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Disturbed Sleep and its Association with Poor Mental Health
No full textSleep is an essential physiological process with a variety of functions. Disturbed sleep is common across mental health disorders and demonstrates a close relationship, with poor sleep predisposing to mental health problems, as well as being a symptom of them. I have conducted four studies into aspects of poor sleep and mental health using differing methodologies. Firstly, a meta-analysis into sleep and emotional reactivity in experimental studies (n=24 studies), which found that self-reported arousal ratings of negative stimuli were significantly increased post-sleep but not post-waking. However, such studies need more consistency in methodology. Secondly, a cross-sectional analysis of sleep measures on the Hamilton Anxiety and Hamilton Depression scales in a sample of young adult gamblers. This found that gambling disorder is associated with higher levels of anxiety and depression, reaching a clinical cut-off, as well as insomnia symptoms. Thirdly, I performed a longitudinal analysis of sleep symptoms as measured by the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) in the women who participated in the NiPPeR Randomised Controlled Trial. Group-based trajectory modelling identified that those reporting fewer hours of sleep at preconception typically also had shorter sleep during pregnancy and post-delivery. More than 30% of women had a clinically significant PSQI score >5 maintained throughout, indicating persistent substantial sleep difficulties. The group of worst sleepers had significantly higher levels of anxiety and depression throughout pregnancy. Finally, I examined the relationship between Vitamin D deficiency, sleep, depression and anxiety in the NiPPeR RCT. Sleep quality was worse in Vitamin D deficient participants only at preconception. There was a significantly higher level of depression in those who were Vitamin D deficient at preconception and at 7 weeks gestation, but not at 28 weeks gestation or at 6 months post-delivery. There was no impact of Vitamin D status on anxiety symptoms. Collectively this thesis underscores the close relationship between poor sleep and poor mental health. This research contributes to a more nuanced understanding of how sleep impacts mental health in different contexts. It focusses on specific under-researched groups including young adult gamblers and women in the perinatal period, who may present a future target for the primary prevention of mental health difficulties by addressing sleep problems at an earlier stag
Supporting Group Coursework Assessment in Large Computing Classes through an Open-Source Web Application
No full textGroup coursework in computing often suffers from uneven workload distribution, poor communication, and limited visibility for staff, especially in large cohorts. We present an open-source web application that addresses these challenges through automated team allocation (via genetic algorithms), student skill self-assessment, meeting tracking, peer review, and supervisor tools. The system is embedded in a year-long second-year undergraduate module on software design and development (with 300 students in 2025/26) and is replacing manual, ad-hoc processes with structured, data-driven support. Informal trials suggest it helps staff identify struggling teams early and supports fairer marking. Data collection from the first cohort is ongoing. We share findings, reflect on design choices, and discuss implications for adoption in other computing courses
Piano music of the Black Renaissance
No full textThis ground breaking anthology introduces a canon of piano works from the Black Renaissance school of the early twentieth century. The music of Harry T. Burleigh, Samuel Coleridge-Taylor, R. Nathaniel Dett, Nora Holt, Florence B. Price, Zenobia Powell Perry, Margaret Bonds, and Betty Jackson King affirms a rich, Afrodiasporic concert tradition, in which African, Caribbean, and African American folk songs and dances are absorbed into a distinct classical voice. This volume offers clearly presented performing editions, with fingering and pedalling, of a representative selection of piano music from this period, ranging from intermediate to advanced levels. Notes by Dr Samantha Ege provide historical background and interpretative insights for this previously overlooked area of piano literature
Computational mechanics of kirigami-inspired piezoelectric metastructures for broadband multiaxial vibration energy harvesting
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Moral outrage predicts the virality of petitions for change on social media, but not the number of signatures they receive
No full textSocial media is a powerful tool for activists to share their perspectives, but concerns persist that the viral spread of online moral outrage may undermine collective causes in some ways. Analyzing posts on X (n = 1,286,442) with URLs to petitions on www.change.org (n = 24,785), we found that expressions of outrage were uniquely associated with the number of times posts were liked and reposted (virality). Mediation analyses showed that outrage was indirectly related to the number of signatures petitions received (via virality). However, outrage was associated with fewer signatures when controlling for virality. In contrast, expressions of agency, group identity, and prosociality were associated with more signatures but no more virality. The findings outline the factors linked to engagement with online petitions and describe how social media can amplify content which has no direct link to the sorts of effortful behaviors typically thought to be conducive to social change.</p
Deformation mode classification in extended endplate connections and implications on hysteretic response
