identity, staying hypervigilant of social dynamics, and lowering their expectations. However, this led to internal conflict, exhaustion, and sacrifices in their personal lives to survive in this system (GET 4), leading participants to struggle to reconcile their professional identity (GET 5) with the expectations placed on them. This study highlights how transitioning into a work environment can be stressful for newly qualified autistic doctors and how work environments can inadvertently exacerbate this experience by disrupting long-developed coping strategies, pressuring autistic people to mask and increasing stress and isolation. Creating environments that embrace diversity and support autistic doctors’ needs is vital for them to thrive.</p