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Layperson and Healthcare Professional Experiences of Medical Misinformation About Masks on Social Media During the Covid-19 Pandemic: A Thematic Framework Analysis
Get PDFThis study aimed to compare how healthcare professionals and laypeople from the UK engaged with and confronted misinformation about masks on social media and some of the barriers encountered, applying connectivism as a theoretical lens to interpret findings. Using thematic framework analysis, 12 in-depth interviews were conducted with participants consisting of seven healthcare professionals and five laypeople who actively use the social media website Twitter (now known as X). Interviews were recorded, transcribed verbatim and analysed iteratively using constant comparison and line-by-line coding. After coding of the first few interviews a working analytical framework was developed by comparing codes and grouping them together into categories. This was later applied to the subsequent interview transcripts. Analysis revealed six key categories: social capital (e.g., celebrity status), emotion (e.g., fear, anger, and burnout), culture (e.g., politics and toxic social media culture), social media dynamics (e.g., information overload), communication (e.g., managing cognitive load), and belief (e.g., beliefs being fixed and difficult to change). Our study suggests that healthcare professionals must actively engage with the public on social media by providing clear, evidence-based information, correcting false claims, and fostering trust through transparent communication. Interpreting our findings through a connectivist perspective highlights how digital networks shape trust and learning in online health discourse. Wider society, including tech companies and policymakers, should implement stronger fact-checking mechanisms, promote digital literacy, and support regulations that curb the spread of harmful health misinformation
An introduction to confirmatory composite analysis for patient-reported outcomes with illustrative analysis
Get PDFObjectivesTo introduce confirmatory composite analysis (CCA) using the refined Henseler–Ogasawara specification and illustrate its application to patient‑reported outcomes (PROs) with composite models by analysing the Tinnitus Functional Index (TFI).MethodsCCA was applied to data from 200 adults with tinnitus. Four CCA models were estimated with robust maximum‑likelihood estimation: (1) eight correlated TFI domains, (2) those domains plus Wellbeing modelled as latent variable, (3) those domains with Executive Functioning modelled as latent variable, and (4) those domains with both Wellbeing and Executive Functioning modelled as latent variables simultaneously. Model identification followed the refined H-O specification; global fit, standardised composite loadings, standardised weights, and criterion validity were subsequently examined.ResultsAll models demonstrated good to acceptable fit (Model 1 RMSEA = 0.077, CFI = 0.959, SRMR = 0.046). All 25 standardised composite loading and weight estimates were stable across models. Some TFI domains (e.g., Intrusive) displayed heterogeneity of weight estimates, suggesting that items within this domain contribute unevenly to the resultant emergent variable. Correlations between the TFI domains modelled as emergent variables and Wellbeing ranged from r = 0.621 (Emotional) to 0.317 (Auditory); correlations between the TFI domains and Executive Functioning ranged from r = -0.355 (Emotional) to −0.214 (Sleep, Auditory).ConclusionCCA provides a rigorous SEM‑based approach for evaluating PROs that behave as emergent variables and enables the evaluation of structural validity for composite models, as well the ability to derive weights for their scores
Parental Cigarette Smoke Exposure and Its Impact on Offspring Reproductive Health: A Systematic Review of Maternal, Paternal, and Dual-Smoking Effects
Get PDFObjectives: Parental exposure to tobacco smoke is a significant public health concern, with over 1.1 billion smokers worldwide. The aim of this systematic review was to evaluate the impact of maternal, paternal, and dual-parental cigarette smoke exposure on offspring reproductive health. Methods: Original human clinical and animal research studies were included; titles and abstracts were manually scanned for relevance to the effect of parental smoking on offspring reproductive outcomes (Date of search:18/03/2025). Results: This systematic review incorporates 30 studies identified from three databases (PubMed, Web of Science, and Scopus). The results indicate that male offspring exhibit reduced spermatogenic capacity, characterized by decreased testicular size, lower sperm count, and impaired hormonal biosynthesis, with reductions of 30–40% in sperm production. Dual-parental smoking exacerbates these effects, with sperm counts averaging 85 million per ml in human male offspring from dual-smoking households, compared to 111 million per ml in single-smoking households. Animal studies provide mechanistic insights, revealing reduced testis weight in nicotine-exposed male rats and increased oxidative stress in offspring. Conclusions: This review highlights the dose-dependent and sex-specific effects of smoking on the fertility of offspring and underscores the need for standardized protocols to enhance the consistency and comparability of future research in both human and animal studies
Soil and geomorphology in central Africa and C.G. Trapnell's contribution to our understanding
Get PDFThe Zambian landscape is dominantly one of gently tilted plateaux at 1100 to 1600 m above sea level. It is mantled by soil in the final stages of weathering of the underlying Precambrian rocks, during 1 or more million years. This soil is devoid any further weatherable minerals and poor in cations and other plant nutrients. The plateaux are bevelled at their margins as stream have cut back from the down-faulted Luangwa and Zambesi valleys. This bevelled terrain, designated by C.G. Trapnell as Upper Valley, bears relatively young rich soil and a characteristic vegetation that contrast markedly from those of the plateaux. This physiographic contrast is fundamental. It is geographically and agriculturally significant, and both were recognized by Trapnell in 1930s against the prevailing view that climate was the over-riding factor in soil distribution
Investigating the size, morphology and composition of particulate matter released during transient and steady-state operation from a heavy-duty internal combustion engine running entirely on hydrogen
