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The experience of loneliness in women
No full textIntroduction: This integrative review aimed to examine the factors related to increased loneliness in women with breast cancer, in order to understand how to support this population and to improve quality of life.
Methodology: Eighteen studies were included in this integrative review and a thematic synthesis was used to explore the results. Results: Themes for the factors related to increased loneliness in women with breast cancer were: Relational difficulties, physical and mental health difficulties, and multiple concomitant difficulties. These factors suggested that, in women with breast cancer, loneliness is: complex, psychologically painful, and disabling. To support women with breast cancer who experience loneliness, the findings of this review suggested that healthcare professionals should: use a holistic approach, offer psychological support and increase understanding and awareness of difficulties.
Discussion: Increased loneliness in women with breast cancer is related to a range of factors that are complex and often occur simultaneously. A holistic approach may be needed to help tackle loneliness in this population. More research is needed to explore loneliness in women with breast cancer from marginalised groups and to understand what loneliness means to individuals across different cultures and population
Textual entanglements: Interactive fiction in the secondary school English classroom
No full textMy research investigates a contradiction between my values and my practice as an English teacher; while I recognise the importance of students engaging actively and creatively with texts they are reading, I found myself teaching lessons that positioned my students as passengers rather than meaning-makers. In this thesis, I report upon how I used one form of writing to respond to this contradiction: Interactive Fiction (IF).
In this thesis, IF refers to a non-linear form of hypertext fiction that is read using an electronic device. Employing a post-humanist onto-epistemology and a material-dialogic conceptualisation of classroom reading, this study examines the possibilities for IF as a resource in the secondary school English classroom, exploring what the writing of IF can reveal about my positionality, how IF can be written for use in the English classroom, the affordances of IF as a classroom resource, and the influence of IF upon classroom talk. As such, it considers the ways that my students and I became, through our engagement with IF, part of an entangled set of relations emerging amongst ourselves, IF and a range of organic and inorganic factors.
In order to identify some of IF’s affordances, I have incorporated into this action research study a variety of qualitative methods, such as lesson recording, interviews, autoethnography and the creative writing of IF. I show that IF can be used to conduct self-reconnaissance, using IF to produce an account of the ways in which my own privilege, values and memories, along with various policies and practices, shape my uneasy positionality as a teacher. I report upon how my approach to writing IF has developed and show that IF can be written in a way that enables students to discuss, make and comment upon language choices. I show that working with IF affected my teaching, finding that IF can make teaching and learning enjoyable, but also that it can help to make space for the voices of students during lessons. Finally, I show that IF can be used to help students practise inferential prediction, evaluation and argumentation, as well to support metalinguistic understanding and to facilitate metalinguistic forms of classroom talk
Implementing trauma-informed approaches to coaches’ workplaces in sport to enhance their safety and wellbeing: A critical commentary
No full textAlthough safe sport strategies have focused on protecting athletes, coaches’ wellbeing and safety has received less attention. Given recent safe sport directives have been expanded to include all members involved in sport being protected from harm, coaches should not be left out of the discourse. In this critical commentary, we focus on coaches’ potential exposure to adverse events in their workplace, which may lead to them experiencing trauma. To underscore our commentary to include coaches, we draw on composite vignettes and media excerpts focusing on traumatic events experienced by coaches across sports and levels. Examples include coaches being threatened with, or being the recipient/s of violence, witnessing abuse, witnessing traumatic injury or death, and being bullied/cyber bullied, all of which have been linked to trauma. These examples support a case for why trauma-informed work environments should be prioritised by sport organisations to support coach wellbeing and enhance coach safety
Sacred or strategic? The intersection of corporate political activities and religion in the Middle East
