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Exploring the usability of the virtual reality module LEAF Café : a qualitative think-aloud study
No full textBackground: The global healthcare system faces increasing strain from our ageing population, primarily due to the growing prevalence of age-related health conditions such as dementia. While modern healthcare technology offers potential solutions, it frequently lacks user-friendliness for older adults. Virtual Reality (VR) has emerged as a promising tool for diagnosing cognitive impairment, offering innovative solutions where traditional methods may fall short. This study explores older adults’ perspectives on the usability of a newly designed VR module for cognitive assessment. Methods: During a 100-min session, participants were asked to engage and complete recall and recognition tasks within the VR module (think-aloud approach) and provide feedback upon completion (semi-structured interviews). Audio materials were transcribed for analysis and recordings of the users’ interactions with the module were annotated to provide additional context. These combined textual data were analysed using content coding and thematic analysis to identify themes that reflect how participants used the module’s features and what features are desirable to support that process better. Results: Participants (N = 10; Mean age = 73.3, SD = 7.53, range = 65–83 years) perceived the VR module as user-friendly and endorsed its potential as a cognitive screener due to its engaging and immersive nature. Older adults highlighted three key aspects of the module: the usefulness of the platform’s ability to offer a comprehensive and reliable evaluation of an individual’s cognitive abilities; the need to present concise and relevant content to optimise engagement and use; and the importance of overcoming barriers to support implementation. Suggested game improvements centred on food recognition and adjusting difficulty levels. Barriers to implementation included technology challenges for older adults and concerns about the game’s suitability for everyday scenarios. Participants stressed the need for reliable implementation strategies, proposing locations such as libraries and advocating for home-based screening. Conclusion: Continued improvements in accessibility suggest that VR tools could help with diagnosing cognitive impairment in older adults. Using a simulated environment to assess cognitive status might fill the gap between current diagnostic methods, aiding treatment planning and early intervention. However, these findings should be approached cautiously, as more research is needed to fully grasp the potential impact of VR tools in this context
What happens next? : working the time dimension of educational research
No full textImmense, all-encompassing bush fires. Paralyzing floods. The global pandemic. The seemingly endless stream of disasters that beset us may be rationalized in terms of the move from the benign Holocene wherein human civilization flourished, to the malign Anthropocene, through which we are creating the conditions for our own extinction. Education and its research sit in the middle of this epochal shift. Scientific investigation establishes and verifies what has happened in the past, including the patterns and rhythms that may continue. However, education, as defined by learning in the present is also concerned with the future, especially in terms of the proven facts of climate change and collectively working out what to do about them. Subsequently, this chapter will argue that a new science of educational research is required to shift pedagogy, the curriculum, and educational practice from its current settings to ones that will provoke meaningful change in the Anthropocene. This new science of educational research will be based on a re-evaluation of time in educa- tional research from the work of Alfred North Whitehead, Gilles Deleuze, Gilbert Simondon, Stanislaw Lem and Philip K. Dick. In general, this theorization of a new science of time in educational research sees a shift from phenomenologically based notions of temporality to materially embodied concepts of time that simultaneously inhabit ‘more-than-human’ worlds
Vine Copula-based multivariate distribution of rainfall intensity, wind speed, and wind direction for optimizing Qatari meteorological stations
No full textThis study employs copula functions to establish the dependency structure of the joint distribution among rainfall intensity, wind speed, and wind direction in Qatar. Based on a Vine Copula, the trivariate distribution between rainfall intensity, wind speed, and wind direction is found to exhibit a root-mean-square error (RMSE) of 0.0072 on the observed vs. modeled cumulative probabilities using ranked normalized observations. It is also found that the winter Shamal winds are most pronounced during rainfall. However, a secondary component of easterly winds known as the Kaus winds is also found to exert an important influence. This wind pattern is observable during rainfall at all the selected stations, albeit with minor variations. It is also found that rainfall stations where the rainfall is obstructed in any way from northwest to north and from east to southeast significantly influence the rainfall measurements. Specific rain gauges in Qatar are found to be situated in disrupted surroundings, such as meteorological stations close to passing traffic, where road spray could infiltrate the rain gauge funnel, impacting the accuracy of rainfall measurements. The study results necessitated the relocation of approximately half of these roadside gauges to mitigate wind-induced biases from road spray. An evaluation of operations is recommended for approximately 80 meteorological stations responsible for measuring rainfall in Qatar. The methodology devised in this study holds potential for application to other Middle Eastern countries and regions with similar climates
