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Development and demonstration of a “SWOT in a Box” card game to help socialise Triple Access Planning
Get PDFIn a changing world, not being able to simply carry on doing what we have always done and getting what we have always got gives rise to an appetite for alternative approaches. Yet an alternative approach must contend with established practice and the associated norms and sense of familiarity that surround that. This paper addresses the following question. How can an approach be designed and used to effectively engage people in a critical examination of Triple Access Planning (TAP)? TAP is an alternative approach to established transport planning. The paper sets out the rationale for, development of, and application of, a serious game. Specifically, a serious card game methodology is put forward that draws upon SWOT analysis for its core design. Its intention is to allow teams of players to become more familiar with the alternative approach in question and to critically examine and prioritise its strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. The SWOT in a Box methodology is applied to TAP. Results are presented from over 40 game runs. Insights from developing and applying the game suggest that the methodology is adaptable and readily transferable to other domains. The paper reveals the SWOT in a Box methodology to be an effective tool for shared learning: (i) players learn from the game; (ii) players learn from each other as they exchange experiences and views; and (iii) the game designers can learn from the players playing the game. It generates insights and empirical evidence. It is fun and it is useful
Adaptation and validation of the Body Image Life Disengagement Questionnaire (BILD-Q) for use in Hindi among adolescents in semi-rural India
No full textBody image concerns are prevalent among adolescents globally, including in urban and semi-rural India. These concerns have the potential to hinder adolescents' participation in everyday activities, thereby obstructing both social and academic development. In semi-rural India, where opportunities are constrained by limited resources, the impact of these concerns can be particularly detrimental. Given the scarcity of psychometrically valid measures to evaluate the impact of these concerns specifically within the semi-rural Indian context, this study aimed to culturally adapt and validate the Body Image Life Disengagement Questionnaire (BILD-Q) for use in Hindi among adolescents in semi-rural India. A total of 960 adolescents completed the Hindi version of the BILD-Q, alongside supplementary measures related to body image. Through exploratory factor analysis, a singular dimension of body image life disengagement emerged as the most fitting. The 9-item one-factor model gained further support through confirmatory factor analysis. The scale demonstrated robust internal consistency and test-retest reliability. Analysis confirmed the scale's ability to compare scores between boys and girls without measurement bias. This study introduces a culturally adapted version of the BILD-Q as a valid and reliable measure for assessing the impact of body image concerns on life disengagement among Hindi-speaking adolescents in semi-rural India
Multimodal zero-shot learning for tactile texture recognition
Get PDFTactile sensing plays an irreplaceable role in robotic material recognition. It enables robots to distinguish material properties such as their local geometry and textures, especially for materials like textiles. However, most tactile recognition methods can only classify known materials that have been touched and trained with tactile data, yet cannot classify unknown materials that are not trained with tactile data. To solve this problem, we propose a tactile Zero-Shot Learning framework to recognise materials when they are touched for the first time, using their visual and semantic information, without requiring tactile training samples. The biggest challenge in tactile Zero-Shot Learning is to recognise disjoint classes between training and test materials, i.e., the test materials that are not among the training ones. To bridge this gap, the visual modality, providing tactile cues from sight, and semantic attributes, giving high-level characteristics, are combined together and act as a link to expose the model to these disjoint classes. Specifically, a generative model is learnt to synthesise tactile features according to corresponding visual images and semantic embeddings, and then a classifier can be trained using the synthesised tactile features for zero-shot recognition. Extensive experiments demonstrate that our proposed multimodal generative model can achieve a high recognition accuracy of 83.06% in classifying materials that were not touched before. The robotic experiment demo and the FabricVST dataset are available at https://sites.google.com/view/multimodalzsl
How do you solve a problem like COREQ? A critique of Tong et al.’s (2007) Consolidated criteria for reporting qualitative research
Get PDFIn this paper, we argue that COREQ – the consolidated criteria for reporting qualitative research (Tong et al., 2007) – is a problem, and a problem in need of a solution. COREQ is not just a problem because – as Buus and Perron (2020) argued – there are important questions about the credibility of the development of the checklist. COREQ is a problem because some in the (qualitative) research community treat it as generic and universally applicable, and maintain that the use of COREQ by authors and evaluators will result in better – more transparent and complete – reporting. But, as we will show, COREQ is far from generic, and its use can contribute to methodologically incongruent reporting. We develop our argument that the use of COREQ should be confined to the reporting and evaluation of what we term ‘small q’ qualitative research, by critically discussing the definition of qualitative research in COREQ, the conflation of reflexivity and bias, and the presumed universality of saturation, certain analytic practices and outputs, and participant validation. However, even demarcating a limited frame of ‘qualitative’ for the application of COREQ doesn’t eliminate all the problems. We contend that COREQ needs extensive refinement to ensure it promotes more transparent and complete reporting, especially when used by less experienced researchers and evaluators. In the absence of such revision, we invite journal editors to consider whether the flaws in COREQ render it untrustworthy as a reporting quality tool. Going forward, we suggest research values, rather than consolidation or consensus, offer a sounder foundation for developing assessment tools for reporting quality
Cooking up good air quality for better wellbeing
