19684 research outputs found
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Get the balance right:lessons from UK higher education in managing environmental and economic performance
No full textSince 2008, there have been a growing number of social policies placed on UK higher education institutions (HEIs) to engage in reducing carbon emissions and meet self-imposed carbon reduction targets while producing graduates, publishing research papers and attracting research income. HEI managers thus face the challenging task of having to determine the optimal level between environmental performance and economic performance–from activities that generate income, to which we refer as overall efficiency. To that end, the current study measures the overall efficiency levels of UK HEIs from 2012/13 to 2018/19 using a slacks-based measure model that incorporates bad outputs. The study aims to determine the extent to which the optimal balance between environmental performance and economic performance has been achieved as evidenced by the efficiency of HEIs over the course of the sample period. The study also identifies factors associated with efficiency and provides policy recommendations. Over the study period, overall efficiency (incorporating the bad output of carbon emissions) initially fell and then rose in the last 2 years suggesting some optimism that carbon emissions management has improved since then. The second-stage analysis, which identifies factors associated with efficiency, suggests that the ratio of students to staff and HEIs in the Russell group is positively associated with the efficiency of inefficient HEIs. When both efficient and inefficient universities are considered, having an environmental management system is positively associated with efficiency, while the opposite is the case for having science, engineering and medicine disciplines and having carbon reduction targets.</p
Opening up openings:Zooming in on improvisation in the Theatre of Home
No full textThis article presents a qualitative analysis of the opening section of an online improvisation session. The session, which was organized by the Glasgow Improvisers Orchestra, included an international group of musicians. It took place during the global COVID-19 pandemic where the participants were experiencing lockdown conditions. Phenomenological reflexive analysis and video elicitation techniques were utilized to develop a number of key themes related to the multimodal improvisation strategies identified as emergent in the session. The results highlight how technical, physical, and psychological constraints of online practice can facilitate new creative insights and approaches to improvisation. Particular emphasis is placed upon how an improvisation begins and the role of distributed and collaborative creativity within the overall process. The importance of the domestic environment, what we term The Theater of Home, is central to these new ideas, as is how particular scenarios/items function as psychological and creative boundary objects. The spontaneous multimodal integration of text, visual, and audio material within the domestic and virtual environment can be seen to support a new type of creative collaboration and one that draws out features of social improvisation
Making Mycorrhizal Noise:Hypermedia, Digitality, and Interpreting the Parafictional Universes of the Noisebringers
No full textThis article/art document/artefact/art-e-fact is presented digitally in the form of an interactive multimedia HTML5 file. It can be viewed using any common web browser with HTML5 compatibility (i.e. Google Chrome, Safari, Firefox, etc.). The HTML document has been compiled using the open-source nonlinear storytelling software Twine (www.twinery.org) in the Sugarcube (version 2) story format. This interactive document will resize itself dependent on the size of the browser window. Content may consequently be compressed, and hard to read, if the window is too small, and the document is best viewed in landscape orientation. Please note that the document contains text, audio, and visual elements. An internet connection is required to view the audiovisual content. Within the body of the document, a navigation bar can be found at the bottom the screen. All links in the document are show as coloured text. Clicking on or tapping these links will take the reader to another page or section. To view the document in fullscreen mode, please use Fn+F/Ctrl+F/F11. You can use ESC to leave fullscreen mode.Should you encounter any issues while accessing or navigating this document, please contact the authors via with the subject line 'Mycorrhizal Noise HTML error!' at:[email protected]
The Use of Turning Points in Understanding Homelessness Transitions:A Critical Social Psychological Perspective
No full textWe argue for use of the narrative concept of the “turning point” in homelessness research from a critical social psychology perspective.Background:Turning points are often understood as rifts in the life course followed by significant change in direction. However, within narrative theory they are not events but subjectively significant features of the person’s life-story.The turning point as narrative tool:The analysis identified how turning points were deployed by participants in a study of homelessness experiences. Participants used the turning point in constructing themselves as agentic, reformed individuals who had gained insight. However, this did not necessarily bring positive life changes. Data extracts are used to illustrate the power of adopting a constructivist, narrative theoretical orientation in understanding turning points in accounts of homelessness.Implications for practice:Viewing turning points in this way may help us understand how best to provide support for people without housing.<br/
Humanitarian handicraft History, materiality and trade, c. 1840-1980:History, materiality and trade, c. 1870-1980
No full textThis book uncovers the overlooked history of artisanal textiles in projects aimed at social uplift and moral reform. The contributors ask what the implications of this form of gendered craft production are for our understanding of the humanitarian imagination, relations of humanitarian production and the generation of meaning and social and artistic value. It also opens a dialogue with contemporary socially-engaged textile artists to engender critical reflection on the socially-situated meaning of textile craft in past and present humanitarian contexts