No full textDrawing on a review of the literature on religion and political ties, we advance the argument that the intersection of politics and religious orientations is merely a reflection of the realities of doing business in the Middle East. Based on this review, a unified conceptual framework is proposed to address the gap in the current literature regarding the need to integrate religion into the discourse on political ties, particularly in the Middle East and, more broadly, in other emerging economies. We connect two dimensions of religiosity (i.e., low religiosity and high religiosity) and two dimensions of political ties (i.e., central political ties and local political ties). The unified conceptual framework captures the characteristics and various aspects of political ties and the role of religion in conducting business. In the literature on the mixing of politics and religion, a few common themes emerge: corporate decision-making that prioritizes environmental sustainability based on religious teachings, the leveraging of religion to build legitimacy, the effects of religion on advocacy, and the impact of religion on corporate political lobbying and advocacy. The practical and policy implications of these findings are also examined
Team‐based learning in the Meta Horizon Workroom: A pilot study on its potential effectiveness for pharmacology teaching
No full textThe Meta Horizon Workroom (MHW) provides an immersive environment for team‐based learning (TBL). This study evaluated its effectiveness in teaching pharmacology, emphasizing engagement, collaboration, and learning, aiming to assess the potential of MHW in enhancing the learning experience. A pilot study was conducted with Kent and Medway Medical School (KMMS) Year 4 medical students using Meta Quest 2 virtual reality (VR) headsets. Students participated in a virtual TBL session via MHW after a preparatory phase that included studying assigned materials. The session centered on an application exercise, which forms the core of TBL, and focused on solving a pharmacology‐focused case scenario. Data collection involved 5‐point Likert‐scale and open‐ended questions. Descriptive and thematic analyses were performed to assess levels of engagement, collaboration, and learning of pharmacology concepts. Quantitative data indicated that 5 of the 7 participants found the MHW TBL approach more engaging than traditional TBL methods. Furthermore, 6 of the 7 viewed the platform as a potential game‐changer for pharmacology education due to its interactive features. Qualitative feedback emphasized the benefits of interactive tools, peer‐to‐peer learning, and easy access to resources during discussions. However, some challenges, including technical issues during the session, were reported. The findings demonstrate the transformative potential of MHW for pharmacology education, offering an engaging, collaborative, and innovative learning platform. While technical challenges need addressing, this pilot study underscores the value of integrating VR into medical education. This foundational work highlights the promise of immersive virtual environments in revolutionizing pharmacology teaching
Disenlightenment and political space: Decoding the goop
No full textAs an academic at CCCU, it’s tempting to operate on “enlightenment” principles. I contribute to public debate through carefully written publications whose respect for the reader speaks for itself: their style can be a bit technical, but anyone who is genuinely interested can and will access them. Indeed, we can scarcely avoid using such tools to find, engage with and respond to any ideas that colleagues, reviewers and editors help feed into the world-wide web of obsequious, sometimes reliable, algorithmic goop
Constellations
No full textSolo Exhibition at Albion House Ramsgate
14 June - 31 July 2025.
‘Constellations’ comprises several projects by Ramsgate artist, Dr Melanie King. The artworks are presented in each ground floor room of Albion House, forming ‘constellations’ within the overall ‘universe’ of Kings’ artistic practice.
Presented in the exhibition:
* In Praise Of Raw Data *
The In Praise of Raw Data project is a result of an ongoing collaboration between artist Dr Melanie King and Dr Claudia Mignone - an astronomer and science communicator at INAF - Istituto Nazionale di Astrofisica, Rome. This project highlights the beauty of raw data artefacts resulting from cosmic interactions with telescope sensors.
* Ancient Light *
Ancient Light arose from King’s recently completed practice-based PhD at the Royal College of Art. The project comprises a series of analogue photographs of the night sky, produced in several dark sky locations.
* Lunar Portraits *
Kings related project Lunar Portraits consists of a series of photographs using only light from the Full Moon to expose the image. Participants were asked to gaze up at the full moon whilst moonlight fell upon their face
Productive entrepreneurship: A street food business model canvas promoting sustainable innovation and digitalisation in the informal economy of Bangladesh
No full textPurpose
Our study examines entrepreneurial behaviour amongst street food vendors functioning within Dhaka, Bangladesh's informal food sector. We considered our conceptual framework and how it moderate the entrepreneurial behaviour of vendors.