No full textThis EPSRC-funded project investigates the impact of cultural behaviours on indoor air quality in ethnic minority households, identifying higher CO2 levels due to cooking and ventilation practices. The main outcome is a 'Good Practice Guide,' co-created with Cardiff Council and residents, providing culturally sensitive tips to improve Indoor Air Quality. The development of this project has been critically influenced by the values and ethos outlined in the Welsh Government’s Future Generations Act and its well-being goals. In collaboration with local communities and Welsh governmental and authoritative bodies, this project aims to help build a prosperous, resilient, and healthy Wales with cohesive communities
Mitigating child exposure to traffic-related air pollution on the school commute: Views of parents and teachers in England
Get PDFChildren are particularly vulnerable to the adverse health effects of traffic-related air pollution (TRAP) due to their developing physiologies. A survey was distributed to schools in England for completion by parents and teachers. The survey examined perceptions of TRAP on the school commute and assessed views on potential interventions for reducing exposure. 76.7% of parents and 75.8% of teachers were concerned about TRAP at their school. The most common cause for concern was school proximity to a busy road (44.2% parents and 42.5% teachers).Active travel was the most common measure already undertaken. The biggest obstacles to reducing school TRAP were driving convenience, school proximity to busy roads, and lack of parental support. Parents and teachers considered local authorities most responsible for improving school TRAP. Active travel was a popular and desirable intervention for reducing potential child exposure, and parental education on this and related topics were also desirable
Are pre‐hospitalization ECG abnormalities associated with increased mortality in COVID‐19 patients? A quantitative systematic literature review
Get PDFBackgroundWhile COVID-19 is predominantly a respiratory disease, cardiovascular complications occur and are associated with worse outcomes. Electrocardiogram (ECG) abnormalities are frequently observed in hospitalized COVID-19 patients, some of which are associated with increased mortality. It is unclear whether ECG abnormalities occurring before hospitalization are associated with increased mortality. This quantitative systematic literature review aims to determine which ECG changes occurring before hospitalization are associated with mortality and discuss whether these findings can aid the assessment of patients and decision-making in the pre-hospital environment.MethodsA systematic search of the following digital databases was conducted: CINAL, PUBMED, MEDLINE, and Coronavirus Research Database. Eight cohort studies (primary papers) including COVID-19 patients with ECGs taken in the Emergency Department before hospitalization were selected for quantitative synthesis and results were obtained for the prevalence of ECG changes among survivors compared with non-survivors. Odds and hazard ratios for ECG abnormalities associated with mortality were also collected and compared.ResultsIdentification of ECG abnormalities on pre-hospitalization ECG is associated with increased mortality in COVID-19 patients. These ECG abnormalities include non-sinus rhythm, QTc prolongation, left bundle branch block, axis deviation, atrial fibrillation, atrial flutter, right ventricular strain patterns, ST segment changes, T wave abnormalities, and evidence of left ventricular hypertrophy.ConclusionElectrocardiogram assessment in the pre-hospital environment may be beneficial when assessing COVID-19 patients and could help identify patients at increased risk of mortality
Kombucha–proteinoid crystal bioelectric circuits
Get PDFWe propose “kombucha–proteinoid crystal bioelectric circuits” as a sustainable bio-computing platform. These circuits are hybrid biological-inorganic devices that utilize crystal growth dynamics as the physical substrate to convert information. Microfluidic prototypes couple custom-synthesized thermal proteinoids within kombucha cellulose matrices and metastable calcium carbonate solutions. This bio-mineral configuration examines if precision modulation of crystal growth rates could instantiate reconfigurable logic gates for unconventional computing applications. Programming organic acid secretions allows for the adjustment of biotic-mineral polarity, thereby establishing microbial-synthetic pairings that consistently regulate the crystal growth rate of calcite deposition. By coordinating intrinsic physicochemical phenomena, accrued mineral densities literally crystallize additive/multiplicative operations via Boolean AND/OR logics. An additional way to generate structured logics similar of neural assemblies is by chaining modular crystallizer units. Proteinoid-guided carbonate crystallization may prove to be a viable material platform for unconventional computing-green, self-organizing, scalable architectures grown directly from solution-pending definitive affirmation of proof-of-concept
Heritage at War
No full textThe right of access to, and enjoyment of, cultural heritage is enshrined in human rights norms and the devastating effects of armed conflict on cultural heritage are well documented, with the deliberate destruction of cultural heritage having been an integral part of warfare throughout history. Culture now, once again, finds itself on war’s frontline Marking the 70th anniversary of the Hague Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict, and in the current context of devastating conflicts in Ukraine, Gaza and Sudan, among others, Heritage at War – Plan and Prepare brings together military, academic,and heritage practitioners’ voices from across the Euro-Atlantic, North Africa and the Middle East and the Indo-Pacific to explore how lessons learned from past experiences of conflict can inform approaches to the safeguarding of cultural heritage today. Emerging from and building upon an international conference held at the V&A Museum in February 2023, the book addresses how the military, the heritage sector and other stakeholders in Human Security can, and must, collaborate to give primacy to people and protect tangible and intangible cultural heritage under attack. The volume’s case studies highlight interdisciplinary efforts to protect heritage in conflict zones, drawing out guidance for those working in the Heritage Sector in these contexts, with specific relevance to those engaged in cultural heritage protection and those working in related interdisciplinary fields. Reviewing the historic relationship between heritage and armed conflict, and offering lessons for present-day practitioners, Heritage at War shows how, in different contexts, heritage can be a catalyst and target of conflict, an obstacle to stabilisation, and yet also a potential vector of peace-building and the return to normality
