OARS - Open Access Repository Suffolk
Not a member yet
2036 research outputs found
Sort by
Validity and reliability of flywheel resistance technology as an assessment method and its association with sports performance and asymmetry: a systematic review
No full textFlywheel technology is commonly used in training but remains underutilized for monitoring and testing. Flywheel devices can provide valuable data from mechanical outputs during both concentric and eccentric movements. This systematic review assesses its validity and reliability for evaluating sports performance and limb asymmetry. Searches were conducted in PubMed, SPORT-Discus, Google Scholar, and Web of Science following PRISMA DTA guidelines, focusing on keywords related to flywheel testing. Results show that flywheel testing is reliable (ICC=0.66-0.99, r=0.69-0.97, α=0.85-0.98) and valid for the athletic population when subjects undergo two familiarization sessions. The test can be conducted using rotary encoders, force plates, linear encoders, or inertial measurement units. Participants may perform 1-2 pre-repetitions followed by 5-10 recording repetitions with 1-4 sets and 2-3 minutes of rest between sets. Moment of inertia can be customized based on the athlete's experience and the type of flywheel device used. Key metrics for assessment encompass speed, force, and power, with peak power being the most commonly employed parameter. Few samples of evidence showed that increased asymmetry in concentric power may negatively affect change of direction performance, emphasizing the need for more high-quality studies. In conclusion, flywheel technology offers valuable insights across various movements, providing strength and power assessment while potentially improving athletic performance and injury prevention. Continued research is vital to explore its effectiveness in diverse athletic contexts
The politics of biological otherness in intercountry adoption
No full textDespite decades of academic, social and political emphasis on the agency of children, childhood itself continues to be constructed as an apolitical space. Children are encouraged to flex their social agency but still considered unable to wield political agency. Yet globally we find children within politically contested arenas such as environmentalism and gun control. Locally we see children affecting change in their neighbourhoods and calling for change across a variety of diverse issues. This chapter explores the experiences of children at the centre of a socially and politically contested family construct, one formed by intercountry and transracial adoption. Using empirical data I explore how girls adopted from China by English families face ongoing questioning about their familial status, their birth country and family. The lack of biological and racial belonging to their adoptive families makes their ‘belonging otherness’ visible. When very young it is the adoptive parents who respond to the recurring curiosity which emerges from the social gaze. As the girls get older, however, they are increasingly required to address the challenges made to their adoptive belonging and to defend their presence in both family and country. It is these girls who confront and contest the discursive narratives which continue to position them as othered and where their right to belong remains open to recurring scrutiny. In the chapter I argue that these adoptive girls demonstrate political agency as they respond to such questions which carry discursive undercurrents of racism, immigration and biological privilege
Is the Midwifery profession academic enough?
Full text linkThis is the final article in a series of six inspired by themes arising from the Royal College of Midwives' state of midwifery education report. The series has explored the current landscape and challenges in educating the future midwifery workforce, particularly those that relate to the higher education workforce itself. This article considers the academic level of the midwifery profession. The decreasing number of midwifery professors in higher education was noted in the Royal College of Midwives' report. This article explores how relatively recent regulatory changes may have decreased opportunities for registered midwives to advance their academic qualifications and contribute to the professional knowledge base. It also examines how midwives can be better supported to undertake additional academic qualifications and research, whether they work in practice or higher education
Making the human the strongest link in an integrated cyber physical systems (CPS) operational stack concept for combined security, sustainability, assurance, and safety (S2AS)
No full textOrganisations of all sizes are increasingly using emerging technologies like Artificial Intelligence (AI) and the Internet of Things (IoT) to enhance effectiveness [1, 2], fostering innovation and economic growth [3, 4]. However, it is leading to increasing human factor vulnerabilities exposure and now necessitating a move to an integrated human-centric approach involving security, sustainability assurance and safety to transform humans from the perceived weakest link to the strongest [5, 6].
Based on Riley’s 2014 cyber terrain operational stack (CTOS) [9], this paper uses case studies to develop and combine an integrated human-centric view with an algorithmic-centric risk management methodology for a hybrid approach in cyber-physical environments. This methodology builds on from the original security triad's evolution [10] and aligns with potential new Security, Sustainability, Assurance and Safety (S2AS) risk management atomic attributes, providing an integrated framework for managing risks in cyber-physical ecosystems.
The proposed integrated risk management framework potentially can be associated with the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), linking S2AS risk atomic attributes to identify potential risks and mitigation strategies. This could support fostering inclusive employment, technological innovation, and responsible consumption via AI and IoT for organisations [3]
IBILTA 2025 conference abstracts: Knocking down walls: embedding inclusion into real-world learning environments
Full text linkPoster abstract:
Our poster features a collection of pedagogical and practical strategies currently being adopted, as well as collaborative opportunities across schools and support services, that we report to promote student engagement with inclusivity within real-world learning environments. These practices focus on developing inclusivity skills including self-awareness, understanding unconscious bias, cultural awareness and competence, and professional curiosity. All of which contribute to the broader development of citizenship skills in preparation for employment
Exploring Women’s Experiences in Higher Education: A Focus on Nursing and Midwifery
No full textThis book considers the structure and demographics of the workforce in nursing and midwifery higher education, observing the gender divide, highlighting the impact of intersectionality, and exploring the challenges and opportunities this provides. Divers and Chenery-Morris look at the power of clinical practice, the perception of nursing and midwifery as ‘women’s work,’ perceptions of meaning around being female, social mobility, race, sexuality, the ‘caring role,’ academic identities and the role of men. To investigate these issues, they introduce intersectional case studies of the lived experiences of women working in higher education and make connections to the wider international literature, in particular sociological, feminist and gender theories.
