21649 research outputs found
Sort by
Empowering Data Sovereignty through Artificial Intelligence: A Framework for Sustainable Smart Energy Systems in Saudi
Full text linkAs smart energy systems become central to national sustainability strategies, the issue of data sovereignty—the right of nations to govern data generated within their borders—has gained critical importance in the broader context of global digital governance and energy security. However, most existing AI systems lack built-in mechanisms for jurisdictional compliance and local control. This paper investigates how Artificial Intelligence (AI) can support data sovereignty in smart grid environments. Using a comparative multiple-case study approach—including Gaia-X, Microsoft EU Data Boundary, a decentralized energy pilot in India, and Saudi Arabia’s NEOM, which represents a sovereignty-by-design model aligned with Vision 2030—the study examines AI-enabled compliance mechanisms, federated learning, and sovereign cloud infrastructures. Expert interviews with stakeholders in policy, energy, and AI provide further context. Findings show that AI offers strong potential for enforcing sovereignty when supported by aligned legal frameworks and sovereignty-by design architecture. For example, in India’s pilot project, federated AI reduced cross-border data transfers by more than 70% while maintaining forecasting accuracy. Beyond the energy sector, the proposed conceptual framework has applications in finance, healthcare, and smart cities. In particular, the NEOM case highlights Saudi Arabia’s leadership in embedding ethical and cultural governance into AI-enabled sovereignty. Practical recommendations are made to guide sustainable and ethical AI deployment in digital energy infrastructure. These results support global digital sovereignty goals and align with SDGs related to clean energy, innovation, and governance
Characteristics of refractory disease and persistent symptoms in inflammatory arthritis: Qualitative framework analysis of interviews with patients and health care professionals
Full text linkObjectivesThis study aims to explore patients' and clinicians' understanding and experiences of refractory disease (RD) and persistent physical and emotional symptoms (PPES) in patients with inflammatory arthritis (IA), namely rheumatoid arthritis or polyarticular juvenile idiopathic arthritis from their perspectives through interviews and/or focus groups.DesignA qualitative study was conducted, following a pragmatic epistemology approach with framework analysis employed.MethodsSemi-structured interviews or focus groups with IA patients (n = 25) and multi-disciplinary rheumatology HCPs (n = 32) were conducted at one time point to obtain participants respective understanding and experiences of managing RD/PPES, and its impact on the patient-professional relationship.ResultsThree key themes were identified from both patients and professionals' experiences of RD/PPES: (1) relevant treatment experiences, (2) symptoms (with or without inflammation) and (3) impact: physical, psychological and social. These themes included 28 specific categories that would be considered as components characterizing RD/PPES, most common to both patients and HCPs with six being patient-specific and only one HCP-specific. The specific biopsychosocial symptoms and impacts of RD/PPES pertain to pain, fatigue, stiffness, joint involvement and physical, psychological and social functioning and quality of life, covering disease-related distress, mobility and independence. Wider influential factors such as comorbidities, non-adherence, health/medication beliefs and behaviours and social support were also identified.ConclusionCommon persistent symptoms that have both mental and physical impact characterize RD/PPES in IA and therefore a more integrated holistic approach to treatment is needed from multi-disciplinary HCPs, including health psychologists
Moisture availability versus grazing and burning as drivers of Holocene forest-grassland coexistence in Europe: A case study from open ecosystems of southeastern Romania
Full text linkSoutheastern Europe is home to remnants of highly diverse open ecosystems, including grasslands and forest-steppe. To understand the impacts of climate changes, fire disturbance, and herbivory on forest-grassland coexistence in this region, we integrated new and published paleoecological data from two sedimentary records in southeastern Romania with information on herbivore population dynamics and dietary habits. Our findings indicate that fluctuations in forest-grassland cover closely mirrored changes in regional growing season moisture availability in the Black Sea region. During periods with increased moisture availability (e.g. 6000–3800 cal yr BP), diverse broadleaved forest dominated by Quercus expanded. Conversely, more drought-tolerant herbaceous cover increased during drier intervals (7200-6800 and 3800-2000 cal yr BP). We identified a critical tree cover of 25–40% at Mangalia Herghelie and 25–55% at Lake Oltina where neither forest nor grassland dominated. Stable forest states emerged above 40% tree cover and 55% respectively, while grassland-dominated states had tree cover below 25%.Disturbances by fire and herbivores fluctuated over time, and were further influenced by human activity, which along with deforestation, altered the