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Reduced Glomerular and Elevated Tubulointerstitial Transglutaminase pathway and its inhibition in a Rat Model of Renal Warm Ischemia: Implications for Feline Chronic Kidney Disease
No full textIntroduction: Feline CKD is associated with an increase in the pro-fibrotic enzyme, transglutaminase 2 (TG2), in the kidney tubulointerstitium. Hypoxia is pivotal factor for the development of CKD, irrespective of its origin. In cats, tubulointerstitial sclerosis develops without significant glomerular involvement, similar to a rodent model of renal warm ischaemia (RWI).Methods: Sprague-Dawley rats underwent 60-minutes renal hilar clamping followed by right nephrectomy with/without intrarenal infusion of a transglutaminase inhibitor (TGI). Renal fibrosis was assessed by immunofluorescence of collagens after 28-days. Extracellular-TG-enzyme activity (eTGact) and extracellular-TG2 protein (eTG2) were measured in both the glomerular and the tubulointerstitial spaces. Hypothesis: Renal Warm Ischemia (RWI) will induce fibrotic changes and activation of the transglutaminase pathway in both the tubulointerstitial and glomerular compartments, and that treatment with a transglutaminase inhibitor (TGI) will mitigate these effects.Results: Rats subjected to RWI showed a significant elevation in tubulointerstitial collagen I (1.8-fold), III (4.3-fold), IV (5.5-fold), eTGact (2-fold) and eTG2 (1.9-fold), together with an increase in serum creatinine (2.7-fold). TG inhibition significantly reduced tubulointerstitial collagen I, III, IV, eTGact and eTG2 by 100%, 57%, 90%, 89% and 91%, respectively, and decreased creatinine levels by 70%. However, RWI in the glomerulus showed a significant reduction in the TG pathway and collagen I and IV.Discussion: Our findings support a causal link between TG2 and tubulointerstitial fibrosis in rats following RWI. In contrast, the glomerular TG-pathway was suppressed, suggesting a protective mechanism in response to RWI, which may help to explain the lack of glomerular involvement in feline CKD. This rodent model of RWI may be analogous to feline CKD, enabling extrapolation of findings from rodent RWI models to understand renal insult in cats
Social Media as a Lens for Understanding Public Trust in Science
Get PDFSocial media has become a crucial platform for communication and information sharing, but it also facilitates the spread of misinformation, particularly during crises such as the COVID-19 pandemic undermining public’s trust in science. Especially, battling misinformation on scientific issues is important to bring closer public to science. The present work is a part of the EU funded project VERITY that aims to address this challenge by using a multidisciplinary approach resulting in in development of strategies to enhance public’s trust in science. Among other methodologies, VERITY investigates social media to identify factors that influence trust in science, and this article provides the results of a study on a specific dataset related to COVID-19 vaccination through various methods such as social network analysis, quantitative and qualitative analysis, analysis of the content and the reactions of the messages and the application of deep learning models in order to reveal people’s behaviour and the factors that influence it
SP2.03 A Retrospective Review of Antibiotic Usage in Appendicectomy at a District General Hospital
No full textIntroduction
Post-operative infection is a recognised complication of appendicectomy with antibiotics frequently administered to mitigate this risk. However, optimal antibiotic use peri-operatively remains debated. This retrospective study analysed antibiotic usage in appendicectomy patients, categorised according to the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention surgical wound classification system (SWC).
Methods
Data was collected from October 2023 to September 2024 at a district general hospital. All patients undergoing emergency laparoscopic or open appendicectomies were included. Anova and t-tests were used for analysis.
Results
A total of 263 patients, aged 5 to 87 years, were included, comprising 52% females (138) and 48% males (125).Of these, 156 (59%) had SWC 2, 31 (11%) had SWC 3, and 76 (30%) had SWC 4.Pre-operative antibiotics were administered to 227 patients(83%), with ceftriaxone and metronidazole being the most prescribed (206, 91%). Post-operative antibiotics were given to 29 patients (11%), with 79% receiving oral co-amoxiclav. The mean length of antibiotics prescribed varied significantly (p <0.05) by SWC: 3 days for SWC 2, 5 days for SWC 3, and 9 days for SWC 4. There was also increased variance in antibiotic duration for SWC 4. Most patients (204, 77.6%) had a length of stay (LOS) of less than 5 days, and longer LOS was associated with prolonged antibiotic use.
