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Decision‐chain integrity and sustainment of the individual placement and support model: An embedded single case study in Finland
No full textThe individual placement and support (IPS) model is an evidence‐based practice proven effective in aiding individuals with mental disorders to achieve and maintain competitive employment. This study examines how policy and structural factors are perceived to influence the model's sustainment as routine practice after a national development project in Finland. We aim to identify critical dimensions related to decision‐making at the national, regional, and local organisational levels. We used a qualitative single‐case approach, analysing 21 stakeholder interviews and nine administrative documents. We conducted abductive thematic analyses. We report the results in compliance with the COREQ guideline. Our analysis identified three main external contextual influences affecting service sustainment: (1) System‐Level Planning—the coherence of formulation and execution of facilitative strategies across different administrative levels; (2) Political Decision Making—the recognition of inception points of policy change and the ability to set the IPS model on a broader policy agenda; and (3) Stakeholder Engagement and Collaboration—the need for mutual goals and collaborative platforms. Strategic planning, governance decisions, and stakeholder involvement affect local‐level decisions on the IPS model's sustained implementation. This research introduces the concept of ‘Decision‐Chain Integrity’, highlighting the alignment of strategies and their implementation across different levels of administration as a pivotal factor in producing sustained change in the service system
Dynamic mode decomposition analysis of very low frequency oscillations on the Irish grid
No full textRobust beamforming design for RSMA-integrated full-duplex communications: energy and spectral efficiency trade-off
No full textIn this paper, we investigate an unconventional full-duplex (FD) integrated rate-splitting multiple access (RSMA) scheme for improved spectral efficiency (SE) and energy efficiency (EE) performance when compared to the conventional power-domain schemes. In particular, we focus on improving the energy efficiency (EE) and spectral efficiency (SE) trade-off for the multiple users subject to robust beamforming design and smart inter-user interference mitigation under imperfect channel state information (CSI). We formulate a multi-objective optimization (MOO) problem, specifically aiming to jointly maximize EE and SE within the FD-RSMA system by jointly optimizing the resource allocation subject to the limits on transmit power and minimum rate, under the assumption of a CSI error model with a bound. Initially, the MOO problem is converted into a single objective optimization (SOO) problem using the weighted sum method, with a trade-off parameter. An iterative algorithm is employed, utilizing successive convex approximation and the S-procedure to achieve near-optimal resource allocation for the transformed SOO problem, with a particular emphasis on effective interference management. Simulation results highlight the effectiveness of the FD-RSMA scheme, demonstrating its superiority over the multi-user FD space division multiple access by 16.93 % and non-orthogonal multiple access scheme by 76.04 %
Active RIS-aided NOMA-enabled space-air-ground integrated networks with cognitive radio
No full textIn this work, we investigate an active reconfigurable intelligent surface (RIS)-aided non-orthogonal multiple access (NOMA)-enabled space-air-ground integrated network (SAGIN) with cognitive radio, leveraging the flexible deployment of an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) and the ubiquitous coverage of satellite networks. The UAV serves uplink and downlink users in the secondary network via NOMA and time division multiple access mechanisms, respectively, while satellites provide wireless backhaul for the UAV and primary users. We aim to maximize the weighted sum mean rate and energy efficiency for the secondary network by jointly the optimizing power allocation, the RIS reflection coefficients (RC), the user matching factors, and the UAV trajectory. We propose an alternating optimization framework based on the block coordinate ascent (BCA) technique, which decouples the problem into multiple variable blocks for alternating optimization until convergence. Moreover, we investigate the performance of energy-efficient active RIS with a sub-connected architecture, decoupling the RIS RC optimization into amplification factor and phase shift subproblems to be solved separately. Finally, simulation results validate the effectiveness of the proposed schemes, and demonstrate weakness of passive RIS and rationality and economics of sub-connected active RIS architecture
Factor validation of the International Trauma Questionnaire in a sample of trauma-exposed Colombian adults in the MI-VIDA study
No full textBackgroundThe ICD-11 introduced a new diagnosis of complex post-traumatic stress disorder (CPTSD) defined by disturbances in self-organisation in addition to traditional post-traumatic stress disorder symptoms. The International Trauma Questionnaire (ITQ) is the established measure of this construct and has been validated for use in a variety of populations and languages; however, evidence for the measure's use in Latin America is limited.AimsThis study sought to validate the factor structure of the Latin American Spanish version of the ITQ in a trauma-exposed sample in Colombia.MethodConfirmatory factor analysis was used to assess a range of factor models validated previously, including first- and second-order factor models.ResultsAssessment of fit indices demonstrated that a correlated six-factor model comprised of re-experiencing, avoidance, sense of threat, affect dysregulation, negative self-concept and disturbed relationships provided the best fit for these data. Factor loadings for this model were found to be high and statistically significant.ConclusionResults concur with prior research validating the use of alternative language versions of the ITQ internationally, and with the theoretical underpinnings of the CPTSD diagnostic category. The ITQ is therefore a valid measure of CPTSD in this Latin American sample. Further validation research is needed in clinical populations in this region.<br/
Children’s social work safe staffing supply and workforce demands analysis: a case study from Northern Ireland
