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A survey of the treatment and management of ingrown toenails by UK podiatrists : a cross‐sectional survey
No full textBackground
Ingrown toenails are a common pathology. Although a range of conservative and surgical measures are widely used for this condition, little is known about their use in practice. This study explored current practice relating to the treatment or management of ingrown toenails by podiatrists in the UK.
Methods
A cross-sectional online survey (Qualtrics, Provo, UT, USA) conducted between March to June 2020 was distributed to practicing podiatrists treating or managing ingrown toenails in the UK.
Results
A total of 396 practicing podiatrists responded (60.1% based in the private sector). The majority (88.6%) performed nail surgery most commonly (54.3%) less than five a month. Nearly all (95%) only performed nail avulsion with or without chemical matrixectomy, universally using phenol (97.2%). Application time and number of applications varied but was most commonly applied three times (61.5%) for a total of 3 minutes (75%). Aftercare varied considerably between public and private sectors, with public sectors offering fewer follow-up appointments.
Conclusions
Although there is a variation in clinical practice throughout the treatment pathway, almost all respondents offered nail avulsion with phenol matrixectomy, whereas very few provided incisional nail surgery. This data provides the most comprehensive description of how UK podiatrists conduct nail surgery for onychocryptosis
Increasing heat pump adoption : analysing multiple perspectives on preparing homes for heat pumps in the UK
No full textHeat pumps are a solution for decarbonising home heating in the UK. However, the readiness of UK homes for heat pumps is an area of concern regarding the policies aimed at increasing heat pump adoption. This work combines multiple perspectives in evaluating the technical readiness of homes with the market readiness of installers and homeowners to proceed with installing heat pumps. The effectiveness of past heating and energy efficiency policies in the UK are reviewed, along with building regulations, incentives to promote energy efficiency and the effectiveness of heat pump technology in heating homes. Current policies support the cost of a heat pump but home improvements to make homes ‘heat pump-ready’ can be necessary to achieve optimal heat pump system performance.
This paper suggests the UK will face three major challenges. First, analysis highlights an ‘eligibility-readiness gap’ describing the difference between homes ‘eligible’ (50%) for the Government’s Boiler Upgrade Scheme—a subsidy for heat pump installations—and the likely level of homes that are heat pump-ready (11%) for successful heat pump installations. Second, semi-structured interviews with heat pump installers identified gaps in capacity to deliver the necessary works to make homes heat pump-ready. As small or medium enterprises, the majority of installers do not currently see adding home improvement services to their existing business model as beneficial. All installers highlighted the need for Government to address the cost of electricity relative to gas. Third, a national survey of homeowners in England with gas boilers (n = 1,021) revealed low awareness of the necessary work to make homes heat pump-ready and low willingness to spend money on them unless supported by Government. This paper shows that the processes and costs involved in making homes heat pump-ready before successful design and installation are underappreciated by homeowners, inadequately served by industry, and insufficiently supported by Government
To promote full cooperation in social dilemmas, agents need to unlearn loyalty
No full textIf given the choice, what strategy should agents use to switch partners in strategic social interactions? While many analyses have been performed on specific switching heuristics, showing how and when these lead to more cooperation, no insights have been provided into which rule will actually be learnt by agents when given the freedom to do so. Starting from a baseline model that has demonstrated the potential of rewiring for cooperation, we provide answers to this question over the full spectrum of social dilemmas. Multi-agent Q-learning with Boltzmann exploration is used to learn when to sever or maintain an association. In both the Prisoner’s Dilemma and the Stag Hunt games we observe that the Out-for-Tat rewiring rule, breaking ties with other agents choosing socially undesirable actions, becomes dominant, confirming at the same time that cooperation flourishes when rewiring is fast enough relative to imitation. Nonetheless, in the transitory region before full cooperation, a Stay strategy, keeping a connection at all costs, remains present, which shows that loyalty needs to be overcome for full cooperation to emerge. In conclusion, individuals learn cooperation-promoting rewiring rules but need to overcome a kind of loyalty to achieve full cooperation in the full spectrum of social dilemmas
Colloidal deposits from evaporating sessile droplets : coffee ring versus surface capture
No full textSuppression of the coffee ring effect is desirable in many industrial applications which utilize colloidal deposition from an evaporating liquid. Here, we focus on the role of particle arrest at the liquid-air interface (surface capture) which occurs at high evaporation rates. It is known experimentally that this phenomenon inhibits particles from reaching the contact line, leading to a deposit which is closer to uniform. We are able to describe this effect using a simple 1D modelling framework and, utilizing asymptotic theory, parameterize our model by the ratio of the vertical advection and diffusion timescales. We show that our model is consistent with existing frameworks for small values of this parameter, but also predicts the surface layer formation seen experimentally at high evaporation rates. The formation of a surface layer leads to a deposit morphology which mimics the evaporative flux density and so is closest to uniform when evaporation has a constant strength across the liquid-air interface