composition and extent of steppe and forest-steppe vegetation. High fire severity occurred during intermediate moisture conditions and tree cover (6800–5500, 3800–2800 cal yr BP), while low fire severity was observed when herbaceous biomass dominated (7200–7000, 2800–2000 cal yr BP) or under greater tree cover (5500–3800 cal yr BP). Herbivore dynamics shifted from large-bodied grazers in the Neolithic and early Eneolithic (7650–6550 cal yr BP; Prehamangia and Hamangia cultures) to a more diverse array of feeding types involving smaller domestic and wild herbivores along with sedentary agriculture during the flourishing Eneolithic (6550-5850 cal yr BP; Gumelnita culture), before returning to larger domestic grazers as well as omnivores in the Bronze and Iron Ages (3500–2000 cal yr BP). Large-bodied herbivores with selective diets (primarily grazers) had a more substantial effect on grasses compared to mixed feeders with bulk diets, whereas domestic herbivory was associated with increased apophyte abundance and diversity. Our findings underscore the essential factors for sustainable management of forest-grassland mosaics under changing climate conditions with projected accelerating aridification. They also highlight the need for continued research to enhance our understanding of these biodiverse, sensitive open ecosystems to inform effective management strategies
Putting child health at the centre of the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill
No full textThis report sets out the main themes of the Children's Wellbeing and Schools Bill and highlights its most significant aspects for children, young people and Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health (RCPCH) members. Children’s social care and schools are devolved policy issues, so most of the legislation will apply in England only
Digital twins in Lean strategic facility management in the UK healthcare sector: A proposed framework to enabling Lean strategic facility management in healthcare operations in the UK
Full text linkThe healthcare sector in the United Kingdom (UK) faces significant challenges in managing its vast estate efficiently and effectively. With rising costs, a substantial maintenance backlog, and increasing patient expectations, there is an urgent need for innovative solutions to streamline operations, reduce waste, and improve patient care. Despite the potential of Building Information Modelling (BIM) and Lean management in facility management, their integration with emerging digital twin technology for strategic facility management in healthcare remains underexplored. This research aimed at addressing this gap by proposing a digital twin framework to enable Lean strategic facility management in UK healthcare operations. The research objectives were to: 1) Establish the current knowledge in BIM for facility management, digital twins, strategic facility management, and Lean; 2) Determine the development of BIM to digital twins for strategic healthcare facility management; 3) Establish the value of digital twins in strategic healthcare facility management in the UK; 4) Establish performance measurement techniques for digital twin to support Lean strategic facility management; and 5) Propose and evaluate a digital twin framework to enable Lean strategic facility management in healthcare operations.The research employed a design science research (DSR) strategy, following a five-stage process. Stage 1 involves problem identification through an extensive literature review and preliminary survey. Stage 2 focuses on developing an initial conceptual model and framework. Stage 3 conducts an exploratory study with semi-structured interviews to co-create an evolved model and implementation framework. Stage 4 evaluates the developed artefacts through an expert panel. Finally, Stage 5 presented the theoretical contributions, including the final digital twin conceptual model and conceptual framework, a digital twin supporting implementation framework and a digital twin maturity process for healthcare estates. The research makes significant contributions across academic, methodological, and practical domains. Academically, it conceptualises how digital twins enable Lean and strategic facility management, proposing a novel integrated socio-technical framework and a healthcare-specific digital twin maturity model. Methodologically, it demonstrates the application of design science research for solving real-world problems in the healthcare-built environment. Practically, it provides an implementation framework and roadmap for adopting digital twins to achieve Lean strategic facility management and improve operational efficiency, patient care, and strategic alignment of facilities with organisational goals in the UK healthcare sector.The research limitations, comprise the lack of long-term empirical validation and the UK-centric focus, and recommends future work, including longitudinal case studies, cross-national comparisons, in-depth investigations into organisational change, cost-benefit analysis, and data privacy and security considerations. This research makes a significant contribution to advancing the application of digital twins for Lean strategic facility management in the complex and critical context of UK healthcare operations
An Assessment Of Food Safety Culture At Five Ethnic Group Restaurants In Dubai.
