26199 research outputs found
Sort by
WP7.6 - Unplanned Re-admisisons - How are we doing; Phase 1 study
No full textIntroduction
30-day unplanned re-admissions provide an indicator of performance in the NHS Framework. Average readmission rate is around 15 to 17%, however surgical re-admission is less published. Therefore, a study was set up to assess the factors influencing surgical re-admissions in a Tertiary Centre.
Methods
Retrospective study of prospectively collected data from the tertiary centre database including all ‘Unplanned Re-admissions’(URA) aged >15 years in general surgery between January and December 2022. URA <15 years old and to other surgical specialties were excluded. ANOVA test and descriptive statistics were used to analyse the data.
Results
289 (58%) of 498 readmissions were URA with 150 (52%) female and 139 (48%) male. 57 (19%) were aged 15-30 years, 121 (42%) 31-60 years, 109 (38%) 61-90 years and 2 > 90 years (Median age 54 years; p 20 days (p < 0.05). The commonest cause of URA was biliary diseases (n = 40, 14%) followed by lower (n=32, 11%) and upper abdominal pain (n=17, 5%) and nonspecific abdominal pain (n=22, 7%). Other causes included appendicitis (n=8, 3%), pancreatitis (n=8, 3%), post-op complications (n=14, 5%) and obstruction (n=24, 8%).
Conclusions
URA significantly impacts health care provision and patients’ confidence. An initial study has identified reasons and patterns of re-admissions, the next phase involves analysing specific reasons to mitigate factors leading to URA
RESPONSE OF COMPOSITE BRIDGE GIRDERS EXPOSED TO REALISTIC FIRE SCENARIOS USING A DEEP LEARNING BASED APPROACH
No full textThis paper presents an accurate and predictive framework for evaluating composite bridge performance under realistic fire scenarios by exploiting CFD-FE coupling and advanced ANN modelling capabilities. A series of realistic fire scenarios are developed by conducting CFD simulations. Various parameters affecting the fire behaviour are included in CFD model such as bridge soffit height, fire intensity, and fire location along the bridge span. The time temperature history obtained from CFD simulations is coupled with Finite Element (FE) model to analyse the structural performance of composite bridges with different thicknesses of fire protective coatings. While performing CFD and FE simulations is a tedious and computationally expensive task, an ANN model is trained on simulation data to provide rapid predictions of structural fire response of composite bridges. The ANN model proposed in this study predicts crucial parameters such as failure time, failure temperature and vertical displacement behaviour for assessing structural performance and safety of composite bridges during fire events. This enables fire safety engineers to quickly evaluate the structural response under numerous fire scenarios and corresponding design alternatives, resulting in an efficient decision-making tool in bridge fire design and fire safety assessment
Perspective Chapter: Opportunities and Barriers to Effective Multi-Disciplinary Teamwork in the Education and Training of Allied-Healthcare Students
No full textCollaboration between different allied-healthcare professionals through multi-disciplinary teamwork can help lead to integrated care and subsequently better outcomes for patients. Based on their experiences, the authors reflect upon both the advantages and the challenges to effective teamwork in a healthcare setting. They consider how higher education and training of allied-healthcare students could benefit from greater cross-professional collaboration, and they give their perspectives on the barriers and constraints to collaboration across disciplines. Within this chapter, the three authors who are all both university educators and allied-healthcare professionals, also deliberate on a specific example of head injury/concussion where there is potential opportunity to improve collaboration across their respective professions of Audiology, Physiotherapy and Optometry. They explore how cross-professional collaboration may help to provide improved patient-centred care
Introduction to the Special Issue Commemorating the 170th Anniversary of the 1853–1854 Preston Lock-Out
Get PDFThis introduction to the special issue commemorating the 170th anniversary of the Preston strike and lock-out of 1853–1854 explains the significance of one of the most famous industrial disputes of the nineteenth century, updates its historiography since the publication of H.I. Dutton and J.E. King’s 1981 study, ‘Ten Per Cent and No Surrender’: The Preston Strike, 1853–1854, provides context and a chronology, and summarises the eight articles of new research presented here. The articles examine women’s impact on the dispute and its impact on them, the role of Irish workers, the question of intimidation and conflict between workers, cultural and literary expressions of the dispute, its significance and legacy, and one creative interpretation of it, using animation. The editors argue that the Preston strike and lock-out had a wide impact, was widely reported, and had a strong cultural resonance, making it a microcosmic episode of mid-Victorian Britain