Conclusions
This study highlights variability in antibiotic use, especially in SWC 4 patients, with many SWC 2 and 3 patients unnecessarily receiving antibiotics. Standardised protocols are crucial for optimising infection prevention, reducing antibiotic resistance, and improving surgical outcomes
Law’s Politics: The Cyprus Troubles, 1960-1968
No full textThe book concerns the internal armed violence between the ethnically Greek and Turkish communities of the Republic of Cyprus, within eight years from the Republic’s establishment in 1960. It therefore precedes the more broadly known events surrounding the Turkish invasion of 1974, and the resulting division since. Inspiration for the research and the book was drawn from theoretical debates in Public International Law on the relationship between law and politics in critical legal studies, enriched with insights from the Third World Approaches to International Law (TWAIL) movement, in the context of the island’s colonial and post-colonial past. The book has benefited from previously unpublished archival material – most notably, the archive of the International Committee of the Red Cross in Geneva – and secondary literature on this period in History and the Social Sciences. The book examines inter-ethnic violence in Cyprus also as a case study of the multiple dimensions and actors playing a role in non-international armed conflicts, by turning the spotlight on internal legal and political developments, thus, removing the spotlight away from the usual focus on international diplomatic power-struggles relevant to this conflict. The Cyprus Question is an excellent example of a highly complex conflict, involving a network of internal and external actors, whose relationship today is further complicated by the passing of more than half a century since the events addressed in the book. Considering that nowadays the majority of ongoing armed conflicts face similar complexities, the book is insightful in illustrating the deepest controversies of the internal politics of armed conflicts, and Law’s role in them. Hence, the book offers contributions to Public International Law scholarship, as well as International Relations, and Conflict Studies, among others
Factors influencing the acceptance of IoT devices in a smart home environment
Get PDFThe Internet of Things (IoT) has emerged as a promising subsegment within the global Information and Communication Technology (ICT) market, as a result of the quick advancements in communication technologies and infrastructure.
A number of smart IoT devices in a smart home setting have been introduced in the market for the convenience of consumers. The amount of IoT devices being released to the market which possess characteristics of the Artificial Intelligence (AI) and IoT technology has increased rapidly with data suggesting the growth of sales of such devices in the UK market (Government Office for Science, 2021). While the sales of smart IoT devices are on the rise, consumer acceptance rates of smart devices such as smart lighting, plugs, bathroom scales, smoke alarms and smart baby monitors indicate a very low rate of ownership in the UK households. (Government Office for Science, 2021). This discrepancy can be attributed to various factors, with privacy, security concerns and trust in IoT providers emerging as significant obstacles. Understanding the specific nature of these concerns along with a multitude of other relevant factors and their impact on consumer behaviour is crucial for industry stakeholders to effectively address the challenges and promote wider acceptance of smart home devices.
While the previous versions of technology acceptance models were constructed for various technological innovations with focus on technology of those times, their focus was not on the IoT technology. The user behaviour of IoT technology in a home environment is receiving significant attention from studies applying technology acceptance models recently however these studies aim to assess the applicability of historical models to this newly emerged technology whereas the current research aims to develop a technology acceptance model of IoT devices (TAM-IOT) within the home environment including the key factors from historical models along with most recent contemporary factors such as perceived risks and trust in IoT providers that are significant from a consumer’s perspective.
This thesis aimed to study the factors influencing the acceptance of IoT devices using Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) (Davis, 1989) as a guiding theory along with its various extensions such as TAM2 (Venkatesh and Davis, 2000), TAM3 (Venkatesh and Bala, 2008), Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology model (UTAUT) (Venkatesh et al., 2003) and UTAUT2 (Venkatesh, Thong and Xu, 2012). The main aim of the study was to identify and reinstate the impact of attitude on behavioural intention of consumers and study the diverse relationships between factors influencing the consumer behaviour towards IoT devices.
