OARS - Open Access Repository Suffolk
Not a member yet
2036 research outputs found
Sort by
Developing a toolkit to help smaller local authorities establish strong net zero governance in the UK
Get PDFIntroduction: The Skidmore Review of UK Government's net zero approach highlights a lack of a national framework which establishes local government role, responsibilities and area-based governance arrangements. Although unified political leadership agreed as part of devolution deals has helped some areas to marshal resources and support, the national delivery landscape for net zero remains patchy. This study develops a toolkit to help local areas improve local arrangements.
Methods: A mixed methods research approach has been used to develop the toolkit. It incorporates a set of governance models, a method for assessing the values of good governance, a governance improvement process and an illustration of how the toolkit can be employed using three cases where the two-tier public administrative structure applies.
Results: Results from the research process suggest that although change is happening it lacks the coherence and scale needed, with non-urban multiple-tier public administrations getting left behind by their metropolitan, single-tier counterparts creating a credibility and performance gap between political rhetoric and local net zero delivery. This observed inertia highlights the need to change governance processes and practices if public administration is going to deliver its part of net zero effectively outside the UK Metropolitan areas.
Discussion: The gap in support for local government to develop net zero governance arrangements is well recognized in both this research and publicly funded research programmes. This study provides UK local authorities with a simple, effective toolkit, that could potentially help them build strong wider societal relationships that will assist them in playing their full part in the UK reaching net zero
Pathways
No full textCara is a dedicated neuroscientist with a research post at Cambridge. Heather is her almost-stepdaughter, drifting towards the end of school, trying to picture a future that fits her. Paul is Cara’s partner and Heather’s father – and when he suddenly disappears with no explanation, these two very different women, legally and biologically unrelated, need to figure out their place in each other’s life.
Set in Cambridge and Las Vegas, each city in its way as artificial as the other, Pathways is about connections forged and connections failed, and how people struggle to understand themselves and each other. A novel of both the heart and the head, it is perceptive, wry and unexpectedly moving, a love story of deep originality and intelligence
Physical performance is affected by players’ position, game location and substitutions during official competitions in professional Championship English football
Get PDFChaize, C, Allen, M, and Beato, M. Physical performance is affected by players’ position, game location, and substitutions during official competitions in professional Championship English football. J Strength Cond Res XX(X): 000–000, 2024—This study aimed to verify, first, if physical parameters were different between positions during official matches in the English Football League Championship. Second, whether game location (home vs. away games) and playing status (full match vs. substitute) affected players' physical performance. Twenty-six, male, professional, football players of the same club were included in this data analysis during the 2023–24 season. STATSports 10 Hz global navigation satellite systems Apex units (Northern Ireland, United Kingdom) were used to monitor official matches (21 games). The metrics recorded were distance covered (m·min−1), high-speed running distance (>19.8 km·h−1), sprint distance (>25.2 km·h−1), the number of accelerations (>3 m·s−2), decelerations (25.5 w·kg−1). Significant differences were found between positions and game location for distance covered and high-speed running (HSR; p < 0.05) as well as between game location (p = 0.020) for sprinting distance. Differences were found between game location (p = 0.034) for decelerations. Differences were found between positions and game location for HMLD (p < 0.05). Significant difference between full-match players vs. substitutes were found for distance covered (p < 0.001), HSR (p = 0.002), accelerations (p = 0.017), decelerations (p = 0.023), and HMLD (p = 0.008). In conclusion, this study found that physical performance was influenced by players' positions and player status, whereas it found that game location affected a minor number of physical metrics. Therefore, practitioners should be aware that training should be tailored based on the physical demands of the players' positions. Moreover, practitioners and managers need to be aware of the positive impact of substitutions on match intensity
How should counselling psychologists investigate their practice in an era of volatility?
No full textContent and Focus: Counselling psychologists offer their services to clients in organisational, political and economic contexts that are characterised by increasing levels of complexity, uncertainty and turbulence. Investigating the effectiveness of what we do remains critical to the future of the psychology professions, but our traditional approaches to scientific enquiry may not be adequate for the types of dilemma generated by complexity.
Conclusions: This paper describes a framework, adapted from contemporary complexity theory, that can support us in thinking systematically and creatively about the range of investigative skills we might need if professional practice is to prove fit for purpose in the decades to come. It is proposed that complexity theory can assist us in responding creatively to the dilemmas of living and working in unprecedented times
Looking/Seeing: On Daniel & Clara, The Watcher and the Bird
No full textThis is a brief essay written for the University of Essex blog considering Daniel & Clara's current exhibition at the university
Experience of CBT in adults with ADHD: a mixed methods study.
Get PDFThe National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) recommends Cognitive-Behavioural therapy (CBT) as the psychotherapeutic treatment of choice for adults with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) in the UK. However, the literature often refers to adapted CBT programs tailored for ADHD and provides limited insight into how adults with ADHD experience and perceive this form of treatment in routine clinical practice. This mixed-methods study aims to explore ADHD individuals' experience and perception of CBT delivered in routine clinical practice, to gain a better understanding of this treatment's helpfulness and perceived effectiveness. A survey (n=46) and semi-structured in-depth interviews (n=10) were conducted to explore the experience of CBT and its perceived effectiveness in managing ADHD. The interviews were analysed using thematic analysis and the survey was synthesised using descriptive narratives. The thematic analysis highlighted three key themes: difficulties with the CBT framework, difficulties with CBT therapists, and consequences of CBT. The survey highlighted similar findings. Participants described the CBT framework as, generic, rigid, and too short, and described the CBT therapist as unspecialised, unempathetic, and not sufficiently adapting CBT to ADHD-related difficulties. Overall, participants found non-adapted, generic CBT in the UK to be unhelpful, overwhelming, and at times harmful to their mental well-being. Therefore, it is necessary for clinical bodies in the UK, while following the indicated NICE guidelines, to be mindful of adapting CBT delivery of CBT, to be most effective for people with ADHD and to mitigate potential harm. [Abstract copyright: Copyright © 2024 William, Horrocks, Richmond, Hall and French.