The quality, accuracy and appropriateness of UK optometric age-related macular degeneration referrals
No full textPurpose: Little is known about the quality of optometrists' referrals to secondary care for neovascular age-related macular degeneration (nAMD), despite the need for timely intervention. We analysed the content and accuracy of optometrists' referrals for nAMD. Adherence to UK National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) guidelines and the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic were assessed as secondary measures. Methods: Optometric referrals to a specialist macular treatment centre in Bradford, United Kingdom, between March 2019 and March 2021 were retrospectively analysed and compared with subsequent electronic medical records. Data were extracted on legibility, reason for referral, patient and optometrist demographics, visual acuity, reported signs and symptoms, patient diagnosis and patient outcomes. Binomial logistic regression models were constructed to determine whether signs or symptoms noted in the referral were associated with subsequent nAMD diagnosis in secondary care and whether optometrist gender or experience influenced nAMD referral accuracy. Results: Across all 394 referrals analysed, 256 were for nAMD. Referral accuracy for nAMD was 39.8% (95% CI [34.0%, 45.9%]), with the most common reason for misdiagnosis being dry AMD. However, 76.8% of patients referred for suspected nAMD were either treated in secondary care or observed over multiple visits. 20% of suspected nAMD patients were seen within the NICE recommended 14-day window pre-COVID, dropping to 5% during the pandemic (p < 0.001). Visual acuity was most strongly associated with nAMD diagnosis (χ2(1) = 13.71, p < 0.001) followed by macular haemorrhage (χ2(1) = 5.89, p = 0.02). Neither optometrist gender nor experience was significantly associated with confirmed nAMD. Legibility of referrals was 91–95% for patient details and 94–97% for the referring optometrist. Conclusions: Although the overall quality and legibility of optometrists' macular referrals to secondary care were of a high standard, the diagnostic accuracy of nAMD was below 40%. Referred visual acuity was the main sign/symptom associated with confirmed nAMD diagnosis.</p
Modeling raster bead deformation process for monitoring fused filament fabrication using acoustic emission
No full textIn the fused filament fabrication (FFF) deposition process, the filament material undergoes a complex process of thermal melting and reshaping. Macroscopic geometric accuracy and mechanical strength are the main concerns of the printed model by most researchers. However, there is limited research on the microscopic raster bead process, especially on its dynamic evolution, even though this is crucial for ensuring accuracy and strength. In addition, the online monitoring system for FFF processes is not well-developed, the quality of finished samples being mainly evaluated by their appearance. To fill up these gaps, this study focuses on the investigation of the microprocesses of FFF to gain in-depth understanding of raster bead evolution and its acoustic emission (AE) generation characteristics. A model of material extrusion was developed based on the wall jet impingement model. A finite element (FE) analysis revealed a mutual microscopic compression between different raster beads, in which the deformed edges compress subsequent raster beads, leading to different dynamic stresses. Experimental studies based on AE show that raster compression becomes more severe with the increase in infill density, while higher material temperature exacerbates raster compression, and faster printing speed increases compression stress. The FE simulation and experiments reveal the cumulative effects of compression in continuous printing. This study demonstrated that AE can be an effective method for online monitoring of the micro-deposition process of raster beads. In summary, this study introduces an AE-based method for monitoring the interactions between raster beads during the deposition process. The research explores a method for online monitoring of the micro-deposition process of raster beads, which has the potential to improve the geometric accuracy of FFF.</p
Multi-domain magnetic particles in speleothems as a proxy for past cave-stream flooding:A 33 kyr record from central North Island, Aotearoa New Zealand
No full textSpeleothems are a key archive for past terrestrial climate information due to their potential for long, continuous, high-resolution, precisely-dated proxy records. The concentration and grain-size distribution of allogenic magnetic minerals incorporated into speleothems can be used to reconstruct past hydrological regimes. We use principal component analysis of first-order reversal curves to characterise the magnetic minerals incorporated into a 33 kyr flowstone record from Aotearoa New Zealand. Three end members (EMs) represent (1) a component with a broad spectrum of grain sizes, similar to that found in the overlying soil (EM1); (2) a coarse multi-domain component, with grains ranging up to several hundred microns (EM2); and (3) a fine, single-domain to vortex component (EM3). We interpret EM1 and especially EM2 as proxies for cave stream flooding and EM3 as a proxy for soil erodibility and transport through infiltration or possibly aeolian processes. We find increased soil erodibility during the period 30-20 kyr BP, corresponding to the extended Last Glacial Maximum (eLGM). Flooding frequency is high during the periods 27-25 kyr BP and 9-0 kyr BP. eLGM flooding episodes as recorded in the flowstone may be enhanced by the deposition of the Kawakawa/Oruanui tephra, providing a rich source of magnetic material. This study shows the potential for coarse, multi-domain magnetic material incorporated in speleothems as a source of palaeoenvironmental information, especially in regions characterised by magnetite-rich soils and frequent, high-energy hydrologic events.</p
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