26207 research outputs found
Sort by
Communication strategies to support people experiencing mental health issues
Get PDFThis article explores the use of effective communication for nurses when interacting with people experiencing mental health issues. Emphasis will be on the importance of nurses adopting person-centred communication styles that prioritise empathy, with the aim of developing a therapeutic rapport. The article underscores the role of the nurse in promoting positive mental health outcomes through the use of techniques such as active listening, empathy and validation. The author also details some of the barriers to effective communication and how nurses can address them
Impact of dairy calf management practices on the intestinal tract microbiome pre-weaning
Get PDFIntroduction. Microbiota in the gastrointestinal tract (GIT) consisting of the rumen and hindgut (the small intestine, cecum and colon) in dairy calves play a vital role in their growth and development. This review discusses the development of dairy calf intestinal microbiomes with an emphasis on the impact that husbandry and rearing management have on microbiome development, health and growth of pre-weaned dairy calves.Discussion. The diversity and composition of the microbes that colonize the lower GIT (small and large intestine) can have a significant impact on the growth and development of the calf, through influence on nutrient metabolism, immune modulation, resistance or susceptibility to infection, production outputs and behaviour modification in adult life. The colonization of the calf intestinal microbiome dynamically changes from birth, increasing microbial richness and diversity until weaning, where further dynamic and drastic microbiome change occurs. In dairy calves, neonatal microbiome development prior to weaning is influenced by direct and indirect factors, some of which could be considered stressors, such as maternal interaction, environment, diet, husbandry and weaning practices. The specific impact of these can dictate intestinal microbial colonization, with potential lifelong consequences.Conclusion. Evidence suggests the potential detrimental effect that sudden changes and stress may have on calf health and growth due to management and husbandry practices, and the importance of establishing a stable yet diverse intestinal microbiome population at an early age is essential for calf success. The possibility of improving the health of calves through intestinal microbiome modulation and using alternative strategies including probiotic use, faecal microbiota transplantation and novel approaches of microbiome tracking should be considered to support animal health and sustainability of dairy production systems
Assessing appearance, speech, and hearing (dis)satisfaction in individuals with cleft lip and/or palate: A contribution to general population norms
Get PDFBackground: Individuals with cleft lip and/or palate (CL/P) may grow up with a visible facial difference, alongside speech and/or hearing challenges. Self-perceptions are stronger predictors of psychosocial adjustment than objective assessments, highlighting the importance of patient-reported outcome measures. Previously titled the Satisfaction with Appearance (SwA) questionnaire, the Cleft Hearing, Appearance and Speech Questionnaire (CHASQ) has been used in several countries to assess patient satisfaction, guide clinical decision-making, and conduct craniofacial research, but has lacked general population norms from which to draw comparisons. The aim of this study was to contribute to the development of norms by utilising existing data collected in the United Kingdom (UK) in 2004 using the original SwA. Methods: SwA data collected from school pupils (n = 761) aged 10–16 years were analysed across age and gender. Results: Hair, Eyes and Ears received the highest ratings, while Teeth received the lowest ratings. Those who were younger, and those who were male, generally rated their appearance more favourably. Thresholds are proposed to identify young people in need of clinical monitoring (10%) and intervention (5%). Discussion: This study supports the potential of the CHASQ as a clinically useful outcome measure and research tool with the ability to identify appearance concerns in relation to specific facial features, as well as overall appearance satisfaction in young people with and without CL/P. Further validation of its use in the CL/P population and other patient groups, as well as countries outside the UK would add additional weight to the CHASQ's utility
Caring for a child with a cleft lip and/or palate: A narrative review
Get PDFRaising a child with healthcare needs places additional demands on caregivers. In 2012, Nelson and colleagues authored a review of 57 papers pertaining to parents’ experiences of caring for a child with cleft lip and/or palate (CL/P). Thanks in large part to this review, available literature on this topic has grown considerably. The aim of the present review was to update and critically appraise recent literature, with the wider goal of assessing progress in the field and setting recommendations for future work. All original, peer-reviewed articles pertaining to the psychological adjustment of parents of children with CL/P living in high-income countries (published May 2009 to May 2024) were examined. A total of 126 articles were included. Findings were narratively synthesised according to three salient themes: Emotional Impact; Social Experiences; and Care Delivery. Recent research has built on Nelson et al.’s recommendations, addressing some prior gaps in knowledge. Nonetheless, some areas remained largely unexplored and critical methodological limitations were still evident. Recommendations for clinical practice include: improved informational resources for parents and non-specialist health professionals, regular audit of services in collaboration with parents and families, routine psychological screening for known risk factors and integrated psychological support from diagnosis onward. Recommendations for future research include the design of multicentre, prospective, longitudinal studies with sufficient sample sizes and appropriate control/reference groups, inclusion of families from diverse ethnic and socioeconomic backgrounds, further examination of factors contributing to psychological growth, the development and evaluation of psychological interventions, and cross-condition learning
Neurons as autoencoders
Get PDFThis letter presents the idea that neural backpropagation is exploiting dendritic processing to enable individual neurons to perform autoencoding. Using a very simple connection weight search heuristic and artificial neural network model, the effects of interleaving autoencoding for each neuron in a hidden layer of a feedforward network are explored. This is contrasted with the equivalent standard layered approach to autoencoding. It is shown that such individualised processing is not detrimental and can improve network learning
Morphological and electrical properties of proteinoid−actin networks