Full text linkRecent studies suggest that a deeper understanding of food safety culture within organizations is necessary for ensuring food safety. During the food inspection program, the Dubai Municipality Food Safety Department identified two categories of restaurants, with one responding to inspectors' food safety concerns while the other did not. The analysis of the data on food safety noncompliance from the Dubai Municipality's smart system revealed that the knowledge and attitude of food handlers play a significant role in food safety infractions. Moreover, the majority of these infractions are associated with specific food establishments and ethnic groups, including Pakistan, India, the Philippines, Arabs, and international. The purpose of this research was to determine how food safety culture influences food safety compliance in various ethnic groups (Indian, Pakistani, Philippine, Arab, and international). Five factors, including financial inadequacy, management’s commitment, food safety risk perception, management and co-worker support, and knowledge and trust in the food safety management system in different cuisines, were perceived differently by food handlers. Thirty food handlers from various ethnic groups of restaurants were randomly selected. This research employs a qualitative research strategy, and the primary instrument was semi-structured interviews with ten food handlers from Indian cuisine, eight from Pakistani cuisine, and four from the Philippines, Arabic, and international cuisines, respectively. An analysis of the food safety cultures of Indian, Pakistani, Philippine, Arabic, and international cuisines revealed that international and Arabic cuisines have financial adequacy to manage food safety, while Indian, Pakistani, and Philippine cuisines were found to have inadequate financial resources to implement Food Safety Management Systems to support food safety. Positive management commitment was noted in Pakistani, Arabic, and international cuisines, despite negative management commitment in Indian and Philippine cuisines. Indian, Arabic, and international cuisines exhibit a positive impact in perceiving the risk, whereas both Pakistani and Philippine cuisines showed a negative impact in perceiving the food safety risk. It was determined that the management and coworker support were positive in the Indian, Pakistani, and Philippine cuisines, whereas they were negative in the Arabic and international cuisines. The research also revealed that all five cuisines lacked knowledge and trust in the Food Safety Management System, relying primarily on basic food safety practices to ensure food safety and hygiene. The findings revealed a strong relationship between food safety culture and food safety compliance among Indian, Pakistani, Philippine, Arabic, and international ethnic groups. This research provides distinct contributions to the current body of literature. It offers factual evidence that the food safety culture has a direct influence on food safety. Given the lack of previous exploration on this subject, this research proposes a novel approach to enhancing safety in food establishments. The research examined and emphasized the variables that influence the level of food safety compliance in Dubai's restaurants
Analysing consumer buying behaviour towards online streaming services
No full textOnline video streaming services industry has experienced a radical shift among consumer choices towards entertainment content. It is not only witnessing the shift from traditional habit of content consumption to the binge-watching behaviour among viewers but also addressing the increased concern among online streaming content providers to woo buyers. From a survey administered to online streaming content subscribers, researchers in the current study have identified factors that influence consumer buying behaviour towards online streaming services, several of which are different than the ones found in the previous studies. These parameters were selected by considering social commerce and social media marketing efforts of the firms. The study sought to capture the impact of selected indicators on consumer buying behaviour towards online streaming services. A conceptual model was tested using structural equation modelling which proved the goodness of fit of the model. Theoretical implications and future development of factors influencing online streaming content adoption among consumers were also discussed
Welfare attitudes in a crisis: How COVID exceptionalism undermined greater solidarity
Full text linkCOVID-19 had the potential to dramatically increase public support for welfare. It was a time of apparent increased solidarity, of apparently deserving claimants, and of increasingly widespread exposure to the benefits system. However, there are also reasons to expect the opposite effect: an increase in financial strain fostering austerity and self-interest, and thermostatic responses to increasing welfare generosity. In this paper, we investigate the effects of the pandemic on attitudes towards working-age unemployment benefits in the UK using a unique combination of data sources: (i) temporally fine-grained data on attitudinal change over the course of the pandemic; and (ii) a novel nationally representative survey contrasting attitudes towards pandemic-era and pre-pandemic claimants (including analysis of free-text responses). Our results show that the pandemic prompted little change in UK welfare attitudes. However, we also find that COVID-era unemployment claimants were perceived as substantially more deserving than those claiming prior to the pandemic. This contrast suggests a strong degree of ‘COVID exceptionalism’ – with COVID claimants seen as categorically different from conventional claimants, muting the effect of the pandemic on welfare attitudes overall