No full textDetermining the mode by which steel connections deform under rotational demands is essential for assessing damage, quantifying the associated losses, tuning design, and characterizing the connection’s cyclic behavior. In this paper, a classification model is developed to predict the deformation mode in extended endplate connections (EEPCs) as a function of their layout, material, and geometric properties. The model covers six modes inclusive of those expected to occur in either fully rigid or partial strength EEPCs. Such modes, and particularly interactive ones, can be challenging to predict using traditional mechanical or analytical methods. The classification model utilizes the Random Forest algorithm and is trained using a large dataset of experimental and simulation data to achieve a high accuracy larger than 95 %. Additionally, recommendations are provided for characterizing hysteretic phenomenological models depending on the deformation mode. This includes an empirical formula for defining the cyclic pinching parameters in EEPCs undergoing endplate bending. This aims to support system-level seismic simulations employing the lumped plasticity approach
Anatomical, physiological and inflammatory characterization of non-culprit vessels in patients undergoing primary PCI for ST-elevation myocardial infarction in the presence of multivessel disease: rationale and design of the PICNIC study
No full textBackground: up to 50% of patients presenting with ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) have multivessel coronary artery disease (CAD). Randomized trials suggest that complete revascularization improves outcomes, but the mechanism and identification of patients who benefit remain unclear. This study aims to assess the association between blood and coronary imaging biomarkers and clinical events, to identify patient-, vessel-, and lesion-specific risk in STEMI patients with bystander disease.Method: PICNIC is a multicenter, international, prospective, observational study enrolling 320 patients with STEMI and multivessel CAD undergoing primary PCI of the culprit vessel without complete revascularization. Participants will undergo blood sampling for inflammatory markers and coronary CT angiography (CTCA) to assess: (1) plaque burden and morphology, (2) artificial intelligence-enabled fractional flow reserve derived from CTCA (FFRCT) analysis of plaque and hemodynamic features, and (3) fat attenuation index (FAI) to evaluate perivascular inflammation.The primary analysis will evaluate the association between a composite 24-month clinical endpoint (including all-cause mortality, myocardial infarction, ischemia-driven revascularization as first layer and cardiac arrest, heart failure, stroke, and ventricular tachyarrhythmia (second layer)) and: (1) serum inflammatory markers, and (2) anatomical and physiological characteristics of non–infarct-related arteries (NIRA) assessed by CTCA, FFRCT, and FAI. Statistical and machine learning methods will be applied to determine which combinations of clinical, imaging, and biomarker data best predict patient-, vessel-, and lesion-specific risk.Conclusion: PICNIC will characterize the anatomical, physiological, and inflammatory features of NIRA lesions in STEMI patients treated with culprit-only PCI in order to develop an AI-based risk prediction model. If such a model is successful it could be used to inform personalized revascularization strategies.<br/
Venture capital and regional path creation: the medical industry in the Yangtze river delta
No full textPath creation is a key concept in evolutionary economic geography. However, although venture capital has been identified in path creation studies, there is still no comprehensive understanding of its role. This study aims to identify the mechanisms through which venture capital supports local industrial paths. To address this, the thesis takes the rapidly developing medical industry in the Yangtze River Delta over the past two decades as its research object, using a mixed-methods analytical approach. Quantitative models are used to answer “when,” “where,” and “what” questions, while qualitative analysis addresses “why” and “how.” The study uses clinical trials innovatively as an indicator of innovation capacity in medical enterprises, thereby filling a gap in medical industry research. Qualitative research includes 28 interviews with venture capital firms, government entities and startups. The findings are as follows:Firstly, venture capital in the Yangtze River Delta’s medical industry shows uneven characteristics that evolve in tandem with regional innovation activities. Macro-institutional reforms under socio-landscape pressures have created three opportunity spaces for regional medical industry development. Different regional policy responses have led to further differentiation in entrepreneurial ecosystems that ultimately shape local venture capital landscapes. Secondly, through propensity score matching and regression analysis, the thesis confirms that venture capital has supported the development of enterprise clinical trials, and validates this at the regional level. Results show that the impact of venture capital incurs time lags and spatial heterogeneity, with geographic distance, syndication and government venture capital promoting innovation to varying degrees. Thirdly, qualitative findings show that venture capital alleviates regional financing constraints by increasing financial capital supply and facilitating the integration of local knowledge resources by promoting talent mobility within and beyond the region. Meanwhile, venture capital engages in corporate governance to improve the institutional legitimacy of technologies through social networks involving the government. By capturing regional niche markets, it builds diversified, place-based industrial portfolios, helping to restructure regional market resources. In this process, the selection effect of venture capital reflects its inherent path dependence, exacerbating regional development imbalances. Finally, qualitative research also shows that geographic distance constrains enterprise activities through trust-building and information asymmetry. Syndication fosters a complementarity between information and resources among actors, mitigating the effect of geographic distance through risk-sharing. Government venture capital displays a local bias, balancing market orientation and different objectives, thus to some extent contributing to local path creation
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