26207 research outputs found
Sort by
Directional riblets as an airfoil passive flow control mechanism
No full textThe effects of converging–diverging riblets (C–D riblets) on the surface of a flat-bottomed airfoil bump on the wind tunnel wall is investigated experimentally. Here long strips of C–D riblets with viscous height of ℎ+ ≈ 20–23) are applied and cover the surface of approximately 60% in chord percentage of the surface of a flat bottomed airfoil bump resulting in counter rotating vortices under an adverse pressure gradient (APG) environment. The use of C–D riblets significantly affects the streamwise mean velocity profile and the thickness of the boundary layer . Increased drag is observed above the APG converging regions, while drag decreases above the APG diverging regions, with distinct vertical shifts in the mean velocity profile. Compared the to zero pressure gradient (ZPG) riblet cases in the literature, these shifts are pushed further downwards for both APG riblets configurations. Premultiplied energy spectra also show notable differences from ZPG cases in the literatures. Here the results suggest that the adverse pressure gradient environment amplify the outer peak magnitude for both riblet configurations, indicating a higher occurrence of large-scale structure interactions (‘superstructure’) in the APG compared to the ZPG environments. Finally, scale decomposition analysis confirms that large-scales contribute to the outer peak of turbulence intensity across all surfaces, while small scales primarily influence the inner peak. Interestingly, for the APG converging riblet case, small scales also significantly contribute to the outer peak. These findings underscore the complex interplay of pressure gradient and riblet geometry in modulating turbulent boundary layer characteristics
Generation of a free-living ground-truth validation dataset for wearable measures of physical activity, sedentary behavior, sleep, and heart rate in adults (OxWEARS): Protocol for a cross-sectional study
No full textWearable devices enable continuous measurement of physical activity, sedentary behavior, sleep, and heart rate under free-living conditions. However, most validation studies rely on small, homogeneous samples; are conducted under laboratory conditions; or lack gold standard ground-truth measurements, limiting the generalizability and accuracy of derived metrics. There is a pressing need for open-access, large-scale, free-living validation datasets that include multisensor data from diverse body locations and participant demographics to aid in model development. The Oxford Wearable ECG, Activity, Circadian Rhythm, and Sleep Validation Study (OxWEARS) aims to (1) validate accelerometer-based measurement of physical behaviors across 5 body sites against annotated camera data; (2) validate measurements of sleep and sleep staging from 5 different body sites against polysomnography; (3) validate wrist-worn photoplethysmography heart rate measurements against chest-worn electrocardiogram; and (4) generate a comprehensive, annotated, and anonymized dataset for open-access research use. This cross-sectional study will recruit approximately 160 adults (aged ≥40 years) stratified by age, sex, and BMI from the Oxford BioBank. Over 3 days and 4 nights, participants will wear sensors on the wrists, chest, hip, thigh, and ankle. Ground-truth measures will be obtained from a chest electrocardiogram patch for heart rate, a first-person camera for activity annotation, an ankle-worn accelerometer for step count, and at-home polysomnography for sleep. An under-mattress sensor will collect measures of sleep, respiration rate, and bedtime, and a subjective sleep diary will also be obtained. Signals from different wear locations will be compared against the ground truth using precision, recall, F1-score, κ, and agreement metrics. Recruitment commenced in November 2024, with 15 participants enrolled by May 2025. Overall, 50% of eligible adults contacted were happy to consent to the study, with excellent compliance with the protocol observed to date. Data collection is ongoing and expected to conclude in 2026, with the final annotated dataset made publicly available as soon as possible thereafter. The OxWEARS study will generate an openly accessible dataset containing more than 10,000 annotated hours from a stratified sample of adults. This will directly support scalable, generalizable human activity recognition efforts, while also enabling robust development and benchmarking of wearable-derived health metrics. [Abstract copyright: © Benjamin D Maylor, Scott R Small, Tatiana Plekhanova, Laura Brocklebank, Stefan van Duijvenboden, Rachel Sharman, Elizabeth A Hill, Fredrik Karpe, Simon D Kyle, Aiden Doherty. Originally published in JMIR Research Protocols (https://www.researchprotocols.org).
