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Getting Started with Tech Ethics: An introduction to ethics and ethical behaviours for IT professionals
No full textIn an era where technology shapes every aspect of our lives, the need for ethical guidance in IT has never been more important. Getting Started with Tech Ethics is your essential resource for understanding and applying ethics in the fast-evolving tech environment.This book equips IT professionals, from beginners to experienced leaders, with a clear ethical framework to operate within ethical boundaries, providing practical insights and real-world examples, including high-profile cases like the Horizon software scandal. Whether you’re a student beginning your journey in computing, an early-career developer navigating real-world complexities for the first time, or a seasoned professional seeking to refresh your ethical lens, this book is written with you in mind.This book brings together the insights of leading figures from across the technology landscape—academics, consultants, and industry veterans. Elevate your professionalism, protect your organization, and contribute to a more responsible tech future with this indispensable guide to IT ethics
The NEuroCOUGH Chronic Cough Registry: a protocol for a pan-European observational study
Get PDFChronic cough is a common clinical problem which is burdensome for patients and can be difficult to treat. Individual centres of cough expertise have been set up in countries across Europe but to date there has been no means to collate and analyse clinical data from such sites to gain a more comprehensive understanding of cough phenotypes, disease burden and the natural history of this condition. The NEw Understanding in the tReatment Of COUGH (NEuroCOUGH) registry is the first pan-European prospective observational study of adult patients referred for evaluation of chronic cough. Patients (⩾18 years old) with a cough lasting more than 8 weeks with no chest radiology findings to explain the cough will be recruited. Key exclusion criteria include current or recent (<12 months) smoking, significant smoking history (⩾20 pack-years) and obstructive spirometry (forced expiratory volume in 1 s/forced vital capacity ratio <0.6). The study aims to recruit 2500 patients across 13 European sites by 2026 and participants will be followed up at 12-monthly intervals for 36 months. The registry comprises comprehensive clinical, physiological and biological data on chronic cough, along with data on the impact and longitudinal outcome of chronic cough. The NEuroCOUGH registry has been established at a time of considerable advance in the field of cough. It will serve as a valuable clinical and research resource which will extend our current understanding of this difficult to treat condition. The initiative is also intended to encourage the establishment of new specialist cough clinics, thus creating much needed clinical trial infrastructure throughout Europe to ultimately improve patient care
Bone Marker Proteins in Women With and Without Polycystic Ovary Syndrome
Get PDFHormonal alterations associated with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) also impact bone metabolism, though it is unclear if this is bone-protective or not. Bone marker dysfunction has been reported in PCOS and appears to be associated with obesity. This study sought to determine whether a panel of bone marker proteins (BMPs) would be dysregulated in PCOS stratified by BMI as a potential biomarker for bone in PCOS. In this exploratory cross-sectional study, plasma was collected from 234 women (137 with PCOS and 97 controls) from a biobank cohort and compared to a nonobese, non-insulin resistant population (24 with PCOS and 24 controls). Slow Off-rate Modified Aptamer (SOMA)-scan plasma protein measurement was undertaken for the following BMPs: sclerostin; Dickkopf-related protein-1; glycogen synthase kinase-3 alpha/beta; periostin; tumor necrosis factor ligand superfamily member 11; fibroblast growth factor 23; sphingosine kinase 1; sphingosine kinase 2; cathepsins A, B, D, E, G, L2, S and Z; parathyroid hormone; osteocalcin; tumor necrosis factor ligand superfamily member 11 (sRANKL) and interleukin-1 beta. Four BMPs differed in the PCOS cohort (whole set without matching for body mass index (BMI) or insulin resistance (IR)): periostin (p = 0.05), cathepsin L (p = 0.05) and osteocalcin (p = 0.02) decreased in PCOS, whilst cathepsin D (p = 0.02) increased; however, linear regression showed