Comparative assessment of insulation materials for improving indoor air quality in building retrofit
Get PDFThis paper evaluates the impacts of different insulation materials on Indoor Air Quality (IAQ) and occupant health with a focus on the Volatile Organic Compound (VOC) emissions. The main aim is to identify options that minimize exposure rates while improving IAQ and energy in retrofitted buildings. A comprehensive literature review was conducted synthesizing scholarly articles, guidelines from international organizations, and information on pollutants, IAQ standards, and retrofit strategies. The findings show high emission rates for some insulation materials that could negatively affect health. Hemp insulation in contrast was identified as a promising solution exhibiting low VOC emissions compared to other insulation materials. As sustainable construction practices advance, hemp insulation emerges as a viable retrofit strategy for social housing by synergistically addressing performance gaps related to energy conservation, air quality, and thermal comfort. The synthesis of evidence from this paper suggests that, from environmental and public health perspectives, certain insulation materials are preferable for improving IAQ and reducing the risk of exposure to indoor air pollutants in retrofitted building
Immersive-360° theater: user experience in the virtual auditorium and platform efficacy for current and underserved audiences.
Get PDFThe present study explores the efficacy and social potential of immersive-360° theater—live-captured theater performances filmed for virtual reality (VR) viewing—as a remote platform for audiences to view theater. We obtained survey and structured interview responses from 166 and 30 participants, respectively, self-categorized as regular theatergoers, novices, or underserved audiences. We measured immersion, presence, and emotional arousal in the virtual auditorium, technology acceptance, and social perceptions including platform compatibility with traditional theater and use as a psychosocial and accessibility promotion tool. Findings show that in the immersive-360° theater auditorium ratings for presence and immersion are mixed, and the latter is likely to be influenced by external factors including hardware quality and environmental distractors. For most, immersive-360° theater is regarded as a positive tool for psychosocial aspects and accessibility, but many highlighted the absence of social aspects which are central to the traditional theater experience and cannot be replicated in remote conditions. Despite this, the experience was enjoyable for most participants, and crucially, the majority of participants do not perceive immersive-360° theater as a “threat” to its traditional counterpart. Rather, with certain improvements it is seen as a compatible and complementary offering that has potential for use as a digital pipeline for underserved audiences and recruiting new patrons. Suggestions for improving the quality of the VR theater experience and its potential as an accessibility tool included improving headset quality and resolution, additional accessibility and user controls, and the ability to share the experience with somebody else in real tim
Stochastic power supply technologies for energy-efficient, networked, sound-reinforcement systems
Get PDFThe migration of professional audio systems towards Ethernet-based networking allows optimisation software to maximise key performance indicators (KPIs) such as the power required for particular applications. In this study, we focus on minimising peak power requirements by the use of supercapacitors (SCs) for demand smoothing with Class D audio amplification of at least 600 W root mean square (rms) output. Depending on the content, a 600 W maximum r.m.s output music programme is shown to draw just 60 W (10% of peak rms) on average. Our studies used music programme statistical analysis and probability theory, which enabled the minimum value of SC for a predetermined voltage drop to be found exactly and hence minimise costs/size requirements. The use of energy storage in audio (and other contexts) is not new of course, but we believe the probabilistic calculation and use of unprecedented SC reservoir capacitance values is original. This power averaging technique then allows Power-over-Ethernet (PoE) to be used, particularly the IEEE802.3 bt type 4 variant and AES67 Ethernet over powerline. As commercial PoE systems are now available for this standard, we have constructed a complete 600 W r.m.s class D sound system which has type 4 PoE as its sole power input. Again, PoE sound systems are not new but the extension to very high powers has not been reported to the best of our knowledge. In the powerline context, we describe a first-of-its-kind, outdoor venue, 5000 W peak rms, Class D audio system with > 1 km of standard 5 A mains cable, AES67 audio transport over powerline and lithium-ion energy storage at the amplifier location. An added benefit is that solar assistance can be used
An educational review on machine learning: a SWOT analysis for implementing machine learning techniques in football
Get PDFThe abundance of data in football presents both opportunities and challenges for decision-making. Consequently, this review has two primary objectives: first, to provide practitioners with a concise overview of the characteristics of machine learning (ML) analysis; and second, to conduct a Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats (SWOT) analysis regarding the implementation of ML techniques in professional football clubs. This review explains the difference between artificial intelligence and ML, and the difference between ML and statistical analysis. Moreover, we summarize and explain the characteristics of ML learning approaches such as supervised learning, unsupervised learning and reinforcement learning. Finally, we present an example of SWOT analysis, which suggests some actions to be considered in applying ML techniques by the medical and sport science staff working in football. Specifically, four dimensions were presented namely the use of strengths to create opportunities and make the most of them, the use of strengths to avoid threats, work on weaknesses to take advantage of opportunities, and upgrade weaknesses to avoid threats.
Conclusion: ML analysis can be an invaluable ally for football clubs, sport science and medical departments due to its ability to analyze vast amounts of data and extract meaningful insights. Moreover, ML can enhance performance by assessing the risk of injury occurrence, physiological parameters, physical fitness, and optimizing training, recommending strategies based on opponent analysis, and identifying talent and assessing player suitability