The study achieved its aims by pragmatist methodology of exploratory study to identify the choice of factors to develop a hypothetical deductive approach tested using questionnaires as a quantitative research method. The acquired data was analysed using techniques such as structural equation modelling, least square regression etc. to derive the ranking of factors determining the hierarchy of the factors and finally leading to the development of a Technology Acceptance Model of Internet Of Things (TAM-IOT). The results of the studies indicated that socio-demographic variable of education had a significant moderating impact on the relation between perceived ease of use and intention to buy/use as well as between perceived usefulness and intention to buy/use. However, other moderators such as age, gender and income level showed less statistical significance with p values >0.05 not supported by the sample data for this study and hence were rejected disapproving their significant moderation impact in previous studies.
Several individual path coefficients proved to be statistically reliable specially the perceived usefulness and attitude influencing the intention to buy/use IoT devices, it was noteworthy to find that the combined effect of all the factors on overall model of technology acceptance affected the fit statistics making it advisable for further research for accurate future estimations. The study enabled the ranking of factors significant to the overall model with trust in IoT providers along with perceived usefulness and attitude as one of the most significant factors and social influence as the least significant factor affecting the intention to buy/use smart IoT devices
The Impact of Human Implication for AI-Supported Decisions over Perception of Trust, Agency and Dignity
Get PDFRecent developments in artificial intelligence (AI), more specifically in generative AI, are disrupting our life. The integration of generative AI raises questions pertaining not only to the performance and accuracy of the AI system, but also to the boundaries of the role of both human and AI. This calls for a better understanding of the perception of human dignity over different uses of generative AI, but also for comprehending how said perception may interact with trust into the AI and sense of agency. The goal of the current study was to evaluate the perception of human dignity, trust and sense of agency among different uses of AI-supported decisions depending on the context of use and on the level of implication of the human decision maker. We presented participants a series of vignettes where generative AI systems were used to support decision making in five domains of use (health, business, humanities, arts, and technology) and four types of support (for decision support, communication, creativity, and research). The level of human implication regarding the decision was also manipulated across two conditions. Sense of agency, trust in the AI, perception of appropriateness for the AI to make a decision, as well as interpersonal justice and dehumanization level measures were collected for each vignette. Results outlined that sense of agency differed across conditions. Domain of use influenced sense of agency, trust in the AI, decision appropriateness and dehumanization perceptions, with differences emerging mostly for health-related vignettes. The type of support also impacted trust and decision appropriateness, with more positive perceptions for vignettes discussing creativity use cases. Overall, our study sheds light on the perception of the general population over different types of AI use and how components such as perception of agency, trust and dignity may vary depending on the nature of the use
Impact of Fixed External Shading Devices on Green Educational Building Assessment in Hot Summer and Warm Winter Climate
Get PDFThe construction industry contributes a significant part of global energy consumption and carbon emissions. Accurately calculating and evaluating the energy consumption, economic performance, and carbon emissions regarding various types of building components is important for the energy efficiency structural design and building sustainable development. The use of external shading devices can effectively control daylight and solar heat, maintain thermal and visual comfort, especially reducing energy consumption for cooling system. Although great improvements have been achieved in ‘Assessment Standard for Green Building GB/T50378-2019’ (ASGB-2019), the current implemented Chinese green building evaluation standard, issues may have significant consequences on the implementation of new policy. The impact of fixed external shading facilities on their thermal and energy-saving performance has been highlighted in the existing research, however, their economic and environmental performance haven’t been in study. Moreover, there is a lack of effective assessment method for the fixed external shading devices focusing on their multiple performance (energy-saving, economic and environmental perspectives) in ASGB-2019.
To investigate the impact of fixed external shading devices on green educational building within the hot summer and warm winter climate region of China, the mixed research
methodology has been applied in this research project, integrating various quantitative and qualitative approaches. The qualitative measures include literature review and case study, while the quantitative approaches are comparative study and simulation analysis methods. The BESI 2024, life cycle cost analysis (LCCA), CEEB 2024 and ÉLimination Et Choix Traduisant la REalité (ELECTRE) I method have been adopted as simulation analysis methods.