Water savings in places of worship : a case study for St Mary's Mosque in Australia
No full textWater is used for various religious purposes, including ablution for billions of Muslims around the world. Water savings in ablution can make a positive contribution towards achieving the water-related sustainable development goals (SDGs). A survey-based study was conducted at St Mary’s Mosque in Sydney, Australia, to understand the water usage during ablution and how water can be saved by Muslims in mosques. It has been found that the participants of the survey use 4 to 8 L of water to perform one ablution. About 82% of the participants are careful about saving water in ablution. It has also been found that about 70% of the participants believe that wastage of water during ablution is ‘haram’ (unlawful). Some 95% of the participants believe that religious motivation can play a significant role in saving water during ablution, and Imams can make a notable positive difference by encouraging their followers to save water during ablution. It has also been found that 64% of the participants are willing to use harvested rainwater for ablution. The findings of this study will help Muslims in Australia and around the globe to save water and contribute to the circular economy, as saving potable water (by reducing water use during ablution and using harvested rainwater at the source of water collection) saves energy and encourages responsible consumption
Development and psychometric evaluation of an expanded urinary catheter self-management scale : a cross-sectional study
No full textAim: To develop and test the psychometric properties of an expanded catheter self-management scale for patients with in-dwelling urinary catheters. Design: A cross-sectional validation study. Despite the utility of the original 13-item catheter self-management scale, this instrument did not include bowel management, general hygiene and drainage bag care, which are fundamental skills in urinary catheter self-management to prevent common problems resulting in unnecessary hospital presentations. The expanded catheter self-management scale was developed with 10 additional items to comprehensively assess all five essential aspects of urinary catheter self-management. Methods: A total of 101 adult community-dwelling patients living with indwelling urinary catheters were recruited from Western Sydney, Australia. Using exploratory factor analysis with Varimax rotation, the number of factors to be extracted from the expanded 23-item expanded catheter self-management scale was determined using a scree plot. The reliability of the overall scale and subscales was measured using Cronbach's alpha. Convergent validity was assessed using Spearman's correlations between clinical characteristics, overall scale and subscales. Results: The 23-item expanded catheter self-management scale yielded a 5-factor solution, labelled as: (i) self-monitoring of catheter function, (ii) proactive, help-seeking behaviour function, (iii) bowel self-care function, (iv) hygiene-related catheter site function and (v) drainage bag care function. Cronbach's alpha of the expanded catheter self-management scale indicating all 23 items contributed to the overall alpha value. Convergent validity results showed a negative correlation between the overall expanded catheter self-management scale and catheter-related problems. Conclusion: The 5-factor structure provided a comprehensive assessment of key aspects of urinary catheter self-management essential to reduce the likelihood of catheter-related hospital presentations. Implications: The expanded catheter self-management scale can be used to assess and monitor effective patient-centred interventions for optimal self-management to prevent catheter-related problems and improve the quality of life of patients. Impact: Many patients start their journey of living with a urinary catheter unexpectedly and are not supported with quality information to care for their catheter. The findings of this study show the correlation between catheter self-management skills and catheter-related problems. The expanded catheter self-management scale (E-CSM) assists with analysing the self-management skills of patients living with a catheter and developing tailored interventions to prevent problems and improve their quality of life. In addition, this screening tool can be included in policies, guidelines, and care plans as a standard for improving catheter management and developing educational resources for patients. Reporting Method: STROBE checklist was used to report all aspects of this study comprehensively and accurately. Patient or Public Contribution: Patients living with indwelling urinary catheter and their carers have participated in surveys, interviews and co-designing interventions. This paper reports the psychometric analysis of the expanded catheter self-management scale (E-CSM) used in the patient survey as part of the main study ‘Improving Quality of Life of Patients Living with Indwelling Urinary Catheters: IQ-IDC Study’ (Alex et al. in Collegian, 29:405–413, 2021). We greatly value our consumers' contributions and continue to communicate the progress of the study to them. Their contributions will be acknowledged in all publications and presentations. In addition, all participants will be provided the option of receiving the interventions and publications generated from this study