Design/methodology/approach
We aim to investigate 1) entrepreneurship, 2) development, 3) innovation and 4) ethics, the concepts of our conceptual framework shaping the behaviour of the street food entrepreneurs. To investigate associated concepts, we adopted a mixed-methods exploratory sequential approach, with qualitative data collection followed by a
quantitative phase.
Findings
Based on findings, we proposed amendments to the originally developed framework to enable informal and unproductive entrepreneurs’ transition towards formal and sustainable, productive value-added outcomes with social impacts.
Originality
Gaps indicated through critical evaluation of local contexts and literature review, we explored factors influencing the entrepreneur's unproductive behaviour and developed a Street Food Business Model Canvas bespoke for the informal economy and street food vendors functioning within
Boardwalk vampire: Staking a claim to the edges of the American nightmare
No full textBoardwalks, like vampires, occupy liminal, ‘between’, spaces; places outside the ordinary. More than this, boardwalks and vampires draw attention to constructions: life, death, cities, leisure practices, race, gender, and sexuality. In the life and death of places and people, and the narratives woven around them, The Lost Boys (1987) dramatizes the ‘death and (after)life’ not of great American cities, but the spaces created alongside them, then largely abandoned following demographic shifts in city living and holiday destinations. 1 In this approach, boardwalk towns function vampirically, drawing in people and revenue to provide an illusion of life for themselves (usually at specific times), and a space where others can project illusory versions of their own lives (casting a glamour, as it were). Bryant Simon remarks of Atlantic City and its Boardwalk that, “from the very start, it was conceived as a make- believe place,” one that “soothed the anxieties and stirred the desires of its audience.” 2
These fantasies of youth, consumption, and desire that were sold on the boardwalk feed into the multiplicity of narrative and visual strategies adopted by The Lost Boys. Rob Latham makes this apparent when he states that “the central site of this militant assertion of empowered independence is the Santa Carla boardwalk, a sort of combination open-air mall, gaming arcade, and amusement park.” 3 The activities detailed here, alongside “cruising for dates or for trouble, and otherwise acting as if they owned the world,” situates the Santa Carla boardwalk firmly alongside the history of other boardwalk spaces, such as that in Atlantic City. 4 While the one thing that Grandpa might never have been able to stomach about Santa Carla was ‘all the damn vampires’, it is clear that it is the space that is vampiric, as well as the actual vampires that dwell within it. Santa Carla is a space of conspicuous consumption where the space itself is conspicuous – an artificial addition crafted through socioeconomic processes – as is the ‘consumption’ of those within it, by those within it
Analysis of plant science higher education reveals mixed provision which falls short of delivering national priorities
Full text linkBackground
Many reports from the UK government and other organisations highlight a need for a plant aware workforce, and some enumerate specific areas of plant science where there is a skills shortage. We have undertaken a systematic analysis of the content of degree programmes that advertise as teaching plant biology to determine if the UK Higher Education (HE) sector is delivering the graduates required to meet the skills gaps reported.
Results
Our data reveals a highly mixed picture of delivery from one to four year courses, modules ranging from ten to forty credits, and Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) providing variable information on their websites. Our analysis shows that on average (irrespective of credit) a module covers three subject areas. Most courses have little plant content and plant content is generally taught with other subjects on a module. The most substantial plant specific subject teaching is delivered on eighteen courses we have identified as Plant Science courses.
Conclusion
Overall the UK HE sector is not delivering graduates with the skill set outlined in numerous reports as required to enable food production in a changing climate. Any prospective student (or employer) will find it virtually impossible to determine which degree will deliver the skills they need as there is no plant curriculum offered across the board, and specific information is hidden within module descriptors on websites. If the skills outlined as being essential for the economy and society are truly important then a new approach is required