192815 research outputs found
Sort by
Building the Avatar Therapy Dialogues Corpus: the process of constructing a longitudinal corpus of three-way psychotherapeutic interactions
Get PDFAvatar therapy is an innovative form of relational therapy for the treatment of distressing auditory verbal hallucinations, or voice-hearing, targeted at reducing voice-related distress. Avatar therapy involves the creation of a digital simulation of a single voice, termed an ‘avatar’, which is used in a series of three-way therapeutic dialogues.
This paper presents the Avatar Therapy Dialogues Corpus, a specialised corpus containing orthographic transcriptions of avatar therapy sessions. We offer an overview of the corpus contents, and a detailed discussion of the design and construction of the corpus. We describe the processes and specialised tools created, transcription conventions, and mark-up designed to capture para-linguistic and non-speech features which may have clinical relevance. Finally, we discuss the potential of the corpus to provide a genuine innovation in clinical care, offering clinicians a data stream that could augment their understanding of patient experiences
Community resilience in ensuring learning during the protracted crisis in Adamawa, Nigeria
No full textGuided by the capability for resilience, collective capabilities, and agency, this study aims to examine communities’ initiatives to ensure coherence in the learning systems and facilitate children’s and young people’s access and continued learning during the protracted crisis period in the conflict-affected settings of Northeast Nigeria. Conducted in Madagali, Adamawa, the study investigates an area defined by protracted crisis, where resettling communities remain vulnerable to the threat of renewed violence. It used a mixed-methods research design. Findings show that community members (community leaders, families, teachers, NGOs, NPOs, and vocational education providers) display resilience and mobilise resources to bring coherence to learning systems and ensure children and young people’s security and continued access to learning opportunities. While this enables more children and young people to access basic education, learn skills, and avoid radicalisation by Boko Haram, it does not absolve the federal and state governments of their responsibility to provide UBE
The Family Law (Scotland) Act 1985 at 40: the limits of creativity
Get PDFIt is now almost 40 years since the Scottish system for financial provision came into effect, and it is 10 years since the publication of the report Built to Last, which presented findings from research into the operation in practice of the Act and how it was perceived by the legal professionals who used it. While in the findings of that research, the statute itself was thought to be structurally sound, there were some signs of frustration at the underdevelopment of aspects of it and something of a rallying call to practitioners—in all roles—to be more ‘creative’. This article revisits key findings from Built to Last and, using case law from the intervening decade, assesses the extent to which there is any evidence of such creativity and change
First measurement of b-jet mass with and without grooming
Get PDFThe LHCb collaboration presents a novel suite of heavy-flavour jet substructure measurements at forward rapidity in proton-proton collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of √s = 13 TeV. The jet mass is a perturbatively calculable probe of the virtuality of hard-scattered quarks and gluons, connecting small-distance quantum chromodynamics (QCD) with long-distance experimental measurement. The jet mass is dominated by nonperturbative corrections at small values, presenting an excellent test of QCD across a broad range of jet energies. Measuring heavy-flavour jet mass with a theoretically unambiguous flavour definition for the first time probes the gluon splitting mechanism for heavy-flavour production and offers tests of perturbative QCD at new levels of theoretical precision. Utilising the soft drop jet-grooming technique to access the perturbative jet core further enhances constraints on first-principles theory. Measurements of the jet mass for jets containing fully reconstructed B± hadrons are reported with and without grooming. The unique phase space instrumented by LHCb offers a different quark-gluon fraction than at midrapidity. These results offer unparalleled tests of quark flavour and mass dependence in QCD and provide a baseline for future studies of heavy-flavour jet quenching in heavy-ion collisions
Seamless quantification of wet and dry riverscape topography using UAV topo-bathymetric LiDAR