A mixed-method randomised controlled feasibility trial of digital CBT and emotion regulation skills training for employees in the workplace (REST)
No full textFive adjectives to convey what good research culture looks like : a tool for effective and efficient communication
No full textResearch culture has become a growing concern for higher education institutions (HEIs) and the broader UK research community in recent years, highlighting the need for a shared language to cultivate a communal understanding essential for collective approaches to complex challenges. With this in mind, at the University of Warwick, we have devised a concise formulation – the five-adjective summary - 'happy', 'productive', 'creative', 'sound', 'open’ - to encapsulate our goals for a positive research culture. This summary can be delivered in one to two minutes to describe what good research looks like, and to introduce most topics covered by research culture. It can also act as a starting point for strategic and deeper discussion, by unpacking each adjective as required. This reflection discusses our streamlined definition of research culture based on the Royal Society's (2017) definition, our five-adjective summary of good research culture, the rationale behind its development and underlines the importance of adaptability to navigate changing perceptions of research culture
Single-shot multi-sensitivity distributed acoustic sensing with hardware envelope retrieving acceleration
No full textDistributed acoustic sensing (DAS) can virtualize a fiber optic cable into an ultra-dense seismic network, offering long-term seismic wave observing capability and high-fidelity waveform recording performance. In practical applications, DAS systems still face two main challenges. Firstly, the large amount of raw data brings a burden on storage and demodulation speed. Secondly, the fixed strain sensitivity of DAS limits the dynamic measurement range of the actual seismic signal. In this work, we present a single-shot multi-sensitivity distributed acoustic sensing method with hardware assistance. A hardware filtering module is utilized to achieve equivalent sampling results at a lower sampling rate, thereby reducing the volume of raw data and accelerating the acquisition and demodulation process. The average processing time for a single-sideband pulse detection can be reduced from 214.79 s to 9.83 s, resulting in approximately a 20-time reduction. Meanwhile, multiple sidebands pulse with different bandwidths is generated to enable multi-sensitivity detection under hardware filtering. The different ranges of strain events can be recovered through a modulated pulse with 20 MHz, 40 MHz, and 80 MHz bandwidths. The hardware-assistance multi-sensitivity DAS method offers a potential solution to complex environments and real-time detection applications
Revealing H2O dissociation in WASP-76 b through combined high- and low-resolution transmission spectroscopy
No full textNumerous chemical constraints have been possible for exoplanetary atmospheres thanks to high-resolution spectroscopy (HRS) from ground-based facilities as well as low-resolution spectroscopy (LRS) from space. These two techniques have complementary strengths, and hence combined HRS and LRS analyses have the potential for more accurate abundance constraints and increased sensitivity to trace species. In this work, we retrieve the atmosphere of the ultra-hot Jupiter WASP-76 b, using high-resolution CARMENES/CAHA (Calar Alto high-Resolution search for M dwarfs with Exoearths with Near-infrared and optical Échelle Spectrographs) and low-resolution Hubble Space Telescope’s (HST) Wide Field Camera 3 (WFC3) and Spitzer observations of the primary eclipse. As such, hot planets are expected to have a substantial fraction of H2O dissociated, we conduct retrievals including both H2O and OH. We explore two retrieval models, one with self-consistent treatment of H2O dissociation and another where H2O and OH are vertically homogeneous. Both models constrain H2O and OH, with H2O primarily detected by LRS and OH through HRS, highlighting the strengths of each technique and demonstrating the need for combined retrievals to fully constrain chemical compositions. We see only a slight preference for the H2O-dissociation model given that the photospheric constraints for both are very similar, indicatin
Chasing storms : temporal work to foster group engagement under uncertainty
No full textExperiences of group engagement have a significant impact on members’ performance and satisfaction with work. In temporally uncertain settings, however, unpredictable transitions between idle and busy periods disrupt engagement. Through an ethnographic study of storm chasing teams in Tornado Alley, we investigate how groups foster engagement under uncertainty. We found that while efficient coordination helped teams get to storms, it could frustrate members’ engagement with tasks across unpredictable transitions. We develop a process model explaining how groups use temporal work to foster immersive episodes of engagement across transitions that are hard to control or predict. We show that broadening focus and compressing duration foster experiences of temporal control that enable engaging transitions into busy periods of work, whereas narrowing focus and extending duration foster experiences of immersive duration that enable satisfying transitions into idle periods. We develop a temporal perspective to engagement at work, showing how groups set the temporal context within which they encounter work episodes and how this context enables or constrains engagement. We also advance a durational perspective for organizational temporality research, elucidating how experiences of duration represent a key issue to be managed in organizations