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A systematic review of the determinants of job satisfaction in healthcare workers in health facilities in Gulf Cooperation Council countries
Get PDFSupplementary material is available online at: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/16549716.2025.2479910# .Job satisfaction among healthcare workers is essential for maintaining high-quality care. Previous research has shown different levels of job satisfaction, but there is no comprehensive list of determinants of job satisfaction among healthcare workers. This study aims to provide a comprehensive list of determinants of job satisfaction in Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries (Saudi Arabia, UAE, Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, and Qatar). A systematic review was conducted following PRISMA guidelines across five databases: PubMed, CINAHL, Web of Science, Cochrane, and Scopus. Two independent reviewers performed data extraction and review using the Critical Appraisal Skills Programme (CASP) quality assessment checklist. The review was undertaken between 1 January 2012 and 4 November 2022. Five hundred titles and abstracts were screened, yielding 73 eligible studies for inclusion in this review. Of the included studies, 60 were carried out in Saudi Arabia (82.2%), six in Oman (8.2%), three in Qatar (4.1%), two in the United Arab Emirates (2.7%), one in Kuwait (1.4%), and one in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (1.4%). The analysis identified 14 key determinants of job satisfaction among healthcare workers in GCC: pay, promotion, co-workers, supervision, fringe benefits, contingent rewards, operating conditions, nature of work, communication, workload, leadership style, relation with patients, demographic variables, and others, such as hospital type. Thus, our study expands on Spector’s nine determinants model of job satisfaction, hence providing a wider and more detail insight into job satisfaction in workplace.The author(s) reported there is no funding associated with the work featured in this article
Chronotype and Synchrony Effects in Human Cognitive Performance: A Systematic Review
Get PDFChronotype is a proxy for various intra-individual rhythms (e.g. sleep-wake cycles) which fluctuate throughout the day. The extent to which chronotype modulates cognitive performance remains unclear. Here, we systematically reviewed studies to determine the influence of chronotype on its own, and/or in interaction with time of day (ToD; optimal/non-optimal), in cognitive function in healthy adults. Following PRISMA guidelines, data searches were conducted in PubMed and Web of Science databases (11 March 2024), yielding 65 studies (53 in adults aged 18–45 y; 11 comparing adults aged 18–32 and 50–95 y; one involving only morning type adults aged 60–76 y). Most of the reviewed studies (>80%) indicated no main effect of chronotype on cognitive function. There was evidence from 29 (45.31%) of 64 studies involving adults aged 18–45 y of a synchrony effect (i.e. superior performance at optimal ToD) in morning and/or evening types, mostly in attention, inhibition, and memory. In older adults, there was evidence of a synchrony effect from 10 (83.33%) of 12 studies, especially on tasks involving fluid abilities. Limited evidence suggested higher activation of inhibition-related brain regions at optimal ToD in both chronotypes, and synchrony effects being impacted by certain exogenous factors known to affect arousal and performance (e.g. task complexity, lighting conditions). Our findings highlight the need to carefully consider age along with endogenous and exogenous sources of intra-individual variations in arousal while determining synchrony effect in cognitive functions. Not acknowledging these synchrony effects may also result in exaggerated cognitive deficits especially in the elderly.This research received no external/internal funding
Understanding the delays in diagnosis of breast cancer in India using blogs and YouTube videos
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Details on the secondary web-based data used is provided within the manuscript and supplementary file.Supplementary Information is available online at: https://bmcpublichealth.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12889-025-24132-x#Sec5 .Background:
Globally, breast cancer is the most common cancer among women and is the second leading cause of cancer-related deaths. Breast cancer-related mortality has surged among Indian women, as a significant number of women present at an advanced stage of breast cancer. Early detection has been linked with a higher chance of survival and improved quality of life. This research aimed to assess breast cancer survivor stories of Indian women to identify: (i) why Indian women were diagnosed at an advanced stage of breast cancer, (ii) the barriers that contributed to their delayed diagnosis, and (iii) the level of awareness and perceptions towards breast cancer.
Methods:
A qualitative approach using digital web-based methods was used. Existing blogs and YouTube videos were used as secondary data sources. “Breast cancer survivor blogs by Indian women” were searched on Google to identify blogs; and “Breast cancer survivor stories by Indian women” and “Interviews of breast cancer survivors among Indian women” were searched on YouTube to identify videos. 5 blogs and 12 YouTube videos including breast cancer survivor stories of Indian women were analysed using inductive thematic analysis.
Results:
A total of 17 Indian breast cancer survivors aged 25–50 were included in this study. Four main themes and seven sub-themes emerged: Delay in recognising or responding to symptoms (sub-themes: lack of knowledge, misinterpretation of symptoms and procrastination), Initial medical misjudgement (sub-themes: dismissal of symptoms by doctors, false reassurance from medical tests), socio-cultural factors (sub-themes: family responsibilities and career responsibilities), and emotional and psychological factors.