Development of quality indicators for Hand Osteoarthritis care – results from an European consensus study
Full text linkPeople with hand osteoarthritis (OA) often have poor access to recommended treatments. To enhance care quality, quality indicators (QIs) based on clinical recommendations are essential. Current QI sets, like the Osteoarthritis Quality Indicator Questionnaire (OA-QI v.2), primarily address hip- and knee OA, and not hand OA. To adapt the OA-QI v.2 for assessing patient-reported quality of hand OA care. We used the OA-QI v.2. set as a starting point and adapted it to reflect hand OA care. A literature search was performed to identify potential QIs for hand OA following the Rand/UCLA Appropriateness method. A European expert panel, comprising researchers, clinicians, and patient research partners, participated in online meetings to discuss adaptation and suggest new QIs based on treatment recommendations for hand OA, and anonymously rated each suggested QI regarding its importance, validity, usefulness, and feasibility. Consensus was defined by predefined rating cut-off scores. The adapted questionnaire was translated from English into Norwegian. Cognitive debriefing interviews with Norwegian and UK hand OA patients were conducted to ensure clarity. Our initial literature search provided 1670 articles, with none describing relevant QIs. After three voting rounds, sixteen QI items reached consensus, reflecting current hand OA care standards. Items were generally well understood, requiring only minor clarity amendments after patient interviews (N = 28). The OA-QI v.2 was successfully adapted into a 16-item Hand OA-QI set ensuring alignment with international care standards for hand OA through literature review, international expert panels and patient feedback on language and layout
Digital nursing and midwifery leadership: Protocol for a multi-method exploration of policy implementation and impact on practice in the WHO European Region
Full text linkBackground: Digital health is redefining nursing and midwifery practice, fuelled by national and international priorities for health improvement and workforce planning. Developing digitally enabled healthcare systems can help enable universal health coverage and improve safety outcomes while offering solutions to workforce shortages. However, research suggests that nursing/midwifery leaders are often absent from the strategic planning, design, and implementation of digitally enabled healthcare service models and the associated technological systems that directly impact practice. Objectives: This paper presents the protocol for a sequential, multi-method exploration of digital health policy implementation and its impact on practice. This investigation from the perspective of national nursing/midwifery leaders, will increase understanding of the impact these professions have on national decision-making, which will be used to inform digital healthcare policy implementation and development across Europe and beyond. Methods: A purposive sample of national nursing/midwifery leaders across the WHO European region will be recruited. In Phase 1, individuals will be invited via email to participate in an anonymous online survey, with findings used to inform the topic guide for online focus groups in Phase 2. Descriptive statistical analysis of the survey dataset will be used to understand the range of countries, roles, contexts, participant experiences, and perceptions on which the findings are based. Where possible, analysis will be undertaken, e.g., by country, and participant role to identify any patterns, gaps, and key areas for further exploration during Phase 2. Survey respondents will be offered the opportunity to participate in an online focus group. Free text questions from the survey and data from focus groups will be transcribed verbatim and analysed using a reflexive thematic approach. Discussion: The study outlined within this paper will generate empirical data on to what extent and how national nursing/midwifery leaders influence the progress of digital healthcare, based on their experiences implementing key European policy. In gaining a better understanding of this policy implementation, and the role played by nursing and midwifery leaders, the factors that facilitate or hinder this process can be identified and better managed, to maximise the benefits of digital healthcare for population outcomes moving forward. Ethical approval: Ethical approval for this study was granted on 10.12.25 by Anglia Ruskin University [ID ETH2425−0725
Data sources:
Access Repository Dashboard
Do you manage University of Salford Institutional Repository? Access insider analytics, issue reports and manage access to outputs from your repository in the CORE Repository Dashboard!