No full textThe matter of ensuring adequate staffing levels in children’s social work services has become increasingly prominent due to challenges related to retention and staff well-being and exacerbated by limited governmental budgetary investment. Various operational tools and policy guidelines in the UK regulate staffing across different sectors of health and social care. However, frameworks for safe staffing in social work are less developed. This study was based on qualitative and quantitative methodologies and specifically targeted Gateway and Family Intervention child protection teams in Northern Ireland, given the significant caseloads and staffing shortages within these specific team structures. The analysis unveiled systemic issues demanding systemic solutions. Frontline social workers and managers were often contending with overwhelming worker-to-caseload ratios, extensive waitlists and vacancies within teams. This analysis also assisted in defining safe staffing in social work, including service-user safety, and staff well-being and retention. These findings serve as a foundation for evidence-based strategic planning, informing the development and enactment of safer and effective social work policies and legislation in the forthcoming years
A cross-discipline technopreneurship course: student perceived benefits and considerations
No full textThis innovative practice full paper describes the development and implementation of a cross-discipline techno-preneurship course, highlighting best practice, the benefits of the course perceived by students and further considerations. The course is offered at a large prestigious UK university in a department where electronic, electrical engineering and computer science courses are taught, and is mandatory for the electrical and electronic engineering students and elective for computer engineering students, who are in their third year of study as part of combined bachelor's and master's degree programs. It emphasizes teamwork, problem identification, problem solving, and creativity. This course uniquely integrates engineering skills with entrepreneurship, using a project-based learning approach requiring students to work in teams to develop a pitch, business plan, technical feasibility study, and a working prototype. These have been shown to be the most predominant methods to assess technopreneurship courses. However, the course is set apart by the focus on real-world world problems and fostering connections between students and the local start-up ecosystem. A key strength of the course is to improve students professional skills, which has been shown to be desired by employers in industry. In this work, we outline the course structure, intended learning outcomes, assessment, schedule of teaching, and present findings gained from teaching the course. Therefore, it is easily replicable by other practitioners. We detail how this builds upon previous practices to further the aims of the course to increase links with the local start-up ecosystem and improve students professional skills. The results of an online questionnaire proposed by the University optionally completed by students at the end of the course in the 2022/23 and 2023/24 academic years, revealed that students do perceive the benefit of the course as a way to develop their professional skills, such as public speaking, teamwork, and writing skills. Furthermore, the students appreciated the course structure and felt well-informed about the assessment. The results also revealed that the students rated the course highly for overall quality. The work produced by the teams confirmed our hypothesis that the hardware and/or software nature of their prototype/product appears to be disconnected from the makeup of students from the two different program backgrounds enrolled on the course. For instance, a team of only electronic engineering students still had a highly important software component that was vital for their final product. However, even more interestingly, the success of each team would appear to be based upon the team dynamics, which was monitored by the academic instructor in chard of the course throughout the entirety of the course and was a part of the assessment. Teams that demonstrated good levels of teamwork, overall tended to do better in the course than teams, which did not.<br/
Enhancing user fairness in wireless powered communication networks with STAR-RIS
No full textA simultaneously transmitting and reflecting reconfigurable intelligent surface (STAR-RIS) assisted wireless powered communication network (WPCN) is proposed, where two energy-limited devices first harvest energy from a hybrid access point (HAP) and then use that energy to transmit information back. To fully eliminate the doubly-near-far effect in WPCNs, two STAR-RIS operating protocol-driven transmission strategies, namely energy splitting non-orthogonal multiple access (ESNOMA) and time switching time division multiple access (TSTDMA) are proposed. For each strategy, the corresponding optimization problem is formulated to maximize the minimum throughput by jointly optimizing time allocation, user transmit power, active HAP beamforming, and passive STAR-RIS beamforming. For ES-NOMA, the resulting intractable problem is solved via a two-layer algorithm, which exploits the one-dimensional search and block coordinate descent methods in an iterative manner. For TS-TDMA, the optimal active beamforming and passive beamforming are first determined according to the maximum-ratio transmission beamformer. Then, the optimal solution of the time allocation variables is obtained by solving a standard convex problem. Numerical results show that: 1) the STAR-RIS can achieve considerable performance improvements for both strategies compared to the conventional RIS; 2) TSTDMA is preferred for single-antenna scenarios, whereas ESNOMA is better suited for multi-antenna scenarios; and 3) the superiority of ES-NOMA over TS-TDMA is enhanced as the number of STAR-RIS elements increases
Joint submission to the United Nations Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (CESCR): 77th session — Review of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (UK)’s compliance with the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights
No full textA collaboration led by Radical Acts to Survive, Drug Science, Benzo Research Project, IDPC, Love Tank CIC, Safe Only CIC with collaboration from three individual researchers