The effectiveness of the current regulatory framework in ensuring cybersecurity in autonomous vehicles in the UK
No full textAutomated vehicles are being developed at a very fast pace, and thus, come other risks such as cybersecurity risks. This paper seeks to assess the adequacy of existing legal measures for protecting AVs against cybersecurity threats in the United Kingdom. The study reviews technological development, the process of international standardisation, and the question of legal responsibility concerning AV cybersecurity. As a research method, the study's systematic literature review is complemented by case study analysis, which highlights the crucial cybersecurity threats, regulations, and standards. That is why important conclusions are drawn about the need to build reliable, flexible regulatory measures to effectively counter modern threats. The study demonstrates that it is crucial to coordinate with commissions in other countries and that companies should also come together to establish appropriate cybersecurity regulations. It also expresses concern about the need for constant updates to the current regulations to effectively combat the current dangers. This paper adds to the knowledge base on cybersecurity needs for AVs; information that is useful for making policies, organising the sector, and conducting further studies to make autonomy safer in transportation. Keywords - Autonomous Vehicles, Cybersecurity, Regulatory Framework, Technological Complexity, International Harmonisation, Cyber Attacks, Liability Issues, Industry Collaboratio
Tracing weight stigma in mental health professionals: A critical discursive psychology analysis of conversations among UK trainee clinical psychologists
Get PDFWeight stigma, defined as negative beliefs and attitudes targeted at individuals deemed to have ‘excess’ weight, is widespread in society and is associated with adverse health outcomes. Weight stigma held by mental health professionals may have particular impact, given their professional remit in both physical and psychological health care with vulnerable populations across the lifespan. Although weight stigma among mental health professionals has recently been studied in the United States, the topic has received little attention in the United Kingdom. The current study applied critical discursive psychology to explore how 12 UK trainee clinical psychologists constructed weight, bodies, and fatness within three online focus groups. Analysis highlighted a disjuncture between trainees’ reflections on “fat-talk” in their personal lives compared with their professional settings. While showing some awareness of the impact of negative stereotypes associated with fatness and some understanding of weight stigma as an ethical issue, they were not immune to perpetuating powerful negative societal positionings of fatness. The findings invite consideration of how trainee mental health professionals might be better supported to acknowledge and challenge weight stigma through training programs and in supervision, in line with professional practice on other forms of discrimination
Understanding influence and action in Learning and Action Alliances: Experience from the Newcastle Blue-Green vision
Get PDFThe Learning and Action Alliance (LAA) framework is increasingly valued as an approach to facilitate social learning and action by enabling collaboration within and between organisations, breaking down barriers to information sharing and facilitating co-development of innovative visions to address key environmental and societal challenges. While the social learning potential of LAAs has been documented in detail, the role of ‘action’ is relatively unexplored and there is little research into how LAAs might evolve over time to ensure longevity. Here, we explore the key achievements and limitations of the Newcastle LAA (established in 2014) through interviews with 15 LAA members. We find that interpretations of the concept of ‘action’ influences perceptions of the LAA's success. We update the structural framework of the LAA and expand the implementation phase to better reflect the agents of change that impact the LAAs' ability to apply their vision to demonstration projects. Finally, we explore the longevity of the Newcastle LAA and conclude that after running for 8 years, there may be a cyclical nature to whole-group visioning and a move towards greater intra-organisational learning. This demonstrates a shift in the primary role of the LAA over time, from learning towards greater influence and action
Applying artificial intelligence in healthcare: lessons from the COVID-19 pandemic