Exploring Perceptions of Barriers and Enablers for Women’s Career Advancement in The Pharmaceutical Industry
No full textWomen have fought fiercely for their emancipation over the centuries, and today, they constitute nearly 50% of the workforce in the European Union and the United Kingdom. Most are employed in traditional female occupations, with only a small fraction holding positions in male-dominated professions. Furthermore, senior leadership roles are predominantly occupied by men. Research shows that women encounter numerous barriers throughout their career trajectories, reinforcing gender inequalities in top management. Nevertheless, certain factors facilitate their career advancement. Our qualitative phenomenological research involved six male and six female leaders in the pharmaceutical sector from the UK and Greece, recruited directly or indirectly from the researcher’s professional network. Eligibility criteria included holding a leadership role for at least twelve months, either at the time of the research or in the past and having a team reporting directly to them. Data were collected through questionnaires and semi-structured interviews, which subsequently underwent thematic analysis. This study addressed five research questions including perceptions of barriers and facilitators impacting women’s professional growth. Core themes identified as barriers included individual setbacks, relational interactions, gender-based biases, stereotypes, and environmental and structural determinants. Key subthemes encompassed career-personal life complexities, self-promotion gap, imposter syndrome, female societal expectations and fear of backlash, skewed allocation of family responsibilities, intragender competition, discriminatory behaviours, sexual harassment, positive discrimination, organisational and national culture. Managers may influence women’s ascent to hierarchy both positively and negatively. Conversely, individual catalysts, relational interactions, environmental and structural determinants emerged as core themes for enablers. Major subthemes included the pursuit of career opportunities, family support mechanisms, female role models and mentoring engagements. These enablers act as Ariadne’s thread, facilitating navigation through the labyrinth of female leadership
Exploring Older Adults’ Perceptions of Anthropomorphized Smart home Devices: A Qualitative Study Utilising Mixed Reality
No full textAs the global population continues to age, there is an increasing need to develop technologies that support older adults in maintaining their independence and quality of life. To ensure that older adults can age-in- place in the comfort of their own living spaces. This qualitative study seeks to investigate older adults' perceptions of anthropomorphised smart home devices and their potential impact on promoting autonomy and well-being. The research aims to address the gap in understanding how older adults interact with emerging technologies designed to support independent living. Utilising a qualitative approach, the study will employ observational interviews to explore older adults' perceptions, preferences, and concerns regarding anthropomorphised smart home devices. To facilitate an immersive and realistic environment for the participants, the study will utilise the Data Visualisation Observatory (DVO), an innovative virtual reality platform. The DVO will provide participants with an interactive virtual smart home environment, allowing them to engage with four distinct anthropomorphised smart home systems. Each system will represent varying levels of human-like qualities, ranging from a disembodied voice to a child-sized humanoid robot. By leveraging the DVO's capabilities, the study aims to simulate real-life scenarios and elicit authentic responses from participants regarding their interactions with the anthropomorphised devices. Participants in the study will engage with the anthropomorphised smart home devices through carefully crafted scenarios aimed at simulating real-life assistive scenarios. These scenarios will prompt participants to interact with the devices in various ways, such as checking in on their well-being or seeking assistance with daily tasks. For example, participants may ask the device questions like, "Have I taken my medication?" or "How much sleep did I get last night?" These interactions mimic how a voice-activated system would function in a fully integrated smart home environment. ..
Using Eye-Tracking to Demonstrate Children's Attention to Detail when Evaluating Low-Fidelity Prototypes.