The police staffing crisis : evidence-based approaches for building, balancing, and optimizing effective workforces
No full textThe purpose of this special issue, The Police Staffing Crisis: Evidence-Based Approaches for Building, Balancing and Optimizing Effective Workforces, is to help unpack this dynamic staffing challenge, examine many of its component parts, and offer lessons to advance the science and practice of police workforce planning. It features work by global, thought-leading researchers and practitioners, many of whom collaborate on research and outreach as part of the Michigan State University Police Staffing Observatory (https://cj.msu.edu/research-excellence/pso/pso-home.html). While each of the 15 contributions that comprise this session cover many angles, we organize them across four broad areas: systems integration, recruitment, retention, and allocation and resourcing
Authenticating IoT devices using multimodal biometric and blockchain : a personalised healthcare scenario
No full textThe Internet of Things (IoT) has become an integral part of today's life as IoT solutions integrate equally into households and industrial sectors. However, with the widespread adoption of IoT devices, there is an increasing concern for privacy preservation and device integrity. The concerns are due to the continuous collection of extensive data encompassing personal movements, behaviours, and preferences and the sending of that data for further storage in various data centres by such devices. Recently, researchers have taken a great interest in blockchain-based techniques in response to these challenges in various relevant domains. The Internet of Things (IoT) has become an integral part of today's life as IoT solutions integrate equally into households and industrial sectors. However, with the widespread adoption of IoT devices, there is an increasing concern for privacy preservation and device integrity
Educational research and the question(s) of time
No full textDuring the COVID pandemic (2020–2) time stood still. Schools were shut. (Clearly, not all schools were shut, not everyone was lonely. These statements present a taste of the drama and time questions in education that were caused by the pandemic.) Socialising was banned. Teachers, children, and parents were isolated in their homes. Beyond a metaphor, the breaking of clock time, by which education is usually run, sent individuals spiralling off in multiple directions. People found isolation and a dead, lonely time, cut off from contacts and forced to learn alone. Others discovered a ‘holiday time’ as the novelty of not going to school and staying at home provided a break from the frequently grinding repetition that education can become. This book is figured at the emergence of the post-pandemic, and asks the question: What is the time dimension in educational research, and how does it equate to practice? Every chapter deals with this question differently, and this move sets up the fundamental malleability of time in education and research, even though the unnerving regularity of clock time in education tries its best to defy this very malleability. What is interesting and shall be pursued in this opening chapter, is that the forces that seek to reassert the domination of clock time in and through education post-pandemic, are at the same time challenged in this very procedure by the bottom-up perturbations of new online learning, lingering health concerns, an uncertain economic outlook, and, perhaps most disturbingly, climate change. This chapter is located at the fulcrum of these energetics and maps their internal tensions and potential
A novel stability analysis of functional equation in neutrosophic normed spaces
No full textThe analysis of stability in functional equations (FEs) within neutrosophic normed spaces is a significant challenge due to the inherent uncertainties and complexities involved. This paper proposes a novel approach to address this challenge, offering a comprehensive framework for investigating stability properties in such contexts. Neutrosophic normed spaces are a generalization of traditional normed spaces that incorporate neutrosophic logic. By providing a systematic methodology for addressing stability concerns in neutrosophic normed spaces, our approach facilitates enhanced understanding and control of complex systems characterized by indeterminacy and uncertainty. The primary focus of this research is to propose a novel class of Euler-Lagrange additive FE and investigate its Ulam-Hyers stability in neutrosophic normed spaces. Direct and fixed point techniques are utilized to achieve the required results
Understanding young people's visual politics : making young people's participation (more) visible
No full textThis chapter examines the significance of young people’s visual politics displayed on the protest placards at Sydney’s School Strike for Climate (SS4C) events (2019-2022). The aim is to challenge popular and scholarly stereotypes about youth protests by emphasising the dynamic nature of each SS4C event, influenced by local and global developments, political shifts, legal changes, policies, and institutional contexts. This is done by demonstrating a new method-theory for the analysis of visual artefacts which explores the importance of capturing and studying the diverse visual expressions of young people's activism. By recognizing the power of visual language in political participation, this study questions how visual forms of activism can challenge and impact on our social, environmental, and political understandings of youth climate action