Get PDFThe COVID-19 pandemic exposed vulnerabilities in global healthcare systems and highlighted the need for innovative, technology-driven solutions like Artificial Intelligence (AI). However, previous research on the topic has been limited and fragmented, leading to an incomplete understanding of the ‘what’, ‘where’ and ‘how’ of its application, as well as its associated benefits and challenges. This study proposes a comprehensive AI framework for healthcare and assesses its effectiveness within the UAE's healthcare sector. It provides valuable insights into AI applications for healthcare stakeholders that range from the molecular to the population level. The study covers the different computational techniques employed, from machine learning to computer vision, and the various types of data inputs fed into these techniques, including clinical, epidemiological, locational, behavioural and genomic data. Additionally, the research highlights AI's capacity to enhance healthcare's operational, quality-related and social outcomes, and recognises regulatory policies, technological infrastructure, stakeholder cooperation and innovation readiness as key facilitators of AI adoption. Lastly, we stress the importance of addressing challenges such as data privacy, security, generalisability and algorithmic bias. Our findings are relevant beyond the pandemic in facilitating the development of AI-related policy interventions and support mechanisms for building resilient healthcare sector that can withstand future challenges
Unseen and unheard: How the future generations act is not addressing the needs of the Welsh deaf community
Get PDF2015 places a duty on public bodies to consider the impact of their decisions on future generations and to work towards achieving the seven well-being goals. Using doctrinal, socio-legal and autoethnographic methods, this article seeks to ascertain whether the needs of the Welsh deaf community have been considered. The Act does not explicitly mention them, and there is no evidence that public bodies have taken their needs into account when implementing the Act. The Welsh deaf community is marginalised in Welsh society, and this has been exacerbated by the closure of deaf schools and the decline of deaf clubs. The Welsh Government and the Future Generations Commissioner have a responsibility to ensure that the well-being of the Welsh deaf community is considered in the implementation of the Act and recommendations and thoughts are put forward on how they can achieve this
Validation of a sensor system for the measurement of breath ammonia using selected-ion flow-tube mass spectrometry
Get PDFThe measurement of trace breath gases is of growing interest for its potential to provide non-invasive physiological information in health and disease. While instrumental techniques such as selected-ion flow-tube mass spectrometry (SIFT-MS) can achieve this, these are less suitable for clinical application. Sensitive sensor-based systems for breath ammonia could be more widely deployed, but have proven challenging to develop. This work demonstrates the sequential analytical validation of an electrochemical impedance-based sensor system for the measurement of ammonia in breath using SIFT-MS. Qualitative and relative responses between the two methods were comparable, although there were consistent differences in absolute concentration. When tested in artificial breath ammonia, sensors had a relative impedance sensitivity of 3.43x10−5 ppbv−1 for each breath in the range of 249 to 1,653 ppbv (r2=0.87, p<0.05). When correlated with SIFT-MS using human breath (n=14), ammonia was detected in the range of 100 to 700 ppbv (r=0.78, p<0.001), demonstrating acceptable sensitivity, reproducibility and dynamic range for clinical application
Gifts, corporate policies and individual morality in UK’s alternative real estate lending market
No full textGifts, gratuities, and hospitality are commonplace in industry and more so in the financial sector. They are often offered without any mention of their intention. However, they raise controversial and non-detectable reciprocity expectations. We investigate brokers and lenders in the UK’s alternative real estate lending sector. Unlike the rest of the financial market, the alternative real estate lending sector is on a rapid growth path and at the same time broadly unregulated, thereby providing a breeding ground for transactional graft. This is the first analysis of gift-related behaviour in this sector. Based on an online survey of 108 professionals, we identify their corporate gift policies and gather their views on what they believe these policies should be when it comes to monetary limits. We contrast these reports with the hypothetical choices these professionals make in personalized and isolated scenarios to assess their individual moral cut-offs. For the moral value consistent subjects (comprising 72% of the surveyed population) who report a single cut-off of monetary limits below which they accept gifts but above which they do not, we find that their monetary acceptance limits have no connection either with the policies of the corporations that they belong to or with their views about what such policies should be. This suggests that employees’ views about policies in their corporations are merely social constructs for their measure of morality which is different from the same measure of their individual morality when applied in isolation. This research informs policy and corporate decision-making to promote the impact of nudging on the role of an individual as an identity in an act of perceived graft rather than simply as a member of an organization