Get PDFThis study used eye tracking glasses to better understand how children explore low-fidelity prototypes in the context of user experience studies and to explore the potential of eye tracking in this context. The main research question that was being explored was whether the aesthetic refinement, either wireframe or high-resolution images, would affect children’s self-report and if so, or if not, what could be learned from knowing where children looked when exploring the prototypes. The results showed that the aesthetic refinement had little influence over the children’s overall ratings of the game. The eye tracking data demonstrated that there were no differences in the time spent viewing the prototypes and most of the children focused on both the visuals and text on all the pages. However, there were a higher number of fixations recorded in the wireframe prototype compared to the photo-realistic version. This paper contributes to the design of prototypes through an understanding of how children interact with prototypes, demonstrating the importance of the text along with the visuals when evaluating game concepts with children. Further research is required to understand the differences and whether similar results are replicated with different games
Design & Development of a Prototype Intelligent Blind System Using Fuzzy Reasoning
Get PDFThanks to cyber-physical systems (CPSs) and enhanced AI techniques, the ``everyday things'' in our environment have become increasingly intelligent in recent years in the aspects of Automation of Everything (AoE). An IoT application for a smart blind system (SBS) using fuzzy logic to intelligently adjust to an optimal position based on data from local sensors, Wisdom-as-a-Service (WaaS) and Insight-as-a-Service (InaaS) from smart domains and customer preferences has been developed. Testing of this system as a proof-of-concept yields promising results, as the fuzzy logic can effectively control the blind to a position that is desirable under the given environmental conditions. Further, all the input data is utilised productively, ensuring that decisions made by the system are well-informed. Compared to competitors' offerings, the proposed system offers superior performance due to its extensive input consideration and the precise design of the fuzzy logic for automated decision-making
The L2 Perception and Production of English Vowels by L1 Greek-Cypriot Speakers
Get PDFPrevious research shows that acquiring L2 segments is one of the most challenging tasks L2 learners face, particularly when the L1 and L2 inventories involve different contrasts and acoustic cues. The present research investigated the perception and production of L2 English vowels by adult Greek-Cypriot learners and examined the effects of High Variability Phonetic Training (HVPT) on their perceptual and production performance, as well as learners’ ability to generalise new knowledge to new speakers and contexts and retain any improvement two months later. Individual differences in motivation, input and language use patterns were also assessed. The HVPT protocol followed included 8 training sessions with 330 natural and synthetic stimuli each, involving both real and non-words. Perceptual performance was assessed through a forced-choice identification task and production performance through a wordlist-reading and an elicited imitation task, both analysed acoustically and through intelligibility ratings by native English speakers. Individual factors were assessed using a questionnaire complemented by qualitative, semi-structured interviews. The findings clearly showed the influence of the L1 on both the perception and production of L2 segments, supporting the assumptions of current models of speech perception and production. Learners faced challenges in perceiving the members of L2 contrasts and mostly used their L1 articulatory routines in their productions of L2 vowels. The HVPT protocol followed was found to be insufficient to lead to significant improvements in overall perceptual or production performance, although some improvements were observed in either perceiving or producing some target vowels. Individual learner differences had a significant effect on participants’ performance suggesting that they merit more attention than they currently receive. This study was the first to provide an in-depth examination of the acquisition of L2 English vowels by Greek-Cypriot learners and the factors that may affect their performance, thereby guiding future research as well as EFL practitioners
2024 Global Religious Recognition Report
Get PDFThe 2024 Global Religious Recognition Report is a compilation of the most recent available data on recognition and registration impacting conditions of religious freedom throughout the world. Each page of the 259-page report is dedicated to each sovereign state and dependent or disputed territory, including an overview of the constitutional structure, secularity and recognition and registration policies and practices. Detailed explanations of registration policy have been gathered from the Office of International Religious Freedom's International Religious Freedom Report in addition to other credible sources. The RoRB classification for each country and territory has been updated in accordance with the criteria set out in the Spectrum of Religious Recognition (SRR) which was included towards the front of this year's report. This year's report includes an abridged version of Dr Monica Gyimah's article (the full article can be found in Journal of Astronist Studies Volume 1 Issue 1) that highlights recognition and registration issues specifically impacting indigenous religious communities