Conclusion:
This study highlights the complex barriers that contributed to delayed breast cancer diagnosis among Indian breast cancer survivors, through their own personal accounts. These findings highlight the need for enhanced public health education about breast cancer, improved healthcare professional training, and culturally sensitive support to improve early detection, which will ultimately reduce breast cancer mortality and improve the quality of life for Indian women.No funding was required for the conceptualisation, design, data collection, analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript
Transitions to long-term care for people living with dementia: social death and social (dis) connections
Get PDFData Availability Statement:
The datasets presented in this article are not readily available due to ethical reasons, given the small, qualitative data set and potential for identifiable information.Background/objectives: Dementia is the most common cause for long-term care placement for people over the age of 65 years. The decision and the transition are often very difficult for families and the type and timing of effective support not well understood. In this exploratory study, we aimed to gain a better understanding of the experience of this transition to a long-term care setting and its impact on social connections. Methods: We conducted virtual in-depth interviews with a sample of spouses (N = 5) who had identified their partner’s move to a nursing home as particularly distressing. Interview data were analyzed using thematic analysis. Results: We identified that the transition process involved a particular disruption for dyads’ social health, although there was rarely a consideration in planning or support provision. For the person living with dementia, the unacknowledged loss of their social world reinforced their social death. Their grieving partner was explicitly and implicitly encouraged to recover a new social world as a means of healing from the loss. Conclusions: Our findings reinforce the need for evidence-informed support during the transition to long-term care for someone living with dementia and their partner.This research was funded by the RTO/ERO Foundation
Remote State Estimation for Nonlinear Systems Under Compression-Decompression Mechanism: A Modified Unscented Kalman Filtering Approach
Get PDFIn engineering practice, some large-scale systems have high-dimensional measurements that exhibit redundancy and are suitable to be compressed. Measurement compression-decompression is an effective approach to saving communication resources in networked control systems, and compressive sensing (CS) is a popular high-performance compression-decompression method for such measurements. In this paper, we investigate the remote state estimation for nonlinear systems under a compression-decompression mechanism on the measurement output. With the application of CS, a state estimator is designed based on the unscented Kalman filter. Despite the prominent advantages of CS, the presence of measurement noise and quantization errors in practice is inevitable, which could lead to a degradation in the performance of CS and an enlargement of state estimation errors. To address this challenge, we analyze the combined influence of measurement noise and quantization errors on the performance of data compression-decompression and state estimation. The design of estimator gains is approached by minimizing an upper bound of the estimation error covariance. Furthermore, a sufficient condition is derived to ensure the mean-square exponential boundedness of the estimation error. Finally, the effectiveness of the proposed method is verified through simulation experiments conducted on power grid systems, which are characterized by highly redundant measurements that are suitable for compression-decompression
Comprehensive geohazard detection along the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau transportation corridor based on multi-sourced earth observations
No full textData availability:
Data will be made available on request.Geohazards are sudden and catastrophic. Due to the complicated topography, geology and climate conditions along the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau Transportation Corridor (QTPTC), many geohazards pose unprecedented challenges for engineering construction. Comprehensive and scientific geohazard detection has been infrequently performed in the QTPTC, so the study area still lacks a comprehensive geological hazard inventory. With the development of earth observation techniques, detecting geohazards in wide areas is possible. However, comprehensive geohazard detection over such a large spatial extent is considered impossible by individual remote sensing techniques and images. In this study, we used a combination of GACOS-assisted Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (InSAR) phases, SAR amplitudes, and optical images to acquire deformational and geomorphological information of geohazards along the QTPTC. Based on deformational and geomorphological information, we establish a catalogue containing 2109 geohazards which were classified into five categories, i) actively deforming slopes (994); ii) reactivated historically deformed slopes (84); iii) stabilized historically deformed slopes (732); iv) glacier (283) and v) glacial lakes (16). A large percentage of geohazards are distributed at an elevation of 2500–5000 m with slope angles of 30-40°, five geohazards concentration regions are distributed on main active fault zones, and the types of geohazards in the five regions are influenced by precipitation and surface temperature. Finally, three field surveys were also carried out to verify 141 geohazards along the QTPTC. The above findings can improve disaster prevention and mitigation capabilities for construction and operation along the QTPTC.This research was funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (41941019 and 42404020). This work was also supported by the Shaanxi Province Science and Technology Innovation team (Ref. 2021TD-51), the Shaanxi Province Geoscience Big Data and Geohazard Prevention Innovation Team (2022), Generic Technical Development Platform of Shaanxi Province for Imaging Geodesy (2024ZG-GXPT-07), Supported by the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities, CHD (Ref. 300102265103 and 300102264302)
