17390 research outputs found
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Integrated care in practice: lessons from three tiers of healthcare provider and commissioner staff in two London Integrated Care Systems.
No full textTo better meet the growing demand and complexity of clinical need, there is a broad international trend towards greater integration of various elements of health- and social care. However, there has been a lack of research aimed at understanding how healthcare providers have experienced these changes, including facilitators and inhibitors of integration. This study set out to generate new understandings of this from three UK staffing 'levels': 'micro' frontline workers, a 'meso' level of those leading a healthcare organisation and a 'macro' level of commissioners. Using Rogers' Diffusion of Innovation framework, qualitative analysis of individual interviews from provider staff perceptions was undertaken at these three levels (total = 33) in London. English legislation and policy captured the need for change, but fail to describe problems or concerns of staff. There is little guidance that might facilitate learning. Staff identity, effective leadership and culture were considered critical in implementing effective integration, yet are often forgotten or ignored, compounded by an overall lack of organisational communication and learning. Cultural gains from integration with social care have largely been overlooked, but show promising opportunities in enhancing care delivery and experience. Findings are mixed insofar as staff generally support the drivers for greater integration, but their concerns, and means for measuring change, have largely been ignored, limiting learning and optimisation of implementation. There is a need to emphasise the importance of culture and leadership in integrated care, and the benefits from closer working with social care
Integrating multimodality and reception studies for research in the humanities and social sciences
No full textMultimodal research has traditionally focussed on the analysis of texts and their production, resulting in a wealth of theoretical and analytical constructs as well as approaches. On the one hand, multimodal research on texts and their production has pushed the field forward; on the other hand, however, it has resulted in different, and at times contradictory, accounts of how different modes work individually and together in making meaning. One of the reasons for the divergent accounts is a relative lack of empirical evidence coming from the other end of the multimodal communication process, i.e. the reception of multimodal texts. It is crucial to note that ‘reception’ here is not intended as passive uptake of an encoded message in a unidirectional process, but as the purposeful, active interaction and engagement of participants with a text in what Barker calls a “two-sided affair” (2021: 194, emphasis in original).
Over the last two decades, scholars from a variety of fields, including linguistics, communication science, media studies and critical discourse studies, have started to take on the challenge of investigating text reception. Reception studies come in different forms, with different focuses and methodological approaches, both qualitative and quantitative. However, the common denominator between them is the interest, as the name suggests, to explore how people interact and engage with multimodal texts.
This keynote will provide a summary of key issues in the integration of multimodal research and reception studies as well as a summary of previous research and how this can be applied to research projects within the humanities and social sciences
Bayesian-optimized surface energy microstructure-informed model of active dissolution in CrMnFeCoNi high-entropy alloys
No full textA comprehensive mathematical framework was developed to predict the corrosion behavior of the Cantor high-entropy alloy (CrMnFeCoNi) by quantitatively incorporating grain orientation, grain size, and the fraction of special grain boundaries. High-entropy alloy specimens with average grain sizes ranging from approximately 7 µm (fine-grained) to 67 µm (coarse-grained) were prepared through cold rolling followed by annealing and subsequently exposed to 3.5% NaCl solution. The model, calibrated through Bayesian optimization, reproduced the experimentally observed corrosion trends with high fidelity. Specifically, the corrosion current density increased from approximately 1.5 × 10⁻⁶ A/cm² in the fine-grained condition to 2.5 × 10⁻⁶ A/cm² in the coarse-grained condition, despite the latter exhibiting a higher proportion of special (low-energy) grain boundaries. Detailed microstructural investigations demonstrated that no single factor—grain size, texture, or boundary fraction—was solely responsible for the corrosion response. Instead, crystallographic orientation, associated with surface energy, was identified as the dominant parameter, reconciling the opposing influences of grain size and special boundary fraction on corrosion resistance observed in this study. Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy confirmed active dissolution behavior, with charge-transfer resistance (Rct) on the order of 10⁴ Ω·cm² and no indication of passive film formation, a finding corroborated by XPS analysis. Post-corrosion examination revealed that pitting occurred selectively within high-surface-energy grains, with pit diameters (~10–75 µm) corresponding closely to the grain size. This observation aligned with the model’s prediction that preferential dissolution arises in specific crystallographic orientations. The proposed microstructure-informed modeling approach demonstrated an accuracy improvement of nearly eightfold (R2=0.88) over conventional empirical models, offering a reliable strategy for designing and controlling the dissolution behavior of high-entropy alloys and potentially other metallic systems
PAHG: The database of human multi-gene families
No full textBackground
In the early vertebrate history, gene duplications, including single-gene, segmental-gene (SSD), and whole-genome duplication (WGD), formed multigene families. Despite efforts to classify metazoan multigene families hierarchically for evolutionary insight, a gap exists in accessible, curated resources for human/vertebrate multigene families.
Results
Addressing this, we present the Phylogenomic Analysis of Human Genome (PAHG) database. It focuses on curated multigene families in the human genome, particularly within four paralogons: HOX-bearing (Hsa:2/7/12/17), FGFR-bearing (Hsa:4/5/8/10), MHC-bearing (Hsa:1/6/9/19), and chromosomes 1/2/8/20.