The main findings are: 1) The comparative study and case study results point out that there is a low focus on the assessment of external shading design and a lack of qualitative or quantitative regulatory provision on the assessment of fixed external shading devices in ASGB-2019, establishing a foundation for introducing the multi-criteria decision analysis (MCDA) method in the subsequent study. 2) The energy-saving simulation results generate an optimum shading option among 21 proposed fixed external shading designs, which is ‘Integrated shading I’ with 6.03% of energy-saving rate of building envelope. 3) By considering energy-saving effect and three recyclable materials (e.g., merbau, aluminum, and polycarbonate), the LCCA results show that the six targeted shading cases with net present value (NPV) of life cycle cost (LCC, also can be regarded as initial investments) from high to low are Polycarbonate A, Merbau A, Polycarbonate B, Merbau B, Aluminum A and Aluminum B. 4) The carbon emission simulation results demonstrate the six shading alternatives with life cycle carbon (LCCO2) emission values from high to low are Aluminum B, Aluminum A, Polycarbonate A, Polycarbonate B, Merbau A and Merbau B. 5) Integrating the entropy weight and ELECTRE I methods, the MCDA result generates a final ranking table to suggest a most preferred shading option for the studied education building, which is Aluminum B. Further, a weighting matrix with three criteria has been proposed for the assessment improvement regarding fixed external shading devices, namely, ‘energy-saving rate of building envelope’, ‘NPV of LCC’, and ‘LCCO2 emission amount’, with the weight coefficient of 32.8%, 28.7% and 38.5% respectively.
This research proposes a mixed methodology to support MCDA method on the assessment of fixed external shading devices with consideration of energy-saving, economic and
environmental impact. A green educational building project is presented to demonstrate the use of the proposed methodology and provide a useful reference for the improvement of green building assessment in China
How can an SME within the IT industry navigate greenwashing?
Get PDFDespite raised awareness within society, greenwashing is increasing in both prevalence and sophistication. Within the IT sector, greenwashing can be seen emanating from IT technology manufacturers to electronic waste (e-waste) recyclers. Small and medium enterprises (SMEs) who are committed to demonstrating genuine environmental credentials are faced with significant challenges in clearly advertising the impact of their business when relying on third-party claims of green credentials which they may not have the expertise or resources to substantiate. With Rapid IT, a small IT recycling and refurbishment business as a case study, risk factors for greenwashing within the IT industry, more specifically for e-waste recycling, are investigated to establish how SMEs can avoid being unconsciously impacted by greenwashing.
To examine Rapid IT’s dependence on downstream recycling partners for greenwashing risks, an anonymous questionnaire was designed and completed by 21 e-waste recycling and IT refurbishment businesses in the UK. Potential greenwashing factors were investigated through business responses on the calculation of carbon footprints and measures taken to reduce carbon emissions, the recycling practices used for e-waste and the questions that customers ask regarding sustainability.
Statistical analysis of the results found that the majority (85.7%) of the businesses focus on their environmental credentials within their marketing to customers, but 33.3% of businesses have no awareness of their carbon footprints. A wide variety of measures to reduce environmental impacts through waste disposal, recycling and operational emissions are employed by the businesses, but relatively few businesses have adopted externally verified carbon assessments (23.8%), despite the high occurrence of businesses with ISO 14001 environmental accreditation (66.7%). Similarly restricted uptake is seen for carbon plans for net-zero emissions by 2050 (42.9%) or emission-reduction measures such as biofuel use for transport (0%), onsite renewable electricity generation (33.3%) or energy management systems (9.5%). Additionally, customers ask insufficient questions on sustainability, particularly those relating to carbon emissions as opposed to the recycling process. The findings indicate a need for greater attention to carbon emission reductions from IT and e-waste recycling and refurbishment SMEs in order to claim sustainability with assurance and avoid greenwashing. Recycling customers could reduce their risks of being misled through greenwashing by increasing active enquiries about the sustainability of recycling. Additionally, the average redistribution of e-waste to further recyclers is significant (46.4%), highlighting an area of greenwashing risk potential for downstream recyclers to invalidate the claims of zero waste-to-landfill made by businesses such as Rapid IT.
The findings from the questionnaire analysis were used to formulate a set of criteria that SMEs could use to reduce the risk of unconscious greenwashing from secondary exposure to downstream recycling or disposal partners
Beyond the Screen: Exploring Experiences of First Year Computer Science Students in Higher Education
Get PDFWith an increasingly diverse range of students entering higher education, the need to understand their needs is paramount, so that everyone has the opportunity to thrive and succeed in a socially just system. Research has been ongoing in this area for decades, but until recently has been mostly based on quantitative data collected centrally, without really considering the students, their lived experiences or their needs.