that only cathepsins D and L and osteocalcin differed. None of the BMPs differed in the nonobese women with and without PCOS, nor in obese PCOS and controls stratified by BMI greater than 30 kg/m2. In subgroup analysis, periostin (p = 0.001), sphingosine kinase 2 (p = 0.01) and cathepsin L (p = 0.001) were higher in obese versus nonobese PCOS (p = 0.01). Cathepsin Z (p = 0.02), sphingosine kinase 2 (p = 0.04) and lysosomal protective protein (p = 0.05) were lower in obese versus nonobese controls. Changes in BMPs indicative of impaired bone physiology were associated with BMI in both controls and PCOS, but did not differ between women with and without PCOS when BMI was matched. Hyperandrogenemia in PCOS did not affect BMP levels
Adaptive Weighted Regularized QRGRU Algorithm and Its Application in Stock Price Prediction
No full textIn the era of big data, accurately predicting trends and uncertainties in time series data is crucial for various fields, such as finance and engineering. This paper proposes an adaptive weighted regularized quantile regression gated recurrent unit (AWR-QRGRU) algorithm. The gated recurrent unit (GRU) is employed to capture long-term dependencies in the sequence and generate predictions for multiple quantiles through a fully connected layer, thereby enabling both point forecasts and interval forecasts with varying confidence levels. In the proposed prediction algorithm, the loss function incorporates coverage loss, median loss, interval width loss, and regularization loss. An adaptive weight adjustment mechanism was implemented to dynamically optimize the weights of these different loss terms, enhancing the accuracy and stability of the predictions when dealing with multidimensional explanatory variables. Subsequently, we conducted Monte Carlo experiments to validate the algorithm's effectiveness in both point and interval predictions. Ultimately, the algorithm was applied to predict Amazon's and NVIDIA's stock prices, showcasing its potential applications in complex financial market environments
Practitioners' Perspective on Protecting Freshwater Biota and Habitats at Flood-Relief Pumps in New Zealand
Get PDFLand drainage infrastructure, including flood-relief pumps, plays a critical role in protecting life and property, and for maintaining productive land. However, there is increasing recognition of the significant negative effects of flood-relief pumps on aquatic species and habitats. Cultural drivers and recent legislative changes in Aotearoa New Zealand are causing owners of land drainage assets (generally New Zealand's regional councils) to consider how they can mitigate their environmental impacts while continuing to maintain service levels. Resolving this challenge in New Zealand was the focus of a collaborative workshop held in February 2024. It brought together researchers, ecologists, asset managers, policy and planning specialists and engineers from regional and central government entities. Participants unanimously accepted that old ways of thinking have led to the environmental problems we face today. We need to rethink the reason the infrastructure exists, how it is operated, and how environmental considerations can be incorporated – to deliver financial, environmental, cultural and socio-economic benefits from flood-relief pumps and associated infrastructure. This was broadly captured under the concept of applying a hierarchical approach of ‘remove’ (the pumping station), ‘replace’ (harmful infrastructure with fish-friendly equivalents/alternatives), or ‘mitigate’ (the effects by modifying infrastructure and/or operation to improve two-way connectivity). All participants recognised a need to prioritise remediation efforts. Resourcing is scarce, and so there is a need to ensure that investments target interventions that achieve the best outcomes in the right places. This requires strategic spatial planning of management actions. Many barriers to uptake were identified throughout the day, including socio-political challenges, cost (upfront versus lifetime), current knowledge of existing staff and reliable evidence on effective solutions. A key takeaway message was the need for holistic, multidisciplinary, evidence-based approaches to finding solutions
From diagnosis to practice: embracing dyslexia in nursing