Conclusion
The current PAHG version details the phylogenetic history of 221 human multigene families (1247 gene members) with 15,231 protein sequences from diverse metazoans. It provides insights into gene duplication timings, co-duplication events, and their relationships with human genome syntenic organization. The PAHG database addresses the lack of accessible resources, offering valuable information on human/vertebrate multigene family evolution. Access the PAHG database at: https://www.pahgncb.com/ and http://pahg.qau.edu.pk/. This resource enriches our understanding of vertebrate genetic evolution
Between beggars and professors: Jewish converts as agents of Lutheranism at early modern century German universities
No full textConverts from Judaism played an important role in the expansion of Christian Hebraism as teachers of Hebrew and Aramaic, mediators of Jewish scriptural interpretations and procurers of Jewish books. This article examines Lutheran universities as spaces for converts, often self-fashioning themselves as rabbis, as experts in Hebrew and Jewish learning. The controversies arising from attempts to secure a permanent post holder for the first chair in Hebrew at a German university at Wittenberg demonstrate the role that Hebrew played for an emerging Protestant self-understanding. The article also discusses the academic precarity of German converts, suggesting that they had not acquired the habitus of a Lutheran scholar as students because Jews were not permitted to study at German universities. Finally, once Christian Hebraism no longer depended on Jewish mediation, the main value of converts was them remaining loyal to the faith. Converts who reverted to Judaism were judged harshly by Christian society
We have enough neurotypical thinkers already: Why accommodating and developing a neurodiverse workforce is the right strategic approach to navigating the fourth industrial revolution
No full textWith the development of advanced technologies such as Large Language Models (LLMs), 3D printing, the Internet of Things, blockchain technologies, advanced robotics, material ecology and driverless vehicles, the requirements from the workforce of the futurewill be significantly different fromthe workforce we have today. This paper explores the potential for organisations to proactively manage this problem by adopting an approach that accommodates a neurodiverse workforce more effectively. Placing the fourth industrial revolution and volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous (VUCA) economy in a broad historical context informs the discussion on why and how this accommodation may be effectively achieved. This paper adds to the knowledge by identifying positive correlations between the emerging labour market and the underleveraged potential of neurodiverse employees. In addition to its constructive recommendations to employers and educators, this paper offers positive guidance to young neurodiverse people entering the labour market
A ‘social cartology’: Education as a mechanism for social change
No full textBook review.
Douglas Bourn renews the focus on the relationship between education, democracy, and social change in this book, which includes chapters addressing the practice and role of educators. He brings together educational theories and practices in presenting the ways in which the classroom can be an authentically democratic space and discusses how education has the potential to drive society towards the common goal of a just and sustainable world. The book presents all the major theorists, from Dewey to Apple, who have contributed to this discussion for over a hundred years. As a researcher exploring children’s and young people’s civic learning, this focus on theory was welcome, while the section on the role of educators, youth workers and young people as agents of social change provided interesting comparisons with my own research. The book covers youth charities and activism as well as education, which makes it an engaging read for youth practitioners, youth campaigners, and the wider civil society and philanthropic networks that support them
Call that reading? Creative approaches to literary studies and literary heritage
No full textThis article uses case studies across the related disciplines of English, Creative Writing and Heritage, and aims to provide a toolkit for breaking down some of the barriers between them. It asks what happens when we engage with the literary text through immersion in historic landscapes, rewrite Victorian prose to help us engage with our own sensory responses, and increase our sensitivity to material objects beyond the text itself. Ultimately I want to argue that obstacles notwithstanding, the perpetual boundary crossing between English, Creative Writing and Heritage can provide new insights and challenge us to work in more innovative ways. The article is structured in three parts: Museums; Literary Pilgrimage for Victorianists; Creative Reading and Writing
Early years physical development position paper
Get PDFoai:repository.canterbury.ac.uk:9q6zxThe first five years of a child’s life are a time of rapid brain development, when the connection of the brain with the body in response to movement stimuli occurs at a quicker rate than at any other age in the lifespan. During this time, children should be exposed to enriching movement opportunities that stimulate neurological development and connect rich neurological pathways so that they learn to move confidently and competently.
Physical development in the early years is a vitally important area to focus on to ensure children have a good level of motor competence by the end of reception. Many children fail to meet age-related physical development expectations, not helped by reduced physical activity participation during the pandemic (Huggett & Howells, 2022). Furthermore, children in deprived areas have lower levels of physical development.
Early years practitioners clearly need increased support and guidance to help them assess and enhance young children’s physical development so that they can make the most of the movement opportunities provided at school and in the wider environment. These opportunities, alongside adequate time and appropriate teaching approaches help children develop a movement repertoire that acts as the foundation for their current and future engagement in physical activity. Given increasing concerns about the physical development of early years children and the consequences of this for their current and future health and wellbeing, the Association for Physical Education considered it important to develop an evidence-based position paper on this key subject. The content is informed by national and international research (King & Howells, 2024). It aims to enhance early years practitioners’ knowledge and understanding of young children’s physical development and support their practice. Improving children’s movement through physical development interventions, physical education and physical activity will ensure they reach early learning goals and are ‘school ready’
UK leads the way in ‘professionalizing policing’
No full textNews media interview to online magazine 'Police Oracle'