Get PDFAs hydrogen is explored for future propulsion, evaluating the morphology and chemical composition of lubricant oil-derived particles is crucial to understand the implications of our current path to decarbonisation, since existing data on such emissions is extremely limited. Particle size, count, morphology, and elemental composition were analysed from a spark-ignited hydrogen engine exhaust under two steady states (2400 rpm–50 Nm, 1300 rpm–150 Nm) and a 20-min transient cycle. Solid particle number was measured with a DMS500 and catalytic stripper; morphology and composition were analysed via transmission electron microscopy and EDX using graphene oxide and SiN grids with a novel particle collection method. At the high speed, particle concentration peaked at 3.14 × 107/cm3, with 80 % under 10 nm. Low speed showed 2.31 × 105/cm3. Particle size distribution nucleation modes were 7.5 nm (high speed), 8.66 nm (low speed) with most particles 500 nm clusters, crystalline structures and agglomerates. A ring pack redesign reduced oil consumption, lowering emissions for high-speed case to 2.14 ± 1.29 × 105/cm3. Compared to diesel, hydrogen cut particle number emissions by 98.8 %
Dual-Axis Alternating High-Frequency Pulse Voltage Injection-Based Initial Position Detection Method for Dual Three-Phase PMSM Drives
Get PDFAccurate initial rotor position information is crucial for the reliable startup of a sensorless dual three-phase permanent magnet synchronous motor (DTP-PMSM) drive system. To reduce the influence of the inherent coupling effect between multiple windings in the DTP-PMSM, a dual-axis alternating high-frequency (HF) pulse voltage injection-based initial position detection method is proposed. Based on the HF mathematical model of the DTP-PMSM, two sets of HF pulse signals are injected into the two windings alternatively. Then, the initial magnetic pole position and polarity can be detected simultaneously according to the induced dual-axis HF currents and their extreme values, respectively. Besides, based on the theoretical analysis of induced HF currents, the design process of injection amplitude, frequency, and interval time for these two sets of pulse signals are presented. Compared with the conventional method, this method fully uses the merits of two windings in DTP-PMSM, effectively mitigating the influence of coupling effect and improving the detection accuracy. The signal-to-noise ratio is higher and not affected by the digital delay. Experimental results on the developed DTP-PMSM drive platform verify the effectiveness of the proposed method
Try to Look Again: A Phenomenological Study of Recognising Humanness in People Living With Advanced Dementia
Get PDFObjective and Aim: Although maintaining personhood is well-acknowledged as fundamental in providing high quality dementia care, recognition of personhood in advanced dementia keeps challenging formal caregivers. However, research suggests that personhood in advanced dementia may be evident through expressions of humanness in everyday life. Thus, this study aims to explore how personhood in advanced dementia can be recognised as their expressions as existential human beings. Method and Research Design: Following Galvin and Todres' lifeworld-led approach to care, personhood in advanced dementia was explored through the lived experiences of nursing home residents living with the condition. Participant observations with people living with advanced dementia were conducted at two nursing homes as well as semi-structured interviews with the care staff. Ethical Considerations: Process consent was used to assess residents' willingness to participate, and ethical approval was sought and granted by a research ethics committee. Results: Based on a phenomenological analytic method by van Manen, we found expressions of humanness in advanced dementia can be very ambiguous. Our findings can be summarised in four themes conveyed as anecdotes describing how people living with advanced dementia enact their historic agency, seek a sense of embodied homeliness, form and nurture candid relationships, or try to understand the situated presence. Embodied engagement in understanding the lived experiences of care recipients' ambiguous expressed humanness can assist formal caregivers to really see or feel those they care for as existential human beings. Conclusion: Approaching behaviours and utterances in advanced dementia as ways of expressing one's humanness can support formal caregivers' recognition of the personhood of their care recipients. And when such expression becomes incomprehensible, we must try to look again and find the human meaning in them
Public procurement and devolution in the UK: exploring the laws of (un)intended consequences
No full textWhilst public procurement is an important devolved competence cross-cutting many policy areas, it has received relatively scant academic attention. Through a mapping of both UK-wide and devolved nations’ laws and policies, this article argues that there are numerous points of convergence and divergence. These must be closely studied in order to properly discern whether an effective balance has been struck between respect for devolution and coherence of the UK procurement system, including a post-Brexit UK internal market for procurement. It draws on a single case study of devolved policy-making, namely, setting thresholds for advertising low value contracts to illustrate not only that there may be considerable divergence but that this may not necessarily be intentional. It is argued that such examples highlight potential trade-offs in developing and implementing devolved procurement policies which are not necessarily understood or accounted for and should be. It concludes by establishing a systematic research agenda. This article is timely given that a new Procurement Act 2023 has decoupled the UK from its EU law foundation, enabling the devolved nations to express their own procurement priorities more decisively
Predicting entrepreneurship from brain structure and neural responses to risk and ambiguity
Get PDFIn what way do entrepreneurs differ from non-entrepreneurs? We conducted a comprehensive analysis of behavioral responses, brain activation patterns, and gray matter volume (GMV) to compare entrepreneurs with a control group of employees who lack entrepreneurial backgrounds but often hold managerial responsibilities. Using behavioral, fMRI and GMV data, we applied a machine learning approach to predict participants’ likelihood of being classified as entrepreneurs. Our findings suggest brain activation in valuation-related areas varies with risk attitudes. Structural analysis reveals a significant negative association between dorsomedial prefrontal cortex GMV and participants’ risk attitudes, while risk-taking propensity, especially among entrepreneurs, exhibits a positive relationship with GMV in the right and left anterior insula. Notably, the predictive model integrating valuation decisions with fMRI data from risky trials demonstrates the highest accuracy in classifying participants as entrepreneurs. These results highlight the significance of immediate brain responses to risk as a robust predictor of entrepreneurial propensity, offering new insights into the neural basis of high-risk tolerance in entrepreneurship
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