Get PDFIntroduction:Nursing has always been my calling, but as someone with dyslexia, my path to becoming a nurse was uniquely challenging. From childhood dreams to a fulfilling career, my journey has been marked by perseverance, self-discovery, and a deep commitment to the nursing profession. In this article, I want to share my personal experiences with dyslexia, how it shaped my nursing career, and offer insights for fellow nurses who might be navigating similar challenges
Chapter 4: Technical barriers and strategies for their overcoming
No full textThis research report focuses on Industrial Symbiosis (IS) and discusses technical and non-technical barriers to its implementation. It aims to identify and evaluate barriers and possible strategies for overcoming themChapter 4 authors : Pawel Krzeminski, Aleksandar Erceg, Aleksandar Anastasovski, BIljana Činčurak Erceg, Jovanka Damoska Sekuloska, Carlos Dosoretz, Tine Lehmann, Estelle Giacomi, Paul Refalo, Massimo Borg, Branko Dunjić, Vladan Pavlović, Angela Neves, Hugo Ferreira, Radu Godina, Vicky SkoulouAida Szilagy
Hedgerows: Mapping The Gaps. Phase 2 Final Report
Get PDFFrom Introduction:This report aims to improve upon previous work of Wolstenholme et al. (2021). Artificial intelligence and computer vision was utilised to automatically identify hedgerows from high-resolution aerial imagery across the East Riding of Yorkshire local authority district. Through leveraging existing datasets such as the Ordnance Survey MasterMap Topography layer (Ordnance Survey, 2017), which represents unique topographic features in Great Britain, hedgerow gaps were extracted from the hedgerow identification dataset. The work estimated that there were 18,450 ±3,300 km of hedgerow and 8,060 ±1,450 km of hedgerow gap in the region with an approximate error of 18%. This report aims to reduce the error associated with this, as well as enrich the hedgerow data with additional informatio
Mapping Flood Recovery Gaps Phase 2: Final Report. Scaling up and creating legacy
Get PDFExecutive Summary:the Aviva Foundation, addresses critical gaps in UK post-flood recovery processes. In Phase 1, a systematic literature review and stakeholder interviews were the foundation of an innovative and interactive tool, the bespoke serious game, “The Flood Recovery Game,” created to explore this challenge. (De Ita et.al, 2022). Phase 2 of the project focused on evaluating demand, refining the Flood Recovery Game workshopping toolkit, and exploring strategies for sustainable and scalable deployment, to improve recovery outcomes across diverse regions and stakeholder groups. Accordingly, Phase 2 provided useful insights into the demand, refinement, and scalability of the Flood Recovery Game: Strong Demand Across Sectors: Surveys and workshops revealed significant interest in the toolkit, with up to 81% of respondents recognising its utility in disaster preparedness, education, and decision-making. Identified Modifications: Stakeholders recommended enhancements, including user-friendly features, diverse scenarios, tailored guidance, and accessibility improvements, to ensure the toolkit’s applicability across varied contexts. Barriers to Adoption: Affordability, lack of awareness, and resource constraints emerged as key barriers, highlighting the need for flexible funding models. Collaborative Engagement: Workshops demonstrated the toolkit’s ability to bridge communication gaps, strengthen collaboration, and support community engagement around flood recovery challenges. Phase 2 findings underscore the utility of the Flood Recovery Game toolkit and confirm potential for continued/wider deployment. Three complementary and potentially sequential routes for deployment are identified: 1. In-house model: least upfront investment, shortest lead-time, strong research connectivity, dependent on availability of in-house resource, smallest reach 2. Franchise/Partner model: modest upfront investment, relatively short lead time, good research connectivity, accesses wider delivery resources, medium reach 3. Open market model: requires substantial additional investment upfront, longest lead time, potential for high volume of research data but less control of data quality, potential for widest reach and impact. It is recommended that future work should focus on implementing identified refinements to the toolkit, piloting sustainable deployment models and building capacity towards deploying widely to ensure broad impact and legacy. The University of Hull is actively exploring partnerships and strategies to scale and sustain these efforts. These next steps aim to enhance community resilience, foster collaboration, and support the optimisation of flood recovery practices in a changing climate