No full textQuantifying riverscape topography is challenging because riverscapes comprise of both wet and dry surfaces. Advances have been made in demonstrating the capability of mounting topo-bathymetric LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) sensors on crewed, occupied aircraft to quantify riverscape topography. However, only recently has miniaturisation of electronic components enabled topo-bathymetric LiDAR to be mounted on consumer-grade Unoccupied Aerial Vehicles (UAVs). We evaluate the capability of a demonstration YellowScan Navigator topo-bathymetric, full waveform LiDAR sensor, mounted on a DJI Matrice 600 UAV, to survey a 1 km long reach of the braided River Feshie, Scotland. Ground-truth data, with centimetre accuracy, were collected across wet areas using an echo-sounder, and in wet and dry areas using RTK-GNSS (Real-Time Kinematic Global Navigation Satellite System). The processed point cloud had a density of 62 points/m2. Ground-truth mean errors (and standard deviation) across dry gravel bars were 0.06 ± 0.04 m, along shallow channel beds were −0.03 ± 0.12 m and for deep channels were −0.08 m ± 0.23 m. Geomorphic units with a concave three-dimensional shape (pools, troughs), associated with deeper water, had larger negative errors and wider ranges of residuals than planar or convex units. The case study demonstrates the potential of using UAV topo-bathymetric LiDAR to enhance survey efficiency but a need to evaluate spatial error distribution
Whole Housing Approach Pilot in Chesire East [Final Evaluation Report: Executive Summary]
Get PDFNo abstract available
Incorporating an equity perspective in systematic reviews of interventions: potential methodological approaches
Get PDFHealth inequities are unnecessary, avoidable and unjust differences in health across social groups. Addressing them is a priority for governments and health systems worldwide, requiring not only specific interventions targeting inequity but also embedding equity across all decision-making. Systematic reviews of interventions underpin health decision-making and could, therefore, be a key mechanism to address inequities, but most reviews are limited in their approach to considering equity and often only conclude data for subgroup analyses are unavailable. While some guidance is available, it largely focuses on reviews of interventions specifically seeking to reduce inequities and is published in disparate literature. We describe approaches to incorporate an equity perspective relevant to all systematic reviews of interventions, even when equity is not the primary review focus.
Consideration of equity may be needed at all stages of the review process. Planning the review involves examining theory, using logic models, involving relevant people and organisations, and considering if additional sources of evidence are needed. Investigating the data requires examining the external validity of primary studies, including who was involved in the primary studies, and the reach of interventions. The synthesis process includes selecting appropriate analysis, considering the implications of reporting absolute or relative equity effects of the intervention, exploring and understanding mechanisms and assessing certainty of the evidence in relation to equity. Interpreting results involves linking theory with evidence and discussing implications and limitations. We hope this article helps review authors make best use of the available evidence to incorporate equity into systematic reviews
The impact of terrorism on democratic support in Africa
No full textHow does chronic terrorism affect support for democracy in fragile states? While most research examines isolated attacks in stable democracies, little is known about persistent violence in insecure, weakly institutionalised contexts. This paper addresses that gap by analysing Africa, where terrorism is widespread and democratic transitions remain incomplete. Using Afrobarometer survey data matched with terrorism events, we employ an entropy balancing strategy within an unexpected-event-during-survey (UESD) design to estimate causal effects. We find that terrorism consistently undermines democratic support – especially in countries with stronger liberal institutions and lower development. Younger and older citizens are particularly susceptible to attitudinal shifts. These findings highlight how terrorism’s political impact hinges not just on exposure, but also on broader structural vulnerabilities shaped by institutions, development, and demography. The study advances theories of authoritarian reflex and threat perception, offering new insights into sustaining democracy amid chronic insecurity
A piecewise linear homeomorphism of the circle preserving rational points and periodic under renormalization
Get PDFWe demonstrate the existence of a piecewise linear homeomorphism f of R/Z which maps rationals to rationals, whose slopes are powers of 2/3 and whose rotation number is √2 - 1. This is achieved by showing that a renormalization procedure becomes periodic when applied to f. Our construction gives a negative answer to a question of D. Calegari (2007). When combined with the results by J. Hyde and J. Tatch Moore (2023), our result also shows that F 2/3 does not embed into F, where F 2/3 is the subgroup of the Stein–Thompson group F 2,3 consisting of those elements whose slopes are powers of 2/3. Finally, we produce some evidence suggesting a positive answer to a variation of Calegari’s question and record a number of computational observations
Data sources:
Access Repository Dashboard
Do you manage Open Research Online? Become a CORE Member to access insider analytics, issue reports and manage access to outputs from your repository in the CORE Repository Dashboard! 👇