The chapters are linked to larger questions that encompass the purpose of universities more generally, including social mobility, generating new knowledge, challenging irrelevant practices or those rooted in colonisation, and reflexivity culminating in visions of the future for the professions. Showcasing a range of experiences and voices from nursing and midwifery academics, this is an important contribution to discussions of gender in higher education and in the caring professions.
It will interest advanced students and researchers from nursing, midwifery, education, sociology, and gender studies
Co-producing evidence-based care: nurses’ and patients’ lived experiences in long-term condition management.
Full text linkAim: To explore the lived experiences of nurses and patients co-producing evidence-based care for long-term conditions, and to understand how they make sense of this process within relational, emotional, and organisational contexts.
Design: A qualitative study using Interpretative Phenomenological Approach.
Methods: Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 20 participants, comprising 11 registered nurses and 9 adult patients living with at least one Long Term Conditions. Participants were recruited from primary and secondary care settings across the Midlands, England. Data were collected between February and August 2023 and analysed using IPA’s iterative and inductive framework.
Results: Five experiential themes were identified: (1) weaving together different knowledges, (2) the relational foundations of co-production, (3) organisational pressures and misalignments, (4) shifting identities and power dynamics, and (5) emotional and ethical complexity in co-producing care. Participants described co-production as a deeply relational and negotiated process, shaped by trust, vulnerability, and shared decision-making.
Conclusion: Co-producing evidence-based care in Long Term Conditions management involves more than implementing guidelines. It is a relational, emotional, and contextual practice that requires shared interpretation of evidence, deep listening, and responsiveness to individual lives. Findings suggest a need to reframe EBP as a co-creative process grounded in relational ethics and contextual awareness.
Impact and implications: Findings emphasise the centrality of relational competence and organisational flexibility in enabling co-produced care. Findings call for educational and policy reforms that value emotional labour, professional humility, and patient knowledge as essential to evidence-based nursing. Internationally, this work provides a grounded model for integrating person-centred approaches into chronic care delivery and policy
Contribution to the wider global clinical community: The study offers a relational model of evidence-based practice that moves beyond protocol-driven care to one shaped through dialogue, empathy, and contextual negotiation, offering practical insights for transforming professional roles and health systems globally.
Patient and Public Involvement: Patient representatives contributed to study design, development of interview guides, and interpretation of findings to ensure alignment with lived experiences.
Reporting Method: This study follows the SRQR guideline
The role of ambient air pollution, exercise intensity and duration on the acute lung function and airway inflammation responses to exercise: a systematic review
Full text linkBackground: More attention is required on the relations between air pollution and exercise characteristics. Aims: This systematic review aims to investigate the combined effects of exercise intensity and duration in ambient air pollution referenced against 2021 WHO Air Quality Guidelines, on lung function and fractional exhaled nitric oxide (FeNO). Methods: A search was conducted using PubMed, Sport Discus, Proquest, and Web of Science databases, up to August 2023, in accordance with the PRISMA guidelines. Results: From 1220 identified articles, 22 were included based on inclusion and exclusion criteria. Exercise intensity and duration were reported as described by authors of the original research. Pollutant concentrations were classified as above or below the 2021 24-h WHO Air Quality Guideline pollutant thresholds. Exercise intensities were inconsistent, ranging from “comfortable pace” walking to 90% maximum heart rate. Exercise duration ranged from 20 min to 8 h of intermittent exercise. Eighteen studies measured pollutants that the WHO provide 24 h thresholds for; 14 of those 18 studies had conditions that exceeded threshold for at least one pollutant, and 11 of the 14 reported significant associations between air pollution, exercise, lung function and/or FeNO. Conclusions: Adverse lung function and FeNO responses were associated with exercise in conditions with pollutant concentrations exceeding the 2021 24 h WHO thresholds. Longer duration exercise (> 2 h) was frequently associated with adverse acute responses, whilst the potential influence of exercise intensity was less clear. Evidence appears to suggest exercise ≥ 120 min in pollution concentrations exceeding WHO thresholds may result in reduced lung function
Sociologically unspeakable?: the ethics of ethnography and live methods
Full text linkLive Methods argued that there is an ethical imperative for sociologists to really listen to what precariously positioned people say. Research methods can be exploitative in how they render people’s presence. This paper discusses how I practised Live Methods in one ethnography conducted with young migrants in London over 15 years. This research was meant to last two years, but continued on the basis of an emerging ethical covenant with participants – that both researchers and people taking part believed that these individual stories said something about individual lives, but also about others’ experiences of precarity. A tension emerged between keeping this covenant and sociological strictures that forbade making general claims from qualitative ‘samples’. In this paper, I work productively through this tension in close engagement with ethnographic encounters with one participant, Mardoche. I argue that conducting research across time and the in-depth quality of the interviews opened up the possibility of making more general claims from individuals’ stories. I conclude that while my ethnographic iteration is in keeping with Live Methods’ ethical imperative, whether it is ‘speakable’ within the discipline of Sociology is questionable