Get PDFProteinoids, or thermal proteins, are produced by heating amino acids. Proteinoids form hollow microspheres in water. The microspheres produce oscillation of electrical potential. Actin is a filament-forming protein responsible for communication, information processing and decision making in eukaryotic cells. We synthesize randomly organized networks of proteinoid microspheres spanned by actin filaments and study their morphology and electrical potential oscillatory dynamics. We analyze proteinoid−actin networks' responses to electrical stimulation. The signals come from logistic maps, the Lorenz attractor, the Rossler oscillator, and the FitzHugh−Nagumo system. We show how the networks attenuated the signals produced by these models. We demonstrate that emergent logical patterns derived from oscillatory behavior of proteinoid−actin networks show characteristics of Boolean logic gates, providing evidence for the computational ability to combine different components through architectural changes in the dynamic interface. Our experimental laboratory study paves a base for generation of proto-neural networks and implementation of neuromorphic computation with them
Micro silica bead scintillators for the relative dosimetry of a stereotactic radiosurgery unit
Get PDFThis work describes the procedure of using Micro Silica Beads (MSBs) to verify the output factors and profiles of a stereotactic radiosurgery unit. MSBs have shown acceptable dosimetric accuracy for measurement of Detector Output Ratios (DORs) and shot profiles, down to a full width at half maximum (FWHM) of 5 mm. DORs measured with MSBs were within 1.5 % of radiochromic film, and 3 % of a microdiamond detector. Measured FWHM were within 0.2 mm of planning system and radiochromic film. MSBs can be used as an effective substitute to radiochromic film for measurement of shot profiles and DORs
Improved soil-to-plant transfer factors for 99Tc and 79Se in natural and agricultural ecosystems
Get PDFGeological Disposal Facilities (GDFs) are the preferred option for the disposal of high- and medium-level nuclear waste but environmental assessments for GDFs are complex. Models of transfer into the biosphere for radioisotopes that occur in nuclear waste rely on estimated Transfer Factors (TFs) that often have high levels of uncertainty and only exist for a few species. Here, using two key radioisotopes found in nuclear waste, we show that taxonomic analyses and phylogenetically based trait prediction (PTP) can be used to both reduce uncertainty in current estimates of soil-to-plant TF and to predict them for the many species with no measurements. We grew 61 species of plants selected to provide a phylogenetically informed sample, measured their uptake of 99Tc and 75Se, and reconstructed their possible evolutionary relationships using gene sequence information. The uptake of Tc and Se isotopes by plants was correlated, and for Tc was more similar within plant groups than between them and included significant taxonomic and phylogenetic influences. We use these findings to suggest improved soil-to-plant Transfer Factors (TFs) for99Tc and 79Se. We suggest that the approaches we used might be useful for a range of radionuclides, in both improving current estimates of TF and for predicting TFs to plants and, perhaps, to other biota. Such improvements might be useful not only for environmental assessments of nuclear waste disposal but also the environmental regulation of a nuclear industry being expanded in several nations to help meet targets for reducing global CO2 emissions
Development and evaluation of a maturity assessment tool for integrating building information modelling into operations and maintenance phase of buildings
Get PDFThe emergence of advanced digital tools such as building information modelling (BIM) has transformed the concept of building management in the construction sector. Despite the promising benefits of BIM in terms of successful project deliveries and enhanced building performance, construction firms struggle to view assets from the perspective of a whole asset life cycle context, and consequently struggle to derive their full potentials via BIM, especially in the operations and maintenance (O&M) phase. One of the fundamental reasons behind this challenge is the lack of empirical understanding of what information should be collected to support efficient and effective operation and maintenance management. Various BIM capability maturity models have been proposed to support BIM integrations into O&M management, but most of these models fail to capture detailed information requirements (IRs). Furthermore, there is limited insights regarding the prioritisations of these IRs to guide construction firms and asset owners towards operational competitiveness and excellence. To address these gaps, this study aims to develop a BIM and O&M maturity assessment model (BIM and O&M MM) by drawing on the capability maturity model integration (CMMI) concept, and utilising Delphi technique and maturity grids. The developed tool enables asset owners and managers to assess BIM and O&M integration maturity of built assets, based on a five-level maturity scheme across 21 IRs. To ensure effectiveness and practicality of the tool, 22 experts assessed the tool, and the results indicate its ability to succinctly measure the maturity level of BIM and O&M integration, thereby enabling construction managers and asset owners to identify areas of strengths and deficiencies for prioritising capital investments. The BIM and O&M MM ensures stakeholder alignment and addresses real-world O&M challenges. It enhances data consistency, optimised long-term asset management, data-driven decision-making, and provides a foundation for future research and technology integration
Exploring pedagogies, opportunities and challenges of teaching and learning programming in business school
Get PDFPurposeThis study aims to develops an interdisciplinary business and computer science pedagogy for teaching and learning computer programming in business schools at higher education institutions and explores its associated benefits, challenges and improvement.Design/methodology/approachBased on a body of theories, an interdisciplinary pedagogy is developed and tested for programming education in a business context. Meanwhile, based on the unified theory of acceptance and use of technology, the authors used observation study and thematic analysis to explore opportunities, challenges and future improvements associated with this interdisciplinary pedagogy.FindingsThe developed pedagogy includes integrating humanism and construction theory, problem-based learning, cognitive development, active instructional strategies, synergy of individual and group programming tasks and creating an encouraging and inclusive learning environment. This study shows that business students perceive this novel pedagogy as highly valuable because it enhances their logical thinking and problem-solving abilities while giving them a sense of accomplishment. Although students face challenges in data preprocessing, error handling and translating theoretical knowledge, they find it useful to review teaching materials, seek peer support and learn independently through online resources. Further improvements in pedagogy include incorporating collaborative code reviews, using shared documents for troubleshooting and grouping students based on their prior programming experience.Practical implicationsThis interdisciplinary pedagogy can guide business schools to improve the quality of programming-related modules, enhance students’ performance and prepare them for future careers.Originality/valueThis is the first interdisciplinary study investigating teaching programming in a business context