This research investigates the multifaceted experiences of first-year computing students through a comprehensive analysis using a mixed methods approach. Using quantitative data, the research examined the impact of student characteristics, feelings, and prior experiences on student outcomes for their first year of study on a computer science related degree in a university in the northwest of England. Qualitative data was collected in the form of interviews conducted with 17 participants over five timeframes during the first year of their degree, complemented by a reflective interview towards the end of their final year. Thematic analysis was applied to these data, which resulted in four primary themes: Social, Personal, Pressure, and Mental Health. Each theme encompasses several key aspects: Belonging, Friendship, and Family within Social; Comparison to Others, Self-Efficacy, Finances, and Future Aspirations within Personal; Workload, Expectations, and Fear of Failure within Pressure; and Wellbeing, Emotions, and Coping Strategies within Mental Health. The qualitative data was further examined by timeframe and longitudinally to understand the changing perceptions over time.
The findings reveal the intricate interplay between these themes, highlighting how social connections can alleviate stress, how personal confidence influences academic success, and how effective coping strategies are essential for managing mental health challenges. A conceptual model of the student experience is proposed to encapsulate these dynamics, offering a holistic view of the student journey. This model emphasises the importance of a structured student-focused approach, building confident independent learners and suggesting that interventions should be multifaceted and tailored to address the interconnected nature of student challenges. This framework provides a valuable tool for universities to enhance support services, inform policy, and ultimately promote student success and wellbeing.
This study was conducted with participants from computer science programmes in one university in the northwest of England, so whilst the recommendations and model are limited to this study, there is scope to extend beyond these boundaries
The application of Kelp (Laminaria digitata) in marginal agroecosystems
Get PDFLazybeds were a historic agricultural system that used a ridge and furrow approach to improve soils for crop production in marginal land. These Lazybed systems were further characterised by the use of dung/manure and marine macroalgae (in coastal areas) as fertilisers. This thesis aimed to investigate whether Lazybeds could be sustainably re-cultivated and how the use of kelp (Laminaria digitata) and dung/manure fertilisers in the system affect food production. It was important to determine how kelp performed in comparison to more conventionally used organic fertilisers such as animal dung/manures. Further, knowledge gaps existed in understanding how earthworm populations, key to processing nutrients and incorporation of organic matter, would interact with kelp as a food source. To better understand fertiliser and management regimes, climatic variables and earthworm communities, their effects on changes in physico-chemical and biological soil properties and crop yields need to be disentangled. This research primarily investigated how the use of kelp fertilisers on marginal soils could support plant growth, using a combination of laboratory, glasshouse, and field studies. Results show that the effects of organic fertiliser type on crop yields was significant, with fresh kelp increasing yields for some crops when compared to animal manures and commercially available seaweed extract liquid fertiliser. However, changes in soil properties, conventionally associated with improved crop performance, were often found to be similar for both kelp and animal manure-fertilised treatments. Further experimentation found that fresh kelp consistently outperformed kelp at various decompositional stages. This suggests that the mechanism leading to increased crop production in fresh kelp fertilised treatments is rapidly degraded during the decomposition process. Further, kelp fertilisers were found to modify crop growth response to reduced watering, enhancing crop production and increasing resistance to drought more than manure fertilisers. In addition, experiments presented in this thesis found that earthworms decreased the efficacy of kelp fertilisers. This suggests that the mechanisms driving increases in plant growth are partly degraded when kelp is consumed and egested by earthworms. Additional research is required in field settings to evaluate how earthworms selectively feed, and if kelp is avoided, then the crop may benefit from other earthworm activity. Furthermore, kelp and manure-based fertilisers were comparable in their ability to increase yields from continuous to alternate cropping (rotations with rest periods) systems, although yields were greater in the kelp-fertilised, alternate cropping treatment. Determination of Lazybed effects on soil properties and elucidating the mechanisms driving increases in plant growth, could be used to determine land management strategies to enhance sustainable food production, bringing areas of marginal land back into production. However, kelp is a limited natural resource which is already threatened by multiple climatic and anthropogenic pressures and its presence is geographically and temporally variable. As such, there is very limited scope for these agricultural systems to be adopted at scale. However, aspects of the Lazybed system may be most valuable in small-scale coastal systems where economic constraints and environmental concerns make the use of inorganic fertilisers less feasible