Enhancing Methane Yield via Biomethanation and Kinetic Modelling
Get PDFThis investigation explores the enhancement of CH4 generation in anaerobic digesters (AD) via in-situ renewable hydrogen injection utilising four exotic crop wastes and a crop (five feedstocks). The substrates are yam, cassava, and cocoyam peel (YP, CP and CYP), rice husk (RH) and finger millet seeds (FMS). Biomethane Potential (BMP) Tests, followed by AD experiments with food waste inoculum (FWI), were conducted in triplicate under mesophilic conditions (37°C), utilising an anaerobic model (ANM) test rig. The last phase of the experimental campaign is bio-methanation to upgrade CH4 purity. CYP and YP showed 233% and 81.5% higher gas yields, respectively, with CH4 content improvements up to 38.5%. However, CP emerged as the optimal feedstock, hence the primary substrate utilised in the AD, supporting hydrogenotrophic methanogenesis (HM) and CO₂ to CH₄ conversion. Consequently, MATLAB-based kinetic modelling confirmed the Richard equation as the best fit predictor. The novelty of this study lies in the innovative incorporation of in-situ H₂ injection (0.67 ml/min), bubble mixing and mass transfer to enhance CH₄ from tropical crop waste (cassava peel), a widely available yet underutilised feedstock specific to Plateau State, Nigeria. Additionally, integrating computational fluid dynamics (CFD) and bioprocess kinetic modelling provides a comprehensive framework for understanding the parameterisation and optimising system dynamics. This consolidates the research contribution to the experimental optimisation of decentralised biogas systems, facilitating sustainable energy solutions for pipeline quality in tropical regions
Analysis of diffusion behavior of waste edible oil and aged asphalt at room temperature
No full textExploring the diffusion behavior of regenerant in aged asphalt system at room temperature is helpful to the study of cold regeneration of asphalt mixture.The effects of waste edible oil on the penetration, functional groups, complex modulus and phase angle of aged asphalt under different diffusion time were studied from
macro and microscales by immersion method, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) test and rotary
rheometer test, and the test results were compared and analyzed. At the same time, based on the molecular dynamics theory, the molecular model of waste edible oil and aged asphalt was established, and the interface diffusion model was constructed. According to the diffusion coefficient, the diffusion behavior of the two in the system was revealed. The results show that waste edible oil can restore the basic technical performance of aged asphalt to ascertain extent at room temperature, supplement the light components missing due to aging, and restore its rheological properties. In addition, molecular dynamics simulation shows that the movement speed of waste edible oil molecules is faster than that of aged asphalt molecules, indicating that waste edible oil can soften aged asphalt in a short time. Therefore, it can be seen that the efficiency of wetting and softening aging asphalt of waste edible oil at room temperature is good
A qualitative exploration of the barriers asylum-seeking students face when accessing higher education in the UK
Get PDFSince 2015, there has been a sharp upward trajectory in the number of applications for refugee status. This raises many questions for how education will assist refugee inclusion. However, accessing education after the age of 18 has been under-researched. This project looks to add to the body of knowledge as to why those from an asylum-seeker background are underrepresented in Higher Education (HE). Three key themes emerged through focus groups and semi-structured interviews of this group's experience of attempting to access HE. Firstly, a lack of knowledge as to their rights to HE; secondly, poor and inaccurate information being circulated by gatekeepers to HE; thirdly, the timings of offers of places being uncoordinated with access to scholarships. In conclusion, this study uncovered several barriers for refugees accessing HE in the UK, some of which are systemic. It is suggested that further research is conducted from the perspective of university admissions and widening participation departments. It is recommended that there is an official, reputable source of information for those from asylum-seeking backgrounds wishing to apply for HE.Action West Londo
Tackling difficult changes in digital education through playful learning and gamification: the case of generative AI
Get PDFSpecial edition: Liberating learning / Rekindling the joy of learning.We have been using approaches drawn from gamification and playful learning theories to create spaces for colleagues to explore generative AI (GenAI) in a way which is naturally fun. We have developed several games and activities to stimulate the sense of experimentation and creativity that many of us used when encountering new technology in childhood. We want to make a case that, although reflecting on the ethical and philosophical preoccupations that prey on our adult minds is important, so is treating GenAI as a new toy we can break out of the box and mess around with.
We will share some examples of activities we have used within the King’s community, from our Chatbot Bingo! Icebreaker activity that encourages people to start talking about their own experience of AI to our GenAI Challenge, where we ask people to use GenAI to create images, poetry etc. and then discuss the capabilities and limits of GenAI tools. We reflect on our experiences of using these to create a culture that is open to the opportunity for change that GenAI represents. This is a moment when many of us are waiting to see what happens, waiting for experts to tell us the best way forward. Our playful approach does not seek to tell colleagues the best way forward, instead our goal is to inspire them to stop waiting and start moving forward themselves
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